#and when we read charlie edited one of january's books i was like WHAT. no WHAT NO. NO WAY. SHUT UP.

[wingedshoes]

i found out about layover because of you! thank you <3

You're most welcome!!

which is your regular favorite of the three and whose ending did you love the most in layover??

[nutsonline]

All music bob dylan discography

Why is there no mention of it here? - Any important reason why it should be listed here? There are 138 regular and 177 unofficial compilations on Discogs. LucilleBall ( talk) 15:09, (UTC) A record label (I don't know which one) - if it is a regular it must have been Columbia/Sony, as it is Dylan's label since the beginning.

Village Explainer ( talk) 15:52, 11 July 2013 (UTC) Dylan Revisited Ī record label (I don't know which one) released a 5CD box set called Dylan Revisited: All Time Best that was released in Japan only. "hard rain" is a live album not studio albumĭoes someone have this information? Shouldn't it be included in the chart?

What happened to "Hard Rain" 1976 just after Desire.? - Preceding unsigned comment added by 180.216.108.34 ( talk) 09:46, 28 January 2012 (UTC) Why no mention of Sony / Legacy Record's compilation series: "Playlist: The Very Best Of Bob Dylan 60s / 70s / 80s"? Johnwulfsohn ( talk) 18:50, (UTC)

9 Blonde on Blonde Release Date is, not 20 June 1966Ĭolumbia sweden released a special 2 disc edition when dylan got the polar prize -Preceding unsigned comment added by 201.208.215.216 ( talk) 11:15, 16 September 2010 (UTC) Playlist.

8 Dylan album and The Basement Tapes are compilations.

5 Upcoming releases in The Bootleg Series.

This article has been rated as High-importance on the importance scale. This article has been rated as List-Class on the quality scale. Bob Dylan Wikipedia:WikiProject Bob Dylan Template:WikiProject Bob Dylan Bob Dylan articles If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks. This article is within the scope of WikiProject Bob Dylan, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Bob Dylan on Wikipedia, including songs, albums, concepts, people, books, and movies related to him. This article has been rated as Start-Class on the quality scale. Discographies Wikipedia:WikiProject Discographies Template:WikiProject Discographies Discography articles Any questions pertaining to discography-related articles should be directed to the project's talk page. If you would like to participate please visit the project page. and can be followed by digital platforms.This article is within the scope of the Discographies WikiProject, a collaborative effort to improve Wikipedia's collection of discography articles and lists. Ricardo Mollo, Juan Carlos Baglietto, Teresa Parodi, Raúl Porchetto, Javier Malosetti, Ligia Piro, Lisandro Aristimuño, Eruca Sativa, Los Tipitos, Víctor Heredia, Gustavo Santaolalla and Abel Pintos, among others, will be part of the celebration, which will be led by Lito Vitale and his band. What will be “León meets”, the tribute in the CCKĪs for the 70 years of Charly García, in the CCK a celebration was organized at the height of the legend. The single was recorded in studios in Mexico, the United States and Argentina, with the work of important musicians such as Vinnie Colaiuta (Sting) on ​​drums, Leland Sklar (James Taylor, Phil Collins) on bass and Michael Thompson (Elton John) on guitars. This song is added to “Todo se burns”, a forceful lyric song, which shows the way to a long-awaited record work. The clip is a hymn to that relationship that they knew how to build since the dawn of national rock and is traversed – like all popular music – by the figure of Mercedes Sosa and images of the monumental tour “From Ushuaia to La Quiaca.” It is about “La Amistad”, a song in which his friend Gustavo Santaolalla, producer of his first albums, participates precisely. Just yesterday, the musician advanced a new song from his next album. “La Amistad”, the new by León Gieco with Gustavo Santaolalla * If you don’t see the playlist, click here. This playlist, which goes through historical moments, recitals and moving records, is – as we always mark – just a gateway to his world, which cannot be summarized (limited) in just a couple of hours of music. Read also: Check how much you know about León Gieco by answering the 7 questions in this trivia Of folk lineage close to the first DylanFor five decades he tried to escape the labeling that by law they try to define you and combine rock, metal and cumbia in his songs He made movement a virtue and a necessity.

León Gieco is not only an inescapable figure to think about the social influence of music but also to understand how a handful of words can pierce into the collective unconscious to transpolate the work of an individual. His words, arranged in a huge discography of 40 albums, crossed Argentine music in a definitive way, making him one of the most relevant popular singers of the last 50 years. A musician who, through his songs, shared the crudest story and with the greatest airs of justice in the country.

[keeptheotherone]

Mecation: Day 1 

Thursday

I once read social media described as an indulgence of the fantasy that others are interested in the details of our lives. I’m indulging in that fantasy this week by blogging about my Mecation under the guise of travel blogging ;)

If you follow me in even the most casual way, you know I’m a nurse. While I’ve enjoyed the vast majority of my 23 years as such, I don’t recommend it during a pandemic. The last 18 months have been the second-worst mental health period of my life, demoted to that position not because of the mildness of my symptoms but simply because at 15 I didn’t have the experience or perspective to realize my life was not, in fact, ruined forever.

COVID increased my personal vulnerability as a high-risk patient and made my job immensely more difficult in countless ways both small and large, but the worst part of the pandemic for me (so far) is it took away all my coping mechanisms precisely when I needed them most. Massage, pedicures, dinner out with friends, travel ... all gone practically overnight. Pre-COVID I travelled all the time--home to my parents’, long weekends by myself (Mecation!), annual visits to BFFs, conferences, tourism, the beach, my birthday, writing trips, international trips ... I always had at least one trip in the works, usually one booked and one (or more!) in the planning stages. 

When COVID started, all my close friends and family except for two lived out of state. One of those two was out of town but close enough to get together, but the other was a few hours’ drive away. I’m single and live alone; it was the most isolated I’ve ever been in my whole life. 

With my bestest friends over 500 miles away, I still feel that way sometimes. I haven’t seen them in a year. If it weren’t for COVID, it would only be 7 or 8 months (I’ve gone every January or February since ... forever). Then again, if it weren’t for COVID, I wouldn’t have been there last September; one had been hospitalized and I needed to see she was all right with my own two eyeballs. I expect it will be at least another 7 or 8 months before we get together again, bringing the total to about 20 months. One year we saw each other 5 times in 9 months, our personal best since college. 

I was alone on Christmas. Oh, I’ve spent December 25th on my own before; I’m a nurse. I’ve worked the night of the 24th or the 25th (or both), or whatever combination that didn’t leave enough time off to drive home. But I’ve never spent the Christmas season without my parents. Sometimes the week before, sometimes the week after, sometimes at my place instead of home, but always together. But last Christmas COVID was raging, the vaccines had just come out but were only available to first responders (I got mine on the 23rd), and my elderly parents didn’t feel safe to travel. So I spent Christmas without family.

Travel was not just a break from my daily routine and the stress of nursing; in many ways, the biggest benefit travel made to my mental and emotional health was giving me something to look forward to.  Proverbs 13:12 says, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick,” and ohhh, I was so heartsick last year! Not being able to travel meant I couldn’t visit my best friends of almost 25 years (more than half my life!). Not being able to travel meant I couldn’t lean on my dad or be hugged by my mom. Not being able to travel--and not knowing when I could travel--left this gaping hole in my future, and I had nothing to fill it with. 

I tell you this not to throw a pity party but to explain the significance of the trip I’m on right now. It is only my third this year: my dad and I spent a week in the mountains in February (my depression and anxiety was so bad then that was treatment, not vacation), I took a friend to the beach over my birthday, and now I’m a couple hours from home at a nice spa hotel. (I’m not counting my nephew’s graduation, which was emotionally challenging for multiple reasons, or helping a friend move from Florida. Moving is never fun.)

I started planning this trip in the spring ... May, maybe? You know, after the vaccine rolled out to everyone and case counts were dropping and it looked like we were gonna lick this thing and have a quasi-normal summer by the Fourth of July (yes, I’m American. That date is a proper noun here.). I had switched jobs in November (don’t ask) and gone on mental health leave December 29th, so I felt I owed it to my unit to put in about six months of work before taking any significant time off, especially since I came back at 24 hours instead of 36. That meant September.

I knew what I wanted to do: 4 or 5 days at an all-inclusive resort in the Caribbean. I’d been before and loved the freedom of not worrying about every little expenditure (what can I say, I’m cheap), and a few days of Vitamin Sea sounded perfect.

Then came Delta.

All right, maybe going out of the country isn’t the best idea, I thought. Don’t want to end up with expensive reservations and then your destination closes to Americans, or you make it to your chosen island but can’t get back home. But I didn’t want to fly (ugh, airports!), I didn’t want to drive (rest stops and restaurants and gas stations), and while I thought about taking the train, it didn’t seem much of an improvement (and maybe a downgrade) on flying.

Then a friend mentioned a sleeper car, and I thought yes! That could work! I’ve never been to New England, I want to go to Boston, that area of the country has low case rates and the highest vaccination rates, this has potential! 

Then I looked at the CDC map. There were only four states that didn’t have high transmission at that time (early August, I think; I’d had to wait for confirmation that my time off had been approved): Michigan, Rhode Island, Maine, and New Hampshire. All four had substantial rates of transmission. Hardly ideal, but one thing I’ve learned this year is sometimes you have to make compromises to protect your mental health. It is true it doesn’t matter if you’re happy if you’re dead; it is also true it doesn’t matter if you’re safe if you want to kill yourself. (I’m not suicidal, I am receiving treatment, don’t anybody panic.)

So, now I’ve settled on Maine or New Hampshire by train via sleeper car (Michigan is too far for a 4-5 day trip and RI--meh). Well, as I got deeper into planning, turned out Maine or NH were awfully far too. Far enough I would have to overnight in a major city, which pretty much defeated the purpose of isolating in a sleeper car. Then I found out there were no sleeper cars on either train route.

So, now vacation is 5 weeks away and I’m back at square one. The Deep South, Texas, and Florida are imploding. Pediatric cases are rising--kids are sicker and make up a higher percentage of cases than they did last year. Scuttlebutt from my ICU colleagues is it’s bad--17/30 MICU beds are COVID and they’re all vented. SICU is being nicknamed “the ECMO unit.” The hospital has 18(!) ECMO machines and 12 are in use; the float nurse who tells us that didn’t even know we had 12 because she’s never seen that many in use at one time. Hospital-wide our numbers are equivalent to early February (we peaked in January). There were six--SIX--pediatric rapid responses in one day. 

And I’m going to travel.

It’s a big deal ... a big accomplishment, really, because of what it says about how I’m successfully managing my anxiety. April 1 was the first time I’d been inside a grocery store in more than a year ... and that wasn’t my idea. It was late April or May before I was comfortable eating in restaurants, even with the falling case count at the time. I’m still not sure if I’m managing my anxiety or reacting to the pressure by going to the opposite extreme (I have a history of that), but I know I’m less stressed, less anxious, have fewer obsessive thoughts, fewer physical symptoms, and am learning to live with this disease. 

So, here I sit at a marble-topped 5-foot-wide desk in my queen/queen hotel room at the end of a productive and enjoyable day. I slept in, completed the big goal of this weekend’s to-do list that I honestly thought would take several days, unpacked and organized my room (I arrived yesterday evening), reorganized my Favorites Bar and Bookmarks on my Mac, had an 80-minute aromatherapy massage, enjoyed a shower in the spa afterwards and even blow-dried my hair(!) before wandering around for a while to get the lay of the land and get some steps in (this place is huge!). Then I changed clothes and took myself out to dinner for my favorite food, Italian. 

That’s me in the picture up top, all dressed up :) Actually, I probably look pretty normal to y’all; like most people with depression, my personal hygiene sunk to new lows in the last year and a half, and as a low-maintenance person to begin with, that’s saying a lot. I bought that necklace as a bridesmaid and am not sure I’ve worn it since; this spring was her 10th anniversary. Yesterday I took out the cat-shaped earrings Dad gave me for Christmas. (Yes, they were gross. Yes, I cleaned them. Yes, I’m wearing them again now.) Just wearing a nice top, fixing my hair (no ponytail or claw-clip bun, my staples), and adding jewelry was a big deal ... especially since “no one” was going to see me. I did it just for me, to make myself feel good. And I did. (That’s another small pleasure COVID took away from me--lip gloss. If I wore any makeup at all, it was lipstick or gloss. Utterly pointless when you’re masked whenever you’re in public.)

I took my laptop to dinner and edited a couple chapters of my new Charlie/Amy fic (previewed during #ktoo turns 10), ran a couple errands, and headed back to the hotel since I don’t like to be out late by myself in an unfamiliar city. Forgot I put my receipt envelope in the backseat pocket and reorganized the glove compartment looking for it, then gathered a bunch of returns into a bag in the trunk. Hung out writing in the lobby until my Mac threatened to die, came upstairs and tidied up, put on my jammies, and talked to you guys :) 

[liladiurne]

Brighter Than Bright - extract from chapter 14

Look at me, with chapter 14 already underway barely a week or so after posting 13. Isn’t that a good omen?

Once more, here is the beginning bit, because I don’t have anything at this point that wouldn’t spoil too much for you. I thought this would be perfect, because it announces a little what’s coming in the chapter without actually introducing the new characters. There is so much good stuff coming this chapter! I may share another extract before it’s finished, but we’ll see, because this is a bit longer than what I normally share, I think. Either way, I think this is going to be a long chapter!

This extract may change and differ a little in the finished chapter, as I tend to move things around when I edit. I have proofread this a bit quickly, so there may be some typos, which you can disregard because they will surely be fixed at some point. I hope you enjoy!

EXTRACT FROM CHAPTER 14

While Harry’s second heat does not last quite as long as the first one did, a few more days must pass before he feels strong enough to leave his bed. Charlie remains by his side throughout, drawing while Harry reads or sleeps. From the way he dutifully attends to Harry’s every need, constantly asking if he is hungry or thirsty or tired, it is evident that he still feels guilty at having left his little brother to such torment, regardless of how many times Harry has told him that it was probably for the best.

When Harry thinks back to those dreadful few days, he is filled with a combination of fury and shame. Perhaps worse than the memory of his suffering is the knowledge that, although he does not remember it, he seemingly called out for Mr Snape. Fanny said that the heat is meant to coerce him into mating, and he tries to console himself with these words. He suspects that this irrepressible, forceful longing does not discriminate between one Alpha and the other, and for this reason, he is nearly grateful that Charlie was absent. As he is so often reminded, he is not truly related to Charlie after all. If his reason can be so addled, if this strange instinct inside his chest, this part of him that does nothing but crave and crave, can resort to yearning for a despicable Alpha such as Mr Snape, Harry dares not imagine what could have happened if his brother’s scent had been nearby when he was in the throes of the heat. The oestrus has a mind of its own. If it can turn abhorrence into attraction, who knows what it can make of brotherly love.

Most of what occurs during the heats does not stay with him for long. He cannot recall much apart from the pain and some vague, feverish recollections of waking up and then sleeping again. He knows that he dreams, sometimes vividly, sometimes rather hazily, in wisps of thoughts and images, but all remembrance of what those dreams contain leave him swiftly as the fever fades. He is unsure whether these lapses in memory are caused by the fever itself or simply by the laudanum. Perhaps it is a combination of the two. But it is just as well that he cannot remember. Harry has no desire to know what feverish delusions might have resulted in him saying Mr Snape’s name.

At least he did not ask for Mr Malfoy. He does not think that he could live with such ghastly knowledge.

When Harry finally leaves his room for good, he finds that a thick blanket of snow has covered the world, thus putting an end to horseback ventures with his brother until spring. He is somewhat disappointed at having missed the last days of autumn, but as soon as he is well enough to leave the house, he heads outside with Charlie and the two of them engage in a great snow battle, to which even their father participates. Later in the afternoon, as the sun sets, they construct a great snowman in front of the house and dress him in a scruffy hat and scarf before retreating inside for some mulled wine.

Harry usually finds winter most inconvenient. As beautiful as snow can be at the beginning, it never takes long for him to miss the smell of the warm summer air, the loud humming of the cicadas, the wide, green expanse of his field. Unable to retreat to his habitual refuge under the shadow of the beechwood tree or to go on long walks by the river, Harry must spend most of winter confined to the house, forced to read every book he can find, often ones that he has already read countless times before. When he is truly unable to find entertainment, he sometimes sits at his desk and writes short little stories for his own amusement, or he plays with Hedwig, sprawled on the floor and throwing a ball of twine around for her to catch.

This year, of course, with Charlie present, there is no such lack of distraction.

On the first week of December, after a particularly heavy snowfall, Charlie spends at least an hour rummaging through the shed behind the barn until he finally unearths the old sleigh that Hagrid made for them years ago. It needs a little fixing, having been buried under some tools and refuse for nearly a decade, but as soon as it is good to use, it is attached to one of the draft horses’ harness. Once they are dressed thickly and warmly enough, Harry and Charlie settle on the sleigh, which is barely big enough to hold them both now that they are grown, and spend the afternoon being dragged around speedily through the snow, laughing and yelling and causing quite a raucous through the village, for which they are promptly scolded at supper. Their mother is not shy in expressing her disappointment at finding out that she has not, as she believed she had, raised respectable young men, but rather careless little ruffians.

As much as he loves the warmer weather, Harry is rather looking forward to the colder days, hoping that the river might freeze, because Charlie has also found their old ice skates hanging in the back of the shed. At present, however, the water still flows merrily, with no sign of stopping.

“It is so unfortunate that you were not here last winter. It was frozen for months,” Harry says regretfully one morning as they stare at the river, having taken advantage of the sunny day and the melting snow to walk alongside it.

“It is not cold enough yet. Perhaps in January.”

Harry shrugs. “It may not even harden enough for skating.”

“Do you remember that big pond in Hampstead, behind the marketplace?” Charlie muses, nudging Harry with his elbow to try and shake him out of his sombre mood. “It was always fit for skating. Do you remember? Grandfather would take us there when we visited in the winter.”

“I remember,” Harry says distractedly.

His mother never wanted him to go. She would insist that his brothers and cousins were too rough and that he would get hurt and that it would be better if he remained at the house with the girls. But Grandfather would not hear it. He had never once left Harry behind, even if it meant arguing ceaselessly with his daughter. It is true that the boys were terribly rough, however. Harry remembers how they darted around dangerously on their skates, crashing into one another at terrible speeds, and Grandfather was aware of the danger their carelessness posed for Harry, who was much smaller than they were. He would pretend that he was afraid to fall and hurt his old bones, and he would ask Harry to remain nearby and please not let go of his arm while they skated around the edges of the pond safely. Harry should perhaps have been upset at being subjected to this protective treatment while his brothers were free to play however they wanted, but he took a sort of pride at being kept close as the favourite. He still remembers how Grandfather’s steady hand would hold him up whenever he lost his balance or whenever the blade of his skate would catch into the ice and threaten to trip him. All of his brothers and cousins would get regularly hurt whenever they went out skating, but even if Harry had never been a good skater, he had never fallen once with Grandfather by his side.

“It must be nearly ten years since I last saw him,” Charlie adds disbelievingly. “Eight years, I believe.  Yes, since I joined the military. It will be good to see him again.”

Harry turns to his brother in confusion. “Again? Are you going to Hampstead?”

“Yes. All of us shall be visiting for Christmas,” Charlie reveals with a grin.

Harry grips his arm suddenly, a bit roughly perhaps, but Charlie only laughs. “What? When was this decided?”

“I told Father that I would need to leave for a few days next week,” Charlie says in a more serious tone. “I was going to perhaps find a room in Hatfield, but he suggested I go to Hampstead. I have done so in the past, after I came of age, if you recall.”

Harry nods, looking away in embarrassment. When they were younger, Bill and Charlie both would visit their grandfather whenever the time for their rut was near. Harry has always felt a certain guilt over this, especially now that he knows how much easier it is to be at home during such a trying time. But they would both rather leave The Burrow than have Harry being sent away, even for a few days. Besides, Grandfather Prewett is himself an Alpha, and he was always in the best position to provide a comfortable environment for them.

“And so, I wrote to Grandfather, and he was the one who suggested everyone should follow suit after me. I shall be leaving on Monday, and Mother, Father and you should join us the week after. Everyone will come for Christmas as well. Uncle Fabian and Aunt Mable, with Catherine and Caroline. And Ron and Ginny. And Percy, Fred and George will certainly come as well. I believe even Robert will come with his wife and the children. Are you happy?” Charlie asks, quite unnecessarily, because surely it is obvious from Harry’s wide eyes and grin that he is ecstatic. “We shall have a big family Christmas, just like when we were little.”

“I am happy,” Harry can only mumble, holding Charlie’s arm tightly still and pressing his cheek against his brother’s shoulder. “It will be just like before. As if nothing had changed.”

Harry is nearly certain that his brother smiles sadly at this, but Charlie does not reply as they continue walking, the soggy ground squelching under their feet.

[amoveablejake]

Well, Here We Are

It is time for the obligatory year in review piece, I know, try and contain your excitement. 

Well, here we are. The end of another calendar year. 2020 is drawing to a close and so like many, if not all, journalistic outlets I too will be doing my year in review. Do I count as a journalistic outlet I hear you ask? Yes. I’ve decided that I do. This is my column and I’m going to to pretend that I am a columnist here. And I can’t hear your eye rolls because I’m busy hiding behind my clicking keyboard. 

I’ve been thinking quite a bit about how I wanted to structure my year in review, for instance did I want to go through each category in a classic way and also would I also only speak about things that came out this year. The answer to both, is a no. Instead I am going to present to you my alternative awards for the year. There will still be runners up but the categories may be a little bit all over the place so if you were planning on counting on  a sure thing award winner that might be out the window now. That being said, shall we dive into perhaps the most chaotic awards show you’re going to experience this year. 

The album that I listened to literally on repeat for a week whilst I was working and as result now know ridiculously well. Perhaps too well - Winner: Pink Floyd ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ 

Right. So. Back in April one rainy Monday afternoon I put on ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ to listen to it through in its entirety for the first time. I had heard songs from it before and I was familiar with Pink Floyd’s music before this but this was what sent me down a spiral of their discography, so much so that Spotify have dubbed them my artist of the year based on playtime. Whilst I would not consider them to be my artist of the year, I can’t deny how deep I’ve gone into their library and in particular ‘Dark Side of the Moon’. I quite literally had it playing on repeat for the entirety of that week and now, now I simply don’t know if I ever truly existed before that album. Am I the album? Is the album me? I’m in too deep. 

The best representation of Seattle in a post apocalyptic video game - Winner: ‘The Last of Us Part Two’

Honestly, I know that this category makes it pretty clear that Last of Us was always going to win but that is because if it wasn’t on this list somewhere I think it might have indeed been a federal crime. This year I played both editions of Joel and Ellie’s story pretty much back to back and boy oh boy was that quite the ride. Part Two is a gruesome, grueling, revenge fueled ride that in all honesty is some of the best storytelling I have ever experienced. In any medium. It’s narrative is phenomenal, its game design is unparalleled, the voice acting and soundtrack are both out of this world and the way it looks is breathtaking. It is a game that continuously left me speechless and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since I put it down. The fact that Joel looks like my Dad did and wears the same clothes only partly adds to the emotions it makes me feel. Although I won’t pretend the bit where Joel is talking to Ellie didn’t hit me quite hard. But hey, thats the game’s point. Its a story designed to make you feel and oh boy does it achieve that. 

The football player who came out of nowhere to bring life back to my club - Winner: Bruno Fernandes 

It has been a lot ol’ time since I’ve seen a player that I instantly fell for. Bruno Fernandes arrived in Manchester with an already strong reputation but he has completely transformed a team and shows no sign of slowing down. His first twelve months have been unparalleled and the comparisons drawn with a certain other Portuguese player who was worn that red shirt are not only warranted but deserved. 

The band who I’ve been missing all my life: Winner - Niteflyte 

Quite frankly, this is a very hard award to give. There were quite a few front runners however, it has to be Niteflyte. I got introduced to Niteflyte via a podcast about the CIA’s involvement with the soundtrack of the Berlin wall coming down (’Wind Of Change’, listen to it now. Well after you’ve finished reading this piece that is). The podcast only played Niteflyte because one of the figures it was investigating used to manage the band. It was a thirty second sound bite if that and it stopped me in my tracks. I was walking in my old city at the time and I had to stop on the street and find the album the song was from and put it on straight away. I have previously written about Niteflyte and their self titled album on the blog so go back and read that for a more in depth look however, if you take one thing from this it might be that if I was going to give an artist of the year award, lets just say I think I know who it would go to. 

The best motion picture handling of a father that has passed away that I have seen. Ever - Winner: ‘Onward’ 

When I first heard what ‘Onward’ was about I was, hesitant. Any film where a parent particularly a father comes back to life always makes me filled with trepdiation and this was the case when I went to go and watch ‘Onward’ back in March (the last film I saw in the cinema before all of this). Instead, what I found was an incredibly moving and sensitive film about losing a parent that had at its end the best handling of a reunion between father and son that I have ever seen on the big screen. I have watched it a second time since and I still found it to be incredibly well done. ‘Onward’ might well be my film of the year because of it, I’m that impressed. It is also a great film in its own right but hey, I can’t deny why it sticks out in my head. 

The show that keeps on getting better and better: Winner - ‘The Mandalorian’ 

Sigh. Everytime I think that that ‘The Mandalorian’ couldn’t possibly get any better it goes and proves me wrong. This year started off with the finale of series one and it has ended with the conclusion of the second series. It is a masterpiece and for that I don’t want to ruin its ending here. Instead I will say that it does get better and better each week and for this life long die hard Star Wars fan, hell, it might be my favourite Star Wars property. And I know that won’t mean anything to you, but to me, that is saying something. 

Okay, so, I could keep going on and on with these awards however, its the festive period and I don’t want to keep you hanging around too much so instead I am going to include below some honourable mentions with a little sentence about each. 

‘Anxious People’ - If I was to give a book of the year award winner this would be it. In fact its one of my top ten books ever. Its perfection. Read it. Now. 

‘Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ - Released at the perfect time and all these months later it still captures my heart everytime I go on it. 

‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ soundtrack - Look. I don’t need to make my feelings about this album any clearer. We know I love it and I hope that you’ve listened to it by now and you do too. 

Diego Maradona - The greatest of all time. There’s nothing more to say. 

‘The Prestige’ - Oh boy. I had heard about this film a lot from the IGN UK podcast over the years and it did not disappoint at all. Especially who plays a certain Mr Tesla. That reveal blew me away. 

Joe Exotic - Watching ‘Tiger King’ really felt like event viewing and came along at the perfect time like Animal Crossing. Joe Exotic, I don’t know what to say but he has earned his place on this list thats for sure. 

‘I’ve Got My Second Wind’ - I heard this on one of the early days in January, maybe the second or third and I’ve been listening to it ever since. My song of the year. 

Philippe Auclair - Football journalist and singer. Auclair who features on the Guardian’s Football Weekly podcast regularly is an incredibly articulate speaker and is never afraid to hold the more questionable footballing authorities accountable. One of the writers and figures in football that I look up to the most. Oh and hes an excellent singer. What a man. 

Napoli FC - This was the year that I fell in love with Napoli. Theres no looking back now, I finally found my own team. 

‘Uncharted Four: A Thief’s End’ - The game that showed me, truly, how good games can be. I felt like it was a crime that this game is so perfect. It feels like the inside of my head and I never wanted it to end. 

My brother, James - Look. I know you’re reading this and you more than deserve your place on this list. I was going to give you a proper award but I couldn’t quite get the wording right. Anyway, the point is you’re on the list as you always will be. (And yes, you’re in the same section as Joe Exotic, quite the compliment I know) 

So there we have it. 2020. Hopefully the above gives you something to think about and some things to consume over this festive period before we go again for the new year. This won’t be the final piece for the year but all the same, I hope its a bright 2021 for you, see you in the future. 

- Jake, a man who is immediately re assessing the awards, 27/12/2020

[fourteenacross]

end of 2019

I've done this survey every year since like, 2006 and then missed it last year because I was on a social media break. Whoops! My shitty memory makes it fairly important as a way to track the passage of time, so I'm back on the horse this year.

What did you do in 2019 that you’d never done before? I'm sure there's some specific thing, but nothing's coming to me immediately. Oh, I guess I started cross stitching? Did you keep your New Year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I'm not sure what my resolutions were for last year because I did not write them anywhere because I did not do this meme /o\ Next year: + Set up some kind of writing schedule + Finish my mg novel + Survive moving + Get a new job + Go on more dates

eta: Outside of these sort of concrete, 2do-list type goals, I set some more nebulous personal goals on Twitter: - See my local friends outside of the BFC more often - Do weird, dumb shit - Be nicer to myself - Fix my meds - Bake something fancy(Okay, that last one is kind of 2do-listy.) Did anyone close to you give birth? YES!! @caphairdadbeard had a baby and he's perfect and I love him and it kills me that he's so far away and I only get to see him a few times a year, even more so than it usually kills me having Sarah so far away. Did anyone close to you die? My former roommate's father. I did a lot of family stuff with her over the decade that we lived together and spent a lot of time with her parents and he was super loved and admired by his community. A real shitty loss all around. What countries did you visit? Just the US, but I visited Seattle and Mississippi for the first time! What would you like to have in 2020 that you lacked in 2019? ~*~Financial security~*~ What dates from 2019 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? I'm so terrible with actual dates. May 9 was Max's birthday, so there's that? We did a lovely, successful live show on April 18. OH we went to Rent Live and had our wild weekend in LA on January 26. We watched a lot of wild movie musicals at Grace and Jesse's in July. I saw Blair Witch in the woods. I went down to the city to see Octet and Hadestown. Lisa moved in with me. Moby-Dick happened. Now I'm just listing events and not dates, but there you go. What was your biggest achievement of the year? God, do I even have one? I'm not dead, so that's probably something. Oh, I guess we had a really good WBS month where we were interviewed by Forbes.com, had one of our crossovers with IDEOTV, guest edited TBD, and had our live show. That was a really satisfying few weeks. What was your biggest failure? I'm haunted by this work thing I fucked up, even though everyone has told me it wasn't a big deal. I really crash and burned out for NaNo because SAD hit me way harder and faster this year than it has in the past. Did you suffer illness or injury? Lots of brain stuff, as per usual. A couple minor colds. My FAMILY on the other hand.... What was the best thing you bought? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Tickets to Octet, maybe. It was probably my favorite show of the year. The new chair/loveseat is also very good. Whose behavior merited celebration? Some of my friends. A lot of excellent activists. Sarah's baby (he's very good). Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Like, the whole government? Where did most of your money go? Grown-up type stuff (rent, utilities, groceries), cons, and travel. What did you get really, really, really excited about? LA, Octet, Max, DragonCon, Moby-Dick. Galentine's! What song will always remind you of 2019? Probably music from Octet? I don't like.....listen to the radio. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? Probably about the same? Maybe more stressed out by family stuff going on and money stuff. b) thinner or fatter? Same. Also, I hate this question. 2020 Kaitlyn, delete it plz. c) richer or poorer? About to be poorer. What do you wish you’d done more of? Writing. Sleeping. Going on dates. Hanging out with people. What do you wish you’d done less of? Being depressed. Being stressed. Did you fall in love in 2019? Nope. What was your favorite TV program? If we're talking "currently airing" and not "things I bingewatch that are very old," probably The Good Place--OH I almost forgot Good Omens was this year!!! Also that! And I started watching Schitt's Creek and watched all of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Oh, and I started watching some videos on the Bon Appetit YouTube channel, mostly Gourmet Makes and Making Perfect and Reverse Engineering. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? Mostly just like...........people I don't actually know who are terrible humans. What was the best book you read? Coming soon to a podcast feed near you! What was your greatest musical discovery? Probably Octet? I don't think I listened to a lot of new music this year. OH WAIT, The Highwomen!!! What a good album!!! (Also in doing the theatre section I just remembered Six was this year too!) What did you want and get? Mostly material things--clothes, cons, travel, seeing people, tickets to things, etc. Impeachment. Got that. That was nice. What did you want and not get? Financial security. A new job. Emotional stability. A relationship. More sleep. What was your favorite film of this year? Captain Marvel, although Us, Charlie's Angels, and The Wind were very good too. What was your favorite theatrical event of the year? Probably Octet! The broadway version of Hadestown was kind of disappointing compared to the 2016 NYTW version and Moby-Dick is great fun, but still pretty rough in places. Octet is just.....very good.  Oh, or SIX, that was great too! Octet or Six. Oh, and, jesus, this year was a hundred years long, I totally forgot we saw Denee as Eliza this year!! She was very good!! And I got to see Daniel Breaker as Burr again and I fucking love him. What was your favorite podcast of the year? The Empty Bowl, a meditative podcast about cereal. It is so good for zoning out and being calm. TAZ has been killing it with the one-shots and the Amnesty arc, too, and this was the first year I listened to MBMBaM weekly and also I mainlined all of Sawbones after listening to half of it, then not listening to any for six months, then deciding to start from the beginning again. Unwell is a really good show that I recommend, and Mabel. The Magnus Archives killed it with season four, which was tailored to my exact narrative tastes. MFM and Criminal are perpetual faves. American Hysteria was super interesting to go through and Bear Brook and In the Dark both obviously had fucking fantastic years. Oh, and Who the Hell is Hamish? that was fun too. And I’ll stop now.

I.....listen to a lot of podcasts. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 34! On the day, I went out for dinner and drinks with some friends. That weekend, I bought a bunch of children's Captain Marvel birthday supplies and we played Jackbox games and ate cake! What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Any sort of fix to our current political mess. And/or financial stability. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2019? The "Whimsical" section on eShakti. What kept you sane? Friends! Podcasts! Anti-depressants! Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Brie Larson and Starr Busby are the first that spring to mind. What political issue stirred you the most? It’s hard to pick just one when the whole country is on fire. Who did you miss? Pretty much everyone when they are not right next to me. Sarah Bay, a lot, but I feel weird singling one person out. [This is exactly what I wrote for the last four years, but I’m keeping it because it’s still true.] Who was the best new person you met? Did I meet new people this year? I know I internet-met a couple people, but I'm not sure if I in-person made any new friends? We hung out with this girl Jenn at con a bunch, she was pretty cool! edit: oh my god MAX I met MAX this year because he did not exist last year!!! Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2019: Do not invite folks to sit on a panel unless you know they'll stick to the goddamn topic agreed on in advance. Quote a song that sums up your year: And no one grew into anything new / we just became the worse of what we were

(I think this is the third year in a row that Dave Malloy has been my lyric of the year.)

Anyway, that’s 2019 for me. I can’t say I’m sorry to see it go. The last half, in particular, was super rough. Hell, the last week was super rough--guess how many members of my family have been in the hospital in December! If you guessed “six” you would be correct!! (Everyone is more or less fine.) 

But, hey, it also brought me my tiny nephew and two Dave Malloy musicals, so it wasn’t all bad! 

I hope 2020 treats you all well, friends!

[nonelvis]

2020 Hugo nominees: Best Novel

(xposted from Dreamwidth)

Hugo-reading season is in full swing, and oof, I hadn't read any of the six novels nominated, which meant I had a lot of reading to get done once the list was announced. I am still a bit disappointed that Anne Leckie's The Raven Tower didn't make the cut, though I fully expect to see it on the longlist when that's released – but given how incredibly strong this field is, even the two books that weren't really my thing, I'm not surprised that some good work got left behind.

Anyway, all these reviews will look familiar if you follow me on Goodreads.

The City in the Middle of the Night, Charlie Jane Anders This is really more of a 4.5-star book for me simply because I wanted a tiny bit more from the ending, but the worldbuilding is so astonishing and the character growth so compelling that I'll give it five stars without hesitation. Sophie's and Mouth's traumas felt visceral and essential to their character arcs, and the cities of Xiosphant and Argelo – not to mention the titular city, with its nonhuman residents – were so fully realized that you could set any number of other books there and still not run out of stories to tell. I've got five more novels to go for the Hugo list this year, and if they're all this good, I'm going to have a hell of a time ranking them. Middlegame, Seanan McGuire McGuire mentions in her afterword that she had to write the book in order for her editor to understand the pitch, and I can see why: Middlegame is urban fantasy, literal Wizard of Oz allegory, alchemical body horror, Harry Potter reference, and YA found-family narrative all in one. And weirdly, even with that unlikely combination of sources, it reminded me very much of another book I love – Tim Powers' Last Call, which hits similar reality-warping fantastical elements – so if you liked that book, you'll like this one, too. The Light Brigade, Kameron Hurley I've read my share of military SF, and The Light Brigade is very reminiscent of one of my favorites of the genre, Joe Haldeman's The Forever War, not in the least because like that book, it's about the social, moral, and emotional costs of war rather than being a simple glorification of it. But a military SF novel will never be my first choice of reading material even if we weren't already living in an increasingly militarized society, and one in which The Light Brigade's posited future of nation-states run by corporations only interested in exploiting cheap labor and preserving their own power feels all too likely. So, in short: a good book, but not for me. The Ten Thousand Doors of January, Alix E. Harrow Yet another really strong entry in 2020's Hugo Awards Best Novel category, The Ten Thousand Doors of January covers what happens when a girl named January Scaller, ward of a wealthy collector of looted archaelogical objects, finds a doorway to another world, and hints that her family may be closely connected to it. Harrow's prose is lovely, and January is fully realized as a headstrong teenager desperate to reunite with her long-lost father, no matter what path her guardian prefers she follow. If I have any complaint, it's that sometimes the villains' pursuit of January lacked urgency – which I suppose was necessary, given the amount of (in fairness, really interesting!) backstory the novel has to provide – but this does slow things down a bit sometimes, and the villain's true motivation felt a little weak to me. But these are honestly small issues that didn't really detract from my enjoyment of the novel that much, even if they mean this won't get the #1 slot on my Hugo ballot. Gideon the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir Oh, man, this needed editing – the number of characters needed to be pared down, and there was more than one scene I spent wondering how on earth it was pushing the plot or characterization forwards. Also, the modern dialogue ("die in a fire" and other slang) in what was essentially a fantasy setting, albeit one with science fiction elements, was jarring right up to the very end of the book. I can see why this book has its fans, but it's definitely not for me. A Memory Called Empire, Arkady Martine How is this year's Hugo field so good? I knew my friends had loved this book, so I was expecting to love it, too, but now it's my #1 pick even after I was certain I couldn't read anything better than The City in the Middle of the Night. (And it was a very close call between the two books until the end of A Memory Called Empire.) Empire mixes fish-out-of-water elements reminiscent of Ancillary Justice and memory implant elements reminiscent of Ninefox Gambit alongside palace intrigue and truly outstanding worldbuilding, and I was only able to put it down because I had to do silly things like "cook dinner" and "sleep." My rankings 1. A Memory Called Empire 2. The City in the Middle of the Night 3. Middlegame 4. The Ten Thousand Doors of January 5. The Light Brigade 6. Gideon the Ninth

[lonebooks]

This is my January TBR pile! I’m planning on reading around ten books a month this year as my reading goal is to exceed 100. The books I’m aiming to get through this month are:

Circe by Madeline Miller: This is a fantasy book heavily inspired by Greek mythology that follows the titular heroine; Circe as she discovers her powers of witchcraft and is banished to a remote island by the gods. I’m really excited to read this book as I’m deeply interested by Greek mythology and I just recently finished Norse mythology by Neil Gaiman (which I gave five stars, it’s a brilliant read for those wanting to an introduction to Norse myths) so I’m in a bit of a mythology mood right now! Everyone who has read this book seems to love it and it won a goodreads award in 2018 so I have high hopes for this book!

The Raven King by Maggie Steifvater: This is the final book in the Raven Cycle series and having sped through the first three over the past couple of weeks I am hyped to read the last one! Blue, Lily, Lily, Blue introduced some exciting new elements into this story so I’m looking forward to seeing how everything turns out for Blue and the Raven boys.

Heartstream by Tom Pollock: I picked up this book in a charity shop because the premise seemed cool and it was only a couple of pounds. I haven’t seen anyone else talking about it but it seems like the kind of quick, YA thriller that I really enjoy reading in between heavy fantasy books or large series. This book is set in a black mirror like world where a streaming service now allows the general public to feel the emotions of those who choose to broadcast their life on there. Amy is one such streamer and after returning from her mother’s funeral she finds a girl in her kitchen who has rigged the house and herself with explosives.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy; The Trilogy of Four by Douglas Adams: (Technically this is four books but I’m going to count it as one) Science fiction is a genre I’ve been planning on exploring more and this classic series seems like a great way to kick off what I hope to be a more sci-fi filled year! In this series we follow Arthur Dent as he is rescued from Earth just as it is about to be destroyed to make way for an intergalactic freeway. I’ve heard amazing things about this series from family members so I’m looking forward to reading it! (There is also a fifth book that I’m hoping to get to at some point this month)

Radio Silence by Alice Oseman: I rarely read YA contemporary books but I really enjoyed Alice Oseman’s debut novel Solitaire so I wanted to pick this one up. In this book we follow Frances who has a secret about a disappearance connected to her past. This is another book that I’m really excited to read!

Call down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater: I know basically nothing about this book apart from the fact that it has Ronan Lynch from the Raven Cycle featuring as one of the main characters and that’s about it. I picked it up in one of my local bookshops and saw his name on the back and instantly decided to buy it. It’ll be really interesting to see how this book connects with the Raven Cycle, particularly as it’s going to be a trilogy!

Killer T by Robert Muchamore: This is another impulse buy, I’ve read a few of Robert Muchamore’s other books and I’ve had a couple of issues with them before so we’ll see how this one goes. It seems very different from his other books though so I’m still optimistic that I’ll like it. This book follows two teenagers, Harry and Charlie over a ten year period during a time when gene editing technology is now publicly available for anyone to use with unpredictable consequences.

Breathe by Sarah Crossan: This book was another charity shop buy. It’s signed by the author which is pretty cool! I was initially drawn to it because I have vague memories of reading the first five chapters or so at my school library and enjoying them but then not being able to find the book again. Even though I’m a few years older now, I’m hoping to still get some enjoyment out of it! This dystopian series follows three teenagers in a world where oxygen is limited.

Stepsister by Jennifer Donnelly: This is a retelling of Cinderella from one of the stepsisters point of view. Even though it seems like retelling are oversaturating the YA market at the moment, I still think this one has a lot of potential to be unique as it isn’t told from Cinderella’s point of view. I also really enjoyed the Lunar Chronicles and To Kill a Kingdom so I’m looking forward to this retelling!

Resist by Sarah Crossan: This is the sequel to breathe so I don’t really have a lot to say about it at the moment. I’m hoping to enjoy it though!

So yeah, this is my tbr for the month! It took me longer than I though it would to type out all these summaries though. In conclusion, I’m hyped for these books and I think I’m going to have a productive reading month!

[batgirl-87]

Summary: Some members of the Cursed Vaults Gang discuss relationships and dating in lieu of studying. Charlie provides a surprisingly insightful view on the topic that stuns the others and leads Charlie to his own realization and to take a courageous leap of fate.

Word Count: 2,789

Genre: Deleted Scene? Fluff?

Warnings: Lack of Slytherins =(

Playlist: Your Eyes – Rent, They Were You – The Fantasticks, Black Butterflies and Déjà Vu – The Maine, Symphony – Clean Bandit feat. Zara Larsson, Dakota – The Rocket To The Moon

Note: Takes place during January of Sixth Year, an excerpt from my series of Charlie and Keira figuring out their relationship, done before Charlie confesses his feelings. (I will link that fic once it’s posted).

* Written, honestly, to ease my own insecurities on the pace in which I am writing Charlie and my MC’s relationship. After reading so many great fics by others about their MCs reuniting with Charlie after graduation, I couldn’t help but worry I was progressing things too quickly. I also enjoy a slowburn (who doesn’t?!) and want to make sure I build up their connection and relationship enough that their relationship progression is appropriate and realistic – like, it’s about time! And I started this at their first kiss and have started going back writing moments between them before that to hopefully set the relationship more between them but I still have insecurities about it, like maybe I should have more pining even after the Ball and not have them get together until Seventh Year… Anyway, so that’s really the reason for this piece, to sort of help me feel better about what I’m doing. (Idk if it’s working =p) *

I sat down and wrote this out in a couple hours in one sitting and did a quick edit but please excuse any errors (I was excited to have that motivation to just sit and write something out nonstop!) – there’s going to be a lot of the same words repeated/used and probably shifts in tenses, sorry.

“There you guys are!” Penny set her book bag down on the floor before swinging her leg over the bench to join her friends at their study table in the Great Hall. “I thought when you suggested a study sessions you meant in the library,” she explained as she began taking out her books and notes from her bag and placed them on the table in front of her. “I’ve been searching the entire library for you guys, walking up and down all the rows, looking everywhere you.” She even sounded a little out of breath.

“Well the original plan was the library,” Andre began before looking up from his textbook and giving a pointed look to the pink haired Hufflepuff on the other side of the table, “But someone got us kicked out by Madam Pince.”

“Is it my fault she can’t take a joke,” Tonks asked innocently with a shrug.

“You can only push someone so far,” Charlie lightly lectured his prankster friend since First Year who sat next to him.

“Well at least here we can talk without someone constantly hushing us,” Tonks pointed out. “If I have a question about Potions I would like to be able to ask the Potions Master herself,” she said, motioning to Penny across from her.

“Where’s Keira, Rowan, and Barnaby,” Penny asked as she glanced along the table, possibly in an attempt to change the subject so they wouldn’t keep arguing about getting kicked out of the library.

“Quidditch practice,” Charlie answered, possibly sounding a little bit disappointed.

If there was any hint of disappointment in his voice, Andre picked up on it. “Yes, we didn’t think Charlie would join us after finding that out,” he teased with a smirk.

“We just got back to talking and hanging out again, I just want to get things back to normal,” Charlie tried to explain. After not speaking or being around Keira for about two months and finally getting over that incident didn’t it make sense for him to be eager to get their friendship back to where it was before?

“What does that mean, exactly,” Andre asked curiously, watching his fellow Quidditch aficionado closely.

“What do you mean ‘what does that mean’,” Charlie asked quizzically, staring back at the Ravenclaw across the table from him.

“I mean, what is normal for you guys now?” Andre clearly found this conversation much more interesting than studying.

Charlie shrugged. “You know, like we were before. Where we could all study together, go to Hogsmeade, and hang out without any awkwardness or having to strategically dodge each other, I can help again with the Cursed Vaults – you know, back to being friends again.”

“Friends, huh,” Andre repeated with a slightly devious grin.

“Andre,” Penny said in a small warning tone.

“What? They’ve been dancing around this for long enough, don’t you think? Speaking of dance,” Andre started before quickly turning his attention back to the Gryffindor, “Didn’t you guys kiss at the ball last year?”

“Andre!” Penny couldn’t believe he brought that up so candidly but guess that was Andre. “That’s a personal, private matter between them.” The Hufflepuff was doing her best to help Charlie out who seemed completely in shock by Andre bringing that memory up – he didn’t even know they all knew that! And he doubted Keira told them so how did they know? Were they spying on them?

“I’m just trying to help them figure out their feelings for each other and their relationship,” Andre defended. “Aren’t you tired of them always making eyes at each other? They clearly fancy each other, just snog already and get it over with.”

“What makes you think they’ll stop making eyes at each other if they start dating,” Penny retaliated with a smirk.

“Plus it could make studying together really awkward if they’re snogging,” Tonks chimed in.

Charlie could feel his whole face heating up as they continued.

“Maybe he doesn’t want to snog her anyway, maybe he’s just admiring her beauty, like a piece of art. You don’t want to snog a painting,” Penny pointed out.

“No, he definitely wants to,” Andre stated. “Why would they kiss at all if they didn’t want to?”

“To determine if they want to do it more or not,” Penny reasoned.

They were talking about him like he wasn’t even there. Maybe he could sneak away….

“Well, do you want to do it again,” Andre suddenly asked him bluntly.

“Andre,” Penny cried again before smacking him in the arm with some of her notes.

“What? If you want to know the answer to something, ask. And he’s right here,” Andre told her, motioning to the tomato red Gryffindor across from him.

“Their relationship is between them,” Penny scolded.

“Penny, we’re friends. We’re going to be in each other’s business and relationships. Who are you going to turn to when the person you’re dating upsets you? Or if you need help getting them a gift for their birthday or planning something for you anniversary? You’re going to talk to your friends about your relationship,” Andre informed her. “And we’re here to help,” he added, turning his attention again to Charlie.

“Well then maybe we should be discussing someone else’s relationship then,” Penny reasoned, throwing a glance at the poor Gryffindor boy who looked completely humiliated and was hoping if he wished hard enough he would magically teleport himself anywhere else but there – too bad they hadn’t learn to apparate yet.

“Like yours? What happened between you and your date to the ball last year,” Andre asked, Charlie breathing out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding in, relieved the attention was off of him, if even for a moment.

“We had a lovely time, thank you,” Penny informed him as she straightened out her notes.

“And… that’s it? Nothing grew from it,” Andre prodded.

“If you’re asking me if I’m dating anyone the answer is no, I’m not. Not everyone dates around a lot like you,” the Hufflepuff added with a smirk. “When was your first date? Third Year?”

Penny’s teasing didn’t seem to faze Andre in the least. “It’s true, not everyone can be as alluring as me.”

Penny rolled her eyes but smiled slightly as Andre complimented and flattered himself. She flipped open one of her textbooks, assuming they could get to studying for their O.W.L.s now.

“Do you think dating a lot of people is a bad thing,” Andre suddenly asked her, causing Penny to pause a moment and think.

“No, I don’t think it’s a bad thing, But you might need to ask yourself why you date so many people and go through these relationships so quickly. Like, do you even like these people? Maybe you have commitment issues –“

“Maybe I’m just enjoying being young and having fun and taking in all my options. I mean, I don’t want to be one of those people who only dates one person and marries their high school sweetheart or something,” Andre explained, making a somewhat disgusted face.

“What’s wrong with that? I think it’s sweet,” Penny said with a slight sparkle in her eye.

Andre couldn’t help but scoff slightly. “I think we’re too young to be settling down with one person for the rest of our lives.”

“I don’t think you agree to go out with someone planning on being with them the rest of your lives. But if that happens, that’s great,” Penny said with a shrug. “Don’t know if they’re someone you want to be with until you get to know them better and you do that by going out with them. Not by hooking up with them like some people do,” she explained, giving Andre another look who just smirked devilishly.

“Wouldn’t you feel cheated though? Like you missed out on life experiences, dating other people, if you only dated one person,” Andre asked.

“Yes, what a tragedy to miss out on bad dates with jerks or getting cheated on and your heart broken,” Tonks muttered as she stared down at the textbook in front of her but it was hard to concentrate on studying with those two going at it. Penny held out her hand towards her fellow Hufflepuff as she looked pointedly at Andre – see!?  Good point, Tonks!

“But aren’t those also life experiences a lot of people go through that you learn from and can relate to others through? If your friends are all talking about their dating past and lives and you can’t relate, can’t that create a distance between you? If a friend comes to you crying over their most recent break-up or horrible date and you try to comfort them, they’re just going be like ‘you don’t understand how I feel or what I’m going through.’ And then why would they come to you again. See? Distance.”

Penny frowned as Andre made his next argument. “I understand what you’re saying about it being difficult to relate to others but I think if you’re really friends something like that wouldn’t ruin a friendship. I mean, there’s other types of heartbreak and bad experiences one could have and sometimes all a friend needs to do is listen and validate –“

“And give ice cream,” Tonks chimed in.

“I just think you’d be missing out on experiences you’re supposed to be having while we’re young. Also, imagine only kissing or having sex with one person your whole life!” That thought horrified the Ravenclaw!

“Guess we know what Andre’s Boggart is,” Tonks teased. Her joked earned a small chuckle from the table, even Andre had to agree that was funny – and accurate!

“I just don’t think you can find ‘the one’ unless you date around a bit. Just because you two have some things in common and get along pretty well and you might find them cute doesn’t make them ‘the one.’ How do you know someone is ‘the one’ you really want to be with, are supposed to be with, if you don’t test the water and see what else is out there to confirm,” Andre asked.

“What if they are the one?”

The table went silent as they all looked over at the last person who they thought would say anything. He said it so softly they almost missed it. Honestly, they all expected him to sneak off when the focus shifted away from him. Why he would speak up during this topic and risk bringing the focus back to him and his ‘relationship’ with Keira was a mystery to them. Clearly he wasn’t really listening to them anymore, however, and was lost in his own thoughts, thinking out loud, possibly unintentionally.

He had to admit, part of him found this whole topic of discussion interesting, which was probably why he stayed instead of making his escape. As someone who never had any interest in dating or snogging, as Andre brought up, or anything of the sort, there was part of him that was intrigued how others viewed and felt about romantic and sexual relationships. And now that he had met someone who had sparked these new feelings within him that he never felt before, never thought he would ever feel, and still didn’t feel for anyone else, his curiosity on the subject had grown.

“If you meet someone who makes you feel like you’ve never felt before, like no one else had ever made you feel, aren’t they the one? And if they are, wouldn’t you want to spend as much time with them as possible? Making as many memories together as you can? Having as many experiences together as you can? And wouldn’t those experiences only be made better when you’re experiencing them together with someone you care about? Wouldn’t you want your firsts and only to be with them because you already know with anyone else it won’t feel the same? Greatly pale in comparison, probably won’t feel anything at all… And why, if you have these feelings for them, try to push them away and deny them to waste time with playing games and dating around to make sure or be like everyone else when your unique feelings solely for them should be enough? Sure, for most people they have to date around to find someone they feel this way about, but we’re not like most people. And if you’re fortunate enough to avoid all that shouldn’t you act on that because you’re privileged to find what everyone else is searching for without going through all the obstacles and hurdles and pain? Even if you were never searching for it, never wanted it before, but found someone who made you want it, doesn’t that make it even more rare and special and, therefore, more meaningful and significant – doesn’t that mean you should do whatever in your power to keep them in your life because their presence in it has made it better, happier?”

The trio of friends sat in a stunned silence as the Gryffindor appeared to be working out his feelings before their eyes – was he even aware he was saying this all out loud in front of them? Were others in the Great Hall listening in as well? It was definitely a sight to behold. No one would have ever expected the Seeker to suddenly spill out such an emotional string of consciousness, especially out loud to an audience.

“And, yes, there is the possibility they don’t feel the same way. But should that fear of a possibility without solid evidence dictate your life with this person and control you? Should you allow that fear to keep you from potential happiness and creating those memories and having those experiences together? If they don’t feel the same way, sure, it’ll hurt, but at least you won’t have that uncertainty haunting you and that fear controlling you anymore. And after some time couldn’t you heal and get back to at least being friends so you can still have them in your life? I’ve seen people date and break up and remain friends so why should this be any different? It’s not really fair to allow your own fear of what they might be feeling, how they might react, deny them with the opportunity to decide for themselves what they want. You can’t let your own fear decide for them. Soon we’ll be graduating and going on with our lives, and who knows how these Cursed Vaults and this R person, organization, whatever, will end – do you really want to waste this short time we may have together denying your feelings or allowing your fear of rejection to rob you of possibly some of the greatest memories and experiences you can have? What if something, Merlin forbid, does happen with the last Vault or with R? What if we graduate and get jobs on opposite ends of the globe? Won’t you regret never admitting your feelings for them? Never giving yourself, or them, the chance at sharing those incredible memories and experiences together? Don’t they deserve to know, even if they don’t feel the same way? Don’t they deserve to know how cared for they are? Don’t they deserve to know? Don’t they?”

The trio glanced between themselves awkwardly. Was he… was he asking them? Were they supposed to answer or was this a rhetorical question? Unsure, Tonks nervously started to raise her hand but quickly dropped it when he started up again, his speech growing more passionate the longer it went on. Who knew Charlie was so insightful on matters besides dragons?

“Don’t you both deserve a chance at happiness? Don’t you both deserve to see what these new feelings are for each other with each other? If I’ve never felt this way about anyone else before, I doubt I’ll ever feel this way about anyone else in the future, but I feel this way about them because… maybe they are the one. Maybe we’re meant to be. And if they are, if we are, why are we wasting all this time?” Charlie let out a small chuckle at his epiphany before grabbing his bag and quickly heading out of the Great Hall, leaving his friends to stare after him, still stunned and completely shocked.

Andre slowly reached over to slide the textbook that was just moments ago in front of Charlie over to himself, marking the page before closing it to return to the Gryffindor later. “Huh. He left his Dragon-Keeper’s Guide book behind,” he stated as he read the cover before looking up at the two Hufflepuffs.

“Whoa… this is serious,” Tonks murmured before the three looked back towards the doors of the Great Hall where the dragon obsessed Weasley just sprinted out of, leaving his dragon text behind.

“How'd I Let You Slip Away When I'm Longing So To Hold You Now I'd Die For One More Day 'Cause There's Something I Should Have Told You

When I looked into your eyes (And I find I can't hide from your eyes The ones that took me by surprise) You were the song all along And before the song dies I should tell you, I should tell you” 

Tag List: @sungoddessra @sly-vixen-up2nogood @urban-eagle / @scribbleries @bexeris @cinnamoncam @tatlikar 

(Let me know if you want to be added or removed from the tag list! =) )

[peckhampeculiar]

Turn up for the books

WORDS: GARTH CARTWRIGHT;  PHOTO: LIMA CHARLIE

Down a cobbled alleyway next to Peckham Rye Station’s railway bridge huddles Books Peckham. This tiny shop is a discreet gem hidden away from the hustle and bustle of the main street. A small, portable sign at the corner of 125 Rye Lane and the alleyway notifies passersby of “secondhand books”, but for those who venture down here, past Asian Takeaway and a juice and ice cream vendor, there exists a treasure trove of books and zines.

“I’ve been a zine distributor since 2004,” says Books Peckham’s proprietor Peter Willis. “I’m from Cambridge originally and I was making zines and selling them at local gigs – punk gigs, stuff not covered by the mainstream media.

“I’d do zine fairs and review other zines, stuff from the USA. In 2007 I moved to Camberwell to study illustration at the art college and I’ve been here ever since.

“The stuff I was doing was initially illustration-based, but I was involved with the punk scene and then I got involved with the London Zine Symposium – we did it for seven years. That was the big one. There were four of us and it cost about a grand to put on.

“When the couple involved broke up we lost the funds for venue and table hire. Since then I’ve been involved with the South East London Zine Fair. We’ve held two at the Amersham Arms and one at the Montague Arms.”

The zines Peter stocks at Books Peckham range from Maximum Rocknroll – the foremost American punk publication that is more than three decades old and is still going strong in inky black and white – through to tiny publications devoted to specific subjects. There’s a glossy third wave feminist zine that mixes fashion shoots with polemics and a £15 book zine of “found” photographs. It’s a fascinating and eclectic collection.

“I like the direct interaction with people,” says Peter of the zine community. “I write and trade zines with people – I’d send 10 copies of my zine to someone doing a zine and vice versa and, that way, we got to spread the zines around.

“When I’m doing a zine I will only print up 50 on average. Two hundred is the biggest print run I’ve done. I like to keep my zine print runs small – sell out of one then move on to another. That said, if I run out of copies and someone orders a copy, I can run off other copies – five or 10 – and that means I have stock again for fairs.”

We talk about the iconic punk zine Sniffin’ Glue, edited by Mark Perry, which started out in Deptford in 1976. “I like the fact that I’m operating not too far away from the historic base of punk zines,” Peter says.

In addition to zines, Books Peckham sells – obviously – books. For a small shop it has a vast selection that, when the weather is good, spills onto tables outside the shop. Titles range from art monographs to works by famous authors, pulp fiction and eccentric bohemian musings – and everything is very reasonably priced.

Before he opened in Peckham, Peter had a stall at the Camberwell Sunday Market. “I did every Sunday I wasn’t working and it just took off,” he says. “At the first market I did, I sold two thirds of my stock.

“The first day I met a guy who lived on the Peabody Estate nearby. He bought two books and he said, ‘Do you want to buy 3,000 books?’ I thought he was joking but it turned out he was a former book dealer and had all this stock.

“I was happy doing the market but then they finished it in September last year. I did a couple of fairs – at DIY Space and other alternative spaces – so I was keeping my eyes open.

“I heard of this place but by the time I got a day off work to look at it, it was gone. A florist took it, but only briefly. Then I saw a sign in the nail salon at the corner of Rye Lane and the alleyway saying ‘shop for rent’.

“I got the key on Christmas Eve, went to Cyprus until January 10 and I’ve been here since. This was the cheapest place I could find and Ali, the landlord, is really cool – he didn’t ask for a deposit and it’s weekly, so I have the option of walking away if I can’t sell enough stuff. It allows me to enjoy it and everything I do feeds into Books Peckham and beyond.”

Peter doesn’t earn a living from Books Peckham at the moment. He makes enough from book and zine sales to cover the rent, but beyond that his shop is a labour of love. To cover living expenses he works for Camden Arts Centre and shares an illustration studio in the Bussey Building.

“Our studio is called Studio Operative – it’s me and Alice Lindsay – and we publish an illustration journal called Limner,” he says. “We’ve done four issues of that as well as artist monographs. We’ve just done one with Chris Harnan, he’s an artist who lives around here.”

Peter has enjoyed his first year as a bookshop owner. “It’s been great,” he says. “Straightaway it was better than I thought it would be. There’s not been a week when I’ve not covered the rent. People find me from Instagram or from the street. I’ve met poets and artists and book collectors and all kinds of local people. I enjoy chatting with everyone who comes through. If things get quiet, well, that gives me time to read.”

As we chat, a constant flow of people drop by to buy and sell books. Books Peckham is only open three days a week, and there’s no guarantee which three – so stumbling upon an antiquarian treasure or pulp gem is a matter of chance.

“Because I’m on shift work I’m unsure which days [I can open],” Peter says. “I put up on Instagram the days I’m open each week.

“I’m sorry I can’t be open more days, but most people understand that this isn’t work as such. It’s not a grand scheme. I definitely need to be wary of not burning out because I’m essentially working seven days a week, with Camden and the studio and Books Peckham.”

Hopefully the shop will continue to develop organically, allowing Peter to spend more time in SE15. Right now his focus is on a new zine, one that’s related to his shop.

“I’m doing The Books Review of Books, a zine focusing on what I sell and people I’ve met who are doing interesting stuff,” he says.

“It seems like doing the book stall I’ve met so many people who are doing great things, so I want to make it more visible – what I do and what they do.”

[growningupgeek]

Lonely Roads-Feburay, 2009

Word Count-1,393

Characters-Charlie Bradbury, Sam Winchester, Dean Winchester, Castiel Novak

Warnings-None

Summary-Dean and Castiel finally track Charlie down.

Lonely Roads Masterlist

A/N-Betaed by @mrssamfuckingwinchester. Queing on January 31 so this is the last thing that will use my old tag list.  The list is open so if you’d like on it please send me an ask or DM.  I have to admit, I didn’t use rock band names for the guys cover, but a virtual cookie to anyone who can identify where my names came from. 

-JediCat

Edits are mine from screen shots.  Please do not repost them or my other work on any other website without my written permission.  Credit does not count.

          Charlie sighed as she got up from the floor where she had been putting the finishing touches on a new layer of warding along the baseboard, when her phone rang.  She smiled when she saw Lestat, the name she’d put on Sam’s number, flashing on her screen.  They’d become good friends while working on the bullets for the Colt and that friendship had continued to grow over the last couple of months.  Without even realizing it she had become his unofficial liaison with the community of white witches that was slowly coming to trust the former hunter.  When some of the stories he told her sounded familiar, she talked to a friend who worked at a bookstore, who had pointed her to Carver Edlund’s Supernatural books.  Said friend had then given her the whole set as a birthday present.  Charlie had read them all, but never mentioned it to Sam.  Picking up her phone she thumbed the answer button.

        “Hey, Sammy, what’s up,” she asked cheerfully.

        Sam sighed, “Nothing much, but I need you to meet with a friend and I.”

        His tone of voice made her wonder what was going on. “Sure, where and when?”

        “My place, ASAP.”  He said.

        Sam had gotten an apartment near-by after she had helped him set up a new identity and several backups just in case.  “Give me an hour.  I just finished that warding and need to clean up.”

        “See you then,” Sam replied and hung up the phone.  That made Charlie worry, Sam was never that abrupt unless something big was going on.  She hurried to get ready to go.

        Forty-five minutes later she was sitting in Sam’s living room with a soda sitting on the table next to her.  Sam was sprawled on the couch with his laptop finishing up some work on God knew what.  Eventually, he shut it down and looked over at her.

        “So,” he said.  “I’m gonna need to ask you not to freak out again.  This friend I want you to meet isn’t exactly human.”

        Charlie smiled at him, “Dude, you’ve introduced me to several other vampires, a couple of werewolves and your childhood imaginary friend.  I’m not sure anything can freak me out at this point.”

        Sam gave her a slightly evil grin and rolled his eyes. “We’re ready Castiel, so if you can get away, now would be good.”

        It was only a few minutes before there was a fluttering sound and a dark haired man just appeared in the room.  Charlie about jumped out of her skin when she saw the opalescent black, silver flecked wings behind him.  When Sam laughed at her she flipped him off, which just made him laugh harder.  But his laugh was infectious and eventually she joined in while Castiel just looked confused.  Eventually, they calmed down enough to talk but it took a while.

        “Charlie, this is Castiel, angel of the Lord,” Sam said still smiling. “Cas, meet Charlie Bradbury, white witch and computer genius.”

        Castiel took Charlie’s hand in his as he said, “A pleasure to meet another member of Sam’s team, Miss Bradbury.  Especially someone he has spoken so highly of.”

        Charlie blushed a little under the angel’s grave, measuring look, “I’m just Charlie, unless I’m at work.”

        Cas nodded and turned to address Sam, “We’re close, Sam.  Dean has narrowed his search for Charlie down to this city.”

        Charlie felt the blood drain from her face, Sam had warned her that his brother was stubborn and wouldn’t give up but she hadn’t believed him.  Now the man was practically on her doorstep in spite of everything they had tried to muddle the trail.  Aware that she was being watched she took a deep breath.

        “OOOkay,” she breathed out. “What do we do next?”

        “I suggest that we have a plan in place for when Dean finds you,’ Castiel said. “Because unless he gets distracted by a case he’ll find you within a week.”

        “I can’t stop him from finding you,” Sam added.  “So we have to come up with a convincing story.”

        She took another deep breath, then a third, closing her eyes to center herself.  When she opened her eyes, she managed to smile at the two men.  “I’m a terrible actress, but let’s do this.”

        Sam smiled at her. “You won’t have to act.  I can block your actual memories and implant others; Dean has a knack for telling when people are lying so you have to be telling the truth.  Before they leave, Cas will find an excuse to touch you and remove the block.”

        Charlie stared at the two men and, not for the first time, wondered what she’d gotten into with Sam.  It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him but she really didn’t want anyone messing with her mind.  He’d promised her once that he would never do anything without her permission unless it was an emergency: the problem was that they had never defined what constituted an emergency.  She mentally wrestled with the problem until she came to a conclusion. She decided to that Sam would never hurt her intentionally.  “Let’s do this then.”

                A knock at her door drew Charlie out of the basement, she looked through the peephole in the door to see a tall, green eyed, light brown haired man and a slightly shorter dark haired blue eyed man both wearing dark suits standing there.  She opened the door as far as the chain lock would allow.

        “What can I do for you, gentlemen,” she asked in a wary tone.

        Both men flipped out ID cases and showed her FBI badges as the green eyed one said, “I’m Agent Claremont, this is my partner Agent Wein.  We’d like to ask you a few questions about Samuel Winchester.”

        Charlie thought for a minute. “Oh, right.  Wanted some bullets for an 1835 Colt.  Give me a second.”

        She closed the door and removed the chain lock, allowing the men to enter and led them to her living room.  She sat down in a chair, gesturing for the men to take the couch, eyeing them nervously.  “I sent the bullets through a messenger service, not the mail, so I’m not sure what you want from me.”

        “It’s not about the bullets, miss,” Agent Wein said taking a seat as Claremont looked at her bookcase.  “We’re looking into Mr. Winchester’s associates in connection with his death.”

        “When was the last time you saw or spoke to him,” Claremont asked finally taking a seat.

        “It’s been well over a year,” Charlie replied looking at him. “I spoke with him to let him know that I’d gotten the letter he wanted sent with the bullets.  I emailed him when I sent the package in January but never got a reply.  He seemed like a good man.”

        There was a flash of pain in Claremont’s face, “And why did it take so long to make the bullets?  You’re supposed to be a master gunsmith.”

        “There were some very...esoteric things that needed to be done with those bullets,” she replied with a smile.

        Agent Wein’s eyebrows shot up as she continued, “Unless you gentlemen are more open minded than you seem that’s all I’m going to say.  I do have to consider client confidentially.”

        The two men stood, Agent Wein offering her his card. “If you think of anything else or are contacted by another in regards to Mr. Winchester, please contact us.”

        He managed to brush her hand with the tips of his fingers as she took it and Charlie felt a shock run across her nerves.  The world spun for just a minute, then righted itself and she heard Castiel’s voice in her head, ‘You did well, Charlie.  I look forward to working with you again.’

        She closed the door behind the two men and looked around the room.  Everything seemed in order until she got to the book case.  The last book of the Supernatural series was gone from its spot in the book case.  

        “Shit, shit, shit,” she whispered to herself reaching for her phone.  She tapped her foot nervously on the floor while she waited for Sam to answer the phone.  When he picked up she didn’t even wait for him to say hello but rushed out the words, “Sam, have you ever heard of a book series called Supernatural?”

Forever List- @darkcastersruletheworld ✅ @black-shad0w-w0lf @imagine-that-supernatural @ladysaraharper @thedepthsoffandomminds @kbrand0  @soaringeag1e​  @supernaturalismalife @iwantthedean ✅ @jojomonsterbunni @little-red-83  @growleytria @ashleymalfoy @jerkbitchidjitassbutt @driverpicksthemuusic @isometimeswritesomethings ✅ @whyisleepacesoamazing  @mist-and-echoes @sassysupernaturalsweetheart @kaylas-obsessions @aerisawriting @letsgetoutalive @leatherwhiskeycoffeeplaid @jodyri @soab1967 @busybee612 @appleschloss @kazchester-fanfiction @oriona75 @screeching-pterodactyl-fangirl @deandoesthingstome @littlegreenplasticsoldier @apeshit7x  @sammy-moo ✅ @for-the-love-of-dean  @mrswhozeewhatsis ✅ @kittenofdoomage @fast-times-in-the-impala ✅ @wereallbrokenangels @wonderless-screwup @dontsassmecastiel  @cherrie-liquor  @deascheck  ✅ @mrssamfuckingwinchester✅  @winchesterprincessbride @tjforston  @babi-correia  @helixiaray @writingthingsisdifficult  ✅  @mysaintsasinner ✅ @mogaruke ✅ @wheresthekillswitch ✅ @skybinx-blog ✅ @bohowitch  ✅ @jensen-jarpad ✅ @ellen-reincarnated1967 ✅  @masksandtruths ✅ @getyourrocksalt ✅ @born-to-be-his-baby88 ✅ @oneshoeshort  ✅ @grace-for-sale  ✅  @winchestergirl-13 ✅ @bethbabybaby  ✅  

SPN Only- @sandlee44  ✅

[grassroots-final-project]

Critical Review - Grassroots

Where to even begin with this reflection. What a crazy experience this semester has been, one that has challenged me on so many levels both physically and mentally. To recap, my intentions for my Masters submission was to carry out a physical solo exhibition that would coincide with the launch of the zine and the second edition of Grassroots. This collection of images would be a visual reflection on my time at Hackney Marshes, East London the focal point to my project. The carefully curated narrative will subtly speak to my audience regarding the themes of equality and diversity within football and the importance and power that football has, to encourage and help with wider societal inclusion, for example within fashion, politics, and many other industries.

The themes for the cohesive narrative have been influenced by the research I have carried out, starting back during my first module RIPU, where I began this journey of racism within football writing an essay centred around the question Why is racism still occurring in football and what is being done to eradicate the issue? (Morgan, 2019). During this module I began to explore this in more depth and detail by researching the impact that photography has in both the past and the present. The book, Decolonising The Camera: Photography in Racial Time, (Sealy, 2016) has informed my own theories, themes and ideologies when working on my project Grassroots. This book examines how the Western photographic practices have ingrained racist ideologies since 1839, the year that photography was first introduced.  Sealy recognised the problematic ideologies and opened discussions of race and representation and wants the readers to recognise this and challenge these issues “the issue of cultural identity as a political quest now constitutes one of the most serious global problems as we go into the twenty-first century. The re-emergence of questions of ethnicity, of nationalism – the obduracy, the dangers and the pleasures of the rediscovery of identity in the modern world, inside and outside Europe – places the question of cultural identity at the very centre of the contemporary political agenda.” (Hall 1995, p.4)

The reading of this book also led me to research photographer and media professor Neil Kenlock, who was born in 1950 and moved from Jamaica to London in the 1960’s and was at the forefront of documenting the black experience in the UK. Kenlock was also the photographer for the Black Panthers, documenting these events and movements for others to learn from. “Sometimes I look at my work and can’t believe I did it,” says photographer Neil Kenlock. “I was just doing something to stop this harsh racism that we were going through. Those images were taken so people could learn. It was very important because if I had not done that, people would say it didn’t happen.” (Kenlock, 2018). Charlie Phillips was another black British photographer documenting the struggles of the black communities in the UK during the 1960’s and 1970’s having also moved from Jamaica to London. Phillips was unable to uphold a career within photography, his true passion despite being one of the most talented photographers of the twentieth century in Britain also becoming one of the most overlooked photographers of his era. “Despite the fact that those who had arrived from the colonies had British passports and enjoyed the same legal rights as their white counterparts, black British citizens faced everyday racism, social injustices and widespread patterns of discrimination.” (Golbach, 2019).

 The importance into this historical and theoretical research has allowed me to in some ways, understand my subject matter and the themes I am exploring in more detail. On the other hand, it has brought along its own complexities. This has been important especially as a photographer, but also a white male that does not understand emotionally nor experienced such discrimination. I want to learn, and I want to try my best to understand not just through historical contexts and events but use my contemporary creative project to depict the importance and awareness of such a powerful theme/s. This is evident in my reading of Paul Canoville’s biography Black and Blue: How Racism, Drugs and Cancer Almost destroyed Me. “They were all wearing blue shirts and scarves – Chelsea fans, my side’s fans, faces screwed with pure hatred and anger, all directed at me. Then it came. Chanting, not just by one or two people, but what sounded like scores of people, a huge mob: ‘We don’t want the nigger! We don’t want the nigger!” (Canoville 2008, pp4-5).

Despite all this research being apparent through reflection now with the inevitable end in sight, it did not feel this way during most of this project. It was a struggle after such a long pause to pick up where I had left off and having to adjust my previous module ASU2 which was on course to submit and a documentation from my visits to Hackney Marshes to an archival project of my family’s involvement with football. There was many highs and lows throughout this journey all influenced by the pandemic, which in September 2020 announced that outdoor sports including grassroots football (all non-elite football) would be able to resume after a lengthy six-to-seven-month period with no activity. This was an opportunity that I had to make the most of as there was so much uncertainty with the future and how things would change from month to month. It was not long after grassroots football had resumed that it was paused once again due to the impact of Covid-19 which forced me to reconsider my initial intentions and submission ideas. I have had to rethink my ideas on several occasions mostly impacted by the inconsistency on the travel restrictions enabling me to get to London to shoot.

 There was a moment during the winter where I considered shooting around the local areas of Norfolk and Suffolk to shoot new material however, after some deliberation it just did not make any sense to shoot anywhere but Hackney Marshes after so long.  So, I stuck to my decision not to shoot anywhere other than the Marshes out of stubbornness as a photographer with a clear vision in mind for this project. I did not want to settle or compromise with anything other than what I had planned. I am unsure whether that decision reflecting back now, was the right one but I can at the very least know that I have stuck to my original plans and not compromised what will in the future be a project that I stand for and reflects me as an individual.

Fig 1. Michael Morgan, (2020) Grassroots, Hackney Marshes

I feel like I am repeating myself at times discussing the difficulties this year has thrown at us, but this review is an honest reflection on how I have felt this project has gone. Yes, there are positives and lots of them but there is so much more than I can do, and I know deep down that there is much more to come with my project Grassroots. This is also because of my nature as a creative and photographer, always wanting to strive for more and improve always on my own technical ability and my understanding and knowledge within the industry that I have surrounded myself with. I am a strong believer in personal growth and the subject matter and themes that I have explored within this body of work are so intense, sensitive, and complex especially as someone that has not experienced it first-hand. So, it is imperative that I understand it to the best of my ability. My work and journey can enable me to learn more and improve as a human and understand the importance that photography can have on future generations and their perceptions. Looking and planning beyond my last submission for my Masters in early January 2021, I have lots of work to do this project justice. There is the exhibition that I have planned in May 2021 which I intend to notify and include the University with as they have done so much for me and my progression as a photographer and it would only be fair and respectful that I thank everyone that has aided my vision to include the Norwich University of the Arts in some way, especially my lecturer Juneko Haga for all her support and guidance throughout this year. I also have plans for my magazine / zine which I will continue to develop and work on which will also include lots of exclusive and new content from now until May when I plan to launch the exhibition opening. My Masters has opened so many avenues for this project and as for many it might feel like the end, it feels like the start of Grassroots and I am excited to see where I will take this in the future. I will continue my pursuit of magazine and online features as this is always a useful way to keep my work relevant, active, and reaching out to a wider audience that I would not necessarily be able to reach on my own. I will also look to venture further afield next year with Grassroots, exploring amateur football once again across the UK and when it is safe to do so, further exploring Europe and many other communities and cultures and begin to develop and learn what football means to them. With so many plans in the new year, I am excited to see where I can take this project and thanks to my Masters I am able to focus with clear and concise ideas, methodologies and themes with a more specific target audience.

 In conclusion, this project has been in many ways successful but also has flattered to deceive. I have struggled to reignite my passion for both photography and football, with so many interruptions forcing me to cancel and postpone my plans to visit and shoot at Hackney Marshes, alongside achieving my end goals. As I mentioned previously in this review, it also did not make sense after I had invested a year into this project working on building relationships at Hackney Marshes and with the project itself starting to become more focused and sophisticated in its approach and the context as well. I have unfortunately a lot of regrets as I finalise this module and finish my Masters, many of which were taken out of my hands.

 I do not intend to use the pandemic as an excuse as to why I was unable to achieve and successfully pull off my initially intentions for this module. In fact, I have used these difficult times to work on aspects and areas that I feel will benefit me in my career as a photographer and its longevity. I focused earlier on so much on my professional practice and how I could continue to gain exposure with the use of magazine and online publications, taking advantage of this pandemic somewhat and taking the opportunities to get featured to keep active and keep my work circling within the industry. It was important for my creative growth and use these publications as momentum to push me mentally throughout this semester. As I alluded to before, it has been a struggle for many reasons.  This, however, was soon highlighted by my peers and lecturers as admirable but was not meeting the criteria and the learning agreement outcomes. I needed to refocus and remember that there were relevant and an academic criterion that I had to meet and soon turned my attention back to contemporary photographers with the mix of historical context. I have always been inspired by artists from across all the creative disciplines and believe it is important to broaden your horizons when it comes to theoretical influences and to get inspired by other artists including, writers, filmmakers, designers and many more. Nevertheless, I focused mostly on contemporary photographers including Alec Soth, Anastasia Taylor-Lind, Christian Patterson and Rineke Dijkstra.  The photographer that has influenced my work the most would be Alec Soth, more specifically his most recent body of work that was released in 2019 ‘I Know How Furiously Your Heart Is Beating’. Featured towards the back of this exquisite book is an interview with Alex Soth by Hanya Yanagihara, where Soth opens himself up about his struggles creating work. I can relate to this struggle more than I have done since I started photography myself. Soth quotes “That’s what I’m struggling with. I can give a super-long answer. But the short one that I’ve been giving – portraits and interiors wherever I travel: I can feel how unexciting it is. It’s just not sexy. Whereas if you say something like, ‘I’m travelling along the Mississippi River,” people get it. They can hang onto that.” (Soth, 2019).  The struggles I have faced within my own practice and outside have affected much of my work and creativity. I have struggled to get back into the momentum and swing of shooting and even as I finalise this final project for my Masters, I am confused with the direction as to where this project is going in this moment.

Fig 2. Alec Soth (2019) I Know How Furiously Your Heart Is Beating, Accessed 02/01/2021

 My exhibition plans have been postponed in February 2021 and now pushed back until May 2021 with the new tier system and restrictions on grassroots football stalling any plans, I had in place to shoot at Hackney Marshes. This decision was not one that I have taken lightly which also now coincides with the postponement of my new more accessible zine which I intend to launch in conjunction with the new opening night date of my exhibition. These unfortunate events do, however, give me the opportunity to shoot more exclusive content when I am able to resume shooting for this body of work along with allowing me more time after I have submitted my final Masters project to reflect on what this project is missing and piece together the final images. Finally, to summarise this module has been a massive challenge and whilst I have not been able to carry out what I initially had intended, it has been one of my proudest moments coming out of the other end of a difficult year with a project that as it stands is visually and conceptual strong but still has much more to offer.

  Michael Morgan

[owlyouth]

Films: The Best Films of 2019 So Far (January-April)

These are the films i’ve seen so far this year, ranked. There are a couple which aren’t from 2019, but almost none from before 2017. 

I’ve left out a couple that are either rewatches (Reservoir Dogs) or old classics i’ve never got round to watching before (Three Colours: Blue).

See what you think.

The Favourite / Palace intrigue, absurdist costumes, comedy and insane dialogue this film was fun in the smartest and most rewarding ways possible. A completely entertaining and self-contained original script that seemed perfectly tempered by its long gestation and edits from different authors. (Award for Best Wigs and the Word ‘Cuntstruck’)

Beast / This film is the most twisted, non-twisted film. Like being gently stroked by someone you don’t trust only to have a bucket of gravel thrown over your head. Never has a film’s title hovered over it so emphatically and in such a way that it gives it an extra dynamic poetics. Both the leads hold the camera in frightening and surprising ways throughout. Strangely similar to Burning and Gone Girl. Also the better of the two Jessie Buckley films on this list. (Award for being like Gone Girl, but British and Better)

Us / Better than Her, You, and Them, this was just as good as almost everyone said. A truly great genre film that held its audience with a Jordan Peele stranglehold that is unrivalled in mainstream cinema. The film seemed to suffer with audiences in some cases, but only because they were comparing it to Get Out. Both are exceptional, I don’t have a favourite, but while it’s an inevitable comparison, it also makes no sense, they are both two of the best films of the last few years. (Award for Best Film to Watch in the Cinema)

Wind River / This was also a great genre film, but where Us made you grab your chair, Wind River trusts you to navigate along with it in a way that’s slow, careful and methodical. I found this incredibly engrossing, similar to Winter’s Bone in some ways, and my favourite of the frontier trilogy written by Taylor Sheridan - the other two are Sicario and Hell or High Water. (Award for Best Nick Cave Humming Soundtrack)

You Were Never Really Here / This film from the maker of We Need To Talk About Kevin and Ratcatcher is just as dark as its predecessors. It is also a very self-contained story of a hitman rescuing a girl from high-powered brothel. Not for the faint hearted, but incredibly engrossing and just a great gut-punch of a film. (Award for Best Taxi Driver Remake)

Leave No Trace / I just watched this one and while I didn’t love it as much as Mark Kermode (it was his favourite film of last year), I did love the length of time you got to spend with the characters. A father and daughter living out in the woods, have to navigate changes; films with this little content make you realise how jam-packed most mainstream films are, and how little the extra stuff really adds. The sense of the outside and of alienation from mainstream society slowly sinks in so that by the end, I felt a bit surrounded by all the stuff in my room. (The Kelly Reichardt Award for film without much of a Conventional Plot)

Burning / This is based on a Murakami short story, is also a slow-moving film. It reminded me of The Square, but where that film’s downward spiral feels like walking through warm mud, this feels like a breeze. An interesting and kind of awe-inspiring breeze. The dread in this is so well measured and balanced, the tone through the whole thing works perfectly and the performances are incredible. (Award for Best Hobby)

Jellyfish / This is a heartbreaking film about a 15-year-old girl in Margate who - due to an absentee dad and a mum with mental health and substance abuse problems - is trying to care for her two younger siblings and her mum, while keeping up with school and a job. Liv Hill is completely engaging and manages to look exactly as young as a 15-year-old and as old as someone with so much on their shoulders. The film is incredibly low budget and honest and the stand-up comedy (you heard me) that the main character performs as an escape is also brilliant. (Award for Most Supportive Teacher)

Fighting With My Family / From the low budget to the high. I’m not sure why I enjoyed this film so much, it’s a pretty straightforward feel-good film about a rags-to-riches wrestler. Based on a priceless Channel 4 documentary and directed by Stephen Merchant for maximum Norwich-girl-in-Los-Angeles comedy it is equal parts silly and warm, and it left a lump in my throat. (Award for Most Generic Regional Accents)

Ruby Sparks / This is slightly older than the other films on this list (2012), but i’d forgotten how good it was until I watched Wildfire and was reminded about Zoe Kazan and Paul Dano (see more at no. 17). Anyway it is a great feminist read on the idea of the female muse and tortured male author. In one sentence: a successful writer’s new character suddenly appears in his house, and other people can see her too. It’s got the feel of a Charlie Kaufman film, but without the self-hatred. (Award for Best Antonio Banderas Cameo)

Wild Rose / Another heart-warmer here, but with some grit thanks to the relationship between Julie Walters and Jessie Buckley. The film has a strange tonal shift at the end where every imaginable loose end gets resolved, which is a shame because the rest of it is understated and down-to-the-ground. (Award for Best Mince)

Spiderman: Into the Spider Verse / This one went under a lot of people’s radars. An animated film with the closest visual style to actual graphic novels ever, it is fun and funny, though I wasn’t all that invested by the end. Lots of people said that it surprised them, which had me expecting something more surprising, still lots of laughs and visually awesome. (Award for Best Psychedelic Fight to the Death, and Best Pig Spider)

Green Book / This film suffered massively for having won the Best Picture Oscar. If it weren’t for that we could have celebrated the good bits and not have to dissect it as The Symbol of Racial Retrenchment in Hollywood. There’s an argument to say that the film needs that kind of dissection either way, and I agree, but the positives in here - the lead performance from Mahershala Ali in particular - are worth celebrating, a little. (Award for Best Film with ‘Book’ in the Title)

The Spy Who Dumped Me / This is silly fun, but also one long car chase. A film that belongs on Netflix. Kate McKinnon is always hilarious, but it’s still jarring to watch SNL-style-sketch-acting in a film. (Award for Best Uber Ride) 

Dumplin’ / ‘With the best will in the world’ should be the tagline for this film. It makes sense that this sits on Netflix forever, for that day when you and your mates want to watch something without thinking about anything. But it is also not as good as similar films. See Little Miss Sunshine for further details. (Award for Best Jennifer Aniston Vehicle)

Three Identical Strangers / A documentary that got a lot of hype -  identical triplets who only discovered each other’s existence in their late teens, became minor celebrities and then find out about how they were separated at birth. The story is incredible, but is told in a pretty plain way and by the end I was wondering why I was interested. (Award for Best Kvetching)

Hell or High Water / This is the weakest of Taylor Sheridan’s frontier trilogy (with Wind River and Sicario coming in first and second respectively for me) but it is still a good story well told. It is the story of two bank robbing brothers out to raise enough money for one of them to look after his kids. For me the two central performances didn’t work, Chris Pine is wooden (sorry) and Ben Foster is irritating as the more erratic brother. Jeff Bridges and Gil Birmingham to drag the film into some deeper and more interesting place. (Award for Best Car Switching Technique)

Wildlife / I had high hopes for Wildlife after enjoying Ruby Sparks a lot, Paul Dano and Zoe Kazan co-wrote this and Paul Dano directed as well. While this kind of sad, simmering story might have been carried by grand naturalistic symbolism when Terrence Malick was at his height (not now, but check out Days of Heaven), this film seems to be dragged by actors all too aware that they're in a film directed by an actor. (Award for film most like an American Novel from the 1950s)

Unicorn Store / This film is a mess. It only goes above Crazy Rich Asians because of the sweet relationship between Brie Larson and Mamoudou Athie, which feels like the kind of romance that can only happen in a film with such low stakes. (Award for Having a Film with no Script Supervision)

Crazy Rich Asians / While celebrating the victory for representation of an all-Asian mainstream romantic comedy, this is still a pretty depressing film to watch. It is clearly not a film made for me, but I also think there are films made for other audiences which have more skill, with less annoying people, and don’t seem to celebrate money quite so much. Yes to the representation, this Awkwafina music video, and Ken Jeong eating spicy chicken wings. No to the rest. (Award for Most Watery Walk Down the Aisle)

[daniellethamasa]

Hey all, Dani here.

I have a couple tags I’ve found to add to my post rotation to break up all the reviews a little bit, and I’m bringing back my recommendations series from late 2017-early 2018 as well. But I’m also trying to find some other fun and interesting posts to add to the blog. So for today I figured I would look back at my list of 2018 releases and select some that I have yet to read.

I was going to try and choose one book for each month of 2018, but I discovered that my November and December releases were either ones that I’ve already read…or they’re ones where I’m behind on the series, so I’m not as sad that I haven’t made it to that particular release. So I ended up choosing two extra October releases.

Anyway, let’s just talk about some books.

First up, let’s talk January through April. Have I had The Cruel Prince on my shelf since the week it released? Why yes, yes I have. And not just the B&N Exclusive Edition, but also the OwlCrate edition. So why haven’t I read it? I don’t know. I’ve heard great things about it, and I generally love stories involving fae and faerie. I probably just need to pick it up and read.

And what about Hamilton and Peggy! My Hamilton obsession (thanks Lin-Manuel Miranda) is massive, and I really wanted to read this book. I even put it on my TBR in February or March…but then I never got around to it. Or maybe I only read a few pages and then forgot about it. Either way, bad book reader.

Let’s not forget Impostor Syndrome. I have very much loved the diversity and complexity of the characters in this series, and this is the third and final book. I sometimes have this problem a lot though. If I enjoy a series too much then I try to ignore the last book for as long as possible so that it isn’t actually over for me. The problem is that sometimes I can wait too long and forget what happened before. So I need to just read this one and move on.

Oh, Ash Princess. I love your cover, and the story sounds interesting, and then I saw the cover for your sequel Lady Smoke, and I realized that I can’t read it because I haven’t read the first book. This book was on my highly anticipated list…and yet here it still sits, unread.

Next is May through August. Two of these books are ones that I was approved for on NetGalley. I just was an absolute failure the past couple years with getting my NetGalley reads done and reviewed in a timely manner. I’m working on it. So The Plastic Magician and Smoke and Iron, I’m coming for you…sometime in the near future, for sure. The final book in Rachel Caine’s The Great Library series is coming out in September, so I definitely need to get that read. And I don’t know when Charlie N Holmberg’s next book is coming, but they have all been quick shorter reads.

Then there’s My Plain Jane. Now, I admit that I wasn’t the biggest fan of My Lady Jane; I just didn’t really connect with the story and at times it felt a bit too absurd. But I rather like Jane Eyre, and ghosts, and I’m willing to give this series another shot. Maybe it will convince me to give the first book another go.

These Rebel Waves is also still on this list, because I am apparently great at having a bunch of books on my most anticipated list and then just not reading them after they have been released and I’ve bought myself a copy. Considering that the sequel is expected in August this year, I really should get to this one soon.

Finally, it’s September and October. Pride was one of my most anticipated, and I put it on my TBR for Diverse December, and still haven’t read it. I know this is going to be a good read, and I enjoy Pride and Prejudice, so I should try and get around to it soon.

Why haven’t I read The Boneless Mercies yet? It sounds so awesome, and as someone with a degree in English Literature, I enjoy reading these adaptations of classic novels. I won a copy of this in a giveaway by the publisher…a day after buying myself a copy, so I gifted one to my fiance. We may attempt a buddy read of this sometime this year.

Plays, assassinations, political plots…An Assassin’s Guide to Love and Treason just sounds like an adventure I would enjoy. So why haven’t I picked my copy off the shelf and read it yet? I don’t know. Maybe I just need more free time in my life.

Finally, What If It’s Us makes it on this list. I have loved every Adam Silvera book I’ve read. I’ve only read one Becky Albertalli book so far and it was good, but not great (to me–most other people rave about its awesomeness). So I guess I’m holding off because I don’t know if I’ll enjoy this one as much. Then again, possibly I could love it. I guess I just need to start reading and see what happens.

So there you have it…twelve books released in 2018 that I have yet to pick up. Are there other books that I haven’t mentioned in this post? Well, yeah, quite a few. But a lot of those are new installments in series where I’ve only read one book or something, so I’m so far behind that I’m not really sad about not being up to date on releases. Like…I still need to read Lord of Shadows, so obviously I’m not bothered that I haven’t read Queen of Air and Darkness. Or, I haven’t read Tower of Dawn yet, so of course I still haven’t read Kingdom of Ash. I’ll get around to them all eventually.

Are there any 2018 books that you’re sad you haven’t read yet? Let me know in the comments, and I’ll be back soon with more bookish content.

2018 Releases I’m Sad I Haven’t Read Yet Hey all, Dani here. I have a couple tags I've found to add to my post rotation to break up all the reviews a little bit, and I'm bringing back my recommendations series from late 2017-early 2018 as well.

[theconservativebrief]

This month’s cover of National Geographic depicts a lone white cowboy looking out over the American West, with the question: Whose land is it anyway?

National Geographic’s November issue. National Geographic

The Instagram promotion of the cover juxtaposes the American cowboy and the words “Battle for the American West” with a Native American, dressed in full regalia in front of a Utah state building.

This visual framing — the heroic white savior versus the savage native — is not new to the American imagination or to the magazine. For decades, National Geographic has been criticized for its colonialist approach to nonwhite cultures, specifically indigenous communities. Critics argue that it has been peddling visual tropes of “savage” or “uncivilized” brown and black people for more than a century.

As part of the magazine’s April 2018 “The Race Issue,” Susan Goldberg — the publication’s first woman and first Jewish editor-in-chief, since its founding in 1888 — flatly denounced National Geographic’s troubled history. Her mea culpa was headlined, “For Decades, Our Coverage Was Racist. To Rise Above Our Past, We Must Acknowledge It.”

As part of the story, Goldberg hired John Edwin Mason, a University of Virginia professor specializing in the history of photography and the history of Africa, to examine how the magazine pushed readers toward racist stereotypes and tropes.

Mason was almost speechless with some of the depictions he came across in the archive, like a 1916 story about Australia where aboriginal Australians were called “savages” who “rank lowest in intelligence of all human beings.”

“What Mason found in short was that until the 1970s National Geographic all but ignored people of color who lived in the United States, rarely acknowledging them beyond laborers or domestic workers. Meanwhile it pictured ‘natives’ elsewhere as exotics, famously and frequently unclothed, happy hunters, noble savages — every type of cliché,” wrote Goldberg.

Which brings me back to November’s cover — a blatant disregard for what seemed like a sincere reckoning. I corresponded with Mason to inquire about his work with the famed publication, whether he sees progress, and how he felt when he first saw the magazine’s November cover.

The Q&A, lightly edited for clarity, appears below.

Kainaz Amaria

Tell me a little bit about your work with Goldberg on the magazine’s “racial reckoning.”

John Edwin Mason

My instructions were to dig deeply into the magazine’s archives to evaluate the ways it had depicted black and brown people — overseas and in the US. I found that its photographs and illustrations tended to position black and brown people as racial inferiors, as people inherently backward and incapable of progress. These depictions were sometimes overtly racist at least until the 1970s. The sometimes explicit corollary was that white people were the natural rulers of the globe.

The magazine has changed significantly for the better over the last few decades, but the habit of seeing black and brown people as the other — that is, of viewing them from the standpoint of whiteness — has never completely gone away.

Kainaz Amaria

Let’s back up a bit. Can you describe the era in which National Geographic was founded and how it came to prominence?

John Edwin Mason

The magazine was born at the height of so-called “scientific” racism and imperialism — including American imperialism. This culture of white supremacy shaped the outlook of the magazine’s editors, writers, and photographers, who were always white and almost always men.

They saw the world through the same elite perspective as American policymakers and politicians based in Washington DC. They were tied to that elite white male perspective. The magazine almost thought of itself as a branch of government. It believed very much in the colonial enterprise.

I didn’t detect any defensiveness in the editors when I spoke with them about this. Instead, I sensed a genuine willingness to address the magazine’s past and to improve the ways it depicts people of color. And, as it turned out, the race issue was superb.

Kainaz Amaria

For folks that are new to understanding issues around representation in photography, can you tease out why the imagery of a cowboy on a horse and a Native American person in regalia combined with the text “Whose Land Is It?” feels like it’s from another time? What were your initial thoughts when you saw November’s National Geographic cover?

John Edwin Mason

Surprise, disappointment, and a touch of sadness. The cover of the November issue is a step backward. The Instagram presentation is two steps backward.

The image of the white cowboy reproduces and romanticizes the mythic iconography of settler colonialism and white supremacy. After all, we know that most cowboys weren’t heroic and that a very large number of them were Latino or black. We know that the land that the cowboy worked had been stolen from Native Americans. The myth was created to obscure all of that.

The cover of the November issue tells us that it’s about “The Battle for the American West” and asks “Whose Land Is It Anyway?” The photo of the cowboy, bathed in golden sunlight, while sitting on his horse and surveying the landscape, answers the question — implicitly but clearly. The American West is his. It’s a white man’s county.

On Instagram, a photo of a Native American — dressed in tribal garb, mouth wide open —immediately follows the image of the handsome, stoic cowboy. The implied racial hierarchy is clear. One is exotic and primitive; the other is, like the magazine’s presumed readers, white and civilized.

“The magazine missed an opportunity to disrupt entrenched ways of seeing the West”

This way of seeing the West reproduces the iconography of settler colonialism. You could put it on the cover of a book extolling the righteousness of Manifest Destiny, the 19th-century notion that white settlement was divinely destined to spread across North America.

The cover photo also reminds me of the iconography of Afrikaner nationalism in South Africa. The man on a horse, wearing a wide-brimmed hat and commanding the landscape, was a recurring motif in Afrikaner nationalist imagery. As in the US, it grew out of a desire to naturalize and justify settler colonialism and the theft of lands owned by indigenous people. White Americans don’t like to think of their country as a settler state, but, like apartheid South Africa, that’s exactly what it is.

Kainaz Amaria

This seems to directly contradict their mea culpa. How could it have been done better?

John Edwin Mason

I was as disappointed by what the cover didn’t do as by what it does. The magazine missed an opportunity to disrupt entrenched ways of seeing the West. Why didn’t it use a portrait of a Native American? Or if you wanted to stay with the theme of conquest, why not an image of a white pioneer woman? At least it would be a reminder that the West wasn’t simply a white man’s world. Or if the theme of the cowboy was important, why not a dark-skinned cowboy?

Kainaz Amaria

Anything else you’d like to add?

John Edwin Mason

There were many options that the magazine could have chosen to encourage its readers to see and think anew. But it ignored them all.

The photographs in the online version of the cover story also create a racial hierarchy. Native people are seen only in traditional clothing. A photo of an ancient Pueblo dwelling and photos of petroglyphs and pictographs that are many centuries old represent their culture. Visually, they’re associated only with the past. The article shows whites, on the other hand, dressed in modern clothing and engaged in recognizably modern activities such as farming, mining, and outdoor recreation. They’re surrounded by associated modern technologies of jeeps and trucks and mountain bikes. Whites, then, are depicted as progressive and dynamic, the opposite of Native Americans, who seem to be mired in the past.

Kainaz Amaria

Let’s go beyond the cover. What are your thoughts specifically on how the other stories inside the magazine are framed?

John Edwin Mason

It contains some truly excellent reporting and photography, including the cover story about the rancher who sold his land to the Nature Conservancy.

It’s clear to me that the cover and the Instagram promotion don’t do the magazine justice. The content is more complex and nuanced than they would lead one to believe. This is especially a problem since it’s very likely that most people who see the cover and the Instagram post will never read this issue of the magazine. They’ll see only the message that the cover and post send, a message that reproduces and reinforces an enduring myth of settler colonialism.

Kainaz Amaria

This a really good point. If the cover reinforces visual cliches that could offend audiences, is it fair to ask people to engage with the stories inside? Charlie Hamilton James, who photographed the cover story for their October issue, noted that in his experience, clichés are often used to draw an audience into the story.

It’s a balance of course and there’s perhaps no right or wrong. In my experience people respond to cliche – I didn’t do the cover so I can’t comment. But when I was a film maker I would draw people in with the cliche then change then change the narrative.

— CharlieHamiltonJames (@chamiltonjames) October 24, 2018

I’m interested in your thoughts around this argument. Do you think using clichés works to draw in audiences?

John Edwin Mason

It seems to me that National Geographic has itself demonstrated that cover photos can draw readers in while simultaneously challenging their preconceptions. I’ll point to the cover of the January 2017 issue on the gender revolution. It featured Robin Hammond’s powerful portrait of a transgender girl, dressed in pink with hair to match, whose pose and direct, utterly self-possessed gaze riffed on Édouard Manet’s “Olympia.”

Many readers probably found the portrait to be unsettling. Yet it’s also undeniably compelling and an almost irresistible invitation to open the issue and read more.

Clichés are crutches; National Geographic doesn’t need them. Its mission isn’t to tell people what they think they already know about the world. It’s to show them something new.

Original Source -> National Geographic’s November cover falls back on a racist cliché

via The Conservative Brief

[janeaddamspeace]

In Washington DC: disrupting the notion of what public education and what black boys can do and be #JACBA Newsletter 2Feb2018

These kids started a book club for minority boys. It's the most popular club in school.

The club dates back to December, when a fifth-grader complained one morning that his lackluster results on a citywide English exam didn't reflect his true reading abilities.

The principal, Mary Ann Stinson, placed a book she had lying around - "Bad Boy: A Memoir," by Walter Dean Myers - in his hands and told him to start reading.

The boys quickly became engrossed in the 2001 book about Myers's childhood in New York's Harlem.

The club's sponsor and the boys meet once or twice a week at 8:15 a.m. - a half-hour before the first bell rings - and use the book to launch into conversations about their own experiences with race, identity and adolescence.

"It's a blessing to be in this predicament, to have kids who are becoming ravenous readers," Redmond said. "We're disrupting the notion of what public education can be and what little black boys can do and be."

Read More

Now Is Your Time! The African-American Struggle for Freedom by Walter Dean Myers 1992 Awardee

Patrol: An American Soldier in Vietnam by Walter Dean Myers 2003 Awardee

'Monster' Review: Powerful Crime Drama Finds the Intersection of Race, Justice, and Storytelling [Sundance]

Ever since its publication in 1999, author Walter Dean Myers' award-winning novel Monster has be a favorite among young adults, providing them a glimpse into the world of Steve Harmon, a black teenager whose life is thrown into chaos when he is arrested and put on trial for taking part in a robbery gone wrong, resulting in the death of a Harlem bodega owner. The film adaptation from music video veteran and first-time filmmaker Anthony Madler is an ambitious, complex, and layered look at how the court system in America is virtually designed to keep defendants like Steve from every getting a chance at actual justice.

Read More

'Monster' Director Seeks To Explore The Larger Question Of How One Moment Can Define Your Life - Sundance Studio

"To crystalize the lens and look at mass incarceration and criminal justice and the ways our laws were written, as well as this incredible journey of a young artist," said Mandler on his decision to take on the project. "Watching this kid from a great family goes to a great school seek out his take on the world and how that curiosity leads him to a place where he now has to defend his life against what happened, I was attracted to it on all those different levels."

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New Kids' and YA Books: Week of January 29, 2018

The Journey of Little Charlie by Christopher Paul Curtis. Scholastic Press, $16.99; ISBN 978-0-545-15666-0. Echoing themes found in Curtis's Newbery Honor-winning Elijah of Buxton, this tense novel set in 1858 provides a very different perspective on the business of catching runaway slaves. The book earned a starred review from PW.

No Truth Without Ruth: The Life of Ruth Bader Ginsburg by Kathleen Krull, illus. by Nancy Zhang. Harper, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-06-256011-7. In this addition to the growing body of Ruth Bader Ginsburg literature for children, Krull offers a detailed account of the Supreme Court justice's intellectual and professional development.

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Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis 2008 Awardee

The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis 1996 Awardee

Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez, written by Kathleen Krull, illustrated by Yuyi Morales 2004 Awardee

Wilma Unlimited, written by Kathleen Krull, illustrated by David Diaz 1997 Awardee

Native American storytellers to perform at Morris

Morris Central School will present a "family-friendly" presentation by Native American author, musician, and storyteller Joseph Bruchac and his son, Jesse Bruchac, at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 15 in the school auditorium.

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The Heart of a Chief by Joseph Bruchac 1999 Awardee

Bonnier Publishing USA's Five Pillars of Positive Children's Books

Bonnier Publishing USA has developed five pillars to guide its children's imprints in publishing books that have a positive impact on kids and teens

During an all-hands planning meeting this past fall, the children's team at Bonnier Publishing USA realized they'd hit a critical point. Their titles were coalescing around five themes, which they dubbed their "five pillars": acceptance, anti-bullying, awareness, diversity, and empowerment. According to Sonali Fry, publisher of the children's book group, "while we had already been publishing books connected to some of these themes," such as Freedom in Congo Square by Carole Boston Weatherford and R. Gregory Christie, which received a 2017 Caldecott Medal and a Coretta Scott King Honor, "we wanted to refocus our lists so that we hit every one of them."

"We feel that now, more than ever, it's important to give kids stories that reflect the world they live in and encourage them to imagine how they could make it better," says Fry. While, she says, the kids' team doesn't limit its acquisitions to books focused on one of the pillars, "there's often a natural connection to at least one. These themes unite the types of books we're passionate about, which helps shape our lists and, in turn, define who we are as a publisher," she says.

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The Book Itch: Freedom, Truth & Harlem's Greatest Bookstore by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie 2016 Awardee

Birmingham, 1963 by Carole Boston Weatherford 2008 Awardee

Greenwich Academy quilts its commitment to MLK's message

The colorful quilt squares are inked with words like unity, resilience, trust, hope and harmony. Crafted by the Greenwich Academy student body and staff, they are a patchwork representation of Martin Luther King Jr.'s message of equality and inclusion.

"In order to memorialize the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King's assassination, each advisory was asked to create a square for the quilt," said senior Elisha Osemobor. "This quilt represents our dedication as a school to follow the principles and behaviors of the beloved community in our everyday lives."

Greenwich Academy's quilt was inspired by the work of African-American artist Faith Ringgold who combined images and text in "story quilts," among other projects. An outspoken civil rights supporter, she demonstrated against the exclusion of black and female artists by New York's Whitney Museum of American Art and the Museum of Modern Art from 1968 to 1970. Her work was later shown at the Whitney, the Museum of Modern Art and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York.

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Aunt Harriet's Underground Railroad in the Sky by Faith Ringgold 1993 Awardee

Children, Culture, Community: Muskegon Museum of Art celebrates diversity with a variety of events this winter

This year, the museum's annual children's book illustrator exhibition highlights a Hispanic artist and Native American author. Thunder Boy, Jr.: Illustrations by Yuyi Morales runs through May 20 and includes illustrations and sketches by Yuyi Morales for Sherman Alexie's children's book.

Morales herself has an inspiring story. Although she loved drawing as a child, she wasn't a trained artist and studied physical education in Mexico, later working as a swim coach. She moved to America in 1994 with her husband and young son and felt isolated and alone without a job or friend, barely knowing English.

That all changed when she discovered children's picture books in a San Francisco area public library, learning English by also reading the books to her son. Inspired by the vivid colors and visual stories, Morales took up painting and enrolled in a class on writing for children.

Morales since has written several original stories, including Viva Frida, which received the 2015 Pura Belpre Medal for illustration, as well as the 2015 Caldecott Award Honor.

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Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez, written by Kathleen Krull, illustrated by Yuyi Morales 2004 Awardee

This Is Just To Say: Naomi Shibab Nye

In this edition of This Is Just To Say, poet and novelist Carrie Fountain talks with Palestinian-American poet Naomi Shihab Nye.

Nye reads her poem "Burning the Old Year," and they continue to explore the idea of what we take with us and what we leave behind as we enter 2018 through W.S. Merwin's To the Mistakes.

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Habibi by Naomi Shihab Nye 1998 Awardee

Sitti's Secrets by Naomi Shihab Nye, illustrated by Nancy Carpenter 1995 Awardee

Governor's reply to student's letter is lost opportunity

Hope Osgood, a 16-year-old High School student, wrote to Maine Gov. Paul LePage to express her concern about the negative impact the pending repeal of internet "net neutrality" rules could have on her schoolwork. His response: "Hope. Pick up a book and read!"

The episode calls to mind a famous letter exchange between the Soviet leader Yuri Andropov and a Maine school child, Samantha Smith. Andropov, who became General Secretary of the Communist Party (in effect, leader of the Soviet Union) on Nov. 10, 1982, was hardly a gentle or sentimental man.

In November 1982, Samantha, then a 10-year-old elementary school student living in Manchester, Maine, wrote a famous letter to Andropov in which she expressed, with child-like sincerity and naiveté, her concern about the risk of nuclear war between the U.S. and U.S.S.R. during the Reagan era.

Samantha's visit inspired other exchanges of child goodwill ambassadors and may even have signaled the start of a thaw in U.S.-Soviet relations.

It is ironic that the remarkable achievements of Samantha's short life were inspired by the words of a political leader who had neither experience in nor sympathy for democracy. If Andropov could react appropriately to Samantha Smith, why couldn't a democratically elected governor do at least as well with Hope Osgood?

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Journey to the Soviet Union by Samantha Smith 1986 Awardee

Pam Muñoz Ryan To Receive The 2018 Anne V. Zarrow Award For Young Readers' Literature

New York Times best-selling author Pam Muñoz Ryan is the winner of the Tulsa Library Trust's 2018 Anne V. Zarrow Award for Young Readers' Literature.

Ryan is being recognized for writing more than 40 books to inspire imaginations, dreams and pride in all ages. From picture books, early readers and young adult novels, her writing encourages cultural awareness and the importance of believing in yourself.

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Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan 2001 Awardee

Orion Children's to publish Ghost Boys

American author Jewell Parker Rhodes has signed her first UK publishing deal with Orion Children's Books, part of the Hachette Children's Group (HCG).

Ghost Boys is about a black boy who is killed by a white police officer. After his death, Jerome comes back to his neighbourhood as a ghost, where he starts to notice all the other ghost boys.

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Sugar by Jewell Parker Rhodes 2014 Awardee

The Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes 2011 Awardee

Metro Theater Company And Jazz St. Louis present BUD NOT BUDDY

Based on the Newbery Medal and Coretta Scott King Award winning book by Christopher Paul Curtis

Written by award-winning playwright Kirsten Greenidge and based on the Newbery Medal and Coretta Scott King Award winning book by Christopher Paul Curtis, with a exhilarating score by five-time Grammy-winning jazz legend Terence Blanchard, "Bud, Not Buddy" follows 10-year-old Bud as he sets off on a journey to find his father who he believes is leading a traveling jazz band.

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More Than Movies: Blues and books featured at the Dietrich Theater

This year we are thrilled that acclaimed children's author Susan Campbell Bartoletti, who wrote "The Boy Who Dared," made time in her busy schedule to speak to students at our middle school in two assemblies. She also met with a group of interested student writers for two writing workshops. Any adult would have benefited from her two-hour workshops, which she made so engaging for students that the time sped by.

How fortunate we are that Susan Campbell, publisher of 20 books for children, Newbery Honor Book author, shared her stories and writing secrets with 300 Tunkhannock middle school students. Thank you Rotary Club of Tunkhannock, Walmart, and Claverack for making this extraordinary experience possible.

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Writer inspires students in craft

Susan Campbell Bartoletti offers one important piece of advice to those interested in writing.

Read.

"Only a reader can become a writer," Bartoletti explained to 30 sixth and eighth grade students at Tunkhannock Area Middle School on Thursday.

Bartoletti is the featured writer this year at the 'Reader Meets Writer' program, a joint effort between the school district and the Dietrich Theater.

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Kids on Strike! by Susan Campbell Bartoletti 2000 Awardee

Growing Up In Coal County by Susan Campbell Bartoletti 1997 Awardee

Film based on Simcoe author's book gets Oscar nod

The Breadwinner, an animated movie based on the book by Simcoe author Deborah Ellis, has been nominated for an Academy Award.

Nominations for the 90th annual Oscars were announced Tuesday morning, with The Breadwinner getting the nod in the animated feature category.

"You always hope for the good things and today it happened," Ellis said in a phone interview.

Ellis, who was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2016, won't travel to Los Angeles for the March 4 event. In February of last year, Ellis announced publicly she would not travel south of the 49th after the U.S. government attempted to implement sanctions to restrict immigrants from predominantly Muslim nations.

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Oscar-nominated film 'The Breadwinner' depicts daily danger in Afghanistan

It's a delicate balancing act, bringing something like ­Canadian author Deborah ­Ellis's novel - published in 2000 - to the big screen.

While aimed at children, the story directly confronts the misogyny and chauvinism of contemporary Afghanistan.

It may sound a little much for a children's story but then perhaps that's underestimating the book's youthful audience. Saara Chaudry, the 13 year-old Canadian actress who voices Parvana, says it was "shocking" when she first read Ellis's book and its two follow-ups. "I was ignorant," she says. "Living in a First World country, I didn't know. Having read the books and seen these different stories, it opened my eyes to a whole new world that I never really knew."

Impressively, the team behind the film produced an online study guide, at www.thebreadwinner.com to complement the film. "If young people watch a film like The Breadwinner, they can start to explore answers," says Twomey. "For me, the whole thing is about education. It's not about easy answers ... anything we can do to have young adults ask questions and understand the complexity of places like Afghanistan [is a good thing]."

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Oscars 2018: Nearly every animated feature nominee spotlights women. Finally.

IN THE entire first decade of the Oscars' animated feature category, which launched in 2001, only one woman - "Persepolis" creator Marjane Satrapi - received a nomination.

It's a measure of just how much has changed that on Tuesday, women received nods for four of the five animated feature nominees.

"We're delighted that Nora is in the limelight this year, of course," "Breadwinner" producer Tomm Moore, a two-time Oscars nominee, tells The Washington Post's Comic Riffs on Tuesday morning, "as well as her talented screenwriter Anita Doron and indeed, the book's author, Deborah Ellis, and our executive producer Angelina Jolie.

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The Heaven Shop by Deborah Ellis 2005 Awardee

The Breadwinner Trilogy, three books by Deborah Ellis 2004 Awardee

Parvana's Journey by Deborah Ellis 2003 Awardee

LitWorld And Scholastic Announce World Read Aloud Day 2018 And A Special Collaboration With Harry Potter Book Night

On February 1, children, families, and educators around the globe will celebrate World Read Aloud Day with classroom and community events, an author video series, a U.S. educator sweepstakes, and a Facebook Live

In an ongoing effort to encourage reading aloud to kids of all ages, the global literacy non-profit LitWorld and title sponsor Scholastic, the global children's publishing, education, and media company, today announced February 1, 2018 as this year's World Read Aloud Day, an advocacy day that calls attention to the importance of reading aloud and sharing stories.

Scholastic has created a video series harnessing LitWorld's 7 Strengths, as featured in Pam Allyn and Ernest Morrell's professional book Every Child a Super Reader. Each week leading up to World Read Aloud Day, we will share one video featuring a Scholastic author and/or literacy expert who will share their favorite read aloud book that highlights one of the 7 Strengths-Belonging, Kindness, Curiosity, Friendship, Confidence, Courage, and Hope.

Authors and literacy experts include: Andrea Davis Pinkney (author and Coretta Scott King Award-winner), Pam Muñoz Ryan (author and Newbery Honor-winner), and more!

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Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down by Andrea Davis Pinkney, illustrated by Brian Pinkney 2011 Awardee

Sojourner Truth's Step-Stomp Stride, by Andrea Davis Pinkney & Brian Pinkney 2010 Awardee

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The Jane Addams Children's Book Award annually recognizes children's books of literary and aesthetic excellence that effectively engage children in thinking about peace, social justice, global community, and equity for all people.

Read more about the 2017 Awards.