#I wonder if Carl knows all he has done to shape history

[possum-socks]

massive shoutout to carl for giving us the most iconic shadow voice without even knowing it

(interview with jason griffith talking about his work as a VA, timestamp 2:00)

transcript:

[jason talking about his inspiration for auditions]

Jason: I don’t remember if Shadow sounded different from the beginning of when I started voicing Shadow to the time that I was canned, but he was based on a roommate that I had named Carl; and Carl would always- (now in shadow/carl voice) He’d always wanna talk about the book he was writing, and he’d smoke cigarettes at eight in the morning, and Carl worked the third shift so as soon as I was waking up he was coming home: “hey man.” And so I based Shadow on him when they asked me to audition for Shadow. I immediately knew- I’m like oh, this is Carl.

[popculturebuffet]

Carl Barks: Back to the Klondike Review: Blinkus of the Thinkus

Welcome one and all! If your a longtime reader of this blog, you know I love a good birthday celebration, having started with my first year reviewing animation last year with Donald’s and deciding to do Mickey and Scrooge’s later that year. But since I misseda  LOT of disney birthdays, and found several Non-disney birthdays and anniversaries I just gotta celebrate, this year i’m making it up and style and have a whole calender set up to tack these big milestones to the wall. So over the year expect tributes to the greats of disney, looney tunes, and mgm both behind and in front of the scenes, as well as to various shows I like. It’s gonna be a good time. 

So to start us off, it’s only fitting my first duck birthday since Scrooge, is for the love of his life and the stealer of his wallet, Glittering Goldie O Gilt! And I felt the best way to celebrate this storied day was to go back to her very FIRST apperance, one of earliest Scrooge headlined comics and a forever fan faviorite, Back to the Klondike!

But before we get into that, a little history on our gal in gold. Goldie was created for this story by comics god, the late great Carl Barks. Barks ended up just using her once, which is a shame but understandable as he probably only thought of her for that one adventure. While some characters like Gyro ended up being used again and again he probably just didn’t have any more stories in mind for her and figured Scrooge would return to her one day or he wouldn’t, but it wasn’t up to him.  Fans however loved the character, her feisty dynamic with scrooge, and the fact she brought out his good side, so naturally other writers would bring her back. In paticular Barks Superfan Don Rosa cemented her as the love of his life and wrote several more stories with her, fleshing out their backstory and saying that at least in his personal canon, Scrooge retired to spend his final years with her. And while his fanboy was clearly showing, and that can end nasitly just ask Dan “Hates Wally West because he’s not barry allen” DiDio, glad he’s gone.. Rosa’s work with goldie is an example of what happens when it’s done right. Less DiDio or Bendis and more Al Ewing. Using the continuity and what’s there to build on a character who deserved better.. to me that’s one of the BEST things you can do in comics and Rosa’s work is proof of that, ironing out the.. questionable elements we’ll get to and leaving the gold in.  So Rosa’s work combined with Ducktales not only adapting this story but bringing Goldie back a few times after that has elevated the character to a storied and permenat part of the duck canon, with her excellent heavily revamped Reboot counterpart currently carrying the torch with the help of the wonderful Allison Janey, perfect casting there. So with a legacy of gold behind her, let’s take a look at where it’s started and see if it still glitters after all these years under the cut. 

We begin our story at the Money Bin. Scrooge has been counting his money.. but has already forgotten, and forgot where he put the slip he wrote the number on and even forgets who Donald is when he shows up until Donald, while having some fun with him as Scrooge is trying to phone him while he’s right there. As for how he got into the most secure place in the bin.. the story actually answers that both worringly and hilariously: Scrooge left the door unlocked.  Naturally he’s not happy about this and Donald states the simple solution: Go see a doctor something’s CLEARLY very wrong, and the fact this could possibly be something like Demntia is VERY bad for someone who runs a zillion dollar company. Scrooge of course scoffs at “wasting his precious money” But Donald not only points out the obvious, that two bucks now saves him from having someone rob EVERYTHING, but Scrooge’s attempt to tie a string around his finger.. instead triggers a trap. And this entire sequence is decent with some good gags.. it’s just hampered a bit by making light of something that’s kinda bad. Not old people forgetting things.. but an old person with a disease as we find out forgetting things. Not helping is I laughed at first at the gags.. till I remembered a kind, old, friend of the family who had it and forgot me entirely by the end. So yeah, not the worst gags and the boxing glove and donald bits aren’t terrible, but it hurts now my brain’s made that connection. 

Our heroes head to the doctor’s office where Scrooge is diagnosed with... 

That.. might be the best name for a fictional illness i’ve ever heard in my life.. just inching out “Brain Cloud” and “Whale Cancer”. Still not the most SENSITIVE gag.. but it was the 50′s and mental issues weren’t given a lot of respect. IT’s why the above sequence and this whole part of the plot dosen’t scuttle things: It’s not the most repsectful.. but it wasn’t a time where these things were givne proper respect, treatment or knowledge, so barks wasn’t being an insentive douche on purpose, he just didn’t know. It dosen’t make it 100% okay btu it dosen’t wreck the story like say his blatant racist caractures in Voodoo Hoodoo. Seriously that’s.. not okay, and given he’s the kind of guy who researched locations he used, unlike with mental illness i expect BETTER of him than most men at the time. Still respect the guy, but it dosen’t mean i’ll overlook the fact he made some pretty bad mistakes. Same way while I love and miss Stan Lee I won’t ignore his blatant sexisim or racisim towards Chinese and Vitamise people. You CAN like a creator even if their work has some questionable and unjustifable elements, times do change and people do mamke mistakes when their young. It just depends on exactly WHAT they did or wrote that makes that distinctoin.  So on that bombshell, Scrooge is given medication after a needle gag. He needs to take his pills every 12 hours. It’s then he starts to remember something, mubling abotu skagway, goldie and dawson and telling Donald to get the boys, their going to Alaska! Once they get on the boat Scrooge explains: he remembered thanks to the medcince he left a stash of gold nuggets there from his prospecting days.. and part of why this story ended up being one of the single most important to Scrooge’s character. While it establishes some character traits, something I dind’t realize till wikipedia pointed it out, it also establishes Scrooge’s days as a prospector. While other things made him what he was and got him to that point as Don Rosa would later flesh out, it was his days in the yukon that, for better or worse defined who he is now and shaped him into the man he is today: Tough, fair, badass as all hell, mean as the devil and richer than god.  This time would be used a lot to set up stories, which made sense as it was the cleast and most agreed upon part of his past by all writers, and him at his abosltuely peak physically and mentally and the gold rush motif of the time perfectly fits someone defined by being rich. It’s also honestly nice that the Yukon is used, as Canada sometimes gets lost in the shuffle wise and hell until reading life and times I gneuinely had no idea what the Yukon was or where Calvin was headed when he and hobbes ran away from home. 

Scrooge also first mentions Goldie and while clearly remembering her fondly.. goes into a rant about her howing him a thousand dollars which has compounded to a billion the second the boys catch on he was sweet on her with Donald assuming he’s just not a good person. But this is really just setting up another vital part of his character and the other thing: his heart. Before he’d been show as a pretty heartless, greedy asshole. While the previous story, Only a Poor Old Man, had softened him up a bit, this is the first to show that beneath the pile of greed and mean lurks a decent human being. Just don’t tell anyone or he’ll throw his money at you.. then tell you to bring it back to him. It’s what makes the character who he is: he’s cruel, onrey and selfish.. but he CAN care when the chips are down and can do the right thing.. as we’ll see later. 

God I love the little poems Bill Watterson would put in the books. I didn’t as much as a kid, but god I do now. Anyways before our heroes can get going Yukon Ho, they stop in Skagway for suplies before heading out, Scrooge softing at taking a plane as “Soft” and him and the nephews hiking a week.. before running into the same flying service again, and finding out Scrooge OWNS it and forgot, because being scrooge he forgot to take his meds. Something I can relate to and i’m not proud of as staying on them is important to my well being. Seriously always take your meds. Unless their not working for you then talk with your doctor to get new ones. 

So we arrive in Dawson, as our heroes will have to walk rest of the day Scrooge takes the boys to the Black Jack Ballroom, which used to be a hot spot and was where he met Goldie for the first time. After another covering for his reminscing with greedy bollocks, he tells the boys the story.. one that was cut from the original printing despite introducing goldie and something the editors dind’t bother to tell carl till they berated him over trying to sneak a blackjack saloon and a kidnapping in there... and to them, or their long dead skeletons probably, I say. 

Yeah not wanting that in a kids story, while bollocks, tha’ts their perogative.. not having him send in replacement pages to keep story flow.. is dickish and underestimates kids intellegence as Don Rosa, while loving the story felt something was off till he saw the missing pages years later thanks to a fellow fan. So yeah kids, and adults, into the work noticed. Nice job. Again I can’t BLAME them for not wanting Scrooge to be a kidnapper as we’ll see and Don Rosa had to massage the hell out of that, but I can blame them for not caring enough to fix the obvious hole int he story. Though it’s now complete and unabriged and has been since the 80′s so there's that. 

So in a nutshell Scrooge came to town for a coffee, and while the bartender ignored him he didn’t once he plunked down his goose egg nugget, what made his fortune and one of Scrooge’s most treasured possessions. It’s here we meet Goldie. 

Yup.. just in case you thought her being a thief and greedy as hell was a new thing, and I kinda forgot how much, she dirves for the nugget, has Coffee with scrooge.. and drugs it, but makes the mistake of NOT clearing town, so Scrooge fights his way through the ballroom to her, gets the nugget back, forces her to sign the money for the iou he spent.. and then uh.. kindaps her to force her to work on his claim for 50 cents to try and teach her how to work honestly. 

Yeahhhh as I said Don Rosa tried his best to fix this , and did so in his final story, which we’ll get to some day, revealing Goldie had a shot gun on her the whole time and was going along entirely to find out where Scrooge’s claim was. That.. actually makes more sense with the character and is far less horrifying and Scrooge finds this out fairly quick, so them forming an attraction out of this becomes 100% more plausable. So yeah good on Don Rosa for fixing the implications here. I may give out on him from time to time.. but he is a genuinely talented writer and did what a good comic book writer in an established continuity should do: update elements so they aren’t so... eugguuhhh after they become horrifingly outdated. And look YES she did do horrible shit to him.. but you still can’t kidnap someone over that. just put her in jail. What was any of that. 

Anyways Scrooge HAS been taking his medicine, and proves it by showing the boys his pills and the next day they head to Scrooge’s old claim.. only someone’s living there and using it, and his old cabin.. and a shot gun. Yeah so they aren’t getting through in the day what about the night.. well they get attacked by Blackjack, who turns out to be owned by the claim jumper.. and is also you know a bear> And Donald left his back in new quackmore so their outmatched. 

So outgunned and outplanned, if not outnumbered or outmanned, our heroes make a camp fire and whiel Donald again suggests the obvious, call the police.. Scrooge can’t. He didn’t pay taxes on the claim so he’s technically jumping his own claim and techincally she has a right to it. So techncially.. Scrooge is the bad guy here as he left the money here, didn’t pay his taxes and didn’t ever come back for it. Still beats trying to terrify your nephews or deny orphans a train because your an asshole buffet. 

So the next morning Scrooge dosen’t want to rush her because “We Daren’t Get Rough with an old woman”. Two things.. 1... think before you put images in my head scrooge.. brrrrrrrrr. I mean Goldie. is not in the best shape in thie story as you’ll see and neither are you. In the reboot sure you two kept up a lot better but here.

And it’s not even an old people thing. Ann Margret was still fine so fine by the time of Grumpy Old Men, not to get creepy jut to prove i’m not being ageist. For a still alive example Keith David is also still a smokeshow at the tender age of 64. So yeah, not an age thing just not these paticular old people. 

But they need a plan so the boy suggest luring the bear into a trap with honey. Donald and Scrooge build the cage while the boys.. find the jar of honey. 

Regardless since the boys won’t do it for what Scrooge pays and neither will donald Scrooge goes to lure the bear with the honey. Once that’s done, and Scrooge is being covered with honey and licked by a bear...

So while he washes that off, the boys come up with another plan: they run around back while Donald makes noise to draw Goldie’s fire, with that being Dewey’s plan to meet her since he’s figured this out already. But Goldie has a backup plan and when she figures out they disabled Blackjack unleashes mosquitos... ugh. Having been stung like hornets about 50 times in animal crossing I feel you boys. So while Scrooge and Donald run off naked... troy if you will. 

Thank you Troy, the boys confront Goldie who reveals her identity... and that she’s broke, her dance hall having failed with the rush and this claim being all she has.. and her suspecting scrooge woudl gladly take it. The boys vow not to tell scrooge.. but he’s on his way so they kinda have to and he primps to go visit and Donald starts to see through his BS about collecting the debt. Sure enough despite being taken aback by her putting on her old dress , he takes her for all she has and is.. genuinely suprised as she thought she’d have more and she’d actually changed since the old days, donating her profits to orphans from mining disasters. Scrooge.. is clearly rattled by this. Whiel it turns out to my shock he was clealry after the money, though givne who we’re dealing with I shoudln’t of been really, he still cares and still realizes he’s being kind of a dick. So he challengers her to a gold digging race, and if she wins the claim is hers and any gold she finds.. and naturally, while he seemingly puts her soemwhere where there isn’t she finds the claim and Scrooge bemoans not taking his pill.. but while the boys boo him for it, Goldie who fondly waves them off and Donald know better: Donald points out he counted the pills this morning.. and recently. SCrooge DID take one today... he’s just has his cane shoved firmly up his ass with pride so he coudln’t ADMIT he was wrong and instead simply staged that whole thing with the full knowledge Goldie would win. It, again, sets up one of his defniing traits; how he keeps people at arms length. How he’s just so proud and full of himself he can’t bear to admit anything resembling weakness.. but WILl find a way to do the right thing without that or forgoe it as a last resort. He may project being a stingy cretionus old man.. because he is.. but he’s got a heart as big as that nugget.. it’s just locked tight in it’s own bin... his body is complicated and weird that way Final Thoughts:

This story is a classic with a decent setup, great backstory for scrooge, and a great guest character and unquestionable impact on the character. However.. it does have it’s problem; As Don Rosa, who as i’ll remind you is both a huge barks fanboy and huge scoldie shipper, himself pointed out he wrote his final story, and had planned to for years ENTIRELY because this one never quite explains how Scrooge and Goldie went from old enmies to lovers.It did lead to one of his best stories and one of the first I read post life and times so, props to that. And of course as I pointed out some things have just.. not aged well, especially the kidnapping so their relationship kinda comes off like stockholm syndrom as a result of both of these. 

That being said.. warts and all.. it’s still a really damn good story and a good one to try if your intrested in barks work or where Goldie came from: it has adventure, some really good jokes and if you can get past the dated bits the plot is solid. And while it goes without saying i’ll say it anyway Barks art is goregous as always ESPECIALLY in the flashback sequence. Overall not the best AGED Scrooge story, though not the worst either see Voodoo Hoodoo, good god, but defintely a classic for a reason.  If you liked this review, follow me for more, and for more duck content as I still have more of the three cablleros to work through, another chapter of life and times coming up this week befor ewe break again for feburary, and some other fun stuff. Until the next rainbow, it’s been a pleasure. 

[mindynichole]

Okay...so it’s time to tackle Episode 10x18 and why it didn’t bother me that much.

Despite getting to watch TWD Season 10B early thanks to a forgotten AMC Premiere account, I waited an entire 24 hours before I watched 10x18 out of fear of the inevitable. 

And by now I’m sure you know exactly what I’m referring too.

However, after I did finally break down and watch it Friday evening, I was surprised that it didn’t bother me nearly as much as I thought it would. 

Some might say that’s just because of the tinfoil hat now firmly placed tightly around my head after the previous episode convinced me even more Beth Greene might just show up out of the blue one day soon to a TWD universe production near you. Okay, I’ll give you that! 

However, there are very logical reasons why I don’t feel the least bit threatened by this new woodland harlot, Leah, (I’m just joking, geesh) and I’m going to tell you what they are!

Before I begin, I want to make clear that while I’m not thrilled about the idea of Daryl being in a romantic relationship with anyone but Beth, I didn’t really even hate Leah but saw her instead as what I believe she was meant to be. On her own in another situation she probably would be a great character. However, when I have mentioned in the past that I liked this episode, I was mainly referring to the parts with Car*l. Not because I am petty and enjoyed the fight, but because I think these are conversations that Daryl and her need to be having. 

Nevertheless, here’s my take of 10X18. Consider yourself spoiler warned if you haven’t seen it yet.

Daryl was probably at the loneliest part of his life when Leah enters the picture.

Let’s take the time and set this scene a moment... 

At the point in the story when Leah first appears, Daryl has been wandering the woods for three freaking years looking for any sign of Rick’s body. 

While Daryl is away, everything he knows has changed and life has just continued to carry on without him for everyone else he loves. Rick and Carl are both long gone. Carol is busy being a wife and mother. Michonne has pretty much shut off Alexandria from everybody including Team family. Maggie left for parts unknown with Georgie and has taken little Hershel with her. 

Literally every single thing that Rick and Team Family ever tried to build during this apocalypse is shattered and everything the man has ever loved is gone. 

We also can’t forget that the person Daryl would have naturally clung to during this sad time happened to “die” before he ever stepped foot into Virgina. Therefore, Daryl is left with absolutely no one. It’s a damn miracle that he didn’t off himself and might have - had he not been so obsessed in finding Rick’s body.

Leah is Daryl’s exact mirror in female form. 

So he meets Leah after accidentally breaking into her cabin and almost immediately we can see she is literally like him looking into a mirror. Now, I’ve already read many people trying to compare her to Car*l and even Beth and while I do get what they are saying, I also disagree. This lady is no other than the female version of Daryl Dixon. He has surely found his exact match in her.

Here’s how we figure that out:

Leah is tough as nails but obviously has a heart because she doesn’t immediately kill Daryl for busting into her cabin and ultimately lets him go.

You come to find out she had abusive parents and a very shitty childhood just like Daryl.

You find out her life sucked until she found her group - who had given her not only hope but finally a real family.

Like Daryl, her life also greatly improved during the apocalypse.

It takes Leah a very long time to trust Daryl enough to even tell him her name.

You find out she had a son who was born very much like Judith was. Her “sister” died giving birth to him, causing her to raise him as her own.

Something horrible happens to the group (horde of walkers) and everyone else gets killed. She takes her son and runs to the cabin only to realize that he had been bitten and ultimately dies. 

It highly implied Leah blames herself for what happened to her family.

Like Daryl, at this point in the story Leah has lost everything she has ever loved, has sought refuge in the woods, and is completely alone.

Yet, in no way, shape, or form was Leah ever supposed to be a replacement for Beth. Instead, I believe she actually demonstrates why Bethyl worked so well.

While I’m okay with the character of Leah, she’s no Beth. Not even close. As I stated before, she is just like Daryl and that’s really the problem.

Because we need to understand the thing that made Bethyl work so well was their fundamentally different personalities fitting together like peanut butter and jelly - both perfectly fine on their own but together making the perfect combination. 

And TPTB spent a lot of time and effort back in the day showing us how much this was so.

While sometimes opposite people clash, we were shown that their different natures surprisingly completed each other very well. In other words, they were each other’s yin and yang. This was most obvious with Daryl helping Beth realize her own strength and Beth showing Daryl how to move forward. However, I could create an entire meta...and there are many that already exist out there...listing countless examples of how we saw them bringing the best out in each other. The combination of this along with their utmost (even sometimes brutal) honesty, shared history, and absolute trust in each other, created a foundation for a very healthy relationship.

In contrast, two people with nearly identical personalities and the same exact kind of unhealed trauma like Leah and Daryl, are usually not good life partners because they can hinder and get in the way of each other’s forward progress. 

While you can understand why these kinds of people gravitate together and form bonds over shared experience, resulting romantic relationships can often be rocky. Many times the shared trauma can result in both partners having the exact same kinds of problems with trust, communication, and reckless expression of feelings. There is nobody in the relationship to model different kinds of behaviors and ideas since both tend to have the same life experiences to draw upon. Instead, each serves to the other as a living testament to and as confirmation of why their negative thoughts and behaviors are correct. 

In other words, there is nobody there to throw the life preserver when both people are drowning. Nobody to even suggest to either partner a different way of doing things. 

Also, when the relationship’s foundation is based solely on shared trauma, the trauma itself can become the only thing holding the two partners together. 

This is why I never thought Daryl and Car*l would ever make good romantic partners. However, at least they have different types of personalities and kinds of trauma. Car*l is just...well Car*l - a force all on her own - and there’s nothing to suggest she ever experienced abuse in childhood. However, Leah being an exact carbon copy of Daryl gave that relationship even less of a chance.

And what I have just described seems to be exactly what we really do see happen between Daryl and Leah in Episode 10x18. I could list various examples but for time’s sake, I’m choosing not to because I am sure you can see it too - at least now that I’ve brought it up.

Just know I also believe this is why NR seemed to imply the relationship was not good in earlier preview shows.

Daryl flat out told Leah he didn’t know if he could choose her. 

As many others have already pointed out throughout the weekend, I believe the biggest difference between Daryl’s reaction to Leah and his reaction to Beth is the simple fact he really didn’t seem to  want to stay in that cabin with Leah forever. He doesn’t even seem all that upset about it either until he starts talking with Car*l later.

This drastically contrasts with the “Oh” scene with Beth. Hell, Daryl didn’t even care if the looney person who had been tending the funeral home and dressing up corpses came back! He wanted nothing more than to stay there and live happily ever after with her. There was no hesitation. 

I would go as far as to say Beth is the only person able to completely divert Daryl's attention away from the rest of his family - much like she did when he spotted the Grady car and began his pursuit. However, Beth would never even ask such a thing - because not only is it her family too - but also because Beth was much too unselfish to let Daryl make those kinds of choices.

So you might ask yourself why he changed his mind in the end and made him decide to go back to Leah?

I believe he makes this choice because of the conversation with Car*l. She basically tells him that everyone else has found their place and it is time for him to find his place too. It begins to slowly eat at Daryl how they have all moved on without him. It’s important to remember that by this time in the story, he’s pretty much done scouring the river for Rick. He’s already checked out that “one last place” he hadn’t been. So now he’s beginning to ponder Car*l’s words and wondering where his place is now? Where does he go from here? It’s logical to think maybe he’s supposed to be in those woods with Leah after all.

Daryl and Leah’s relationship doesn't seem to leave much of a lasting impression or effect on Daryl.

Don’t get me wrong, I believe Daryl most definitely cared about Leah. Yet, we can’t forget how we first found Daryl all those years later after the time jump in Episode 9X6.

If you remember right, Daryl still wasn’t doing all that great. His relationship with Leah apparently does absolutely nothing to change his outlook on anything. 

In comparison, we all know what just a few short weeks - perhaps a couple of months - in the woods with Beth Greene does to Daryl Dixon. It changes his character profoundly! 

Daryl might have went back to Leah at the time...BUT he made it crystal clear to C*rol that he knows where he belongs NOW. That’s what the entire fight between them was really about.

There is a line that Daryl spits out during his fight with Car*l that sums up exactly why he wasn’t able to give up everything and stay with Leah. He tells Car*l that he knows where his place is…and he’s referring to being with his family at Alexandria. He’s angry that she doesn’t seem to understand that it’s where her place is as well.

AK later points this line out on TTD as important too. In fact, she literally states that his relationship with Leah is purely in the past and they will not go there again. It is rare for a showrunner to flat out proclaim something like this. It means she felt it was important for the audience to understand that this was done.She also points out that the fight is really about how sick Daryl is of Carol running away every time things get extremely difficult.

I would go a step further and say that Daryl is probably projecting what he now realizes was going on with himself when he was wandering the woods and choosing to stay there with Leah all those years ago. He’s upset with himself for having done so and he’s upset with Car*l that she has yet to have come to the same conclusion.

Ps: Be on the lookout for another post - a part two of sorts - later this week detailing all the things I’m still tinkering in my mind about this episode! ;)

Until then, keep calm and Bethyl on! She’s coming soon...

[aion-rsa]

Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 Episode 10 Review: Terra Firma, Part 2

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This Star Trek: Discovery review contains spoilers for Season 3, Episode 10

Ever since Star Trek: Discovery jumped forward in time, we’ve all been wondering exactly how Michelle Yeoh’s Emperor Philippa Georgiou was ever going to manage to launch a Section 31 spin-off, if her character was stuck 900 years in the future with the rest of the crew. Many of us likely assumed that the show couldn’t possibly go forward, given the current status quo of Discovery itself. We were apparently all very wrong about that.

“Terra Firma, Part 2” is not just an action-packed conclusion to last week’s Mirror Universe cliffhanger, but a surprise sendoff for the complex villain turned at least vague antiheroine. In it, Georgiou is ultimately found worthy of what is essentially a third chance at a new beginning and is sent back to a time in which her former universe and her current one existed close enough to one another for her to survive without her body breaking into pieces. (Since the show has very obviously underscored that that point is around when we last saw the Discovery, it seems likely that’s where she’s headed and where our future spin-off will take place.)

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That this all occurs thanks to the intervention of the Guardian of Forever, the apparently omniscient sentient time portal that first appeared in The Original Series episode “The City on the Edge of Forever,” is just the icing on the cake of a well-done story that continues to show us the creative ways in which Discovery is willing to embrace and interrogate its own history. (Sorry, Carl, I too kind of thought you were Q at first – or at least a distant relative. My bad!)

Read more

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Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 Episode 9 Easter Eggs & References

By Ryan Britt

TV

Did Star Trek: Discovery’s Georgiou Just Create a New Timeline?

By Ryan Britt

The idea that Georgiou is being tested by way of being sent back to her former life and weighed by the decisions she makes with the knowledge she’s gained since she left it is a sci-fi trope as old as time. And it’s a testament to how far Georgiou has come as a character that we now actually feel confident that she’ll make better choices this time, even if she tries to impart many of these new lessons through her old learned ways of violence and pain. Perhaps her assumption that she can torture things like optimism and hope into her wayward daughter is something she’ll need to work on in future. Just a suggestion.

Discovery’s Mirror Universe is so over the top that it’s all still fun to watch, even if it’s often the furthest thing from subtle. From the gleefully murderous Captain Tilly (my queen!) gleefully torturing Michael to Michael mercilessly killing her former allies, there’s a lot of next level darkness here. But there’s also a surprising amount of heart. Georgiou’s recounting of her response to Michael’s childhood night terrors is an unguarded glimpse into the woman she used to be – one that was actually not entirely monstrous, was capable of kindness, and who existed well before she encountered the idealistic, well-meaning crew of the U.S.S. Discovery.

Her embrace of the Mirror Universe Saru, who is a slave, doesn’t end with her saving him from a grisly fate at the I.S.S. Charon dinner table. The two become something like confidants and even sort of friends, enough that this Saru sees something in her that’s worth protecting, even at the risk of his own life. That she tells him the truth about vahar’ai, though there is no obvious benefit to her in sight, is perhaps the most admirable thing she’s ever done and is a genuine sign of how far she’s come.

Perhaps it is the layers that Discovery has so painstakingly added to Georgiou that underscore how gratuitously one note Mirror Michael is, who responds to everything with rage and betrayal, who schemes because she doesn’t know how to do anything else and who only understands pain. The idea that this Michael was always doomed, that “some endings are inevitable” and the question was never whether or not this Michael survived but if Georgiou tried to do her best by her anyway, was oddly lovely.

It’s a difficult balance, softening a character like Georgiou’s without losing the jagged edges that make her so compelling and fun to watch. But Discovery has done an admirable job of it and certainly shaped her into a figure that’s capable of leading a series on her own terms. Will she ever become one of the quote-unquote good guys? Probably not. But she’s definitely not a villain anymore, either. So I look forward to seeing what’s next for this character and for Michelle Yeoh, who remains phenomenal and deserves the entire world.

But it is fair to take a moment to wonder what, precisely is going to become of Discovery without her. True, Georgiou hasn’t had nearly so much to do in Season 3, as Discovery’s focus has shifted to exploring the new version of the world they’ve found themselves in and solving the mystery of the Burn. But this is a ship full of such relentlessly idealistic do-gooders that they absolutely need someone like the Emperor, whose darker elements provide not just balance – and truly epic one liners – but a necessary alternate perspective on difficult subjects like war, death and how to survive in this considerably more brutal future.

Perhaps this episode is also meant to hint that Michael, with her simmering internal conflict about her place in this new world the crew of Discovery has found themselves in, will become more of that morally grey figure, who pushes boundaries, makes hard choices and questions authority. But Georgiou’s blunt forthrightness is something that’s not easily replaced and that, ultimately, this series will truly miss.

Additional Thoughts

Truly, I held out hope for a surprise Jason Isaacs sighting until the absolute last possible moment. There was so much untapped potential in Lorca for me, and he’s a character I wish this franchise would somehow find a way to go back to.

How much did I love the reversal of the series credits to reflect the Mirror Universe? Even the Terran Empire icon behind the title card!

Once again, this episode would have been better served by keeping it strictly focus on Georgiou, whether she’s in the Mirror universe or the Prime one. The need to cram in updates about what’s happening on the Discovery – outside of the impromptu wake for Georgiou that closes out the episode – just felt jarringly out of place.

The post Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 Episode 10 Review: Terra Firma, Part 2 appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[f1chronicle]

Lewis Hamilton – The Man Who Reached The Summit Of Formula 1’s Mountain

Akin to that mountain, which soars high into the skies, Lewis Hamilton stands tall amid jaw-dropping reactions in the firmament of FORMULA 1.

Lewis Hamilton Proud Of Record Achievement

It’s a sport to which Hamilton has given a decade and a half of his life. It’s a sport which has become second nature to Lewis Hamilton – a man born to race, someone we today cannot imagine the highest level of Grand Prix racing without.

The Brit was proud of what he and his team have achieved, saying ‘I think ultimately I’m just very proud of the job that I felt I was able to do today and the things I was able to overcome, but also the job we have done collectively as a team and it’s just reminiscent of the beginning when I joined the team, the decision I took to join the team and what we have done since.

‘I knew that we would win championships. Did I think we would win as many as we have? No. Did I think we would win this many races? Of course not. But it is a phenomenal time for us and the great thing is that it’s not just me that is living with the history, it’s the whole team and I think everyone acknowledges and realises how much they are part of it, so I feel incredibly grateful to my teammates.

‘To Valtteri, for being the contender he is, the team-mate he is, for pushing the team forwards – we’re generally rowing in the same direction whilst we are competing, and it’s been a privilege to work with him. So what a time to be alive.’

Lewis Hamilton Has Excelled Since Day 1

To a sport that demands excellence- Lewis Hamilton had nothing else but excellence on offer, arriving at the 2007 World Championship curtain-raiser: the 2007 Australian Grand Prix (18 March) where he earned a P3.

In so doing, Lewis immediately proved his mettle for his McLaren team. But was that easy to do- with Kimi and Alonso being at their devastating best back then? It’s anybody’s guess.

Thirteen years hence, as Lewis Hamilton finds his name against arguably the most amazing record in Formula 1- nothing’s really changed.

Back then- he was hanging out on or around the podium, scoring nine back-to-back (podiums) in his maiden year in Formula 1 alone.

A few hours back, he stepped onto the podium for the 161st time in Formula 1, he’d made history; a mighty one at that.

Just how many wins can the new record holder tally? Well he won’t say the sky is the limit, but he is prepared to keep working to raise the bar higher and higher for those set to follow him.

‘I don’t believe in the saying the sky’s the limit. It’s just a saying. It depends how much we want it, how much we want to continue to raise the bar and going by our history together, just the way we work, we don’t sit back on our results, we keep working, we keep elevating.

‘Every race feels like the first one. I don’t know how that’s possible after all these races but for me it does, just as challenging as the first, and I think there is a lot more for us to do. Especially as we’re in this crazy time of the pandemic.

‘We’re in a crazy time with having to also utilise our position as a business, as a leader in the business for inclusivity, for diversity, there’s a lot of work to do. So, that keeps me inspired.

‘My team-mates, who are continuously growing, my fans who are continuously learning through this process with us all, and our sport that is slowly changing, it’s a real special time.

‘I definitely sometimes wonder, you know, jeez I’m 35 years old. I still feel physically strong but you still wonder when is it going to tip over and lose performance but showing by today it’s not yet,’ added Hamilton.

Consistency Has Been The Key

The all-time win record is a piece of history every driver whether contesting in the sport or desperate to break through to the top flight in F1- would absolutely love to script.

As Lewis Carl Hamilton crossed the line and received the checkered flag at the very tricky and truly testing Portimao-bound Portuguese Grand Prix- he scored the 92nd win of his career, the most by any F1 driver – dead or alive.

In this clip, you can see Hamilton talking about this record-setting moment with none other than Martin Brundle.

But every sport needs a hero- someone who can prove himself to be Mr. Consistency, and blaze a trail for the others to follow.

Lewis Hamilton – 161 podiums, 92 race wins, 97 pole positions, 52 fastest laps, 6 world titles – is a humble and mild-mannered one.

2020 Portuguese Grand Prix, Sunday – Lewis Hamilton (image courtesy Mercedes-AMG Petronas)

He ain’t some flickering myth that’ll burn out or fade away (He’s here to stay).

Not when at 35, making the body endure the grind for fourteen long years, and about to claim a seventh world title. And maybe go even more!

And certainly not when you’re finding much younger guys- a little over half your age- in your mirrors only for you to ply phenomenal race craft to emerge unscathed in the end – (race after race, weekend after weekend).

But Hamilton, who’s proven himself to be statistically superior than even the great Michael Schumacher, must not dwell on the lot that passes easy judgement holding little to appreciate one’s journey.

Fact is- Lewis Hamilton won from pole again and not only that, ended up delivering the grand slam of the race, including the mark for fastest lap.

Dominant Display In Portugal

At the Portuguese Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton briefly lost the lead a few laps since the start. It didn’t matter, however.

He was soon dictating terms from the very front of the grid with usual Hamilton-esque guts.

‘When I come to these races I never think of the numbers. I just never let it enter into my thought process. Today was really about… we’re at this track, it’s very, very smooth, you see the struggle we’re all having with the tyre temperatures, so towards the end of the race I was thinking about what I will and won’t say in terms of what is appropriate to say and not to say but ultimately it’s no secret, I think today was about tyre temperature.

‘I felt through the race that I was learning, lap on lap, more about the circuit. I was trying lots of different lines and discovering new lines that worked well. The wind direction was very, very tricky, I think, today, lots of crosswinds, headwinds and tailwinds and there were some positions that you could utilise to your favour and others that kind-of get in the way.

‘I think the key is the times when you have a tailwind, it’s minimising the loss through those stages. Set-up was something that I really focussed on. It was less about qualifying set-up, and more for the race set-up and I think today that enabled me to go one better, I guess, than before.

‘I just felt like I was generally getting faster and faster throughout the race – but I had to keep up the pace for these tyres. That was really the key,’ added the race winner.

But implicit in the journey of the most successful driver in F1’s history (race wins wise👏) is respect. That which he gives to his competitors on the grid. That which he himself earns as a result of feverish consistency.

It’s easy to lose ones head at the highest annals of Grand Prix racing. But very difficult to keep winning despite having at one’s disposal – the fastest or most complete car on the grid.

Hamilton Almost Faultless Throughout F1 Career

Why Hamilton must be respected is because despite having the best of both worlds- the most powerful machine and ample manpower- he hasn’t put a foot wrong in Formula 1.

This isn’t to say he didn’t err – there was the controversial pit lane entry despite the window not being open, and the ignorance of yellow flags in another event (earlier this season)- but Hamilton’s driver errors have been few and far between.

He did, as a matter of fact, collide twice with Albon (Red Bull) in the space of one year- starting with Brazil 2019 and then, the 2020 Austrian GP- but Hamilton won’t spin, won’t slide off the track and won’t self capitulate.

We’ve seen a magnificent champion in Sebastian Vettel make more errors than probably any other man on the grid in the past half a decade period; an onerous length of time during which Hamilton’s performances grew to the size of a shape-shifting beast: hard to ignore, even harder to beat.

Still, what would you put it all down to- these eight race wins in 12 starts in 2020? Isn’t it a precise combination of smooth race craft and next-to-faultless car control?

Hamilton The Ultimate Competitor

On top of it, Lewis Hamilton seems an athlete that just won’t budge; the more difficult the circumstances- the more he challenges himself.

Earlier this year, at the landmark British Grand Prix, Hamilton won with three tires, having suffered a front-left failure thanks to horrible delamination in the final lap of the race.

The bad news was, Max was closing in- just six seconds behind. The good news was- Lewis wasn’t going to give up.

In 2019, a year where perhaps Mercedes’ domination of the grid was arguably the most ruthless – the team winning eight back-to-back races- Lewis enjoyed the upper hand over Bottas until Verstappen’s race win at Austria halted the driver’s marauding charge.

It wasn’t Valtteri but Lewis who won four back-to-back races before Max’s mad run at Spielberg changed the narrative somewhat, the Briton picking up big wins at Spain, Monaco, Canada and France.

Yet, ever wondered why we credit Lewis Hamilton. Is it just the magnanimous success and that instinct for domination?

Perhaps suffice to say, there’s a Lewis Hamilton the benevolent observer who resides in the heart of the man who wants to and does drive like a champion all year around.

The Hamilton v Vettel Rivalry

At the 2019 Singapore GP- an event we’d have loved to see this year too- the warmest congratulatory message to the race winner arrived from the man who finished fourth.

As Sebastian Vettel, occupied in arguably his most important post-race interview was about to conclude, a warm tap on the shoulder arrived from behind.

As Vettel turned immediately to see who that was, he was greeted by the most affectionate smile from none other than his closest rival on the grid, one to whom the German had played too often the vanquished (than he’d have liked) in the previous seasons- Lewis Hamilton!

What a beautiful tiny moment that was featuring two guys who were daggers drawn at each other at Azerbaijan 2017, you thought.

But that’s precisely where we owe much credit to the fighting duo.

The sport, with every passing decade, has birthed new heroes and presented personalities.

But it’s very hard to deny that had Hamilton and Vettel not pushed one another to the absolute limit- evident closely in races like Hungary 2017, British GP 2018, 2018 German GP, 2018 Belgian GP, among a few more- we wouldn’t have seen two stars burning brightly in the F1 galaxy.

Stars who remember to respect one another despite occasional on-field scuffles.

That the two twinkle lends substance to a sport that can’t function minus its shining lights, one of whom has become a mighty planet.

He was once a kid, not even a boy who took to Karting pushed by his doting dad.

Today that same kid from Stevenage (who sat in a kart at the best of his father) has grown into a global icon despite all odds.

Little wonder then it’s Lewis Hamilton who says – Still We Rise!!

Take a bow champion. Take a bow.

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[alisonpoonresearch]

Troublemakers: The Story of Land Art

Troublemakers: The Story of Land Art (2015) Directed by James Crump [Film]. USA: Summitridge Pictures

“Beginning in the mid-1960s, a group of artists working primarily in New York City began to take up land as a subject but also as a material in the practice of their art. Sharing overlapping interests with minimal and conceptual art, these radical pioneering land artists sought to transcend the limitations of classical painting and sculpture and the orthodox parameters of making art for the traditional gallery space. These artists sought to make work on a monumental scale in the vast and desolate desert spaces of the American South West. Today these works remain impressive for their audacity and ambition.” - James Crump

Gallery vs Outdoors / Scale

“Everybody viewed themselves as an explorer." - Charles Ross

“They were looking for a larger canvas to work on.” - Virginia Dwan

“The idea of Land Art is related to the idea of the globe. Especially after the spaceship and the first picture of the Earth give you the idea that our Earth is an object. So the idea of these artist after 1963 is that you can shape something which is a sphere. Another element which changed the vision of art was flying by airplane, so looking from the high level is changing the perspective of your knowledge about art, because you have the sphere which is the Earth and you can design on it you can draw. The aerial view is a change in the history of art." - Germano Celant

Gallery

“The artist was retaliating against the gallery, that them moving away from the gallery and out into the West was an anti-gallery statement that they were making.” - Virginia Dwan

“And we really thought that the work we were doing would end galleries.” - Vito Acconci

“My personal experience was that Land Art or Earth Art was not an anti-gallery statement or anti-gallerist statement, but that wide open space was really what they were looking for and found. No gallery or museum could possibly do what the open space does for the individual, the viewer, the experiencer.” - Virginia Dwan

“For the first time one has to be part of and go into the actual art object. In this case Michael Heizer’s Double negative and Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty one can walk on out on. The Lightning Field of Walter De Maria’s. We become a part of the piece as we view it.” - Virginia Dwan

“The idea of Michael and Walter to be in the piece and not to be an aerial view. I think the piece has to control you and not you control the piece. Otherwise it becomes an object, and they refuse that. If you take the aerial view of double negative which is ok but become an object, you control the object. While you are inside you are taken by the wall.” - Germano Celant

When Attitudes Become Form, Bern 1969

“It was a very prophetic show. It really was not so much works that had been done but works that artists dreamed of, so it was a show in a way of artists dreams.” - Carl Andre (WHICH SHOW)

“There is no huge amount of space in Europe. The idea of walking for hours and not seeing anybody which is impossible. So the idea of spending time in a naturalistic landscape is kind of appealing for us Europeans. The function of Europe was very important because it was the first to recognise American Art of this kind.”- Germano Celant

“Actually the idea to go outside the building was again typical of artists that were already involved in the outdoor work. There was no way they can do something inside coming from the vision of the landscape and actually to go against the construction of the street which is the tar and destroying it and finding Earth.” - Germano Celant

“This is very unimportant compared to the idea. If I do this piece in Amsterdam or I do this piece in New York it’s exactly the same piece even though it may look a little different- a different kind of wall it’s still the same piece. See I don’t have to do it, somebody else can do it. It’s not a precious unique object, what it is is a unique idea. But in being a unique idea it has 50 or 60 or 100 different representations and each time it’s new. I like the idea that you can’t insure the work and you can’t lose it. You can’t damage it, nothing can happen to it. It’s there forever and that’s all.�� - Lawrence Weiner

“Heizer for example, to dig his holes, he took the engagement to be a sculptor who makes holes, objects in the desert. It was really the process of the work, the motion, the attitude, it wasn’t about the form, it was about the content.” - Harald Szeemann

“Coming to Europe you have some kind of constrain because of bureaucracy in Europe, control and so on. Michael Heizer cancelled one piece because it was not well done enough for him and it was too small. Scale I think is a very important element that Europe doesn’t have.” - Germano Celant

Michael Heizer

The son of an archaeologist, Michael Heizer was one of the first artists known practicing in the new genre of Earthworks.

“Michael was a real pioneer for the desert, he also was the one that lived there.” -  Gianfranco Gorgioni

“Double Negative is really a scar of a kind, an intrusion of nature, an assault of some sort. It’s as though a surgeon took an exploratory cut of a mesa to show its innards.” - Michael Heizer

Virginia Dwan was a huge supporter of the Earthworkers and she helped to fund many projects, including Michael Heizer’s Double Negative in Nevada. 

“The work which is 1800 feet across, it involved two maces- actually its cut from one side to the next mace and there is an indentation between. And the indentation is also part of the work and that involves dirt that was pushed from these two big cuts into the centre so that the drop is part of it as well.” - Virginia Dwan

“Negative was about using areas of volume but defined space and then even compounding it and that’s what double negative meant. It was compound, it wasn’t just using space as something but it was a doubling up in a compound affirmation of that application. That was metaphysics.” - Michael Heizer

“I think all large sculptures have been technically difficult for all people who ever built. I haven’t tried to surpass that scale, I simply tried to keep pace with it. It’s a historical scale. I think that it’s normal and natural to build a sculpture of this measurement at this time.” - Michael Heizer

“I was interested in metaphysics and the idea of making sculpture, which I thought at the time sculpture needed to be reinvented in the sense that you could redefine the physical properties of mass and stuff like that and that was part of that creative time and that type of thinking." - Michael Heizer

Walter De Maria

Lightning Field, 1977

Robert Smithson

“It was something infernal, it was something other-worldly but I hesitate to say hell… the feeling of aloneness and of it being in a place that was unsafe and something devilish, something devilish there.” - Virginia Dwan

“The way I saw Smithson, the idea was probably more important than the actual doing it. Of course you had to make the idea in some way concrete. I think Smithson always had that larger idea much more dominantly in his mind.” - Vito Acconci

“Smithson came to me at one point and said that he wanted to do work out in the open space and he and I and Nancy Holt his wife and Carl Andre made forays into New Jersey to find land to work on.” - Virginia Dwan

“He liked the Jersey meadows because it was a dump land. He lived on the hill right above the Jersey meadows -that’s where he grew up.” - Carl Andre 

“Both Bob and I are from New Jersey, we grew up there so that it was a way of re-experiencing places that we had experienced before at a younger age and it was also a matter of unlearning a lot of sophisticated things that we had learned in our early adulthood. Getting rid of a lot of useless concepts and getting back in touch with the place, with the land, with the physical surrounds of our experience and perceiving it in a new way.” - Nancy Holt

“You have nature and when it’s tranquil and you have nature when it rages. A lot of people tend to have a Disneyland idea of nature, that somehow (you know) it’s all pastoral. And it isn’t. There are storms and there are other forces and there is an aspect of the closer you get to it that the more you develop the sense that there is… that there is a balance between what you would call tampering and things as they are but nature has a way of tampering with its seemingly solid ground.” - Robert Smithson

Dennis Oppenheim

“The art doer at that time of that kind of work that I was most interested in was Dennis Oppenheim because I think he was trying to being person in relation to nature.” - Vito Acconci

“The other thing about public art it really stands alone it’s really a star that appears at times to be totally unlinked to anything. This is both a blessing and a curse. A lot of artists find that they burned all their bridges in the gallery world and it’s wonderful and now there’s yet another world. It’s like going to Alaska is like the last point.” - Dennis Oppenheim

Nancy Holt, Sun Tunnels

“More and more it became an image in my mind that I really wanted to make. Tunnels and tunnels that you can walk through and look through. And but putting the holes into the top that are in the configuration of stars in the 4 different constellations and the holes varying in size according to the magnitude of the stars they represented. By doing that I was using the sun which is also a star and using its light, the star light shining thought the star holes and that cast a pattern of light on the bottom of the tunnels. Sort of bringing the sky down to earth or inverting the sky ground relationship. So that when you are walking in the middle of the day in the tunnels you’re walking on stars and it creates a shadowed environment with the star spots.” - Nancy Holt

Mortality / Virginia Obsession? / Dedication

“I once asked Virginia what is it that you see in this strange outrageous art that you show? And she just said obsession.” - Carl Andre

“Artists are like that, they are really crazy that way. They are obsessed, it’s an obsession.” - Virginia Dwan

“The idea of negative implied metaphysical, you know that the positive is the physicality and the absence and the negative is always dealing with death, you know in a sort of way.” - Germano Celant

Rather fittingly, the fates of some of the Land Artists seems as monumental as their works. 

“The idea to be eternal is one of the desire of artists. And about death I think all his work is about death. The risk of death is everywhere. Think about Lightning Field. First thing that Walter said is “be careful if you see a cloud, run out because it could be light coming in, you could be burned like a rabbit.” So in a certain way the idea of death, of sacrifice because means you are part of it.” - Germano Celant

“When I did a book on Michael Heizer he was on the verge of dying because all his nervous system was collapsing. So dying in the middle of the work not finished, this kind of divinity of creating something so big to die for it. To be a slave for yourself and creating our own pyramid and being buried inside. That makes the nature of the work inevitable and kind of mythological.” - Germano Celant

Avalanche Magazine

Editors: Willoughby Sharp and Liza Béar

“Willoughby followed the artists and the artists were starting to work outdoors, it didn’t have anything to do with the gallerists. It was the one nice point in time where the artists really pushed the parameters. Willhoughby decided to be dedicated to the dissemination of art information by any means possible.” - Pamela Sharp

Avalanche Magazine was an art publication set up by artist-curators, Willoughby Sharp and Liza Béar. It was published seasonally and thirteen issues were created, the first in Fall 1970 and the last in Summer 1976.

“Very few artist at these galleries get money. If Avalanche could pay the artists like… $3000 for appearing in Avalanche, then it would replace- not replace- but make a much stronger alternative to the gallery.” - Willoughby Sharp

The magazine looked at contemporary art at the time, exploring new genres and artists through articles and interviews. It did not particularly write reviews, as to keep a neutral stance, but was about getting to know the artist, their art and ideas. 

“I feel totally in competition with the galleries. That the magazine was put together as an alternative to museum and galleries.” - Willoughby Sharp

“Earth was an early focus of Willoughby Sharp. He was an artist curator. His home and his comfort zone were with the artists.” - Dennis Oppenheim

http://avalancheindex.org/

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/troublemakers_the_story_of_land_art_2016 02/02

[djrelentless]

“With My Heel On The Banana Peel Towards 50″

August 16, 2013 at 5:31am

There was time when I could not even conceive the age of 46. I remember when I turned 18 and the age of 30 seemed like a million years away. I can remember thinking that 30 was ancient. I got diagnosed as being HIV+ at the age of 23. I immediately thought that I would never see 30. So, by the time I did reach 30 I was amazed that I was still alive.

I was living in New York City, in a serious relationship and my lover at that time took me home to meet his parents in Santa Rosa, California. Probably one of the most significant birthdays I ever had. I was still alive and my boyfriend's parents threw me the best birthday party I had ever had. Actually, it was my first birthday party ever. They had phoned my lover's high school friends and organized a welcome home and birthday party for he and I. I was completely blown away that people who I had never met bought me presents and planned one of the best weeks of my life. I went sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge and around Alcatraz. We went to this wonderful amusement park on a board walk. Hell…I had lived in New York City for some years and still had not been to Coney Island. My lover's mother was just adorable and loving. Coming from such a dysfunctional family as mine, this was the closest I came to that classic TV family scene I had dreamed about.

Something amazing happened at the age of 30. All the things that I used to worry about just wasn't important anymore. I used to be afraid of what people thought about me. I was afraid that I would "catch the AIDS". I was afraid that I would never have a real relationship. Well… everything I had been afraid of had happened by the age of 30. And thus my 30's were definitely the coming-of-age years. I became a recording artist and became a member of the Screen Actors Guild. I became a real adult. I had the same phone number for years. My utilities were never shut off because of a delinquent bill. I found out the difference between business associates and close friends.

So, the idea that I have been HIV+ for more than half my life and I am still here is just amazing and such a great gift.

My husband asked me what I wanted for my birthday. I told him…"Nothing". I have more than I ever thought I would have gotten in my life. I have a loving husband and partner in life. Is he perfect? Absolutely not. No one is….but he is perfect for me. To wake up and know that I have someone who has my back and is completely devoted to me is more than I could have ever asked for. I have my health and am probably healthier than I was ten years ago. Like Maya Angelou says "When we know better, we do better." So, I know better now.

I guess one of the lesson that I learned this year is to recognize my self worth. All my life I have felt like an after thought. And I have let people treat me as such. Throw me a compliment and I have bent over backwards to get another one. Not realizing that I have created a body of work and a history of ethics when it comes to my beliefs. I had to recognize most recently that I am worth more than I gave myself credit for.

So, as I am approaching another milestone in my life. I am finally being recognized for my past work. I am presently working on a new single which will be a cover of Carl Bean's classic "I Was Born This Way" and I am about to start working with a producer who believes in my vision and words. This has never happened in my life before. I recorded with my good friend Calvin Roberts on my first projects. We were just two friends recording tracks in his bathroom that made us laugh. But I have never had anyone approach me that was interested in me and what I thought. All my other projects I was trying to get noticed. I worked for several people and club owners for many years that never recognized my talent or abilities. So, it always makes me laugh when I hear someone say that they never knew that I could sing or that I have programing and mixing skills with video. My tracks have all been about things I wanted to say. Many think that my tracks are just bitch tracks, but if you listen closely there's always a real message behind them. Well, I finally have met someone who wants to share my voice with the world. Not just use my voice to make a quick buck.

For the past week, my postings on my facebook page for Jade Elektra page have been tributes to all the queens and performers that have influenced and shaped the person I am today. As I started thinking about all my years it occurred to me that I have been brushed with greatness. From performing with Grammy winners like Cyndi Lauper and Beyonce to by chance meetings with legends like Quentin Crisp to standing on the stage in The Cotton Club to spinning at Toronto's FLY nightclub, I have had an amazing life because I overcame my fear. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

And finally….the last thing that I learned this year is that I am never gonna be perfect. Last year I wrote a poem called "Perfectly Flawed".

I’m perfectly flawed.

From the slight twist of the bridge of my nose

To the road map of varicose veins that run down my legs

I’m perfectly flawed.

From my mangled toes from years of ill-fitted pumps

To the gray hairs that seem to keep on coming

I’m perfectly flawed.

My years of watching seasons and friends come and go

Have taught me that all I need to know is....

I’m perfectly flawed.

I’ve been admired and loved

But very few can say that they truly know me

The me that is coiled away from everyone’s eyes

The me that laughs at himself while he cries

The me that so desperately yearns for his place in life

The me who has learned to accept that he is flawed

Would I change anything?

Absolutely not!

It has taken me this far in life

To become the person who stands before you.

I am perfectly flawed

And I like it!

I am never gonna be some Greek adonis. I am never gonna be one of those gym bodies that's in the gym 4 to 5 times a week. I do know that I will never stop trying to make a difference. I will never stop sharing my knowledge and wisdom of life. And as my old friend Tameka Love used to say back in Tampa, Florida, "This is the best I have ever looked." I am the person I am supposed to be. I am in the right place and the right time. Everything I have to offer is a gift. We all play a part in the evolution of our world.

Life is a set of decisions. So, wherever you are in life right now is where your decisions have put you. I have made some bad ones, but mostly I have made some great ones. And although I am no RuPaul or someone at the top of the charts with my music or a world famous DJ, I love my life. I love the decisions I have made. Mainly because the decisions I have made have brought me to this point in my life. I can sit back and watch others make bad decisions. My path is very clear. Experience is not a bad thing. I wear it like a badge of honor.

I used to have a lover back in New York who was very critical of me. He used to tell me that I had ruined my life by becoming HIV+. He asked if I could go back and change my life, would I? "No" I answered. Because all of the things that happened to me and all the decisions I made led me to this moment. He, on the other hand, still lived at home with his parent at the age of 32 and had never left home. He had only had sex with 5 people in his life. He could not take care of himself. He wanted to be a singer, but had never really done the work to make it happen. I was willing to get up and do the work. I knew how to take care of myself. I wasn't afraid to make a move. He could never do that. Before me, he had never left the Tri-State area. I got him to go on his first real vacation to Disney World. The chord was never cut and his growth as a person never really happened. Sadly, he died at home in the bedroom next to his parents from pneumonia (not AIDS related).

So, the question I always fall asleep with every night is "Are you happy with the decisions that you made today?" And I can honestly say "yes". I am happy to be here another year. Life is a gift!

[popculturebuffet]

The Casagrandes Reviews: Croaked!

Halloween Havoc rolls on as we shine a light on the other beloved holiday on October 31st, Day of the Dead! Sid and Ronnie Anne’s well meaning plan to help Sid’s sister Adelaide move on from her frog’s death ends up convincincing the small child she has power over life and death. I’m sure all big sisters do that at some point. More about the whole being dead thing under the cut. 

I’ve hyped this one up in both previous Casgrandes reviews, so as you can tell i’m excited for this one. As i’ve mentioned before but will repeat for anyone new here, I absolutley love this episode and when I did a binge a month ago for labor day of this show, it was one of the standouts by a wide margin. I only held off so long because why should Halloween be the only holiday I cover during spooky season huh? I mean yes it’s in my halloween coverage’s title but  there’s always room for incusivlity. Like jello or Wolverine. 

As for if i’m covering this show’s paired episode, the show’s episode for halloween itself...

Yeah I have nothing against the episode ITSELF, it’s just.. eh. I mean we do get bobby as a dracula and sid as a lobster, a cute dance sequence and Stanley griping about not getting to wear his costume at work, which is valid, and then wearing said taco costume at the end... it’s just wrapped around your standard “character blows off a family engagment for something that turns out to suck” plot, the only diffrence being Bobby being the best brother ever is supportive of Ronnie Anne going to a 6th grade party and gladly helps salvage the night at the end. And it wasn’t a plot I liked to begin with, so it had that going against it. And I Know, I tend to zero in on i’ve seen it before a lot.. but that’s because .. it’s OKAY to do a tried and true plot tha’ts been done a million times as long as you can do something entertaining with it.  Both She Ra and Avatar the Last Airbender are about a world tha’ts long been conquered whose long lost savior comes to turn the tide of the war.. but that’s about as much as they share in direct comparison and both are fucking fantastic for diffrent reasons entirely.  But as rehashes go that episode wasn’t BAD , just eh, and i’d rather focus on things I can write more about frankly. 

Speaking of which, yeah I love this episode, and like “Mexican Makeover” it comes from Lalo Alcaraz of La Cucharacha fame, a comic strip writer whose also the show’s consultant for mexican culture, and is part of why the former episode disapointed me: because this one was REALLY fucking good. So enough hype , pitter patter let’s get at er.  The episode opens with Rosa setting up a day of the dead altar for her Father, with Sid and Ronnie Anne wondering what’s up, with Sid out and out wondering if Day of the Dead is mexican halloween something i’m ashamed to admit I thought of it as for years and years, because i’m as white as I am dumb, and most cartoons didn’t go much beyond “the dead come back for a day” and get into the more metaphorhical aspects we get to here. I assume Coco is the exception, as is the book of life I just still need to watch both. And yes you may boo me over this, I certainly deserve this.  I do however like this line as it’s a common misconception, and gives a  lot of kids likely thinking the same about the holiday in the audience a surrogate.

Ronnie Anne also wonders what the altar’s for. Rosa, while minorly annoyed at the two is happy to edcuate explaning it’s a day for honoring your loved ones and inviting them back, metaphorically though the metaphor was lost on young me since both Mucha Lucha and El Tigre had the dead literally come back, via an altar with offerings of their favorite things. It’s a nice bit that not only explains the holiday for those in the audience who either forgot a lot of that (raises hand) or didn’t know any of that, and also helps explain how the holiday is metaphoircal, something I didn’t think about before because as we’ve established i’m kinda dumb. The point is I like it.  Sid however gets an idea: Her sister Adelaide has been down in the dumps since her Frog, Froggy died, likely named after Big the Cat’s frog but this Froggy’s penchant for running off probably just got him ran over since Adelaide lives in the city and Frogger is sadly inaccurate, as George Costanza leanred the hard way. 

So our ambigiously gay duo visit Addy, who being a 6 year old who just lost her pet is bawling her eyes out. So our duo tells her about day of the dead and they set out to get froggy’s faviorite things: From shoelaces to the hoppit, a frog themed version of the hobbit I both wish is real and belives is probably better than the second two hobbit movies, flies (with help from a dirty diaper because this show and it’s sister can’t resist poop jokes.. go with your audience I guess), and a lilypad. The result is this. 

I”m.. not going to ask why a 6 year old’s frog has the frog equilvent of a naked burt renoylds on a bearskin rug photo, froggy’s sexy secrets died with him. But unfortuntely nuance is lost on a 6 year old, so Addy assumed Froggy was actually coming back and just grieves harder now. So Sid comes up with Plan B B: bring froggy back from the dead at the old pet semetary. Though since they don’t want to defile his body they try a dead ally cat first instead.  

One Zombie Test Cat later, they decide sometimes dead is better and just go with plan b: Sid once had a goldfish that died and her parents got her a replacement, and since it worked on her, and apparently still works on Bobby, they decide to pull that. They rent a frog from the pet store. And if your asking “wait pet stores , even fictional ones, do that” and suprisingly.. no they do not, but Pete, the guy at the pet shop which is also named after him, likes Sid’s mom’s tour. Okay two questions: one is that little pete from the adventures of pete and pete all grown up? I mean I know what happend to his actor... 

But in universe we have no idea. And Brendon Small, the character and the actor, showed up on Clarence so it’s plausable. And secondly where can I get the job as owner of my own pet store near melissa joan hart doing a gator show. I may have a career goal now. 

So they sneak in subsittue froggy, and we get an adorable montage of Addy hanging out with Froggy the Second: Getting some son, eating flies (though Addy spits her’s out. She’s not Lana.), and watching the Hoppit.. as I wish to one day. I mean we see a trippy bit of it but not the actual thing.. I guess I can add seeing a full version to my small list of things related to this franchise that I only I want along with my a diffrent world-esque spinoff show following Lori and Bobby. 

Addy happily sleeps after that giant ball of adorable, and Sid and Ronnie Anne take Froggy 2 back to Creepy Guy at the Pet Store.. I mean Pete.. I mean Future Me. So Sid pats herself on the back metaphoircally for the plan.. which this being a sitcom, naturally has kinda snowballed. Now Addy thinks she has power over life and death. Guess she has the same Christmas LIst as Crow

As not to break a small child’s heart for the second time in two days, our heroines decide they have to bring back her wish list: Great Aunt Milly, Old Mr Woodburn, and Abraham Lincoln. 

Since they don’t have a time traveling phone booth, they’ll have to go with the next best thing, my boy Tio Carlos. Seriously why they don’t use this adorable nerd more is beyond me. But Carols being an adorable history nerd gladly agrees to play LIncoln for what he thinks is a play.. I mean greanted they could just tell him the truth. He’s a dad, he gets this kinda thing. Meanwhile our girls dress up like said aunt milly and shenanigans insue. It’s a really funny scene.. until it falls apart with the mr. woodburn impersination, revealing it was all a hoax, and sending Addleaide crying to her room understandably not wanting to talk to either of them. Still we got Carolos as lincoln. That’s not nothing. 

But yeah having made things worse by accident, the girls go to Rosa for help who while understandably annoyed at the mess they made, is more than willing to come with and help. Because Rosa is fucking amazing ,that’s why. She sucessfully coaxes Addy out and then takes her down to the Casagrande’s place to show off her altar and explain the true meaning of day of the dead: Thinking about your loved ones.. keeps the memories alive. Thinking about who they were, what they loved, what they meant to you.. it’s not raising the dead.. but honring them. It  not only made the real value of the holiday sink in for me but i’ts a good message for kids, and a good way to teach them about a holiday most probably didn’ know how it worked if they even knew at all. It’s a really sweet powerful moment, and the combination of alcaraz’s writing and Sonia Manzano really brings it to this scene. It’s easily the show’s best. Good stuff. 

Froggy II interupts the scene.. turns out a trail of bacon bits, that we saw left earlier, lead him back, and Pete’s been following him the whole way and is winded because of course he is. We’re in the same blobby shape I get it man your fine. So with Addy already liking the second froggy, and having fully come to terms with the first’s death, Sid offers Pete tickets to her mom’s show in exchange for Froggy II, whose named that in this scene and who we saw in uptown funk. As long as it’s the splash zone he’s fine with it and Sid knows her mom enough well enough to know Becca would probably gladly trade a ticket for her daughter’s hapiness. Plus it’s easier to get someone to willingnly sign the wavers about getting gator blood on them when they already want that so win win.  We end on a Day of the Dead party with the whole cast in day of the dead makeup, eveyrone happy.. except Carl who’se subplot of spreading marigolds everywhere I missed and he ended up at the Loud House. Why this didn’t lead to a crossover I dunno. I mean if Steve Urkel can jetpack into the family from step by step’s yard,  why not? I know the 90′s were a diffrent time but this was a missed opportunity. Funny gag anyway. And scene. 

Final Thoughts: I was pretty transparent with this one: I think it’s a wonderful, heartfelt, and well done look at day of the dead tha’ts educational without cramming the education part down your throat, like any good cartoon that teachs you something should do, and it’s also really funny and endearing.Not much else to say, it’s just really good and I was glad to highlight it and if you haven’t seen it, please do it’s perfect viewing for the season. If you want more Casagrandes I have two reviews under the nick tab on my blog, and will be covering the second batch of Halloween/Day of the Dead episodes later this month, along with the new loud house halloween special Ghosted. And if you can’t wait for either of those, monday i’ll be covering the new ducktales halloween special. Until we meet again, viva la muretos. Play us out Nimoy...