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an-annyeoing-writer · 3 years

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vulnerability. – chap. 1.

Read the prologue here

Story info:

Pair: Byun Baekhyun x Reader

Rating: +18 for mentions of s*x and violence (future chapters)

Genre: angst, smut

Chapter info:

Release date: 16th May 2021

Word count: 3 727

Warnings: mentions of trauma (nothing descriptive)

Vulnerability Masterlist || Fanfiction Masterlist || Ko-Fi

Taglist:

@shesdreaminginoverdose @mybiasdashboard @marimsun @byuns-asscheeks @multi--kpop--fanfics @vunv @making-me-blush @skittlez-area512 @bloopbloopkai @byuns-asscheeks @baekyeonoreo @kimcarinaa

Please, always comment on the newest chapter if you wish to be added to/removed from the taglist. I will be also checking the tags, so if you're shy – feel free to leave a note this way.

Previous (Prologue)

Chap. 1.

Living in a small apartment close to the city center was not always convenient.

You regretted you couldn’t buy all the pretty things that you saw in stores or on Pinterest, because they’d easily overwhelm the limited space. Your neighbors constantly reminded you that they’re a few meters away from you, with screams, children’s cries, music, or chopping meat at 2 AM if that’s what a particular neighbor decided to do.

Fortunately, as the time passed, you got used to most of it and started to appreciate the small space, almost effortless to keep clean, close to both your university and the workplace, and the city center – an area that was always restless during the long days and nights that you spent watching it through your tall window, as if waiting for someone to look back at you.

Despite the comfort of living alone that you tried to indulge in, you couldn’t help growing lonelier and lonelier with every passing day. At the very least, your job and university often took the worries off your mind, and they eventually became your whole life, an existence that focused on never-ending effort in the name of better future, as though there was nothing in the present worth fighting for.

You studied finance; you didn’t give it much hope at first, but it ended up becoming interesting as you started connecting the dots and realizing how broad and important this topic was. Yet, as any newborn financier, you used your secret knowledge in the mysterious field of retail. In other words, you worked part-time as a cashier in a convenience store. Twenty four years old, on your way to getting that famous Master’s degree, already more than halfway through the process, yet – education without experience mattered nothing, as you realized the very moment you started looking for your first job, unable to keep counting on your parents. Not like you wanted to stay in touch with them, anyway.

Adulthood was difficult; the small apartment, due to its location, costed more than your whole family’s used to in your hometown. A small scholarship kept you set up with electricity and water fees, but for WiFi you needed to depend on a close-by library with a good signal; it turned out to have the connection good enough to reach from at least one place in your apartment, the one you coincidentally used for occasional observations. You weren’t sure whether you discovered the WiFi while sitting or if you developed the observing habit upon having to spend your time there over any other place. The only downside of this solution was that some sites were blocked after a scandal over men in the library performing actions other than polite studying, with the help of library computers. The event was outrageous to some, but primarily it became an object of jokes and memes all thorough the city, and maybe even country-wide to some extent. Either way, in times of need, your phone still had its meager data transfer. Good enough.

It was Saturday now; Saturdays were good but busy, because you worked at nights, then slept the shift off, and after you woke up, you could go and study all that you missed throughout the week, if for any reason the classes didn’t sound appealing enough or something else happened, distracting you from them. You spent Saturday afternoons either by the window of your room (where the WiFi reached) or just went straight to the library – a place way more spacious than your own apartment, and quieter as well. The only issue was, that you couldn’t snack in there and you ought to stay quiet. You decided to go with the latter and set foot towards the library.

Therefore, when your phone suddenly rang there, a few faces snapped towards you in obvious disapproval; you cursed internally, before you even managed to pull the phone out of your pocket, because you panicked so much that your hands shook at the initial attempt to do so. You got up from your seat and quickly disappeared between the bookshelves, where the people staying by the tables wouldn’t hear you so well anymore.

“Hello?” you whispered into the phone.

“Hello. Am I disturbing you?”

Your heart dropped as you recognized the voice, although you weren’t completely certain if you recognized it well, it sounded a bit different through the phone. The number was unknown on your phone, but there was only one person that could be calling you today.

You took a few seconds to compose yourself; less than you actually needed, but just enough so that the silence would not turn awkward.

“Um… I can’t talk loudly, but that’s okay.”

“I can call you later.”

“N-no need to, I’ll just whisper.”

“Okay, then.” He was quiet for a few seconds, but you heard some shuffling on the other side. “Do you have time tonight?”

The question was sudden, so you weren’t completely sure, if you did. But your mind felt too empty to figure that out, anyway.

“No. I mean, yes. Sorry, I meant I don’t have plans. So, um, yes, I’m free.” This didn’t sound professional at all. However, you heard quiet laughter on the other side and exhaled almost audibly in relief; it was the first time you heard him laugh with you, and it served to calm your nerves like a wave of calmness coming over you.

“Well, do you want to meet? I’m going to a museum and I don’t feel like going alone. What about that?”

“A museum? That… sounds nice.” When was the last time you’ve been to one? What a perfect opportunity to make a fool out of yourself. “What time?”

“Around six? If that’s okay with you.” If you remembered well, it had to be around three now.

“Sounds alright, where should we meet?”

“I’ll pick you up.”

“Okay. Thank you.” What were you exactly thanking him for? Hard to tell. But you heard him laugh again; you felt like he’s mocking you, but you quickly realized it couldn’t be the case – a warm voice like this couldn’t be ill-intended.

“Sure thing, you’re welcome. We’re set up, then?”

“A-actually, I have a question, if it’s not a problem.” You bit on your lip, knowing than in less than ten seconds, you were going to probably embarrass yourself in front of an educated and serious adult.

“What’s the matter?” he asked politely.

“So, um… What should I wear?”

* * *

You were grateful for the few tips given by Byun Baekhyun at the end of your conversation, because otherwise you’d either be underdressed or overdressed. You ended up wearing a more elegant university attire, something you usually wore for exams, but which didn’t make you appear too formal; a long, woolen skirt that was your private treasure due to its ability to keep you warm even in winter (and it was still spring; the weather was questionable), as well as leather shoes, a beige shirt and a thick, knitted cardigan. You felt quite modest; something told you that it wasn’t a regular date. You didn’t feel a need to reveal anything, or to focus on your feminine attributes. You just felt like it wouldn’t serve any purpose. As long as Baekhyun was concerned, you had an impression that he’s more interested in your mind than in the way you look – the clothes you wore last time, just a little bit revealing and suggestive, had done nothing to save you. You wanted only to look appropriate, and you were sure you managed to achieve at least that.

As you found out soon enough, he wasn’t particularly dressed up, either. A button-up shirt without without a tie – bow or neck type – and jeans, made of high-quality denim, not like the ripped through or worn out ones people sometimes wore. And a suede coat. Although he wasn’t dressed up to look attractive, it would be difficult not to feel attracted to him. Byun Baekhyun had his own aura of independence and considerate distance connected with subtle proximity, and this time, you had the chance to appreciate this harmony, working perfectly for him, highlighting his soft masculinity. Even more so, when you noted a small, gentle smile that appeared on his lips when he spotted you leaving your apartment block.

“Hi there” he spoke.

“Hi there” you replied.

“The museum is nearby, so I didn’t take the car, is that okay?”

It was probably too late to change the means of transport anyway, so the question was pointless. But no, you didn’t mind.

“It’s okay. What museum are we going to?”

He put hands in the pockets of his coat and tilted his head to the side, observing as you approached. You crossed your hands over your chest; it was a bit colder than you expected, and the skirt only warmed you up at the bottom, the wind still reached the top.

“You should put on something warmer. It’ll get even colder on the way back” he spoke. “Go back and get yourself a jacket, I’ll wait.”

You wanted to oppose and say it’s alright, but you didn’t; it didn’t feel right to argue with him. You only nodded and went home to retrieve a better outwear; you were back in no time.

“So? Which museum?”

You looked up at Baekhyun: the man walked by your side, or – in fact – you were walking by his; he stayed in control of the situation, but resonated with warmth and peacefulness rather than the coldness and stillness you experienced last time. And especially as he spoke, you found yourself easing into the conversation more naturally, and your initial fear quickly turned into innocent shyness upon the older man’s presence.

“A complex of museums nearby. There’s everything there, a historical museum of the region, one about the history of mining worldwide, and an art museum. I wanted to see the last one, I heard they unveiled a few new pieces since the the last time I went. You’re not local?” He glanced at you with polite curiosity.

“Not really. I moved here to study” you explained. “I know the nearby area, but I’m not too… um, social. I only know where to do the cheapest groceries and where they sell the best bread.”

“Where?”

“Behind the river, by the intersection with the highway. It looks small but really, you should try it out. Especially their cinnamon rolls.”

Baekhyun hummed.

“That sounds nice. I can recommend the best pizza in return.”

“You eat takeouts often?”

“Yep.”

“You’d save money if you cooked for yourself. Pizzas are expensive.”

Another warm laugh reached your ears, and through them, your heart as well.

“I’ll save money if I spend the time for cooking on working instead.”

“Okay, that’s a valid point. But homemade food is healthier.”

“Depends on where you buy your takeout.” He seemed to have an answer to your every doubt. “I wouldn’t trust just any restaurant, you know? It’s basically what my diet consists of.”

“Variety is also important. Don’t argue with me on that.”

“I won’t. But I won’t take you for a pizza, if that’s your stance on that.”

“I didn’t say I don’t want it” you remarked right away; he replied with laugh, which you found yourself copying naturally.

The conversation flowed smoothly, reaching more or less unimportant topics: the city life, current events, your university, possible career, Baekhyun’s interests – you found out he likes music; it’s too sad to work in silence – and the museum you were going to.

The place you felt initially quite neutral about, brought you more peace than you expected it to. It looked harmonious and the lights were soft. No one hurried through the gallery, and the paintings, although not so interesting at first, you soon learned to appreciate, trying to catch onto small details that, you could tell, Baekhyun already knew by heart, but he smiled every single time you pointed at something specific that caught your attention, even if it was as silly as matching colors, or realistically portrayed lights – these were your favorites.

And, slowly but surely, you got accustomed to the pretty sights, excitement turning into relaxation, and even Baekhyun himself seemed more content than you thought he’d be in your presence.

“You’re different,” you spoke as the two of you sat on a bench in front of one of the tall, monumental pieces; this one was a modern painting full of splashes and mixed colors, soft browns, yellows, and greens, so big that it definitely wouldn’t fit in your bedroom – the first thought you had upon seeing its size.

Despite the painting being in the very center of the gallery, you were the only ones watching it now.

“What do you mean?”

“You’re different today than you were yesterday” you elaborate. “Less… intimidating” you tried to put your thoughts into words.

Baekhyun laughed in response; the laughter was soft and warm, which made you exhale in relief – you feared that he’d feel offended at the remark.

“Yesterday was different. I needed to test you.”

“What do you mean?”

He stared at the painting as he leaned forward, resting elbows on his knees and shifting a little bit, probably thinking how to say the thing he had to say, without causing misunderstandings. You stared at him, completely having lost interest in the painting by now, ready to hear out whatever was to be spoken.

“People often come to me because they’re attracted to me. Well, not blaming them” he grinned; you rolled your eyes a little, but it did relieve the tension, most likely according to his own intention. “However, I’m not interested in romantic relationships. If you come to me expecting a date, you’ll get disappointed. And you won’t be able to handle what it is truly about, if I’m the only thing keeping you interested. It’ll be a hassle for the both of us.”

He glanced at you only briefly, ensuring that you’ve heard him so far before shifting his eyes back forward.

“So I’m always like this at first, just to see how determined you are, and how you behave under pressure. Then I leave you for a few minutes so you have the time to reconsider and leave if willing. That’s a safety measure for you.” He stopped for just a few seconds. “And you – all of you – always check what’s on the other side of the sheet. That’s a safety measure for me.”

“Safety measure?”

“Trust is the basis of the whole deal. If you don’t admit, that you looked at it, it means you’ll keep hiding things later on as well, and I can’t have that.”

“So if I…”

“Yes. If you didn’t correct your statement, we wouldn’t be here right now.” The words sounded ominous even despite the calm tone that Baekhyun used.

“I understand.”

You actually did; the strange aura of yesterday’s meeting finally started to clear out, leaving the simplest facts that all fit into the bigger picture. Yet, you still didn’t know enough. There were more things, more questions, each of which demanded an answer of its own. However, you were still unsure of your stance, and of what Baekhyun had planned for you – for the both of you.

“Will you accept me, then?” you asked finally, breaking through the silence.

“I don’t know yet” he replied in an honest tone, finally reciprocating your gaze. His features were soft, you could tell, he tried not to hurt you with his words. “You’re a nice girl, but I’m not sure if it’ll work out. I need more time. Primarily, I need to get to know you better. And I feel like you need more time, too.”

You nodded slowly.

“Could you, um… tell me more about it?”

“About what I do?”

“Yeah. You didn’t tell me much last time. You mostly only asked questions.”

“True. I may answer some of yours, if you’d like. What are you interested in?”

You cleared your throat; some questions seemed more intrusive than the others and you preferred to leave them for later.

“What would you want to do with me, if we set up a um… a scene?” Is that how you professionally call it? You didn’t remember all that well; you were, in fact, with no experience, only the Internet and your own curiosity to lead you forward – the temptation to explore your interests had been progressing in silence up until now.

“Well, depends on what would be suitable. I do different things with different people. Sometimes, it’s about what they like, and sometimes about what I like, and, the most often, it’s about what we both like. Everyone needs a different approach. I enjoy finding the right approach, and exploring it. It’s different when you start with a virgin, different when you start with a brat, different when you start with someone experienced, different when you start with someone with trauma. The last type is a person I don’t like engaging in. It’s a vulnerable ground and the person often seeks relief instead of therapy. I’m not a therapist. I’m a dominant.”

You took your time to analyze his words and put them all together in your head before you spoke again.

“You wrote something like that on the sheet. That I may have trauma.”

“That’s different,” Baekhyun was quick to elaborate. “Everyone has trauma of sort. Childhood traumas are more common than you think. I meant specifically trauma that comes from similar ground as the one I’m on. It’s not the case for you. According to what you said, you’ve never had any experiences like this and never engaged sexually or romantically.”

Pointing that out hurt a little; yes, so what if you’re 24 years old and a virgin? You had the right to choose your pace. But, you quickly realized, it was your own insecurity poking at you, because Baekhyun sounded anything but judgmental. He didn’t seem particularly impressed either – and you were thankful for that as well. You’ve seen enough men sounding excited when a woman was discovered to be unexperienced. You hated that even more than those who made fun of you; and in the long run, you just learned not to overshare. Telling Baekhyun this truth wasn’t the easiest, so having him say it so casually was definitely weird in your ear.

“However, that’s also a vulnerable point. You don’t know what you’re getting into. It looks different on the screen or in the books than it is in real life. I’m not going to reject you just because you’re new, because everyone’s been at some point. But you must understand, it’s a responsibility, and I don’t want to take one I’m not capable of handling.”

“Have you ever been with someone else like that?”

“With a virgin?”

“…Yeah.”

“Yes. Once. But I didn’t handle it too well back then.”

“What do you mean?”

Baekhyun rubbed his chin, pressing his lips together in slight uneasiness. But you didn’t revoke your question – maybe you should have, for the sake of his comfort, but you felt that the answer wouldn’t be meaningless to you.

“She wanted to be exclusive,” the man finally answered. “I tolerated her for too long. I should have broken the deal as soon as I started seeing red flags, instead of ending up sleeping with her. It made everything only worse.” He spoke quietly, making sure people passing by at times would hear no word. You heard everything clearly, though. “That’s why I’m more picky now. Breaking the deal is not a good thing if it comes from one side. It may leave the other devastated, that’s why I’d rather reduce the risk in advance.”

He looked at your face, seeking understanding and acceptance. You nodded slowly, trying to keep your face as neutral as possible. You didn’t want to add to the pain already displayed on his own. But you appreciated his transparency.

“Does it mean that sex is not always involved?”

“With me, it rarely is” he admitted patiently. “I’m not against it, but I usually do other things. People rarely expect it, and I never pry. Mainly, because in this particular case, I do expect exclusivity. So, as long as no sex is involved, I know some of my subs are dating other people, or even engaging with other doms. However, for safety reasons I demand health checks prior to intercourse, and so on. Not just for me, but because I’m not exclusive myself.” You wondered if his choice of vocabulary was meant to make things less awkward. “However, actual sex is only one of the possibilities. Sexual pleasure that doesn’t involve direct touch may be used as a tool for training, for rewarding and for punishing, even as entertainment… not necessarily to the person it influences. As I said, it depends on who it’s done with. And it may take different forms, too. What’s your stance on that?”

“I don’t feel like I’d be able to as much as undress in front of someone who’s not my doctor” you answered almost instantly, the answer obvious to you, a matter you’ve thought about enough. “Although… well, I suppose it takes time. I’m not against the idea, just… you know.”

Baekhyun only nodded; you glanced at him, feeling a need for any reply that’d soothe you a little.

“I understand. That’s okay.”

You figured it out now; using more formal language made it less embarrassing to listen to. It’s like he tore the words off emotions and left facts only, and you found yourself easing into saying more and more, your embarrassment dissolving as well. No judgments were made.

“Is there anything else you want to know?”

“A lot, to be honest. But I think I know enough for now.”

Right as you said the last words, a sound echoed in the museum, in a soft female voice saying that the museum will close in fifteen minutes.

You took one last glance at the huge painting in front of you, but you felt like, at this point, you wouldn’t find anything new among the random stains and splatters. Baekhyun got up from his seat on the bench and so did you. You spotted him hide a small yawn behind his hand.

The day was coming to an end, and so was your small date – as un-date-ish as it could be.

* * *

Please, reblog if you enjoyed, it'll help me a bunch!

Author's note: hope you're enjoying it so far! Trying to give it a bit sense before more things happen, and, hopefully, this chapter clears it out a little bit. Feel free to talk to me if anything is unclear!

Next (Chapter 2.)

#exowritersnet #kdiarynet #bbh-net #exosnet #exo baekhyun #exo bbh #bbh x reader #bbh #exo #byun baekhyun #exo fanfiction #baekhyun fanfiction #exo x reader #baekhyun x reader #vg: vulnerability #vg: exo #vg: baekhyun #vg: series

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xianoquendo · 3 years

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A Year Wrapped: 2021 in Films

If there was a good thing 2021 has brought, in its whirlwind madness of span, one of it was certainly the reopening of cinemas! The closure of cinemas during 2020 has brought the indie in domination. With big studios pushing dates, there was a piling of films in VOD, streaming sites. Those things were not really a bad thing, but it certainly altered the nature of how we view films. It was nice to discover a lot of underground filmmakers or low-budget films breaking the mainstream and taking the spotlight but there was that feeling of missing the grandiosity of blockbusters and film festivals. Thus, the reopening of the cinemas last year felt like a grand comeback! Like a rain after a long drought! There was an electric lifting of spirits through the revival of film festivals and award circuits. 2021 definitely swung so high and reached the clouds! From the Cannes rolling its carpet again to superhero films being a thing again in titles such as Eternals, Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Spiderman: No Way Home. The piled 'pushed dates' dropped all at once, giving us long-awaited tentpoles like Dune, No Time To Die, Annette, The French Dispatch and many more. We're on full spectrum!

Anyone who says 2021 was a bad year for film definitely hasn't just seen enough. It's in the returning grand film festivals that most of the jewels last year lurked. Cannes definitely wasn't shy to boast a lot of magnificent crafts, and so is the case with Venice, Sundance and many more. Certainly, my favorite part last year was the resurgence of international films through these festivals. You can notice the pattern in my list as most of the top films are international titles. Local fests like the annual QCinema opened a door for us to experience such titles in the big screen, with its magnificent line up this year, mostly movies from different film festivals globally. And then, of course, there were also a few gems in streaming sites like Netflix, Amazon and Apple+. The remaining major award-giving bodies this year proves to be thrillingly more diverse because of last year. 2021 was surely a good year for film!

Now, after all those blabbering, you can continue on reading another set of my blabbering about the top films I've seen from last year. Ranked as objective as I could! (Or at least I tried)

16. Happening, dir. Audrey Diwan

In Audrey Diwan's thrilling and gripping Golden Lion winner of last year's Venice Film Festival, the world is bleak for young women suffering under the men-centric world of 60s. Anamaria Vartolomeis' doe eyes captivates anyone with the right empathy to feel the pain she portrays, being a pregnant teen in race with time to have an abortion (in a time and place where it is illegal to have one). One moment, her face is painted in fear and confusion, then in a flash, she's rebellious, unbothered and hedonistic. Diwan captures Annie Ernaux's short memoir in a striking tone that evokes a sense of urgency and relevance to the current times. It doesn't shy away in giving hostility. A woman in affliction of balancing academic tension, youthful nuisances and social peril. One will flinch and sweat. By the last string of miserable events, there is a sobering and empowering realization.

15. The Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, dir. Ryusuke Hamaguchi

There is an air of mystical aura in the mundane conversations that Hamaguchi create. In his first film for 2021 (the more gentle one, just before his grand Drive My Car), he details three tales about human connection: an unexpected love triangle, a seduction trap, and an unexpected friendship between two strangers that mistaken each other as someone they know. With a subtle hint of oddity mixed with lush emotions, Hamaguchi keeps the audience fascinated and touched at the same time. An endearing study of complex relationships and beauty on everyday lives. There are so much emotions within just three conversations. Fully empathetic, graceful and deeply humane... In one scene, a woman begs a man to promise her that he would pleasure himself on her voice.

14. Mark, Mary + Some Other People, dir. Hannah Marks

Every year, I obsess over one random indie kooky teenager movie. Last year it was Brian Duffield's Spontaneous, and I guess this year it's this movie! Only few movies touch the topic of open relationship, more so handle it so well. But with Hannah Marks' contemporary and slick humor in this one, she has handled it so effectively without compromising fun and information. Mark and Mary ventures the good and bad parts of an ethical non-monogamy relationship in an entertaining, and sometimes dramatic, way. The characters elicit a progressive and millennial air of youth that fits today's generation. Not to mention how many cool songs it feature and pin-drop in the span of its runtime! I just love its humor and charm so much!

13. Passing, dir. Rebbecca Hall

Venturing the tale of a woman of color passing as white in 1920s, Rebecca Hall has crafted a poetic piece here— in both appearance and feeling. The sharp camera angles and movements matched with the over-contrasted black and white, and pairing it with piano and trumpet scoring? Glorious. It's hard to think that this is her directorial debut. She handled the matter of turmoil in identity and racial tension with grace. And though one would wish she lingered with that matter (especially racial tension) until the end instead of wandering into ambiguous drama, there are still these delicate moments when Ruth Negga and Tessa Thompson's characters interact or shed feelings that make up for that: the way they close their eyes, feel the air, cry and look at each other. A subtleness and grace that is so hard to achieve in film yet so rewarding once witnessed. A real melodrama because of the two actresses' power. No one will ever simply get over with the last scene. So haunting.

12. CODA, dir. Sían Heder

As a CODA (Child of Deaf Adults) and the only hearing person in her deaf family, the main protagonist Ruby, puts herself in a dilemma of pursuing her love for music or aiding her parents. The result is a glorious and touching coming-of-age and self-discovery. Heder's creation feels like a piece genuinely oozing with love on its handling of deafness as a disability. I'm not a fan of family lovey-dovey dramas, but this one was just so tender that it naturally feels so fresh, warm and life-changing. I think a film is nothing less than powerful when it could break an almost-apathetic person like me (who naturally hates "I love my family" themes), and make me appreciate what I have. Joni Mitchell's 'Both Sides Now' will never be the same for anyone after this. Prepare tissues.

11. The Power of The Dog, dir. Jane Campion

News have been swarming over Campion since the start of the awards season. They all air the same sentiment: Campion is back and she will dominate! And they may certainly be right. The Power of the Dog is so mistifyingly good! In Campion's subtle nuances, she has crafted a poetic grand juxtaposition. She examines the softness in rough masculinity and the violence hidden behind gentle behavior by making the two elements meet: Phil and Peter. In an amazing study of masculinity and power using Cumberatch and Smit-McPhee's magnetic performances, Campion has broken the ground. The additional layer of chemistry, built up in a finessed grace, adds a pleasing and mistifying aura to it. Truly, you kill your enemy by making them love you. The unraveling in the last act of the film is nothing less than glorious and shivering-good! Campion is coming for that Oscar, you better believe it.

10. C'mon C'mon, dir. Mike Mills

Mike Mills continues to be one of the most fascinating contemporary directors out there who could capture emotions with great sentimentality and beauty. C'mon C'mon is a dazzling exploration of gaps between adults and children— the difference in the outlooks of the two. And you get to view it both in the lens of a kid and an adult, brought by Joaquin Phoenix and Woody Norman's alluring performances. It's a story of a deeply humane and affectionate connection between an uncle and a nephew in the backdrop of the contemporary America. This is the kind of film that puts your faith back in humans. It airs a voice that there is certainly hope in our youth, as they are the future.

9. The Hand of God, dir. Paolo Sorrentino

It's the different tales that Sorrentino merge in this film that makes it work as a formal coming-of-age. A teenager exploring life in Italy at its different aspects and the people surrounding him. The disorienting folkloric elements and bizarre sensuality add a surreal facet— things that disturb you at first, but as you get used to it, beauty springs out. The first half is a burst of colorful familial relationships; the view of an extended family makes it monumental and even a promising study of relations. Of course, one needs patience in familiarizing the many and rich characters, but once you get there, it pays off. By the second half, Sorrentino turns the film into an ode to his dream of entering cinema when he was young— as the main protagonist, Fabie, learns to love it. As a director, Sorrentino spins his pain into gold mystifyingly... Italian cinema is bizarre and beautiful!

8. The French Dispatch, dir. Wes Anderson

The French Dispatch marks Anderson's most explorative yet in terms of technicalities. We witness his first hand-held camera scene in quite possibly his whole career (I think so?), his first non-stop-motion animation (I think so too?), and also a new nuance of shifting from black and white to colored repeatedly, which works so well even in its randomness. All of these make the visuals stronger: every frame, like a masterpiece. Anderson is really trying to reach new heights here. But despite the grandiosity of these new aspects, The French Dispatch simply just plays as an endearing love letter to journalism and its wonders. Despite being more laid back than his previous works, with toned down characters and emotions, its simplicity still builds multitudes of wonder in its structure of three different feature stories. Each of these with its own charms and messages. Art and love; Youth and revolution; Crime and culture. This film is simply, (without the bias of being an Anderson fan and a journalism student), cute, charming and funny. By the end of the film, the audience are just simply oath to remember how fundamental the role magazines and newspapers play in our lives: to make our lives colorful! And this film is dedicated for those who make it happen.

7. Spencer, dir. Pablo Larraín

Nothing is not yet testified and broadcasted about Pablo Larraín's new masterpiece. From Kristen Stewart sweeping all the critics' trophies and approval up to Claire Mathon's stunning cinematography, everything seems to work so well under Larraín's hands. Spencer blends history with fiction in a way that effectively makes a ghastly psychological nightmare. It stands dignified as a warning on the perils of suppression just to follow tradition—and for that, it gives justice to Diana. It's dreamy but casually feels so claustrophobic even with its wide rooms and landscapes. This is a sign of how effective Larraín has handled Diana's case even in the decision of just portraying it all in one holiday with the Royal Family. Everything feels so suffocating in its tamed tension. The standards, the pressure, the watching eyes— demands to be felt in Stewart's portrayal of agony. A true horror. And that final act— it's like learning how to breathe again.

6. Procession, dir. Robert Greene

Perhaps the most sobering and powerful documentary created last year. Greene creates a documentary about six sexually abused men finding empowerment in creating short films inspired from their trauma. The narratives of these men radiate so much power in the reclamation of places and memories that once haunted them. The process was not easy, especially in the fact that they were all abused by Catholic clergies, but the journey was certainly reflexive and revelatory. This is a very graceful exploration of trauma and faith. The film projects that bold notion of finding power in trauma and turning it into a narrative, a weapon and a beacon of hope. It redefines a victim into a survivor. There are certainly no dry eyes after the film.

5. Dune, dir. Dennis Villeneuve

What else is left to say about Dune? Monumental? Spectacular? Grand? Psychedelic? Classic? Everything has pretty much been said about Dune, and they are all right, it is monumental. Villeneuve has already proven that he is a master of sci-fi a long time ago with Arrival and Bladerunner 2043, but he just continues to prove it anyway. Dune lives up to its promise and premise, bringing back the crowd's faith to quality, grand-spectacle, mainstream and blockbuster sci-fi. It may start out a bit tedious at first with its countless elements, but it gives out a glorious reward when you finally understand it. Hans Zimmer never disappoints with his celestial scoring. The brutalist landscapes and over-the-top machines give overwhelming rushes. The runtime is totally justified. Watch this in the cinema and it would probably make you wet... not just because of Oscar Isaac but because of all the visuals.

4. The Worst Person in The World, dir. Joachim Trier

Trier's newest craft is personally the best film I've ever seen last year as I was able to feel a deep resonance towards it. But since we are trying to add a little objectivity here, I think it would do just great sitting at number 4. Trier's addition to his humanistic catalogue is a charismatic exploration of adulthood, specifically the span of late 20s and early 30s. There is a streak of narcissism in the concept that Julie, the main protagonist of the film, views herself as the worst person in the world, in the light of her wrong decisions in life. She spends her college life jumping from one program to another until she settles on an unsure job. She argues with her lover and ponders about her what-ifs all the time, setting herself in constant existential crisis. She gets high on psychedelic mushrooms. She's always worried that she's not living her best life. She's fickle, envious, insensitive and self-centered. But in reality, she's not really that bad. She reflects the stages a human would ought to pass in turning into an adult. Yes, she's bad for breaking hearts and jumping through feelings carelessly, but don't we all typically and casually do those things as we grow up? Trier, with his direction, reflects the tumultuous journey so well in the backdrop of social turmoils, economic unrest and generational trends. He studies love, youth, infidelity and many more, in way. Renate Reinsve gives an acting glory, definitely worthy of a Cannes Best Actress, but make no mistake as Anders Danielsen Lie also gives an explosively emotional take as a supporting actor. If you're bound to face the 30s, let this film be your subtle guide.

3. Memoria, dir. Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Arthouse films are usually a hit or miss, but Thailand's blessing to cinema, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, certainly doesn't miss. Every piece is a celestial exploration of life, built in the merging of supernatural and human-mundanes, from the 2010 Cannes Palme d'Or winner 'Uncle Boonme Who Can Recall His Past Lives' up to his recent ones like 'Cemetery of Splendor'. Memoria is no exception. The Cannes Jury Prize winner is a sensory journey about existence, memories and paranoia, brought to a whole new level by Tilda Swinton's disoriented main protagonist. In part, it is about a woman haunted by a loud boom of sound that she constantly hears. While this happens, she's also attempting to understand the world around her as a foreigner in Colombia, exploring the culture and its people. But by the end, after all the heavy silence and weird encounters, you will be brought to higher celestial enlightening as Tilda's character navigate through the beauty of connections and pain in existence. The ambiguity enhances the emotions in this case. The sound hypnotizes you to understand a certain emotion: sorrow, confusion, fear and everything in between. Feel it not just with your eyes, but hear the aura too.

2. Bergman Island, dir. Mia Hansen-Løve

Chris, the screenwriter protagonist of the film, really likes writing but at the same time, she really hates it... and that for me, speaks a lot to my soul. Something about Chris' character defines a quintessential writer. She says that Ingmar Bergman's films only give her sadness and agony, but she likes it and she's not sure why. She's both sure and unsure. Passionate but also tired. Full but at the verge of emptiness. Constantly haunted by her craft, both in a good way and in a bad way. Vicky Krieps portrays that in full gravitas. Mia Wasikowska matches that with her graceful take as a screenplay character... There is magic in Bergman Island that pictures the process of writing so perfectly. It positions itself as a story about film and writing but shows it through a story about a fickle love. It's about finding inspiration and learning how to confront it when you finally have it in you. It's a case of 'a story within a story' handled so well. Everyone will love how Hansen-Løve blurred the lines between the two stories by the end of the film: the writer and the screenplay being written. It's like a confrontation of an artist and her art. An intertwining and living of her own craft. It's almost just like how the usual Bergman films end: in between reality and fiction... There's just too much passion and beauty in it. It's also an amazing feat how beside from the amazing narrative, the film still shines as a successful tribute to Ingmar Bergman and his place. Bergman, himself, plays a fundamental role of getting the characters intact and defining them. I just wish I explored more of Bergman's filmography before watching this... I've only seen Persona.

1. Titane, dir. Julia DuCournau

DuCournau has created a divine complex with Titane. The most thrillingly unique and ingenious film of 2021. Fuck the Academy for snubbing this masterpiece! But I'm glad that Cannes is starting to appreciate such bold and chaotic films, by awarding this the Palme d'Or. In Titane, DuCournau has paralleled body horror to love, womanhood and what it means to be a human. With the help of an exorbitant acting from Agatha Rousselle and a delicate one by Vincent Lindon, everything just goes so fluid in a hot mess. It's a complete ride of brutal, gross and wild but also tender, funny and graceful. How many directors can do that? It's filled with so much extremities; from having sex with a car to bleeding diesel in a bathroom. One may not understand completely what's happening, but you can definitely feel it with so much intensity; every vicious stab, so vivid, and every slow dance soaked in tenderness. When it's wild, it's wild like a fire. When it's tender, it's tender like a breeze. And when it's both, it's everything! Titane is the perfect revelatory explosion of 2021!

Yet to be seen...

The mutation of the pandemic into different forms still puts the cinemas at fluctuation when it comes to opening its doors and presenting more titles. Some films don't even reach third world countries when it comes to distribution. This, of course, includes the Philippines. With this, my trust for Torrent has never been more stronger, but still, one can get impatient... Here is a list of some films that I am yet to see. Some of these may or may not alter my initial list of top films for last year...

Licorice Pizza, dir. Paul Thomas Anderson

Drive My Car, dir. Ryusuke Hamaguchi

Parallel Mothers, dir. Pedro Almodóvar

Flee, dir. Jonas Poher Rasmussen

King Richard, dir. Reinaldo Marcus Green

What Do We See When We Look at The Sky?, dir. Alexandre Koberidze

After Yang, dir. Kogonada

Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn, dir. Radu Jude

The Novice, dir. Lauren Hadaway

I Was A Simple Man, dir. Christopher Makoto Yogi

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hsu-liangyu · 3 years

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“Orientalia”: White Fascination and Nostalgia for China and the Orient

4/11/2021

Denver, CO

CW: Racism, anti-Asian and anti-Chinese sentiment, violence/sexual assault

Preface:

Today was certainly a day. I’ve been on a cross country trek, which I’ve come to call “The Great Journey East”, where I’m driving from my home in the Seattle area to Portland, Maine to ply my usual trade, working aboard some traditionally rigged sailing vessels that operate from the Maine State Pier. I’ve most recently arrived in Denver, CO, after a tumultuous night of camping in un-ideal circumstances on the shores of Great Salt Lake in Utah. I decided to treat myself to a middling hotel downtown to try to affect an aura of urban tranquility before I head out for Wichita in the morning, and then on to see my mother’s family in Oklahoma. The drive thus far has been marked by astounding natural beauty, kind people, and a long series of audio books that I’ve only just begun to make a dent in. I began this journey listening to “Tribe” by Sebastian Junger, which I found to be extremely interesting and helped some of my own understanding of how society today does not serve the community, and how we may one day return to a society where the people come first, as opposed to the individual. After finishing Mr Junger’s audiobook, I turned my ears to a tome that I have put off reading for a long time: “The Chinese in America: A Narrative History” by Iris Chang.

Listening to this audiobook over the last few days, which begins in Qing dynasty China and ends in the modern day, I can say a great many things. I can say that I deeply feel the experiences that were collected by the author and compiled into this book, not only on an intellectual and emotional level, but on a spiritual level. I can say that, despite years of my own research into my familial experiences and the experiences of contemporary Chinese Americans, my level of knowledge was severely lacking, even though I considered myself to be a relatively robust lay-scholar on the topic. I can say that the experience of we Chinese Americans, foreign and natural born, has changed very little in our time here. While circumstances change from person to person, family to family, and era to era, we are all bound together in trends that have haunted our communities, not unlike the tigers that have stalked southeast Asia for time immemorial, striking out when least expected.

All of that, however, is a surface level understanding. Those realities are the first few layers of a complicated and long history of horrific, violent, brutal, and inhuman oppression in the United States.

I began this audiobook believing that I knew most of what I needed, enough to enlighten the odd person in online discourse, or conversation over dinner. Enough to tell-off the casual bigot that accused me and other Chinese people of overblowing our racial, social, and economic anxieties while making them look a fool. I realized very quickly that while I was not wrong in my knowledge, my staunchly anti-racist rhetoric, or my suspicious attitudes towards the US government and law enforcement, I was missing so much of the story. I was not missing the statistics or the legislative history: I was missing word-to-paper stories of my ancestors -- our ancestors -- and the cold, hard, and hellacious reality that they faced when they got here. These realities may have differed from generation to generation (the Chinese washer-man and washer-woman, miner, and restaurateur of the 19th century was faced with markedly different circumstances from the Chinese who fled WWII, the PRC, or settled in other areas of the world during the diaspora), but they are cold and hard, none-the-less.

I have cried more in the last three days than I think I have in the last three years. My heart hurts for our ancestors, our elders, our parents, our siblings, our uncles, our aunties, and our future children as we exist in a country that has committed nearly every atrocity it could think of to rid us from their stolen land.

This was the state of being I’ve come to Denver with. Finally in the privacy of a hotel room, I showered and talked with my partner. She found a book today, written by the child of white missionaries who fled China just before WWII, that was a compilation of “Oriental” inspired needle-work patterns. She shared the preface of this book with me, which I found to be incredibly alarming, and has prompted me to write on the subject of “Orientalism”, the exotic, and how the experience of white Europeans and Americans in China was vastly different from the Chinese people. Out of respect for the author and their work, which I believe was written as an honest tribute to Chinese culture and its influence on them, I am choosing to omit the author’s name and the title of the book in question. While some may see this as underhanded, I am choosing to do so because I do not wish to wage a war of rhetoric with an author who I have very little personal knowledge of, because I believe it is unethical of me to do so.

However, I will be addressing some problematic concepts that are present in the preface of this book, as they are worth speaking about as we attempt to further society’s collective understanding of differential experiences between people and people groups.

Thank you for reading on, as well as for reading my preface. The following issues are things that I have struggled with for a long time, and I hope that my words bring you additional perspective on Chinese American issues.

“The Orient, the Oriental, and Orientalia: A Curious Lens of Exoticism Riddled with Racism”

Today, I saw a word that I had not seen in a very, very long time.

As most any Asian person will tell you, the words “orient” and “oriental” are generally unwelcome descriptors of Asian people and culture. These two descriptors are applied to clothing, architecture, pottery, art, furniture, cookware -- the list keeps going. I often joke to those who use these words, “what am I, a rug to you?”, which normally drives the point home in a friendly way They are both hangers-on from an era that we’d best leave in the past. An era where the Occident and the Orient were opposites of one another, incompatible, and fundamentally in conflict. The two terms saw relatively common usage in the 19th century, and many Euro-Americans considered “the orient” to be interchangeable with “the far east” while the occident was a catch-all word for Euro-American civilizations ranging from western Europe to the New World. It could be said that the Occident and the Orient began as harmless descriptor words that only communicated a vague notion of differences between cultures, they were rapidly weaponized as anti-Asian, especially anti-Chinese, sentiments began to flare in the western world. Imperial Germany used the two terms to great affect, framing the differences between the Occident and the Orient to be far more than cultural and societal. It was a matter of life and death.

The Occident was the pinnacle of industrialized civilization. It was moral and upright, beholden to the Christian god, supported by the titans of industry, government, and cutting-edge military technology. The Orient was backwards, overrun with dirty Chinese heathens who constantly lied, cheated, and stole from the superior whites. The Chinese were looking to enslave white women, turning them into sex slaves or take them as wives so that they could propagate a wretched half-breed race that would overrun the world and mark the end of all Occidental civilization.

This rhetoric was incredibly powerful, and one only needs to look at early anti-Chinese political cartoons and articles to see these words used in incredibly derogatory ways. The other side of the Orient/Oriental dichotomy was steeped in foreign luxury and exoticism, which served to peak the interest of wealthy whites that bought up all kinds of Asian furniture, clothing, fabrics, cookware, and art from unscrupulous dealers and certifiable importers alike. Affluent white women of the 19th century are well-documented as being deeply invested in luxurious goods imported from “the Orient” and marketed as “Oriental” or “Orientalia” to garner societal notoriety, whereas their fathers, husbands, brothers, and sons would have dressing gowns, cravats, and handkerchiefs created out of fine imported silk. All of these goods were considered exotic and other-worldly, which is not a debased outlook for the time, considering that so few westerners had actually managed to travel in the vicinity of China, let alone disembark in one of the few official trading ports open to European traders. This fascination with all things Chinese, entirely divorced from the reality that many Europeans and Americans viewed the Chinese as grave existential threats to white civilization, is not without irony.

While Chinese peasants and workers died in droves from starvation, disease, localized conflict, or at the hands of white Europeans and Americans acting with impunity in a country that was barred from holding them legally accountable for their actions, cargo hold upon cargo hold of Chinese goods were exported for consumption by westerners. These westerners had military and diplomatic presence in China, especially in the mid to late 19th century, often seizing prime real estate in Chinese port cities for international settlements where it was the westerners, not the Chinese, in charge. These ostentatious settlements, coupled with missions run by Christian organizations from all over the western world, exercised great influence with local Qing dynasty officials, and western nationals all throughout the southern coast of China were free to use and abuse the Chinese around them as they please. These prosperous settlements, a highly visible and permanent show of colonization and foreign aggression, were made so by the labor of Chinese workers and peasants. The same workers who were forced into horrific working conditions in and around the settlements while western nationals were free to treat them as they please with no repercussions, ever for outright murder. Any fascination with the Chinese lifestyle, manner of dress, and other items that could be quickly imported to the west as exotic tokens of the Orient was inherently divorced from the horrific reality of daily life within China, and was nearly always a fascination that arose from social tiers that could afford to be ignorant of those realities while directly benefiting from them.

“Orientalia and the Noble Savage”

The westerners’ fascination with all things Orientalia outlines another phenomenon present in the west’s view of China in the 19th and 20th centuries, an phenomenon that Americans are familiar with as it is applied to Indigenous peoples in North America: the Noble Savage.

The Noble Savage idea and stereotype found quick traction with American colonists as they fought to drive out Indigenous peoples from their ancestral lands all over North America. These Indigenous groups, savage as they were perceived to be, were often regarded as principled and noble in their way of life, whether that was seen in their treatment of the lands, natural resources, their art and craftwork, their societal structure, or in how they treated white settlers when they were taken prisoner. While all of this talk of nobility betrayed the slimmest undercurrents of admiration from white settlers towards Indigenous peoples, the second word of the phrase was integral to its application: Savage. Despite these noble ideas and practices, a savage is a savage is a savage. This two-faced admiration served only one purpose -- to communicate the slightest inkling of fake remorse in widespread acts of genocide against people that white settlers hated and chose not to understand.

For the Chinese and Chinese Americans, the idea of the noble savage is easily translated. While Indigenous peoples in North America had a comparatively low level of technology to Americans, the same could not be said of the Chinese. Despite lacking robust gunpowder arms and other advanced forms of military technology, the technological prowess of the Chinese people was without doubt. Massive cities, sprawling agriculture, advanced irrigation, roads, palaces, and so much more was plainly evident to any westerner who arrived on Chinese shores (the same can be said of Indigenous populations throughout the Americas despite the prevailing myth of "primordial wilderness" perpetuated by white settlers) . Despite the different perspectives that westerns had between the two groups, westerners applied the Noble Savage ideal to the Chinese just as quickly and easily as they did to the Indigenous peoples across the oceans.

While the Chinese were obviously proficient in architecture, engineering, and in art, many westerners were quick to follow up any admiration of their eastern counterparts with staunch, racial criticism, highlighting their savagery in their daily lives such as gambling, long fingernails, or their seemingly archaic dress. Much of the criticism leveled on the basis of savagery had to deal with the assumption that Chinese men would, without hesitation, steal from white men and kill them, while selling white women into slavery. And while this was based in very loose reality (the triad societies of Canton did, indeed, participate in the sex trafficking of Chinese women to California and the Coolie trade that sent enslaved Chinese men to work on plantations in South America), the fears were stoked by ferocious anti-Chinese rhetoric in Europe and America.

The Chinese who emigrated to America were seen no different, and while public opinion waxed and waned, it was always understood that the Chinaman was a noble savage at best, and the earthly embodiment of evil at his worst. While modern Chinese and Chinese Americans may not be subject to the Noble Savage ideas from two centuries ago, it is not uncommon for Americans, especially white American youths, to take this idea as gospel, tormenting their Asian classmates throughout their formative years.

“China’s Sorrow: Nostalgia for a China that did not exist”

(As a forewarning, this the section where I may become quite emotional.)

Something that I encountered today was nostalgia. Not my own nostalgia, but the nostalgia of an author who grew up in a mission or international settlement in pre-WWII China, and fled from the country just before Pearl Harbor. This author, who shall remain nameless for the reason I stated in the preface of this essay, spoke highly of China’s sights and sounds, the people, the food, the craftwork, and of their pleasant life as the child of white missionaries in China. They spoke on how the pace of life in China was different than America, and that they much preferred the comforts of life in the Orient, surrounded by Oriental people and objects, enamored with Orientialia well into their adult life.

I found this passage to be absolutely appalling. I understand that I may be picking the wrong fight here, but this is my emotional response to an issue that I have found difficult to articulate that managed to, somehow, someway, manifest succinctly in the preface of a book that I randomly encountered. I lay my thoughts here:

White missionaries in China lived privileged lives, much like the other westerners that inhabited international settlements all throughout the major cities of the country. Missionaries, like the other westerners, were an extremely privileged class, living privileged lives in a country that was being torn apart by colonization, internal strife, famine, disease, and violence. While the average Chinese peasant in late Qing, early republic-era China had to contend with the daily realities of starvation, material scarcity, and the reality that a western could beat them or kill them and face no legal consequences for that action. Merchants were forced to deal with countless one-sided trade and land treaties, while government officials struggled to keep the country together, if they weren’t themselves contributing to the horrendous reality. Life in international settlements for western nationals is often reminisced upon as idyllic, quaint, and prosperous, which paints a stark contrast to their Chinese neighbors’ experiences. The westerners were off-limits, exempt from legal prosecution, and largely able to conduct themselves as they saw fit, even when their conduct directly endangered Chinese lives.

Meanwhile, outside of these international settlements, war ravaged the country. When the Qing dynasty fell and the Republic of China was established, the country fractured. The nationalist government was constantly at war, sometimes with itself, sometimes with bandits and warlords, sometimes with organized crime, and most of all with the Chinese Communist Party. The Koumintang government, in the wake of Sun Yat-sen’s death, saw Chiang Kai-shek seize power. The Japanese began to aggressively push their borders into China, fighting with superior military technology and training while the national army faltered from unwilling conscripts led into disastrous battles by inept, corrupt, and tyrannical officers. The CCP fought a guerilla campaign against the KMT that further muddied the conflict, with innocents caught between two radical and violent sides while Japan tightened the noose. Communist and Nationalist fought together against the Japanese one day, and may have fought against each other the next.

While the country was torn apart, the westerners in international settlements were unconcerned with the wars raging across the land. They continued to live their idyllic lives until the war was literally at their doorstop -- only then did they become concerned with the plight of the Chinese people.

Only then did the westerners in international settlements care for the circumstances of the average Chinese peasant in the countryside or worker in the city. They could bear no concern while they benefited from cheap Chinese labor, horrific working conditions, or while some of them got away with murder. They could bear no concern while Europe and America colonized China and ransacked the economy. And they could bear no concern for the Chinese being tortured, beaten, raped, and murdered in the countryside, far from their gates, until it was on their doorstep.

The nostalgia that some westerners feel for China, a China that existed before the chaos of the 1920s onwards, is propped up by lives of privilege and white-washed memories that ignore the struggle of the Chinese people right under their noses.

They feel nostalgia for a China that did not exist, because the one that existed was destroyed in part by their international settlements and the colonization efforts of their home countries.

This nostalgia for a China that was at least slightly better than the chaos of the 1920s through the 1940s, or better than the Cultural Revolution, or better before Tiananmen Square exists also within the Chinese immigrant community. But this nostalgia strikes in a way that the other does not.

While the westerner who lived in an international settlement may be able to intellectually sympathize with the Chinese experience during this tumultuous time, it is the Chinese themselves who bear the actual scars. Many of our elders long for a prosperous China as well, but there is a key difference in this: our elders, our family, sometimes we ourselves, bear the scars of the past. Our nostalgia is momentary, continuously shattered by the very real heartbreak that the Chinese and Chinese American community has been subject to over the last century. While circumstances and perspectives differed, the China that some of us long for is just as much a painful sore on our souls as it is a pleasant memory. The pain, the loss, the grief, anxiety, and struggle.

It is a nostalgia for our ancestral land that cannot be found anywhere else, as precious as it is painful.

Hsu Liang Yu

#aapi #end aapi hate #aapi history #aapi authors #chinese american #history #white allyship #white allies

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likarotarublogger · 3 years

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Tutto pronto per la terza edizione di VENTOTENE FASHION WEEK Porta d’Europa by E&R, che si svolgerà tra 4/8 agosto 2021.L’apertura ufficiale sarà Mercoledi 4 Agosto, con una WHIITE FASHION TOGA PARTY By E&R ,dalle 22.00 alle 23.00 a Ventotene che si svolgerò presso il Ristorante Portovecchio via Porto Romano. Le modelle sfileranno in abiti bianchi ispirati allo stile della Roma Antica, creati dalla stilista internazionale Elena Rodica Rotaru. La serata sarà presentata da Aura Ruggeri, Stefano Mauro ed Ezio Miani, conosciuto attore di fotoromanzi. La seconda giornata, giovedì 5 agosto 2021, sarà dedicata al fantastico mondo diving. Dalle 15.00 alle 16.00 si svolgerà la ‘’DIWING DAY AND BEACH ‘’ con l’aiuto e supporto di Diving World Ventotene con Beniamino Santomauro e Valentino Lombardi. Saranno presentati i costumi da bagno dei partner durante un pomeriggio di shooting /snorkeling. Completerà il programma un invito a ballare in acqua e sulla spiaggia, sotto la guida dell’istruttrice professionista Candida Silvestri. I costumi da bagno sono presentati da: Le Meraviglie Del Mare, Semplicemente Giò, Idea Casa Ventotene

Candida Silvestri - director artistico nuoto e coreograf balletto in acqua/terra.

Candida Silvestri con il gruppo balletto di Ventotene : Chiara Gargiulo, Marika Curcio, Elena Matrone e Mariana Alleati .

Poi seguirà una serata all’insegna dell’eleganza con una

‘’ELEGANT NIGHT AT BORGO BY E&R ELENA RODICA ROTARU Luogo (cena & fashion): Hotel Borgo Cacciatore sito via Olivi,120, dalle 22.00 alle 23.00.Presentano: Aura Ruggeri ed Ezio Miani. Venerdì, 6 Agosto 2021, le modelle e lo spettacolo si sposteranno presso La Terrazza sul Mare - Spiaggia Cala nave, per un " APERITIF AND SWIMWER FASHION’’ Protagonisti saranno di nuovo i costumi da mare, insieme, questa volta, all’abbigliamento casual. Collaborano: Le Meraviglie del Mare, Semplicemente Giò, Idea Casa, E&R. Presentano: Aura Ruggeri e Ezio Miani.

La serata di venerdì si intitola ‘’ FASHION SHOW NIGHT-TRILOGY-SUSHI e si svolgerà in via Porto Romano a Ventotene. Presentano Aura Ruggeri ed Ezio Miani .

Lo spettacolo continua anche sabato, 7 Agosto 2021, sempre con un ‘’APEITIF TIME FASHION SHOW ‘’ questa volta ospitati dal Bar / Ristorante ''Afrodite'' nella splendida cornice di Piazza Chiesa. Presentano Aura Ruggeri ed Ezio Miani. Non poteva mancare una ‘’FASHION NIGHT YACHT by Emporio Luigi Assenso di Giovanna Assenso “Mollo tutto e vivo a Ventotene”, sul Pontile Marina di Ventotene dalle 22.00 alle 23.00. Presentano Aura Ruggeri e Ezio Miani.

Come ogni anno, la Fashion Week si concluderò con il Gran Galà nella centralissima e suggestiva Piazza Castello, domenica, 8 agosto 2021, dalle 22.00 alle 00.00. La serata sarà presentata dalla modella Letizia Trento insieme all’attore Eugenio Fortino.

Nell'apertura della serata, si esibirà il Balletto di Ventotene e Tivoli ''Europa Libera e Unita'' coordinato da Candida Silvestri (voce, coreografia), costumi e direzione artistica di Elena Rodica Rotaru. I presentatori delle serate precedenti, Aura Ruggeri e Ezio Miani passeranno la staffetta a Letizia Trento ed Eugenio Fortino Seguirà un’intervista all’ideatrice e organizzatrice dell'evento VENTOTENE FASHION WEEK, Elena Rodica Rotaru .

Modella/presentatrice Ventotene Fashion Week -Letizia Trento . L’abito da sposa dalla stilista Patrizia Paoletti (vincitrice del premio ‘’VENTO FASHION ‘’-2020

L’attore /cantante Eugenio Fortino.

Il programma include esibizioni musicali di Katia Giacchetta, Eugenio Fortino, Candida Silvestri. Le sfilate iniziali sono a cura di E& R e Emporio Giovanna Assenso, seguite dalla Sfilata costumi da bagno by Le Meraviglie del Mare e Semplicemente Giò.

Ci sarà anche un momento teatrale dedicato all’anniversario degli 80 anni del Manifesto di Ventotene con Eugenio Fortino, Ezio Miani, Aura Ruggeri, Giulia Ruggeri .

Il momento clou della serata è la VENTO FASHION Gara riservata agli stilisti.

Elena Rodica Rotaru - fashion design International Camelia Birlan - Manager Fashion. Cataldo Matrone - Ex assessore della cultura /giuria Di Ventotene Fashion Week 2020.

La Giuri asarà composta da: Lucia Barboni, Fashion Blogger Latina e presidente della giuria, Cataldo Matrone, Gianni Graziano di ELI hair Ageli Milano, Flaminia Consuelo Triglia l'Advisor per gli Affari Europei del Sindaco di Milano, Giovanni Paolo Santomauro - promotore nel settore economia e commercio, Lara Gallina - responsabile supporto operativo redazione immagine ANSA.

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normanblogs · 3 years

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Miss Aura International 2021 Alexandra Faith Garcia: Back from Turkey

Fresh from a successful pageant stint in Antalya, Turkey, Alexandra Faith Garcia came home with the crown of Miss Aura International on her head. She happily met up with several invited friends from the pageant media at the Victoria Sports Tower in EDSA Timog where answered questions left and right – from light to the more serious ones. She shed tears once or twice (courtesy of this blogger) but…

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#Alexandra Faith Garcia #Cathy Mora-Capistrano #Miss Aura International 2021 #Rodgil Flores #Victoria Sports Tower

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aion-rsa · 4 years

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The Internal Debate Within the Writer of One Night in Miami and Soul

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It’s one of the most kinetic moments in One Night in Miami. As a character observes, the banter is over and friends are pulling out knives: Kingsley Ben-Adir’s Malcolm X just challenged Leslie Odom Jr.’s Sam Cooke on his responsibility as a Black artist to the Black community.

“You bourgeois negroes are too happy with your scraps to know what’s at stake here,” Malcolm says, demanding Sam take advantage of this elusive thing called celebrity and speak up for all those voices who never got a mic. Yet to Cooke—an artist with his own record label that keeps the rights of Black music in Black hands—this is the height of hypocrisy.

“Everybody talks about how they want a piece of the pie,” Sam counters. “Well, I don’t. I want the goddamn recipe.”

Even for a younger audience who may not be familiar with Cooke’s music, or Malcolm X’s autobiography, the debate of social responsibility in American life rings as urgently in 2021 as it does in the film’s 1964 setting—and it echoes acutely too for Kemp Powers, the writer who penned One Night in Miami twice: first as a play and now a film. He can hear it in his debates with other Black artists over the years, and between the lines of books he’s read about each of the men in his story—he can even hear the debate waging in his own head, whether it’s while authoring a passion project like Miami or co-writing and co-directing Soul, the first Pixar film to star a Black man.

“It’s a debate that’s been happening since long before that night between Malcolm and Sam,” Powers says over a Zoom call. “It’s a debate that still happens now, and is a question that I think Black creatives ask ourselves all the time. What, if any, social responsibility do we have as a Black athlete, artist, or public figure? There’s no real clear answer to it, but that being said, almost everyone has an opinion.”

Powers has entertained several over the years, sometimes at the same time. In his youth he may have more clearly favored Sam’s pragmatic sensibility of working within the system, but at age 47 he has long realized, “I can see myself as just a writer or director, or whatever, but society is going to call me a Black writer-director whether I want it or not.” Thus the question becomes how to manage that reality, whether as a playwright or one of the four most influential Black artists, athletes, and leaders of the mid-20th century.

“So many people have asked me about, who do I think is right, Malcolm or Sam?” Powers reveals, remarkably without sighing. “That misses the point, because ultimately the argument they’re having is just the inner monologue that goes on inside my head all the time… and the answer is it’s situational. Some days you got to be like Sam about it, and other days you got to be like Malcolm about it.”

And sometimes you have to be both on the same day.

Indeed, Powers first put One Night in Miami out into the world as a play in 2013. Back then he had no aspirations of becoming a filmmaker. And yet, by the time a film adaptation gained momentum, he’d already begun working with Pixar in Emeryville, California on retooling Soul as the story of a jazz musician in a real existential crisis. The two films, technically speaking, were released on the same Christmas Day, and One Night in Miami is now having its streaming premiere on Amazon Prime Video a few weeks later.

The serendipity of the complementary releases amuses Powers, as does the strange coincidence that Miami would take such a winding path to the screen that it’d catch up with him as a filmmaker. Still, even between these two movies, Powers sees that same internal debate now playing across multiple streaming services.

“My Sam and my Malcolm are on full display with Soul and One Night in Miami as a writer,” Powers chuckles. “You’re seeing me work within an existing system to try to bring about some positive change that might not be fast enough for some people, but it’s a quantum change; it’s a massive, massive change at this huge company that hasn’t had a lot of representation for us, and at the same time you’re seeing me unfiltered in an independent film where I literally can write whatever I want, and it just goes out there unfiltered. So you’re seeing how both can be positive and effective, right?”

It can also mean historical figures jokingly referenced in Soul like Muhammad Ali—who appears as one of 22’s mentors in that film—can also take a spotlight role via One Night in Miami. In fact, Ali is the crux of a curious historical detail Powers turned into a fascinating fiction. On the night Cassius Clay (an uncanny Eli Goree in the film) took the heavyweight championship of the world from Sonny Liston by TKO, the 22-year-old champ chose to celebrate the victory by quietly hanging out in a motel with his mentor Malcolm X, and pals Sam Cooke and Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge). The next day, Clay officially changed his name to Cassius X and announced his joining of the Nation of Islam.

All of that actually happened. But what did they say to each other that night before Cassius took the first step to becoming Ali? And did it cause Cooke to write “A Change is Gonna Come?” Very few details are truthfully known—Powers even reveals one of the few concrete facts is that they were served pints of vanilla ice cream that night (alcohol is forbidden by the Nation of Islam). But then Powers was one of the first to extensively consider the ramifications of all four men in one place at one significant time.

“Usually when you see that night mentioned, it’s mentioned in the context of a story that’s focusing on only one of them,” Powers says. That’s how he came to learn about it, as a minor detail in Mike Marqusee’s Redemption Song: Muhammad Ali and the Spirit of the Sixties, which Powers first picked up about 15 years ago.

“Obviously the focus was very much on Muhammad Ali throughout the entire book,” Powers says. “So it’s a coincidental fact to the writer of the book, who’s focusing on Muhammad Ali, who was not going to see it through the way I was seeing it. [Between] all of them, what is the power dynamic? What’s the friendship like between four guys who were not just influential, but [were] also in different disciplines?”

Powers likens it to the Rat Pack, which was primarily composed of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr., among others. To this day, popular culture idolizes and deifies them as best bros playing cards and crooning ballads in Las Vegas. “And they’re all singers!” Powers contends. “But I think this is like that on an exponentially different level, because they’re not all the same thing. You have an entertainer, you have an athlete, you have a political activist.”

Ultimately, Powers jokes they’re a bit like the Black Avengers, with each having been romanticized to the point of becoming superhuman in pop culture over the decades. It’s certainly how Powers came to them, with the scribe having a special affinity with Malcolm X after reading his autobiography as a teenager. “It’s a formative experience shared, I think, with a lot of Black men of my generation.”

Sam Cooke, who he came to later, was his grandmother’s favorite artist; Jim Brown represented Black strength to a whole generation, and took on a mythic aura by the time Powers came of age; and Ali was just on a whole other plain of existence. “Ali was a hero of mine growing up and I didn’t even know why,” Powers muses.

Yet upon learning all four shared the same space, he found an excuse, and an opportunity, to imagine what these men said behind closed doors and among ostensible equals. In the process, Powers could use literary license to also dive deeper into each of these four men’s towering iconographies, and what lay beneath.

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“I wanted to definitely show the private version of all four men. The whole point of them being in this private space away is that we’ve seen so much of them in the public eye.” But in One Night in Miami, each looks strangely more comfortable sitting with their own thoughts, whether that means by strumming a guitar or holding a camera—thereby removing himself from the other three—than on stage or in the arena.

“We have a movie with Jim Brown with no football in it,” says Powers. “We have a movie with Muhammad Ali that has tiny fragments of two boxing matches, but not even one complete boxing match; we have a movie with Sam Cooke where, relatively speaking, he doesn’t sing that much; and we have a movie with Malcolm X in which he doesn’t give a speech.”

The writer credits director Regina King with making those fleeting moments that aren’t in his original play crackle with energy—the half a round we see of Clay dominating Liston or the glimpses of Cooke winning over a crowd, while also feuding with Jackie Wilson, no less. But unlike so many conventional (and often meandering) biopics, there is an emphasis here on specificity of narrative, and specificity of these men’s characters.

Says Powers, “With a snapshot, you have the freedom of focusing on who that person was at that moment of time. You don’t have to bring them into this modern context and be like, ‘Well, how is this person perceived now?’” He adds, “I feel like with two hours or less, I want to focus on that humanity.”

With One Night in Miami, and even Soul, Powers finds theirs, as well as reveals his own.

One Night in Miami is streaming on Amazon Prime video now.

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The post The Internal Debate Within the Writer of One Night in Miami and Soul appeared first on Den of Geek.

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malapkv · 4 years

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Navaratri Mandapam-Trivandrum- You are missed sorely in 2020!

From 2015 through 2019-, if there was one event I would not miss, it was this. And I would invariably rant about it after coming back. Except for 2017, where the kucheri was just a few days after my father passing away-which I did not miss nevertheless.

This was an “incountournable”treasure of a concert- for the ambience, for the aura, for everything divine about the place and above all for Sanjay Subrahmanyan of course - who, in 2019 ( if am not mistaken), had to use his left hand for the thaalam owing to an injury.

I remember how in 2016, I had a small tiff with my work managers on my absence for their “Saraswathi Pooja”- My priorities were clearly elsewhere :)

And somehow, if S.Varadarajan is not there, the experience seems incomplete even though the other stalwarts still make the experience out of the world ( As is evident in my write ups below).

I know a lot of things come in the way which make this kucheri difficult to attend -like Navaratri unmissable daily Pooja, work, school holidays, sold out tickets etc. But I never imagined that this year the event itself would not be possible:(

Two whole years seems like too long a wait-hoping we would be able to get back to this Trivandrum haven of ours in 2021.

* Navaratri Mandapam 2019 *

I think there is an innate urge in all of us to lean on the past... on heritage...from time to time. We all would like to run away from the perils of the modern world into the safety of time tested tradition- it gives us comfort and peace. It is probably in search of this musical comfort that I attended the kucheri of ShriSanjay Subrahmanyan

at the Navaratri Mandapam for the 5th consecutive year. If I am not mistaken it was Saveri, Naatakurinji, Thodi, Kalyani and this year/today Sankarabharanam. Writing about Shri Sanjay could be considered a cliché . But then, the brilliance of his Shankarabharabam today - those manoeuvres of the raagam that blended with the soft lights of those oil lamps and the serenity in the heads of everyone who listened , some with eyes closed and some as still as those flowers.... Shri Sanjay remains a mystic both in his usual “Effervescence -is -my -middle -name” avatar and in a venue like this, with his “Rishi -like “ looks and that magic wand of tranquility he waves through his music

And it’s important to celebrate this mag/mus-ician, each time he conjures up his mus/mag-icFor the careful listener, lyrics are sacrosanct. And while Maharaja Swati Thirunal ( whose Navaratri Kritis are sung on these 9 days at the Navaratri Mandapam) composed in Sanskrit, his compositions are clearly different from other Sankrit compositions, for example those of Dikshitar. And these subtleties cannot be brought out any better than by a seasoned knowledgeable and dedicated performer like Shri Sanjay.... whose Devi Jagajjanani today will be on the list of his Shankarabaranesque signatures such as Buddhi Raadhu or Muthukumarayyane or Akshaya Linga Vibho.....

Anyone who screams internally with ecstasy at the Sanjay+Sankarabharanam combo would have had his/ her feast day tonight! Also, as a Kathakali Rasika, I often dream of Shri Sanjay singing Kathakali padhams. His Aandolika Vaahane in Anandha Bhairavi was sort of a consolation for me... he singing in Malayalam plus the rhythmic singing which closely resembled a Kathakali padham. The heart saying “ Idhu mathiyallo”

Beyond the specifics of the music and musical brilliance, the personalities seated there including Shri Sanjay,Avaneeswaram S R Vinu( Violin)Nanjil Shri Arul( Mridangam) , Alathur Shri Rajaganesh ( Kanjira) the audience , the temple authorities, the window behind us through which the Raja used to watch the concert... it all seemed like we were re- playing an experience of a few centuries... almost like the DNAs of everyone- our ancestors who composed and performed such music, the kings who were patrons of our culture and everyone present to listen... the DNAs of them in us were reactivated to completely relive the experience of the past.

It felt like we were our own ancestors from many centuries ago! Our time in this earth is but a speck of eternity. And it is up to us to choose how we would spend that time. For me, atleast one day in a year will be spent in this mellifluously mystical experience- with the feminine motifs of the Devi all over, with those ample flower decorations, with the soft sounds of the drizzle as the background ( like today) , with those completely engrossed rasikas in the traditional mundu, and with Shri Sanjay’s voice encompassing it all... those soft lamps and their lights, as I saw it, swayed to the Sankarabharanam today...In a venue where applause is prohibited ( because the music is considered an offering to the Divine) when lit again and again, they will incessantly applaud and tell tales of one of the best Carnatic musicians ever, to the generations to come...

Navaratri Mandapam Concert 2018 of Shri Sanjay Subrahmanyan

The word Kalyani in Sanskrit means many things. It means “ beautiful, lovely, auspicious”. It also directly refers to the Goddess ( Parvati or Shakti) Today was a Kalyani evening, in every sense of the term. Kalyani ( beautiful) was the ambience. Soft oil lamps, ample flower decorations, the feeling of melting sand under the foot, leading to the Mandapam. Everyone dressed traditionally. Everyone transported to a bygone era , everyone trying to relive those days where light meant ONLY oil lamps. One could argue with me but something about the traditional set up including traditional clothes goes very well with traditional music - even if you are an agnostic,with this kind of a set up, you can feel an element of musical divinity pervading the atmosphere. Which cannot be found even in the best of performance auditoriums. In that sense the Navaratri Mandapam ambience is always pure “ Kalyani”. Kalyani ( auspicious) was the event. Day 2 of Navaratri. Shri Sanjay being accompanied by Trivandrum Shri Sampath on the violin. Nanjil Shri Arul on the Mridangam. And Vazhappally Shri Krishnakumar on the Ghatam. An unexpected team. Some new beginnings. Kalyani was the main raagam of the evening. Pahimam Shri Vaageeshwari being the Swati Thirunal Kriti. Shri Sanjay to us , is no more an individual whose music we will analyse. He is a phenomenon, whose magnificence is well beyond established- left only to be discovered. This “phenomenon “ensured that the raagam Kalyani flowed through the spaces which were left unfulfilled by the decorations in the Navaratri Mandapam. His Kalyani took many forms. The form of a Sampoorna raagam with all notes, with the capability to provide all nuances to the compulsive musical analyst.To a divinity struck soul, the music brought Kalyani,the Goddess to air. She could be felt not just as a Vigraham but as a force somewhere around the artists. And somewhere around us. A force which responded to us, which was compelled to be present there simply by the beauty of the Raagam that was being sung.Kalyani ( Goddess Parvati) was the evening. And finally Kalyani ( lovely) was this team. Each player complemented the other and it was lovely to hear an unusual team together. Sometimes ( actually always) Kalyani is Shri Sanjay’s demeanour during a concert. While transporting everyone to a world of serious music, he sprinkles a bit of his cheer by connecting and converging with his audience - his electric smiles igniting more electric smiles in that quiet atmosphere, however never failing the solemnity. Auspiciously beautiful, and to linger forever- blessed by the Goddess and “touch wood”( literally and figuratively for Kerala temples mean a lot of wood ) to all concerned- That Kalyani evening was formidably Kalyani - all the way!

Navaratri Mandapam Concert- by Shri Sanjay Subrahmanyan

Mala Pkv·Tuesday, 11 October 2016·

Reading time: 5 minutes 632 reads

So what is this Navaratri Mandapam concert? It is an annual concert series that is held at the Navaratri Mandapam adjacent to the Padmanabhaswami temple in Trivandrum. This has been a 100 plus- year old festival where great musicians and stalwarts have performed. What’s so different about this concert from the others? I hear you ask. This is not a regular concert but one that happens as a “samarpanam” to the Goddess. So everyone including the artists and audience are expected to be adhering to norms- The gentlemen are to be in veshti/mundu and the women in sarees- the concert happens in front of the “Devi”’s sannadhi and no artifical lighting allowed. Tall oil lamps will light the concert platform that is decorated elaborately with flowers. Nobody is allowed to clap or get up and leave half way through the concert-everyone leaves after the concert finishes and the rituals are complete for the deity. A tradition that is rigidly followed , and when adhered to, gives oneself and the air-a complete aura of divinity and that blissful feeling of traveling back in time.

Shri Sanjay Subrahmanyan, for those who do not know, is a South Indian classical vocalist, of the Carnatic tradition. He is a stalwart of the current times and regularly sings at the Navaratri Mandapam festival- At this festival, the songs sung are the compositions of Maharaja Shri Swati Thirunal- Who had composed many kritis- and specifically nine Kritis (songs)for the nine days of Navaratri.

This year Shri Sanjay elaborated on the raaga Naatakurinji and the kriti was Pahi Janani.With that introduction to the novice, let me get into what this year meant to me. I am now part of a group of people that regularly attends Shri Sanjay’s concerts -we make schedules, form groups, have conference calls and hop cities, just to listen to him . Coming to think of it, its become sort of a cliche and one could easily wonder what’s so special about these experiences. What makes us want to do it over and over again?If I have to frame it in one line its that feeling of experiencing something “Larger Than Life”. Shri Sanjay Subrahmanyan is that wondrous artist, who NEVER takes his audience for granted. In tangible terms, it could be the choice of kritis, the work that goes into it, the audience-sensitive approach, the rare combination of genius+reach. But beyond all this, there is something larger than life to it. Something that makes the listener break down internally, all the elements merging into his music that fills the air. That sense of self- blurring in that “collective” atmosphere. That connect which just can’t be put in words or explained in alpha and beta terms. Something that makes you feel you have been extremely fortunate and handpicked to be part of that experience..Which is why, personally to me as a rasika, a Sanjay concert cannot be just a list of songs-

Yes we go there for the kritis, we love the raagams, we would love to delve deep into his swarams -and specifically in the Navaratri mandapam concert, his Bhaavam rules. You open your eyes, you can hear his voice provide perfect backdrop to that darkness lit by oil lamps. You close your eyes, you feel the bhaavam in his music which touches the innermost chamber of your soul....and you travel somewhere beyond Shri Sanjay’s mortal presence and your mortal presence in that mandapam. And in that realm, the details fade. It doesn’t matter whether he sings an unfamiliar raagam (Bhavapriya) or whether he sings something as familiar as Mamava Sadha Janani. With Shri Sanjay, it doesn’t matter!! For it all merges into ONE experience.:)))

HAVING SAID THAT I write this note because, I also received requests of details of the concert so here they are : Sarasijanabha - Khambodi Ada thala Varnam Mamava Sada - Kanada Palaya Sada - Nalinakanti Mamava Asrita - Bhavapriya Pahi Janani - Natakurinji Bhavaye - Punnagavarali Karuna Nidhan - Charukesi Reena Madaanuta - Behag

And what musicians, we are fortunate to listen to along with Shri Sanjay. Shri Varadarajan Santhanam whose excellence seems to be peaking with each passing concert-He takes the experience to whole new levels, as the regular listener can easily gage. Shri Varadu is not just that stalwart violinist, he is also that rasika, who along with us completely enjoys the experience, and he always speaks like a rasika too. Do not be surprised when you hear “The concert was awesome” from him after the concert-For its that essential rasika in him that speaks :) Nanjil Shri Arul and Shri Sudheer on the mridangam and ghatam respectively,those undertones that were sheer suddha shruthi to the ears. And in that lamp -lit darkness, the tone-perfect percussion provided the perfect balance to the bhaavam emerging from the vocals and the violin.

And our favorite Vidwan Neyveli B Venkatesh sir, had also joined us as a rasika, we all sat in silence as this larger than life experience unfolded in those couple of hours. I would recommend this experience to any rasika of pure music, and particularly every fan of Shri Sanjay and his team. This experience is worth leaving behind your kolus for a few hours, whereas it would be a major regret if you don’t have the experience even once in your lifetime :) And as I reminisce on last year’s Devi Paavane in Saveri, and this year’s Pahi Janani in Naatakurinji, I know my drives and waits and spaces in time would be filled by the recordings of these, discussions and debates with fans from everywhere and particularly God’s Own Country- for the next 365 days... And I await more precious raagams and renditions from this team in the years to come. And we will continue to form friendships, make memories and travel for, by and of Shri Sanjay’s music.....And continue to break down in uncontrollable tears like I did for his beautiful Bhavapriya 48 hours back...

Navratri Mandapam concert of Shri Sanjay Subrahmanyan :2015

First of all no snaps are allowed to be shot here - so let me try to " paint a picture " using words Imagine a vintage mandapam adjacent to the Padmanabhaswami temple. Complete with the ancient Kerala style sloped tiles -and the " old world" feel maintained. The only trace of modernity being the detector which detects if you are carrying anything unwanted or prohibited inside the premises. Before you enter you are required to deposit your bags in the cloak room, change to traditional wear - sarees for women and dhotis for the men. The menfolk are not allowed to wear shirts so they can be seen clad in the vasthrams - the traditional way. So even as you enter ,your mind is tuned to the " times that were" and you stand in a queue to reach the sannadhi of Devi.

The gabled roof as you can see is decorated with flowers- you see tall traditional lamps at all corners - and you walk past , go to the sannadhi of Devi , get Her Dharshan walk around again across the floor covered with pure sand. Go around again and take your seats on the floor right opposite a wall with a painting a of the Devi and her lion. A space of about 3 feet between the audience and the performers. Lights just enough to ensure the artists are seated and then the lights are off. One is back to the ancient times of the world - softly lit by oil lamps . T

There is a certain effect when the entire concert by Shri Sanjay is listened to, in this ambience - whether you believe in the Divine or not, you will feel a sure and certain sense of divinity slowly crawling beneath your veins and finally overwhelming you. The team was Shri Varadarajan on the violin, Shri Harikumar on the Mridangam and Shri Rajaganesh on the Kanjira. There was also a Ghatam artist who looked like he regularly played exclusively at that venue. ( Shri P.L Sudheer )With that tone for the concert set, imagine Shri Sanjay's priceless Kalyani, Anandha Bhairavi, Natakurinji, Khamas, Kapi, Surati, ( to name a few)flowing one after the other with Maharaja Swati Thirunaal's lyrical beauty.

With the RTP being in Saveri as already published. Shri Sanjay did not change the way he usually presents. The same pot pourri of elegance, alternation of pace between super fast and slow chowkam, the same demeanour of joy that he usually exudes and the same eye contact with his audience despite the low lights.But somehow, the oil lamps, the soft natural lighting, the painting of the Goddess which is the background for the performers and the near- darkness enhances the concentration and therefore the sounds of the voices and the instruments sound like something is being played in our sub conscious brains, somewhere in a state of meditation. Thoughts and observations stay out of the mind, the mind is tuned to a meditative state and therefore Shri Sanjay's singing takes a " viswaroopam" and it sounds ten times more pleasing than it normally would.

Shri Varadarajan's violin sounding like how music would sound in Heaven and one could even clearly hear the Shruthi or the tone to which the percussion piece is being performed by the superlative percussionists.Without the distraction of lights , scenes that unfold due to lights, thoughts that take over due to the scenes that unfold,and all the noise that follows in the mind-All that one could see,was focused " lost in time and space" listeners - and the entire atmosphere being tuned to Shri Sanjay's musical depth.And for us -the mad chennai listeners, we were so tempted to applaud loud after each piece but here is a place where no applause is allowed since the rendition is for the Goddess- another unique feature!

Pure meditative listening with the music sounding enhanced by divinity -this is an experience that no fan of Shri Sanjay and his team should ever miss - even if it means you got to travel several miles across the globe- The saveri will linger to eternity just as any other raagam that he sang will. And finally, if an event can be included in the wonders of the world, this would be IT!

#navaratrimandapam sanjaysub sanjaysubrahmanyan

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conanaltatis · 3 years

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Complete list of Miss Aura International 2021 candidates

Andreia Correia Miss Aura International 2020 Andreia Correia, 23, of Portugal will crown her successor at the Rixos Sungate Resorts in Antalya, Turkey on October 5, 2021. It will be the 16th edition of the Turkey-based international beauty pageant formerly known as Miss Kremer International. Starting on September 20, 2021, the contestants of Miss Aura International 2021 will participate in…

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michiganprelawland · 4 years

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Cornelius Fredericks Could Not Breathe

By Heather Muir, Kalamazoo College Class of 2021

July 29, 2020

Cornelius Fredericks was a sixteen-year-old boy who at a young age, had already overcome many obstacles. At the age of twelve, his mother passed away in her sleep. His father was unable to care for him and his siblings at the time, so all four children were separated from one another and sent to different youth facilities. Before arriving at Lakeside Academy, Cornelius had been placed in two other facilities since his mother died. The first one was Wolverine Human Services in Detroit. According to a former peer support specialist, he loved making new friends, teaching others how to play chess, and showing off card tricks. He had hopes of one day becoming a counselor and helping others. “He was a tough kid with a really soft heart”, says Will White, a former peer support specialist at Wolverine who had gotten to know Cornelius[1].

On April 29th 2020, Sixteen-year-old Cornelius Fredericks was eating his lunch at Lakeside Academy in Kalamazoo, Michigan when he threw a piece of bread in the lunchroom. Minutes later, he was being physically restrained by the youth home’s employees. Seven staff members sat on his chest and weighed him down as he called for help yelling, “I can’t breathe”. Ten minutes later, he was released from the physical restraint, and his body went limp. It wasn’t until another twelve minutes after,when staff members decided to call 911. Cornelius was put on life support at Bronson Methodist Hospital and died on May 1st 2020[2]. After medical experts performed a biopsy and examined the recording of the incident from video surveillance cameras, it was confirmed that Cornelius’ death was a result of homicide.

In June, Cornelius’ extended family filed a civil lawsuit against Lakeside Academy and Sequel Youth and Family Services for $100 million. The lawsuit claims negligence/gross negligence and direct negligence pursuant to Michigan’s wrongful death act.

Pictured Above: Excerpt of Michigan’s Wrongful Death Act [3].

Unfortunately, the excessive force used on Cornelius and the abuse from Lakeside Academy was nothing new… Lakeside staff members had put Cornelius in physical restraints at least ten times in the six months he has been there. In one incident in January, police records show that staff reported to have restrained Cornelius for ten minutes. However, surveillance showed that he was in a physical restraint, unable to move for 36 minutes. Once he was released, the video showed him crying and unable to walk properly. Inconsistency in their reports and disregard for the wellbeing of children at the youth facility is not an uncommon behavior by some members of the staff there [1].Staff at these facilities are supposed to use trauma-informed techniques to help calm children down [5]. These places are meant to be safe spaces for children can receive the care and support that they need. Excessive use of force is an unacceptable form of discipline, especially for such minor incidents.

Pictured Above: Police report of prolonged physical restraint used on Cornelius in January [4].

The State of Michigan failed to recognize major warning signs about Sequel facilities. Sequel’s attorneys instructed staff members to not release any security footage, but officers had already obtained it. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services investigated Lakeside in 2018 after a resident had been subject to four unwarranted restraints, and staff members failed to report that the child had been injured in one of them. Another investigation in 2019 found that a staff member had punched a boy in the face and choked him, although the employee denied the incident ever happened. The department claimed that the State did not need to revoke Lakeside’s license, since the facility was submitting an “acceptable corrective action plan”. The facility was ill-equipped to continue caring for the children in their facilities, but Kalamazoo police had no authority to shut them down. It was up to Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, who according to records, were well aware of Lakeside’s shortcomings.Counties from all over Michigan sent children to Lakeside, and at least 30 of Cornelius’ peers came from out of state. In fact, Lakeside collected $427 per day per child from the state of Oregon. There are records that confirm officials from at least three states were concerned about the types of restraints used by Lakeside employees [1].

After Cornelius’ death, the agency discovered that 76 of 151 residential youth facilities in Michigan had either one incident in the past two years or repeat incidents that concerned children’s safety. The state has since made several changes to the way in which facilities like Lakeside will be overseen. There will now be at least four on-site reviews and restraints that restrict breathing will be banned. In addition, if a resident is restrained staff members must notify the child’s family within 12 hours and the department within 24 hours. Governor Gretchen Whitmer has ordered that the State’s Department of Health and Human Services cut ties with Sequel Youth and Family Services. Three Lakeside staff members, Michael Mosley, Zachary Solis, and Heather McLogan have been charged with involuntary manslaughter and child abuse charges.

These changes are a step, but they are certainly not enough. Black children like Cornelius are 35 percent more likely than white youths to be places in residential treatment facilities nationwide. 33 percent of children in foster care are Black, but Black children make up just 15 percent of U.S. children [6]. Residential programs like Lakeside should be an option of last resort. Chang, of Michigan’s Children’s Services Agency says, “Until we address how we use these facilities and stop warehousing in an environment where order and control is the most important factor and not meeting their therapeutic needs, there will always be this risk factor” [1].

The child welfare system in the U.S. has been broken for a long time, and it is tragic that Cornelius had to die because of it. His death exposes the deep change that needs to occur within the system and how dangerous it is to allow for the privatization of youth facilities. It also highlights how far too often;excessive use of force and punishment isused against Black and Brown bodies in this country by people in positions of power. George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Atatiana Jefferson, Aura Rosser, Stephon Clark, Bothan Jean, Philando Castille, Alton Sterling, Michelle Cusseaux, Freddie Gray, Eric Garner, Gabriella Nevarez, Tamir Rice, Michael Brown, Tanisha Anderson, Elijah McClain, Cornelius Fredericks, and too manyothers can no longer breathe because of the systemic racism that continually poisons this nation.

It is time for change, time to demand justice, time to take action, time to educate each other, and time fight for each other so that another preventable situation like this does not have to happen. This is not a bi-partisan issue.BLACK LIVES ALWAYS MATTER.

________________________________________________________________

Heather Muir is a senior at Kalamazoo College studying Economics with a concentration in Public Policy and a minor in Japanese. She is interested in the legal profession, as well as international business and non-profit work.

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[1]https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/brief-life-cornelius-frederick-warning-signs-missed-teen-s-fatal-n1234660

[2]https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/07/08/cornelius-fredericks-death-michigan-kalamazoo-lakeside-academy/5396416002/

[3]http://www.legislature.mi.gov/(S(kg3teqknu1kdj1dldueosfab))/mileg.aspx?page=GetObject&objectname=mcl-600-2922

[4]https://beta.documentcloud.org/documents/20381708-excerpt-regarding-january-restraint

[5]https://www.childtrends.org/publications/5-ways-trauma-informed-care-supports-childrens-development#:~:text=Trauma%2Dinformed%20care%20(TIC),behavior%20problems%20and%20posttraumatic%20stress

[6]https://appam.confex.com/appam/2019/webprogram/Paper32800.html

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blogsarahjames · 5 years

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Best goalkeepers in football history

Goalkeepers’ responsibility is to keep the ball out of a 7.32×2.44 meter goal in any possible way. A goalkeeper must remain vigilant for several minutes at a time before being called into action, and their split-second decisions can often decide the outcome of an entire match.

The best goalkeepers of all time exhibit attributes, such as pace, coordination, bravery, strength, leadership, concentration, positioning, anticipation, reflexes, and agility.

Below we take a look at the top goalkeepers of all time:

1. Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich & Germany)

Manuel Peter Neuer, born on the 27 March of 1986, is widely regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time.

The German professional footballer plays as a goalkeeper and captains Bayern Munich and the German national team.

Because of his unique playing style and speed when rushing off his line to anticipate opponents, Neuer has been described as a "sweeper-keeper."

Schalke 04, Bayern Munich, and Germany's national team goalkeeper may only just be starting out on his career, but he has, in the nine years he has been playing the game, shown that he is one of the best.

In fact, it was the 26-year-old’s sensational displays for Schalke as they unexpectedly made it all the way to the semi-finals of the 2011 Champions League that persuaded Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich to splash €22 million to recruit Neuer.

However, Neuer has simply gone from strength to strength since moving to the Allianz Arena, gaining in confidence, with his remarkable shot-stopping, reflexes, and agility defying belief.

Neuer carried his outstanding form on to the international stage, being the best goalkeeper at both the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012 as he established himself as the undisputed German goalkeeper.

The 33-year-old goalkeeper suffered serious injuries in 2017/18 and spent 2018/19 regaining his form.

Neuers’ marriage was reported to fall apart and the couple has been reported to live separately for some time. Neuer and Nina’s love story began in 2014 and was reportedly over only three years later. When asked about the situation, the goalkeeper asked for privacy on the issue.

Neuer salary is £259,000 on a weekly basis and he has signed a contract with Bayern Munich until 2021.

2. David Da Gea (Manchester United & Spain)

David de Gea Quintana, born on the 7th of November 1990, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Premier League club Manchester United and the Spain national team. He is regarded to be one of the best goalkeepers of all time.

The Spaniard has undoubtedly taken the art of goalkeeping to a new level in the past couple of years. There's nothing excessively flash about him, in fact, he could be considered as unconventional because of the high percentage of saves he makes with his feet, but so often he just makes saves which nobody expects him to make.

His showreel develops season by season, with this campaign's highlighting the save from Cristiano Ronaldo in the Champions League. There was the double stop against Arsenal which sent the internet into a spin, while a favorite of many is the Superman dive against Everton in the 2014/15 season.

David De Gea signed a 6-year contract with the Manchester United club, including an annual average salary of £19,500,000. He earns £375,000 on a weekly basis and he has signed a contract with Manchester United until 2026.

3. Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus & Italy)

The goalkeeper with the Alice band in his hair is, and always has been, one of the world’s greatest goalkeepers.

From his famous Serie A debut against AC Milan as a teenager to leading Juventus to a record-breaking seventh successive Scudetto, Buffon boasts a sustained level of excellence that is simply unrivaled.

His opponent Casillas once said, "It's impossible to find any weaknesses in his game."

As well as being a national icon for the role he played in Italy's 2006 World Cup triumph when he was beaten only by an own goal and a penalty, Buffon is a legend at Juve for having stayed with the club in spite of their relegation to Serie B.

The one major title missing from his CV is the Champions League but its absence does nothing to detract from his standing within the game. Indeed, he bows out as one of the few universally famous goalkeepers in football history.

Buffon first came into view as a 19-year-old when he replaced Gianluca Pagliuca for Italy’s crucial World Cup play-off first leg in Moscow. Buffon was selected as the man-of-the-match display in the process, and ever since, he has been performing miracles in goal for his country, as well as for club sides Parma and Juventus.

It was the ‘Old Lady of Italian Football’ who bought the shot-stopper from Parma for a then world-record fee of £32.5 million in 2001. In the intervening 12 years, Buffon has won Serie A titles with Juve and has been voted the best goalkeeper in Europe on several occasions.

Although, perhaps it is for the Azzurri that Buffon is best remembered. He has won 123 caps to date, and more importantly, played a crucial role in Italy’s 2006 World Cup triumph. He came in second in that year’s Ballon d’Or.

In 2019, Buffon signed a contract with Juventus until 2020, including an annual average salary of €4,992,000.

4. Petr Cech (Chelsea, Arsenal & Czech, retired)

Petr Cech, born on the 20th of May 1982, is a Czech former professional football player who played as a goalkeeper and has been described by numerous players and managers as one of the greatest goalkeepers in European history.

The giant Chelsea and Czech Republic goalkeeper has been one of the most consistent and outstanding shot-stoppers of the last 10 years. Many consider Petr Cech to be one of the top three keepers on Planet Football for the period following his move from Rennes to Chelsea in 2004.

Cech has remained ever-present at Stamford Bridge, winning three Premier League titles and the Champions League, while also recording 98 caps for his country, the second-most in Czech Republic history.

However, the man who once went 928 minutes without conceding a goal while at Sparta Prague in 2001-02 lost just some of his aura in goal following the horrific broken skull that he suffered while playing against Reading in the Premier League in Oct 2006.

But his sensational displays in goal as the West Londoners won their first-ever European Cup in 2011-12 silenced the whispers forever.

Petr Cech signed a one-year contract with the Arsenal F.C., including an annual average salary of £5,720,000. Later, in June 2019, he announced his retirement and continued his job as a technical and performance advisor for Chelsea.

5. Iker Casillas (Real Madrid, FC Porto & Spain)

Iker Casillas Fernandez, born on the 20th of May 1981, was a Spanish professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper for Portuguese club Porto. Casillas is widely recognized as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time mainly because of his spectacular saves.

Ever since Iker Casillas debuted for the biggest club in the world at the young age of 16, he enjoyed nothing but success, claiming five Liga titles, two Champions League crowns, one Copa de Rey, four Supercopas, the UEFA Super Cup, and the Intercontinental Cup.

Moreover, he captained the country to their first national title in 44 years at Euro 2008, a feat he repeated at Euro 2012, and in between he led Spain to their first and only World Cup triumph in South Africa, making him one of only a very select band of players to have won every major domestic and world titles.

Despite the fact that Casillas had a heart attack in July 2019, he returned for pre-season training with Porto squad.

After Casillas agreed to play one more season at Porto, he took a pay cut to stay in Primeira Liga. For the two-year deal the goalkeeper initially signed at Estadio do Dragao, Real Madrid covered a portion of his €11 million a year wages. However, Casillas could claim only 7m euros in annual salary in 2017/18.

6. Lev Yashin (Dynamo Moscow & Soviet Union)

Lev Ivanovich Yashin, born on the 22nd of October 1929 and died on March 20th of 1990 in Moscow, Russia, was a former Soviet professional footballer, considered by many as the greatest goalkeeper in the football history.

The only goalkeeper to have ever won the Ballon d'Or, Lev Yashin was a true pioneer of his position. At a time when goalkeepers were expected to remain rooted to their line, the Russian became renowned for his bravery in charging out of his goal to claim crosses and close down onrushing forwards.

Yashin, who was named goalkeeper of the 20th century by the IFFHS, was beloved for his showmanship, wowing crowds with his spectacular, acrobatic saves, as well as his iconic all-black strip, which, coupled with the illusion of having extra limbs, earned him the nickname 'The Black Spider'.

A revolutionary in terms of punching the ball away and short throwouts, Yashin became the standard by which all other goalkeepers were judged and it is only fitting that, since 1994, the best goalkeeper at any World Cup is presented the 'Lev Yashin Award'.

The first great modern goalkeeper, the ‘Black Spider’, as he was known due to his outstanding reflexes, played for just one club throughout his career, Dynamo Moscow. He represented Dynamo Moscow on 326 occasions between 1950 and 1970 while winning 78 caps for the Soviet Union (1954-67), playing in three World Cups, and winning gold at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne.

The working-class hero, Yashin, didn’t enjoy the same salary compared to his European counterparts. A Soviet journalist recalls a story about Yashin going to a restaurant with Ferenc Puskás, a star forward from Hungary who played for Real Madrid.

As Puskás took out his wallet to pay the bill, Yashin was shocked: “I’ve never seen such a large amount of money in my life, let alone earned it.”

7. Peter Schmeichel (Manchester United, Denmark, retired)

Peter Boleslaw Schmeichel, born 18 November 1963, is a former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper at English club Manchester United and Denmark national team.

Peter Schmeichel is famous for his intimidating presence in the penalty area when confronting an onrushing player. His now famous ‘starfish’ saves, that he perfected so often throughout his long and glittering career, prove he was undoubtedly the greatest goalkeeper ever to have represented Manchester United and Denmark.

Schmeichel played 292 times for the club from 1991 to 1999, winning five league titles before his crowning moment at Old Trafford that fittingly came in his last game for the Red Devils.

He captained the club to victory in the 1999 Champions League final, where his man-of-the-match performance helped Sir Alex Ferguson’s side win the Treble.

He also shone for his country, playing a record 129 times for Denmark, which included causing one of the biggest shocks in the history of international football when they won Euro 92.

Credited with revolutionizing the way modern keepers now play the game, acting as a sweeper behind his back four, his ability to come out on top when faced with one-one-one attacking situations was remarkable.

Schmeichel scored nine outstanding goals during his career. In August 2018, the goalkeeper’s net worth is estimated to be $25 million.

8. Oliver Kahn (Bayern Munich & Germany)

Oliver Rolf Kahn, born 15 June 1969, was a German former football goalkeeper. In 1994, he signed a contract with Bayern Munich for the fee of DM4.6 million, where he played until the end of his career in 2008.

Oliver Kahn was an absolute colossus between the sticks for both Bayern Munich and Germany and probably the best keeper when confronted with a one-on-one situation with an opposition player.

The blond-haired, fiery No. 1 won everything there is to win in the club game while in Bavaria. The highlight of his career coming when his penalty-saving heroics in the shootout of the 2001 Champions League final against Valencia helped win Bayern their first European Cup for 25 years.

Moreover, his performances in goal for Die Mannschaft at the 2002 World Cup finals in South Korea/Japan virtually dragged his country single-handedly to the final, where they lost to Brazil. Although Kahn made history when he became the first and only keeper to be named player of the tournament when he won the Golden Ball.

It was recently reported that the members of the FC Bayern München AG Supervisory Board unanimously resolved to appoint Oliver Kahn to the FC Bayern München AG Executive Board. The 50-year old former goalkeeper has signed a contract until 2025 to serve as a member of the board.

9. Fabien Barthez (Marseille, Monaco, & France)

Long before Manuel Neuer and other well-known goalkeepers, it was Fabien Barthez who revolutionized goalkeeping.

Fabien Alain Barthez, born 28 June 1971, was a French former footballer and racing driver who played as a goalkeeper.

Barthez played football in both France and England with Toulouse, Marseille, AS Monaco, Manchester United, Nantes, and France national team.

Barthez is probably the best goalkeeper that has ever evolved in the championship of France. From Marseille to Monaco, the international Frenchie has shined in football history.

But it was his Mancunian time that Barthez became one of the best goalkeepers in the world. He won the 98 World Cup with the Blues with an astonishing performance during the competition.

The 48-year old former goalkeeper possessed not just great shot-stopping ability but also brilliant footwork and amazing passing range.

Once he said to reporters, “Calling me a goalkeeper is not enough because I do like to be involved in the game as much as possible. I’m a player.”

Ferguson commented on him “Other goalkeepers would play safety first. Fabien had a wee bit more. He liked the excitement of taking care of the ball.

“I remember he kept telling me he was a better outfield player. He could play sometimes in Friday morning games before the Saturday game, in small-sided games. He had good feet.”

10. Dino Zoff (Juventus & Italy)

Dino Zoff was born on February 28, 1942, in Mariano del Friuli, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. In general, he played in 112 international matches for Italy from 1968 to 1983.

After winning the World Cup at the age of 40, he became the oldest captain, goalkeeper, and overall player ever to win the World Cup. He is also known as the oldest surviving captain following the death of Hilderaldo Bellini in 2014.

Although at 14 years old, he was considered too short to be a serious football prospect, Zoff had an imperious presence in goal in his career. Winning six Scudetti with the Bianconeri while also captaining the Azzurri to World Cup glory in Spain in 1982 at the age of 40 years, four months, and 13 days, he is the oldest player ever to win the tournament, while also becoming just the second-ever goalkeeper to lift the trophy.

Zoff still holds the incredible record of the most minutes in international football without conceding a goal, 1,142 minutes, set between 1972 and 1974.

Upon retirement in 1983, Zoff was recognized to be the greatest goalkeeper that the football world had ever seen.

11. Edwin Van Der Sar (Manchester United, Netherlands)

Edwin van der Sar was born on October 29, 1970, in Voorhout, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands. He started out his professional career with Ajax in 1990 and played for the giant Dutch club for nine years.

Van der Sar represented Ajax, Juventus, Fulham, and Manchester United in his career.

He won the Champions League with Ajax in 1995 and then United in 2008 when he was named man of the match, making him one of a select group of players to have won Europe’s premier club competition with two different clubs.

He also claimed the UEFA Cup and multiple league titles in the Netherlands and England, the last of which at Old Trafford in 2011 made Van der Sar the oldest-ever player to win the Premier League at 40 years and 205 days.

The goalkeeper who was perhaps the best ever with the ball at his feet with a vital skill in the modern game following the abolition of the back-pass rule also held the world record for a long period of time without conceding a league goal at 1,311 minutes during the 2008-09 season at United.

Van der Sar was a regular international for the Netherlands national team from 1995 to 2008. With his 130 caps to the national squad, he holds the record as the most capped player for his national team.

12. Sepp Maier (Bayern Munich & Germany)

Josef Dieter Sepp Maier, born on 28 February 1944, is a former German football player. He played for Bayern Munich and the German national team and is known as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time. Maier spent his entire professional career at Bayern Munich.

Maier was an integral part of the all-conquering Bayern Munich and West Germany teams of the 1970s. He was known as the ‘Die Katze von Anzing’ (the cat from Anzing) because of his outstanding agility and reflexes.

Maier won virtually all there is to offer in the game, including four Bundesliga crowns, three successive European Cups, the European Championship and the World Cup. Moreover, the three-times German Footballer of the Year still holds the Bundesliga record for having played the most number of consecutive matches (422).

13. Gordon Banks (Leicester City & England)

Gordon Banks born on 30 December 1937 was an English footballer who played for England national team. He is regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time. He also played for different clubs such as Chesterfield, Leicester City, and Stoke City.

In December 2015, it was announced he was receiving treatment for kidney cancer. Banks died on 12 February 2019 in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire at 81.

Banks will always be remembered for making the historical save at the 1970 World Cup finals in Mexico when he somehow managed to push Pele’s close-range goal-bound header up and over the bar in what most experts still consider to be the greatest-ever save made in football history.

While Leicester City and England international may not have won the medals and trophies that some of his rivals did, he still played an integral role in his country winning their first and only World Cup on home soil in 1966. He conceded just two goals during the whole tournament.

In terms of goalkeeping skills, few could match his agility, reflexes, and pure shot-stopping capabilities.

14. Jorge Campos (Los Angeles Galaxy & Mexico)

Jorge Campos, born on 15 October 1966, is a former Mexican football player. He has played for Mexican national team.

Campos started his career as a striker; however, he left his job in the attacking zone after his debut season.

Despite being one of the shortest keepers of his era (5'8''), Campos' aerial game was strong, plus he was one of the first Mexican goalkeepers who knew how to play with his feet accurately.

Beyond his colorful kits, the Acapulco-born footballer made quite an impression in the 1994 and the 1998 World Cups. He won the 1999 Confederations Cup, the 1993 and the 1996 Gold Cups, and the 1999 Pan American Games.

He won the Citlali (Mexican Football Awards) as the best goalkeeper a record five times successively.

Moreover, the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFHHS) picked him as the third-best goalkeeper of 1993.

In the local league, he played for UNAM, Atlante, Cruz Azul, and Puebla. He was one of the first Mexicans to play in the MLS (LA Galaxy and Chicago Fire).

15. David Seaman (Arsenal, UK)

David Andrew Seaman, MBE, born on 19 September 1963, is an English former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. In a career lasting from 1981 to 2004, he is best known for his time playing for Arsenal.

Seaman was one of England’s best goalkeepers of all time and a crucial ingredient of Arsenal’s success under Arsene Wenger. He certainly enjoyed his peaks at the club level rather than in an England shirt, but the same can be said for virtually every player of that generation.

“He’s still the best goalkeeper in England,” said Wenger of 39-year-old Seaman in 2002.

“I’m very proud of him. He has shown again the calm, the authority and the responsibility on the pitch and that’s what you want from a super professional. It’s about showing how strong you are on the pitch and he’s done that again today and he has always done that since I was at Arsenal,” Wenger added.

#football news

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