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cherrylng · 3 months

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Muse HAARP Interview - Matthew Bellamy & Dominic Howard [ROCKIN'ON (May 2008)]

"I think people want an experience where they can feel connected to a lot of people and themselves. I think a lot of people feel isolated and irrelevant to each other in today's culture. We're in an age where we feel like we have extremely little or nothing in common with the people around us."

Release of the live DVD 'HAARP', a non-standard live DVD by a non-standard band! A thorough examination of the chemistry of Muse, the stadium band of the new era!

Interview by Shino Kogawa / Interpreter: Momoko Iwata

Muse's massive concert held at London's Wembley Stadium on June 16th and 17th, 2007, which attracted 80,000 people (of course it was sold out) in one day, was an incredible stage that exposed the band Muse's unconventional structure and extraordinary performance, and has already been talked about many times as one of the major music topics of last year. However, when I watched the DVD "HAARP", which is a package of the two days at Wembley, I still felt like I was going to be blown away, even though I was fully aware of the characteristics of Muse. It is not simply the sheer volume of 80,000 people that is amazing, it is the surprise at the 'volume' of Muse's music that makes you think it is natural to swallow 80,000 people, and the excitement at the scale of Muse's music that makes you think stadium rock is neither nostalgia nor a commercial necessity, but purely an 'absolute requirement' in this day and age. We spoke to Matthew and Dom.

MATTHEW BELLAMY INTERVIEW

Watching the DVD again, it's a truly extraordinary show. With the monumental stage packaged, for the first time you could objectively question the meaning of 160,000 people for two days at Wembley, what is the most intense moment of feedback? 「There were a few, but during 'Blackout' two professional acrobats dangled from helium-filled balloons and danced on top of the crowd, which was a magical moment. It was a magical moment, especially for us, because the audience's attention shifted from the band to the two of them, and we could relax a bit and enjoy the dancing. We weren't just performers from the beginning to the end, but we were able to experience it from the audience's point of view, so in that sense it was my favourite moment at the show, and I'll never forget it. Also, I think we will always remember how nervous we were in the first ten minutes before we went on stage on the first day. It was the most nervous I've ever felt, my mind went blank and I felt like I was completely empty. It was almost like an astral projection experience, as if I was looking at myself from the outside in that state, and finally, about five or ten minutes into the show, I started to feel normal again. There was so much pressure and tension that my spirit just slipped out of my body, or something like that.」

Can you tell us about anything that you didn't realise from the stage that day, for example, that you only realised after watching this video? 「When you're playing in a big venue, you rarely get to see each and every face in the audience. So for us, it was great to see the faces and expressions of the audience up close in this way. When we were editing the DVD, we made a conscious effort to include these images. Also, the acrobatics during 'Blackout,' which we talked about earlier, we actually wanted those two to be the main characters, not the band, as we felt they were…………… We wanted to create that weird feeling of the two of them flying above everybody, like Mary Poppins. That's why it took a lot of work to edit the film so that you don't see the wire that's holding them up. We wanted it to look like they were really floating above the audience.」

Can you tell us about the origin of the name HAARP? 「HAARP stands for the "High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program", a device invented by a man called Nikola Tesla and installed in Alaska by the US government. Some say it's a weapon, some say it's a communications device, some say it's a mystery, but it's a device that can send radio frequencies into the ionosphere (※the layer in the upper stratosphere where radio waves are reflected), and according to Nikola Tesla's research and hypothesis, which the US government purchased, it can manipulate the weather by doing so. Well, this is another conspiracy theory with a quirk. I used a photo of the device in the sleeve of Black Holes and Revelations, and the antenna of the device was actually the original idea for the stage design of the show. There were a lot of metal sets and antenna-like things in this show, and we were going for a design that all looked like HAARP antennas. You could say it was inspired by conspiracy theories, you could say it mimicked a giant communications device, or several communication devices, in short, it's a bit of a strange design like that, and the little light in the triangle symbolises an all-seeing eye.」

Wembley Stadium was not built as a live hall in the first place, so what were the areas you paid the most attention to in terms of acoustics, and what was the most difficult part of recreating Muse's dynamic and detailed music? 「Outdoor shows are always difficult in terms of sound production, both because the place is so big and the echoes are so strong. But we didn't want to compromise on either, so we decided to start with a surround system and put speakers around the whole stadium. That way, the people in the back could hear the sound in real time, as the speakers were very close to them. We rehearsed a lot before the show, but the reverberation was so strong that it was quite difficult to play. The rhythms were all messed up, so we rehearsed more and got used to the echoes and got ourselves to the point where we didn't get dragged down by them. The hardest part was when we were playing away from each other, then you could hear the other two players both in the monitors and in the echoes. But this was more difficult in rehearsals, because when the audience actually comes in, the sound is absorbed by them and the echoes are much less. But now the audience's shouting echoes (laughs)… Well, it was still more fun to listen to.」

The euphoria of 80,000 people in unison during "Starlight", the chorus of the intro to "Knights of Cydonia", the spectacular soundscape and unquenchable afterglow of "Take a Bow". There's no shortage of great moments in this collection, but which song was the most satisfying in terms of the quality of the performance? 「I think it was Knights of Cydonia, because we were so nervous that we weren't sure if we were going to be able to play that opening number well. It was a difficult song to begin with, so it took a lot of courage to open with it. But looking back on it now, it's the most memorable song because it symbolises the change from starting out feeling very nervous to becoming more and more relaxed and enjoying the performance and the show. By the end of that song, we and the audience were really excited, and that led directly to the atmosphere of the whole show.」

On the other hand, there is a negative image of stadium rock as a product of 'old-fashioned rock'. What can you say Muse proved with this Wembley 2-Day show? 「I think we proved that the fans of today also want to enjoy large-scale concerts like this, and want to have fun with many people. I think the fans' desire to do so may be even stronger than it was ten or fifteen years ago. Especially in the last three or four years, big festivals and concerts have become popular, and it might have been the fashion in the 80s, but it's been a long time since then. I think people want this kind of experience where they can feel connected to a lot of people. I think a lot of people in the culture these days feel that way, like they're isolated and irrelevant to each other. We're in an era where you feel like you have extremely little or nothing in common with the people around you. For example, if 60,000 people gather at a show or festival, everyone there likes a certain band or a certain style of music, so something that is common to 60,000 people seems very pure in this day and age. I think those two nights of shows that we did showed to the outside world that everyone's desire to have something in common with other people, to have a common experience, is stronger than ever.」

The overwhelming dramaturgy of Muse's sound was strongly felt again on this DVD. I think this is Muse's unique character, which goes to the opposite extreme of UK indie rock that plays a life story on a scale that suits its stature. Is it partly because of the extreme size of the stadium that you were able to realise 100% of your individuality? 「I think you're right. There are a few of our numbers that are better in a big space like that. "Take A Bow", parts of "Knights of Cydonia", and "Blackout", for example. I think songs with such overwhelming emotion make more sense when there's a bigger audience. I don't really know why that's the case. I think the dramatic elements of the songs are made even more profound by the unique tension and energy that a space as big as a stadium and a big audience can create.」

Do you think the Wembley Stadium show was some kind of milestone for Muse? 「I think we've always had the opportunity to try something new towards the end of a tour, not just this time. Arenas, theatres, and stadiums are all very different experiences, and on the 'Origin of Symmetry' tour we only played one arena show at the end, which was very exciting. On the next tour, the 'Absolution' tour, we started to play at various festivals towards the end… Glastonbury and Reading, we were even surprised that we were there before we knew it. This time, we've been playing festivals from the beginning, and now we've got a stadium show waiting for us at the end. We've learnt new ways of playing live, new ways of presenting the stage, new ways of making people listen, so I hope we'll have more opportunities to play stadiums around the world. At the moment it's only in France and the UK, and in other countries it's still festivals or arenas. After doing it this time, we want fans in other countries to be able to see a show of this scale. I think there have been milestone shows with this band that have represented that. For example, we played our first arena show in France, and the first time we headlined a festival was Glastonbury.」

Incidentally, when we spoke to you last summer, you said: "We have a lot of good rock songs, but not many really great soft songs. I'd like to explore that area in the future." Has the vision for the new album become clearer since then? 「Right now, we have a lot of ideas, but we haven't decided which area we're going to go into yet. It's only when all three of us are together and we start rehearsing that we'll be able to see what's going on. We're on holiday at the moment and haven't played together for about a month. So I have no idea what the next album will sound like, but if I had to say, I think it will be an extension of Black Holes and Revelations. There are a couple of areas that I'd like to explore more with what I tried on that album, and other than that, I'd like to explore a more classically-infused rock sound. Another thing I'm thinking about at the moment is trying some of the new songs out live before we record them. We didn't do that with any of the songs on the last album, but this time we want to try them out live before we record them.」

Are there more shows planned for this summer? 「Yes, a few shows, really. Dubai, South America, and the V Festival in England. And a charity concert at the Albert Hall. So I'm hoping to try out some of the new songs live over the summer or so, to help me decide on the direction for the next album before I record it.」

Apart from that, do you intend to concentrate on the new album this year? 「Yes, we're building our own studio at the moment, so for the first time we'll be able to work in our own studio. So we don't have to worry about time as much as we used to, and we're going to be able to try out more things than usual, which I'm really looking forward to. In fact, I'm looking forward to trying things out and seeing what new things emerge, so I want to be open to that possibility, and in that sense I don't want to go in too detailed a direction at this point. We're going to try all sorts of things this time, and if the result is a completely unexpected style or sound, then I'll be very happy about that.」

DOMINIC HOWARD INTERVIEW

What is the most powerful feedback moment in the memory of 160,000 people over two days at Wembley? 「I'll never forget being extremely nervous before the show. When I got in front of everyone at the stadium, I thought my heart was going to burst out of my chest (laughs). But at the same time I was really excited, and when the show started and I saw how the audience got really excited, all the nerves I had been feeling blew away. I realised that if I didn't have time to be nervous, I should just enjoy it as much as possible, and in fact, the performance went well and the audience got really excited, so it was great. I was just full of emotion from the beginning to the end. Also, the acrobats hung from balloons and danced on top of the crowd, which was great. It was a nice moment for us to take a breather and watch them dance while we played. Those two nights were amazing, all three of us were on a high for weeks afterwards (laughs).」

At the same time, is there anything you couldn't see from the stage that day that you didn't realise until you saw this video? 「Over the months after the show, I watched the footage of those two nights closely……. I also watched a lot of the footage that people had uploaded on YouTube themselves. Most of them were taken by phone and they were all great, but at the same time shocking. It was intense, emotional and…… Because the footage itself is terrible, but it's all from the perspective of someone who was there as an audience member, and some of them were crowd surfing, some of them were jumping up and down the whole time, and some of them were singing much louder than the band the whole time, and it was quite a sight for me to see them like that. I was like, "Who the hell are these guys?" (laughs). Watching some of those videos and seeing so many people enjoying our shows, of course you can see that from the stage, but seeing our gigs again from the audience's own perspective, I was overwhelmed. To think that we were able to connect with that many people was really inspiring.」

Was the decision to release Wembley 2 Days on DVD made before the show? 「It wasn't clear at first, but we did get the recording right. But that's something we do all the time, so it's not like this time was special. So, a little after the show, we watched the recorded footage again and there were a lot of really good moments…… I'm not talking about our own performance, but there was a lot of footage that really captured the atmosphere of the stadium that night. You could feel the energy of the people who were there, that kind of realistic footage. At the time, all three of us were on a high from the aftermath of that gig, so we were like, "We have to release this!" (laughs) But playing a show of that scale in that stadium was an important milestone for the band, and we wanted to share it with the audience, even if they were the only ones there to see it.」

What was the most difficult part of the stage design? 「The width of the stage was quite wide, so I wasn't sure if HAARP would be able to fill the space. I was also worried about the fact that there was no roof on the stage (laughs). It was a completely open stage and there was no roof, so we had to light the stage from the side or from below, and the thing that worried me the most was the rain. But luckily it didn't rain, so that was good. Still, simply getting everything to run smoothly was a lot of work in itself, and we also had to create new visuals for the screen, introduce new camera technology, and in any case introduce a lot of different things that we hadn't done before and make them our own in a short period of time, so it was quite a challenge.」

Which songs have you been most satisfied with in terms of the quality of your live performances? 「First of all, "Stockholm Syndrome". That song always sounds good no matter what venue we play it in (laughs). It was perfect this time, it was a lot of fun to play and I also really liked the way it was captured on film. The visuals on the screen, which looked like an old video game from the 80s, suited the song. The number itself is full of energy and chaos like that. Also, "Knights of Cydonia" was pretty good. The crowd was so excited, partly because it was the opening number, and when the riff came in towards the end of the song, everyone was going crazy, and I almost stopped playing because it was so loud (laughs). I also like "Blackout". It was a different atmosphere because of the acrobats, and it was nice to have the crowd's attention shifted away from us and relax a bit.」

At the beginning of the show, the three of you walk from the centre of the arena to the stage through the flower aisle, right in the middle of the audience, just like Moses splitting the sea. If you had to describe in one word the emotions that were swirling around inside you as you walked over there, what would it be? 「I remember very well that everyone was screaming like crazy, it was all so surreal. I don't know if it was happening in real life or not. At the same time, I remember I was really excited and getting really pumped up. As I walked around looking at everyone's faces at close range, I was getting more and more excited. But it's a really bizarre experience to have someone shout at you that close up (laughs).」

(laughs). From your vantage point on the drum set, how well could you see the audience? 「I could see pretty well. In the first half the sun was still bright. I try to look further away from the audience, not at the front row. That way I check the whole scene, rather than just looking at certain people. But you might think it's surprising, but at that show I could see quite well from here. Right down to the last row of the stadium. At a normal gig, you can hardly see anything because of both the darkness and the glare from the lights, so in that sense, it was good this time. Also, some of the songs were pre-decided so that the audience would be illuminated. Well, we always do that, but this time we wanted to see how the crowd was getting into it, so we did that more often than usual. That's why I was a bit scared when I saw them (laughs). When the stadium gets dark, you can't see anything, but then suddenly the lights come on and the whole place comes to life. That was an unforgettable sight.」

On the other hand, there is a negative image of stadium rock as a product of 'old-fashioned rock'. What did Muse prove with this Wembley 2-Day show? 「I think that stadium rock may have been popular in the 80s, but nowadays there are more and more people who want to see good live acts. In the same vein, I think stadium rock is becoming cool again. We'll make it cool again (laughs). But it's true that a lot of bands are actually playing big concerts, like Coldplay, Radiohead, and Arctic Monkeys. So I think the trend of the times, or what people want to see, is moving in that direction. We were the first band to play at the stadium, so I guess that's pretty good (laughs).」

Is the overwhelming dramaturgy of the Muse sound in part 100% possible because of the extreme size of the stadium? 「Yes. Especially with some of the songs, the huge space made it possible to showcase them even more than usual…… The songs that were originally large in scale filled the space well, and the ones that weren't, at least they didn't get overshadowed by the venue. At the same time, how we played those songs was also important. In fact, we play a bit differently than usual, for example, our gestures are naturally larger to fill a larger space. In that way, it's all up to you. How to show and make people listen in that much space. On the other hand, in a smaller space, I can play like I'm being wrapped up. So in short, it doesn't matter how big the venue is, it's important to adapt ourselves to the place.」

Would you say the Wembley Stadium show was a milestone for the band Muse? What are your next goals? 「For now, I guess it's just finishing the next album (laughs). I'm going to concentrate on that this year. We've done two stadium nights here at Wembley and one in Paris, but it feels like we're not done yet (laughs). The production was good, the stage design was pretty cool, and I think it's a shame that it only ended with those three shows, and I'd like to do more in the future if the opportunity arises.」

Translator's Note: A short interview, but a good one.

#Matt Bellamy #Dom Howard #Muse #Muse band #Black Holes and Revelations era #HAARP #my scan #translation #interview #ROCKIN'ON #ROCKIN'ON May 2008

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quirkwizard · 1 year

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Do you have any quirks that could be useful for solving crimes? Like investigating crime scenes finding suspects etc. I kinda wish the story covered pro-heroes roles in investigations

I was considering just pointing towards "Look Around", since that is perfect for this, but I have plenty of other options. For the sake of this, I'm not going to be including any Quirks that can give the user all the information they need. If the user can see the future, read minds, or lie detection, that's just cheating. I'll give a small shout out to all the bug Quirks since all of those would be good for this as well.

Disc Set: As you may imagine, have untraceable listening devices and cameras wherever the user needs them would be help when it comes to gathering evidence. What's better is that you could still use it as evidence by playing it on a DVD player.

Library: Considering how many investigations requiring a revolving door of research and information, it'd help a lot to cut out the middle man and have the user essentially download and delete whatever knowledge they do or don't need in seconds.

Cigar: With how stressful investigation work can be, having something that can calm the user down and help them refocus on the task at hand would help a lot with the pressure. Plus it gets massive bonus points for fitting the image of the grisly investigator.

Deep Think: This one is too perfect not to include. It's a great version of that classic Eureka moment in a lot of detective stories when the investigator starts putting everything together from all of the detective work they did before hand.

Feel Around: This would work great with finding evidence. Walking into a room and mapping out everything inside of it could work to find all sorts of details that would go unnoticed to most people, like hidden rooms or weapons.

Ambiance: You know how in videogames, they'll highlight certain details to make sure the player sees them? It's like that. Seriously, there would be so many things the user could find out being see electromagnetic fields.

Mood Ping: This works best for a lot of the people work investigators need to do. Knowing when people are trying to hide something or react a certain information or accusations would help a lot without overshadowing any skill they may need.

Eyeful: With how many details would be missed to the naked eye, having a new way of looking at things could help find certain clues that may have gone overlocked. With the amount of vision modes the user has access to, they wouldn't miss much. And you could easily capitalize off the idea of being a private eye.

Hypothesize: Besides the style points for having a detective's cork board inside their brain, it's great for keeping track all the information that comes their way and help them form connections between them. And I mean, what are investigators if not theorists who get paid for their ramblings?

Self Help: Investigators really need to wear a lot of different hats depending on how they want to go about with their jobs. Being able to pull on different versions of themselves could help a lot in the day to day workings, especially when working with people, dealing with new situations, or talking out details of a case.

#My Hero Academia #Quirks #Original Quirk

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onehundredandeleventropicalfish · 2 years

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I keep going back and forth in my mind on whether or not they should keep the story a tradegy and what they will do. What my mind keeps coming back to is the quote "all the great stories return to their original form". Which makes me think that they'll keep it a tragic story. But then I think about how the reason it is tragic is because Morpheus doesn't see himself as capable of change. So what better way to prove him wrong than the idea that stories can grow and change?

Idk what they'll do. I'm sure it'll be amazing either way.

i mean this story is absolutely full of unreliable narrators, the returning to their original form is a dream quote, which says a lot about him as a person, not necessarily anything about neil gaiman

but yeah, i mean. i like well written tragedies, because well written tragedies are one of the best devices for a story about hope, and i think that's what this is

one of the reasons i love hadestown as a story is it specifically calls this out and gets meta with it, but in any tragedy - it's about catharsis, you know?

there's something important in that rock bottom moment, and in experiencing that as a collective. catharsis is an ancient greek word, from the origin of theatre, we're talking plays, things that were experienced by a large audience. ancient greek plays actually used to be short so you could watch a whole bunch of them in a row during festivals to dionysus, it was a whole big Thing

it comes from the word meaning cleansing, and the ancient greeks believed there was something important to that, to watching something terrible happen in a safe space, where it's not real, where you know the actors are fine, and where hundreds of other people are crying with you - you feel for these characters and that sadness is a great emotional release

and i think that's true, it's certainly something i feel with well written tragedies. but i don't think that's all there is to it

there's an instinct shared by absolutely everybody who watches tragedies, something i honestly think is incredible but somehow is universal, and that's that gut feeling that hooks you and goes no this has to turn out right this time

look at what's happening just on this blog today, i'm getting so many responses of people going no, we get another shot, he has to make it this time, this has to be okay, because this isn't right

and i'm serious about not knowing which way this'll fall and being fine with either way, i've just ended up being the tragedy advocate today because everyone else is doing the above and i like it both ways

but it's that instinct that's important. because it's not just something that happens when you don't know the ending. you could have a tragedy in a movie that you have on dvd, and you've watched it 50 times over or more, to the point where you could quote every line. and there will still be that part of you going maybe this time. maybe this time it'll work

stories with happy endings can certainly be inspiring, to the right person, at the right time. but when you're in a really tough spot there's no guarantee your life will turn out like the character's. maybe you don't get as lucky, maybe you get the worst case scenario, and then what? it's hard to fight that on your own

but a tragedy takes you to that worst case scenario. it tells you this is a situation where there is absolutely no way out. and even if you believed there was no way out already, suddenly you find that part of yourself going wait, no, there was a way out, why didn't you take it? if you just had another chance, you'd take it. this wouldn't play out the same way. and if it did, i'd try again. i'd try as many times as i'm willing to watch this story, because i'm never going to accept that this was inevitable

tragedies force the audience to confront that in their darkest moments, they will still fight for things to be better, even when they know everything is lost. and i think in a story about depression, that's really important

(and yeah, the theme of sandman is to keep living you have to keep changing, and to keep changing you have to keep living. but there are so many other characters in this story who embody that, who are there to set an example when an example is needed. look at how popular hob's gotten just from half an episode appearance. and yeah that's partially for shippy reasons, but also he's one of the biggest carriers of the hopeful message, and people have gotten that loud and clear)

so like. if they change it, which will probably end up being along the lines of the retirement au some of the fandom have got going on, i'm absolutely down for that, and i think it will still be a beautiful and meaningful story

and i'm not arguing with all the people going no, we get a retry, we have to fix this, because it's important that they're doing that! that's the whole point! but the fact that they are also means this story's done its job

#hi you've activated the theatre major in me #sandman comic spoilers #the sandman #dream of the endless #hob gadling #mine #meta #ask

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archinform · 3 months

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Life is…Life

"A plate is a plate. A man is a man. Life is ... Life."

Reflecting on Jean-Luc Godard's Vivre sa vie

[I originally published this post on September 4, 2009, in my blog Running Into Myself, while living and teaching in China.]

"...I don't think there's any better way to fight off the chill of winter than a big bowl of carbohydrates swimming in melted butter." David Lebovitz, Wed., Dec 31, 2008 Imagine if all the tumult of the body were to quiet down, along with our busy thoughts. Imagine if all things that are perishable grew still. And imagine if that moment were to go on and on, leaving behind all other sights and sounds but this one vision which ravishes and absorbs and fixes the beholder in joy, so that the rest of eternal life were like that moment of illumination which leaves us breathless. Saint Augustine

Anna Karina in Vivre sa vie

Among my obsessions lately have been all things French; witness my continual references to David Lebovitz' blog about food and Paris.

I've also been watching a bunch of French films recently. Is it my imagination, or am I understanding more of the dialogue, since the downloads and DVDs don't include English subtitles? Jean-Luc Godard's Vivre sa vie (1962), which I watched again last night for the third or fourth time, is rapidly becoming one of my favorite movies.

Nana in a cafe, opening scene of Vivre sa vie

I was mesmerized by the unusual, voyeuristic camera placement that often photographs conversations showing the backs of people’s heads; by the informal, everyday atmosphere of Paris in the early 60s; and, most of all, by the images of Anna Karina (then married to Godard). The film, above all, seems to be a meditation on her face in its many expressions and moods. It's a many-layered evocation of life, living, choices, and death, through masterful use of sound, silence, symbolism, dialogue, and camera work.

"The film was made by sort of a second presence," Godard said; "the camera is not just a recording device but a looking device, that by its movements makes us aware that it sees her, wonders about her, glances first here and then there, exploring the space she occupies, speculating."

Anna Karina

The streetwalker's endless beat begins

The story in brief: a young woman's loss of income leads her to become a prostitute; she hooks up with a pimp, eventually finds love, and finally, er, suffers a tragic and abrupt end. Can you even imagine an early 60s American film dealing matter-of-factly with prostitution? (Vivre sa vie includes a voice-over, clinical dissection of the facts and daily routine of a prostitute's life) Yes, I know Shirley MacLaine played a whole series of hookers-with-a-heart-of-gold, but the word was never used. Nor did money change hands. Nor did we ever get a great shot like this:

Some things are slightly less obvious, though:

Anna Karina as...Louise Brooks?

Louise Brooks, 1920s

Compare the expression on Karina's face above with with that of actress Ellen Andrée in Degas' painting of L' Absinthe below:

Edgar Degas, Dans un café (L'Absinthe), 1875 -1876, oil on canvas,H. 92,0 ; L. 68,5 cm. Musée d’Orsay

This has always been one of my favorite paintings, maybe because of the deep alienation and sadness in the woman's downcast eyes. She also reminds me of my mother, who had a lot of her own sadness.

Enough said. You'll just have to watch the film, or read an excellent interpretation here:

https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2000/cteq/vivre/

Oh, and don't let the conversation about the chicken confuse you:

Nana's lover tells her about a homework assignment submitted by a little girl to his father the teacher. In this essay, the little girl writes: "The chicken has an inside and an outside. Remove the outside and you find the inside. Remove the inside and you find the soul."

Criterion trailer for Vivre sa vie

#Godard #Vivre sa Vie #Anna Karina #film #France #Jean-Luc Godard

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geekgemsspooksandtoons · 1 year

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So, I finally finished watching The Incredible Hulk Returns and The Trial of the Incredible Hulk...turns out there isn't two discs. But one disc featuring both movies...with no subtitles...which really sucks.

But in all seriousness, despite having these as a kid with...few memories. Yet seeing Trial recently but now fully as a film.

The Incredible Hulk Returns was a lot of fun. I paused the movie on the bar part (One of the best parts of the movie) so that I could eat dinner with my family and other stuff. Thor was honestly the best part and I'll be honest. I wished we had gotten that Thor tv show that could've happened. But it never did. Yet seriously, an entertaining film but I'm sorry to say this. I feel like Jack McGee was...rather useless. Despite that amazing part of Thor meeting him.

There's also the fact I swear, my memory on the house assault scene was that it was more violent. Yet seriously, Jack McGee entertains me but when I think back to him. Including wondering if he should've been in Trial. But that film does much better without him because he doesn't contribute much.

But let's get to The Trial of the Incredible Hulk. Which I'll admit, this one needs a different title. Yet I do wonder if the "Trial" title can work in a different way. Anyway, it's been 3 decades since the film aired. There's no need to change it.

I love this movie/film, I really do. Watching it fully on DVD is so much better. With more little characters moments and more information. The fact that Matt Murdock has been Daredevil for a decade genuinely surprised me. But I'm glad that was the case. Again, little moments like...for some reason Wilson Fisk putting his mouth over some antenna thing on a device. It's strange, but I love it.

And the fact that I teared up when the film ended. I mean, there were other reasons. Despite rewinding the movies a few times. But yeah, I feel this is the best of the two. This feels more focused or so among other things. And I wished this Daredevil had gotten a tv show. But that wouldn't happened until 2015. Which is fine, I've heard the new one is amazing, and I still haven't watched it.

Again, I enjoyed both. I'm glad I finally watched them with better quality and own them on DVD. Also, Bill Bixby is still great as David Banner. He still plays the role so well. And yeah, the whole...missing beard thing when the Hulk transforms...meh, I mean they could've given Lou Ferringo a beard when he was the Hulk. But I don't care, and I'll head canon it as some strange reason that the beard disappears and regrows.

#geekgem rambles

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birdylion · 2 years

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🐌🐫📺 for the ask game!

8. Hobbies 🐌 So many! Or at least, I would have so many if the week had more days and the days more hours and if I had more energy to do them all. So I'm sticking with the ones I'm currently doing:

spending time with my dog, obviously

Star Wars pen and paper tabletop RPG with my friends. We've been playing together in mostly the same constellation for 8 years now. We're meeting up once a week on a fixed day in the evening after work

book reading groups. Book clubs? I don't know what counts as a book club. I have 2 of them, one in English and one in German, both online. The reader reads a chapter or two aloud, and then we talk about it.

writing. At the moment mostly in the form of RPG. I'm in the admin team of a small but comfy RPG forum that exists since 2014. I have ~10 characters, most of them with really interesting story lines which unfold in collaboration with other people's character('s story line)s. It's the most consistent writing habit I ever had, and I made good friends there.

music. At the moment, me playing music mostly means grabbing one of my recorders (the woodwind instrument, not the electrical device) when I feel like it and playing what ever I feel like playing. Or I play around on the guitar, or I hit some notes on the keyboard. Sometimes, but rarely, I take the cello out of its box. I miss making music with others, and my friend's wind ensemble is looking for people to join, so I'm going to do that and I'm going to learn to play saxophone for that.

sport. I play Quidditch Quadball. Came for the mixed gender trans inclusive team ball sport, stayed for the complex game mechanics and the contact sport. I also like to lift weights in the gym, it's the closest I ever get to meditation and it helps unwind my brain. I'm lucky enough to live <5 minutes from the forest, and I love to go for hikes.

working with textile. Not that I do it very often, but I like it. Mostly sewing, occasionally I try my hand at embroidery, and I knot carpets (or do pillow cases with the technique) when I can get my hands on a woolen set with a beautiful motive. Sadly, it's not very popular at the moment so good templates are hard to come by, and they're often with acrylic fiber, which I don't like. The project next in line is a winter skirt I promised to make for my mother. My long term plan is to make home decor for every season of the year.

17. The ideal temperature 🐫 0-15 °C

18. TV show you’d recommend to everyone 📺 That's a hard question! I wouldn't recommend any TV show to everyone. Taste and viewing habits vary. Something that is a deeply satisfying narrative for one person will be unbearable for another.

So I'll just list the ones for which I have the DVDs:

Leverage. A group of 5 criminals do crime to stop worse people doing worse crime, and to help people to whom worse crime was being done. At times violent, which is why I can't recommend it to everyone.

Black Sails. A profoundly queer pirate story with deep commentary on narrative, theme, storytelling, etc. Very explicitly violent, and in the first season there's a ... let's call it 'getting away from rape'-story line, which unfortunately puts a lot of focus on the rape. It doesn't happen in the later seasons. So. Not for everyone.

Schitt's Creek. A feel-good comedy in which a dysfunctional family comes together and learns to be a functional family, and everyone of them grows. Very wholesome. It's a world without homophobia, which is refreshing. Sometimes the characters are in awkward and embarrassing situations and that can be hard to stand, so, again, not for everyone.

And the one for which I would want DVD sets:

The Expanse. Epic science fiction story set a couple hundred years in the future, in the solar system. Very interesting world building and one of the best conlangs I have ever seen. Again warning for violence, and body horror. Among others.

#a game is on #ask #birdypersonal #shakespearerants

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erindrifter · 2 years

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Did people like my post yesterday regarding florescent lights? I don't really know.

Do you know what happens when you take a semiconductor and start to pass an electric current through it? English scientist H. J. Round does! You get light, in a phenomenon called "Electroluminescence"! This is in 1907 by the way, so we have a good timeline. I probably won't stick to it very well.

This amount of light was tiny. Russian inventor Oleg Losev made a device that could reliably create electroluminescence, but literally everybody else wondered why and he seems to have agreed.

By 1939, people figured out that using boron carbide, you could get a white light out of it! Still wasn't enough for commercial use, but we were getting there...

Because by 1957, an American scientist named Rubin Braunstien figured out that using various semiconductors (the only one of which I can remember being gallium arsenide) this diode would produce an infrared signal!

Oh yeah, this setup is known as a diode. It's neat.

Anyways, this infrared emission could actually be used to transmit data! There was a neat experiment set up where one of these diodes was set up with a CD, so it would flash with the signals of the music. A speaker was set up with an infrared detector, and with an unobstructed view of the diode, the speaker would play the music. I probably did a poor job of explaining that, but primitive Bluetooth isn't the topic of this post.

So, scientists spent a couple years refining this into a system where there was an infrared diode and a photodetector. This product started to be properly produced! And then put in the first wireless remotes! That's how they work, if you didn't know. Infrared diodes would "light" up, sending a specific sequence to a receiver on the device you are controlling.

It was also during this early time that the name was established: the Light-Emitting Diode. Or LED for short. That's what this post is about, if you didn't already guess.

The next several years were spent manufacturing LEDs into the visible light spectrum. Other advances were made during this time as well, one of the most important being the integrated LED circuit, which is a series of LEDs that are all connected to a circuit, and thus can be controlled separately, but are part of a larger whole. Basically, it was a very primitive TV. Actually, the first one was a number display.

By the 1970s, the individual diodes were about 5¢ each. However, there were just two small problems that kept LEDs from taking the world by storm: 1. They still weren't super bright. 2. The only colors were red, orange, and yellow. But they did figure out fiber optic cables! Might do a post about those later, they're super cool!

Anyways. 1972. Blue LEDs. 1974. Green LEDs. 1989. Commercial blue LEDs. This format. Getting old.

With the commercialization of blue LEDs, development of this technology skyrocketed. For some reason, blue LEDs were focused on to create very powerful blue light sources. Also known as lasers. Blue lasers, all focused in a ray.

A Blue Ray.

How interesting. Wonder what we could do with that? (For those not catching on, this technology created Blu-ray DVDs)

Anyways. LED technology was coming along. It's the early 2010s! What else can we do?

WHITE.

All LEDs we have are colored. White has been simulated using Red Green and Blue LEDs (RGB color format) but that is only the illusion of white. Scientists wanted the real thing.

Quick sidenote, I missed it somewhere, but they did figure out how to make LEDs to be VERY small, so they could create the pixels on a TV screen, or a smartphone nowadays.

Anyways. Scientists did it in the 2010s. They made a white LED. Woo!

So. We have hit it. We have the full color spectrum available at near-microscopic levels. Where do we go from here?

OLED technology. However, that's specific to TV screens at the moment, so I'll leave that for a later rant, this one is long enough as is.

Basically, electricity go zap, and some materials light up in pretty colors. We made it small.

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hettiesworld · 4 years

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War and Peace (and Love)

Pairing: Sergeant William (Will) James x OC

Summary: Corporal Joslyn Woods has been transferred to the Delta Camp and she has to work with the bomb disposal unit, consisting of Specialist Eldridge, Sergeant Sanborn and Sergeant James. She is the first female to be put on a bomb disposal unit in Iraq and her duty is to keep James safe from snipers and gunmen, willing to attack James.

During the 365 days of being with them, Woods develops feelings for James after the ‘loss’ of the kid who sold DVDs to James, also known as Beckham. She is there to comfort him and support him throughout the rest of the days.

Warning(s): Spoilers for the movie, angst, strong language, mature themes.

A/n: This is finally the second chapter of this series! Can’t wait for you guys to read it! Some of the gifs are not mine. Credit to the owners.

Chapter 2:

363 days left in Iraq.

There was a car left in the town centre with a bomb in it. It was in front of a United Nations building. Joslyn, Sanborn, Eldridge and their leader, Sergeant James arrived at their location.

All of the citizens were being evacuated as Joslyn helped James into the bomb disposal suit. She didn’t want to but Sanborn and Eldridge were too busy, doing their own thing. Joslyn was trying to make herself busy putting James’s suit on.

“I’m too old for this shit.” James muttered to himself. Joslyn didn’t reply, still making herself busy with his suit. She picked up his helmet, giving it to him and letting him attach it onto himself. She picked up her gun and slung it on her back.

“What? No words of encouragement?” James shouted after her as she had her back towards him. Joslyn rolled her eyes and shouted back, “Don’t die!”

James rolled his eyes and walked toward the car, which suddenly became engulfed in flames. James walked back and got out a fire extinguisher from the humvee. He then walked back to put out the fire and began to examine the car while Eldridge, Sanborn and Joslyn took up their positions as lookouts.

James opened the trunk and found several of the same type of artillery shells he'd seen the day before.

The desert of Israel was covered in rolling hills. Wind stirred up the wispy sand and the sun’s never ending rays beaten down on him mercilessly. Salty sweat rolled off James’s nose and stung his eyes. The suit was overwhelmingly hot and sticky. After a few moments, he takes his bomb suit off completely, knowing it won't protect him.

“What are you fuckin’ doing?” Joslyn demanded. She was the nearest lookout to James as he finally took off the helmet. “And don’t tell me it’s because of the hot weather!”

James, once again, rolled his eyes and conceded, “There's enough bang in there to send us all to Jesus. I'm gonna die, I wanna die comfortable.”

Joslyn looked over to the car and a bomb canister that James uncovered, which was poking out of the driver’s side of the car. There was enough explosive in the car to kill everyone nearby, including her teammates, even if they took cover. She sighed and said to Sanborn over the comms, “James is taking off his bomb suit.”

“What? Why?”

“I saw. There are a lot of canisters there to blow us up or something. I don’t know. Ask James or something.”

James disarmed the shells and began to search the car for the triggering device, a process that took several minutes. At one point, Sanborn tried to talk to him through a headset.

But all he did was tell him to fuck off.

So, he pulled it off and threw it aside.

A few more very tense minutes passed as James searched the car. Sanborn and Eldridge noticed several groups of Iraqis watching them from rooftops and from a minaret. They also saw a man filming the incident with a video camera. At the car, James finally found the triggering device and detached it.

“You done?” Joslyn asked him.

James replied with a thumb up but quickly turned into a middle finger.

When he returned to the Hummer, he lit a cigarette and was promptly hit in the face by Sanborn.

“You could’ve gotten us killed, you fucker. Don’t do it again.”

He was angry that James, yet again, refused to acknowledge him or any questions he had. James appeared strangely unoffended, nor was he angry at Sanborn.

Joslyn strutted up to him, taking the cigarette out of his hand and stubbed it out. “No.”

“What the fuck?” James snapped, crossing his arms at Joslyn.

“They’re bad for you.” She claimed, also taking his whole box of the deadly things and putting them in her pocket.

“And why do you care?”

“I’m responsible for your health and safety. That means you need to stop smoking.”

“You’re not my mom!” Accused James, pointing a finger at her. Joslyn sighed and put down his finger with her hand.

“Yeah? Well, it’s my duty to not get you killed. Whether you like it or not. And by the way, I don’t like this either. So, we both have to suck up and get on with it. Okay?” Joslyn walked off.

Before James could stop her, a colonel on the scene approached James and was clearly impressed with James’s steady nerves and ability to handle such a crisis.

Back at the base perimeter, Sergeant James confronted Beckham, who sells pirated DVDs to the soldiers.

“I want my five bucks back, buddy.”

“Five dollars for what, man? You crazy now?”

“Yeah. The DVD you sold me was crap.”

“You crazy, man. That's impossible. It's Hollywood special effects.”

“No. It was shaky. It was out of focus, buddy.”

“What, you want donkey porn?”

“It's crap.”

“Girls on dog? Gay sex, man? Anything you want, you get. I hook you up, man.”

Joslyn was also at the base perimeter, looking over at Beckham and James. She then realised why they hated each other so much.

It’s because they had a crush on each other. Maybe?

He was handsome from the depth of his eyes to the gentle expressions of his voice.

“I'm gonna buy another DVD, okay? But... if it's shaky - look at me - or out of focus, or any way not 100%, I'm gonna chop off your goddamn head with a dull knife. How do you feel about... I'm just kidding, I'm just kidding.”

James handed over some money and continued saying to Beckham, “Here. You're a good kid.”

James was amused as he hugged the kid’s head. “You're a good kid, aren't ya?”

He told Beckham he could keep the money if he was able to block a shot at the makeshift goal area which was set up.

The man looked like he played soccer for his entire life. Under that uniform was a lithe body that knew how to play and his face backed that up. Within his light tanned face are eyes that twinkle. In just moments of Beckham trying to hustle James further, he broke into a boyish grin.

Beckham blocked the shot and James agreed to buy another movie from him, mildly threatening him if it's defective.

After the team went out to the desert to detonate some of the explosives they've collected on missions (and James recklessly leaving his gloves at the blast zone), she did say to Sanborn that he should stop acting so childish to the idea of blowing James up. She would have agreed to that idea, but not after James’s interaction with Beckham earlier.

The incident with the Brits and the snipers in the middle of the desert seemed to form a stronger bond between Joslyn and her teammates. Having found that they can actually work well together as a team, they celebrate at James' housing unit.

They took turns pounding each other in the chest and drinking. Joslyn, on the other hand, was sitting in a nearby chair (which was quite comfortable). She rolled her eyes at her teammates’ antics.

By then, they were discussing why James seems to be such a maverick teammate and how he got into their line of work, James shows them a box of parts he's collected from nearly every bomb he's disarmed.

“This box is full of stuff that almost killed me.”

Sanborn saw a picture in James’s box that he got out. “Who’s that?” Sanborn pointed at the photo. James took it out and looked at it.

“That's my son. He's ' tough little bastard. Nothin' like me.”

“You mean to tell me you married?”

“Well, you know, I had a girlfriend and, uh, she got pregnant, so we got married, and we got divorced... or, you know, I thought we got divorced. I mean, she's still living in the house and she says we're still together, so I... I don't know --”

James paused and got out an engagement ring.

“-- what does that make her? I don't know.”

“Dumb... for still being with your ass.” Sanborn replied, chuckling at him.

James kicked at Sanborn. “Hey! She ain't fucking dumb, all right? She left me, that’s all. We’re not together anymore.”

That’s when it hit Joslyn. It hit her hard.

Her ex boyfriend’s words, in her head, were like nails and hammers breaking her heart apart, all over again. Her heartbreak was grief that came in waves, gruelling, stealing appetite and sleep alike. It was a shard in her guts that never left, though perhaps in time the edges will dull.

After Sanborn and Eldridge left, Joslyn kept sitting in the chair.

“You still here?” James pondered, as he closed the door and made his way towards his bed, putting the box back under it.

“Yeah…” Joslyn replied, knees up to her face, hugging herself close.

“You okay?” James pondered again, walking over to Joslyn, sitting next to her.

She shrugged her shoulders.

“I guess I wasn’t expecting --”

Her bottom lip quivered, the same as a baby pushed past endurance. Her eyes became glacier blue under the sheen of water, constant.

She then started to cry.

“Hey. Hey. Why are you crying?” James asked her, knowing what to do straightaway.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, gently rubbing her arm. Despite the heaviness in her stomach, it fluttered at the feeling of her body pressed against his. She sunk into the warmth of his side, appreciative of the simple gesture. His touch made the room warmer somehow.

“I don’t know. I guess your story about your ex-wife and your son reminded me of my ex-boyfriend.”

His fingers were long and slender, easily rubbing her arm, as if casual wind fluttering across the surface of sand and shifting it into motion so easily. Unlike others' his fingers were thin and frail, shaped by prominent phalange bones and knotted where the joints curled around the ends of each long and short bone in his hands. There was no muscle tone or fat definition and his skin was only the layer of dust so fine over the polished white underneath.

“I’m sorry.”

Joslyn bit her lip, eyes everywhere but on James. Then he moved closer with those eyes that look so deeply into her own.

They both knew it was coming.

James held her gently, cupping her face with one hand, also wiping her tears with his thumb. He leaned down and softly kissed the tender area at the base of her neck. Joslyn’s body went rigid with surprise as trembles shook her body and the euphoric warmth blossomed within her once more. Joslyn was breathless with delight as he showered her with gentle, soft kisses, each with its own flicker of warmth. Joslyn gazed up at him, thrilled beyond words to be the recipient of his affection. He drew back again and spent a moment studying her face.

“Thank you," he said in barely more than a whisper.

"For what?" She replied.

"For being you." His voice wavered, exhilarated from the tension between them.

Joslyn felt her blush deepen under his scrutiny. James gazed at her lovingly, his eyes softening with tenderness before sparking with something else. He tilted her head to the side and kissed her, his lips demanding. Joslyn felt a smoldering heat deep within her as James’s grip tightened, crushing her body to his, gentle yet firm. He slanted her head further, deepening the kiss.

He grabbed her by the waist, pulling her up close against his chest. His hand gently glided through her hair, as he looked at her in a way he had never looked at a girl before. Her eyes were candles in that night, their light a spark of passion... desire. As a small but teasing smile crept upon her face, goosebumps lined her skin, not the kind that one got in the cold, but the kind one gets when nothing else matters except right here, right now.

--------------------

Taglist:

@ilovebrandt @jeremyrennerfanxxxx123 @sarabeth72 @archerybitch68 @dreamlesswonder86 @carissime72 @yavanna80 @optimistic-dinosaur-nacho @axelwolf8109 @fizzytaurus @jaqui-has-a-conspiracy-theory

#william james x oc #the hurt locker #nbarnes #masterlist #jeremy renner

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fiftytwotwenty · 4 years

Text

Movie Monday - May 11th, 2020

"My Last Movie On VHS"

The Fast and the Furious (2001):

Ah, the Video Home System, We had a good run.

From the reported First VHS, a South Korean Film: The Young Teacher (1972) - Released in 1976...

To Hollywood's (debatable) reported Last Released Movie on VHS: A History of Violence (2005 - released on VHS on March 14th, 2006)...

It's just a trip thinking about a format just dying off - In the Life Span of the Videocassette my relationship was short lived.

I bought my first VHS (Dumb and Dumber) in 1996 and my last VHS in 2002 - only 6 years into building my Film Brick Library containing My Childhood Favorite Films Classic Gems such as Space Jam, Men in Black, Celtic Pride, Goldeneye, Nothing to Lose, the Lethal Weapon series, the Indian Jones series, and of course The Fast and the Furious.

Looking back now I cannot remember making a conscious decision to convert from VHS to DVD - it was something that just happened - I was not fully aware even though the VHS' demise was highly apparent.

DVDs were widely introduced into the market on March 31st, 1997 (Twister (1996) being one of the first mass produced DVDs), during the holiday season of 2006 Target, Wal-Mart and other major stores decided to phase out VHS tapes from their shelves, and in my own home our VCR was constantly on the fritz - Static was continuously distorting either the top or bottom half of the picture and no amount of smashing the tracking button could resolve the issue, so our Dad removed the casing of the VCR exposing its mechanical innards and he taught us to take a Q-Tip and press on one of the reels to clear up the picture - innovative but unrefined - imagine a family member having to get up in the middle of James Cameron's Titanic - While the Rose and Jack are freezing-floating in the Atlantic your sister is squatting in front of the TV with Q-Tip in the VCR -- If only I had a disposable camera to capture the moment.

Not to mention the bulkiness of the tapes - VHS tapes took up a lot space especially if you had Disney movies in the mix. By the early 2000's VHS tapes served as Artful Building Blocks and Dominoes for my nephews.

Steering back to The Fast and the Furious - I got a lot of mileage out of the old cassette. The movie was released in the prime of my middle school years and accompanied me and my teammates on multiple Charter Bus Trips for school sports - Yes, nothing works better at rallying the troops for an away game better than the poetic stylings of Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, and Michelle Rodriguez - such classic lines as:

" *Rawr* I smell *Sniff, Sniff* skanks. Why don't you girls just pack up before I leave tread marks on your face"

Vince: "Yo! Try Fat Burger from now on. You get yourself a Double Cheese with Fries for $2.95, f****t."

Brian: "I like the tuna here."

Vince: "Bullshit, Asshole! Nobody likes the tuna here!"

This script should be archived as an early 2000's artifact - just collecting dust in a vault next to a copy of Casablanca.

Nowadays, The Fast and the Furious is a mere footnote in the ever expanding franchise that went from plausible to utterly unbelievable in the story/plot department. In 2001-2002 The Fast and the Furious served as an introductory "Gear Head" film to the masses. It would be years later before a friend pointed out the strong parrallels between Point Break (1991).

By the time I entered college the VHS still held enough value as it accompanied me into college where it would be played on a Combo VHS/DVD player (the ultimate piece of technology thats says, "I just can't let go").

I no longer have a device which will play a VHS cassette tape, but I still have my VHS collection - as I said earlier, they are artful building blocks - my nephews no longer stack and play with them, but rather they just sit on a shelf amassing dust.

It kind of reminds me of the lifecycle of the Vinyl Record - killed off by the CD and buried by Digital Downloads - yet Records still found a way to rise from the ashes with a resurgence in nostalgia and blossoming of hipsters.

I highly doubt the VHS will make another comeback however Bumblee (2018) had a limited-promotional VHS tape releasing on April 1st, 2019 - a Bogus April Fool's Joke it was Not!

So until I can find either a functional VCR or a VCR repairman - The Fast and the Furious will have to sit on my shelf as piece of art.

youtube

#movie monday #52 in 20 #movie #movies #the fast and the furious #vin diesel #paul walker #jordana brewster #michelle rodriguez #vhs #vcr #vhs tape #last movie on vhs

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