#Tim and Danny had meet when they were 13 and 14

[bluerosefox]

The Drakes

It's been years since the Bats had seen Red Robin much less Tim Drake-Wayne. It started with a rather dumb argument that after years of holding back his tongue and the stress of being a TEENAGE CEO that Tim finally ripped into them.

They were too stunned by the end of his speech, him also admitting that yes he has his own problems and mistakes but at least he's trying to make amends or get over himself unlike others. It was their prolonged silence that was the final straw for him it seemed though, because Tim finally announced he was done, he was done bleeding for those that kept him on the edge of the family and that he wanted to rest, and with that Tim turned and left the Batcave for the final time.

They of course didn't take Tim's retirement announcement seriously, after all Tim was the last person other than Bruce they all believed would ever leave the life of a vigilante and a hero behind, and they all knew Bruce would keep working on the 'mission' even as a frail old man. It took them a few weeks before one of them finally decided to go see Tim and try to... talk about everything he said.

Only when they reached Tim's Nest, they discovered it was empty and he was no where to be found did they realize he was serious. It was a quick call to Wayne Enterprises to see if he was in and Tam no doubt holding back her sharp response to them that she told them that Tim had stepped down from CEO weeks ago and hasn't been heard from since. The one who went to see Tim immediately called the others, which sent many of them onto goose chase of false leads, arguments, and pointing blame.

Despite looking for their long lost Red Robin, he was good at hiding his tracks and any who might have an idea where he could be weren't talking.

So yeah it's been a while since the Bats had heard any news relating to their lost bird.

So imagine their surprise when Ra's latest attempt to upset the balance in their family again (did he want Damian to return as his heir? Take control over Gotham in the shadow? Upset Bruce? None of them honestly knew what his plan was anymore. Same old song and dance) and having captured them all that he brought up Tim to them. Or rather "shame the Detective is going to be late, but I'm sure his little family shall inform of things once he gets here."

None of them were expecting for Ra's to look away from them and with a snap of his fingers, three assassins brought forth into the room two others. One was being dragged by two assassins, black hair, pale skin, and lean swimmers build of a body. He looked roughly around the age Tim would be. He was placed on the floor right by Ra's boots, arms and legs tied up, clearly but alarmingly breathing low and slow from the raise and fall of their chest. He wore a simple T-shirt but had dark jacket that was covered in stars, NASA logos, and other galaxy themed patches all over it, his dark jeans also held some star patches but also held everyday stains from being outside in the grass and other normal day to day thing. All in all this person seems like a normal civilian individual and none of the Bats knew why Ra's had taken him.

The other assassin that had walked into the room was holding a toddler, a girl from the little pigtails on her messy head indicated. Her hair was just as dark as the passed out male by Ra's and her skin was shade healthier than him. She wore grass stained and messy paints caked overalls with a plan shirt under it and two different kinds of kids shoes (one was a green with dinosaurs and the other blue with little stars). She, unlike the young man on the floor, was awake and was looking around the room while sucking her thumb in clear distress, she also used her free hand that wasn't in her mouth to push the assassin holding onto her away from her as far as she could and was squirming her tiny legs enough to kick their sides. Thankfully the assassin didn't look too hostile or upset meaning she wasn't doing to much damage or being too annoying.

"What a lovely family the Timothy has gained for himself don't you think? I will admit Daniel put up a rather interesting fight, it was only due to us having the element of surprise that we managed to take him down and his little Eleanor has his fighting spirit it seems." Ra's said as he slowly reached over to the toddler to lightly fiddle (just to unnerve them as well) with her hair. However the moment he touched her hair, the little girl's eyes flashed from frosty blue to neon bright green and she had spat her thumb out of her mouth in order to hiss like a cat at him, her little feet kicking hard enough to cause a small 'oomph' from the one holding her.

Ra's gave an amused chuckle as he stared at the toddler in fascination before also casting his gaze down at the passed out young man, remembering the way his eyes also had flashed from blue to green and the amount of power he had saw bubble to the surface when they had ambushed the two in their home. As Ra's said before, if they hadn't had the element of surprise on their side when they went after Timothy's little family it wouldn't had worked. No doubt little Eleanor Drake was a hint of power Daniel Drake held.

Ra's turned to look at the Bats, and could clearly see the emotions on their faces which amused Ra's deeply, and couldn't help but say "Although I wasn't expecting him to marry a being with pure Lazarus blood flowing in their veins. Quite a interesting discovery that was. And that his offspring seemed to carry it also from birth. What lovely and priceless boons he has granted the League to have once he joins us."

Ra's could clearly see the questioning, fear (for the family in his clutches), confusion, and disbelief on the Bats faces and knew it would be so entertaining to watch the little.. family reunion he had set into motion.

He was so amused watching Batman the others he never noticed the light twitch on Daniel's face or the shifting breathing pattern. When he would later check to see of the large amount of tranquilizers they had given Daniel was still in-effect he was none the wiser that it had already wore off and that Danny was merely bidding his time for a opening.

[arrowsandbats]

Tim’s Complicated School History

So I’ve noticed there seems to be a fair bit of confusion on where Tim went to high school, whether he dropped out or not, if he went to private or public school, etc., so I thought I’d create a general chronology of (Pre-Flashpoint) Tim’s tumultuous high school career. The confusion about this is deserved, as Tim has literally gone to no less than FIVE high schools and also homeschooled for a bit, so it’s a LOT to keep track of. Tim has attended both private schools and public schools, and has gone to school in Gotham and Bludhaven (and almost Keystone!), ultimately ending his school days when he dropped out of Gotham City High School during his senior year to go search for Bruce after the events of Final Crisis.

Here’s the breakdown:

Pre-High School: Tim attended private boarding schools until he was about 13-14 years old. To my knowledge these schools are never specifically named, but 13-yr-old Tim mentions in Batman #441 that he attends a boarding school just outside Gotham. In Robin III #4 Tim angrily tells his dad that him and Janet “shipped [Tim] from one boarding school to another and nobody paid any attention as long as [his] grades stayed high.” This seems to imply that Tim attended a number of different boarding schools, when there’s really no reason for him to have attended more than two (an elementary and middle school), and even then a number of private boarding schools are actually K-8 (if not K-12) so I don’t know why he attended so many schools?? Nevertheless, from K-8 Tim attended private boarding schools, primarily in the Gotham area presumably.

Tim was probably still in middle school in his earliest appearances (Batman: A Lonely Place of Dying, Batman: Rite of Passage, etc), but he starts high school right around the time he finishes his Robin training (around the time of the first  Robin miniseries).

High School #1---Gotham Heights High School: The first reference to Tim being in high school comes from the 1991 Robin II miniseries. Tim has recently started at Gotham Heights High School as a ninth grader. This comic takes place after Tim’s parents were kidnapped and poisoned, and so while Jack is in the hospital Bruce is acting as a guardian of sorts for Tim. It’s at Gotham Heights that Tim befriends Sebastian Ives, as well as his friends Hudson and Callie Evans. When Ives asks Tim about the fact that he seems too rich for public school, Tim explains that he used to go to private school but that Bruce had him transferred into public school because he thought it would be “more broadening.” Even after Jack gets out of the hospital he allows Tim to stay at Gotham Heights HS, although Jack clearly has a low opinion of public schools. Tim presumably started at Gotham Heights HS at the beginning of the ninth grade and attended for about a year and a half.

Interlude---Keystone: After the events of Cataclysm, Tim’s family moves to Keystone to avoid the chaos going on in Gotham. (They only end up staying a few weeks at the most, but they moved with the intention of living there permanently, meaning that Tim was transferred out of Gotham Heights HS.) In Robin #63 Jack mentions trying to get Tim into Keystone Academy, but that it’s tough in the middle of the school year and that he was working on getting him a tutor in the interim. Tim was supposed to meet his new tutor the same day that he went back to Gotham to be with Steph while she had her baby. He left without telling his dad, and so Jack and Dana come back to Gotham to get him and they all decide to stay in Gotham after all. It’s unclear if Tim returns to Gotham Heights HS briefly or if he just doesn’t return to school until he’s enrolled at Brentwood.

High School #2---Brentwood Academy: After the events of No Man’s Land, Tim is enrolled in Brentwood Academy, a boarding school in Bristol Township (a wealthy suburb directly to the north of Gotham, where the Drakes and the Waynes both live). After missing so much school, Jack forces Tim to go to a boarding school so that his grades will hopefully come up. (I think the reasoning here is that if Tim lives at school then he’ll have no good excuse for missing class?) In Robin #75 Tim refers to himself as a “new sophomore,” and he transferred to the school some time after sophomore year started (almost definitely after winter break, but I can’t find an issue that confirms this?) but before spring break. Tim’s main friends at Brentwood are his first roommate Ali, his second roommate Wesley, and his classmates Buzz, Kip, and Danny. Tim isn’t at Brentwood for very long though. After only a few months (maybe even less) of Tim being at Brentwood, Jack finds out he’s lost a good portion of the Drake family fortune in bad investments. He’s forced to withdraw Tim from school as he can’t afford the tuition anymore, and the Drakes sell their home in Bristol Township and move into their townhouse in inner-city Gotham.

Interlude---Rest of Sophomore Year: When Tim left Brentwood it was rather late in the year, and it was apparently too late to re-enroll him in public school, so he took the rest of the school year off. That summer he has to take a placement test that will keep him from having to repeat the 10th grade. He passes, so when he re-enters public school he does so as a junior.

High School #3---Louis E. Grieve Memorial High School: Tim starts his junior year at Louis E. Grieve Memorial HS, where he quickly befriends Bernard Dowd and Darla Aquista. He doesn’t attend school here very long, probably for about 3-4 months (he’s only been at Grieve Memorial HS for a few weeks when he’s forced to quit being Robin, Steph takes over for about 2 months, and then it’s only another couple weeks until the events of War Games). During War Games, Tim’s friend Darla is targeted by several mobs (because her father is an Italian mob boss) and mobsters take over his school and end up killing several students, Darla included. Darla’s funeral is one of three that Tim has to attend in as many days, his dad being killed during Identity Crisis and Steph “dying” at the end of War Games.

High School #4---John Wayne High School, Bludhaven: After War Games and Identity Crisis, Tim moves to Bludhaven to try for a fresh start. He picked Bludhaven specifically for an in-patient facility that will help his stepmom, Dana, process her grief over Jack’s death. Tim moves to be close to her and starts attending John Wayne High School. He probably only attends for about two weeks though, before he has his (fake) Uncle Eddie withdraw him from the school to start homeschooling. Tim withdraws with the intention of homeschooling until he can test out of school early. But it isn’t long (maybe another month or so) until Infinite Crisis, and then Tim and Dick go on a nearly year-long training journey with Bruce.

Interlude---OYL: During the missing year* between Infinite Crisis and One Year Later, Tim isn’t in school at all, as he and Dick and Bruce are travelling the world and training. 

(*Also, with the nightmare that is comics continuity and the passage of time, Tim really couldn’t have been gone for more than like,,,,6-8 months, as it was late winter/early spring when Infinite Crisis happened---at least according to the Robin series---and it’s summer when he returns to Gotham. He’s still 17 early in the Red Robin series so it couldn’t have been a year and a half that he was gone, therefore he could only have been gone for like half a year.)

High School #5---Gotham City High School: After the OYL time jump, Tim starts attending Gotham City High School. He starts during the “summer session” (presumably to make up for the semester he missed during OYL?) before his senior year. His main friends here are Zoanne Wilkins (who he starts dating), Jared Walton, Craig Pulaski, and then both Ives and Steph transfer to GCHS during Tim’s senior year (altho Steph is usually a year older than Tim in Pre-52 canon, so it really makes no sense for her to be there??). This is the high school Tim is attending when he drops out of school in his senior year to travel the world looking for Bruce. In Red Robin #17, Tim and Ives meet for lunch (after Bruce has returned and Tim has moved back to Gotham) and Ives mentions Tim not finishing senior year. Tim asks Ives how senior year is going---implying that the events of the first arc of Red Robin only take a few months---and catches up on how Ives and Zoanne are doing.

Some general Tim school stuff: Tim is a very smart kid, but not a very good student. In the Robin III miniseries both Jack and Tim’s school counselor make reference to the fact that before high school Tim had always been a straight A student, but that his grades and attendance have slipped considerably. He is routinely too tired to pay attention in class, he’s constantly missing weeks of school, he fails to complete homework assignments bc of Robin missions, etc. Several times he even references in his inner monologue that he thinks he might fail a specific class. And honestly, Tim just doesn’t care about school. He often makes irritable inner-monologue comments about preferring practical application over learning things in a school setting, he tries to get himself out of school permanently when he lives in Bludhaven, etc. That being said, he’s never been noted to actually fail a class and even with all the school he’s missed he’s never had to be held back, so presumably he’s still earning like Cs in most classes.

[kiragecko]

DC Sidekick Age References

Here’s a dump of all the references I’ve found. Know I’m missing a lot, and quite a few were found on other sites that didn’t give me the most precise info.

If you know of anything else, can correct a mistake you see, or want to discuss comic book aging - please send me an ask, message, or reblog!

?? - means I don’t know where the info is from, “quotes” are direct copies of the wording in the comic

-

?? Parents died when Bruce was 8

Detective Comics #27 (May 1939) – Batman introduced

Detective Comics #38 (Apr 1940)  – Dick is (8 when parents killed/9 when Robin) 12 when he becomes Robin, it's Bruce's 3rd year as Batman

More Fun Comics 73 (Nov 1941) – Green Arrow Introduced

1962 - JLA formed

1964 – Dick teams up with Wally and Garth

Teen Titans 1 (Jan-Feb 1966) – Teen Titans form, Donna is introduced (all 5 are 14ish?)

Detective 359 (Jan 1967) – Babs introduced, has PhD, has graduated

Batman #217 (Dec 1969) – Dick graduates high school, enrolls in University (starts 3 months later)

1971 - Roy discovered using drugs by Ollie and Hal in a drug den (he was trading arrows for drugs), retcon has Wally and Dick discovering him at tower and making him promise to get help

Justice League 116 (Mar-Apr 1975) Charley Parker is 16

Batman Family 10 (Mar-Apr 1977) – Dick is teenager, Babs is 25

Teen Titans 53 (Feb 1978) – Dick, Wally, Donna, Vic all started college at same time

DC Special Series: The Flash Spectacular (May 1978) – Wally graduates high school

New Teen Titans 1 (Nov 1980) – Raven forms New Titans, Gar is 16 during run

New Teen Titans 2 (Dec 1980) – Slade meets team, Grant dies

1981 - Dick drops out of university after 1 semester, he never really was interested

New Teen Titans 20 (June 1982) – Vic turns 19, Donna already is

Tales of the New Teen Titans 2 (July 1982) – Raven turned 18 just before forming Titans

Batman #357 (Mar 1983) – Jason’s first appearance

Detective Comics #526 (May 1983) – Bruce adopts Jason, Dick is there and approving

New Teen Titans 34 (Aug 1983) – Terra turns 16

Batman #368 (Feb 1984) – Dick gives Jason the Robin costume, Jason becomes Robin

Blue Devil(84) – Eddie is 11/12

Tales of the Teen Titans (May 1984) – Joey introduced, Author describes him as 17?

New Teen Titans #39 (Feb 1984) – Dick stops being Robin, Wally quits being a superhero/the team

Tales of the Teen Titans 50 (Feb 1985) – Terry and Donna's wedding (she got married while 19)

New Teen Titans 10 (July 1985) – Kole says she's at least 18

Crisis on Infinite Earths 7 (Oct 1985) – Supergirl dies in Superman’s arms after mostly destroying the Anti-Monitor, who has to flee reality

New Teen Titans 18 (Mar 1986) – Dick turns 20 (“Dick Grayson celebrates his birthday away from home with a traditional Tamaranean feast.” (While sulking because Kory got space-married))

New Teen Titans 20 (May 1986) – Roy locates baby Lian, Terry Long is 29

?? Roy is 22(when he gets Lian)

Batman #404 - Batman Year One (Feb 1987) – Bruce is 25, spent 12 years training, became Batman at 26, Barbara Gordon is pregnant, her and Jim move to Gotham

Detective Comics #571 (Feb 1987) – we see Bruce’s fear gas induced vision of Jason’s tombstone (birth: 1974 – death: 1986, so he’d be 12)

Secret Origins 13 (April 87) – 15 years ago, it was Dick’s 5th birthday. Soon after tenth birthday, parents are killed. [Set during New TT 18])

Batman #409 (July 1987) – Jason becomes Robin (In Detective Comics, Jason has been Robin the whole time, but is still being wwritten with Pre-Crisis personality)

Flash 1 (June 1987) – Wally turns 20

New Teen Titans Ann 3 (Nov 1987) – Danny Chase is 13 and introduced

Batman #416 (Feb 1988) – Dick in Gotham, meets the new Robin on patrol. Confronts Bruce later, says he was ‘fired’ less than a year ago (since then he was briefly in college), makes Bruce admit he missed him. Dick finds Jason again, expose the drug dealers, and Dick gives Jason his old costume (symbolically, since Jason already has one) and a phone number, Dick was Robin for 6 years

Batman #427 (Winter 1988) – Jason dies

Batman #436, Batman: Year Three (Aug 1989) – 2 years since Dick stopped being Bruce’s sidekick (When he became Nightwing? Or when he quit?), parents died 10 years earlier

Batman #441, A Lonely Place of Dying (Nov 1989) – Tim 13, was 7 when Dick’s parents died

Robin #1 (Jan 1991) – Tim debuts as Robin

New Titans 84 (March 1992) – Joey dies

Deathstroke, the Terminator #15 (Oct 1992) – Rose introduced

Team Titans 3 (Nov 1992) – Robert Long is born

Adventures of Superman 500 (June 1993) – Kon appears and escapes from Cadmus with Newboy Legion, John Henry Irons first appearance, Eradicator and Cyborg Superman also appear for first time

Batman: BTAS: Robin’s Reckoning (1993) - 'Richard 'Dick' Grayson: Age 10'

Detective Comics 668 (Nov 1993) – Tim gets license (because dad is disabled) even though he hasn’t turned 16 yet, gets beat up by Jean-Paul

Flash 92 (July 1994) – Bart aged to 14

?? Shortly after Knight’s End – Tim is 15 and in the 10th grade

Flash 0 (Oct 1994) – Wally is 23

Damage 1(94) – Grant is 16

Deathstroke, The Terminator Annual 4 (Aug 1995) – Rose is 14, “What would that do to a kid? A fourteen-year-old girl whose father is an assassin she’s never met?”

Wonder Woman 105(95) – Cassie is 14

Tempest 1(96) – Garth spends many months in other dimension

Aquaman 20 (May 1996) – Garth aged 3-4 years in other dimension, now older than other Titans

Teen Titans 1 (Oct 1996) – Argent, Risk, Joto, Prysm all turn 16(they were conceived by seed things on same day)

Superboy Annual 2 – to Kon: “Happy birthday, Kid - - number one in a long successful series, we hope.” “He will effectively remain sixteen years old - - forever!”

Green Lantern 82(97) – Robert Long is 3

Wonder Woman 121(97) – Terry and Robert die

Secret Origins Giant 1(98) – Bart is “Three. Fifteen. Depends.”, “you’re almost 15, Tim.”

Titans 5(99) – Donna is 23

Titans(99) – Lian is 4

Sins of Youth(99) – Kon 16, aging normally again

Aquaman 63 (Jan 2000) – Future Garth tells granddaughter Donna about Cerdian being born (think this is his weird birth issue)

Wonder Woman Secret Files (2002) – „Wonder Girl is a precocious outgoing 15-year-old named Cassandra „Cassie“ Sandsmark.“

Bruce Wayne: Murderer (2002) – Oracle says Tim is 15

Batgirl #37 (April 2003) – “Cain said ... today was ... my birthday.”

Batgirl #39 (June 2003) – “I see an eighteen-year-old girl, who’s out of her depth.” (Babs about Cass)

Robin #116 (Sept 2003) – Dana: “Oh, I’m so glad we’ll all be together on Thursday ... !” Tim: “Why? What’s Thursday?” Jack: “Yeah. What’s Thursday?” Dana: “Wait a minute – seriously? Tim: “Yeah. Tell. Us.” Dana: “It’s nothing – never mind. Just leave your schedules open for a nice family dinner.”| Jack: “Dana, what’s – “ Dana: “Shh! Thursday ...  the 19th of July ... ?” Jack: “Um ... oh! Right!” | Steph: “So – Thursday!! Are you excited? Got any ideas for it, yet? ... Tim ... ?” [Tim is asleep.] | [Ives and Steph come over, with pizza that says “Happy B-Day Tim.”] Ives: “Sixteen spankings – get that boy up!!” | Dana says: “I remember when I was in 11th grade.” | he also gets the first ‘clue’ for Bruce’s ‘birthday present.’

Teen Titans 1 (Nov 2003) – Gar is 19, Is this Joey’s return?? (He’s puppeting Slade)

Teen Titans ½ (2004) – Rose’s early years, with a ‘6 years ago’ flashback, she was raised in a brothel her mom ran, tutored, never allowed the outside world, but had relationships with kids her age

Detective Comics #790 (Mar 2004) – Jason’s 18th birthday “he would have been 18 today”

Teen Titans 8 (April 2004) – Raven looks 'barely older' than Cassie

TEEN TITANS #1/2 [2004]: The flashback panels totally sync up with my age theories; Flash to 10 years ago: Dick Grayson’s parents die. Flash to 6 years ago: Rose Wilson is schooled at home by her mother, Lili. Flash to 5 years ago: Ravager I is killed. Flash to 3 years ago: Slade is forced to kill Jericho. Flash to 2 years ago: Cadmus attempts to clone Superman. Flash to 18 months ago: Rose deals with the death of her mother. Flash to one week ago: Bart Allen is shot by Slade.

Identity Crisis 4 (Dec 2004) –(Tim still 16)

Green Arrow 47(05) – Mia is 17

Return of Donna Troy 3(05) – Cassie barely 16

Nightwing: Year One(05) – Dick is 26

Batgirl #65 (Aug 2005) – Cass decides to figure out if Shiva is her mom, Jason and Cass roughly the same age

Flash(05/06) – Wally is 26

?? Robin #136 – Tim still 16 ???

Detective Comics #868 (Oct 2010)– Kate is 32 years old??

One Year Later(Mar 06)

Flash 1(06) – Bart 4 years older(20?)

Blue Beetle 2 (June 2006) – Find out Jaime was in space/a pocket dimension for One Year Later

?? Just prior to 52 (July 2006-July 2007)– told Tim is 17 (long before he’s also  17 in Red Robin, 52 is 1 year long)

Teen Titans 42 (Feb 2007) – Eddie is 17

Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds 3-4 (Apr-June 2009) – Bart and Kon back, same as when died

Batman 677 (July 2008) – Batman over 30

Batman: Battle for the Cowl (May-July 2009) – Damian is 10, Ends with Dick and Damian becoming Batman and Robin

Brave & The Bold 2 (May 2007) – Kara is 17, “You have food in the refrigerator older than her, Hal. Who are you, Ollie? No bad thoughts. She’s seventeen.”

Batgirl #1 (Oct 2009) – Steph starting college

Batgirl #7 (Apr 2010) - Damian is "what happens when you work with a 10-year-old."

Red Robin #12 (July 2010) – Tim spent “a few months” looking for evidence before returning to Gotham, becomes emancipated minor

Detective Comics #871 (Jan 2011)– Mention that Dick and Babs went to prom together

Red Robin #25 (Sept 2011) – Tim “and you are only 17”

The Batman Files (Oct 2014) – Jason was 15 at death (seen on death certificate)

?? Rebirth Young Justice series – Cassie: “didn’t mean to end up back in high school feeling - - like I did back when I went to high school.” Later, she says she’s in Metropolis “Working. Going to school in the fall.” So she’s probably starting college.

?? Bart in some Rebirth comic: “Am I six? Am I nineteen? That’s a really freaky thing, right?”

?? At some point: Donna says shes a little older than Kyle

[thenightling]

Films and shows to get you ready for Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman

Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman is getting adapted into a series by Netflix.   Though this is a DC comics property, The Sandman is NOT like Batman, Superman, or Wonder Woman.  The Sandman is a gorgeous and surreal fantasy that only partially takes place in the human world.  A big part of it takes place in the fantasy realm known as The Dreaming. 

There is very little combat action though there is horror.   To give you an idea of what you are in for (Or if you are a Sandman fan already and want something to hold you off) here are twenty-five films and shows that share some of the traits (or atmosphere) you might find in Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman.

25.   The Raven (1963 film).  This might seem like an oddball one to list since it’s a Gothic Horror fantasy comedy from the 1960s but it gets referenced in The Sandman by Matthew imitating Peter Lorre and later Matthew compared Cain to Vincent Price.  I think it’s safe to say Matthew was a Price (or Roger Coman) fan.  

24.   Death.   Death is a short animated film from DC and was featured as bonus content for the Blu Ray of the animated movie Wonder Woman: Bloodlines. 

Though she looks younger (appearing about nineteen-years-old) Death is the older sister of Morpheus AKA Dream of The Endless, the main protagonist of The Sandman.  She was first introduced in The Sandman issue 8, The Sound of Her Wings.

23.   Stardust.

Stardust is a fantasy film based on the novel (and graphic novel) by Neil Gaiman.  Though there are liberties taken, this should give you some idea of what his fantasy writing is like.

 22.    Beetlejuice the animated series. 

If you want an idea of what The Dreaming (realm of Dreams) is like then I urge you to check out the surreal Neither (that’s not a typo) World from the Beetlejuice animated series.  The monsters that inhabit this realm are the stuff of fantasy and nightmares.  Some are living puns.  And they are ruled over by a broody Goth who makes it rain when he’s depressed and feeling melodramatic, much like a certain Dream Lord from Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman...

21.  Bonus listing:   The Nightmare on Elm Street franchise.  

One major antagonist of Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman is a nightmare entity known as The Corinthian who escapes into the waking world and becomes a serial killer.  Had Sandman been adapted in the mid-90s I think many would have loved a crossover with Freddy Krueger.  

20.   Return to Oz.

If by some weird chance you have never seen The Wizard of Oz or any faithful (read: Not 2010) version of Alice in Wonderland I would recommend those first.  But under the assumption you may have already seen those I would suggest watching Return to Oz.   Return to Oz features an adorable Jack-o-lantern headed character called Jack Pumpkinhead.   Jack Pumpkinhead was the loose inspiration for the grounds keeper dream entity character of Mervyn Pumpkinhead in Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman.  

19. Tales from the Crypt (TV series).

Issue 2 of The Sandman is called Imperfect Hosts because all of the characters introduced in that issue are former horror host characters from horror anthology comics.  Cain and Abel were DC’s answer to The Crypt keeper and The Vault Keeper.  For a good idea of who Cain actually is (assuming he’s in the show along with his House of Mystery) I strongly recommend checking out the TV show Tales from the Crypt.  

18.   Tales from the Cryptkeeper (animated series)

In the mid-1990s there was an animated series adaptation of Tales from the Crypt called Tales from the Cryptkeeper.  Season 2 featured the three original EC comics horror hosts of the Cryptkeeper, Vault Keeper, and the Old Witch.  These storytellers might give you an idea of who (or what) some of Morpheus’ Nightmare minion are in The Sandman.

 17.    Hocus Pcous.  

I chose to put this one here because the three witches of Hocus Pocus very much remind me of the Hecatae version of The Three-in-one from The Sandman Issue 2.   There’s also a powerful Grimoire that is a plot catalyst. 

16.   The 10th Kingdom.

The 10th Kingdom was a fantasy mini-series that aired on NBC in 2000.   It dealt with a twenty-seven-year-old young woman who discovers that her estranged mother is the evil queen in a faery tale world.   It is very much a story about stories (much like parts of The Sandman) and shows you the original dark and unvarnished versions of some classic faery tales as well as how those characters (and their descendants) carry on centuries later.

15.   Once Upon a Time (TV series.  Particularly seasons 1 through 3.)  

Much like with 10th Kingdom we have here a story about stories and those characters from classic stories trying to live in the human world with varying degrees of success.  You see how important their stories are and how carefully and intricately each tale was interwoven with each other.  (...Until around season 4 that is...)

Also it begins with a very powerful creature imprisoned and later undergoing an extremely long redemption arc and a sense of guilt tied to the death of his own son.

14.  Constantine:  City of Demons.

John Constantine appears in one issue of Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman.   Issue 3.   Constantine: City of Demons gives a good crash course on who Constantine is and where he comes from.  John Constantine’s ancestor, Johanna Constantine is a recurring character in The Sandman.

13.  Justice League: Dark animated movie.   

Justice League:  Dark is the first animated movie to feature The House of Mystery.  The House of Mystery is a building whose roots are in The Dreaming in The Sandman.

12.   Constantine (2014 series).  

 In 2014 Constantine got his own live action series but it only lasted for one season. 

11.  Locke and Key.

Only recently did I learn Locke and Key will be doing an official crossover with The Sandman Universe.

 10.    Lucifer TV series.  

The TV show Lucifer is an oddball thing since it was based on a comic that is actually a spin-off of The Sandman.  The storyline that introduces us to Mazikeen, where Lucifer quits ruling Hell, opens Lux, and takes up playing Piano all come from Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman.

When Fox got the rights to Lucifer no one thought The Sandman was going to be getting an adaptation, at least not in the near future.  As a result several conversations and key pieces of dialogue that originally passed between Morpheus and Lucifer in The Sandman comics now went to Lucifer and his therapist, Linda, and his angel-brother, Amenadiel. 

Bonus: If at all possible check out the Crisis on infinite Earths event from the CW as the real Crisis on Infinite Earths (original comic event) eventually gave way to things like The Sandman.

9.   The Witches (1990) and Coraline (2009)   I couldn’t decide which one to put here so I put them both.

  The Witches is a children’s horror film based on the book by Roald Dahl. I suggest this here for its darker themes and you get a group of dangerous, child-killing witches attending a meeting at a hotel, much like The Corinthian’s Serial Killer convention in The Sandman.

Coraline is a stop motion fantasy / horror story for children and can give you some idea of what certain aspects of The Sandman are like, as it is by the same author.

8.    Pan’s Labyrinth.  

The Sandman is very much part fantasy and part Gothic horror and no director alive quite fits that criteria now better than Guillermo del Toro and possibly Tim Burton.   Pan’s Labyrinth has the surreal beauty and darkness you are likely to see in The Sandman.

7.   Doom Patrol.

Doom Patrol was the first DC show that made me have faith that yes, they CAN adapt Sandman respectfully and unafraid of the strangeness it might entail.  Doom Patrol seemed unafraid to tackle the strange, quirkiness of it’s own content.  From a talking roach, to gender-queer sentient street named Danny, Doom Patrol was not afraid to be strange.  

6.   Swam Thing (2019 TV series from DC Universe Streaming Service).

I mostly suggest this for one character in particular. Matthew Cable.  After Matthew died in The Sandman comics he chose to spend his afterlife as Morpheus’ raven.

Besides featuring a character from The Sandman Swamp Thing gives a very good Gothic atmosphere and supernatural content, giving you an idea of the sort of horror DC can do.  

6.  Justice League Action:   Trick or Threat.   And Justice League action: Supernatural adventures in Babysitting.

The episode of Justice League Action called Trick or Threat features Cain, a nightmare character from Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman, as well as The House of Mystery.   This was Cain’s first appearance in media.  The version of Cain in the TV show Lucifer is nothing like his comic book counterpart.  This cartoon is the first and only faithful adaptation of the character from the comics.

The episode of Justice League Action called Supernatural Adventures in Babysitting features the Magdalene Grimoire. This is the grimoire used to summon Morpheus in Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman.  It also features John Constantine.

    5.   She-Creature:  The Mermaid Chronicles (2001 film)

This is an odd from about some humans have a captured mermaid.  The majority of the film is about her escape and revenge on her captors.  You will see something similar to that with Morpheus in the very first episode of Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman.    

4.  The Company of Wolves. 

The Company of Wolves is a story about stories.  In the ontemporary world a pubescent girl sleeps during her first period. She dreams that she is Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother tells her horrific stories about werewolves.  The wolves become metaphors For puberty, masculinity, and waking sexuality.  Toward the end Rosealeen (the protagonist) becomes one of the wolves.   You get random stark reminders that this entire film is set in a dream world, and yet it’s still strangely easy to forget.

 3.   The Nightmare before Christmas.

The Nightmare before Christmas is a fantasy musical about the king of Halloween.  Though he’s adored by his subjects he longs for more.  The surreal landscape and strange creatures can be reminiscent of The Sandman.

2.   Labyrinth.

One of the earliest efforts to talk me into reading The Sandman entailed someone telling me that Morpheus was “Like a Goth Jareth.”   This effort (at the time) failed to entice me though I do love Labyrinth.   

1.   Over The Garden Wall. 

I only saw Over the Garden Wall for the first time about a year and a half ago and loved it very much.   This is a strange animated mini-series about two brothers lost in a forest called “The Unknown.”   The setting has been debated among fans as to if it’s purgatory (a place between life and death), a dream realm, or something else entirely.  I choose to believe that though it may be a place between life and Death that it’s also a part of The Dreaming, especially with so many surreal and Gothic visuals, and characters and creatures directly out of vintage seasonal cards.

[mcrmadness]

I was tagged by @cupcakecurl, thank you so much! I’ll try to remember to tag you whenever I am tagged the next time!

It’s a long post so I put it under the “keep reading” link.

1. Do you ever make your bed? No. I have a loft bed so no one can see to there (unless someone is like 2m tall but I barely have visitors and especially not that tall people lol. Or maybe bit shorter people too but since I’m very short, I can’t see there :D) so there’s no point in making the bed. Plus I tend to sweat a lot during some nights so I like to leave the bed “open” so it can dry properly.

2. What’s your favorite number? 13. But also 23 and 123.

3. What’s your job? Currently I’m on a sick leave but my “profession” is horse groom.

4. If you could go back to school, would you? Ummm, I’ve been to plenty of schools but with a bit bad success... I actually love studying and learning but I don’t like schools nor going to schools. So I’m constantly wanting to learn and study but every time I’ve been accepted into a school, I have asked myself "why tf did you have to do this again when you know you hate this all???” as every time I face the same concentration problems with essays etc.

5. Can you parallel park? Yes, but I prefer not to do that on a busy road since I start fucking up things when I feel like I have to hurry because I’m bothering other people. So only when there’s not other cars going everywhere I will do that, otherwise I’ll find another spot to park.

6.  A job you had that would surprise People? I haven’t really had that weird jobs, all of them have been about horses tbh. And I haven’t done a real job ever anyway, just work trainings and school related trainings. But I might say here that before I figured I want to work with horses, I was trying to study animal caretaking and that certain branch was focusing on farm animals. So I have actually been to a cowhouse with milk cows and I have been milking them and worked with cows and calves there a lot as it was a huge part of my school. I also know how to drive a tractor and how to reverse with a trailer attached because we did this A LOT at school and we had to do this again when I was studying in the horse school and it was one of the tests to reverse a tractor and the trailer had to go into an imagined “barn”.

7. Do you believe aliens are real? Yes. I mean, this universe is such a huge place, why the fuck not??? I actually had this thought from a very early on that there must be life out there somewhere and I’m pretty sure they are aware of us all but let’s be honest, if you was from an another galaxy and found out there’s a this small planet with some puny people on it, would you want to get to know us? No, I don’t think so. If we have to kill each other for stupid reasons, do you really think humans would suddenly agree being friends with aliens too? So I still believe they are out there and are aware of us but don’t really bother meeting us nor even letting us know about them because humans are the most idiotic animal on this planet. If you look at all these scifi movies already (witch a few exceptions) and how we always imagine the aliens: if they are hostile, they are unintelligent, can’t talk and will make monster noises and they will look like monsters. If they are friendly, they are super intelligent, can talk or use even telepathy to talk to us and they are humanoids, never monsters. I guess we’re just so scared of them we’re obsessed with this idea and we’re scared they would be more intelligent and still hostile at the same time...

8. Can you drive a manual car? Yup, I have only ever had a manual car and I actually have never driven an automatic car. I’ve no clue how they work :D In Finland you can choose between a driver’s licence to manual or automatic car and with manual you can drive them both, with automatic you can only drive automatic cars. (Do people say automatic car or should it be “with automatic gears”?)

9. What’s your guilty pleasure? I was thinking about this a lot and I think I will agree with the person who tagged me and also say male/male pairings and shipping. But I don’t want to give the same answer (I think there was a really good points!) so I think I’ll go with an easier one: this doesn’t happen that often anymore but when I was still studying and working 4-5 days/week.

We were always listening to radio at work and we usually used channels with music from the 70s and 80s, maybe also 90s and sometimes even older than that. Once one of the workers left the place, we all started using other channels cos everyone was so done with that one particular radio channel :D Anyway, my guilty pleasure was that some songs sometimes stuck in my head, often from old and really popular bands that I couldn’t even link to the band itself. And I really hate earworms when they are not music I normally like to listen to, so I often get really frustrated with them and I start my hunt for the songs so I can listen to them and maybe finally remove it from my head. And here comes my guilty pleasure: reading the youtube comments to some really old songs’ music videos. They are often just so damn hilarious I was often dying from laughter when I did that! And it’s bit sad too because I would have loved to share with them other people but either they would have not understood the youtube comment humour or if I brought it up to someone who actually liked the music, they would just get offended. So I actually realize only now how often this was happening with the songs and I’ve found some really hilarious comments from there too!

I also had several songs I kinda liked to listen to when they were playing. That is something fun too because I wouldn’t say they are guilty pleasure songs but more like... just something for myself you know? I’m often really open but sometimes I like it more when I can keep things only to myself. And it somehow cheered me up when I was driving my car or working in the stable and then heard one of those “guilty pleasure” songs that I could enjoy and at the same time enjoy of the fact no one knew I was enjoying them! I guess I like it because I’m often feeling like being way too visible and I’m afraid that I give away opinions and feels without saying them aloud and what I really want to keep to myself, so that makes me feel REALLY good when I know no one can read me!

10. Tattoos? No. And not gonna have either. I have a fear of needles and pain, I used to have one pair of earrings and even that was terrible enough. And painful.

11. Favorite color? Orange, almost like the neon orange; electric blue, and black.

12. Things people do that piss you off? Ohhh are we talking about pet peeves now? I usually am very calm and it’s hard to make me angry but I’d say that what REALLY pisses me off is when someone/people don’t listen to me. And I mean when they literally tell to my face they don’t care, they don’t want to hear, and that I should shut up. That is what makes me really furious even. One of those rare things that make me really feel like I need to start smashing things. Also people talking over and not listening overall is something a bit annoying but I can take it, but not when it’s intentional. Also I’m very stubborn and sometimes not getting what I want makes me angry too since I kinda got used to that as the oldest siblings, but at the same time I am aware of this and I don’t think I’m surperior or anything. Just some things I need to pay more attention to about myself.

13. Any phobias? Fire (pyrophobia), needles and sharp objects (aichmophobia) and social anxiety (social phobia), for the starters.

14. Favorite childhood sport? I had none. I liked badminton tho but just like... a few times in a summer and then I forgot about it again. And as a pre-teen I actually was horseback riding regularly for about half a year. Then a pony threw me down and it was my first time falling of a horse and of course I had to break my arm. Since that I have fallen just once but I don’t really like riding that much, driving is more of a my thing now.

15. Do you ever talk to yourself? Not really, I laugh aloud more often but I don’t really talk to myself. I don’t like hearing my voice when I’m alone, it triggers my depersonalization/dissociation.

16. What movie do you adore? Oh what movie I wouldn’t adore??? I watch so many movies and it’s almost impossible to say just one... I guess I’m gonna say my favorite one of them all: Beetlejuice by Tim Burton. I have always been really interested in all kinds of different imagines of death because I have always been a bit afraid of death and I just don’t like the thought of everything ending on that. I can basically imagine that emptiness and it’s really scary and something I don’t want to have. So I have always been really into anything that will show death as something else than emptiness or permanent. And I really love it what Burton did with Beetlejuice and I just love all the details in there! I have seen this movie millions of times and still I feel like whenever I watch it, I find something I did not see the last time because there’s just so much to see! And it’s also really funny and full of dark humour which is 110% my thing and I think that movie is a perfect example of Burton’s twisted, dark sense of humour. I feel like I understand his humour so well that every time I go to see a Burton movie in the theaters, I’m usually the only one to laugh at things I get as these weird jokes he likes to put there and everyone else is laughing at things that weren’t always even meant as that funny. It’s kinda weird, but it just shows that he’s my favorite move director for a reason :D And back to Beetlejuice (was that now the third time saying the name..?), Danny Elfman made the music to this one too and the theme is probably my favorite Danny Elfman score as well.

17. Do you like doing puzzles? Yeah! I like both types: jigsaw puzzles and the other puzzles and I really love when video games have lots of puzzles to solve as idk, somehow I just love that :D

18. What’s your favorite kind of music? Uh, this is gonna take a while to explain. Because it’s not that simple... I mean, in a way it is but it isn’t? :D I tend to like bands that basically are of the newer punk rock but don’t necessarily be punk itself, but they all either have roots in punk or their influences were mainly punk bands. And a while back I actually realized that most bands I listen to, actually have lots of the same bands behind there as their influences but all these bands (that I listen to) are all totally different from each other. So I like music that is based on punk rock but with a lot of new stuff added to them and I like music that is very diverse and offers a lot for the ears to hear, lots of layers and instruments etc. but so that on an album there isn’t 10 songs that are hard to tell apart ebcause they sound so alike, but more like 10 songs that are all different enough from each other but still similar enough that they sound like they belong into the same album. I’m very picky with music but the more I look back into what my music taste has been over the years, I still seem to always like the same things, and one of the things I like a lot with music is when there’s violins and/or pianos, I also like brass, but only when it’s there every now and there and not in every song. When not getting too much of something, it stays interesting, otherwise I’ll become very bored and start to look for “new” stuff to have enough stimuli.

So, many probably are already aware that my favorite band is Die Ärzte. And others, from the US: MCR, The Killers and Yellowcard. Rammstein from Germany and there’s some other German bands I might listen to too. From Finland I like bands like: Apulanta, Tehosekoitin, Klamydia, Häiriköt... And have to say here that as weird as it sounds, DÄ, MCR and Apulanta are quite different but all of them have lots of the same bands that influenced them! :D And Rammstein is probably the most different but hey, they also have punk roots! (And I like Feeling B too, btw. It’s very rare to me because I normally don’t like THAT regular punk but I really love the drums, escpecially when Schneider joined the band, and all the other instruments and the synth just made them to stand out!) And even The Killers share some influence bands with DÄ and MCR which is super interesting as there’s nothing punk in their style, but they’re still one of the most important bands from my teenage years. I was about 14 when I heard of them for the first time at school and since there was no Youtube yet, the hunt for the song, “Somebody Told Me”, was quite intense because only way to find it was to one day hear someone mention the song and band name on radio, but fortunately I did catch it! The album I found only 1-2 years later tho, when their 2nd album was released and I found both albums from a record store (R.I.P. record stores...) here.

So, that’s my favorite kind of music. Fast, interesting, lots of layers and instruments, good singing and it has to have lots of melody too. I live from songs with lots of melody.

19. Tea or coffee? Tea, and actually the only tea I drink is Earl Greay and I drink that on a daily basis. Usually just 1 cup/day but sometimes even 2. 3 starts to have bit too much caffeine already. And from here we get to the reason I don’t drink coffee: my head can’t stand caffeine and the only time I do drink coffee is because I need caffeine aka when I drive longer distances with a car, but it causes me exessive sweating and I need to pee 24/7 and increses my panic symptoms and worsens my concentration skills so I try to avoid caffeine as much as I can. Besides, coffee tastes bad. It’s one of the best smells in the world and I HATE how it does not taste like that!!! So whenever I drink coffee, it’s not really coffee, it’s milk and sugar with a little bit of coffee in it. And ice coffee tastes better than normal coffee and I usually buy these readymade ice coffees you get in Finland cos they don’t taste like coffee. More like... milk and sugar with coffee taste lol.

20. First thing you remember wanting to be when you grow up? Oh I think what I said was “I don’t know, probably something to do with animals.” I also am not exactly sure if I was one of those kids being like “I want to be a veterinatian!” or if I did NOT want to be a vet, and so when people would ask about being a vet then, I’d answer no, but more like just taking care of the animals. And I was not wrong, I am a qualified horse groom now.

I want to tag (what? me? tagging people? uncanny!) @stufenlosregelbar and hmmmm... @bleibimmerduselbst, since I haven’t seen this one on your blogs yet. Or at least not lately, not sure if you have already done this before and if so, I’m sorry, I normally do remember things I see but now for some reason I can’t remember that! And of course if someone out there wants to do this but hasn’t got tagged (I’d but I can’t read minds so idk who wants to be tagged I’m sorry!), then I’m also gonna tag YOU so please, steal this and tag yourself :D

[trumpstersandconservatives-blog]

The Clintons Kill List = 135 and counting!

The Clintons Kill List = 135 and counting! 

      THE FOLLOWING CLINTON BODYGUARDS ARE DEAD

01 - Alan G. Whicher - Oversaw Clinton’s Secret Service detail. In October 1994 Whicher was transferred to the Secret Service field office in the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City. Whatever warning was given to the BATF agents in that building did not reach Alan Whicher, whom died in the bomb blast of April 19th 1995.

02 - Sgt. Brian Hanley

03 - Conway LeBleu

04 - Spec. Gary Rhodes

05 - Col. Robert Kelly  

06 - Robert Williams  

07 - Captain Scott J. Reynolds

08 - Steve Willis

09 - Sgt. Tim Sabel  

10 - Todd McKeehan  

11 - Col. William Densberger

12 - Major General William Robertson

13 - Major William S. Barkley, Jr.

      THE FOLLOWING PERSONS HAD INFORMATION ON THE IVES/HENRY CASE:

14 - Gregory Collins – Died from a gunshot wound January 1989.

15 - Keith Coney – Died when his motorcycle slammed into the back of a truck, 7/88

16 - Keith McMaskle – Died, stabbed 113 times, Nov, 1988

17 - James Milan – Found decapitated. However, the Coroner ruled his death was due to natural causes.

18 - Jeff Rhodes – He was shot, mutilated and found burned in a trash dump in April 1989.

19 - Jordan Kettleson – Was found shot to death in the front seat of his pickup truck in June 1990.

20 - Molly Macauley

21 - Richard Winters – A suspect in the Ives/Henry deaths. He was killed in a set-up robbery July 1989.

      Benghazi

22 - Chris Stevens 

23 - Glen Doherty 

24 - Sean Smith 

25 - Tyrone Woods

      Hello Crash 02/93 

      Deputy Commander, Chief of Ops, Chief of Intel. & crew Chief for V Corps which was prominent in Bosnia - Serb operations, along with the carrier Roosevelt.  They were associated with Clinton’s visit to the Roosevelt. Helo crashed near Weisbaden Germany.

26 - Gen. Robertson 

27 - Col. Densberger 

28 - Col. Kelly

29 - Spec. Rhodes

30 - William Colby - Died April 22, 1996 - Director of Central Intelligence (ret) Drowned, Computer on plate of food half eaten they say he decided to just go canoeing, Most notable about the body was the absence of a life jacket, which according to his wife, Colby always wore on the water.

      Helo Crash 05/93 

      All four died in crash in the woods near Quantico, VA. All had escorted Clinton on flight to the Roosevelt. Videotape made by firemen at crash site seized by feds.

31 - Sgt. B. Haney 

32 - Sgt. Tim Sabel 

33 - Maj. William Barkley 

34 - Capt. Scott Reynolds 

      Killed when the C-130 carrying the Presidential Limos crashed near Jackson Hole, Wyoming. August 18, 1996.

35 - Aldo Franscoia, Secret Service Agent

36 - Cpt. Kevin N. Earnest, Aircraft Commander

37 - Cpt. Kimberly Jo Wielhouwer, Pilot

38 - 2Lt. Benjamin T. Hall, Navigator

39 - SSgt. Michael J. Smith Jr., Loadmaster

40 - Sr. Airman Rick L. Merritt, Flight Engineer

41 - SSgt. Michael R. York, Loadmaster

42 - Sr. Airman Billy R. Ogston, Crew Chief

43 - Airman Thomas A. Stevens, Loadmaster.

      And the following

44 - Sr. Airman Billy R. Ogston, Crew Chief

45 - Aldo Franscoia, Secret Service Agent - 

46 - Anthony Bourdain had hired investigators to uncover the Clinton Sex Traficing Ring, he died June 8 2018 and the report said he committed suicide while on location in France for Parts Unknown.

47 - Antonin Scalia - A untrained cop said he died from a heart attack yet there is no proof of this what so ever. The popular luxury ranch where the Supreme Court Justice was found dead just so happens to be owned by Obama friend/supporter and Democratic Party donor John Poindexter. 

48 - Barbara Wise – Commerce Department staffer. Worked closely with Ron Brown and John Huang. Cause of death unknown. Died November 29, 1996. Her bruised, nude body was found locked in her office at the Department of Commerce. 

49 - Barry Seal – Drug running TWA pilot out of Mena Arkansas, death was no accident.

50 - 2Lt. Benjamin T. Hall - Navigator 

51 - Bill Shelton – Arkansas State Trooper and fiancee of Kathy Ferguson. Critical of the suicide ruling of his fiancee, he was found dead in June, 1994 of a gunshot wound also ruled a suicide at the grave site of his fiancee. 

52 - Bob Unruh - Death by barbell just prior to his testemony about a person funneling money under the Clintion Administration. 

53 - Calvin Walraven - 24 year on Walraven was a key witness in Jocelyn Elder’s son’s drug case. Ten days after Elder’s son was convicted of trafficking in cocaine, Walraven was found dead in his apartment with a gunshot blast to the head. Tim Hover, a Little Rock police spokesman says no foul play is suspected.

54 - Caetano Carani - Witness to a shooting near the White House. Suffered an unknown infection just before he was to testify. Death attributed to “apparent” food poisoning.

55 - Charles Meissner – Assistant Secretary of Commerce who gave John Huang special security clearance, died shortly thereafter in a small plane crash.

56 - Charles Frederick Carson “Chuck” Ruff - Died Nov 19, 2000 was a prominent American lawyer based in Washington, D.C., and was best known as the White House Counsel who defended President Bill Clinton during his impeachment trial in 1999.

57 - Chandra Levy - Intern was murdered and was known to have sex with Bill Clinton. 

58 - C. Victor Raiser II and Montgomery Raiser, Major players in the Clinton fund raising organization died in a private plane crash in July 1992.

59 - Daneil A. Dutko - Daniel A. Dutko, 54, was the co-chairman of Leadership 2000, the Democratic National Committee’s main fund-raising effort. He held many other high-level political positions, including vice chairman of finance for Clinton-Gore in 1995; finance chairman of the 53rd inaugural ball; and vice chairman of finance for the DNC in 1996 (when the Chinese money poured in). Attributed to a bicycle accident in which it’s claimed he struck his head on the concrete twice.  

60 - Danny Casolaro - Investigative reporter. Investigating MenaAirport and Arkansas Development Finance Authority. He slit his wrists, apparently, in the middle of his investigation. 

61 - Dennis Eisman - An attorney with information on INSLAW. Eisman was found shot to death on April 5, 1991.

62 - Don Adams Died Jan 7, 1997 - Long before Whitewater’s land flips made the Clinton’s circle of friends rich, many of the same players had been involved in a similar land swindle in Branson. Don Adams was a lawyer in Arkansas who got involved trying to help the people who were being swindled out of their life savings.

63 - Don Henry – Known as “The boys on the track” case. Reports say the boys may have stumbled upon the Mena Arkansas airport drug operation. A controversial case, the initial report of death said, due to falling asleep on railroad tracks. Later reports claim the 2 boys had been slain before being placed on the tracks.

64 - Duane Garrett - Died 7/26/1995 - Radio Host and Al Gore Fund Raiser. According to Garrett’s lawyer, Garrett was under investigation for defrauding investors in Garrett’s failed sports memorabilia venture. There was talk of a deal to evade prosecution. On July 26th, Garrett canceled an afternoon meeting with his lawyer because he had to meet some people at the San Francisco airport. Three hours later he was found floating in the bay under the Golden Gate Bridge.

65 - Ed Willey – Clinton fundraiser, found dead November 1993 deep in the woods in VA of a gunshot wound to the head. Ruled a suicide. Ed Willey died on the same day his wife Kathleen Willey claimed Bill Clinton groped her in the oval office in the White House. Ed Willey was involved in several Clinton fund raising events.

66 - Cpl Eric S. Fox - Died 3/22/99. Crewman for Marine One, the Presidential Helicopter. Shot in the head, and declared a suicide.

67 - Eric Butera - Owned a small aircraft repair business, and had stumbled on several aircraft whose tail numbers were being changed on a regular basis. Was about to go public when he walked headfirst into a spinning propeller.

68 - Florence Martin – Accountant & sub-contractor for the CIA, was related to the Barry Seal, Mena, Arkansas, airport drug smuggling case. He died of three gunshot wounds.

69 - Floyd Walton - Killed in house explosion along with his wife, he was 77 and had stronf ties to the Clintons. 

70 - Gandy Baugh – Attorney for Clinton’s friend Dan Lassater, died by jumping out a window of a tall building January, 1994. His client was a convicted drug distributor.

71 - Gareth Williams - The British MI6 spy who was found dead Aug 10 2010 inside a holdall bag in his bathtub in London hacked into secret data held on former U.S. President Bill Clinton, The Sun newspaper has sensationally claimed today. was 31 years old when he was found naked, dead in his own bathtub in Pimlico

72 - Gavin MacFadyen - Journalist who was Julian Assange’s Mentor and Wiki Leaks Co Founder he was also Hillary Clintons Biggest enemy next to Trump. Cause of Death is a mystery. 

73 - Hershell Friday – Attorney and Clinton fundraiser died March 1, 1994, when his plane exploded.

74 - Ian Spiro - Spiro had supporting documentation for grand jury proceedings on the INSLAW case. His wife and 3 children were found murdered on November 1, 1992 in their home. The all died of gunshot wounds to the head. Ian’s body was found several days later in a parked car in the Borego Desert. Cause of death? The ingestion of cyanide. Declared a murder/suicide.

75 - James Bunch – Died from a gunshot suicide. It was reported that he had a “Black Book” of people which contained names of influential people who visited prostitutes in Texas and Arkansas

76 - James Wilson – Was found dead in May 1993 from an apparent hanging suicide. He was reported to have ties to Whitewater

77 - James McDougal – Clintons convicted Whitewater partner died of an apparent heart attack, while in solitary confinement. He was a key witness in Ken Starr’s investigation.

78 - James Sabow Col. - Died 1991 Supposedly about to blow the whistle on drug running activity taking place on the naval base where he was stationed, Col. James Sabow was found by his wife in the backyard of their home with his head blown off with a shotgun. The Navy ruled it a suicide. In all, more than 40 deaths by individuals concerned with drug traffic on military bases have been declared as suicides despite evidence that murder was involved.64 - Jenny Moore - August 13 2018 Investigative journalist Jenny Moore was found dead in her room at the Radisson Country Inn & Suites in Washington D.C. on Monday. Jenny Moore was investigatine a Rape and Pedophilia case and the Clinton’s.

79 - Jeremy Michael Boorda - (November 26, 1939 – May 16, 1996) was a United States Navy admiral who served as the 25th Chief of Naval Operations. Boorda is notable for being the first American sailor to have risen through the enlisted ranks to become the Chief of Naval Operations, the highest-ranking billet in the U.S. Navy. A Vietnam War veteran, died in May 1996, at the age of 56, when he committed suicide by shooting himself in the chest.

80 - Jerry Parks – Head of Clinton’s gubernatorial security team in Little Rock .. Gunned down in his car at a deserted intersection outside Little Rock Park’s son said his father was building a dossier on Clinton He allegedly threatened to reveal this information. After he died the files were mysteriously removed from his house.

81 - Jim Wilhite - 12/92 Skiing Accident Vice Chair. of Arkla, Inc. with ties to Clinton & Mack Mclarty, whom he called just hours before his death.

82 - Joe Montano - Was a Philippine American activist who died at age 47 due to a heart attack. He was a aid to Senator Kaine and had knowledge of the DNC election rigging for Hillary Clinton. 

83 - John Ashe - Former UN Leader who in 2015 was charged with bribary charges. He was a billion air developer who took money and gave favors to a tune of 3.1 million dollars. Ashe Died Days before giving testimony against the Clintons for their involment in the Chineese Bribary case. 

84 - John Kennedy Jr died before Hillary won the Senate in NY. He was going to run! 

85 - John Jones - Julian Assange’s LAWYER FOUND DEAD after being Struck by Train. 

86 - Johnny Franklin Lawhon, Jr. - Died March 29, 1998 - In the spring of 1997, a tornado ripped through some junked cars at Johnny’s transmission and opened up the trunk of a car that proved to have a box of Whitewater records in it, including a copy of a $27,000 cashiers check drawn on Madison and payable to Bill Clinton. Johnny Franklin Lawhon, Sr. realized what he was looking at and turned the box of documents over to the FBI. According to police, Lawhon Jr. (the son) and a friend hit a telephone pole at a high rate of speed after their car had become airborne and left the road. They had driven less than ¼ of a mile at the time of the accident. This manner of death is similar to the single vehicle accidents that killed Paula Grober, and Neil Moody.

87 - Johnny Lawhorn, Jr. – Mechanic, found a check made out to Bill Clinton in the trunk of a car left at his repair shop. He was found dead after his car had hit a utility pole.

88 - John Wilson - Suicide, Alledgedly hung himself.  Reportedly part of Whitewater and was ready to talk.

89 - John Walker - Accident RTC investigator who fell from balcony of apartment that was also a getaway for Vince Foster.

90 - Jon Parnell Walker – Whitewater investigator for Resolution Trust Corp. Jumped to his death from his Arlington , Virginia apartment balcony August 15, 1993. He was investigating the Morgan Guaranty scandal.

91 - Johnston Wilson McGill, 34, was pronounced dead on his couch by a private doctor after suffering an apparent heart attack. Just days after being summoned to appear before Trey Gowdy’s congressional committee to testify about Hillary Clinton’s email server, one of her aides was found dead. 

92 - Judy Gibbs - (along with her sister Sharon) Died July 24, 2009 appeared in the December 1979 issue of Penthouse, and later worked at a bordello near Mena, Arkansas which also ran a blackmail operation with photos taken of the customers with their girls. According to the Gibbs family, Bill Clinton was a regular customer of Judy.

93 - Kathy Ferguson – Ex-wife of Arkansas Trooper Danny Ferguson, was found dead in May 1994, in her living room with a gunshot to her head. It was ruled a suicide even though there were several packed suitcases, as if she were going somewhere. Danny Ferguson was a co-defendant along with Bill Clinton in the Paula Jones lawsuit Kathy Ferguson was a possible corroborating witness for Paula Jones. Judy was burned alive when her house burned down.

94 - Kevin N. Earnest Cpt. - Aircraft Commander 

95 - Kevin Ives & Don Henry – Known as “The boys on the track” case. Reports say the boys may have stumbled upon the Mena Arkansas airport drug operation. A controversial case, the initial report of death said, due to falling asleep on railroad tracks. Later reports claim the 2 boys had been slain before being placed on the tracks. 

96 - Larry Guerrin - An employee of the National Security Agency in electronic intelligence. Standorf was a source of information for Danny Casalaro who was investigating INSLAW, BCCI, etc. Standorf’s body was found in the backseat of a car at Washington National Airport on Jan 31, 1991.

97 - Kimberly Jo Wielhouwer Cpt. - Pilot

98 - Luther Parks - Head of Clinton’s security team in Little Rock, gunned down in his car outside of Little Rock.  Home broken into before his death, dossier on Clinton taken.

99 - Marion Christopher Barry - Son of notorious Washington D.C. mayor Marion Barry found dead supposedly from an overdose, at the age of 36.

100 - Marcel Lazar Lehel - Guccifer had Hacked many people including the Clintons and the DNC was found dead in his cell, they said it was yet another suicide. 

101 - Mary Mahoney – A former White House intern was murdered July 1997 at a Starbucks Coffee Shop in Georgetown .. The murder happened just after she was togo public w:th her story of sexual harassment in the White House.

102 - Michael J. SmithJr. SSgt. - Loadmaster

103 - Montgomery Raiser - Son of C. Victor Raiser II, both men died on a plane crash, On May 29, 1993, President Clinton announced that he had selected Raiser’s widow, Molly Raiser, 50, former Democratic co-chair of the Women’s Campaign Fund, to be his protocol chief and stated that he planned to nominate her for confirmation as an ambassador.

104 - Michael R. York SSgt. - Loadmaster

105 - Meil Moody - Died Aug 25 1996 - Following Vincent Foster’s murder, Lisa Foster married James Moody, a judge in Arkansas, on Jan 1, 1996. Near the time Susan McDougal first went to jail for contempt, Judge Moody’s son, Neil died in a car crash. There were other reports that Neil Moody had discovered something very unsettling among his stepmother’s private papers and was threatening to go public with it just prior to the beginning of the Democratic National Convention. He was alleged to have been talking to Bob Woodward of the Washington Post about a blockbuster story. Witnesses said they saw Neil Moody sitting in his car arguing with another person just prior to HIS CAR SUDDENLY SPEEDING OFF OUT OF CONTROL AND HITTING A BRICK WALL.

106 - Paula Grober – Clinton’s speech interpreter for the deaf from 1978 until her death December 9, 1992. She died in a one car accident

107 - Paul Tulley – Democratic National Committee Political Director found dead in a hotelroom in Little Rock , September 1992. Described by Clinton as a “dear friend and trusted advisor

108 - Paul Wilcher - Attorney investigating corruption at MenaAirport with Casolaro and the 1980 “October Surprise” was found dead on a toilet June 22, 1993, in his WashingtonDC apartment. Had delivered a report to Janet Reno 3 weeks before his death.

109 - Peter W. Smith - 81 Suicide - was investigating the Clinton E-mails

110 - Rick L. Merritt Sr. Airman - Flight Engineer

111 - Ronald Rogers - Ark. dentist for Clintons, killed on way to interview with a “London Sunday Telegraph” reporter to reveal info. Plane Crash 

112 - Ron Brown – Secretary of Commerce and former DNC Chairman. Reported to have died by impact in a plane crash. A pathologist close to the investigation reported that there was a hole in the top of Brown’s skull resembling a gunshot wound. At the time of his death Brown was being investigated, and spoke publicly of his willingness to cut a deal with prosecutors. The rest of the people on the plane also died. A few days later the air Traffic controller commited suicide.

113 - Sandeep Aherlekar, Dr. - Was the anesthesiologist during the surgery to remove a blood clot from Hillary Clinton’s Brain. Was found dead 3 months later on September 30, 2016. 

      his death a apparent suicide however he was a devout Hindu and the Hindu considers suicide murder and thus goes against the code. 

114 - Sandy Hume - Died Feb 22, 1998 Was a American journalist. Hume worked for The Hill newspaper in Washington, D.C. Was credited with breaking the story of the “coup against Newt Gingrich.” Died from suicide sound familire? 

115 - Seth Rich - whistleblower on Voter Fraud worked for the DNP was robbed but nothing was taken.

116 - Shahram Amiri - was executed by Iran for being a US spy

117 - Sharon Regoli Ciferno - Died in Mexico after laughing to hard. Her brother is former Westmoreland County Judge David Regoli (Democrat) who was involved in the voting booth scandal in Pa. 04-26-2016

118 - Shawn Lucas - Found Dead 08-02-2016, he served the fraud law suit papers against the Clintons.   

119 - Stanley Huggins – Investigated Madison Guaranty. His death was a purported suicide and his report was never released.

120 - Stanley Heard - Plane Crash, Chair of chiropractic Health Care Advisory Comm. for Clinton who had treated Clinton’s mother, stepfather & brother.  Killed when air plane crashed after reporting fire on board.

121 - Stanley Meyer - NOT known to have meet the Clintons however Bill Clinton was president. 1998 ran out of the resterant yelling they poisoned me and his body was burned before the family got to the hospital. The Franklin County coroner report that ruled that Meyer, who had high blood pressure, died of a cerebral aneurysm. Stanley Meyer invented what he called a perpetual motion machine that ran off of water. Many believe he was killed to surpress his idea. Bill Clinton was persident in 1998.

122 - Steve Dickson - Who worked with Dr. Heard, in addition to serving on Clinton‘s advisory council personally treated Clinton’s mother, stepfather and brother.

123 - Suzanne “Sue” Coleman - Had affair with Clinton while attorney general. “Suicide” with gunshot wound to the back of her head.  No autopsy, was ruled a suicide. Was pregnant at the time of her death. 

124 - Suzanne “Sue” Coleman’s - Unborn Baby 

125 - Theodore Williams, Jr.- Died 12/16/97/- Traffic Accident, A passing car hit the brother of Presidential Secretary Betty Currie after his own car had somehow run off the road. Bill Clinton called Monica Lewinsky at 2:00 AM the next morning to tell her of the death and alert Monica that her named appeared on the Paula Jones witness list. Betty’s brother had also been beaten shortly before Betty testified in a previous matter.

126 - Terrance Yeakey - First police officer to arrive at the Murrah Building following the OK City bombing. One year later, his patrol car was found abandoned along a dirt road, the front seat covered with blood. Officer Yeakey himself was found a short distance away, with cut wounds on both arms and his throat, plus a gunshot through the head. No gun was ever found, and the death was ruled a suicide. He had collected together a vast amount of hard data on the bombing of the Murray building. That material was never found following his death. His life had been threatened.

127 - Thomas A. Stevens Airman - Loadmaster - Killed when the C-130 carrying the Presidential Limos crashed near Jackson Hole, Wyoming. August 18, 1996. All nine people on board a White House support plane were killed late Saturday (10:48 pm MDT), when it crashed into Sheep Mountain (also known as Sleeping Indian Mountain) near Jackson Hole Wyoming. The aircraft was en route from Jackson Hole to John F. Kennedy International airport.  The Air Force Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules transport aircraft was carrying a presidential vehicle and many pieces of luggage, all related to the president’s vacation (50th birthday celebration in the Grand Tetons). President Clinton said Sunday afternoon that he was told the pilot was attempting to return to the Jackson Hole airport when it crashed (CNN news report).  The Air Force reported finding no evidence of an in-flight mechanical emergency  after examining the flight data and flight voice recorders and could not find evidence that the pilot radioed mechanical trouble be      fore crashing into the mountainside as reported by the White House. The victims included 8 crew members and one Secret Service agent. The aircraft and crew were stationed out of Dyess Air Force Base.

128 - Todd Madison -  a.k.a. “Hillary’s handler,” died at a Wisconsin hospital on December 8, 2017, at age 49. another heart attack. It was reported that Clinton could be seen “leaning against a security bollard and then buckling and stumbling as her security detail helps her into a black van.”

129 - Victor Thorn Born William J. “Bill” Makufa Was a Clinton Researcher and was found dead and committed suicide according to the police report.  

130 - Victor Raiser - Chair. of Mobile Telecomm whose subsidiary is SkyTel. A finance co-chair in Clinton organization who soured. Plane Crash, His plane went down in Alaska on a fishing expedition.

131 - Vince Foster – Former White House councilor, and colleague of Hillary Clinton at Little Rock’s Rose Law firm. Died of a gunshot wound to the head, ruled a suicide. Vince Foster had been shot twice in the back of the head.

132 - Vincent Fleck, the father of Clinton’s physician Dr. Daniel Fleck, was found dead near his home just 24 hours after releasing Hillary’s most secret medical records to the public.

133 - Vincent Fleck - He was hired by the Clinton White House to work as a Chef, and continued to serve the Bush administration. Interestingly, he was reported missing during a hike, and his body was found almost 2 miles away at the bottom of a river. No cause of death has ever been made, but the death date is listed as June 13, 2015 

134 - Walter Scheib - he was reported missing during a hike, and his body was found almost 2 miles away at the bottom of a river. No cause of death has ever been made, but the death date is listed as June 13, 2015

      Read more: http://thepoliticalinsider.com/another-clinton-associate-found-dead-bill-hillarys-body-count-increases/#ixzz4hUSLaMX4

135 - William Colby - Died April 22, 1996 - Director of Central Intelligence (ret) Drowned, Computer on plate of food half eaten they say he decided to just go canoeing, Most notable about the body was the absence of a life jacket, which according to his wife, Colby always wore on the water.

       Quite an impressive list!

The public must become aware of what happens to friends of the Clintons!

[junker-town]

TITLELESS: 16 NBA teams that flamed out too soon

Were Gary Payton’s Sonics the best team to never win an NBA championship?

Our quest to uncover the best NBA team to not win a title begins with the teams that suffered mind-boggling playoff disappointments.

Our quest to uncover the best NBA team to not win a title begins with the teams that suffered mind-boggling playoff disappointments. These 16 clubs fell short of their ultimate goal due to an early-round upset, a brutal collapse, or both. Meet the Flameout Division.

As always, we will count down from worst to best. We begin with a long-forgotten upstart and end with one that has become a cultural icon.

16. 2012-13 Denver Nuggets

ERA: The Post-Carmelo trade.

RECORD: 57-25

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +5

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in first round to No. 6 Golden State Warriors (4-2)

KEY STAR(S): None

COACH: George Karl

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Ty Lawson, Andre Iguodala, Danilo Gallinari (injured in playoffs), Kenneth Faried, Andre Miller, Wilson Chandler, Kosta Koufos, Corey Brewer, JaVale McGee

OTHER SEASONS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: None

These guys were the victims of Stephen Curry’s loud arrival on the league’s biggest stage. The Warriors’ eventual rise and the Nuggets’ immediate demolition conspired to turn this Denver squad into a footnote. Too bad, because they were innovative, a joy to watch, and a cool example of the power of depth. If only Danilo Gallinari didn’t tear his ACL late in the regular season...

15. 1986-87 Atlanta Hawks

ERA: Dominique.

RECORD: 57-25

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +7.2

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in second round to No. 3 Detroit Pistons (4-1)

KEY STAR(S): Dominique Wilkins.

COACH: Mike Fratello.

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Kevin Willis, Doc Rivers, Randy Wittman, Tree Rollins, Cliff Levingston, Spud Webb, Mike McGee, Jon Koncak, Gus Williams, John Battle.

OTHER SEASONS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: 1987-88, 1993-94

Dominique Wilkins’ inability to even advance to a conference finals is framed as a casualty of the deep Eastern Conference. He was great, the argument goes, but his teams didn’t have enough to beat the Bostons and Detroits of the world.

That’s largely true, but 1986-87 was different. Nique’s Hawks earned the No. 2 seed in the conference, and he was lauded for improving his all-around game. With Boston wobbly due to injury and Detroit still a year or two away, this was Atlanta’s chance.

They didn’t lack for confidence. Before their second-round series with Detroit began, Hawks power forward Kevin Willis was asked if the series would go the distance. “No, I think it will go five,” he replied.

Technically, he was right. Atlanta lost Game 1 at home after Wilkins shot just 7-18 from the field, then fell behind 3-1 after Isiah Thomas drove from the top of the key for a layup in the closing seconds of Game 4.

Atlanta then blew a double-digit fourth quarter lead in Game 5 when they suddenly forgot how to score. That was their title shot, and they blew it.

14. 1946-47 Washington Capitols

ERA: Red Auerbach, pre-Boston

RECORD: 49-11

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +9.9

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in BAA semifinals to No. 2 Chicago Stags (4-2)

KEY STAR(S): Bob Feerick

COACH: Red Auerbach

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Bones McKinney, Fred Scolari, Johnny Norlander, John Mahnken, Irv Torgoff

OTHER SEASONS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: 1948-49

Meet professional basketball’s original chokers! Coached by Red Auerbach – yes, future Celtics legend Red Auerbach – the Washington Capitols were the standout team in the inaugural season of the Basketball Association of America, a precursor to the NBA. They were known for their excellent team play, high-octane offense, conditioning, and unique triangle zone defense that toed the line of legality. A skinny forward named Bones McKinney was the fulcrum, while a quick guard named Bob Feerick was the offensive star.

Feerick in particular was a stylistic marvel for his time. If you have 30 minutes to spare – and I know you do – this rare footage of a 1949 Capitols-Baltimore Bullets game is a delight.

Heat check!

And contrary to popular belief, Tracy McGrady wasn’t the first player to try to pass it to himself off the backboard.

Let’s talk about that zone more. Midway through the season, the BAA banned zone defensive styles that attempted to slow the game down. (Remember, this was the pre-shot clock era.) But the Capitols’ triangle approach was still legal because it actually sped the game up. Here’s how a 1947 New York Daily News article described Washington’s strategy:

“Standing zone defenses were banned earlier this month by the progressive BAA, in the interest of more action for the fans, but this stratagem is a triangle of weaving tall men the Caps use under either backboard that insures them of nearly every rebound. The other two are used for fast breaks or give and go plays.”

So, cherry-picking. What visionaries!

So how did these dudes not win the title? After losing just one game at home during the regular season, they inexplicably dropped the first two games of their conference finals series against the Chicago Stags by double digits. Told you they were chokers.

13. 1968-69 Baltimore Bullets

ERA: Wes and Earl the Pearl, pre-Elvin Hayes.

RECORD: 57-25.

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +4.3

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in East semifinals to No. 4 New York Knicks (4-0 with home court)

KEY STAR(S): Earl Monroe, Wes Unseld.

COACH: Gene Shue.

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Kevin Loughery, Gus Johnson, Jack Marin, Ray Scott, Leroy Ellis.

OTHER SEASONS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: 1969-70

The Bullets of the late 60s and 70s were one of the league’s forgotten powerhouses. Ironically, it was their worst regular-season team — an aging 44-win unit that turned back the clock in the 1978 playoffs — that gave D.C. its lone title. I considered the 1973 trade for Elvin Hayes as the line of demarcation between eras, which made these Bullets of Earl Monroe, Gus Johnson, and a rookie Wes Unseld the obvious choice.

Their four-game series loss to the hated Knicks had a slight asterisk because Johnson missed the series due to injury. Still, the Bullets had the NBA’s best record that season thanks largely to Unseld and Monroe. They should not have been swept.

They got their revenge on the Knicks two years later to reach the Finals, but that Bullets team was just 40-42 in the regular season. The 68-69 edition was much better.

12. 2017-18 Toronto Raptors

ERA: Kyle and DeMar

RECORD: 59-23

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +7.8

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in second round to No. 4 Cleveland Cavaliers (4-0)

KEY STAR(S): DeMar DeRozan, Kyle Lowry

COACH: Dwane Casey

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Serge Ibaka, Jonas Valanciunas, Delon Wright, Pascal Siakam, O.G. Anunoby, Fred VanVleet, CJ Miles, Jakob Poeltl, Norman Powell

OTHER SEASONS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: 2015-16, 2016-17

I toyed with the idea of excluding all Raptors teams due to last year’s title, but considered the Kawhi Leonard-DeMar DeRozan trade and the firing of Dwane Casey as significant enough changes to split the era up. That means we get to flash back to a time when the Raptors were known for choking in the playoffs and getting owned by LeBron James. Ahh, memories.

11. 1976-77 Los Angeles Lakers

ERA: Kareem before Magic

RECORD: 53-29

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +2.8

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in West finals to No. 3 Portland Trail Blazers (4-0)

KEY STAR(S): Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

COACH: Bill Sharman

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Lucius Allen, Cazzie Russell, Don Chaney, Kermit Washington, Don Ford, Tom Abernathy, Earl Tatum, Mack Calvin

OTHERS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: None

The only decent Lakers team of the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar era before Magic Johnson showed up was exposed as a one-man band in an embarrassing Western Conference Finals sweep. The contrast between Bill Walton’s speedy, team-oriented Blazers and Kareem’s slow, battered Lakers was stark. Kareem outscored Walton, but none of Kareem’s teammates showed up.

It didn’t help that starting power forward Kermit Washington missed the series (this was before he became a pariah after punching Rudy Tomjanovich) and point guard Lucius Allen barely played due to a toe injury.

10. 1994-95 San Antonio Spurs

ERA: Admiral, pre-Timmy

RECORD: 60-22

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +6

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in West Finals to No. 6 Houston Rockets (4-2)

KEY STAR(S): David Robinson

COACH: Bob Hill

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Sean Elliott, Dennis Rodman, Avery Johnson, Vinny Del Negro, Chuck Person, J.R. Reid, Terry Cummings, Doc Rivers, Willie Anderson

OTHERS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: 1989-90, 1990-91, 1993-94, 1995-96

This was the best of the David Robinson teams Before Timmy, and also the one that suffered the most humiliating defeat. The 1995 title race was wide open, and San Antonio had home-court advantage throughout the playoffs and the league’s MVP. In the end, that MVP was outplayed by Hakeem Olajuwon in a Western Conference Finals where the Spurs dropped all three of their home games.

This was one deep team. Dennis Rodman got weird by the end, but he was still a force during the regular season. Nine players averaged at least 15 minutes a game, and each position had a top backup. They could go big or small depending on the matchup and the needs they had during each game. But all of those advantages faded away as Olajuwon dominated.

9. 2015-16 San Antonio Spurs

ERA: Post-Big 3

RECORD: 67-15

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +10.6

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in second round to No. 3 Oklahoma City Thunder (4-2)

KEY STAR(S): Kawhi Leonard, LaMarcus Aldridge, Tim Duncan (last season)

COACH: Gregg Popovich

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Tony Parker, Danny Green, Manu Ginobili, Patty Mills, David West, Kyle Anderson, Kevin Martin, Jonathon Simmons

OTHER SEASONS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: 2016-17

You’re probably wondering why this team (and the 61-win version the year after that lost to Golden State when Zaza Pachulia slid under Kawhi Leonard’s ankle) is eligible for the tournament despite retaining four key core pieces and the legendary head coach from the 2013-14 title squad. Two reasons

The 2015 signing of LaMarcus Aldridge qualifies as a core-altering event.

This was the year the Spurs became Leonard’s team. His usage jumped nearly three points from 2014-15 and would leap up to beyond 30 the next season. Meanwhile, Tim Duncan ended up retiring after the season.

This was a forgotten powerhouse due to the presence of the 73-win Warriors. Ultimately, they were a paper tiger who couldn’t raise their level to get past a Thunder team that coasted in the regular season.

8. 2008-09 Cleveland Cavaliers

ERA: Young LeBron

RECORD: 66-16

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +8.9

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in East Finals to No. 3 Orlando Magic (4-2)

KEY STAR(S): LeBron James

COACH: Mike Brown

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Mo Williams, Delonte West, Anderson Varejao, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Ben Wallace, Wally Szczerbiak, Daniel Gibson, Joe Smith

OTHER SEASONS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: 2009-10

The regular-season fundamentals of these Cavaliers are as good as any in the tournament. Sixty-six wins, a differential approaching nine, and arguably LeBron James’ best individual season. Putting them as a No. 8 seed seems tough.

On the other hand, Mo Williams was their second-best offensive player.

7. 2013-14 Los Angeles Clippers

ERA: Lob City

RECORD: 57-25

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +6.9

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in second round to No. 2 Oklahoma City Thunder (4-2)

KEY STAR(S): Chris Paul, Blake Griffin

COACH: Doc Rivers

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: DeAndre Jordan, J.J. Redick, Matt Barnes, Jamal Crawford, Darren Collison, Jared Dudley

OTHERS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: 2012-13, 2014-15, 2015-16

Choosing between Lob City teams was tough. The 2014-15 team was nearly as good as the 2013-14 edition and fell in much more excruciating fashion. The 2015-16 team wasn’t as good, but their title window was briefly opened by Stephen Curry’s ankle injury before both Chris Paul and Blake Griffin got hurt. The 2012-13 version under Vinny Del Negro has a great case, too, though there was plenty of dysfunction lurking beneath the surface.

But I chose the 2013-14 edition for three reasons:

It had the best point differential of the bunch.

It was the most well-rounded thanks to J.J. Redick’s arrival, Matt Barnes’ underrated season, and DeAndre Jordan’s improvement.

Their playoff run was the weirdest of all, from Donald Sterling’s demise to Paul’s out-of-body experience in Game 5 against the Thunder.

6. 1999-00 Portland Trail Blazers

ERA: Pre-Jailblazers

RECORD: 59-23

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +6.5

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in West Finals to No. 1 Los Angeles Lakers (4-3)

KEY STAR(S): Rasheed Wallace, Scottie Pippen

COACH: Mike Dunleavy

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Steve Smith, Damon Stoudamire, Arvydas Sabonis, Detlef Schrempf, Brian Grant, Greg Anthony, Bonzi Wells, Jermaine O’Neal

OTHER SEASONS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: 1998-99

If you want to break Portland fans’ hearts, send them this video.

5. 1992-93 New York Knicks

ERA: Patrick Ewing’s Knicks

RECORD: 60-22

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +6.2

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in East Finals to No. 2 Chicago Bulls (4-2)

KEY STAR(S): Patrick Ewing

COACH: Pat Riley

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: John Starks, Charles Oakley, Charles Smith, Anthony Mason, Doc Rivers, Greg Anthony, Rolando Blackman

OTHER SEASONS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: 1991-92, 1993-94, 1996-97, 1998-99, 1999-00

It’s easy to wonder in hindsight how a team with John Starks as its second-leading scorer had any shot against Michael Jordan’s Bulls. At the time, though, the Knicks seemed to have Chicago’s number, pushing them to seven games in the 1992 playoffs before upgrading their roster the next season. They led 2-0 in the East Finals and had a chance to win Game 5 before Charles Smith was stripped, stopped, stopped, and STOPPED AGAIN right under the basket.

That denied Patrick Ewing his best shot at a ring – the 93 team was comfortably better than the ‘94 team that lost in the NBA Finals and a tad more formidable than the ‘97 club that added Allan Houston and Larry Johnson to their regular core – and our chance to watch a repeat of one of the wildest brawls in NBA history.

4. 2006-07 Dallas Mavericks

ERA: Dirk, Before Carlisle

RECORD: 67-15

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +6

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in first round to No. 8 Golden State Warriors (4-2)

KEY STAR(S): Dirk Nowitzki

COACH: Avery Johnson

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Jason Terry, Josh Howard, Devin Harris, Erick Dampier, Jerry Stackhouse, Devean George, DeSagana Diop

OTHER SEASONS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: 2002-03, 2005-06

It was tough picking between the 2006-07 edition of the pre-Rick Carlisle Mavs and the 2005-06 one that was 2-0 up on Miami in the NBA Finals before Dwyane Wade’s never-ending free-throw parade turned the tide. The 2002-03 edition that went 60-22, beat the Kings in Round 2, and battled San Antonio despite key injuries deserves more love too.

The 06-07 team ended up getting the nod because they were the clear favorites that year and because this was Dirk Nowitzki’s finest regular season. Maybe things would be different if they played anyone other than that weird We Believe Warriors team that matched up so well with them.

3. 1990-91 Portland Trail Blazers

ERA: Clyde’s prime

RECORD: 63-19

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +8.7

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in West Finals to No. 2 Los Angeles Lakers (4-2)

KEY STAR(S): Clyde Drexler

COACH: Rick Adelman

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Terry Porter, Jerome Kersey, Buck Williams, Kevin Duckworth, Clifford Robinson, Danny Ainge

OTHER SEASONS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: 1989-90, 1991-92

The other two Portland contenders of the Clyde Drexler era made the NBA Finals, but this was their best team of the bunch. They went 27-3 to start the season, handily beat the eventual champion Bulls twice, and also won 16 in a row to end the year before giving their starters limited minutes in the season finale.

But after slipping by Seattle and routing Phoenix, the Blazers blew a double-digit fourth-quarter lead to the Lakers in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals. Terry Porter missed a three that would’ve tied the game, and Buck Williams bricked two free throws with 30 seconds left. The Blazers elected to defend the Lakers straight-up on the ensuing possession instead of fouling, but surrendered an uncontested dunk to Sam Perkins at the shot clock buzzer.

They never recovered from that collapse and fell in six after Magic Johnson flung the ball down the court to nobody in the closing seconds.

Imagine these Blazers in the 1991 Finals instead of a Lakers team that didn’t have a healthy James Worthy. Wouldn’t they be the favorites against the Bulls?

2. 2018-19 Milwaukee Bucks

ERA: Giannis and Bud

RECORD: 60-22

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +8.8

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in East Finals to No. 2 Toronto Raptors (4-2)

KEY STAR(S): Giannis Antetokounmpo

COACH: Mike Budenholzer

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Khris Middleton, Malcolm Brogdon, Eric Bledsoe, Brook Lopez, George Hill, Nikola Mirotic

OTHER SEASONS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: None

Is it harsh to put last year’s Bucks on this side of the bracket considering Toronto’s eventual title? I don’t think so. Milwaukee had the league’s best point differential by a mile, a 2-0 series lead, and had Toronto on the ropes in overtime in Game 3. What happened thereafter is a collapse, even if history rewrites it as Kawhi Leonard’s triumph over a too-green Giannis Antetokounmpo.

(Interesting question: if the 2019-20 edition fails to win the title, would they be this tournament’s No. 1 overall seed?).

1. 1993-94 Seattle Supersonics

ERA: Kemp and Payton

RECORD: 63-19

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +9

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in first round to No. 8 Denver Nuggets (3-2)

KEY STAR(S): Gary Payton, Shawn Kemp

COACH: George Karl

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Detlef Schrempf, Kendall Gill, Sam Perkins, Nate McMillan, Michael Cage

OTHER SEASONS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: 1992-93, 1994-95, 1995-96, 1996-97, 1997-98

It was tough choosing between these Sonics and the 95-96 edition that made the Finals. The 95-96 team won more games and went deeper in the playoffs. Their two stars, Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp, were better versions of themselves. Maybe they’d have given the 72-10 Bulls more of a series if George Karl put Payton on Michael Jordan from the start.

But the 93-94 edition had a better point differential (+9 to +7.8) in a season without expansion teams, as well as a stronger supporting cast and a much scarier trapping defense. Kendall Gill was an emerging star, Nate McMillan wasn’t injured, Sam Perkins could do more, and Michael Cage was significantly better than Ervin Johnson in the middle. Plus, Bob Kloppenburg, the architect of Seattle’s famous SOS pressure defense, was not on the staff by 1996.

It’s easy to forget how monumental that Nuggets first-round upset was at the time. Michael Jordan was retired, so the title was up for grabs. Seattle’s net rating was higher than any other team and nearly double of the eventual champion Rockets. They won 16 of their first 17 games and 30 of their first 35. They had blown out the Nuggets in each of the first two games of the playoff series. This was the peak version of one of the most enthralling non-champions in NBA history, not the 1995-96 version.

[trilotechcorp]

New Post has been published on PBA-Live

New Post has been published on https://pba-live.com/forty-five-realities-about-the-pba-as-association-celebrates-45th-commemoration/

Forty-five realities about the PBA as association celebrates 45th commemoration

APRIL 9, 1975 was a milestone day for sports in the nation after the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) was framed, the principal ever proficient b-ball alliance in Asia. From that point forward, the class has become a ball rivalry as well as a wellspring of amusement for Filipinos throughout the years.

As the group praises its 45th year, SPIN.ph concocted things that you could conceivably think about the class that relates with the numbers 1 to 45. Indeed, even with the rich history of the association, trust us when we state it was difficult to think of a rundown.

You should? What’s your critical minute in the PBA.

1

The principal player to score in the PBA was Joy Dionisio. Playing for Concepcion Carrier, Dionisio scored a lay-up in the principal round of the class last April 9, 1975. Notwithstanding, Dionisio’s group bowed to Mariwasa, 101-98, in the initial game. Toyota, in the mean time, likewise came out champs in that playdate with a 105-101 triumph over U-Tex.

2

The MVPs won by Abet Guidaben, the player with the most number of games in the PBA with 1,081 games.

3

The quantity of MVPs won by William ‘Marshes’ Adornado, the principal player to win the individual plum in 1975. He won it again in 1976 and 1981.

4

The quantity of MVPs won each by Ramon Fernandez and Alvin Patrimonio, the past high until June Mar Fajardo broke the record. Fernandez won the honor in 1982, 1984, 1986, and 1988, while Patrimonio copped the plum in 1991, 1993, 1994, and 1997.

Four is additionally the occasions Vergel Meneses won an All-Star MVP, doing the accomplishment in 1995, 1998, 2000, and 2003.

5

Jun Bernardino was the fifth chief of the PBA where he served the group for a long time, the longest ever.

6

The occasions June Mar Fajardo won the PBA MVP in back to back design, the most ever, outperforming Fernandez and Patrimonio. Through the span of his MVP seasons, Fajardo won eight PBA titles, and even got a group record 31 bounce back in Game Seven of the 2019 Philippine Cup finals against Magnolia on May 15.

7

The quantity of Best Import grants Bobby Parks won in his PBA profession. The honor was later named after him.

8

In view of the PBA Annual, the Philippine group filled in as visitor group in eight seasons through the span of the 45 years of the PBA.

9

The quantity of PBA groups in the main year of the PBA. They were Toyota, Crispa, U-Tex, Mariwasa, Concepcion Carrier, Royal Tru Orange, Tanduay, Presto, and 7-Up.

10

Current PBA official Willie Marcial is the tenth individual to hold the position.

Ten is likewise the quantity of takes Ryan Reyes had in a January 29, 2012 game against Powerade, the most ever.

11

Norman Black has brought home 11 PBA titles as a mentor and is the second strategist throughout the entire existence of the class to win a Grand Slam when San Miguel asserted the uncommon accomplishment in 1989.

12

The quantity of titles won by Barangay Ginebra, the most mainstream group in the PBA. The Gin Kings have won three All-Filipino/Philippine Cup crowns and nine titles in meetings with imports.

13

The occasions Crispa won PBA titles, the most among groups that have disbanded from the class. The Redmanizers had a celebrated competition with Toyota in a tussle that made geniuses for the association around then. Crispa disbanded in 1984 per year after Toyota additionally left the class.

14

The quantity of successive misfortunes Shopinas endured in the 2011-2012 Philippine Cup, the longest such streak in PBA history that happened from October 5 to December 8, 2011.

15

Virgilio ‘Child’ Dalupan won 15 PBA titles for the Crispa Redmanizers, turning into the best mentor before Tim Cone outperformed him. Dalupan additionally won two Grand Slams for the group in 1976 and 1983. In winning the 1976 Grand Slam, Dalupan just lost multiple times.

16

The pullover number of Toyota cager Gil Cortez, the main player to win the Rookie of the Year in 1976.

17

Allan Caidic changed over a class record 17 three-pointers when he scored 79 focuses in Tivoli’s 162-149 triumph over Ginebra in November 21, 1991.

18

The quantity of focuses Shell scored at halftime in its match against Mobiline on May 3, 2000. Shell proceeded to score only 47 in its 32-point rout, the least yield ever in a game by a PBA group ever.

19

Crispa dominated 19 straight matches from September 30 to December 9, 1980, considered the longest series of wins ever in PBA history.

20

As indicated by the PBA Annual, there are 20 establishments who have either disbanded or been sold. They are Barako Bull/Air21/Burger King/FedEx, Powerade/Coca-Cola, Sta. Lucia, Air21/Shopinas, Red Bull/Barako Bull, U-Tex, Pilipinas Shell, Sunkist/Sarsi/Pop Cola/Swift, Tanduay, Great Taste/CFC/Presto/Tivoli, Manila Beer/Beer Hausen, Toyota, Mariwasa/Noritake/Honda/Finance/Galerie Dominique, Seven-Up, Filmanbank, Carrier/Quasar/Fiberlite, Manhattan/Sunkist/Winston/Countryfair, Crispa, Tefilin, and Galleon/CDCP.

21

The quantity of misfortunes the San Miguel Beermen and Alaska Milkmen each had in their Grand Slam a long time in 1989 and 1996. With a 51-21 record, the 1996 Alaska group had the most successes among all groups which won the Grand Slam followed by the San Miguel crew in 1989 with a 50-21 imprint.

22

The quantity of titles Tim Cone has won in his training vocation, the most by some other guide throughout the entire existence of the PBA, that saw spells with Alaska, San Mig Coffee, and Barangay Ginebra.

23

Robert Jaworski played for a long time in the PBA, the most throughout the entire existence of the alliance. He played for Toyota before moving for Barangay Ginebra where he fabricated the ‘Never Say Die’ mantra of the group that despite everything exists right up ’til the present time.

24

The quantity of free tosses Nelson Asaytono made in a July 2, 1992 game by Swift against Purefoods, the most ever. The Mighty Meaties lost, 110-106.

25

The principal portion of the PBA’s greatest players were named in 2000 during the association’s 25th commemoration. The 25 were Johnny Abarrientos, Bogs Adornado, Ato Agustin, Francis Arnaiz, Ricardo Brown, Allan Caidic, Hector Calma, Philip Cezar, Atoy Co, Jerry Codinera, Kenneth Duremdes, Bernie Fabiosa, Ramon Fernandez, Danny Florencio, Abet Guidaben, Freddie Hubalde, Robert Jaworski, Jojo Lastimosa, Lim Eng Beng, Samboy Lim, Ronnie Magsanoc, Vergel Meneses, Manny Paner, Alvin Patrimonio, and Benjie Paras.

Danny Ildefonso, Willie Miller, James Yap, Asi Taulava, Eric Menk, Kelly Williams, Jayjay Helterbrand, Jimmy Alapag, Mark Caguioa, Arwind Santos, Jayson Castro, Marc Pingris, Kerby Raymundo, Chito Loyzaga, and Marlou Aquino later joined the 40 greatest in 2015.

26

Establishing magistrate Leo Prieto served the alliance for a long time where 26 meetings were held from 1975 to 1983.

27

The quantity of titles the San Miguel Beermen have in their spell in the PBA that started since the alliance’s initiation in 1975. The establishment has the most number of titles in the alliance with Alaska and Magnolia a far second with 14.

28

Eugene Quilban gathered an association record 28 helps for 7-Up in its 123-100 win over Shell on August 9, 1992.

29

The triumphant edge of Ginebra when it scored the most number of focuses in history with 197 in its game against Great Taste on November 21, 1985.

30

The quantity of games San Mig Coffee lost when it caught the Grand Slam in the 2013-2014 season. The triumphant level of .577 was the most minimal among the Grand Slam groups yet the Mixers despite everything took care of business to make it to the history books. San Mig Coffee beat Rain or Shine twice and Talk ‘N Text during that year, giving lead trainer Tim Cone the subsequent Grand Slam of his instructing vocation.

31

The period of Benjie Paras when he won his second MVP in 1999. In a year that saw a deluge of Fil-outsiders, Paras safeguarded his accomplishment of turning into the main player to win the MVP and Rookie of the Year on that year after he did it in 1989.

32

Ginebra scored 32 back to back focuses in the final quarter on its way to a 116-90 win over Shell on May 14, 1991. That 32-0 shoot was generally number of focuses scored successively and unanswered throughout the entire existence of the class.

33

Michael Hackett had 33 focuses in the second from last quarter of Ginebra’s 197-168 win over Great Taste on November 21, 1985. That was the most number of focuses scored by an import in a quarter, with Hackett in the long run completing with 103, a group record in those days.

34

LA Tenorio of Barangay Ginebra was 34 years of age when he played his 597th back to back game, outperforming Alvin Patrimonio as the group’s Iron Man on March 18, 2019.

35

The quantity of All-Star games the PBA has played. This incorporates the Rookies, Sophomores, Juniors versus Veterans, and North versus South arrangements, and the ongoing three-leg All-Star matches held in 2017 and 2018.

36

It was in the 36th season (2010-2011) of the PBA where the class returned to the old three-meeting position – the Philippine Cup, Commissioner’s Cup, and Governors’ Cup.

37

The joined number of misfortunes Talk ‘N Text and San Miguel had in a three-year stretch in the Philippine Cup after the two groups had the option to catch the Perpetual Trophy in 2013 and 2017 individually. The Tropang Texters had a 60-19 record from 2011 to 2013, while the Beermen gathered a 53-18 imprint from 2015 to 2017.

The trophy later named as the Jun Bernardino Trophy was kept forever by the two groups for winning three successive titles in the most renowned meeting of the association.

38

The quantity of two-point endeavors Paul Alvarez had when he scored a then-record 71 focuses in Alaska’s 169-138 win over Shell. Alvarez changed over 31 two-pointers in that game, an association high.

39

The quantity of minutes Terrence Romeo played when he scored a group record 48 focuses in the All-Star Game Luzon leg in 2018 in the Smart All-Stars 152-149 win over the PBA All-Stars in Batangas City. Romeo won his third All-Star MVP in the challenge.

40

There are just five 4-0 scopes in the historical backdrop of the

[mitchbeck]

CRAWFORD: WOLF PACK WEEKLY: December 9-15, 2019

BY: Bob Crawford, Hartford Wolf Pack HARTFORD, CT - The Wolf Pack (14-4-2-5, 35 pts.) swept three games in three days this past weekend, to move into a first-place tie with the Providence Bruins in the Atlantic Division.  On Friday night in Springfield, in the last of five straight road games, the Wolf Pack rebounded from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits to score the last four goals of the game, in a 5-2 over the Thunderbirds.  A line of Danny O’Regan (2-1-3), Vinni Lettieri (1-1-2) and Phil DiGiuseppe (0-2-2) combined for seven points in that game, as the Wolf Pack snapped an 0-3-2-0 drought.  On Saturday night, the Wolf Pack improved their home-ice record to 9-1-0-2 in their return to the XL Center, knocking off the Binghamton Devils, also by a score of 5-2.  Steven Fogarty struck for the Wolf Pack’s first four-point game of the season to lead the way, with 2-2-4, and linemate Lias Andersson added 2-1-3.  Then, in a showdown with division-leading Providence on the road Sunday, the Wolf Pack got a goal from Patrick Newell 62 seconds into the game and never looked back, downing the Bruins 4-1.  Lettieri scored twice in that game, and Newell also added an assist, for his first multiple-point game as a pro. For the latest AHL standings, click here. This week: The Wolf Pack will play three games this week, finishing a busy stretch of six games in nine days.  The Binghamton Devils return to the XL Center on Wednesday night, for a 7:00 PM game, and then the Lehigh Valley Phantoms make their first Hartford visit of the year Friday night (7:15), for the first half of a home-and-home.  The two clubs rematch in Allentown Saturday night at 7:05. Wednesday, December 11 vs. the Binghamton Devils (New Jersey) at the XL Center, 7:00 PM This is another chance to take advantage of the Wolf Pack’s “Click It or Ticket Hat Trick Pack”.  The Hat Trick Pack includes two tickets, two sodas, and a large popcorn, all for just $40. This is also a “Suit to Sweater Wednesday”, offered in partnership with the Hartford Chamber of Commerce.  Any fan showing a company ID at the Sunwave Gas & Power Ticket office can purchase Blue-Level tickets to Wolf Pack Wednesday home games for only $15 each (limit two tickets per ID). The Devils’ last outing was their 5-2 defeat to the Wolf Pack Saturday night at the XL Center.  That dropped Binghamton to 7-13-4-0 on the year (18 pts.). Nathan Bastian and Joey Anderson scored the Devil goals in Saturday’s game, and Gilles Senn made 24 saves in net. The Wolf Pack have won both previous battles between themselves and the Devils this season.  Prior to Saturday’s tilt, Hartford nipped the Devils 4-3 in overtime on October 19 in Binghamton. Tickets for this and all 2019-20 Wolf Pack home games are on sale now at the Sunwave Gas & Power Ticket Office at the XL Center, on-line at hartfordwolfpack.com and by phone at (877) 522-8499.  Tickets purchased in advance for kids 12 or younger start at just $10 each, and all tickets will have a $3 day-of-game increase. Broadcast – live with Bob Crawford and Mark Bailey on-line at hartfordwolfpack.com.  Video streaming at theahl.com/AHLTV.  Friday, December 13 vs. the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (Philadelphia) at the XL Center, 7:15 PM This and every Friday-night Wolf Pack home game features $1 hot dogs, and $2 draft beers and fountain sodas, through the start of the second period, presented by Nomads Adventure Quest. This is the second meeting of the year between the Wolf Pack and Phantoms.  In the first, November 30 in Allentown, Lehigh Valley scored a 2-1 overtime win.  The Wolf Pack were 3-2-0-1 in last year’s season series, 2-1-0-0 at home. Since their win over the Wolf Pack, the Phantoms (10-10-1-4, 25 pts.) have lost three straight, including a 1-0 setback at Hershey in their last action Sunday. Defenseman Andy Welinski scored the overtime winner for Lehigh Valley against the Wolf Pack on November 30, and also had the primary assist on the other Phantom goal in that game. At this and every Wolf Pack Friday or Saturday home game, fans are encouraged to come early for “Hockey Happy Hour” in the XL Center’s Coliseum Club.  From 5:15 PM until puck drop, a $5 wrist band gives fans access to the “Chill Zone” of the Coliseum Club, which features an appetizer buffet and $2 beers, presented by Minuteman Press. Tickets for this and all 2019-20 Wolf Pack home games are on sale now at the Sunwave Gas & Power Ticket Office at the XL Center, on-line at hartfordwolfpack.com and by phone at (877) 522-8499.  Tickets purchased in advance for kids 12 or younger start at just $10 each, and all tickets will have a $3 day-of-game increase. Broadcast – live with Bob Crawford and Mark Bailey on-line at hartfordwolfpack.com.  Video streaming at theahl.com/AHLTV. Saturday, December 14 at the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (Philadelphia) at the PPL Center, 7:05 PM The Wolf Pack have won back-to-back road games, after going 0-2-2-1 in their previous five, to improve to 5-3-2-3 in enemy rinks for the season. The Phantoms are 8-3-1-2 on home ice, having split their last four home games after going 6-1-1-2 in the first ten. Broadcast – live online HERE .  Video streaming at com/AHLTV.  Wolf Pack Community Appearances: The Wolf Pack have the following appearances scheduled this week.  For further information on these, or any other Wolf Pack community initiatives, contact Wolf Pack community relations manager Frank Berrian, at (860) 541-4728: Tuesday, December 10, 11:00 AM, Artichoke Basille’s Pizza, 114 Asylum Ave., Hartford Sonar, the Wolf Pack’s beloved mascot, meets and greets patrons at the soft opening of Hartford’s newest pizza restaurant. Tuesday, December 10, 2:00 PM, Canton Intermediate School, 39 Dyer Ave., Canton, CT Wolf Pack head coach Kris Knoblauch, along with players Gabriel Fontaine and Tim Gettinger, are scheduled to join Sonar in speaking to middle-schoolers and delivering backpacks and school supplies. Saturday, December 14, 1:00 PM (weather permitting), Winterfest Rink, Bushnell Park, Downtown Hartford Sonar will join the Hartford Yard Goats’ Chompers and Chew Chew, and other local mascots, on the Winterfest ice for a free skating event in Bushnell Park. Recent Transactions: Sean Day – reassigned by the New York Rangers from the Wolf Pack to Maine (ECHL) December 4. Boo Nieves – returned to the Wolf Pack by the New York Rangers December 5. Ty Ronning – reassigned by the New York Rangers from the Wolf Pack to Maine (ECHL) December 6. Pack Tracks: Saturday, December 28, when the Wolf Pack host the Providence Bruins at 7:00 PM, the first 2,000 fans into the game will receive a free Wolf Pack pennant flag, courtesy of NBC Connecticut.  Also that night, there will be a free post-game skate on the XL Center ice. Each of the Wolf Pack’s Sunday and Wednesday home games will feature the Wolf Pack’s “Click It or Ticket Hat Trick Pack”.  The Hat Trick Pack includes two tickets, two sodas, and a large popcorn, all for just $40.  After this Wednesday night, the next Hat Trick Pack game is Wednesday, February 5, a 7:00 PM battle with the Springfield Thunderbirds. In partnership with the Hartford Chamber of Commerce, the Wolf Pack this year will be offering “Suit to Sweater Wednesdays”, to wash away the mid-week work blues.  Any fan showing a company ID at the Sunwave Gas & Power Ticket office can purchase Blue-Level tickets to Wolf Pack Wednesday home games for only $15 each (limit two tickets per ID).  After this Wednesday night, the Wolf Pack’s next Wednesday home date is February 5, when the Springfield Thunderbirds invade the XL Center for a 7:00 PM game. Once again this season, fans can enjoy $1 hot dogs, and $2 draft beers and fountain sodas, at every Friday Wolf Pack home game, through the start of the second period, presented by Nomads Adventure Quest.  After this Friday, the Wolf Pack’s next Friday-night home outing is January 10, when they entertain the Charlotte Checkers in a 7:15 PM game. Wolf Pack home game tickets can be purchased at the Sunwave Gas & Power Ticket Office at the XL Center, on-line at hartfordwolfpack.com and by phone at (877) 522-8499.  Tickets purchased in advance for kids 12 or younger start at just $10 each, and all tickets will have a $3 day-of-game increase. To speak with a Wolf Pack representative about season or group tickets, or any of the Wolf Pack’s many ticketing options, call (860) 722-9425, or click here to request more info.  To visit the Wolf Pack online, go to hartfordwolfpack.com. TRACK THE PACK ONLINE AT HARTFORDWOLFPACK.COM Read the full article

[justanothercinemaniac]

Epic Movie (Re)Watch #132 - Good Will Hunting

Spoilers below.

Have I seen it before: Yes

Did I like it then: Yes.

Do I remember it: Yes.

Did I see it in theaters: No.

Format: Blu-ray

1) I find it interesting how when the opening credits say, “Written by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck,” it says Damon’s name over Affleck’s character and vice versa.

2) The first character in the film we really get to know is Stellan Skarsgård as Gerald Lambeau.

You get that Skarsgård has good intentions, even though he is a massive pretentious asshole who hits on his students and judges people not based on how happy they are but more their position in life. A janitor is a failure. A community college teacher is a failure. Any other opinions be damned. He’s not EXCLUSIVELY a bad guy though. You understand his intentions are good and he does learn as the film goes on, but damn if he isn’t just a prick for most of the film.

3) The first tavern scene is a nice way of introducing us to Will and his friends. It creates a sense of community between them and South Boston, a sense of character for every member of the group, and their relationships with each other.

4) Matt Damon as Will Hunting.

Will is a character who you really get to know over time, and that’s very nice. At first he largely keeps to himself and we get that he doesn’t care about power or prestige. At first that’s a noble thing, but then we learn that this is born less out of humility and more out of fear. Will is a flawed character. He convinces himself of all the disadvantages of somethings, of the shame of it, because he is petrified. His world, his life with his friends, that is safe for him. That is home. And he doesn’t really risk to go for more than that because of his fear of rejection (identified by Robin Williams’ Sean Maguire later in the movie). I think this - along with the beatings he sustained as a child - fuels the aggression we see (and later hear about) when he picks a fight with an old kindergarden bully for no other reason than he just felt like it (and then doesn’t stop until the cops show up).

But Will is SMART. And not like a little smart either, but incredibly intelligent. He’s not afraid to show it either, he doesn’t hide it when he feels a need to use it. But he doesn’t brag about it either. He is not in his friends’ faces with it with an, “I’m so much smarter than you,” attitude. Matt Damon - the film’s cowriter with Ben Affleck - plays Will’s many facets very well. This film is incredibly well cast and most of the actors when you’re watching them don’t FEEL like actors. They feel like the characters, totally and completely. Damon as the lead is no exception.

5) Can I just say: I LIVE for scenes in movies and moments in life where some pretentious condescending asshole is put in their place totally and completely? It’s so cathartic!

6) Minnie Driver as Skylar.

Can I just say I LOVE Skylar, even if she is at risk of falling into the category of manic pixie dream girl on paper. Minnie Driver’s academy award nominated performance in this film just makes her so much MORE than that! I love everything about Skylar: how she approaches Will at the bar and calls him an idiot for not asking her out, how she is able to hold her own against Will’s sense of humor and occasional bullshitting, her laugh, her honesty, her heart! The first time I watched this film I was in awe - more than anything else - with Driver’s realism in the part. She and Damon have knockout chemistry that not only suggests to you their heat but their friendship. It is totally believable that they fall in love in such a quick time, and that is because they work so fucking brilliantly with each other. There is sincerity, trust, comradery, humor, an ability to be themselves around each other. I believe Damon and Driver dated for a while after meeting on this film, and that chemistry shows. I just...gah! I love it so much!

7) Classic.

Will [to the douchebag from the bar]: “Do you like apples?”

Douchebag: “Yeah.”

Will [placing Skylar’s phone number on the glass between them]: “Well I got her number.”

8) The way Lambeau treats Will is...interesting, to say the least. At first it seems like he looks down at him. Like he’s his savior and he knows it. There’s a scene where after they’re done doing math together, Lambeau ruffles Will’s hair. Who the hell does that? It changes as the film goes on. You realize that Lambeau grows to understand that Will is truly an unmatched genius, but early on it’s...weird.

9) The string of psychiatrists Lambeau takes Will to see is very telling and very entertaining. It shows how smart Will is, but also how abrasive he is. How he scoffs at authority and the need for help. It’s a funny scene but it greatly tells to Will’s deeper struggles.

10) Robin Williams as Sean Maguire.

Williams won his first and only Oscar based on his performance in this film, and damn if it isn’t clear why. Williams is chameleonic. Yes you know its Robin Williams playing him, yes he brings some of his trademark improv comedy (more on that later), but you don’t SEE Williams. All you see is Sean, and that is incredible. Damon and Affleck took a character who could have easily been just the token mentor. The Obi-Wan to Will’s Luke Skywalker. But they did more. They gave Sean his own struggles, his own grief, his own desires, his own conflict, his own arc, and made a truly compelling character who can hold his own against Damon’s Will.

You learn a lot about Sean as the film goes along. You learn how his life is defined by his love and loss of his wife, you see that he is able to relate to actual people, that he hates the MIT snobs. The dude chokes Will out for insulting his wife at one point and is the first therapist to kick Lambeau out of his session. Meaning he takes his time with Will far more seriously than the other therapists.

The chemistry between Williams and Damon is on par with the chemistry between Driver and Damon, although of a fundamentally different nature. Williams as Sean is able to sift through Will’s bullshit, knows when he doesn’t need to put up with it, and is able to slowly make this character who is so afraid of rejection comfortable around him. I think it’s the key relationship in the film, and I love it.

11) Danny Elfman’s score in this film is beautiful. Elfman is known for his more macabre work through collaborations with directors like Tim Burton and Sam Raimi, but here he creates a hopeful and sincere melody which carries you through the film like a leaf on the wind. I think it’s great.

12) The scene where Sean is talking to Will on a park bench is somewhat iconic, but I think it is very powerful for one key reason: the filmmakers decided to keep it on William’s performance for most of the scene. They did not cut between him and Damon, they let his acting and his heart carry those minutes and it is incredible I think. You can watch for yourself if you so desire:

This is my favorite line from that monologue:

Sean: “You’re an orphan right. Do you think I know the first thing about how hard your life has been - how you feel, who you are - because I read Oliver Twist?”

People like to say they know what other people are going through, but unless they have personally they don’t have any idea what they’re talking about. Thank you to this film for having that line in there. I love it.

13) According to IMDb:

The lines in the scene when Sean talks about his late wife's farting antics were ad-libbed by Robin Williams. That is why Matt Damon was laughing so hard. If you watch the scene carefully you can notice the camera shaking a bit, possibly due to the cameraman laughing as well.

14) This film does an excellent job in balancing the aspects of Will’s life. We get the perfect looks at his relationship with his friends, with Skylar, with Sean, and with Lambeau. There’s not too much and there’s not too little, it’s just right.

15) It is interesting to see how Will lets his guard down with Skylar in some regards while also keeping it up in some ways (namely, lying about how he has 12 brothers).

16) I love Skylar’s story with Will’s friends.

Minnie Driver is gold.

17)

Lambeau [after Sean says they should let Sean go down his own path]: “It worked wonders for you didn’t it?”

Sean: “Yeah it did you arrogant fucking prick.”

(GIF source unknown [if this is your GIF please let me know].)

WHETHER OR NOT SOMEONE HAS LIVED A GOOD LIFE IS NOT BASED ON THEIR STATURE. IT IS NOT BASED ON THEIR JOB, THEIR WEALTH, THEIR LOOKS, NOTHING LIKE THAT. IT IS EXCLUSIVELY BASED ON HOW HAPPY THEY ARE LIVING THEIR LIFE AND HOW MUCH PAIN THEY ARE OR ARE NOT CAUSING OTHERS!!!!

(GIF originally posted by @marshmallow-the-vampire-slayer)

I have a lot of strong feelings on this matter, can you tell?

18) I love how Will explains the way his brain works. How he says Mozart and Beethoven could just look at a piano and play, that’s how his brain works with history and numbers and science and stuff. It actually makes a lot of sense despite being pretty vague.

19) Get ready to have your heart broken by Will being a fucking idiot.

GODDAMN IT WILL!!!!!

20) Will’s whole monologue about why he doesn’t take a job with the NSA because of what COULD happen and one hypothetical leading to another is just a perfect example of him using his intellect to rationalize his fears in a bullshit way.

Will [in a session with Sean]: “Why shouldn't I work for the N.S.A.? That's a tough one, but I'll take a shot. Say I'm working at N.S.A. Somebody puts a code on my desk, something nobody else can break. Maybe I take a shot at it and maybe I break it. And I'm real happy with myself, 'cause I did my job well. But maybe that code was the location of some rebel army in North Africa or the Middle East. Once they have that location, they bomb the village where the rebels were hiding and fifteen hundred people I never met, never had no problem with, get killed. Now the politicians are sayin', "Oh, send in the Marines to secure the area" 'cause they don't give a shit. It won't be their kid over there, gettin' shot. Just like it wasn't them when their number got called, 'cause they were pullin' a tour in the National Guard. It'll be some kid from Southie takin' shrapnel in the ass. And he comes back to find that the plant he used to work at got exported to the country he just got back from. And the guy who put the shrapnel in his ass got his old job, 'cause he'll work for fifteen cents a day and no bathroom breaks. Meanwhile, he realizes the only reason he was over there in the first place was so we could install a government that would sell us oil at a good price. And, of course, the oil companies used the skirmish over there to scare up domestic oil prices. A cute little ancillary benefit for them, but it ain't helping my buddy at two-fifty a gallon. And they're takin' their sweet time bringin' the oil back, of course, and maybe even took the liberty of hiring an alcoholic skipper who likes to drink martinis and fuckin' play slalom with the icebergs, and it ain't too long 'til he hits one, spills the oil and kills all the sea life in the North Atlantic. So now my buddy's out of work and he can't afford to drive, so he's got to walk to the fuckin' job interviews, which sucks 'cause the shrapnel in his ass is givin' him chronic hemorrhoids. And meanwhile he's starvin', 'cause every time he tries to get a bite to eat, the only blue plate special they're servin' is North Atlantic scrod with Quaker State. So what did I think? I'm holdin' out for somethin' better. I figure fuck it, while I'm at it why not just shoot my buddy, take his job, give it to his sworn enemy, hike up gas prices, bomb a village, club a baby seal, hit the hash pipe and join the National Guard? I could be elected president.”

21) One of my favorite scenes in this film is Chuckie’s reaction after Will says he’s going to stay in south Boston his whole life.

Chuckie: “Look, you're my best friend, so don't take this the wrong way but, in 20 years if you're still livin' here, comin' over to my house, watchin' the Patriots games, workin' construction, I'll fuckin' kill ya. That's not a threat, that's a fact, I'll fuckin' kill ya.”

He is like the only one - between Skylar, Sean, and Lambeau - to actually get through to Will. And that is because he speaks Will’s language. It’s one of my favorite character moments in the film.

22) I do really love the climax of the film (Sean telling Will, “It’s not your fault,” for his foster dad beating on him and Will breaking down into tears) even if I’m aware of some of it’s flaws. This is a turning point for Will, but if he were in therapy in real life this wouldn’t be the end. Also most therapists don’t treat their patients this way. But that’s the beauty of fiction: we have this thing called suspension of disbelief which makes movies fun to watch! :D

23) I think the ending for this film is quite lovely. So many different ideas from earlier play into effect, Will goes to make up with Skylar (headcanon: he gets her back after much groveling and attempts to convince her he’s changed), and what Matt Damon said was Robin Williams’ best improvised line in the film.

Will [in a note he leaves for Sean]: "Sean, if the Professor calls about that job, just tell him, sorry, I have to go see about a girl."

Good Will Hunting is a classic of cinema. It features excellent writing that features a heartwarming story, supported by incredible performances across the board. Williams, Damon, and Driver are all particular standouts, but the film is just so good. Perhaps a little overrated, but still incredible. Go see it!

[marshmallow-the-vampire-slayer]

MTVS Epic Rewatch #158

 VM 3x05 President Evil

Stray thoughts

1) This episode is a huge disappointment, and I’ll tell you why: the episode’s title is totally misleading. Like, I was 100% expecting zombies? Zombie presidents, more precisely. Rob Thomas, you sit on a throne of lies.

2) I love how all the students in Landry’s class groan when Tim announces he’s taking over the class for the day. It’s a small character moment, one that definitely goes unnoticed the first time watching the show and which acquires meaning in hindsight, once you really know who Tim actually is and what he did. The fact that the students groan at the fact that they’re stuck with him is very telling of what kind of person he is. Like, I don’t know about you, but if I were stuck with the TA for the day I’d be glad because it would mean a much more chill class and not that much work, you know? In this case, however, the students’ reaction clearly shows that Tim was way worse than the head professor, and he was merely the TA. So we can draw a lot of conclusions about his personality traits, which are coherent with his actions and with his ultimate downfall. He’s definitely a person who takes his job way too seriously in a way that usually makes things worse for everyone involved. He’s power-hungry and revels in having the tiniest bit of power and authority and takes it way too far. He wants to climb up the career ladder, he definitely has a disproportionate sense of entitlement and he craves recognition. That’s why he feels the need to brag when he commits what he thinks is the perfect crime, which leads to Veronica realizing what he’d done. This is why Rob Thomas is such a good writer, you know? He does a pretty similar thing with Mercer in this same episode: a small yet telling character moment, something that can be so easily overlooked because it seems so irrelevant and it doesn’t have “SIGNIFICANT CHARACTER MOMENT” written all over it but once all the mysteries are revealed that tiny moment makes so much sense. It’s a pretty good lesson in writing, if you ask me. (yes, I’m aware nobody asked me or cares.)

3) This moment always makes me feel a bit uncomfortable?

It’s kind of diminishing to use Eli as a case study, especially because she’s so clinical when she’s describing his life? Like, he’s an actual person and he’s standing right there and you’re talking about him as if he were this abstract thing, like a statistic or something? And also, he’s your friend? So, if you’ve come to any conclusions regarding the “socioeconomic conditions that lead preteens into a life of crime”, maybe talk them over with him over coffee or something? And yes, I am aware that Weevil willingly agreed to participate in this show-and-tell, but it still feels like she’s taking advantage of him? Which, granted, is pretty in character for Veronica, but it still feels so crappy of her to do this. 

4) Look who’s here!

5) Also, this moment: 

WEEVIL: I'm trying. I really am. But truth? I- Yeah, I miss it. I miss having cash in my pocket. I miss the thrill.

Cut to Veronica’s reaction:

Veronica shakes her head in an “Oh, Weevil...” kind of way, and smiles. She seems to be entertained by and kind of proud of his statement, yet the first time she has the chance, she will use this confession against him... 

6) Then, there’s this exchange:

WEEVIL: Hey, word to the wise. You got a boyfriend? Use the short leash. VERONICA: As hard as this may be to believe, the women of Hearst aren't close to the top of my worries about Logan. WEEVIL: Wait, wait, wait. What? You're dating Logan again? After the way he treated Lilly? VERONICA: This is news? Man, the prison grapevine blows.

On the one hand, it seems kind of odd that after finding out who Lily’s killer was Weevil still believes that the person harming her was Logan instead of Aaron. I don’t really know if Lily had fed him lies about Logan - which could’ve totally happened, if you ask me - or if she had blamed Logan for bruises that Aaron was responsible for just because she didn’t want to reveal she was sleeping with someone else other than Logan and Weevil. Either way, Weevil should’ve started questioning everything Lily had told him after finding out about her affair with Aaron, you know? On the other hand, it kind of makes sense that he wouldn’t question the things Lily had told him. We know he was pretty much head over heels in love with her, and just like Veronica, he had put her on a pedestal. And I think he couldn’t or wouldn’t reconcile that idolized image he had of her with the reality (pretty much like Veronica, if you ask me.) Lily was, after all, a secretive and manipulative girl. 

Then, there’s Veronica’s reaction to his question. She doesn’t bat an eyelid when he makes reference to Logan having treated Lily badly. In fact, she doesn’t even acknowledge that part of the question. But more importantly, she doesn’t set him straight? Which begs the question, why wouldn’t she want Weevil to know that Logan didn’t treat Lily badly? Why didn’t she tell him that it was pretty much the other way around? 

Food for thought, I guess.

7) Veronica looks extra cute in this outfit, love it.

8) Ok, this is the small yet significant Mercer moment I was talking about...

JIMMY CARTER: You! Give me the cashbox? It's in the drawer behind you. Now! The combination! MERCER: You seem highly intelligent and motivated. Figure it out. JIMMY CARTER: The combination or you're gonna have to find someone new to deal the blackjack, man. (Carter was pointing the gun at the boy and then he slapped him harshly.)

First of all, there’s the costume. I mean, could there be a more fitting costume for Mercer than A Clockwork Orange’s Alex de Large? Seriously! Then, there’s his defiant attitude in a highly dangerous situation. He’s not used to being told what to do, it’s always him ordering people around and he really really wants to tell Jimmy Carter to fuck off. Even when the thief points the gun at the other boy and smacks him around, Mercer still takes his sweet time before doing what he was told. A normal person would probably comply immediately when someone’s life is at risk, you know? Not Mercer. There’s an utter disregard for other people’s wellbeing. He doesn’t really care, and it’s almost like he has to force himself to act unnaturally and pretend like he gives a damn if anyone in that room lives or dies. Kudos again to Rob’s writing. 

9) 

This is not a threat nor a promise. It’s a fact. There is absolutely no doubt that Veronica will get that necklace back and that she will make this dude pay.  I love how as he’s taking the necklace she’s already anticipating her sweet revenge and she can’t help but smile because she knows she will do everything in her power to crush him. Because making justice is not enough for Veronica, she has to have some payback as well... 

10) It’s The Dude!!

11) Okay, I’ve just noticed this parallel with the movie...

VERONICA: Where were you? LOGAN: I was in class, like we talked about. Less gambling, more learning. That was right after you said "jump" and I asked "how high?"

12) Boy, was this awkward...

And like, you’ve just used the boy to get a good grade, you’ve seen how hard he’s working to stay on the right track, and now you’re using his past against him to blame him for something you really don’t know he’s guilty of. Like, she made a lot of assumptions here, and she thought she had solved the case only based on a few conversations with Weevil, she hadn’t done any sleuthing whatsoever that could paint him as a suspect yet. And just like that, she was yet another person that assumed he couldn’t be anything but a thief because of his past. And if everyone assumes the worst of you, even your closest friends, no matter how hard you try, you might as well prove them right you know? 

She even made fun of the place he was living in (” Hope you don't mind. One of the cockroaches let me in.”) Like, how crappy is that? 

13) And then...

WEEVIL: It's a wonder you don't have more friends.

She has the nerve to look affronted by this, but she has not witty comeback because she knows he’s right. He truly is. 

14) Ugh this moment...

WEEVIL: Are you lining up your next girlfriend? Hmm?

Logan is visibly uncomfortable, as he should be, and he’s speechless because he knows he’s been caught. There’s no doubt in my mind that Logan was flirting with that girl and giving her his number. I don’t know if he took things any further, though I highly doubt it. Either way, what’s certain is that the writers wanted us and Veronica to doubt him. In that sense, mission accomplished. Logan’s behavior was dubious at best. But like, it’s completely out of character? We’ve seen Logan single, and we’ve seen Logan in a relationship, and while he may have other flaws when he’s someone’s boyfriend, he was never a cheater. He is, in fact, loyal to a fault. Especially when it comes to Veronica. And how could the same people who wrote loving, loyal Logan write him in this way now? Even if it was done to set up their breakup or whatever, that’s just not who he is. That’s not who you’ve shown us he is. The thing is, they could’ve written distrustful, paranoid Veronica without making us believe she could be right. In fact, it’s more interesting to see her spiral out of control when we know she’s wrong. Because, let’s be real, Veronica can make herself believe anything without having evidence to prove it, especially when it comes to distrusting Logan...

15) I like this moment...

VERONICA: So, when I look into this, and I will look into this, I'm gonna find out you didn't order that pizza? WEEVIL: Or you could just save yourself the trouble and take my word for it.

16) The boy fangirling over meeting Veronica is basically every marshmallow ever.

VERONICA: Hi, I'm looking for the manager. He or she around? DANNY: You're Veronica Mars. VERONICA: And you're… Danny. DANNY: Rossow. Yeah, I am. Cool. You went to my school last year. I go to Neptune High. VERONICA: Lucky you. DANNY: You remember when those bikers taped that guy up to the flagpole and you just walked up there and cut him down? VERONICA: Yeah. Listen- DANNY: Remember when you stopped those guys from blowing up the school? VERONICA: No one was gonna blow up the school. So, what I was going to- DANNY: On the last day, I really wanted you to sign my yearbook.

And he’s super into it when Veronica suggests he should help her out to solve the case...

He was really sweet, okay? And although she was admittedly not overly friendly at the beginning, she was kind of impressed and delighted with his impression of his boss. And now I kind of wish he would’ve become a recurring character. The fanboy who’s also very helpful. 

17) Okay, but let’s be real: this girl was a mini-Veronica... (because - spoiler alert - Veronica is kind of an asshole...)

VERONICA: Hi. Any idea how this gum got from your mouth to that chair?

18) Keith has no right to lecture Veronica when she’s sassy with authority figures, right? I mean...

SANCHEZ: You presented yourself as an Adrian Monk... A Los Angeles County Building Inspector? And I believe that's your cell phone number written on it? KEITH: And? SANCHEZ: Sir, the apartment complex manager that you handed that to says you ordered him to let you into the apartment of a one Steven Batando. KEITH: Ordered? Asked politely, maybe.

Ok, so he broke the law, he was caught, and he mocks those who caught him? Like father, like daughter.

19) 

LAMB: Batando's been missing for fifty-two hours. Guess what, Keith? You're the leading suspect in his disappearance.

Not so much with the jokey-jokes now, eh Keith? 

20) Okay, I know I didn´t mention anything about the case Keith was working on, but it’s all sorts of creepy and wrong? So, the dean’s stepson has bone cancer and he hires Keith to track the kid’s deadbeat dad because he’s a match for the bone marrow transplant. They trick the guy into a fake audition so that the dean and his wife can gang up on him and convince him to donate his bone marrow to his son. It was all already quite gray at this point. When he doesn’t agree to do it, they kidnap him, take him to Mexico and have him have surgery on and his bone marrow taken... Like, I get it, your kid is dying, but not only is this wrong but also illegal? And then, the writers sort of want us to think the dean and his wife weren’t really wrong because they could buy the guy off with a car? So, like, that makes him the villain then? Yeah, NO.

21) 

JENNY: Our stage is covered in Pam. VERONICA: Who's Pam? ORGON: Pam is a cooking spray. We can't walk out there without falling on our asses. We had the temerity to schedule our opening night on the same weekend as their short film festival. VERONICA: Maybe this is their way of saying break a leg.

22) And look who’s here... hey, Max!

Also: bad Wallace. Bad, bad Wallace.

23) Okay, not only did Wallace cheat, but he wasn’t very good at it? I mean, obviously, he was caught. But also, rule number one of cheating: DO NOT HAND IN YOUR EXAM EARLY. 

Especially not when you’ve been getting crappy grades in the class...

24) See what I mean? She is not content with just serving justice, she has to completely humiliate the dude. Which, okay, serves him right on account of being a criminal and all. 

25) This moment is so satisfying, though:

Also, the music on this show is always so spot on. I love how Johnny Cash’s “Busted” plays over the montage of Veronica getting the necklace back, Wallace being summoned by his professor and Weevil being released from jail.

26) ICONIC

[tujarzz]

Daniel Robert "Danny" Elfman (born May 29, 1953) is an American composer, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Elfman is best known for his work scoring films and television shows, in particular his frequent collaborations with director Tim Burton, and for being the lead singer and songwriter for the band Oingo Boingo from 1974 to 1995.

In 1976 Elfman entered the film industry as an actor. In 1982 he scored his first film, Forbidden Zone, directed by his older brother Richard Elfman. Among his honours are four Academy Award nominations, a Grammy for Batman,[4] an Emmy for Desperate Housewives,[5] the 2002 Richard Kirk Award,[6] and the Disney Legend Award.[7]  Danny Elfman was born on May 29, 1953[8] in Los Angeles, California to a Jewish family.[9] He is the son of Blossom Elfman (née Bernstein), a writer and teacher, and Milton Elfman, a teacher who was in the Air Force.[10] He was raised in a racially mixed affluent community in Baldwin Hills, California.[11] He spent much of his time in the neighborhood's local movie theatre, adoring the music of such film composers as Bernard Herrmann and Franz Waxman. Stating that he hung out with the "band geeks" in high school, he started a ska band. After dropping out of high school, he followed his brother Richard to France,[12] where he performed with Le Grand Magic Circus, an avant-garde musical theater group.He was never officially a student at the CalArts; nonetheless, the instructor encouraged him to continue learning. Elfman stated, "He just laughed, and said, 'Sit. Play.' I continued to sit and play for a couple years."[13] At this time, his brother Richard was forming a new musical theater group.[14]Oingo Boingo[edit]Main article: Oingo BoingoIn 1972 Richard Elfman founded the American new wave band/performance art group, originally called The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo. They played several shows throughout the 1970s until Richard Elfman left the band to become a filmmaker. As a send-off to the band's original concept, Richard Elfman created the film Forbidden Zone based on their stage performances. Danny Elfman composed his first score for the film and played the role of Satan (the other band members played his minions). By the time the movie was completed, they had taken the name Oingo Boingo and begun recording and touring as a rock group. From 1976 and on, it was led by Danny Elfman, until 1995 when they suddenly retired. The semi-theatrical music and comedy troupe had transformed into a ska-influenced new wave band in 1979, and then changed again towards a more guitar-oriented rock sound, in the late 1980s.[citation needed]. Oingo Boingo, still led by Danny Elfman, performed as themselves in the 1986 movie Back to School. Additionally, Danny Elfman and Oingo Boingo guitarist Steve Bartek reunited on October 31, 2015 to perform the song "Dead Man's Party" during an encore at a Halloween celebration at the Hollywood Bowl "for the first time in 20 years to the day", as Elfman said to the audience.[15]Film and television scoring[edit]In 1985, Tim Burton and Paul Reubens invited Elfman to write the score for their first feature film, Pee-wee's Big Adventure. Elfman was apprehensive at first, because of his lack of formal training, but with orchestration assistance from Oingo Boingo guitarist and arranger Steve Bartek, he achieved his goal of emulating the mood of such composers as Nino Rota and Bernard Herrmann.[16] In the booklet for the first volume of Music for a Darkened Theatre, Elfman described the first time he heard his music played by a full orchestra as one of the most thrilling experiences of his life. Elfman immediately developed a rapport with Burton[16] and has gone on to score all but three of Burton's major studio releases: Ed Wood, which was under production while Elfman and Burton were having a serious disagreement,[17] Sweeney Todd, and most recently Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. Elfman also provided the singing voice for Jack Skellington in Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas and the voices of both Barrel and the "Clown with the Tear-Away Face". Years later he provided the voice for Bonejangles the skeleton in Corpse Bride and the voices of the Oompa-Loompas in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.One of Elfman's notable compositions is The Simpsons Theme. He composed the theme in 1989, and it has been in use ever since.In 2002 Elfman composed the opening theme for the Sam Raimi Spider-Man series. This as well as altered versions made its way to all 3 Spider-Man movies. In 2004 Elfman composed Serenada Schizophrana for the American Composers Orchestra. It was conducted by John Mauceri on its recording and by Steven Sloane at its premiere at Carnegie Hall in New York City on February 23, 2005. After its premiere, it was recorded in studio and released onto SACD on October 3, 2006. The meeting with Mauceri proved fruitful as the composer was encouraged then to write a new concert piece for Mauceri and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. Elfman composed an "overture to a non-existent musical" and called the piece "The Overeager Overture". He also continues to compose his film scores in addition to these other projects.In October 2013, Elfman returned to the stage to sing his vocal parts to a handful of Nightmare Before Christmas songs as part of a concert titled Danny Elfman's Music from the Films of Tim Burton.[18][19] He composed the film score for Oz the Great and Powerful (2013), and composed additional music for Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) together with Brian Tyler.Elfman composed the score for the 2017 film Fifty Shades Darker.[20]Elfman's film scores were featured in the 2017 production SCORE: A Film Music Documentary.Other projects[edit]In November 2010, it was reported that Danny Elfman was writing the music for a planned musical based on the life of Harry Houdini.[21] But, as of January 2012, he was no longer attached to the project.[22]In 2011 Elfman composed the music for the Cirque du Soleil show Iris, which was performed at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood from July 21, 2011 to January 19, 2013.[23]In October 2016, Elfman composed a horror score for when Donald Trump "loom[ed]" behind Hillary Clinton at the second United States presidential election debates, 2016.[24][25]

[torentialtribute]

SCRUM’S THE WORD – CHAMPIONS CUP FINAL SPECIAL

Come on, pull on.

Come on, get stuck. It starts with La Rochelle and Clermont in the Challenge Cup on Friday night, which – if they bring their yellow armies to the show – can be an amazing spectacle of color and skill.

Then it is the turn of the blue and black bulldozers to hit each other, well, black and blue on Saturday the Saracens and Leinster meet in the final of the Champions Cup.

Stop drooling at the back, it's unpleasant. Just read Scrum & # 39; s the Word yeah?

This is your guide for the weekend and more. Go there.

St James & Park in Newcastle United will host the European rugby final this weekend "

Park will host both European rugby finals this weekend "

St James & Park in Newcastle United will host the two European Rugby Finals this weekend

]

Well, then.

Here we have Saracens – four domestic and two European titles since 2010 – against Leinster – four national and four European titles since 2008.

Solid then. Leinster could win a record fifth European Cup, Sarries could be the first English team to win three of these crowns.

Interestingly, Saracens players played 325 minutes more than the squadrons this season – but not

Scrums that Sarries says are obscured, but as if to prove how much talent there is in this competition, view our combined XV!

The players of Saracens played 325 minutes more per squadron this season "/>

The players of Saracens have played 325 minutes more per man in the squadrons this season

Apart from James Lowe (who could eventually play for Ireland) and Sean O & # 39 Brien (who goes to London Irish) who may not be too far away for Lions XV in 2021 …

15 Alex Goode (Saracens) 14 Liam Williams) 13 Garry Ringrose (Leinster) 12 Owen Farrell (Saracens) 11 James Lowe (Leinster) 10 Johnny Sexton (Leinster) 9 Luke McGrath (Leinster) 1 Mako Vunipola (Saracens) 2 Jamie George (Saracens) 3 Tadhg Furlong Maro Itoje (Saracens) 5 James Ryan (Leinster) 6 Michael Rhodes (Saracens) 7 Sean O & # 39; Brien (Leinster) 8 Billy Vunipola (Saracens)

In short, if you are none of ide teams support, let's hope for a belter to match some of the amazing football this week.

Rugby's turn to step up. This competition should define a decade.

GOODE IN FANTASY LAND

Alex Goode can win a lot this season.

Saracens have two types – one to & # 39; pull & # 39; style system, another is the classic type where transfers are used

The rest of the team was happy in the design (the Jackson Wray team is even called Everyone vs Goode) when Goode was the last to choose … but the full-back went to Liverpool & # 39; s Sadio Mane.

Sadio Mane has proven this season to be an inspired fantasy contest by Alex Goode

Sadio Mane has proven to be an inspired fantasy football player from Alex Goode this season

With 20 goals and two assists, Mane has accumulated 216 Fantasy Premier League points behind Mo Salah this season ( 256), Eden Hazard (237) and Raheem Sterling (229).

A clever coup for Goode, who played a child for Ipswich, and someone who is likely to spend a few pounds on spending the late summer drink of Saracens.

& # 39; People don't seem to like it. I won, & he said.

& # 39; Maybe I am a little too smug. I'm not smart. I don't have a family, which probably helps you get started! "

SARRIES MR WHIPPY-IED UP They always do things differently, from Saracens.

Ironically the idea of ​​bringing the truck in came from the nutritionists .. but the kit-

Clermont is not the Challenge Cup team. probably winning on Friday, after having had a terrible season last year and entering the second-class competition, but if you look at their back line for the La Rochelle game, you simply fall in.

Morgan Parra, Camille Lopez, Alivereti Raka, Wesley Fofana, George Moala, Damian Penaud, Isaia Toeava

Oh, and Pato Yato, Greig Laidlaw and Tim Nanai-Williams are on the couch. Terrifying.

Clermont is not a challenge

Clermont is not a Challenge Cup team and will probably win the competition on Friday night Cup team and will probably win the competition on Friday evening "

Clermont is not a Challenge Cup team and will probably win the competition win on Friday evening

JOINT CARE

Scenario! You have a ticket for Anfield on Tuesday evening. Liverpool is leading 3-0 against Lionel Messi & # 39; s Barcelona and stares at a horrible Champions League-exit in the face.

You are a fan of Liverpool, but your work has a lot to offer where you really should be. It's a big black tie and you even host the thing.

So what are you doing?

Well, of course if you are Danny Care, you stay on the Stoop to participate in Harlequins & # 39; end of the season awards night

It is clear that Liverpool has no chance to make one of the biggest comebacks ever by scoring four without answering the Catalans and making the final …

Do you think the Danny Cipriani saga will end? Of course not.

The Fly half of Gloucester was named the Player of the Rugby Players & Players Player of the Year this week and would – if the judges are healthy – take the double place in the Premiership Rugby prizes on May 22.

Still does not play for England.

We have heard all the reasons why he was chosen and they will all reappear in the next few months – but let's just add some interesting information to the mix.

Safe to say – at least true.

Safe to say – at least true. Jones is worried – there is a striking club that he keeps coming back to.

Gloucester star Danny Cipriani cleans up in the prize season, but cannot earn a call from England "

Gloucester star Danny Cipriani cleans up in the prize season, but cannot earn a call in England

Most viewed teams by English coaches this year:

1 Gloucester, Bath, Exeter – 15, 2 Harlequins – 13, Saracens – 12, 4 Northampton – 11, 5 Leicester – 7 Sale – 7, 7 Bristol, Wasps – 6, 8 Worcester, Newcastle – 4.

Totals of Eddie Jones: 1 Gloucester – 8, 2 Harlequins – 6, 3 Northampton, Bath, Saracens – 5, 4 Worcester, Leicester, Wasps – 4, Bristol, Sale, Exeter – 3, 6 Newcastle – 2

When you put those numbers in black and white, d It seems like a strange obsession, and yes, it might be a convenient location to go to, and he might happen to the opposition or other players (answers to that on a postcard), but when Jones goes to Gloucester in eight of the fifteen weeks and two.

Kieran Read (Toyota Verblitz), Ben Smith (Pau), Waisake Naholo (London-Irish) , Ryan Crotty (Kubota Spears) and Kubota Spears.

This is a list of New Zealanders leaving New Zealand next year.

Owen Franks (Northampton), Nehe Milner-Skudder (Toulon), Liam Squire (TT Docomo Red Hurricanes), Matt Proctor (Northampton), Jeff Toomaga-Allen (Wasps), Jackson Hemopo (DynaBoars), Luke Whitelock Melani Nanai (Worcester)

Add this to these already outside Kiwiland: Jerome Kaino (Toulouse), Liam Messam (Toulon), Victor Vito (La Rochelle), Aaron Cruden (Montpellier), Julian Savea (Toulon), Charlie Faumuina (Toulouse), Malakai Fekitoa (Wasps), Lima Sopoaga (Wasps), John Afoa (Bristol), Steven Luatua Piutau (Bristol), Ben Franks (Northampton), Francis Saili (Harlequins), Tawera Kerr-Barlow (La Rochelle) ), George Moala (Clermont), Charlie Ngatai (Lyon), Tamanivalu Arrow (Bordeaux), Colin Slade (Pau).

Ok, some of them are a thing of the past, but that is thousands of caps worth of overseas experiences now. The All Blacks do not choose players who play abroad.

How long will that take?

So James Haskell is retired

So James Haskell is retired.

In the midst of the testimonials, one gesture would mean more than most, we are embarrassed because he desperately wants to do a final hurray in Japan with England, and a shame for the game because it will miss him.

The Barbarians must invite Haskell to play for them on June 2.

One of the things Haskell wrote in his statement in which he announced that he would leave the game after the end of this season was that he regretted that he never had the chance to play for the iconic side.

<img id = "i-83938a4f98d84cda" src = "https://dailym.ai/2CYdfvj 2019/05/10/16 / 13345834-7015461-image-a-89_1557501011725.jpg "height =" 402 "width =" 634 "alt =" forward Northampton

Unfortunately, Haskell & # 39; s dodgy teen means he is not fit to play, but as the flanker

And if Haskell is selected, god will help the social media channels of everyone and the bars of Soho.

] Come on Pat Lam, do the right thing. Haskell deserves a dear goodbye. ] – Leinster has never lost a European Cup final, winning the Heineken / Champions Cup in 2009, 2012 and 2018 and the Challenge Cup in 2013.

5 – Johnny Sexton, Cian Healy and Devin Toner were able to achieve their fifth European victory Both Saracens and Leinster have scored 32 attempts to go to the final.

[2] – European Cup wins as captain for Brad Barritt – Martin Johnson (Leicester), Fabien Pelous (Munster), Lawrence Dallaglio (Wasps), Jonny Wilkinson, current coach, has won it three times as a skipper.

Johnny Sexton (photo), Cian Healy and Devin Toner could win their fifth European Cup "

), Cian Healy and Devin Toner could win their fifth European Cup.

Johnny Sexton (photo), Cian Healy and Devin Toner were able to win their fifth European Cup

0 – Saracens have never had Leinster in Europe The teams played four times and the English lost them all

2 – Challenge Cup titles won by Clermont – in 1999 and 2007 – so another victory and they would end up right away with Harlequins as the most successful team in the competition.

15 – Several sides have won the Challenge Cup and seven have won it from the Top 14. This is the first all-French final since Biarritz defeated Toulon in 2012.

EUROPEAN WEDSTRI JDGIDSEN

CLERMONT v LA ROCHELLE St James & Park Friday 7:45 PM LIVE BT Sport 2 from 7:00 PM

Clermont: Toeava; Penaud, Moala, Fofana, Raka; Lopez, Parra (c); Ulugia, Kakabadze, Zirakashvili, Jedrasiak, Yato, Laidlaw, Nanai-Williams, Naqalevu,

Replacements: Ulugia, Kakabadze, Zirakashvili, Jedrasiak, Yato, Laidlaw, Nanai-Williams,

]

La Rochelle: Rattez; Retiere, Doumayrou, Aguillon, Andreu; West, Kerr-Barlow;

Replacements: Bourgarit, Pelo, Joly, Jolmes, Kieft, Bales, Sinzelle, Botia

Prediction: Clermont

SARACENS v LEINSTER St James & Park Saturday 5:00 PM LIVE BT Sport 2 from 4 PM and channel 4 from 4:30 PM

Leinster: R Kearney; Larmour, Ringrose, Henshaw, Lowe; Sexton (capt), McGrath; Healy, Cronin, Furlong, Toner, Ryan, Fardy, O & # 39; Brien, Conan

Replacements: Tracy, J McGrath, Bent, Ruddock, Deegan, O & # 39; Sullivan, R Byrne, O & # 39; Loughlin.

Saracens: Goode; Williams, Lozowski, Barritt (c), Maitland; Farrell, Spencer;

Replacements: Gray, Barrington, Koch, Isiekwe, Burger, Wigglesworth, Tompkins, Strettle

Forecast: Saracens

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EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Esther Freud and David Morrissey split

Actor David Morrissey and novelist wife Esther Freud has announced their separation after 13 year together

With his brooding good looks and her fascinating family history, actor David Morrissey and novelist Esther Freud were one of society’s most celebrated showbusiness couples.

So I am sad to report that the couple, who met at drama school 26 years ago, have separated. They had been married 13 years.

‘It’s a great shame, but they just couldn’t make it work any longer,’ one of their many friends tells me. ‘They are making sure that the interests of their three children come first.’

The couple, who shared a house in Hampstead, are now living separately in North London.

As recently as last year, Esther, who is the 55-year-old daughter of late artist Lucian Freud, was talking affectionately in interviews about Morrissey, 54, the star of television dramas including The Walking Dead and The Deal, in which he played Gordon Brown.

Morrissey, who has been hailed as one of the most talented actors of his generation, did, though, highlight the great differences in their backgrounds. While he is the son of a Liverpudlian cobbler and a mother who worked for Littlewoods, Esther’s bohemian childhood formed the basis of her acclaimed novel Hideous Kinky, which was turned into a 1998 film starring Kate Winslet.

David Morrissey and Esther Freud at the start of their relationship attending the premiere of Basic Instinct 2 in 2006

The great-granddaughter of the founder of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, Esther is one of Lucian Freud’s 14 children. Her mother is the writer and gardener Bernardine Coverley.

Morrissey has credited Esther with helping to teach him self-discipline.

‘Suddenly,’ he said, ‘I was with someone who imposed a work structure upon themselves.

‘There we were, we’d just met and fallen in love and suddenly, even in my own flat, I was outside my bedroom waiting for two o’clock so I could go in and kiss her.’

Freud and Morrissey declined to comment.

The smart set’s talking about… The Sultan of Brunei’s party-loving prince

As the international outcry intensifies against the Sultan of Brunei after his decree that gay men in his country are to be stoned to death, spare a thought for his exuberant son, Prince Azim.

The party-loving prince — one of the Sultan’s four children by his second wife, former air hostess Hajah Mariam — would be heartbroken if Brunei became a pariah state.

Blessed with a playful spirit, Prince Azim, 36, is pictured here in characteristic pose at a London party, enjoying the company of Pamela Anderson.

Party-loving Prince Azim, son the highly controversial Sultan of Brunei, is spotted enjoying a night out in London with actress and campaigner Pamela Anderson

While the evergreen Baywatch babe favoured a mask and little black dress crafted from PVC, he opted for snakeskin-effect sheer T-shirt. It was offset by powder-blue feather boas, ripped jeans and a pert top hat with a fan-veil of the sort that milliner Philip Treacy might design for Ladies’ Day at Royal Ascot — plus a key, dangling from his neck.

Azim, who followed his father to Sandhurst but lasted only a week, has a serious side, of course, once designing a unisex suitcase for luxury goods brand MCM.

Described as a chic travel bag, it was, said one report, ‘destined to bring out the princess within’.

The Queen cancelled her visit to Newbury, where she had a runner in the 3.40 yesterday, after the death of one of her best friends, Jeannie, the Dowager Countess of Carnarvon, at the age of 83.

Her Majesty had been due to stay for the weekend with the American-born Countess’s family, who live near Newbury racecourse. Jeannie’s late husband, Porchy, was Her Majesty’s close confidant and racing manager. A lively character, she was played by actress Andrea Deck in TV’s The Crown.

Even last year, she was still doing Pilates at her dower house on her family’s Highclere Castle estate, where Downton Abbey is filmed.

Fleabag’s naughty priest breaks up with boyfriend

As the ‘hot priest’ in BBC hit comedy Fleabag (right), Andrew Scott leaves Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s character desolate at a bus stop.

In real life, he’s nursing his own broken heart. I hear Scott, 42, has split up with his partner of ten years, the actor and writer Stephen Beresford, 47, inset.

They had shared a London home. ‘I live alone now,’ Scott has confirmed. Asked if he had a new companion, he replied: ‘I have a lot of love in my life, but I prefer not to talk about that.’

Previously best known as Benedict Cumberbatch’s antagonist Moriarty in BBC hit Sherlock, Scott has been hailed as the ‘sexiest man on TV’ after his charismatic turn as a Catholic priest who breaks his vows in a fling with Fleabag’s dysfunctional heroine.

Fleabag’s ‘hot priest’ Andrew Scott (left) has revealed he has split his partner of 10 year Stephen Beresford (right)

If you bump into Dame Vivienne Westwood, who turned 78 this week, best not wish her a happy birthday.

‘I didn’t celebrate,’ the queen of punk-turned-eco-campaigner tells me at a private viewing of Demelza Kids, a show of works by fashion photographer Juergen Teller at Bonhams in Mayfair.

Dame Vivienne Westwood by cartoonist Gary Smith

‘I just stayed at home with my secretary and worked on saving the world. There’s so much to do.

‘I did think it would be nice to go to work — people would like it — but then I don’t like cake or champagne much.’

The eccentric designer, whose clothes are worn by everyone from Theresa May to Angelina Jolie, even banned her husband, Andreas Kronthaler, 67, who now runs her fashion label, from giving her a gift.

‘I don’t need any presents. He gave me a lovely card.’

Now two’s company for Prue

Cookery queen Prue Leith is changing her recipe for a happy marriage.

Until now, twice-married Prue, 79, has extolled the joys of keeping apart.

But the genial Bake Off judge has decided she wants to live with her husband of three years, the retired clothes designer John Playfair, after all.

And she plans to build a new home on her farm in the Cotswolds so he can move in.

Prue Leith plans on converting farm buildings on her Cotswold property so that husband John Playfair can move in

‘The time has come when she and John want to live together, but in a place where they can each have their own quarters,’ one of her friends tells me. ‘They have designed a place themselves, which they are making out of a big old farm building on the land she owns.’

Her agent confirms: ‘Prue and her husband do have plans to convert some redundant farm buildings on her land into a single property.’

‘He lives a mile away from me,’ Prue said, after marrying John, 71.

‘He’s got a lot of stuff and I’m rather anally neat and tidy and I don’t want all that stuff in my house. And he doesn’t want me tidying it up.’

London is to be the scene of a reunion between former U.S. presidents this weekend. I hear that Barack Obama, who is over for his wife Michelle’s talk at the huge 02 Arena tomorrow, is planning to meet up with Bill Clinton, also in the capital with his wife, Hillary.

I wonder if the Obamas will pop into Frogmore Cottage to see their friends Prince Harry and Meghan while they’re here?

Princess Diana would be touched to see how close Prince William has stayed to her old friend Julia Samuel. I hear the Duke of Cambridge asked Julia, a grief counsellor, to be his official representative at the Chelsea memorial service on Thursday for cancer expert Professor Martin Gore, whom William described as an ‘inspiration’. In 2013, William asked Julia to be a godmother to Prince George.

Duchess gives her blessing to Missy’s new man

When Lady Melissa Percy married Thomas van Straubenzee, the ceremony was attended by Princes William and Harry.

Could wedding bells soon be heard again at her family seat, Alnwick Castle, which doubled as Hogwarts in Harry Potter films?

‘Missy’, as the 31-year-old is known to chums, divorced Tom in 2016. And her new romance with American hedge fund boss Remy Trafelet, 48, is going so well that he has already met her parents, the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland. ‘We really love Remy,’ her mother, Jane, tells me at the launch of Tim Bouverie’s book, Appeasing Hitler, at China Exchange in Soho.

‘We’re just happy for them because they both had marriages that didn’t work and they now have a second chance at being happy. I would be happy for them to get married when the time’s right.’

Macca’s boy brings the church down!

With his cherubic cheeks and twinkly smile, James McCartney was the image of his father as he performed a secret gig on Thursday night.

Sir Paul’s 41-year-old son received a standing ovation at Heath Street Baptist Church in London’s Hampstead, where he sang and played guitar and piano at an exhibition by photographer Danny Clifford called Rock Stars Don’t Smile.

One of his most moving songs, Angel, was written around the time of his mother Linda’s death from breast cancer in 1998.

At one point, James joked that he sounded less like his father and more like his fellow Beatle John Lennon.

Like father, like son: James McCartney (left) received a standing ovation for a performance at Heath Street Baptist Church in London’s Hampstead, taking after father Sir Paul (right)

Has Prince Charles secured a powerful ally in his crusade for alternative medicine?

I ask because the Health Secretary and prime ministerial wannabe, Matt Hancock, made an 800-mile round trip to hold private talks with the heir to the throne on Wednesday at one of his Scottish residences, Dumfries House.

Officials decline to comment on what the two men discussed. But their meeting took place a week after Hancock, 40, spoke at a reception in support of ‘social prescription’ therapies hosted by Charles at Clarence House.

On that occasion, Hancock — whose wife, Martha, is an osteopath — lamented that doctors were ‘dishing out’ too many pills. Music to Charles’s princely ears.

(Very) modern manners

Brexit is a no-go subject at most dinner parties, but imagine what it’s like at Boris Johnson’s family get-togethers.

The Brexiteer MP’s sister, Rachel, is an ardent Remainer. And she tells me: ‘Our house rules are don’t talk about Brexit at meals. If it does [come up], it all goes wrong and my mother sits there crying gently.’

Speaking at an Amnesty International bash at L’Escargot in London’s Soho, Rachel adds: ‘There is a liberal side of the family that is overlooked in the narrative of the Johnsons being this ambitious, power-hungry, blond tribe.’

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