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riverdamien · 1 year

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We Are Not Alone!

We Are Never Alone!

May, The Month of Our Lady!

National Mental Health Month!

"I will not leave you orphans, I will come to you; In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me, because I live and you will.. . .John 14:15-21.

I remember my mom, she was gentle, kind and driven to push me through school. In my worst moments I see her in the Great Cloud of Witnessing pushing me forward. She once told me, "You will always be more of a mother than a father to people in your ministry."

On Mother's Day I was across the street at "Toast" eating breakfast, and "Diego" walked up to me with a bouquet of flowers, smiled, and said: "River these are for you, for you have been more of a mother than I have ever had"

Diego walked across the border from Guatemala when he was 15, and was given asylum, the local gangs wanted him dead; for 12 years he has lived in San Francisco, needing support along the way. It has been rough, but he continues to tough it out. His mother kicked him out of the house, and so he survived on the streets until he came to the U.S.

The majority of youth on the street have no parents, they have been abused, sold, and simply kicked out because the parents had no money.

Steven Kierkegaard comments :"Life can only be understood backward but it can only be lived forward."

This Mother's Day I vow to live my "life forward", being a "mom ", caring, seeing each as a child of God.

I close with a prayer sent to me by my friend Jay Swanson that summarizes theology in a nutshell:

commoners_communion. True compassionate prayer stands with God, and before God as the other.

It cries their tears, grieves their pain, repents for their sins, seeks their healing.

Christ often ministered from compassion(co-suffering) and his ministry had power precisely because he entered into the pain of the world.

Love is what made his prayer powerful.

When we pray for others we should pray from the heart, not from the head. Allowing ourselves to enter into another's experience where we feel God's desire for them, then pray from there.

When we do we co-labour with God.

We not only intercede for another but go deeper into God himself."

Deo Gratias! Thanks be to God!

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Father River Damien Sims, sfw, D.Min., D.S.T.

P.O. Box 642656

San Francisco, CA 94164

www.temenos.org

415-305-2124

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As of now I am planning to attend the following course, as my sabbatical as I enter our thirty years of ministry. Would love for someone to join me in this adventure:

The thirteenth Annual INTERNATIONAL COURSE in INDIA “Gandhian Nonviolence: Theory & Application” COST: Tuition, Room & Board FREE (though donations are accepted); all other expenses regarding travel to & from India, visas, healthcare, & other spending is the responsibility each course participant. Once in India, a total personal expense budget equiv. of $300 per month would be reasonable (less, if one is very frugal). DURATION: 4 months (Sept. 30 th , 2023 thru Jan 30 th , 2024). A Course Diploma will be issued in a final graduation ceremony at Gujarat Vidyapith. LOCATION: Gujarat Vidyapith, a university founded by Mahatma Gandhi in 1920, (see: www.gujarat vidyapith.org) will host the first 2 months of the course during which International Students attend classes weekdays, have housing on campus, are provided vegetarian meals, and are given access to exercise facilities including a large indoor swimming pool (free of charge). Centered in the historic city of Ahmadabad (pop. 7.7 million), the urban campus enjoys a mild autumn climate and is near Gandhi’s Sabbatical (Satyagraha) Ashram where the 1930 Salt March began. Faculty associated with India’s oldest Gandhi Studies Program will teach the course while assuming little or no prior knowledge of Gandhi or India. To better understand the application of Gandhian nonviolence theory to practice, December and January will include course field trips involving 5-10 days each at a Nephropathy Center, an Organic Farm, the Institute of Total Revolution at Vedchi, the Gandhi Research Foundation at Jalgoan, and other experiential learning travel opportunities. Students will be accompanied by the Course Coordinator and/or another faculty member with transportation & on-site expenses free of charge. ACADEMIC CREDIT can be earned via arrangements that may be made by each student with an educational institution in their home country. Examples of mechanisms which may exist to be utilized have included credits awarded for “Independent Study”, “Cooperative Education”, “Service Learning Internships” or other devices negotiated by a student with their home institution prior to their departure to India. Such arrangements need not require MOUs for credit transfer.

APPLICATION

SEND TO: [email protected] with cc to: [email protected]

NAME (First, Middle, Last): ____________________________________ Address: __________________________________________ Country: _________ Email: ___________________________ Cell Phone: ________________________ Brief Bio (including educational background & activist profile):

Why I am interested in taking this course:

SIGNATURE: __________________________________ Date: ____________

DUE DATE: May 31, 2023.

(If accepted, a $200 refu

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ofpoisonkisses · 3 years

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HARLIVY - ULTIMATE SHIP MEME ( @quinncess )

General:

Rate the Ship - The OTP to rule all other OTPs

How long will they last? - FOREVER

How quickly did/will they fall in love? – Ivy took a while to warm up and realize her feelings for Harley but she was definitely physically attracted to Harls when they first met, thinking she’s pretty even with her bleached skin and clown getup.

How was their first kiss? – Depending on the verse… but I would say slow and sweet for their main verse.

Wedding:

Who proposed? - Ivy with an Ivy ring

Who is the best man/men? – Bud and Lou? Nathan XD And Frank LOL. Maybe her squad from the animated series?

Who is the bridesmaid(s)? – Selina

Who did the most planning? - Ivy, mostly to keep Harls in check

Who stressed the most? - Ivy, cos she wants it to be perfect for Harls

How fancy was the ceremony? - 7. It could have been lower but it’s amped up cos Ivy knows Harley is extra AF.

Who was specifically not invited to the wedding? – Jason, Batman and the slimebag JOKER

Sex:

Who is on top? – Usually Ivy

Who is the one to instigate things? – Usually Harley, but Ivy does it sometimes too to rev up her Harls

How healthy is their sex life? - Barely touch themselves let alone each other | 2 | 3 | 4 | Once a couple weeks, nothing overboard | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | They are LITERALLY humping each other on the couch right now

How kinky are they? - Straight missionary with the lights off | 2 | 3 | 4 | Might try some butt stuff and toys | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Don’t go into the sex dungeon without a horse’s head

How long do they normally last? – Well… a LONG TIME lol

Do they make sure each person gets an equal amount of orgasms? – Yes, but they don’t really count them?

How rough are they in bed? - Softer than a butterfly on the back of a bunny | 2 | 3 | 4 | The bed’s shaking and squeaking every time | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Their dirty talk is so vulgar it’d make Dwayne Johnson blush. Also, the wall’s so weak it could collapse the next time they do it.

How much cuddling/snuggling do they do? - No touching after sex | 2 | 3 | 4 | A little spooning at night, or on the couch, but not in public | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | They snuggle and kiss more often than a teen couple on their fifth date to a pillow factory.

Children:

How many children will they have naturally? – 2-5..? Lucy, Briar, Rose, Hazel and Thorn

How many children will they adopt? – 1 each? Each other’s biological child.

Who gets stuck with the most diapers? - Ivy

Who is the stricter parent? - Ivy, as she’s the more rational one

Who stops the kid(s) from doing dangerous stunts after school? - Ivy

Who remembers to pack the lunch(es)? - Ivy, but they’re usually “too healthy”

Who is the more loved parent? – Harls probably

Who is more likely to attend the PTA meetings? – Both... Don’t mess with their kids LOL

Who cried the most at graduation? - Harley. Ivy definitely teared though.

Who is more likely to bail the child(ren) out of trouble with the law? – Both? Even though they’re troublemakers themselves LOL

Cooking:

Who does the most cooking? - Ivy, cos Harls is banned from the stove

Who is the most picky in their food choice? - Ivy

Who does the grocery shopping? – Both?

How often do they bake desserts? – Ivy probably buys them for Harls all the time

Are they more of a meat lover or a salad eater? – Ivy is definitely the salad eater… but so is Harls ;P

Who is more likely to surprise the other(s) with an anniversary dinner? - Ivy

Who is more likely to suggest going out? - Harls, cos Ivy is more of a homebody

Who is more likely to burn the house down accidently while cooking? –HARLEY

Chores:

Who cleans the room? - Ivy

Who is really against chores? - Harls

Who cleans up after the pets? – Ivy, though she’ll probably nag at Harls to clean up after Bud and Lou LOL

Who is more likely to sweep everything under the rug? - Harls

Who stresses the most when guests are coming over? - Ivy

Who found a dollar between the couch cushions while cleaning? – They might find them together when they’re having sex on the couch LOL

Misc:

Who takes the longer showers/baths? - Harls

Who takes the dog out for a walk? - Harls

How often do they decorate the room/house for the holidays? – ALWAYS. Cos Harls loves them.

What are their goals for the relationship? – Respect and trust? They’ll always support each other.

Who is most likely to sleep till noon? - Both? Ivy sleeps in sometimes but she also likes the morning sun. Also, they might have been tired out from all the SEX lol.

Who plays the most pranks? - Harls, duh.

#quinncess #( i make this world a better place | headcanons )#( she's the strangler fig and i'm the tree | harlivy )#[ and here's mine for the meme lol ]

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hlupdate · 4 years

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Variety’s Grammy-nominated Hitmaker of the Year goes deep on the music industry, the great pause and finding his own muses.

“We’ll dance again,” Harry Styles coos, the Los Angeles sunshine peeking through his pandemic-shaggy hair just so. The singer, songwriter and actor — beloved and critically acclaimed thanks to his life-affirming year-old album, “Fine Line” — is lamenting that his Variety Hitmaker of the Year cover conversation has to be conducted over Zoom rather than in person. Even via videoconference, the Brit is effortlessly charming, as anyone who’s come within earshot of him would attest, but it quickly becomes clear that beneath that genial smile is a well-honed media strategy.

To wit: In an interview that appears a few days later announcing his investment in a new arena in his native Manchester (more on that in a bit), he repeats the refrain — “There will be a time we dance again”— referencing a much-needed return to live music and the promise of some 4,000 jobs for residents.

None of which is to suggest that Styles, 26, phones it in for interviews. Quite the opposite: He does very few, conceivably to give more of himself and not cheapen what is out there and also to use the publicity opportunity to indulge his other interests, like fashion. (Last month Styles became the first male to grace the cover of Vogue solo.) Still, it stings a little that a waltz with the former One Direction member may not come to pass on this album cycle — curse you, coronavirus.

Styles’ isolation has coincided with his maturation as an artist, a thespian and a person. With “Fine Line,” he’s proved himself a skilled lyricist with a tremendous ear for harmony and melody. In preparing for his role in Olivia Wilde’s period thriller “Don’t Worry Darling,” which is shooting outside Palm Springs, he found an outlet for expression in interpreting words on a page. And for the first time, he’s using his megaphone to speak out about social justice — inspired by the outpouring of support for Black people around the world following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police in May.

Styles has spent much of the past nine months at home in London, where life has slowed considerably. The time has allowed him to ponder such heady issues as his purpose on the earth. “It’s been a pause that I don’t know if I would have otherwise taken,” says Styles. “I think it’s been pretty good for me to have a kind of stop, to look and think about what it actually means to be an artist, what it means to do what we do and why we do it. I lean into moments like this — moments of uncertainty.”

In truth, while Styles has largely been keeping a low profile — his Love On Tour, due to kick off on April 15, was postponed in late March and is now scheduled to launch in February 2021 (whether it actually will remains to be seen) — his music has not. This is especially true in the U.S., where he’s notched two hit singles, “Adore You,” the second-most-played song at radio in 2020, and “Watermelon Sugar” (No. 22 on Variety’s year-end Hitmakers chart), with a third, “Golden,” already cresting the top 20 on the pop format. The massive cross-platform success of these songs means Styles has finally and decisively broken into the American market, maneuvering its web of gatekeepers to accumulate 6.2 million consumption units and rising.

Why do these particular songs resonate in 2020? Styles doesn’t have the faintest idea. While he acknowledges a “nursery rhyme” feel to “Watermelon Sugar” with its earwormy loop of a chorus, that’s about as much insight as he can offer. His longtime collaborator and friend Tom Hull, also known as the producer Kid Harpoon, offers this take: “There’s a lot of amazing things about that song, but what really stands out is the lyric. It’s not trying to hide or be clever. The simplicity of watermelon … there’s such a joy in it, [which] is a massive part of that song’s success.” Also, his kids love it. “I’ve never had a song connect with children in this way,” says Hull, whose credits include tunes by Shawn Mendes, Florence and the Machine and Calvin Harris. “I get sent videos all the time from friends of their kids singing. I have a 3-year-old and an 8-year-old, and they listen to it.”

Styles is quick to note that he doesn’t chase pop appeal when crafting songs. In fact, the times when he pondered or approved a purposeful tweak, like on his self-titled 2017 debut, still gnaw at him. “I love that album so much because it represents such a time in my life, but when I listen to it — sonically and lyrically, especially — I can hear places where I was playing it safe,” he says. “I was scared to get it wrong.”

Contemporary effects and on-trend beats hardly factor into Styles’ decision-making. He likes to focus on feelings — his own and his followers’ — and see himself on the other side of the velvet rope, an important distinction in his view. “People within [the industry] feel like they operate on a higher level of listening, and I like to make music from the point of being a fan of music,” Styles says. “Fans are the best A&R.”

This from someone who’s had free rein to pursue every musical whim, and hand in the album of his dreams in the form of “Fine Line.” Chart success makes it all the sweeter, but Styles insists that writing “for the right reasons” supersedes any commercial considerations. “There’s no part that feels, eh, icky — like it was made in the lab,” he says.

Styles has experience in this realm. As a graduate of the U.K. competition series “The X Factor,” where he and four other auditionees — Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson — were singled out by show creator and star judge Simon Cowell to conjoin as One Direction, he’s seen how the prefab pop machine works up close. The One Direction oeuvre, which counts some 42 million albums sold worldwide, includes songs written with such established hitmakers as Ryan Tedder, Savan Kotecha and Teddy Geiger. Being a studious, insatiable observer, Styles took it all in.

“I learned so much,” he says of the experience. “When we were in the band, I used to try and write with as many different people as I could. I wanted to practice — and I wrote a lot of bad shit.”

His bandmates also benefited from the pop star boot camp. The proof is in the relatively seamless solo transitions of at least three of its members — Payne, Malik and Horan in addition to Styles — each of whom has landed hit singles on charts in the U.K., the U.S. and beyond.

This departs from the typical trajectories of boy bands including New Kids on the Block and ’N Sync, which have all pro ered a star frontman. The thinking for decades was that a record company would be lucky to have one breakout solo career among the bunch.

Styles has plainly thought about this.

“When you look at the history of people coming out of bands and starting solo careers, they feel this need to apologize for being in the band. ‘Don’t worry, everyone, that wasn’t me! Now I get to do what I really want to do.’ But we loved being in the band,” he says. “I think there’s a wont to pit people against each other. And I think it’s never been about that for us. It’s about a next step in evolution. The fact that we’ve all achieved different things outside of the band says a lot about how hard we worked in it.”

Indeed, during the five-ish years that One Direction existed, Styles’ schedule involved the sort of nonstop international jet-setting that few get to see in a lifetime, never mind their teenage years. Between 2011 and 2015, One Direction’s tours pulled in north of $631 million in gross ticket sales, according to concert trade Pollstar, and the band was selling out stadiums worldwide by the time it entered its extended hiatus. Styles, too, had built up to playing arenas as a solo artist, engaging audiences with his colorful stage wear and banter and left-of-center choices for opening acts (a pre-Grammy-haul Kacey Musgraves in 2018; indie darlings King Princess and Jenny Lewis for his rescheduled 2021 run).

Stages of all sizes feel like home to Styles. He grew up in a suburb of Manchester, ground zero for some of the biggest British acts of the 1980s and ’90s, including Joy Division, New Order, the Smiths and Oasis, the latter of which broke the same year Styles was born. His parents were also music lovers. Styles’ father fed him a balanced diet of the Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, the Rolling Stones and Queen, while Mum was a fan of Shania Twain, Norah Jones and Savage Garden. “They’re all great melody writers,” says Styles of the acts’ musical throughline.

Stevie Nicks, who in the past has described “Fine Line” as Styles’ “Rumours,” referencing the Fleetwood Mac 1977 classic, sees him as a kindred spirit. “Harry writes and sings his songs about real experiences that seemingly happened yesterday,” she tells Variety. “He taps into real life. He doesn’t make up stories. He tells the truth, and that is what I do. ‘Fine Line’ has been my favorite record since it came out. It is his ‘Rumours.’ I told him that in a note on December 13, 2019 before he went on stage to play the ‘Fine Line’ album at the Forum. We cried. He sang those songs like he had sung them a thousand times. That’s a great songwriter and a great performer.”

“Harry’s playing and writing is instinctual,” adds Jonathan Wilson, a friend and peer who’s advised Styles on backing and session musicians. “He understands history and where to take the torch. You can see the thread of great British performers — from Bolan to Bowie — in his music.”

Also shaping his musical DNA was Manchester itself, the site of a 23,500-seat arena, dubbed Co-op Live, for which Styles is an investor and adviser. Oak View Group, a company specializing in live entertainment and global sports that was founded by Tim Leiweke and Irving Azoff in 2015 (Jeffrey Azoff, Irving’s son, represents Styles at Full Stop Management), is leading the effort to construct the venue. The project gained planning approval in September and is set to open in 2023, with its arrival representing a £350 million ($455 million) investment in the city. (Worth noting: Manchester is already home to an arena — the site of a 2017 bombing outside an Ariana Grande concert — and a football stadium, where One Love Manchester, an all-star benefit show to raise money for victims of the terrorist attack, took place.)

“I went to my first shows in Manchester,” Styles says of concerts paid for with money earned delivering newspapers for a supermarket called the Co-op. “My friends and I would go in on weekends. There’s so many amazing small venues, and music is such a massive part of the city. I think Manchester deserves it. It feels like a full-circle, coming-home thing to be doing this and to be able to give any kind of input. I’m incredibly proud. Hopefully they’ll let me play there at some point.”

Though Styles has owned properties in Los Angeles, his base for the foreseeable future is London. “I feel like my relationship with L.A. has changed a lot,” he explains. “I’ve kind of accepted that I don’t have to live here anymore; for a while I felt like I was supposed to. Like it meant things were going well. This happened, then you move to L.A.! But I don’t really want to.”

Is it any wonder? Between COVID and the turmoil in the U.S. spurred by the presidential election, Styles, like some 79 million American voters, is recovering from sticker shock over the bill of goods sold to them by the concept of democracy. “In general, as people, there’s a lack of empathy,” he observes. “We found this place that’s so divisive. We just don’t listen to each other anymore. And that’s quite scary.”

That belief prompted Styles to speak out publicly in the wake of George Floyd’s death. As protests in support of Black Lives Matter took to streets all over the world, for Styles, it triggered a period of introspection, as marked by an Instagram message (liked by 2.7 million users and counting) in which he declared: “I do things every day without fear, because I am privileged, and I am privileged every day because I am white. … Being not racist is not enough, we must be anti racist. Social change is enacted when a society mobilizes. I stand in solidarity with all of those protesting. I’m donating to help post bail for arrested organizers. Look inwards, educate yourself and others. LISTEN, READ, SHARE, DONATE and VOTE. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. BLACK LIVES MATTER.”

“Talking about race can be really uncomfortable for everyone,” Styles elaborates. “I had a realization that my own comfort in the conversation has nothing to do with the problem — like that’s not enough of a reason to not have a conversation. Looking back, I don’t think I’ve been outspoken enough in the past. Using that feeling has pushed me forward to being open and ready to learn. … How can I ensure from my side that in 20 years, the right things are still being done and the right people are getting the right opportunities? That it’s not a passing thing?”

His own record company — and corporate parent Sony Music Group, whose chairman, Rob Stringer, signed Styles in 2016 — has been grappling with these same questions as the industry has faced its own reckoning with race. At issue: inequality among the upper ranks (an oft-cited statistic: popular music is 80% Black, but the music business is 80% white); contracts rooted in a decades-old system that many say is set up to take advantage of artists, Black artists more unfairly than white; and the call for a return of master rights, an ownership model that is at the core of the business.

Styles acknowledges the fundamental imbalance in how a major label deal is structured — the record company takes on the financial risk while the artist is made to recoup money spent on the project before the act is considered profitable and earning royalties (typically at a 15% to 18% rate for the artist, while the label keeps and disburses the rest). “Historically, I can’t think of any industry that’s benefited more off of Black culture than music,” he says. “There are discussions that need to happen about this long history of not being paid fairly. It’s a time for listening, and hopefully, people will come out humbled, educated and willing to learn and change.”

By all accounts, Styles is a voracious reader, a movie lover and an aesthete. He stays in shape by adhering to a strict daily exercise routine. “I tried to keep up but didn’t last more than two weeks,” says Hull, Styles’ producer, with a laugh. “The discipline is terrifying.”

Of course, with the fashion world beckoning — Styles recently appeared in a film series for Gucci’s new collection that was co-directed by the fashion house’s creative director, Alessandro Michele, and Oscar winner Gus Van Sant — and a movie that’s set in the 1950s, maintaining that physique is part of the job. And he’s no stranger to visual continuity after appearing in Christopher Nolan’s epic “Dunkirk” and having to return to set for reshoots; his hair, which needed to be cut back to its circa 1940 form, is a constant topic of conversation among fans. This time, it’s the ink that poses a challenge. By Styles’ tally, he’s up to 60 tattoos, which require an hour in the makeup chair to cover up. “It’s the only time I really regret getting tattooed,” he says.

He shows no regret, however, when it comes to stylistic choices overall, and takes pride in his gender-agnostic portfolio, which includes wearing a Gucci dress on that Vogue cover— an image that incited conservative pundit Candace Owens to plead publicly to “bring back manly men.” In Styles’ view: “To not wear [something] because it’s females’ clothing, you shut out a whole world of great clothes. And I think what’s exciting about right now is you can wear what you like. It doesn’t have to be X or Y. Those lines are becoming more and more blurred.”

But acclaim, if you can believe it, is not top of mind for Styles. As far as the Grammys are concerned, Styles shrugs, “It’s never why I do anything.” His team and longtime label, however, had their hearts set on a showing at the Jan. 31 ceremony. Their investment in Styles has been substantial — not just monetarily but in carefully crafting his career in the wake of such icons as David Bowie, who released his final albums with the label. Hope at the company and in many fans’ hearts that Styles would receive an album of the year nomination did not come to pass. However, he was recognized in three categories, including best pop vocal album.

“It’s always nice to know that people like what you’re doing, but ultimately — and especially working in a subjective field — I don’t put too much weight on that stuff,” Styles says. “I think it’s important when making any kind of art to remove the ego from it.” Citing the painter Matisse, he adds: “It’s about the work that you do when you’re not expecting any applause.”

#harry styles #variety #021220

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letterboxd · 4 years

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In Focus: Interstellar.

Inspired by Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar placing high across three notable Letterboxd metrics, Dominic Corry reflects on how the film successfully hung its messaging around the concept of love—and what pandemic responses worldwide could learn from its wholehearted embrace of empathetic science.

“Love isn’t something we invented. It’s observable, it’s powerful. It has to mean something.” —Dr. Amelia Brand (Anne Hathaway)

This story contains spoilers for ‘Interstellar’ (2014).

Although it is insultingly reductionist to both filmmakers, there are many reasons Christopher Nolan is often described as a modern-day Stanley Kubrick. The one most people usually settle on is the notion that both men supposedly make exacting, ambitious films that lack emotion.

It is an incorrect assessment of either director, but it’s beyond amazing that anyone could still accuse Nolan of such a thing after he delivered what is unquestionably his masterwork, the emotional rollercoaster that is 2014’s Interstellar.

In the epic sci-fi adventure drama, Nolan managed to pull off something that many filmmakers have attempted and few have achieved. He told a story of boundless sci-fi scope, and had it be all about love in the end. It sounds cheesy to even write it down, but Nolan did it.

That Interstellar is such an overtly cutting-edge genre film that chooses to center itself so brazenly and unapologetically around love, is frankly awesome.

Love informs Interstellar both metaphorically and literally: the expansive scope of the film effectively represents love’s infinite potential, and love itself ends up being the tangible thread that allows far-flung astronaut Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) to communicate with his Earth-bound daughter Murph (played as an adult by Jessica Chastain) from the tesseract (a three-dimensional rendering of a five-dimensional space) after Cooper enters the black hole towards the end of the film.

Matthew McConaughey as Joseph ‘Coop’ Cooper, Mackenzie Foy as Murph, and Timothée Chalamet as Tom.

In transmitting (via morse code) what the robot TARS has observed from inside the black hole, Cooper provides Murph with the data to solve the gravity problem required to uplift Earth’s population from its depleted home planet. Humanity is saved. Love wins again. Hard sci-fi goes soft. Christopher Nolan’s genius is confirmed, and any notions of emotionlessness are emphatically washed away.

This earnest centering of love in Interstellar is key to the film’s universal appeal, and undoubtedly plays a large role in why it features so prominently in three significant Letterboxd lists determined by pronoun: Interstellar is the only film that appears in all three top tens of “most fans on Letterboxd” when considering members who use the pronoun he/him, she/her and xe/ze. (“Most fans” refers to Letterboxd members who have selected the film as one of the four favorites on their profile.)

To get a bit reductionist myself, sci-fi adventure—in cinema, at least—has traditionally been a masculine-leaning genre, but Interstellar’s placement across these three lists points to it having superseded that traditional leaning, hopefully for the better.

Yet the film reliably still provokes reactions like this delightful tweet:

few movies make me as mad as Interstellar. who the fuck makes 3/4 of an excellent hard sci-fi movie backed up by actual science and then abruptly turns it into soft sci-fi about how the power of love and time traveling bookshelves can save us in the final 1/4? damn you, Nolan

— the thicc husband & father (@lukeisamazing)

February 13, 2021

Although this tweet is somewhat indicative of how many men (and women, for that matter) respond to the film, I think it’s pretty clear the writer actually loves Interstellar wholeheartedly, final quarter and all, but perhaps feels inhibited from expressing that love by the expectations of a gendered society that is becoming increasingly outdated. The “damn you, Nolan” is possibly a concession of sorts—he’s damning how Nolan really made him feel the love at the end. It’s okay, @lukeisamazing, you don’t have to say it out loud.

Conversely, it can be put like this:

“The emotion of Interstellar is three-fold: Nolan’s script, co-written with his brother as with all his best stuff, masters not only notions of black holes, wormholes, quantum data and telemetry, but it also makes a case for love as the one thing—feeling, fact, movement, message—that can mean more and do more than anyone in our current time, on our existing planet, can comprehend.”

The writer of this stirring summation, our own Ella Kemp, is paraphrasing a critical section of the film, when Nolan goes full literal on the concept of love and has Cooper and Dr Amelia Brand (Anne Hathaway) debate its very nature, quoted in part at the top of this story. It comes when the pair are trying to decide which potentially humanity-saving planet to use their dwindling fuel reserves to travel to. Brand is advocating for the planet where a man she loves might be waiting for her, instead of the planet that has ostensibly better circumstances for life.

Brand: “Love is the one thing we’re capable of perceiving that transcends dimensions of time and space. Maybe we should trust that even if we can’t understand it.”

“Love has meaning, yes,” responds Cooper, heretofore the film’s most outwardly love-centric character, exhibiting a stoic longing for his dead wife, while also abandoning his ten-year-old daughter on Earth for a space adventure (albeit one designed to save humanity) than has now inadvertently taken decades. “Social utility. Social bonding. Child rearing.” Ouch.

McConaughey with Anne Hathaway as Dr. Amelia Brand.

Brand: “You love people who have died. Where’s the social utility in that? Maybe it means something more. Something we don’t yet understand. Some evidence, some artefact of a higher dimension that we can’t consciously perceive. I’m drawn across the universe to someone I haven’t seen in a decade who I know is probably dead. Love is the one thing we’re capable of perceiving that transcends dimensions of time and space. Maybe we should trust that even if we can’t understand it yet.” Amen.

Cooper remains unconvinced by Brand’s rationale, but this dispassionate display presages him going on to realize the true (literal) power of love (and his poor, science-only decision-making—thanks Matt Damon) when it provides him the aforementioned channel of communication with Murph in the tesseract. Nolan has a female character make the most eloquent vocal argument for love, but it’s the male character who has to learn it through experience.

So while Interstellar does initially conform to some prevailing cultural ideas about love and how it supposedly relates to gender, it ultimately advocates for a greater appreciation of the concept that moves beyond such binary notions. That is reflected in how important the film is to Letterboxd members who self-identify as he/him, she/her and xe/ze. We all love this movie. Emphasis on love.

Brand’s speech—not to mention the film as a whole—also can’t help but inform the current global situation. Interstellar argues for a greater devotion to both science and love, in harmony; such devotion might have mitigated the devastating effects of the coronavirus pandemic where both concepts were drastically undervalued by many of those in charge of the response.

Jessica Chastain and Casey Affleck as the grown-up Cooper siblings.

Despite the reactions cited above, responses to Interstellar aren’t always split down gender lines. We’re all allowed to feel whatever we like about it, and substantial variety comes across in the many, many reviews for the film.

Zaidius says Interstellar is so good that, “after watching [it], you will want to downgrade all of the ratings you have ever given on Letterboxd.”

On the other hand, Singlewhitefemalien takes issue with Dr. Brand’s aforementioned love-based decision-making in her two-star review: “She wants to fuckin’ go to Planet Whatever to chase after a dude she banged ten years ago because women are guided by their emotions and love is all you need.” A perhaps fair assessment of the role Nolan chose his sole female astronaut to play in the film?

Sam offers food for thought when he writes “First, you love Interstellar; then you understand Interstellar.”

Letterboxd stalwart Lucy boils it down effectively in one of her multiple five-star reviews of the film: “I needed a really good cry.” It’s hard to say whether Vince is agreeing or disagreeing with Lucy in his review: “Fuck you Matthew McConaughey for making me cry.” The catharsis this movie provides for dudes becomes clearer the deeper you venture into our Interstellar reviews (and I ventured deep): “How dare this fucking movie make me cry… twice,” writes John. Let it out, John.

Then there’s Rudi’s take: “I sobbed like an animal while watching this but I’m not exactly sure what animal it was like. Like a pig? Like a whale? I don’t know but I do know that I cried a whole fucking lot.”

Emotionless? With all this crying?

Christopher Nolan inspires more debate than any other filmmaker of the modern age (when we’re not getting unnecessarily riled up about something Marty has said, that is) and while Nolan has the passionate devotion of millions of viewers, I’d argue he still doesn’t quite get his due. Especially when it comes to Interstellar.

By so successfully using love as both a metaphorical vessel and a palpable plot point in a sci-fi adventure film, he built on notable antecedents like James Cameron’s The Abyss and Robert Zemeckis’ Contact, two (great) films with similar aspirations that didn’t stick the landing as well as Interstellar does. In Contact, McConaughey engages in a similar debate about love to the one quoted above, but notably takes the opposing side.

Steven Spielberg (who at one point was going to direct an earlier iteration of Interstellar) did a pretty good job of showing love as the most powerful force in the universe with E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, but there hasn’t been a huge amount of room for such notions in the genre since then.

Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, Interstellar’s most obvious forebear, is often accused of being the director’s most brazenly emotionless film. And while that’s perhaps a bit more understandable than some of the brickbats hurled Nolan’s way, there’s more emotion in the character of Hal 9000 than in many major directors’ entire oeuvre. It’s also, in part due to Hal’s place in the examination of queer consciousness in the sci-fi realm, the film currently in the number one spot on the xe/ze list.

Two films that notably exist in Interstellar’s wake are Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival, which expands upon Interstellar’s creative use of time-bending (and like Contact, features a female protagonist) and James Gray’s Ad Astra, which tackles the perils of traditional masculinity with more directness.

Interstellar doesn’t solve the sci-fi genre’s cumbersome relationship with masculinity and gender, but it makes significant strides in breaking down the existing paradigms, if only from all the GIFs of McConaughey crying it has spawned. Its appeal across the gender spectrum is an interesting and encouraging sign of the universality of its themes. And the power of love.

Fans out of touch with their feelings may complain about the role love plays in the film, but that says more about them than it does the film. Love wins. Also: TARS. How could anyone not love TARS?

TARS and Christopher Nolan.

Related content

Men/Boys Crying: a master list

“I Ugly-Cried Like Matthew McConaughey in Interstellar”: Amanda’s list

“I Liked Interstellar”: Sar’s list of what to watch afterwards

Follow Dominic on Letterboxd

#interstellar #christopher nolan #2001 a space odyssey #stanley kubrick #letterboxd #science fiction #sci fi #sci fi film #sci fi movies #queer consciousness #the meaning of life #love

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thewolfisapartofmysoul · 4 years

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Spoiler alert dearies...

Sad and bullied reader x Dewey Finn fic...

Trigger warnings: weight insecurity, being bullied, scolding, sadness, dark times?

But fluff and comfort promised by our favorite rock-star.

Hope its okay....

Alone together.

"Hey Brandon!! Have you seen 'miss piggy' in her dress yet?! Its hillarious!"

You rushed off towards the first quiet corner you could find. Tears stinging in your eyes. You just had to keep walking. Walk. Walk. Walk. Away. As far as your legs could carry you. Leave the echoing voices on that party. Fast. Breath. Faster pace.

"Hey... look that piggy run, guys!! Whahaha! Where's your tail!!! Hahaha!"

You practically ran away from the laughter behind you and you heared the teasing voices follow you as you stumbled over your own feet. The tears in your eyes blurred your vision and you took a few deep breaths to not cry... not yet. Just keep walking...

They were still watching you. Calling you out. You weren't gonna give them that much credit to let them see your tears too. Words dont hurt. Words dont hurt. Words dont hurt.

You heared a wholf-whistle combined with harsh laughter and slugged words in the distance.

You turned the corner and whipped your head around in fear they were following you. Luckely they were not. Their egos were too big for that. You slumped your head down and your feet suddenly felt heavier then ever. You couldnt hold back the tears anymore.... it was dark. You were alone. Which ment you could cry your heart out, whitout anyone judging you doing so.

You sobbed desperately, feeling sad, unworthy... the voices echoed in your brain as the tears ran freely. Your mother always told you: "You're no size two honey... but people will look past that." Newsflash mom. They don't. They can't. And they won't. You've been struggling with your weight for a long time. Going on runs, your meals were smaller and you didn't do snacks. You even skipped the wodka at the party with your co-workers, liquor never was your thing. But certainly didn't help the pounds too. Unfortunately... drunk minds spoke what sober ones were afraid to say. And your co-workers had been far from sober.

You always knew you were a bit of an outcast. Didn't really fit in at your current job, but not hating it either.

That was untill 4 minutes ago.

On top of it all it started to get cold outside... and you left your jacket when you rushed out of that hell-hole.

The emotions of today started to overwhelm you and you had the urge to sit were your eyes were looking at while crying. The cold street.

I dont deserve any better.... your fogged mind told you.

You sat down on the street and pathetically sobbed into your hands. You just... couldn't take it anymore.

So sick and tired of being alone.

....

Dewey Finn was heading home after a gig. His bandmates loaded the gear into the van and he told them, he was walking home tonight.

Since it was a gig and Dewey had to teach the next morning he skipped the booze. He tried once... but teaching and hangovers were a no go together.

The crisp air blew through his hair and he shivered. It was a cold, windy night tonight. The dark sky full of stars and he could see the moon playing hide and seek behind the clouds.

Walking home always helped Dewey unwind and declutter his mind after a gig. Grounding him a bit after the blissfull chaos of his guitar.

The ears of the musician picked up on a very faint sound on his left. It sounded muffled, high, emotional.... and.... desperate.

Dewey squinted his eyes in the dark and he saw a girl sitting hunched up on the sidewalk. She held her hands before here face and curled up in a ball of dispear. Her sobs and cries muffled. The sound alone made him sad already. It sounded heavy. Pitch black. And desperately alone.

His heart ached for her. It hurted at the sadness of this random stranger.

He frowned and looked around. No one to be seen.

What kind of a shitty dude would i be to walk past this sad soul, so late at night?

Deweys mind didn't knew it yet... but his heart did.

Like the magic of music pulled onto his heart when he strummed his guitar...

His pure, bright heart pulled him towards you as well....

....

You felt pathetic for crying. Ashamed even when there was no-one around to judge you.

You couldnt even let yourself sob freely. Holding back.

You had been holding back since forever. Holding back your true self since... as long as you could remember. You just... wanted to make people happy. To please everyone around you. You came last on that list.

You muffled your crying with your hands. You didn't deserve to cry. You didn't deserve to freely feel. You didn't deserve to connect. With your co-workers... nor anyone.

"I.... am... a pathetic... pig..."

You heared a kind deep voice beside you say in a calming tone: "Hey... youknow... i... happen to like bacon very much."

Your face turned red as a strawberry when your head shot up in absolute shock.

You glanced to your right and met eyes with the stranger that owned the soothing voice. Feeling like you could die of embarrassment on the spot.

Gosh... and of course this fellow had to be ridiculously kind and good looking. He went to sit down next to you.

"Are... you... trying to make me feel better? With a bad pun?" You stuttered between sobs, as your eyes were glued to the tiles again.

The handsome dude with the pretty brown eyes continued: "Well... i dont know... may be the case... is it working gorgeous?"

You flinched at the compliment. Expecting a rude comment to follow up his petname....

You dared to look into his understanding eyes and gentle smile.

... the rude comment you expected to follow didn't came.

There were only his messy locks, attractive scruff and sweet, calming brown eyes. Patiently waiting for your awnser.

.....

Gosh... was she beautifull.... even with her smudges of mascara and puffy red eyes from crying....

Dewey thought to himself when he asked you if his antics were working.

His heart bleeded for you when he saw you flinch at his petname and soft voice.

What the f*ck did people told you, to make you react the way that you did? Those douchebags need a high five... in the face... with a guitar amp... Making such a honest, genuine, bright creature like you cry.

Deweys heart weighed a bit less heavy then before, when he saw your eyes flicker up from the tiles to meet his.

Before he could help himself he flashed you a genuine smile and reached out to touch your knee, brushing his thumb over it in a hopefully soothing manner.

His heart literally skipped a beat when he saw you smile a tiny smile at the hand on your knee.

Gosh... how could anyone hurt this absolute angel?

Her beautiful smile warmed his heart. How did anyone want her to hold that gorgeous smile back?

....

You smiled a bit through your tears when you felt calloused fingers brush on your knee. A sniffle broke the sound of your sobs and the gesture stilled your tears.

"It... erhm... It does... a little... Thankyou..."

Your red eyes found his again and his kind brown eyes told you silently: 'continue'...

"But... uhm... I... don't wanna bother you..."

As soon as you mumbled those words your head flopped down again. Not wanting to annoy this random stranger with your sad presence.

You felt his hand squeeze your knee softly and he spoke: "You're not bothering me... at all... but you're gonna freeze your pretty ass and catch a cold... can't have that."

Your hesitant eyes found his and he swiftly took of his coat to lay it over your cold shoulders.

A single tear escaped your eyes again and you smiled through it. This time it was a happy tear. You muttered a "thanx..." and went to brush it away but he beat you to it.

"Dewey!" He exclaimed after he brushed your tear away, with a smile on his face and extended his hand for you to shake. ".... Dewey Finn is the name. But you can call me anything...."

You chuckled a bit when you shook his hand and Dewey would give anything to hear you laugh again.

You wiped your hand across your nose and sniffled. You glanced into Dewey's eyes again and muttered: "... Hey Dewey... erhm... thankyou..."

Dewey reached out to touch your knee again and brushed his thumb up and down again. A small smile crept up his face when he told you: "...This would be a good time to share your name with me if you'd like that, youknow?"

You laughed a bit and looked at him when you spoke: "...oh... yes!... my name is... Y/n...."

Dewey threw his arm around your shoulder when he pulled you closer. His soft voice found your ears when he said: "Nice to meet you, gorgeous... now... Would you fancy it if i walked you home? You can tell me what happened if you'd like that?"

You smiled at Dewey.

Your gut told you you could trust those kind brown eyes and you nodded your head yes.

Dewey whooped in excitement and jumped off from the sidewalk. He held his hands out for you to take. You couldn't deny those excited puppy-eyes and put your hands in his.

With one swift tug he pulled you on your feet.

...

And made you stumble flush against Dewey....

Luckely you both blushed equally when Deweys stong arms caught you before tumbling down on the street.

The laughter of you both filled the night.

When you walked away with Dewey beside you, you glanced behind at where you were sitting a few seconds ago. Feeling like you left the sadness on the sidewalk, and took the brightness of Dewey Finn with you.

@ironmansuucks @paxenera @heknowshisherbs @hoodoo12 @large-unit @little-miss-shy-goth @thats-specific @vicunaburger @go-commander-kim @stranger-strings @gegehaddock @bugdrinkss

#soft dewey finn #dewey finn imagine #dewey finn #dewey x reader #dewey finn fanfic #dewey finn fanfiction #school of rock the musical #school of rock fanfiction #school of rock #school of rock broadway #school of rock musical #alex brightman #bouncy oddball #sad vibes #but happy #and protective #and he would totally get his guitar amp to hit those drunk-asses in the face after he got you home safe #just saying #myownfic

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castrosaitabau-blog · 3 years

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WISDOM OF THE MAASAI

In quest for a fathomable perspective, bunduzman had to go further north of Kilimanjaro to the wilderness of Maasai land. In pursuit of a lifestyle, cultural and cohesive human-fauna co existence I finally set my foot on the soil I always wanted to explore since years in memorial. Maybe we could say the time was right, destiny had aligned itself . little did I know of the pot of gold awaiting . I visited my late granny`s sister my only resource person I knew and a cultural hardliner to get the wisdom of the guru.

First impression and am pretty at peace, I knew this all I wanted. Hemming the landscape in abundance are dark black volcanic boulders but dispersed as compared to `shetani lava` free flow lava rocks. beneath the blue skies, amidst hillsides, sparsely distributed shrub tower from the dark soil but there`s magic that this place offers, afore me is the most photogenic Kilimanjaro background and am sure this place harbours wisdom and treasures of the land.

According to maa culture , upon a meet up a catch up is mandatory. My holism side is coming out alive strongly. The maa call it `lomon` and so do i. every minute here is a crucial learning opportunity for me so my indulgence is eclectic.

Soon am shown my accommodation and as per maa culture it is far from the boma (homestead) as am a moran(warrior). Morans sleep further from women and children . the set up is spectacular. Set in serenity and tranquility I must acknowledge my uncle Loserian sundowner`s eye for a choice of such a picturesque scenery.

My room`s background is the most perfect quaint I would ever capture of the Kilimanjaro. Certainly kibo it`s stature like a benevolent giant embracing the Amboseli plains, it`s snow caped top like a kings crown and from my conservation and ecological proficiency I understand the sleeping giant role in providence and sustainability. Set near an oldonyo (hill) rocks are arranged symmetrically in the interference -free solace and solitude.

Everywhere I have gone as an adventurer I have always valued the virtue of making friends. It`s 1700hrs and my uncle and I are sitted for a perfect sundowner moment. The view is blissful as the sunset glares are twilighting Amboseli national park plains.my guide who`s my uncle is quite familiar with the geo-location , a true warrior of the land!

My guide points out a large mass reflecting the gleams and says it`s Lake Amboseli in the horizons, further north and to the east a hill protrudes to my knowledge the landmark of Namanga town. From namanga you go to `sanya ya juu’ a vast area occupied by maas both in Kenya and Tanzania.am overlooking the pastoralists corridor from my sundowner`s point of view.

Deep to Tanzania is kijiweni,then to murtoni, sangarini, murtot, entonet, barazani ,kilombero, shauri moyo, bustani then to mtamburu heading west.day by day my stay opens up a deep understanding of the population dynamics, transborder cultural influence and cultural role in identity and heritage.

My pursuit of a multi lingual perfection is bearing fruits. It`s a couple of days and my maa tutor `mr. ole Naanyu credits my efforts.am familiar with basic words likje ` aaoomon olorika( can I have a chair please?), endaah(food), kuleeh(milk), osoit(rock), oldonyo (mountain), sambu(brown),aang( home), enkaji(house) ndare(goats), enkolong(sun), alapa( moon) enkare( water) just but a few….

Culture is the antidote of propaganda – always my mantra. Basic rules first for a common entity and understanding of anything in my bunduz pursuit.i attribute this to my flexibility and open mindedness that I can morph and fit in anywhere if only I take care of the language barrier.couple of days and am totally in love with thebunduz in maa land.is it the solitude? Is it the simplicity? Is it the community unity and compassion? Sure I feel a sense of belonging every homestead I visit.

My maa is getting better as I can now structure a sentence, `aeeyoo adol ingwesin lo Amboseli’-( I came to see the wildlife around Amboseli) is my introduction everytime I meet a local . `Ayaauwa lomon ol la shumbaa pedol motonyik, ingwesin-(my work is to show tourists birds and wildlife ) is the skeleton key phrase for my stay here . Am euphoric to meet even toddler named after me, `Fidel Saitabau’. it`s maa wisdom to name a child after a relative for matriarch continuity and remembrance.

My quest for a deeper `Ambo-kiili ecosystem burns deep within me . am in tune with the universe and so does my fate.i get a phone call from another uncle who invites me to visit them at their camp and this totally uplifts my spirit. The next Sunday morning am amped in my combat cargo pants and jungle green shirt ready to be picked up. The first sight of his giant sized physique reminds me am in the land of warriors- a reassurance of some sort I must say.

`Big Boy’ I call him knows the ways of the land and totally the Amboseli-tsavo ecosystem and it`s neighbouring conservancies. It’s a Sunday so we on easy mellow chill mode as I get acquinted with his fellow warriors of the bunduz. Their hospitality is warm though in solitude , out in the cold lies the camp amidst bush ambience.

I harbour a great conviction and passion with the conservation inclined personnel as we are in the same area of professionalism- CONSERVATION for future generations. To my surprise , Big boy has planned a reconnaissance survey and am totally stoked! In his Big boy boots , I board his offroad bike as we fade into the wildnerness.

Since my arrival I have been anxious to find out a story of a great tusker and am told not worry no more since I found the soldiers in the field who were there till the demise of the supreme tusker. slowly we cruise and transverse the plains of the conservancies. Big boy showing me the wildlife and local maa terminologies . we go deeper into an eco-tourism perspective as we are sombre on how `Rona virus’ has robbed tourism it`s liveliness.

We are at the AA Amboseli lodge and it`s a perfect totaln dysfunctionality thus when I spot my first aves , the black flecked yellow throated francolin and marabou stalk. To the north we head leaving behind the `lemongo museum’- dedicated to the study of wildlife .Am impressed as am aware of a fully stocked library.To the south west is the Osero house .

In a while we are at Sopa lodge and kibo safari camp all in a total shutdown.As an intrepid adventurer my soul cries as I understand the replica to the tourism kitty.intersecting the junction from sopa is the road down to the Kenya wildlife service headquarters and next to it is Amboseli National park kimana gate all in a total shutdown.on the main road is `The Mada hotels kilima camp also is the same state.

My point of interest is the Or kelunyet village – a maasai cultural village perfect for briefing of the maa culture but that not of my concern as of now. Outside or kelunyet is a watering place that has natured one of the greatest tuskers that has transversed this plain. Compared to the mighty historical Ahmed of marsabit who was mandated presidential escort.

As the water trickle down and fade so is the presence of the mighty tusker Tim who gave up ghost after five decades.But the glory still triumphs the land as every villager around here knew or must have heard of the great tusker and even the global village where he won the hearts of many.my uncle Big boy is a marshal in the wildlife field under `BIG LIFE FOUNDATION’.

February `4th is the morning of demise of Tim. Big boy was one of the first person in the `scene of crime’ as he explains this was Tim`s favourite feeding area just opposite or kelunyet the other side of the road to Amboseli gate.am glad am getting first hand information from a ranger who witnessed Tim`s last presence here before being taken to the museum.

A peace loving, gentle and benevolent tusker he was for tourist to take photos of him sometimes pushing away other tuskers who tried to be vicious . Tim would relax for them to get a perfect caption- a photogenic legend he was.

December 1969 is when the great legend was born in Amboseli national park. four years later he got the name Tim from an intrepid American researcher Cynthia Moss who had arrived in Kenya in 1972-founder of Amboseli trust for elephants.

From her research ,Cynthia Moss reckons that Tim came from the TD family led by his matriachial grandma Teresia and the mum was Trista. For a while we observe the place as my uncle even shows me his last cloacal emittance a prove that this was his area he liked. Rather than outside or kelunyet Tim would sometimes change environment to the yellow barked acacia filled and water abundant kimana sanctuary for water or greener pastures or probably his females, a gentle bull who filled Amboseli with his progeny.

Tim had survived the 1980 Amboseli severe drought an era when Tim lost his grandma Trista from spears of pastoralists. prior in 1977 he lost his mum so he was left to wander alone but survived-a soldier of a kind. Tim`s death was a twisted gut but my uncle Bid boy explained to me he had found him lying and bleeding from injuries incurred from another Tusker perhaps a confrontation. Tim was gentle ,carefull and grandiose as his tusks were ground touching .probably it is the MUSTH that brought about a conflict of interest.

As we transverse the airstrip outside Amboseli gate closer to Tawi lodge Tim`s memories just run my mind obnoxious in some way but I have to let nature take it`s cause. upclose sights of maasai giraffes distinctive by their yellow fawn, common ostrich and gerenuks divert my mind as I go back to the camp reminiscing my day.

Another day another dollar, but dollars won`t come easy here in the bunduz since Rona invaded. My mind is at ease when my uncle promises to show me Tim`s brother Greg, a great tusker like him and of close resemblance and supremacy he says.

Am euphoric by the mention of a foot patrol as I know this will give me an upclose real time floral fauna encounter .For me euphoria is preceding vulnerability .As i rub mosquito repellant on my body ready to zip my self in my sleeping bag as I sleep amped.

At 0600hrs I wake up to the most soothing ambience of aves wildebeasts in the background. sorrounded by bones of great mammalia is our camp.my maa friend gives thanks in maa as we head to make breakfast. we collect `rigiek’ (firewood) as we catch up in a while breakfast is ready.

At 0700hrs we ared out of the camp ready for the routine foot patrol.My uncle takes me through the GPS mapping process and `The Black View IP-68’ for data collection and we begin mapping our waypoints and sightings in the field. We are amidst grants gazelles and wildebeasts as the hilly breeze hits us to a rude awakening .

My uncle Big boy is my resource person as I gain a lot of lessons on bushlife survival techniques. I can identify male and female ostricvhes , their milky like excretion and general ostrich behaviour like laying eggs at the same periodand the role of female and males to protect the eggs tillthey hatch.Bog boy explains the colour variation and advantage in terms of camouflage.

At night the dark feathered male take roll of roosting on the egg as the female feeds while during the day the female takes over brown feathered blending with the savannah. Am more amused by ostriches` behavior once the eggs hatch. The responsibility of caregiver is left to one of the females, the most ferocious one as the others leave.

Our mission is to transverse the conservancy on a `wreck patrol’ leaving no point unattended as the GPS maps our path indicating bordering conservancies.Am now well conversant with the interface and from a conservationist and wildlife manager to be perspective am impressed. The app has a ranger unit entity, members present, patrol method, patrol area ,are poachers armed? Additional is a record of wildlife sighting, tracking live or dead, scat/dropping ,number of animals ,wildlife treatment, illegal human activities, animal mortality, human wildlife conflict, community service by rangers e.t.c

Amboseli neighbours kimana group ranch an area which my grandpa Mr. Elijah Mwatee had demarcated in his tenure of duty long before moving to kwale and kilifi. The group ranches that make up kimana ranch are kilitome conservancy, nailepu, osupuko, naalarami and olitiyani conservancies anf far is the kimana sanctuary and the olgulului group ranch.

As an avid birdwatcher I enjoy spotting the augur buzzard, black flacked yellow throated francolin, the Kori bustard, superb strerlings, helmeted guinea fowls , just but a few. I encounter a rare type of ungulate and Big boy tells me this is their hotspot area. Am talking gerenuks as they browse on the shrubs near the windsock area.

Despite the dominating grant`s gazelles, impalas, wildebeests, gerenuks attract my attention as these arid survivors are wise in their own nature. Gerenuks eat the fleshy part, buds, fruits, flowers and climbing plants and do not require water if ever, rarely reducing predator risk as they graze in open areas.

Gerenuks have a pre-orbital gland ( like topis) that emit a tar like scent bearing substance that is deposited between twigs and bushes. This alerts other gerenuks in the area that there is a claim of territory. Gerenuk itself is a oromo - somali name meaning giraffe like gazelle in Swahili(swara twiga).

A fascinating thing is also gerenuk`s male performing a courtship ritual to an oestrus female. He will approach herand horizontally lift one of his front legs and repeatedly tap the female under belly and flanks. Or else he will rub his pre orbital gland on her body marking her with his scent to mate. The local maas call gerenuks` enkoilii’.

Am glad beinga plant community enthusiast to learn their local maa names. The maa community widely cherish flora and have a name for every plant / tree and to my surprise a nutritional or medicinal value.

The acacia tortilis is treasured in most homesteads as a source of shade local name `ol tepesi’ and loved by elephants as they rub theirselves on their rough bark. The whistling acacia , local name `elwai’ is an ingredient for soup once they slaughter, oremit is a stomach cleanser, `elokii’ finger like euphobia for hedges, `entialong’ a stomach remedy, oltiasmat found near Amboseli gate on the saline soil has an aesthetic value, olo songori ( devil`s whip).

It`s almost noon and the overhead sun is scorching , determined in our hats we beat the shrubs bearing in mind the vulnerability we are exposed to. Of worth recalling is a Laxadonta Africana in solitude usually very vicious behind a bush who was throwing mud at himself. We came to such close proximity about five metres unaware of the staring danger just that a gut feeling saved us.

We are now at Tawi lodge Amboseli as we surpass the thicket and to Big boy`s precision of his line of duty he teels me have a break at ` The zebra plain hotel’. Our GPS reading 37 0025E 12 79S at UTM. Pressure 96 99 690

As I heave a sigh of relief and down my cold concoction am humbled by the dedication the rangers have devoted from `BIG LIFE FOUNDATION’ to ensure a peaceful cohesion of humans and wildlife in the Amboseli conservancies that stretches to kimana sanctuary and chyulu hills.

By the time we arrive at the camp at 1330 hrs we have done a pretty 28 km patrol leaving me with nostalgic memories. On the contrary to fatigue am motivated to explore more of the camps in chyulu hills and the other conservancies.

As my maasai is getting better I can identify wildlife like `ol` logwarak (lion), emuny (rhino), oloitiko( zebra), oe ngat (wildebeest), or birit(warthog), oyayaiii( porcupine) essuni( impala), or ngojine( hyena), or makao( hippo), or meot (giraffe), or kanjaoni (elephants), olo sokuan (buffalo).

By Saitabau Castro.

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loeilafaim · 2 years

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19 août 22 | trancher à ras, 2 | 39

661 Racler, trancher : agir sur le monde. Expériences qui répondent au « comment connaîtr’ ? » du poème « connaîtr’ » de Cri & co, lu par l’auteur : 662 La question du savoir ne se limite pas à l’exploration des surfaces par raclement ; il est question dans Dâh de trancher pour faire l’expérience de la profondeur, symbolique et imaginaire, mais aussi physiologique par le véhicule du corps.…

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itsjusta · 3 years

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May 8, 2021

woke up so late todaaay doe almost 11 naaa idk why i slept so long todaaay doeee but my head hurts gyapon pag mata huhu issa very lutaw ko now doeee aish ion like it gyd basta so dugay wake up uiieee and so lain gyd ginhawa so i took painkiller doe and timing nag cook mommy lauya issa murag na ulian2 ko sa sabaw doeee hehe help2 pd ko sa kitchen uy nang limpyo and hugas ko cos mom man cook sa lunch and food for dogs

after dat i went to my old room there ko tambay doeee gitiwas nako ang kdrama na ako gina watch cos last 3 eps nalang maaan and u knooow what when i finished it 2pm kapin issa ka cry ko diretso doeee huhu idkkk i was holding out the negative feelings doe and when i was not distracted na aish issa i couldnt help it na doe

anad naman ko sa emptiness and loneliness but it still hurts a lot doeee the pain doesnt go away everytime i cry even though for the past year i have cried so much

only me and the universe knows how much i’ve cried this year doe and days like today when i cry the hardest are the most painful doeee because i question myself and my decisions a lot and all i can do is cry and be strong for myself doeee because i know that all i have is myself gyd. i know a lot of people are around me but sometimes i feel like a burden doeee other people cannot know about what im feeling doe and i also feel like a burden to you :(

its been almost a year doeee but i feel like im only at 40% not even halfway thereeee and i feel the sadness and the pain the most at days like these doe. sometimes i would have days and even weeks where i would be able to go on without feeling it so much but then there are also weeks like this na ma feel nako everyday ang emptiness and ang pain doeee aishhh u know i try so hard to break the cycle but its like my body and my heart is making me feel it doeee 🥺 hayyy i just need to get through tough days like todayyy and continue to hope for a better tomorrow and i know puhon puhon idk when but i’ll also be happy doeee 🤗 aish idk if naa muabot sako life so dat i’ll be happy or maybe i’ll just be contented with my life gyd heheh i want to be happy on my own doe but idk issa i am someone gets so bored basta walay ka storya doe omggg dapat na nako change cos ion wanna uyab2 pa!!! 😤😤😤 i want to be happy and independent!

i want to go far away and isolate doe 🥺 i think i need a break from all of this doeee but so hard gyd to even go out of town gani hahah i think the world is telling me to endure all of this and just stay strong doe hahah aishhh puhon2 i will go away doe even if diri lang sa pinas hahah i wanna start a new life aish if pwede lang gyd issa what if i disappear kalit doe dont miss me okay ahha

after my crying session i got hungwy doee so i cooked pancakesss heheh then after dat naka nap ko doeee cos im so tayurd and da weather so bugnaaaw hehe when i woke up issa 5pm na doeee and bakod nako uyyy das when i lung ag and ordered milktea doeee hehhe i felt better na after ko naka nap and naka milktea thank u doeee issa milktea gyd my comfort food!! 🥺🥺 issa milktea and ramen our go-to food but no ramen man here uyyy eheh

i took da exam na dayooon and i got perpek cos its so sayon lang maaan hehe excited nako for my grades uyyy and also for yoursss heheh i hope we get good grades 🥺🥺 the rest of the night scroll2 lang ko everywhere and babath and prepare clothes for my short stayyy sa medina aish im so duha2 gyd doe to go early cos i think i will get bored and i get so anxious and scared gyd doeee if wala distractiond cos im so scared na all i will do is be sad and cry :((( aishhh issa thats what i feel everytime gyd doe and its so scary gyddd but idk uie i’ll just survive tomorrow i dont care if i will just cry there das fine hahah im trying my best to not be sad doeee but a lot of things make me sad and its so annoying hahah i cried again before i slept doe aishhh sometimes i feel like an idiot gyddd and i feel like im making the worse decisions and i think i am gyd doe hahah but das fineee im fine with where i am now even tho its sad hahah i will just enjoy everything while it lasts cos the day will come when we will grow apart because of the situation and i can’t be in ur life na hahha dont miss me huuuh hehe but u wont even notice that im gone doe aish just enjoy while im still here okaaay im also enjoying it even though i cry a lot ahhah

good nighttt amping have fun tommmm

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mamusiq · 3 years

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Inside the Dirty Business of Hit Songwriting

Sixty-four years ago, as Elvis Presley’s career reached its supernova stage, the 21-year-old singer’s team hit on a strategy that enabled him to profit from songwriting without actually writing songs. His management and music publisher had added Presley’s name to the credits on a couple of his early hits, but the singer wasn’t comfortable with the practice and frequently told interviewers that he had “never written a song in my life.” Instead, as recounted in Peter Guralnick’s authoritative biography “Last Train to Memphis,” his team set up an arrangement whereby the King skipped the credit but received one-third of the songwriting royalties for each song he released, no matter who wrote it. (This arrangement was confirmed to Variety by an industry source familiar with the catalog.)

According to Dolly Parton, the policy not only was still in practice nearly two decades later, but the King’s ransom had gotten even bigger. Presley was going to record Parton’s 1974 hit “I Will Always Love You,” which is now one of the top-selling and most-performed songs of all time, largely thanks to Whitney Houston’s epochal 1992 cover.

“I was so excited, Elvis wanted to meet me and all that,” she recalled in a September 2020 interview on the “Living & Learning With Reba McEntire” podcast. “And the night before the session, Colonel Tom [Parker, Presley’s longtime manager] called me and said, ‘You know, we don’t record anything with Elvis unless we have at least half the publishing.’ I said, ‘I can’t do that.’ And he said, ‘Well, then we can’t do it.’ And I cried all night, ‘cause I’d just pictured Elvis singing it. I know it wasn’t [his decision], but it’s true. I said ‘no.’”

True to his manager’s word, Presley did not cut the song. (Reps for the Presley estate did not immediately respond to Variety’s requests for comment.)

Presley and his team were hardly the first or the only ones to capitalize on such an arrangement; to paraphrase former President Richard Nixon, they played by the rules of the business as they found them. Ghost credits and royalties probably date back to the dawn of copyright if not the dawn of creativity. As depicted in the recent film “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” for decades they have been particularly rife in the music business, where the often-collaborative nature of songwriting makes it difficult to prove, let alone quantify in percentages, who contributed what.

According to a recently formed group of songwriters and producers calling themselves the Pact, the practice, long an open secret in the industry, is as bad if not worse than ever today — and unlike Elvis, the artists are going after credit as well.

As songwriters have seen their leverage eroded by streaming — which pays a larger royalty for recorded music than publishing — artists, managers, producers and even executives have amped up their demands for credit and/or a percentage of the songwriters’ publishing in exchange for the artist cutting the song, or even simply for bringing the song to the artist. And as the value of song catalogs has risen in recent years, with Bob Dylan selling his to Universal Music Publishing for more than $300 million and Stevie Nicks selling hers to Primary Wave for $100 million, sources say, more people are playing hardball.

Multiple industry sources tell Variety that the practice involves some of the biggest stars in music and their teams; one major manager has even called the practice a “tax” for his artist recording a song. Pact co-founder Emily Warren (who has written hits for Dua Lipa and the Chainsmokers) and her manager, Zach Gurka, tell Variety that a standard ask ranges from 1% to as high as 20%, with an average of 15%; other sources speak of requests for 30% or even 50%. Songwriters often go along, on the premise that a smaller percentage of a hit song by a major artist is better than a large percentage of the same song when it isn’t a hit — and by that same logic, the writer’s publisher or manager may advise them that the tradeoff is better for their career than saying no. (The same situation can also lead to non-songwriting artists getting lucrative publishing deals.)

In an open letter published by the Pact last week — and since signed by more than 1,000 people, including major songwriters like Justin Tranter, Ross Golan, Tayla Parx, Savan Kotecha, Joel Little, Amy Allen, Scott Harris, Ian Kirkpatrick, Sam Harris, Victoria Monét and more — the signatories pledged that they “will not give publishing or songwriting credit to anyone who did not create or change the lyric or melody or otherwise contribute to the composition without a reasonably equivalent/meaningful exchange for all the writers on the song.” The Chainsmokers, Parx and Little have all written social media posts supporting the Pact.

Although the initial signatories did not name names of offending artists, the list includes cowriters of songs by such Grammy-level performers as Justin Bieber, Dua Lipa, Selena Gomez, Ariana Grande, the Jonas Brothers, Britney Spears, Shawn Mendes and many others.

“There isn’t a songwriter who has released 10 cuts who hasn’t encountered this situation,” Ross Golan, who has written hits for Bieber, Maroon 5, Grande and more, tells Variety.

“The money grab is worse than ever, it’s gotten out of control,” says another top songwriter. “It’s a total abuse of power — and basically extortion.”

Adds a third, whose career reaches back to the 1960s: “I’m not surprised that it’s still happening — but I am surprised it’s happening to this extent.”

Even top hitmaker Justin Tranter, cowriter of hits for Gomez, Bieber, Spears, DNCE and more, isn’t immune from the demands, telling Variety: “The business is definitely still broken and songwriters are definitely the least respected people in our industry, no matter how big of a songwriter you become.”

In an Instagram post supporting the Pact, X-Ambassadors frontman Sam Harris said: “I have had to give up portions of my publishing on songs that I’ve written for other artists and haven’t gotten fairly compensated — and I’ve also been in situations where I’ve asked for publishing on songs that I didn’t write. That’s not fair.

“So for me, this is kind of a wake-up call for our industry, and for myself too,” he continues, “to say we really need to set some ground rules and make things more equitable for everyone involved.”

* * *

Up until the 1960s, singing and songwriting were generally considered separate skills. But as Bob Dylan, the Beatles and many others revolutionized that dynamic, the industry eventually followed — to the extent that most pop singers are not considered “serious” artists today if they don’t write their own songs (that perspective does not necessarily apply in country music, but more on that shortly). Along with that shift, the non-artist songwriter’s industry clout has waned: They usually don’t have the starpower or multiple revenue streams that artists have, let alone the muscle and leverage of managers and top executives. Songwriters don’t really have a union or even a large trade organization to represent them; during the negotiations for the Music Modernization Act, which was signed into law in 2018, they were represented by the Songwriters of North America and the Nashville Songwriters Association International, which are much smaller than the National Music Publishers Association and the performing-rights organizations that were also involved in the talks.

“Too often, songwriters don’t value their own art,” Warren tells Variety. “When we first started the Pact, we explored the possibility of becoming a union, but that was just too complicated, so hopefully this fills that void to a degree. The idea is to protect each other, but it’s really hard — there’s no leverage and not many options, so there’s a real lack of confidence.”

Coupled with that challenge is the sheer difficulty of proving who actually wrote a song, an art form that defies hard and fast definitions. That conundrum is exemplified by the protracted — and extremely expensive — recent legal battles around two songs in particular, Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” (which has been contested for years by the estate of former Spirit guitarist Randy California) and Katy Perry’s “Dark Horse” (which is centered around four simple notes that also appear in an earlier song by Flame titled “Joyful Noise”). While those are essentially plagiarism lawsuits, along with the 2015 decision that found Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams’ “Blurred Lines” had co-opted the “feel” of Marvin Gaye’s hit “Got to Give It Up,” they all show just how blurred the lines can become when trying to prove authorship. With millions of dollars at stake, the decisions in those lawsuits have swung from one side to the other like a metronome, appeal after appeal, in a Dickensian back-and-forth that probably will only end when one side loses its will or its funding.

The above lawsuits involve comparing one song to another; things can be even more complicated when trying to prove exactly who wrote one song, particularly whether a person’s contribution is worthy of a credit and a certain share. Apparently, no credits are ever truly final: Many songs in recent years have seen writers quietly added as sample claims or infringement allegations are settled out of court; and more than 40 years after the song’s release, Procol Harum organist Matthew Fisher won a credit and royalties for the 1967 classic “Whiter Shade of Pale,” one of the most iconic and lucrative pieces of music of the modern era, although the case bounced back and forth in British courts for four years.

But unlike those cases, the jockeying for credit that the Pact is disputing takes place before a song’s recording or release — and sources say many stars and their teams do not hesitate to use their leverage. “A lot of the time, even if the artist was just in the room, [their representative] will say that their ‘energy’ contributed to it and deserves a credit,” one veteran songwriter says. “It’s like just breathing the same air as them is enough.”

However, Warren and others stress that most of the artists in question do write songs, or at least have a hand in the process — but it’s when they’re angling for credit on songs to which they didn’t contribute, or made just minor tweaks, that bad feelings occur: A longstanding music-biz catchphrase goes, “Change a word, take a third [of the credit].”

While such moves seem unreasonably greedy, a key component of a modern pop artist’s longevity is their ability also to be seen as an artiste, writing and producing their own songs. (While multiple industry insiders tell Variety the practice is particularly rife in the hip-hop and pop worlds, they also say it is much less common in Nashville, partially because songwriters in country music traditionally are more respected and have more industry clout, and also because there’s less of a stigma attached to a singer being an interpreter rather than a songwriters as well.)

“I don’t quite understand the need for it, but I guess I get it,” Warren says. “But from the songwriter’s side, it’s more about the principle. If the credit is so important, the artist should do the business for it: How about taking 1%, or even no percent, instead of 15 or 20?”

But no matter what their public persona might be, in reality most major superstars and/or their teams are stone-cold killers when it comes to business. So when the ask comes in, it can range from a carrot to a stick and everything in between.

“Along with the threat of ‘Oh, we’ll just find another song if you won’t give us x percent,’” Warren says, “there’s been some pretty intense bullying about my lack of worth to a project — and how I should feel lucky [to be involved], and how it makes perfect sense that this artist should get this much publishing based on who they are. And then they threaten that they’re never going to work with me again.”

Gurka, who manages Warren and several other songwriters, chimes in, “This isn’t just Emily, this is happening across my roster. And something that highlights how normalized it’s become is actually the opposite of what she just described: I often hear, ‘Your client is so amazing, they’re one of our favorite writers and we know the value that they bring, but now our artist has to promote the song for a year so we need 15% or we’re gonna have to find another song,’” he sighs. “I can’t tell if that’s better or worse.”

One veteran songwriter who has worked with several major artists now sees through the velvet-glove approach. “Stars are very charismatic, and they know how to use it to get what they want,” the songwriter says. “You don’t want to believe they’re ripping you off, and even when it’s obvious that they are, it’s easy to blame it on the manager or the A&R — after all, being the bad guy is part of their job.”

Another songwriter adds, “A lot of the time, you’re not supposed to talk about this stuff with the artist. If you do, you’re being ‘negative’ and might not get invited back. The manager will say, ‘Oh, the artist wants you to do them this favor.’”

Another adds, “I’ve had situations where writing the song was a great experience — and then I’ve been treated just horribly. Even if you get the credit on a hit, the surrounding bullshit and disrespect is what hurts.”

That songwriter also spoke of not receiving featured billing on a hit that they cowrote and sang on, because of what the artist described as “the look” — although it was unclear whether the songwriter didn’t suit the artist’s profile, or whether the artist was trying to appear to have the lion’s share of the creativity. The songwriter stressed that they were satisfactorily compensated financially in this situation, although not in terms of credit.

“Stars have a different chemistry, they live in a different reality from everyone else,” the songwriter says. “A lot of them get addicted to power and money and credit, and they want it all. It’s like an addiction, or a disease.”

* * *

However, even some of the most experienced people Variety spoke with question the degree to which the artists are involved or even aware of the practice — “Nah, [this or that artist] would never do that,” more than one of them said — and it’s not hard to imagine less-experienced or less business-savvy artists glossing over such details during a long meeting. Tiffany Red, who has written hits for Jennifer Hudson, Fantasia, Jason Derulo and Zendaya, says, “You can picture a manager pointing to a line on a statement and saying to some 20-year-old singer, ‘That’s the publishing percentage you get on the song,’ and if there are any questions: ‘That’s the way it works.’

“I think the artists are either super-greedy or super-green,” she continues. “And a lot of people starting out don’t know any better, and are scared to say no.”

Another songwriter adds, “I’m sure a lot of artists aren’t aware of the ways they’re being leveraged and bartered.”

But on the flip side, some songwriters feel that even less-traditional methods of collaboration deserve credit: Autumn Rowe, who has worked with Lipa, Jesse McCartney, Lindsey Stirling and many young singers, says she usually is happy to share with artists who were in the room at the time of the song’s creation. “The type of writing I do is quite personal to an artist, and often their stories inspire me,” she says. “I’ve written with a lot of teenagers and it’s their first session, so they’re not confident writers yet. They give me their vulnerability, and there’s no way I would have written those songs without them. If it’s a 16-year-old telling me about being bullied and I put that into the song, I would feel weird if that type of openness didn’t get something in return.”

At the same time, she’s very upfront about the steep financial challenges songwriters face. “The industry just doesn’t understand how hard it is to be just a writer,” Rowe says, noting that there’s usually no salary and many expenses aren’t covered. “You often have to pay for your own travel, and a lot of the time you end up working for free,” she adds; multiple writers cited weeks-long writing sessions that only produced a couple of songs that ended up being recorded — or none.

Warren and nearly all of the writers who spoke with Variety stressed that they’re not opposed to cutting deals — “but this straight-up stealing, taking publishing without giving anything in return, has got to stop,” she says. “It’s important to say that we all recognize how important the artists and managers and labels and everyone is to our careers and our lives — we’re not interested in slamming artists, we’re just tired of not getting that same recognition and respect in return.”

One solution suggested by a songwriter manager is for labels to refuse to release a song until the songwriting splits are confirmed — a practice that is currently in place for production credits. An artist manager proposed a regulatory protocol mandating a 5% publishing share for artists on songs by outside writers that they record, although that suggestion that was met by some songwriters with a wry, “Sounds great — does that mean they won’t ask for 20% anymore?”

The Pact has a steep battle ahead of it: Not only are they railing against a lucrative and long-established industry practice, since their stance effectively pits one set of writers against another, top songwriting and publishing organizations have shied away from officially endorsing it; only the comparatively grass-roots Songwriters of North America has made a statement in its support.

“Everybody knows about this: managers, labels, publishers, lawyers, everybody,” one top writer says. “I’m not naming artists’ names unless I can throw their teams under the bus, too.”

Another is less diplomatic, calling for artists to “give back the publishing they took.” The writer says, “If people start naming names, an awful lot of artists will have a lot of answering to do.”

https://variety.com/2021/music/news/dirty-business-hit-songwriting-1234946090