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katietheragamuffin · 5 years

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How to Move Cities

When you’re nearly 30. And you don’t know anyone. And you don’t know anything.

After living in Los Angeles for seven years, casually seeing that guy from Step Brothers, who shares the screen with Will Farrell, at Kinkos in Pasadena or dancing with that red-afro-ish-haired guy from Workaholics at The Short Stop that one time, I thought maybe moving to Dallas wouldn’t be so different. Maybe I’d casually encounter a Dallas Housewife (even though I had no clue what they looked like) or Erika Baddu (same) or the holy grail... Willy Nelson.

Then I focused up.

I set my sights and my instagram stalks after the ultimate Texas target. Leon Bridges. I became convinced that if I moved to Texas, moved to Deep Ellum, and slid into his DMs around our Birthday (we’re both July babies), he’d be unable to resist my Leo powers.

So I moved to Texas... prepped and ready to find and fall in love with a super star. I’m a pretty reasonable, realistic person, if you can’t tell.

Obviously, I spent the first six months crying every day. Not meeting Leon. So, I’ve come up with this helpful mini how-to move cities guide. Especially when you have to make adult friends. Yeesh.

1. Get a box of tissues, a bottle of wine and expect to rewatch Parks&Rec seasons two through six a couple of times. Look, it’s just gonna happen. You don’t know anyone, going out to restaurants and bars alone is fine, but bartenders are paid to be your friends, so... you get the idea. Your friends are gonna be super far away, so sidle up to the next closest friend: Netflix serving you Lesley Knope and Anne Perkins. Oh, and that mystery bottle of wine you gambled on at Trader Joe’s. Memorize parts of the Galentines Day episode, yell treat yo’self and cry uncontrollably at the final episode even though it’s sappy AF. This is fine. You’re grieving moving and leaving a safe space. But note: make sure you drink water with your wine and Netflix. Otherwise you’ll walk into your new job for which you moved half-way across the country on a Tuesday with a hang-over. And that sucks. Don’t do it. Pull a Jesus and drink water and wine.

2. Ok, so you’re mid-wallow, but force yourself out of the house. Put on pants... not yoga ones, and get your ass out of the house on a WEEKEND night. Remember all those good times you had with friends in those dive bars or fancy restaurants in your old city? You probably met those friends taking a risk going to a party or through other friends you kinda barely knew or heck at a weird Whole Foods wine tasting. If you don’t put yourself out there, even though you’re still likely mourning your old city like that old pair of jeans that just got a hole in the crotch so you can’t wear them anymore, you won’t find new friends. And you want new friends! So put on some big kid pants, go find a fun bar down the street from your house or a weird event you’d have gotten dragged to with your old friends in your old city and force yourself OUT. When you get tired and lonely, then go back home to Lesley, waffles and the gag. BUT you cannot wear those jeans with the crotch holes you’re mourning. Not cute.

Oh! And go to the weird work happy hours too Sad Sally. Especially the ones thrown by vendors. You do your job presumably because you like that kind of work. So do your vendors. Maybe you’ll meet some nice people there. Either way, you’ll get free drinks with the benefit of exploring your city. So tell me how that’s a loss? Also, I met my best friend in Dallas this way, so... big advocate, huge.

3. Research the FUCK out of your new city. Pretend you’re in college again, stuck in the back corner of the library at one of those terrible uncomfortable desks trying to figure out how the philosophy of aesthetics applies to the evolution of Doctor Who. Just me? Ok. Cool. Anyways... maybe you’ll at least find a favorite restaurant or park or yoga studio or dive bar out of it? And you’ll always have that color coded, iconographic map that you can share with people. Juts me again? Ok. Cool.

4. Treat your fucking self. You moved cities. You have no friends (presumably, I didn’t... I’m projecting), you probably have very little money because moving is expensive, your apartment feels like a black hole of emotion. DON’T GET SUCKED IN. Beg your mom for some mad money, an early birthday present, something then TAKE YOUR BAD ASS OUT. Go to a fancy ass dinner where you can make yourself a regular at the happy hour, eventually those bartenders will remember you like unfiltered sake, chenin blanc and salmon rolls. Find a good manicure spot so you can look at your nails and feel fancy all week. What’s your jam? Seriously, what’s your favorite thing to do in the world? Do that thing, indulge in that thing. You just did a hard thing, I cheers you with my glass of sake.

5. Don’t be hasty young hobbit! A very wise wizard once said that and he’s right. Moving takes time. You’re not going to love your new city in a day or maybe even a year. It took me five years to fall in love with Los Angeles and I’m still learning to love Dallas. But using my Netflix, big girl pants, treat yo’self moments and research helped. My dog is official “bar dog” at the mezcal bar two blocks away from my apartment where everyone knows my name and order. I met my best friend at a work happy hour; through her I’ve made all my best Dallas friends. One a random night I took myself out, I met my boyfriend. I don’t love the city yet, but I do love the people I found in this city. I’m not saying this is going to happen for you – if you’re a millenial like me, you have to manifest that destiny, duh. But also kinda like RuPaul says, “if you don’t love yourself, how the hell you gonna love somebody else?”

6. Force your old friends to visit you in your new city. They all have airline miles credit cards. Seriously, I don’t know one person who lives by bank account alone (but if they do, who are you and what trust fund do you have?). If they love you, they’ll come to you. Maybe even for Halloween when you’ll all dress up like “Heathers” and accidentally go dancing until 2AM with croquet mallets (which are apparently weapons in some parts of the city). Also, you have airline miles too. If you miss your friends, get on a plane. End point.

Moral of the story: I still never met Leon Bridges. But I did find out that one of my new good friends dated him, so at least she got to slip into his DMs (and his pants) for the rest of us. ;) And I made friends! Which are better than celebrities anyways.

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sebeth · 5 years

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Fantastic Four # 9 - 12

Warning, Spoilers Ahead…

A Brief Summary: Doctor Doom suffers another embarrassing defeat

Debuts:

· The Ovoids

· Impossible Man from the planet Poppup in the Tenth Galaxy

· Willie Lumpkin

Favorite Cover: #12 – The Fantastic Four Meet the Hulk!

Invisible Girl Hostage Count: 5 out of 9 issues

Points of Interest:

· The issue opens with Reed using his “electronic x-ray camera” with “radioactive film” in an attempt to learn more about Sue’s invisibility power. Sue urges Reed to hurry as it’s “hot and stuffy” while “Torch keeps his flame on”. Said Torch is acting as Reed’s lab assistant. Johnny is taking notes while engulfed in flames – except for his hands. Between the causal use of “radioactive film” and Johnny walking around in flames, it’s a wonder the group lives long enough to battle Doom later on.

· The FF’s signal flare appears in the sky. The trio attempts to exit the lab but the door is locked. Johnny decides to burn through the door but is stopped by Reed: “Trying to stop you from blowing us up, kid! Did you forget how sensitive that nuclear device is to heat?!” Johnny was completely engulfed in flames only four panels earlier and Reed didn’t seem to care but now it’s a no-go.

· Is it safe to keep a nuclear device in the middle of New York City? Especially with Johnny and Ben living in the building. The duo engages in destructive rough-housing on a near-daily basis!

· Reed attempts to stretch his arm to reach the Fantasti-Car so the trio can leave via the window but the strain proves too much. No worries, as Johnny has learned something new: “I can concentrate my flame so much that it burns without heat!” What?!

· The trio escapes the lab. Reed decides “Let’s forget the Fantastic-Car. We can make better time without it!” Again, what? Johnny, maybe, but not the other two. And this is the era where Johnny randomly loses power due to “exhaustion”. Wouldn’t it make more sense for Johnny not to use his powers until the group has reached the scene of crisis? Especially when you have an awesome car-plane just waiting to be used?

· The three head to the source of the flare. Sue causes a car crash with her “now you see me, now you don’t” routine. I never understood how Spider-Man was a “public menace” and the X-Men were “hated and feared” by the general public in comparison to the Fantastic Four in the early days of the Marvel Universe. Spider-Man mostly stopped criminals and the X-Men were isolated in Westchester County minding their own business…meanwhile the Four, in the heart of NYC, can barely go an issue without causing a mass panic or massive property damage…many times caused by Ben having a tantrum!

· The source of the “emergency” is Ben wanting to show off the new statues Alicia has made of the team’s enemies. Sue protests the inclusion of Namor. Reed questions Sue over her feelings for Namor: “I thought we had an understanding.” Sue admits she’s not sure of her own feelings.

· Johnny’s glad he’s “not old enough to have all those kinds of mushy problems”. Karl Kessel’s “Human Torch” series contains pre-transformation flashbacks of Johnny flirting with girls. And he’s flirting with Valeria, Princess Pearla, and soon to be dating Dorrie Evans in the “Strange Tales” series. Perhaps Johnny’s referring to “serious” relationships?

· Doctor Doom has returned to earth! And decides to storm Marvel Comics and terrorize Stan Lee & Jack Kirby with the sight of his unmasked face?!

· Doom proclaims: “I do no blame you for shrinking from the sight of me! I still cannot bear to gaze upon my face myself! But I must remove my mask at times else I feel it will strangle me!”

· Reed has the nerve to question Ben: “What makes you so bad tempered all the time?” Seriously, Reed?!

· We have a fun moment of Johnny & Ben uniting to prank Reed by stretching his clothes.

· Doom ambushes Reed. Victor explains he was rescued by the Ovoids, an alien race whose “science and culture were a million years ahead of ours”. Doom learned many abilities from the Ovoids including the ability to switch bodies with another person. Victor promptly switches bodies with Reed.

· The rest of the team arrives and subdues Doom (Reed). Ben and Johnny are very excited to have captured Doom (Reed) and devise ludicrous ways to imprison him. Not to worry, Reed (Doom) had devised a cell to contain him.

· Kirby draws some extremely creepy “Evil Reed” facial expressions.

· Back at the Baxter Building, the rest of the team is overrun by a herd of miniaturized animals: horses, bears, kangaroos, moose, elephants, cows, camels, zebras, birds, etc. The trio scramble to contain the animals and return them to Reed’s lab: “You know how angry he gets if anyone interferes with his work!”

· Reed (Doom) returns and the trio questions him – 1) Are these the animals stolen from the zoo and 2) Why are you shrinking animals?

· Victor spins a story that this “reducing ray” will expand the team’s powers and allow Ben to transform at will. I know Reed is the scientist of the story but that explanation makes no sense. The team chooses not to press the matter of the animal theft and forced experimentation.

· Doom (Reed) escapes from his cell and seeks the aid of Alicia Masters. Unfortunately for Reed, an invisible Sue was visiting Alicia and knocks him out.

· Alicia is confused: “How can that be Doctor Doom? There’s an aura of goodness about him…of nobility!” Really, Alicia? You can sense that from an unconscious man in a suit of armor? I wish someone would establish Alicia had minor empathic abilities – otherwise, her “sensing” is ridiculous.

· Johnny & Ben arrive to defeat “Doom”. Ben is furious that Alicia was threatened: “You tried to scare Alicia, did ya? Nothing can save ya from me now, ya miserable ghoul…I ain’t kidding now! He threatened Alicia! Do ya hear me? He dared to threaten Alicia!”

· There’s a cute scene where the team takes Doom to the parked Fantasti-car only to discover a group of neighborhood kids palying in it.

· Johnny and Ben suspect something is off with Reed & Doom so Johnny uses his powers to create a mirage to test their suspicions. I love Silver Age powers – always used in ways that make no sense with actual science.

· Doom is found out, re-switches bodies with Reed, and shrunk to nothingness by his own reducing ray. The next time Doom achieves god-like powers he should erase everyone’s memories of his ridiculous Silver Age-shenanigans.

· Issue #11 opens with a cute scene of the team encountering a group of children playing “Fantastic Four”. The team shows off their powers for the children. Johnny wisely reminds the kids “Throwing fireballs is easy for me, fella, but don’t you ever play with fire. It’s too dangerous for little kids.”

· We meet Willie Lumpkin, the team’s mailman. He volunteers for the team: “I haven’t exactly got any super powers, but I can wiggle my ears real good.”

· The team goes through their fan mail: Johnny receives love letters; Ben gets pranks from the Yancy Street Gang.

· Reed has yet another cure for Ben who is understandably wary: “I’m sick of being a guinea pig for you! None of these things ever work right!” Ben takes the cure and transforms back into his human form. Ben, Reed, and Sue are ecstatic. A more cautious Johnny muses to himself: “Poor Ben! If he changes back to the Thing again, I don’t wanna be around to see it!”. Johnny decides to head to the garage to “fool around with my new TR-4!”

· Reed and Ben recap their meeting in college. Ben was “State U’s football hot-shot”. Despite being polar opposites, “I was a millionaire’ son and he was from the wrong side of the tracks”, the duo quickly became best friends. Their friendship persisted throughout World War II. Ben was “a Marine fighter ace over Okinawa and Guadalcanal” and Reed was “behind the lines, working with the underground for the O.S.S.” The timeline of these events would put Reed and Ben in their late thirties at the time of their transformation into the Fantastic Four.

· Due to the sliding timescale, the World War II bit has been retconned from Reed and Ben’s past. I think Ben’s time in the military is still part of his background – the era has simply changed. I’m not sure about Reed.

· Sue had begun dating Reed before he left for the war: “It’s always been you, since we were kids together living next door to each other”. This would be retconned later – Sue and Reed wouldn’t meet until Reed was entering college.

· Sue brushes off Reed’s devotion as the “shadow of the Sub-Mariner” lies between them. The whole Namor storyline could have been resolved much sooner if it was acceptable for comic book women, or women in general, were allowed to have lustful thoughts about men. Sue hasn’t spent enough time with Namor that didn’t involve threats to her, her family, or the human race in general. Poor Sue isn’t allowed to admit she appreciates Namor’s fabulous body in a tight, small speedo so the audience is left with her swooning over his “gentle”, “conflicted” nature. I love Namor but there has been nothing gentle or conflicted in his FF appearances. Execpt for the time he swam with the dolphins but Sue wasn’t there to witness it.

· We get yet another recap of the infamous rocket flight. I understand the “every issue could be someone’s first” principle but were at issue #11 and it’s been recapped in half of the books.

· Sue’s upset because a few pieces of mail state she “doesn’t contribute enough to the team”.

· Reed defends Sue by saying Abraham Lincoln’s mother didn’t fight but she still contributed?! Kick him, Sue! Kick him!

· Ben becomes overly excited and turns back into the Thing.

· The boys surprise Sue with a birthday cake.

· Impossible Man arrives on Earth, causing confusion and chaos in his wake. The Four battle Impossible Man in the Flamingo restaurant. He eventually becomes bored and leaves the planet. If you’ve seen the Impossible Man of the 2000s Fantastic Four cartoon, you’ve basically read this issue.

· Johnny uses his powers to create “hypnotic rings” during the fight with the Impossible Man. You’ve got to love Silver Age powers!

· Issue 12 begins a classic rivalry of the Marvel Universe: the Thing vs the Hulk.

· Alicia and Ben are leaving a performance of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. Ben comments “I get my kicks from low-down New Orleans Jazz”.

· The army pours into town and mistakes Thing for the Hulk, prompting a mistaken identity fight.

· Ben is quite irate over being mistaken for the Hulk.

· General Ross arrives at the Baxter Building. He wants the Four to locate the Hulk.

· Ross shows a picture of the Hulk. Sue fades from sight: “The sight of that monster unnerved me so that I lost control of my visibility power!” Really? I don’t buy it. First, it’s only a picture and secondly, she lives with Ben and has battled Skrulls and monsters from Monster Island. It’s not like large creatures are a foreign concept to Sue.

· Even Ben thinks its bull!

· The boys show off, proudly proclaiming how he – and he personally – will capture the Hulk. Unfortunately for Johnny, flying around the small room a few times exhausts him flame. I appreciate the time it takes Johnny to master his abilities – it’s more realistic as opposed to the “instant mastery” route but two laps around the living room shouldn’t wipe him out as this point. He’s been the “Human Torch” for months as this point.

· Reed praises Johnny’s skills as a mechanic: “That flame of his is one of our most potent weapons as well as his mechanical skill. In fact, I’ll give you a little demonstration! Johnny has just finished modifying our Fantastic-Car!”

· Johnny encourages Reed: “You tell him, Big Daddy!” In an alternate universe, Johnny married Reed Richards – was that his pet name for him?

· The Four and the General head to the Southwest to search for the Hulk. The Four meet Bruce Banner and Rick Jones.

· Reed has “long been an admirer” of Banner’s atomic research. Banner returns the praise: “I’m highly flattered that the most brilliant scientific brain of our time should say that to me”.

· Johnny both shows-off for and pranks Rick. Neither are impressed with the other. Johnny: “Look at him green with envy! Trying hard not to admit he’s overwhelmed by me!” Rick: “He wouldn’t be so swell-headed if he knew I was the Hulk’s partner!”

· Johnny tends to dial up the obnoxiousness and showboating when he’s with another teen hero: Spider-Man, Rick Jones, and later, Iceman. Possibly a combination of eagerness to impress/work with someone of his age group and a desire to be the best of said age group.

· The army base’s saboteur “the Wrecker”, but not the Wrecker, kidnaps Rick Jones causing Bruce Banner to unleash the Hulk.

· The Four and the Hulk meet up in a “deserted Western ghost town” and fight. Ben finds and frees Rick. Hulk flees the scene.

· The Four prepare to leave the base. Reed hints to Bruce: “I’ve got a feeling there’s a lot we have to talk about – like you, and Rick, and the Hulk, for instance!”

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dramaclover · 3 years

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TVB King & Queen Speculations 2020

This year has got to be the saddest year yet. There is NO NOISE. Like usually we get like a couple of dramas where we can guess the winner from. This year not really. They can barely hype up any actresses on the female side cause it’s so weak. I feel like it was a dumb mistake on TVB for choosing to not air Shadows of Justice & Chinatown or even Armed Reaction 5. Everyone got nominated this year and the females side is even more saturated. For males there’s a total of 24 nominations while for females there’s only 18. And to make it even more sad 3 of the female nominees is from a sitcom! Mandy Lam is supporting at most in that drama, she’s not even part of the main core family. The fact TVB added in Mandy, & Koni Lui shows how desperate they were. (That doesn’t mean they suck at acting but cause TVB has no plans on promoting them & only added them in to fill the ballots). I don’t even really know where to begin? There isn’t a real popular candidate. I’m only naming the ones that I think might have the chance on winning & ones I like in general.

If we’re gonna talk about popular characters Angel Chiang as Shui Jie is a standout. Willie Wai as Ah Fan was loudly applauded. Samantha Ko was praised as Chong Ming Lai. Brian Tse scared the audience as Parker. Yoyo Chen was really likeable as Sabrina. And I think that’s about it. I really like how it’s mostly supporting actors & actresses that are largely praised. It shows that they outperformed the leading actors & actresses. But out of this batch who will actually walk away with an award?

TVB KING

Raymond Lam. It would be overdue for him to finally win. I’ve always liked his role of Bao Seed fun to get along with & loyal. But his reduced screentime to promote Owen Cheung was a setback for his character. His character also didn’t get real development and his backstory was quite meaningless with a secret son. His character matured for sure but the storyline went nowhere. His son never finds out he is the real father & he basically hates him. His first love passes away & honestly he never got closure for it. He didn’t get to see her last moments before she died. I guess him winning would depend on if he comes to the award show or not. He has the biggest chance winning this year with good acting & a big fan base to vote for him. But also if he wins it would be because he was snubbed before like Mandy Wong. Him winning would be making up for past years where he should’ve won. The media strangely isn’t hyping him up to win this year.

Lau Dan. For his sitcom role in Come Home Love: Lo and Behold. If he were to win it wouldn’t be controversial, so he would be TVBs safe bet in winning. I know I poked fun out of Mandy & Koni for being nominated but it’s different with him. He’s been acting for a way longer time, has a great relationship with TVB & at this point audiences favourite grandpa. Awarding him would be out of gratitude for his loyalty. But performance and character wise he is pretty generic. Will TVB actually award him? I would consider him a dark horse in winning.

Vincent Wong has left TVB and the role he is nominated for is Legal Mavericks 2, which didn’t do well in Hong Kong. Vincent already won for this role back in 2017, so chances of him winning again is low. He should’ve been nominated for his role Al Cappucino. His acting there was more memorable especially the way he portrayed his method acting. I still remember the nervousness I got when he seemingly turned evil. Judging by how he didn’t appear at all in the TVB Anniversary, sort of shows his standing in TVB. At least Nancy Wu was featured in a pre- recorded game but Vincent none. He has the acting chops and honestly doesn’t need another award to prove how good of an actor he is.

Shaun Tam. Brutally Young was an amazing watch and I’m sad that the ratings were average, despite it being such a thrilling show. He was also in Forensic Heroes 4 but he was literally a block of wood there. So I’m glad he wasn’t nominated for that drama. Obviously TVB has huge plans for him to win Best Actor. But it’s not gonna be for this year. He still needs improvement in emoting more and I’m looking forward to his dramas in 2021.

Willie Wai. I already know he isn’t gonna win. But I felt like writing him in this because honestly he was highly praised when The Witness was airing. His acting there was amazing and it was a great portrayal that a lot of people including me are rooting for him to win. But his chances are super low. He was only in this drama cause they couldn’t find someone else to partner with Him Law. I feel like it would be such a huge win if TVB decides to award it to him. But I’d be honestly happy if Raymond or Lau Dan won instead as well. I hope TVB will give him more big roles.

Owen Cheung, I loved his role as Ko Ban in Al Cappucino, so good for TVB for nominating him in that role instead. But he’s still not well liked by audiences (sorta me included). I like Ko Ban but all the other roles he was in like, in Airport Strikers & Line Walker 3, he was either annoying or just not likeable in general. I am more critical on him but mostly cause the way TVB is promoting him bothers me. And I don’t like how he keeps getting “hot guy” roles when he’s not suited for them. Comedy is where he should stay. TVB is heavily promoting him, so are they gonna bite the bullet and award him with Favourite Character award similar to how Sisley Choi won in 2017? But there was a huge backlash so do they really wanna go through that again? Well either way we will be seeing more of him in general.

TVB QUEEN

Katy Kung was hyped up before and during the airing of Death by Zero. But that failed as despite her amazing transformation, the character itself wasn’t that great. And even though she’s considered one of the main leads she didn’t have that much screentime compared to the others. Her character in Hong Kong Love Story is more likeable but unfortunately, though her acting was great. The character itself was nothing special. She might win Best Actress in Malaysia. As she is very popular there and it could be a way of TVB paving the way for her to win in the future. Like with Ali Lee when she won Best Actress as Never Wong at the Starhub Awards in 2017. Some people say she can’t win cause she was nominated in Death By Zero where’s she not the leading lady... I guess these people forgot that Natalie Tong won in 2017 with My Unfair Lady where she played Cherry the designated second lead LOL!

Samantha Ko, is also talked about. She had 4 dramas that aired this year. Her leading dramas were Operation C9 and On-lie Game. I personally don’t think she’s leading in OLG since Hera Chan clearly had more screentime. And obviously that drama was used to promote Hera and she’s just the camouflage. But anyways. Out of the dramas she’s in her most popular role would be Chong Ming Lai from Al Cappucino which she was great in. She was super well liked but unfortunately cause TVB decided to air her dramas back to back people got tired of her. I believe if the last drama that aired was her role in AC there would’ve been a higher chance of her winning. Now people have just forgotten her performance there and only focused on OC9 which was filmed 2 years ago. I think she’s gonna make it into the top 5, but I don’t think she’s gonna win. Her chances also seem slim next year, as she has less dramas and no leading roles. I can only hope TVB continues to promote her as she has potential.

Mandy Wong has the highest chance of winning this year. And she always gives out great performances but I find that recently she’s been losing steam. As in she doesn’t have as much passion as she once did. I don’t know if it’s cause TVB is overworking her but it’s a pity. But honestly all the characters she played this year were so bland. Like she doesn’t have much to work with. And that’s not her fault. She doesn’t pick the roles, they were given to her. I bet 100% if she had played a likeable role people would vote for her to be TVB Queen. But that’s not the case. She’s one of the better actress out of the batches here. Too bad her roles are repetitive and if she wins this year it wouldn’t be considered a hard earned win. It would be more of a makeup award for not winning with Threesome in 2018.

Priscilla Wong. She has made some good improvements in acting since we last saw her. Her crying scenes are better now. And even though her performance in Life and Death was a wonderful surprise. I feel like it’s still not really enough for her to win this year. She still hasn’t portrayed a memorable character yet. Ratman did not do well ratings wise and her screentime was pretty small in Line Walker 3. I wouldn’t mind her winning though as the selection this year is pretty small. And so far no huge competition. And despite what people say TVB has always treated her well. And if she doesn’t win this year it will purely be because she doesn’t have a stand-out character. But if she were to win it would be out of gratitude for the years she stayed at TVB.

Sisley Choi. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a Miss Hong Kong make such a vast improvement. I kid you not she was literally one of the most hated actresses at TVB at one point. Her acting was so raw and terrible. She had no voice control and all around bad. I didn’t have high hopes for her. But she proved me wrong. She worked hard, learned to control the tone of her voice. Attended TVB acting class and now she’s building a good fan base. She made a 180 degree turn and I’m proud of her. Ah Dou wasn’t that great of a character in Line Walker 3. So she would have to rely on Legal Mavericks 2 which is unfortunately not doing well ratings wise. I feel like she would be a dark horse in winning. Just like how she won in Favourite Character 2017. But if she does win it will definitely be controversial. Din Jeh for LM2 is likeable but at the same time not popular enough for her to win. There’s a reason why she got such a huge backlash when she won in 2017. Maybe this year will be different?

Selena Lee. At first I didn’t want to put her in the running since she won an award last year & she has left TVB. Her last drama was Forensic Heroes 4 but that aired in February and a lot of people have forgotten about it. Her acting there were largely praised and her character was well liked. She was able to fluently speak medical jargon in both Chinese & English very well. But it wasn’t until she was nominated for the Asian TV Awards that her name got thrown in the mix. So now she has a real chance of winning again. There’s a renewed interest in her and TVB might want to award her so they can stake the claim of her being the first Asian Tv Winner as a TVB actress. (She might not even win there but TVB likes the idea of it) Shes also back at TVB filming Barrack O’Karma 2. Her acting has always been great and I can’t find any negatives about her. I think if she wins she wouldn’t draw as much criticisms compared to the other ones nominated for sure though.

Other Thoughts

I have seen some comments made online about how Mandy and Selena are “passed” their prime and that they don’t deserve to win anymore. That they should “focus” on the new generations cause it’s not “fair” to award the older ones when the younger ones are better. Okay. First of all the younger ones you’re talking about DOES NOT have a representative role yet. At most I guess Sisley Choi for Din Jeh from Legal Mavericks 2 but I don’t count that. She may have won Favourite Actress but it was only due to TVB politics & nothing to do with leaving a memorable impression with the audience. In fact she was heavily criticized for her performance when it was airing. It was controversial for a reason in 2017. Mandy is known for Kwan Yee So from L’escargot & Evie Fong from Threesome. Selena Lee is known for Michelle Chang from Blood and Water & Alex/Coco from Barrack O’Karma. They all have well known works. Kwan Yee So is still talked about today. And Selena literally garnered awards and huge nominations from her works. You’re really gonna compare them to these new actresses that have yet to portray a well known role? Not to mention Sisley and Priscilla has an upper hand in being pushed up by executives. They were given more chances in the sense of being involved in more grand productions and landing leading roles faster. So I think it’s more unfair that you want to shove them aside cause “if they didn’t win then, they shouldn’t win now”. Them not winning TVB Queen yet doesn’t mean they’re not good enough. It just means they had tough competition. Also do they not realize they weren’t given huge opportunities compared to the other batch. Mandy didn’t get a leading role until 2017. She wasn’t promoted right away and actually had to work from supporting up. Selena was always put into low budget dramas. No one imagined that Barrack O’Karma would turn into such a big hit. If TVB had known, heck no would they have given it to Selena. She only got the lead in FH4 cause TVB wanted her to sign a new contract with them after her popularity rose. I also want to point out the hate is towards the females and not the males. Cause for some reason male actors get a free pass in this?

Have they not noticed that TVB has not always given an award based on “performance” of the year? Cause they do it randomly. Do you really think Kenneth Ma deserved to win last year? Natalie Tong in 2017? Joe Ma in 2018? Nancy Wu in 2015? Ali Lee in 2018? Dayo Wong in 2013? These are all examples of them winning not cause of them having the best role but because of gratitude and cause they deserved it for other performances but they’re winning now instead. If Mandy were to win this year it would be because of her previous good performance. And frankly from the actresses list above Mandy and Selena would be the only ones that are actually deserving. They might not have a huge fan base compared to the others but they have given solid performances before. I would also put Priscilla third as she does have higher potential.

I guess what I’m trying to say is don’t write people off just cause you think the newer one deserves it more. Honestly the awards aren’t even as prestigious as it used to be. Everyone is literally taking turns on winning. No one said anything when Kenneth or Joe won despite the fact their role wasn’t anything special. People were literally saying “finally he won” & “it was a long overdue win” & “about time he won”. Yet just the idea of Mandy maybe winning this year has caused people to get pissed cause she didn’t have the best performance? It’s unfair and wrong to be so critical for the female side but not the males. If you’re gonna shit on Mandy for her potential win, you should also be shitting on Raymond or Lau Dan for it too. I don’t mind them winning cause they’re both good actors that just wasn’t given a role that had enough material to garner a huge win this year. But their past performances show they have what it takes. Thankfully these criticisms towards Mandy are mainly from the international audience and not Hong Kong locals. It’s actually outrageous to me how much hate Mandy gets just cause they think Sisley or Priscilla should get it instead. For Mandy if she wins it’s cause it’s rigged, for the male side if Raymond wins it’s long overdue? Why is that same energy not put towards the male side? So haters, if Mandy does win remember to also write about how much you hate [insert male actor name here] for winning too as there wasn’t a huge standout performance from that side either this year. End of rant.

#tvb #tvb drama

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esandcasg · 7 years

Text

Mont Blanc - Post Mortem

As previously stated, I had some apprehension about this trip. So much so, in fact, that the night before flying and again my first night in the hotel, I barely slept. I gave myself a migraine. My mind was racing.

- Due to injury niggles, I’d been unable to train properly for the last two months.

- Packing anxieties, centered around the fact that my rucksack is 65 litres, when just 40 litres is recommended for this trip. It’s all too easy to simply fill whichever pack you have. I did learn to pack lighter on the acclimatisation excursion, but the general structure of the pack was still the same. On this kind of trip, every single gram counts.

- I was all too aware that there are sections on Mont Blanc that might challenge my mild vertigo tendencies. Generally I am OK, but certain situations do cause me to lose my head a little.

Days 1 to 3

In fact, this acclimatisation trip was relatively easy. Apart from the fairly steep walk-in to the refuge at 2700m, the final climb over boulder-strewn moraines, I felt comfortable and confident. There was a first hint that I’d need to pack lighter for Mont Blanc itself, but we were able to leave excess items at this refuge while we made our day trips.

The first day trip was an ascent of Tete Blanche (a small summit of approx 3400m). After some initial rock scrambling, we donned the crampons and harnesses, and followed our guide Bernard over and between yawning crevasses. This may sound scary to some, but Bernard has a wealth of experience. He’s done it ALL, and there was never any doubt over his leadership. Progress was relatively slow due to poor visibility, and indeed he was forced to make the decision to turn back at around 3200m. Another tick in the box, as far as I’m concerned. No unnecessary risks would be taken.

Day trip number 2 was in fact changed from the planned itinerary, due to poor conditions on the pass we’d been expecting to cross into Switzerland. So we stayed on the French side, and again followed Bernard to an alternative rocky pass (around 3000m) over and between those crevasses. He looked like a sniffer dog, navigating his way. Slow and steady, but ‘relatively easy’ route-finding he said. A perfect and clear day, with our first views of Mont Blanc looking intimidating.

So from there we descended back to the hut, and then down into the valley for lunch. Again, the descent back over moraine slopes etc were more tiring than the glacier walking. We needed that night of recovery in the hotel. We’d not been especially high, and had hopefully saved enough in the tank for harder to come. Bernard made a point of saying that this was the end of the holiday. The next part was ‘War’. Mont Blanc is not a hike, nor a trek. It’s a mountaineering peak, with the beginnings of technical elements.

Days 4 and 5

So day one on Mont Blanc was to be relatively easy, and necessarily so. We would take the cable car up to 1790m, and then the mountain railway up to 2300m. It was then a 2.5 hour walk up to the first refuge, at 3167m. Except that the train had closed two days before, for the end of season. So we had an extra 500 odd metres to ascend by foot. Not much. But this was STEEP. We had to climb an arete, with scrambling sections not too different to Crib Goch…with snow and ice…without crampons. Actually, they’ve not installed cable hand-rails, foot-holds, and ladders on Crib Goch. And it’s not at 2500m to 3000m!

Basically, this was a ball-breaker. I don’t know whether it was the weight of my pack, my fitness, or pushing too hard at altitude…but 5 hours of this ruined me. And when my mild vertigo kicked in as well, I was both physically and mentally spent. At the back of my mind there was the worry that we’d have to descend this, with even more altitude and technical scrambling to come. I’d need my body and mind to be completely with me, to get down this safely.

So I made the call. The Tete Rousse refuge at 3100m was my summit. Or rather, as Bernard likes to say, “The summit of the summit is at the bottom of the valley”. I needed a recovery day, while 4 out of 6 in our group would continue up, to reboot and get ready for the descent. On that costly extra day - we were booked into the Gouter refuge, at 3800m. Despite Bernard’s best efforts to organise a special deal, something didn’t quite work out - two of us had a lot of time to process what had gone wrong for us.

Watching the helicopter collect a lifeless body from the bottom of the climb to that next refuge helped. So did the news of a woman at the top, pleading for a helicopter to help her avoid descending the cliff. And then our returning colleagues, confirming that you really couldn’t afford to drop concentration on that 2 to 3 hour climb. Basically, the section that had given me ‘the willies’ was just a starter. The main course was a 700m wall, with sections of almost Via Ferrata…except you don’t clip to anything. Not for me, thanks! At least, not on this occasion.

Beyond that were the summit slopes, of snow and ice trudging. I am confident that I would have been fine with this. Sure, 4800m is high, but I’ve done that before. And I always feel more secure with crampons and ice axe, even when it is a little more exposed. It’s just the fucking “Aiguille de Gouter” in the way, and my stupid head for heights!

Day 6, and beyond

In fact, when we finally did descend from the Tete Rousse refuge, a lot of the snow and ice had melted. I’d had a day to recover, both physically and mentally. I felt embarrassingly strong. Three of our group had gone on to summit Mont Blanc, and one had stopped at the Gouter refuge…with intentions of revisiting a week later. Now that’s tenacity!

Would I go back? I don’t know. Possibly! I’d certainly make sure that the bastard train was running. And I’d probably look to carry a 45 litre pack, instead of 65. Knowing what’s up there, and having more physical and mental energy in the tank might be enough to get me through it, and above that rock wall.

What I do know is that I am eager to get back on the crampons, and up at high altitude again. I am disappointed that I didn’t get to properly suffer the physical slow-down of oxygen deprivation. At least, not properly. That’s the masochist in me. I feel a NEED to be doing this kind of thing.

Maybe I will choose more wisely. I’ll scour the trip description. Maybe trekking is enough for me. And technical mountaineering is where I need to draw the line. I’ve already been thinking about the ‘Haute Route’, or Gran Paradiso as potential options. Maybe I’ll revisit Monte Rossa. Lot’s of maybes. Maybe I’ll have to have a proper look at how technical and exposed Mount Rainier is, before heading over the Atlantic. There are other countries and other mountain ranges that I’d like to visit, as well.

There is one definite, then. This is not the end for me.

T Man

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