#appropriating counter cultures that they acted like they added something new and original too

[starlooove]

Will forever be mad that everyone ignores that Musa’s og style is based in hip hop and tbh that is literally indicative of how white people think everything we do is “alt” like the baggy pants and shit Is things white ppl did to rebel they rebel by copying us because everything we do is weird and outlandish to them and now its “alt” which is FINE or whatever but then they completely ignore the black aspects of it like

[i-am-bitterly-jittery]

Tally Marks

Based on this post which I would highly recommend looking at first because I will not be providing you the context

Word Count: 1850

Rating: Teen (for exactly 1 innuendo)

Pairing: none

Warning: none

~~~START~~~

As the logical Side, Logan was, well, logical.

That being said, he was really not sure what the logical explanation for this would be.

For months now — perhaps even years — tally marks had been appearing in Logan’s hands, arms, and sometimes even his face. Due to the manner in which the tally marks appear, Logan was pretty sure he was the one making them, but he couldn’t remember ever doing it. It reminded him of the Silence in Doctor Who, but the Silence weren’t real — and even if they were, he certainly wouldn’t be encountering them inside Thomas’s mind. Still, the marks remained unexplained.

<(^.^)>

Logan was awoken by a knocking at his door. It was the middle of the night, and while he was irritated at the interruption of his sleep cycle, he understood that sometimes Patton or Roman had nightmares, and as the logical Side, he was the logical choice to dispel any lingering fear.

He did not find Patton or Roman on the other side of his door.

“Logic,” the unknown Side wheezed. He was shaking as badly as Patton usually did after a nightmare, hunched in on himself and clutching a black hoodie around himself tightly.

Without even thinking about it, Logan pulled out a pen and made a mark on his hand.

“Did you have a nightmare?” Logan asked, making the decision to act as though he had found Patton behind the door. He could learn more about this new Side once he’d calmed down.

The Side nodded, lifting his head for the first time and allowing Logan a glance at a pair of mismatched eyes and tear tracks of eyeshadow running down his face.

“Would it help you to tell me about it?” Logan asked.

“T-Thomas,” the Side gasped, barely managing to get the one word out. “Thomas was- he was in the middle-” the Side did a full body shutter which seemed to cause more tears to stream down his face. “He was lost in th-the middle of a-a city and he couldn’t h-hear me, a-and he got h-hurt.”

Logan nodded. He wasn’t entirely sure of the identity of the Side, but Patton’s nightmares often centered around having an inability to help Thomas — or worse, be a hindrance to him — so Logan could assume that this Side was meant to protect Thomas in some way from the imagined situation. Roman’s nightmares — as creativity — featured many more monstered and imagined things.

“Thomas is not lost,” Logan assured the Side. “He is at home. He is safe. His doors are locked. And when he needs you, he will hear you.”

The Side sobbed again before launching himself into Logan’s arms.

Physical affection did not come naturally to Logan, but living with Patton and Roman certainly gave him plenty of time to study it and gain hands-on experience. He wrapped one arm securely around the Side’s back, and allowed his free hand to card slowly through the Side’s hair — this usually calmed Roman down, Patton on the other hand preferred two-armed hugs, as tightly as Logan could manage. The Side seemed content with Roman’s method as Logan felt him slowly but surely relax under his ministrations.

“Thanks, Logic,” the Side pulled away after a few minutes, looking infinitely calmer than when Logan had opened the door.

“Of course,” Logan acknowledged. “Though I don’t believe we’ve met before.”

“I know you don’t,” the other Side chuckled sadly. Logan did not get it. “My name is Anxiety. I’ll see ya later, teach.”

Anxiety turned and left down the hallway. Logan watched him for a moment, considering how the Side’s function as Anxiety probably left him vulnerable to many nightmares.

When Logan finally closed the door and turned to head back to bed, he’d completely forgotten why he’d opened the door in the first place.

Perhaps he had heard a noise coming from the hall? Yes, that was probably it; he’d heard a noise and thought it might be Patton or Roman with another nightmare.

He didn’t notice the tally mark until the next morning. By then, he’d forgotten about getting up in the middle of the night.

^(^.^)^

“Oh Logan!” An unfamiliar — but distinctly Thomas-like — voice called from behind the logical Side.

Logan turned to find a Side with snake scales covering half of his face holding a bowler hat in his hands and staring at Logan questioningly from farther down the hall.

“Can I help you?” Logan asked, adding another tally mark.

“What do you think about bowler hats?” The Side asked, lifting the hat a little in emphasis.

“Bowler hats — also known as derby hats — originated in the mid nineteenth century as a way to protect gamekeepers in England from overhead tree branches,” Logan recited tonelessly.

“Yes, but what do you think of bowler hats?” The Side stressed.

“Bowler hats were particularly popular in early twentieth century pop culture and thus are an effective accessory to make an outfit seem more old-fashioned.”

The Side chuckled.

“You’re very bad at fashion advice,” he said. “But I think I’ll keep the hat.”

The Side placed the hat on his head and stared at Logan expectantly. A bowler hat is a perfectly respectable style of hat. Logan told the Side as much; the Side only laughed a bit more.

“You are an absolute delight, Logan, but I suppose you’re my only option, after all, you won’t remember this later.”

Logan stared down the empty hallway towards his room. That was odd, he was trying to get to the kitchen. He turned around and continued on.

The common space was empty, but Logan expected as much. Patton was out helping Thomas with an issue, Roman would be in his room for hours yet, working on the script for Thomas’ next video and there weren’t any other Sides in the mindscape.

Logan decided on a sandwich for lunch, and resolved to make a couple extra for Patton and Roman. He was just getting the Crofters out when an unfamiliar — but distinctly Thomas-like — voice suddenly spoke behind him, nearly causing him to drop the precious jam.

“What do you think about the name ‘Janus’?”

Logan set the jam down on the counter before turning around. To his surprise, there was another Side standing behind him, one with snake-like features covering half his face, and a bowler hat resting on his head.

“Who are you?” Logan asked. Another mark. “I wasn’t aware that there were any other Sides.”

“I’m shocked,” the Side smirked. “I’m thinking of going by the name ‘Janus’, but I wanted your opinion first.”

“Have we met before?” Logan asked, unsure why an unfamiliar Side would want his opinion.

“No.”

The Side’s tone and smirk gave Logan the distinct feeling that he was being made fun of, but he couldn’t even begin to fathom how.

“Well, Janus is a Roman god, often attributed to beginnings, gateways, doorways, transitions, passages, frames, time, duality, and endings, so if you feel that any of those things describe your function then I suppose it would be an appropriate name.”

The Side nodded thoughtfully. “Yes, I think Janus would be a perfect name, thank you Logan.”

Logan finished making sandwiches, and while he had not thought the task had taken him too long, he was surprised to find that making the three sandwiches had taken him half an hour. He shook the doubts out of his head, sometimes he got lost in thought, it wasn’t uncommon. He left one sandwich in the kitchen with a note for Patton, and took the other two with him upstairs for himself and Roman.

<(^.^<)

“~Loooogaaaaan~”

A tally mark.

An empty room

Green.

Tally.

A mustache.

Tally.

“Logan, you never pay attention to me!”

“I am unsure who you are.”

Tally.

An empty room.

Logan was feeling untethered. He’d been trying to work in the common room for over two hours, but he had nothing to show for it. No work done, no notes written, no memory of what he’d even been thinking for all this time.

The only thing he did have was sixty-four more tally marks than he’d had earlier; his arms were covered with the lines.

Sixty-five.

Strange.

“What if Thomas just straight up set his apartment on fire?”

Logan’s gaze snapped up from his arm to find an unfamiliar Side. The Side rivaled Roman in terms of “extra”-ness, he had a curly mustache, a white streak in his hair, and a green tulle sash. But the real concern was the unhinged and manic look in his eyes when Logan met his gaze.

Tally mark.

“Excuse me?”

“Begone, thot!” Roman yelled from the stairs, charging at the Side with his katana drawn.

“No fun,” the Side pouted, sinking out right before the katana reached him.

“Oh, Roman,” Logan startled at the sudden appearance of the creative Side. “I didn’t hear you come in. Forgive me, I have been… unfocused today.”

“No worries, specs!” Roman responded jovially, though his cheer seemed slightly forced. “I have just the thing to help!”

Roman vanished his katana — which he had had drawn for some reason — and replaced it with a box. He was holding out the board game Stratego for Logan’s consideration.

Roman was right. The task really did help Logan focus, and he didn’t find himself drifting at any point during the game.

By the time Logan and Roman had each won one round of Stratego each, Patton had joined them and insisted on playing Trivial Pursuit next. No new marks appeared during their games.

(>^.^)>

“Logic!” A voice called.

Logan turned around to find a strange Side in a black hoodie with dark eyeshadow smeared under his eyes nervously hovering about halfway down the hall. Tally.

“Can I help you?” Logan asked, thoroughly confused by the presence of a new Side.

“No, I-” the Side hesitated for a moment. “Just, are you okay?”

“Of course I am,” Logan said, a little taken aback. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Just… after Remus I thought maybe…” the Side looked around nervously. “Never mind. I’m glad you’re okay.”

Logan stared at the empty hall, he’d thought he heard something… but no, just an empty hall.

Once inside his room, Logan pulled out the notebook he kept track of the tally marks in.

Hmm, seventy today. He didn’t remember seeing the seventieth one earlier, it must have shown up between when he’d left Patton and Roman in the common room and when he’d reached his bedroom. He recorded the number in his notebook along with the day’s date, then set about washing the marks off before bed.

Seventy wasn’t the most he’d ever had in one day, but it was certainly more than usual. He wondered if it had anything to do with his lack of focus earlier…

^(^.^)v

Remus was waiting for Virgil in his room.

“No fair, emo!” He pouted. “I had him at sixty-nine! You did that on purpose!”

“Oops,” Virgil deadpanned, unsympathetically.

Remus sank back to his own room where continued pouting for about an hour, before resolving to try and get Logan up to four-twenty the next day.

~~~END~~~

I found the beginning of this in my WIPs yesterday and finished it today. I completely forgot about starting it the first time, but now I’m completely in love

In case it wasn’t obvious, as soon as Logan can’t see the Dark Side anymore, he completely forgets about the interaction, including any interaction that involved another Light Side (like Roman)

General Taglist: @royalty-of-all-things-snuggly @pixelated-pineapple

[danwhobrowses]

Why ‘The Karate Kid Part II’ Deserves More Respect

So guess what film I finished watching today? Of course, the Karate Kid franchise is considered iconic mainly for its first entry; Wax on Wax off, Skeleton fights, Sweep the Leg and the Crane Kick all cemented its legacy that allowed Cobra Kai to also be such a success. But imagine my shock when the approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes for Part II is 45% - 21% lower than the Jaden Smith ‘The Karate Kung Fu Kid’ version (and Part III is scored 15%, which is also super harsh but hard to debate outside of the magnificence of Terry Silver). Originally this was just gonna be a general post of how much I enjoyed retreading Part II, but upon seeing that score I had to give it my ‘Deserves More Respect’ posts.

It is an off-chance, but if you haven’t watched this film there will be spoilers within, I encourage you to watch it before reading, and maybe watch it again if you have so it’s fresh in the mind

Let’s start with a controversial point shall we? There are several parts where Part II is actually better than the original. Now I know! There’s a lot about the original which is iconic, but nostalgia does blind you to other shortcomings and while it’s easy to sell the first part because of its mystique, a sequel has the added pressure of rising above and developing on old and new themes set by the predecessor. The Premise In case you decided against refreshing your memory. Karate Kid Part II starts with a recap of Part I, a bit of content that was meant to be Part I’s final scene (in the script, not for filming) and then a timeskip. Ali with an i is gone - brutally dumping Daniel for some Football Player before Senior Prom and after crashing his car, Daniel’s mother is in Fresno for work and Miyagi has received a letter from his home Okinawa in news of his father’s fading health. The stage is set for Daniel and the audience to learn more about the iconic Mr. Miyagi and the life he left behind. Okay, so there is bad in this film Part II deserves respect, but it’s not perfect. It definitely gets messy near the end with Daniel’s antagonist Chozen, he mainly took beats from Johnny Lawrence in physically confronting Daniel when he could with a bunch of no-named goons and he fought pretty similarly to Johnny in catch counters and leg strikes. The opening recap did take a lot of time too, while the ending remained somewhat abrupt having just beaten up Chozen to embrace Kumiko (who had a delayed recovery after being punched once). While not bad, a fair amount of retreaded content felt like downgrades of the original; Chozen and Sato lacked the charisma of Johnny and Kreese, the crane kick was far more impressive than the drum technique and the Tournament setting was grander than the O-Bon festival. But, there are Iconic Moments in this film too Part I may have the Crane Kick and the Skeletons and the Training and Sweep the Leg. But people may forget that Part II had awesome moments too.

Like Daniel chopping through 6 Sheets of Ice! If that isn’t one hell of a power play I don’t know what is. It is a moment genuinely impressive in and outside of the 80s cheese universe of Karate Kid, and it gets referenced in Season 2 of Cobra Kai.

Also referenced in Season 2 is Miyagi vs Kreese. While this is the intended ending for Part I, it certainly acted better at the start of Part II, especially given that is foreshadows the situation Daniel finds himself in at the end of the movie. This moment is equally iconic as it completely encapsulates the character of both senseis - Kreese the confident brute brought to a sniveling mouse when size and power failed him and Miyagi the cool-headed and vastly more intelligent fighter still with the cheeky prankster lightness to him as he honks the scared shitless Kreese on the nose. Perfect.

While I did want to cite the Tea Ceremony as well I think the more iconic moment for Part II had to be Miyagi chopping the log during the storm. The storm itself is a very well-done scene which unmasks several characters in the face of adversity. True tension, worry and stakes are sold as the village are in danger of the cruel whims of nature, an act which is all too real for Sato when the house he’s in collapses on him in the calm before his scheduled deathmatch with Miyagi. Not only is this again some great foreshadowing by the rule of three (Daniel asking if Miyagi can chop a log like Sato is doing with a banner and then Miyagi and Sato meeting and seeing Sato fail to chop a log) it proves a pivotal point where Sato turns from aggrieved antagonist to repenting ally. A great show of power and friendship as Miyagi metaphorically breaks the rift between their friendship that weighs Sato down. Okay, we hear you, but how is it better? I do have to preface that I do still love Part I, I have to because in pointing out where Part II is better I have to pick at Part I’s faults. While the ending is messy Part II definitely has much better pacing, until the skeletons scene Part I doesn’t really pick up because it has to set up, Part II while it does recap doesn’t need to worry about it. Giving Miyagi the main plot was definitely Part II’s strongest suit. Part I profited from Miyagi being the ‘mysterious old teacher’ but learning a lot more about his humanity and history was engrossing and it allowed positive development for Miyagi and Daniel, especially their bond as a surrogate father and son when Daniel personally goes out of his way to support Miyagi on a very personal matter. The main characters maintain their charm as well, still a lovely array of life lessons in Part II more than just finding balance, Miyagi teaches Daniel through words and action on taking time to breathe, to refocus when imbalanced, to forgive rather than to harbour hate, mercy, selflessness and humbleness

“never put passion before principle. Even if win, you lose.” - Mr. Miyagi

The scenes involving Miyagi and his father were some of the most deep and emotive of the series up until Cobra Kai, some still haven’t been topped such as Miyagi’s dad’s first words to his son or when Daniel talked about when his father died.  And say what you will about Chozen, he does have a lot of Johnny vibes but a lot of the character we believed was Johnny due to nostalgia goggles was more fitting of Chozen’s manner. The story did a great job in making sure Chozen was always an asshole, at times Johnny did at least display honour and grace but Chozen was always sore about stuff and quick to claim dishonour even when he was in the wrong. Contrary to Johnny it’s more about his family than it is about a girl, which allowed a lot more freedom in the plot. Whether you felt Elizabeth Shue’s Ali with an i was prettier than Tamlyn Tomita’s Kumiko is up to personal preference, but the messy-haired Kumiko definitely had a slightly improved presence in Part II than Ali did, with actual focus on her own feelings outside of attraction to Daniel, her ambition to become a dancer directly linking to the O-Bon Festival - which in turn related to the Drum technique - as well as the delicately beautiful Tea Ceremony scene and actually contributing to the final fight (granted Ali wouldn’t be allowed to). Also Daniel didn’t try to eat her face which is a general improvement to the romantic subplot, extra applause has to go to Tomita here too because this was legitimately her first role - Shue had her second so that’s impressive too - and both women had good careers going forward. The increased stakes definitely worked in the favour of Part II as well, as sequel culture is forced to do, but by moving to Okinawa (actually filmed in Hawaii) we opened the door to better suit Miyagi’s world while keeping Daniel the fish out of water. I can’t speak too much for appropriation because there is still kinda some ‘white saviour’ undertones but I didn’t feel like Japan was treated negatively in this light, its culture of the O-Bon Festival and the Tea Ceremony was treated with the utmost respect and explained without pandering, the flute music had definitely stepped up its game for the soundtrack as did the imagery. Can also appreciate that Daniel does go for the Crane kick when fighting Chozen but is parried. Added hat tip has to go to costuming too. A lot of costumes would have to have distinct Kamon such as Sato’s twin fish and Miyagi’s bonsai on a lot of their clothing

Between Sato and Miyagi the colours of their clothes often code their emotions towards each other, with Sato usually in grey and Miyagi in white or cream, when Sato and Miyagi prepare for death they are in black and when Sato wants forgiveness he moves to a lighter shade. While Part I also used black and white to differ Johnny and Daniel, Part II put Chozen and Daniel in the more Japanese-themed Red and Blue. While both men wear red, blue and whites at time, Chozen’s clothes almost devolve from the white he debuts in as his darker side comes out before flat out embracing yellow after his chance to prove his honour in the storm is refused (and he’s in white then), while Daniel often moves to Red or red tones even in his blue shirt. Kumiko also moves from white to blue, sometimes even purple, in set up to the final fight to have the primary colours stand out in the colourful crowd of the O-Bon festival, but even in the blue Kumiko had red to pair her connection with Daniel. Also her Yukata at the festival is just stunning, the Great Wave off Kanagawa print is a nice touch.

Anything else we should know? It might not be much else about the film itself I can tell you, but I do appreciate something I’m starting to call ‘The Rocky Connection’ when it comes to Karate Kid. Like Part I’s ‘You’re the Best (Around)’ was shortlisted for Rocky III, Part II’s song ‘Glory of Love’ was shortlisted for Rocky IV’s theme, losing to ‘Hearts on Fire’, Bill Conti also chose to score this film instead of Rocky IV. I like to pair this with Daniel’s Rocky-esque character, he has that same kind of swagger but a lot more naive and childlike. Martin Kove also gets a nod because those bleeding hands were legit, he had an accident on-set and the footage was kept for the final cut. Tamlyn Tomita wasn’t the only film debut for Part II, B.D. Wong of...well, several famous roles including but not limited to Shang in the animated Mulan, Dr. Wu in the Jurassic Park franchise, Hugo Strange in Gotham and many more, also had his debut here in a minor speaking role when he’s handing out flyers for the dance party to Kumiko and Daniel before the Ice Chopping Scene. So, why does it deserve respect A film that adds to a beloved character in a respectful fashion without having really any god awful moments does not deserve a 4.5/10 rating. It may not have as emphatic an ending or as great a villain but it has a captivating plot and a good pace, better stakes and much more emotionally driven and responsive scenes. A lot of effort and dedication went into this film to explore new dimensions of the main characters in a fashion which was enjoyable and at times heartwarming. And characters are given human moments, even Miyagi confesses himself not to be perfect and it keeps each character grounded. Even to this day parts of Part II are remembered fondly rather than the campness that Part III had outside of Terry Silver and his magnificent ponytail, the fondness also continues to reflect in Cobra Kai with homages and fan theories of Daniel going to Okinawa again and even re-encountering Chozen. Not to mention it grossed $113m on a $13m budget and got nominated for a Best Original Song Oscar (losing to Top Gun) Part II was a good and enjoyable film which deserves far more credit than to be rated this low, for that it deserves respect.

[crystallized-iron]

Bite Me - Chapter Nine

Please read the tags on the Masterlist! Masterlist

***** ***** *****

The city streets seemed eerily clear when Stane drove to work that morning. Usually there would be a traffic jam or two, but not this day.

The parking garage was near empty. No sign of Howard’s car. Stane left his in a spot and went inside.

The building was quiet, empty. No janitors, nothing.

He made his way to the security room. No guards to greet him. How strange. The cameras were still filming. He rewound the footage, hoping to find some answers.

He pressed play for the main entrance and watched as a crowd of employees ran for it. They looked terrified as they tripped and stumbled over each other. Once the door was clear, he spotted a lone man leaving.

Stane switched cameras, needing to find where this strange man had gone during his time inside. It looked like he had been rather charming with the staff. They led him to the main offices.

Stane checked the camera just outside Howard’s office. This was the man’s target. Stane watched him crush and tear off the knob, the door swinging open.

He stared at the screen before muttering, “You’ve got to be kidding me.” How was this even possible?

Several minutes passed before the young man left the office. Stane followed his trek through the halls, noticing right away the difference in the staff’s behavior toward him. Now they were scared. They were running out of his path.

What changed?

He couldn’t find an answer for that, but something else piqued his interest now.

He left for Howard’s office.

Stopping at the door, he stared open-mouthed at the large hole where the knob should be. Just how strong was this intruder and what was he after? He went inside and looked around, finding similar forced entry into the desk drawer and the file cabinet. “Howard, what have you gotten yourself into this time?”

Stane went to the desk first, finding a note from Fury that simply read Analyze this, and beside it was a small box. He opened it and blanched. Inside was what looked like biological tissue, possibly flesh, and Stane quickly closed it again.

Maybe the file cabinet would have more information. Turning to it, he found a drawer still slightly extended. He pulled it further, and on top was Howard’s latest project.

The papers listed things like enhanced healing, slight immunity to bullets, with the added note of aim for the heart. Howard’s own results were turning up very little, even noting that he needed a larger sample.

He checked another paper. Two subjects. Female dead. Male missing within headquarters. Stane wondered if the male subject was still there. He was curious enough to go to SHIELD and find out.

Would he be allowed inside? He had clearance when he and Howard first became partners, but Fury always favored Howard. Stane knew Fury distrusted him, but he couldn’t figure out why. None of his illegal dealings have ever made it to the public eye. However, Fury did always know more than he ever let on.

Stane put the papers back in the folder. Best to not let Howard know he was snooping. He would need to erase the footage of his own time in here.

And then time to visit Fury.

***** ***** *****

Howard stopped at his car before staring back at SHIELD Headquarters. He refused to believe that they were dealing with vampires, of all things. Yes, he was shown the footage of Fury’s fight with the male. He was quick, vicious, but like many others, he couldn’t stand up to the taser that Fury kept on his person.

Then Howard was shown footage of the two agents.

‘One was nearly completely drained of blood,’ Fury had explained. ‘The other, well, you saw what happened to them.’

‘But a vampire?’

‘I didn’t want to believe it at first either, but it seems to fit.’

Fury then led Howard to see the male they were keeping in a cheap metal cage.

‘He hasn’t escaped?’ Howard questioned.

‘He’s weakened. I bet if he gets more blood in him, though, he’d be ready to devour us all.’

The so-called vampire had said nothing as Howard stared.

There just had to be another explanation. Science could explain illness, it could explain other worldly beings, but vampires were horror stories told to scare young children from going outside late at night. Or they’re fictional monsters romanticized by writers.

This had to be an obsessive couple that convinced themselves their delusions were real. He never saw the body of the female, nor any official autopsy report, but he was told that she fell to the bullets like any human normally would. Aim for the heart, he remembered the original file saying. How appropriate.

Director Fury had been working on the impossible for too long and was now willing to believe anything. That had to be the case. Why else would he believe this ridiculous claim?

Howard shook his head and got into his car. It was true that many different cultures had their own versions of the old tale, but there couldn’t possibly be even a sliver of truth to those stories, could there?

He shoved his key into the ignition and turned it. He listened to the hum of his car as he tried to think. Was there a new drug fueling these thoughts, this behavior?

Howard pulled out of the lot and onto the street.

***** ***** *****

Stane knew he made the right choice when he passed Howard on the road, but the man was too distracted to notice him. It was fine; Howard didn’t need to know.

SHIELD Headquarters was designed to look like a simple warehouse. Beneath the warehouse disguise was an advanced base of operation that examined the wonders of the universe, deciding whether one was a threat, or if it could be exploited for the advancement of the human race.

He parked his car and stepped out, slamming the door shut and then walking up to the building. Security greeted him and patted him down. Once they were satisfied, he was sent to the next checkpoint where he was granted clearance, his name and information still on file. Fury must not consider him a threat, even if he didn’t trust him.

An agent led him to Fury’s office.

Director Fury stared at him as he entered. “Obadiah, to what do I owe the pleasure? Did we request your presence?”

“No, you did not. I’m a little hurt by it, actually.” He took the empty chair across from Fury’s desk. “I would like another chance to be someone you can go to for your little… projects.”

Fury eyed him cautiously. “What makes you think now will be any different?”

A grin played at Stane’s lips and he leaned in. “I know what the new project is, and I want in.”

“Impossible.”

Stane noticed the slight change in posture, the subtle way Fury tensed. So he continued. “I won’t say anything if you let me in on it.”

“You don’t know anything, Obadiah,” Fury told him, a hint of warning in his tone.

“Aim for the heart, right?”

A twitch.

“I want in, Fury.”

“And what use would you be to me? You’re a businessman, and I need a scientist.”

“You know if I had no scientific background whatsoever, Howard would never have partnered up with me,” Stane countered. “I’ve kept all his secrets over the years, I can keep yours.” He kept up the casual act, hoping to fool Fury. He only had guesses to go on based on the file.

But Fury didn’t need to know that. He just needed to believe what Stane was telling him.

Director Fury narrowed his eye at Stane as he folded his arms. “You realize if anything gets leaked, we are forced to handle the problem ASAP.”

“Of course,” Stane agreed. He was almost there.

“Give the name of the person who told you about the project.”

Stane managed to keep himself from reacting too visibly. “I never asked his name.”

“Appearance then.”

“Short, dark hair. Dark eyes. Young.” Keep it general.

Fury continued to stare at him until he finally said, “Alright.”

Stane’s eyes widened before he quickly schooled his expression.

Was it really that easy?

“I’ll have someone take you to our little project,” Fury added, pressing a button.

“Thank you, Director Fury.” He needed to stay calm. He couldn’t let himself get found out now.

An agent came for him and they left Fury’s office together. Stane still couldn’t believe it worked so well.

Fury’s second-in-command stepped in shortly later. “I know what you did, sir.”

“We need to test the theory,” Fury stated. “Let him eat. Obadiah tried saying that Stark’s son told him about the vampire.”

“So you’re sending him to his death?” she questioned.

“He knows enough to be a liability. The vampire can take care of him.”

===== ===== =====

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

[stoweboyd]

Work Futures Daily - A Barrage of Reports on the Future of Work

Looks like the future is about 15 minutes away, or less.

2018-04-09 Beacon NY - In just the past few days, I've come across no less that three new reports on the future of work. They are coming from all points of the compass, and I haven't had a chance to read them in detail, but the first order takeaway is that the domain of discourse we call 'the future of work' is now ground zero for a broad spectrum of policy, economic, and sociological debates.

Sign up here for notifications of free posts.. I'll get you to subscribe eventually, I bet.

Comments from Readers

Phil Wolff (self-styled 'GDPR wonk and wearer of appropriately industrial chic in the Pacific Northwest') chimes in on dress codes:

I like the "dress appropriately" dress code. It decentralizes responsibility and authority. It puts the folks who know context best (which is rarely HR) in charge. They'll balance safety, formality, utility, and enterprise values as needed instead of a priori from a distance. It also makes sense as organizational boundaries blur, more people work offsite and with control over their workplaces, and more of the workforce are free agents. If HR was in charge would you ever have been able to do a year of swag t-shirts?

Phil is referring to the time I auctioned off my body-as-billboard for 220 days, agreeing to wear sponsors' t-shirts. I had to use a spreadsheet since I randomized which days they got.

...

Jim Meredith goes along with commentary from Peggy Noonan about Zuck's dress in If Adults Won't Grow Up, Nobody Will:

I have spent the past few days watching old videos of the civil-rights era, the King era, and there is something unexpectedly poignant in them. When you see those involved in that momentous time, you notice: They dressed as adults, with dignity. They presented themselves with self-respect. Those who moved against segregation and racial indignity went forward in adult attire—suits, dresses, coats, ties, hats—as if adulthood were something to which to aspire. As if a claiming of just rights required a showing of gravity. Look at the pictures of Martin Luther King Jr. speaking, the pictures of those marching across the Edmund Pettus bridge, of those in attendance that day when George Wallace stood in the schoolhouse door and then stepped aside to the force of the federal government, and suddenly the University of Alabama was integrated. Even the first students who went in, all young, acted and presented themselves as adults. Of course they won. Who could stop such people?

I miss their style and seriousness. What we’re stuck with now is Mark Zuckerberg’s .

Facebook ’s failings are now famous and so far include but are perhaps not limited to misusing, sharing and scraping of private user data, selling space to Russian propagandists in the 2016 campaign, playing games with political content, starving journalism of ad revenues, increasing polarization, and turning eager users into the unknowing product. The signal fact of Mr. Zuckerberg is that he is supremely gifted in one area—monetizing technical expertise by marrying it to a canny sense of human weakness. Beyond that, what a shallow and banal figure. He too appears to have difficulties coming to terms with who he is. Perhaps he hopes to keep you, too, from coming to terms with it, by literally dressing as a child, in T-shirts, hoodies and jeans—soft clothes, the kind 5-year-olds favor. In interviews he presents an oddly blank look, as if perhaps his audiences will take blankness for innocence. As has been said here, he is like one of those hollow-eyed busts of forgotten Caesars you see in museums.

But he is no child; he is a giant bestride the age, a titan, one of the richest men not only in the world but in the history of the world. His power is awesome.

I am not really down with Noonan's perspective. I don't buy the notion that t-shirt, jeans, hoodie is the dress of children: it was originally clothing of the working class, later adopted by left-leaning artists and the counter-culture, and now the de facto mass, informal clothing style, and still, the clothing of the working class, too.

Still and again, clothing styles change. A hundred years ago, today's formal business suit would have been too informal for questioning in Congress. So-called morning dress would have been required: morning coat, waistcoat, striped trousers, and hat. Indicating seriousness by wearing ritually prescribed clothing is timeless, but the cut of the clothes is constantly shifting, constantly modernizing. In ten years the requirement for the tie may be old-fashioned, but men will still be wearing long pants in Congress.

On Automation

Barclays has released Robots at the Gate, where the investment bank jumps into the debate about the impact of AI-driven automation on work. The report's authors, Ajay Rajadhyaksha and Aroop Chatterjee, work in Barclay's Macro Research group, and come down squarely on the side of Anotherism, as in AI is 'just another labor-saving technology'. They employ many of the common arguments — ATMs did not end bank teller jobs, '40% of the population used to work on farms and now only 2% do but they are employed', and they even have a section entitled 'This time is no different' — but have fairly chilling data when they zoom down to specific sectors or classes of work.

Consider this example:

And their commentary:

Self-driving vehicles have the potential to have a large effect not only on the transportation sector, but also on other industries that rely on driving to a high degree.[^34] Roughly 3.9 million workers in the US directly operate motor vehicles, including 1.7 million truck drivers. A further 11.9 million workers deliver services that require vehicles. Together, these represent roughly 11% of the total workforce (Figure 9). From a capital stock perspective, motor vehicles represent roughly 12% of the total stock of equipment across all business sectors (based on Bureau of Economic Analysis data). Business investment in motor vehicles ($335bn per year) represents a little over half of the total final domestic sales.

Autonomous vehicles’ impact depends on whether it is labour saving or productivity enhancing. For the direct motor vehicle operators, it is likely largely to have labour-saving effects. Motor vehicle operators tend to score lower on knowledge outside of their narrow field, have limited cross-functional skills, have lower education levels and so on, and automation is likely to increase unemployment levels among these workers.

For sectors of the economy that employ individuals who use motor vehicles to deliver other services (e.g., security, electricians, mechanics of all sorts), autonomous vehicles are likely to benefit by providing greater productivity, such as the ability to focus.

So, autonomous vehicles will have an enormous impact on a long list of industries, decreasing the hours of work by people dedicated to driving. Barclay's concedes that for many drivers, automation is likely to increase unemployment levels. And Barclay's is making the argument in the other cases that the increased productivity coming from other classes of workers who will need to spend less time driving won't be immediately translated into working fewers hours allocated to those workers. What is stopping their employers from simply pocketing the savings, however?

Still, the raw data is worth looking at, even if the conclusions could be reversed if an Otherist had been writing the prose.

US Policy Direction and The Future of Work

A much more helpful report, The Work Ahead, has been released by a Council on Foreign Relations' Independent Task Force, headed by Penny Prizker and John Engler, and written by Edward Alden and Laura Taylor-Kale.

I will share the findings and recommendations from the report's executive summary, here:

The seven major findings of the Task Force are:

Accelerating technological change will alter or eliminate many human jobs. Although many new jobs will be created, the higher-paying ones will require greater levels of education and training. In the absence of mitigating policies, automation and artificial intelligence (AI) are likely to exacerbate inequality and leave more Americans behind.

Embracing technological innovation and speeding adoption are critical for U.S. national security and economic competitiveness. Openness to trade and immigration are also vital for maintaining U.S. technological leadership.

Strong economic growth that leads to full employment has been the most consistently successful approach for raising the wages of Americans.

The lack of accessible educational opportunities that are clearly and transparently linked to the changing demands of the job market is a significant obstacle to improving work outcomes for Americans.

U.S. efforts to help displaced workers are inadequate. Unemployment insurance is too rigid and covers too few workers, and retraining programs are not based on the best global models.

Too many jobs are going unfilled because of restrictions related to credentialing, mobility, and hiring practices. More could also be done to create new opportunities in higher-unemployment regions.

Current workplace benefits—from sick leave to retirement plans—are too often available only to full-time employees, and are not adapted to the emerging world in which more workers are part-time, contract, or gig workers.

[...]

The seven major recommendations of the Task Force are:

Governments should adopt an explicit goal of creating better jobs and career paths for Americans. Initiatives should aim especially at attracting investment and revitalizing entrepreneurship.

The United States needs to remain a world leader in technology and innovation. This should be supported by increased public and private research and development (R&D), support for commercialization of new research, and an open door to highly skilled immigrants.

Governments should implement policies aimed at maintaining strong growth and demand for labor. Employers should commit themselves to a “high-road workplace” that offers employees decent pay, training, scheduling, and benefits. Special measures are needed for communities struggling to attract investment and jobs.

The United States should set and meet a goal of bringing postsecondary education within the reach of all Americans and linking education more closely to employment outcomes.

Unemployment insurance should be overhauled to reflect the realities of the current economy, and mid-career retraining programs should adopt the best features of the European “flexicurity” models.

Governments and employers should work to reduce barriers to labor mobility for Americans, including high housing costs, occupational licensing restrictions, and inflexible hiring practices.

The United States should create portable systems of employment benefits tied to individual employees rather than to jobs themselves. Employers should also help fill the gap by expanding benefits for their part-time and contingent workers.

Finally, the Task Force recommends that the president and the nation’s governors create a national commission on the U.S. workforce to carry out research, share best practices, and conduct public outreach on workforce challenges. This should be the start of an urgent effort to put workforce issues at the center of the national agenda.

At the turn of the twentieth century, when the United States was unsettled by similarly rapid technological change, the high school movement produced a boost in educational attainment that was critical to U.S. economic success and to the country’s rise to global leadership. Success in the twenty-first century will require the same type of bottom-up, cross-generational effort, with Americans demanding that governors, local leaders, businesses, and educational institutions rise to meet these challenges. There should be vigorous competition among states to pioneer new models and lead by example. The federal government needs to encourage, support, share, and build on such efforts. With such a broad-based movement, the United States can build a more productive, inclusive, and resilient economy for all Americans—becoming once again a model for the world.

Hear, hear!

I hope to have a more in detail analysis soon. [Subscribers reviewing the online version of the report will be able to see my commentary via Highly in the Work Futures Slack community's #research channel].

Sign up here for notifications of free posts.. I'll get you to subscribe eventually, I bet.

Question or comment? (Can be private, or public: your choice. I occasionally publish public comments or questions.)

Follow me on Twitter.

More media, politics, and social commentary on stoweboyd.com, including bio.

[thefabulousfulcrum]

You Are Not a Rebel

via The Baffler

by Laurie Penny

IN REAL LIFE, nobody has the decency to realize that they’re the bad guy until it’s too late. The worst thing about the historical record is that it is usually written after the fact. Just think, if we could only get our hands on advance copies of tomorrow’s historical bestsellers, we could work out once and for all how we fit into this cruel and anxious age we’re living through, and get a sneak peek at the ending to see who ends up dead, decked out with medals, or living incognito in South America. Sadly, that would hardly help those of us who are most dangerously confused. The people who most urgently need to consider which side of the moral ledger their story will be written on tend to read few books in which they are not the hero.

It’s hard realizing that you’re the bad guy, because then you have to do something about it. That’s why the most aggressive players on the gory stage of political melodrama act in such bad faith, hanging on to their own sense of persecution, mouthing the plagiarized playbook of an oppression they don’t comprehend because they don’t care to. These people have a way of fumbling through their self-set roles till the bloody final act, but if we can flip the script, we might yet stop the show.

Let us remember, then, that in the violent psychodrama going on in their own minds, modern reactionaries, almost to a man, think that they are the hero. They think they’re the plucky underdog. They continue to think this even with their tiny-fingered mascot bellowing over the White House lawns and their agenda ascendant around the world, and I know, I know it makes no sense. But dogma doesn’t have to. And one of the articles of faith uniting all our modern proto-fascists, crypto-fascists, baby-fascists, whining 4chan fascists, and the growing number of fascists for whom any sort of prefix is redundant is that they all think they are rebels. 

The new far right has recognized the enduring appeal of adventurism and appropriated its rhetoric for reactionary ends.  Propaganda hubs like The Rebel repackage far right ideas as edgy and avant-garde, reassuring recruits that they are hip outsiders in a mass of squares and normies. This is a time-worn trick. As George Orwell observed in a review of Mein Kampf, “whereas Socialism, and even capitalism in a grudging way, have said to people ‘I offer you a good time,’ Hitler has said to them ‘I offer you struggle, danger, and death,’ and as a result a whole nation flings itself at his feet.” 

This is what happens when we fetishize the romance of rebellion while making actual social change impossible.

Fighting for people who are less privileged than you to become even less privileged than you is hardly a revolutionary mission. CEOs do it all the time. Last year I was interviewed for a Vicedocumentary about the relationship between Gamergate and the new far right. I remember that to get the shot at the right level, I had to half-sit and half-stand on a fancy sideboard. While I was engaging my core muscles trying to balance, the affable hipster doing the interview asked, “But aren’t the guys a bit underground? Aren’t they a bit counter-culture?” I was so flabbergasted that I fell off my perch. Yes, I told him, they are underground, a bit. But even Vice magazine, which is woke enough as long as woke sells ads—another Viceeditor told me authoritatively a few years ago that “it’s not cool to be stupid anymore”—even they can surely see that simply being “underground” does not make something fit to dredge up. A lot of things run underground that would be better off staying there. Sewers, for instance.

This is what happens when we equate “anti-social” with “anti-establishment.” The far right think they’re the resistance. They think they’re Mel Gibson in Braveheart, when they’re actually just regular old Mel Gibson, screaming about bitches and whores and Jews and then wondering why no one answers their phone calls anymore. Well played, Rob Roy. 

The Shitler Youth come in many flavors of plausible deniability, but none are quite so woefully iconic as everyone’s favorite ship of fools: the fake pirates of Defend Europe. 

In case you hadn’t heard, a few months ago some white supremacists decided that the rescue boats trying to save desperate people from drowning in the Mediterranean were a threat to “European” way of life. (I will not dignify them with the term “activists,” because activists have meetings and have read things that aren’t spittle-flecked sexually paranoid internet retro-rants about white people being bred out of existence.) They decided to solve the problem by pursuing a merry life of adventure on the high seas. No, really. These rudderless twits went ahead and chartered a boat, with the initial, unabashedly evil intention of impeding the rescue ships, a plan which was quickly changed to “monitoring” said ships, as apparently nobody had any idea how to do actual sea battle, because whatever the copyright people told us, downloading a lot of free porn does not, by itself, make you a pirate.

They got a lot of press, of course, which was part of the idea—there’s no point being a rebel if you can’t get your picture in the paper. They even got Katie Hopkins, Britain’s own dollar-store Eva Braun, to come along for part of the ride, presumably as some sort of totem against shipwreck, because any self-respecting god of the ocean would spit Hopkins right back out again. Deliciously, before they had even managed to embark on their main voyage, they accidentally smuggled twenty-one Sri Lankan asylum seekers into Europe. Then their boat stalled in the middle of the Mediterranean sea. The founder of the Sea-Eye, the NGO ship that was sent to offer aid—the pouting stalwarts refused help—told the public that “to help a ship in distress is the duty of anyone who is at sea, without distinction to their origin, color, religion, or beliefs.” Hopefully the Sea-Eye was also stocked with burn cream.[*] 

The very worst part about this entire episode is that an actual rescue ship was diverted to help these cretins, a rescue ship that could have been saving people who are really fleeing for their lives, rather than simply fleeing reality. I’m not going to permit myself to wish the baby-fascists had fucking drowned, but I do hope the stalled vessel gave these quisling Quixotes time to check out their own reflection in the surface of the sea and wonder whether being “underground” was quite so much fun anymore. I also hope that when they make the movie of this, every single one of them is played by Nicolas Cage in a variety of unconvincing wigs.

Claiming that anti-fascists are morally equivalent to fascists is a little like claiming that, as both take a toll on the body, cancer and chemotherapy are basically the same.

In the United States, radicalized extremists on the far right are also due for a rebrand, having been embarrassed on the international stage in Charlottesville by fellow travelers who took the street-fighting-Nazi live-action roleplay too far, marched around screaming about being replaced by Jews, and murdered someone. The Shitler Youth are now going through desperate conniptions trying to claim that anti-fascists are morally equivalent to fascists, that “all sides” are aggressive and forthright, which is a little like claiming that, as both take a toll on the body, cancer and chemotherapy are basically the same.

Shit got real, eh? One minute you’re a nice normal boy with hobbies and internet friends, and the next, your picture’s all over the place holding a torch and doing the Nuremberg uglyface and your parents won’t talk to you because everyone thinks you’re a militant racist, and they’re right. If I may talk directly to these self-deluding subterraneans: I’m sorry to be the one to point this out, but you have been radicalized. There’s a reason people call you Vanilla ISIS. ISIS think they’re rebels, too. Have a good hard look at these Defend Europe twits with their rickety armada. These are your people. They’re your compadres. You are paddling beside them in the shallow end of political discourse, screaming when anything living nibbles your toes. 

This is what happens when we fetishize the romance of rebellion while making actual social change impossible. My guess is that the ruling class, the people whose agenda these people’s mean-spirited credulity serves, aren’t standing about with flaming torches screaming that they’re about to be replaced by Jews. They don’t spend their time harassing girls on the internet. They outsource that shit. To suckers. For free. Meanwhile, the ruling class is just writing the speeches and jerking the strings and watching gullible, self-anointed rebels make fools of themselves on television.

These are the very people whose names the Shitler Youth wear on their unbelievably ugly hats and t-shirts, which incidentally is exactly what happens when you let straight white guys who consider gold a neutral design your neo-fascist aesthetic. The one problem with calling these faux-rebels Nazis is that it suggests they know how to goddamned get dressed in the morning. The left are out-styling them as well as out-thinking them right now. The left! Some of us wear hemp! And t-shirts with weak science puns! And we let our flatmates cut our hair! And we spend half our time fighting each other over tiny ideological debates that started before we were born, and they still make us look good. They make us look good because they’ve swallowed the fake oppression story cooked up by propagandists on the right to recast their most reactionary opinions as risqué. 

So let’s be clear: getting fired because you hate women is not an equivalent hardship to getting fired because you happen to be one. People who have been disowned by their parents for being gay or transgender aren’t going to have sympathy when your mum and dad find your stash of homophobic murder fantasies and change the locks. Getting attacked for being a racist is not the same as getting attacked because you are black. The definition of oppression is not “failure to see your disgusting opinions about the relative human value of other living breathing people reflected in society at large.” Being shamed, including in public, for holding intolerant, bigoted opinions is not an infringement of your free speech. You are not fighting oppression. You are, at best, fighting criticism. If that’s the hill you really want to die on, fine, but don’t kid yourself it’s the moral high ground. I repeat: You cannot be a rebel for the status quo. It would be physically easier to go and fuck yourself, and I suggest you try.

The fact that some people—the women, people of color, immigrants and queer people you want put back in their proper place—disapprove of you does not make you edgy. A bag of cotton wool is edgier than you lot. Fighting for things to go back to the way they were twenty or thirty or fifty years ago does not constitute a bold resistance movement. It constitutes the militant arm of the Daily Mail comments section. Fighting real oppression involves risk, and before you start, I’m talking about real risk, not some girl on the internet calling you a cowardly subliterate waste of human skin, like I just did.  

This was gig-economy bigotry from the beginning, every bedroom hatemonger his own self-facilitating media node.

Of course, the fragile self-image of American nationalism has always been grounded in the idea of rebellion, in an aesthetic of protest and struggle for individual liberty powdering over the ugly worship of authoritarianism andhierarchy that was also baked in from the beginning. The United States has never truly stopped fighting its civil war, but the tropes and language of that war have been re-appropriated by net reactionaries in an effort to dress up their racism as rebellion, which by coincidence was part of what the war was about in the first place. That’s why there’s such attachment to the confederate or “rebel” flag among conservatives, even in states which fought for the Union; even in states which did not exist at the time. And this investment in maintaining a state of permanent rebellion is why net reactionaries have no idea what to do now they’re technically in power, like the confused golden retriever who finally catches that Ford Focus, except far less fluffy. 

Mewling subluminaries have, for years, approached backyard fascism as a growth industry—why stop now? These enterprising intellectual bantamweights did not wait for the mechanisms of state and party to show them how to goose-step or gather seed money—this was gig-economy bigotry from the beginning, every bedroom hatemonger his own self-facilitating media node, like a sort of fascist Nathan Barley. The millennials among them have merely done what the television told us all to do as kids: find your passion and make it your career. It’s just a shame that their passion happens to be the creation of a white ethnostate with a stack of sexually frustrated video rants as a transitional demand.

So propping up the establishment does not sit well with their sense of themselves as brave, entrepreneurial outsiders battling the forces of something-or-other. Perhaps it feels strange to be told you have won when nothing in your own actual, material life has changed. Perhaps winning didn’t taste as good as the picture on the package. They were promised thrills and spills and danger and adventure and instead they’re on the haunted teacup ride through the wreckage of civil society and they’re feeling a bit sick but they’ve given the man their money, so they can’t get off.

And in any case this is not the sort of game you just win or lose. Politics doesn’t work like that, although in fairness, the sense that it does is one of several delusions they share with the political elites they claim to despise. Playing by those rules is a great way to make sure that the house always wins. What’s changed in the world in the months since their team supposedly won? The rich are still running things, they’re just a lot less shy about it. Living standards have gone nowhere but down. The planet is still sizzling towards climate collapse, and I know they think that’s not real, but you don’t have to believe in a train to get run down by it with everyone you care about while you stand in the middle of the tracks screaming about cucks and Jews like a prize prick.

One major thing, however, has changed, and that is that an awful lot of people who happen to be foreign, or female, or members of a different race or faith from these fools are suddenly living in fear of violence, violence the Shitler Youth and their crewmates helped whip up to make themselves feel like big damn heroes. Because they wanted to feel like they were fighting the power without actually having to challenge anyone who had it.

If you’ve a niggling suspicion I might be talking about you here, it’s time to take a look at your own reflection in whatever screen you’re reading off. If you want to cosplay as a revolutionary from a made-up time before brown people and liberated women existed, go and drink mead at a Ren fair like a normal person. If you just want to be famous on the internet, go and make some porn. If you can’t get over your fetish for fake oppression, go and hang out in a club where people wear expensive black rubber and get yourself consensually flogged by someone with legitimate rage to work through. But don’t call yourself a revolutionary just because you can’t stop running in circles.

[*]  Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly suggested that the crew of the Defend Europe vessel had been rescued by the Sea-Eye. Although the Sea-Eye was temporarily diverted to travel toward the Defend Europe boat and offer aid, the latter crew refused help and the rescue ship carried on its operations. The fascists’ boat later restarted.

[vitalmindandbody]

‘Ghostbusters’ inspects are in: Insure what commentators say about the all-female reboot

LOS ANGELES Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the brand-new Ghostbusters ?

OK, that may be a bit spectacular but having regard to the hullabaloo around Paul Feig’s all-female franchise reboot before anyone appreciated it, impending critical reaction was beginning to feel like an afterthought before it ever came.

But Sony’s review embargo face-lift Sunday morning, a refreshing time in that, lastly, “were in”( principally) talking about the movie itself. Actions leaned chiefly positive.

SEE ALSO: Fans shouldn’t be afraid of no ‘Ghostbusters’

The grouchy old-time grey guys at the Hollywood trade newspapers were the most difficult boo-birds hardly a amaze there but a poll of hipper, more representative, culturally savvy commentators augured well for the July 15 handout: Ghostbusters is not without its troubles, but it’s merriment, entertaining, and worth your time.

Here’s what some of our favorite commentators had to say TAGEND

The comedy is great. The action is … OK?

Ghostbusting

Image: Sony Pictures Entertainment

Manohla Dargis , New York Times TAGEND

As is often the case with big-budget movies, [ Ghostbusters ] changes progressively louder and big, culminating in an overlong battle, though not before Mr. Feig has offered up some unexpected touches, including a cavalcade of beautifully designed old-timey souls and a genuinely creepy-crawly shower panorama that adds a few horror-flick shivers.

Angie Han , Slashfilm TAGEND

Ghostbusters basically mixes a typical Feig comedy with a dealership blockbuster, and the marriage isnt ever smooth sailing . … the setpieces sometimes appear more obligatory than organic as if theyre there to fulfill the expectations of a big-budget blockbuster rather than since they are make sense for this particular movie. Caroline Framke , Vox TAGEND

Sure, these neon apparitions examine more like they crawled out of an Xbox than the sewers of New York City, but its enjoyable to watch an electric blue-blooded corpse swoop through the metro or an acid-green winged devil disintegrate a metal show.

The key element tone was tricky

Ghost, busted

Image: sony Paints Entertainment

Terri Schwartz , IGN TAGEND

Unfortunately, it’s the pacing and editing that is the biggest problem … for all that haters exploded the movie for starring four maidens, it’s actually head Paul Feig who doesn’t seem like he’s the right fit … Ghostbusters is more Spy than Bridesmaids , but his humor never quite jives appropriately with the style.

Caroline Framke , Vox TAGEND

The reboot … strains so hard to prove its having a good time that its seams dont merely demo, but are beginning to tear apart under the pressure. But developments in the situation isnt ever so terrible. When the movie is at its excellent, its scrappy, anxious to please, and thanks to some exquisite comedic playing deliciously strange.

Julia Alexander , Polygon TAGEND

There are slight pacing issues with the movie, which leads to moments of brief boredom, and that comes as a result of trying to turn the comedy into an activity film. The actual ghost-busting situations can be seem somewhat monotonous, but that moment of weariness is mitigated when Feig decides to refocus on the comedy.

Stephanie Zacharek , Time TAGEND

Its all presented with a winktheres nothing heavy-spirited or assaultive about this Ghostbusters . Feig, who co-wrote the write with Katie Dippold ( The Heat ), have undoubtedly taken great care with the movies tone its as finely balanced as the backstages of a spectral butterfly . … The movie glows with sparkle, thanks primarily to the performers, who revel in one anothers company, and not in a self-congratulatory, Ocean Twelve -style, Were breathtaking movie stars, together way.

Kate McKinnon is our favorite brand-new Ghostbuster

Busting clears her feel good

Image: Sony PIctures entertainment

Kristy Puchko , CBR TAGEND

The Saturday Night Live veteran whose sketches often extend viral extradites an outrageous, alluring and hysterical pas as wild-haired wild cardHoltzmann. McKinnon mixes one-part Egon earnest nerd-thusiasm with two-parts Ian Malcolm( from Jurassic Park ) sex appeal, and contributes her own generous slathering of special sauce for a deliciously deranged reputation who appears preposterous and perfect all at once.

Manohla Dargis , New York Times TAGEND

No one performance reigns the brand-new Ghostbusters , which is for the most part democratically comic( a Paul Feig signature ), although Kate McKinnons magnificent, eccentric return rises open. She plays Holtzmann, the in-house mad-hatter who flogs up the ghost-busting hardware( proton packs included) with a crazy squint and sheet after script page of playful-sounding gobbledygook. Ms. McKinnon establishes for a exalted nerd goddess( she draws a dash of the young Jerry Lewis to the role with a light of Amy Poehler) and, in an earlier age, would probably have been sidelined as a sex, ditsy secretary. Here, she symbolizes the new Ghostbusters at its good: Girls rule, wives are funny, get over it.

Caroline Framke , Vox TAGEND

The revelation of Ghostbusters will be required to be McKinnons Dr. Jillian “Holtz” Holtzmann, who not only plagiarizes every panorama shes in, but chews it up with a liquid smirk and spittings it out for parts.

It’s villain problem is tied to its troll problem

Neil Casey and Paul Feig

Image: Getty Images for Yahoo

Jen Yamato , Daily Beast

Their villainous foil misses the quality, too. SNL and Inside Amy Schumer writer Neil Casey goes his big screen infringe as Rowan, a bitter grey dude became brutal by a lifetime of bullying who manages to construct the worlds questions all about him. Hes a self-righteous sad sack who fails to see the irony standing in front of him: four women unsupported and written off by culture, one of them African-American and another who may or may not be gay but cant say so because shes trapped in a PG-1 3 summertime studio blockbuster. We get shit on all the time, McCarthys Abby counters.

Alison Willmore , Buzzfeed

The harmful pre-lash to this Ghostbusters has seeped into the plot, and especially into Rowan, an aggrieved internet-troll kind who are willing to cleanse “the worlds” as retribution for perceived mistreatment and holds himself pep talk in the mirror about how You have been bullied your entire life now you will be the bully! Rather than empathize with the similarly maligned Ghostbusters, Rowan resents them, repurposes their experiment to empower his rage, and then becomes them his new targets.

How does it deal with the( non-) existence of the original?

Came, insured, etc.

Image: Sony envisions entertainment

Stephanie Zacharek , Time TAGEND

He reputations the spirit of the original: Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson and Annie Potts all have cameos, and a gleaming bronze bust of the late Harold Ramis graces the hallowed foyers of Columbia University, where part of that Ghostbusters , like this one, takes lieu. Yet theres little thats nostalgic, in the musty appreciation, about Feigs reimagined ghostbusting universe. Julia Alexander , Polygon TAGEND

There are certain similarities between Ivan Reitman’s 1984 film and this form of Ghostbusters . Both take place in New York City, feature Columbia University as a starting point, have a crazed madman obsessed with humanity’s downfalls and, of course, haunts. But the smaller similarities almost act as background in Feig’s film. It’s the differences where the movie receives itself and end away just enough from Reitman’s version that principles of Ghostbusters experiences fresh.

Caroline Framke , Vox TAGEND

Ghostbusters has trouble molting the skin of its precedes to become something all its own, even though its a full reboot that ostensibly has nothing to do with the original story.

Tomris Laffly, Film School Rejects

Feigs Ghostbusters confidently carves out its own place within a much-adored nature by welcoming a different gathering into its crazy enchanted strata, while winking to the originals fans with friendly faces( astonish ), familiar gadgets and musical cues they will recognize.

Terri Schwartz , IGN TAGEND

[ Ghostbusters ] can’t decide whether it wants to be a entirely new take over the dimension or a affectionate adoration to the original, and because of that it’s captured between the two.

PS: Receive it in 3D

It’s meeting right at us!

Image: Sony draws entertainment

Courtney Howard , SassyMamaInLA TAGEND

Its a rarity that I allege a cinema should be considered in 3D, but here “were about”. This one is best suffered that channel. Not only do the stream from the proton carries light up, you feel as if you might get slimed by ghost-projectile-vomit hitting immediately at you. Theres added profundity and dimension to the imagery thats beyond compare of other 3-D movies as some of the flows, ghost illustrations and igniting ashes float beyond the confines of the letterboxed images. Its aesthetically inventive.

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments .

Read more:

The post ‘Ghostbusters’ inspects are in: Insure what commentators say about the all-female reboot appeared first on vitalmindandbody.com.

from WordPress http://ift.tt/2thl7lb via IFTTT

[christinaengela]

From the

Good morning, fans and friends!

My PA (and long suffering girlfriend) Kay (a.k.a. Wendy K. Gloss) suggested that I start doing a newsletter – so, this being my first newsletter, Number One, Nommer Een, Numero Uno, I’d firstly like to thank she whose latest personal mantra has become “Ow, my everything!” – for being my muse, my marketing manager and promoter, my main support – and the love of my life!

After spending almost every spare moment since October working on the next three books in the Quantum Series, I was getting a little frazzled. I hope you all will forgive me for taking a break over December-January! I really needed it, and since I was on holiday at home this year, Kay and I spent more time doing things in line with our actual hobbies, such as (in her case) art, and in my case, D.I.Y. stuff around our refuge – Fort Engela!

Thanks to all my readers, fans, and friends for your support over the past year. 2016 was a bit of a struggle, I’d say, globally – and it’s time for some change! I’d like to officially wish all of you a very prosperous and happy new year – may 2017 be all we hope it can be!

This newsletter will be sent out periodically – I’d like to say quarterly even, but it’s likely it will not be timed so exactly – more than likely, it will be sent out as time allows! That said, if you would like to be added to the mailing list – or if you would like to suggest this newsletter to anyone, please feel free to email us at fireraven86@gmail.com

Oh, and I almost forgot! Here’s your

FREE GIFT!

Now that all the formalities have been dispensed with, here is a free gift for you – a free downloadable ebook copy of a short story called “The Thirteenth Ship“. To download the short story in Kindle format, please just click on the cover image below! If you prefer your sci-fi in Afrikaans, kliek gerus op die Afrikaanse voorblad onder en U sal gratis ‘n Afrikaanse weergawe kan aflaai! Or just download both if you feel like it! Why not? It’s free – and you can share and pass the links around too!

  Now that’s over with, let’s move on! My website is full of information about the stuff I’ve already done and published – and so here are news and updates about what I’m busy with and what to expect during the coming year!

The Quantum Series

Readers of the Quantum Series have been asking me for follow-up titles for years – and it’s been a while since the last one (“Loderunner” – book 4) was released – back in 2007, so it’s about time! Books 5,6 and 7 should be coming out this year, as announced way back when, back in 2016!

These new books will form a trilogy in the Quantum Series, consisting of three titles (naturally, unless you’re thinking of a ‘trilogy in four parts’ ala Douglas Adams), namely “Prodigal Sun“, “High Steaks” and “The Last Hurrah”. As I mentioned in numerous tweets and posts in my Facebook group, I have finished the first two titles in the trilogy (barring any future edits or minor changes to ensure the story flows smoothly across all three books), and am now – up to the start of my annual holiday in December – almost halfway with the third book!

Progress has been good up to that point, and I’m satisfied with the result so far. I should be getting back into this project soon – perhaps by the closing end of January. I anticipate that all three new titles “Prodigal Sun“, “High Steaks” and “The Last Hurrah” will be completed and released by about May 2017, starting in about February with “Prodigal Sun“, with modest breaks between releases.

The Galaxii Series

After I finished and published “Dead Beckoning“, the third book in this series back in 2014, I still had a ton of old handwritten notes and story material lying around, crammed inside a number of old brown cardboard folders, just begging to be written into something amazing!

As a result, I am working on book 4 in the Galaxii Series – “Overkill” could hit The Crow Bar by mid to late 2017. Since “Overkill” is the original working title, this could still change by the time it hits my Shop page – so keep your eyes open for announcements in that regard.

There is still no cover design for this title, and I’m hoping that Susan Simone, who designed the brilliant covers for the first three titles in this series will be willing to do one for this title as well!

Short Stories

Recently, while spring cleaning, I happened across some of my old high school compositions, and have begun to redraft and edit them to bring them up to my current standard. I should be in a position to release a second collection – a follow-up volume of “Space Sucks!” sometime this year. I’ve decided to call it “Space Really Sucks!“

I’ll share a quick glimpse at one of these short stories, which will be featured in this new collection, with you – called “Code Red“:

“After an unexpected battle in orbit over a strange planet, the crew of the surviving Saman battlecruiser land to repair their damage – and to look for a good spot to plant the flag of the Saman Empire. Unfortunately, as luck would have it, the planet was already occupied – by a people who took a dim view of that sort of thing, and who happened to have space travel – and a few colonies of their own…” “Space Really Sucks!“ is a second collection of short fiction by Christina Engela, following “Space Sucks!“, featuring completely new, never before seen stories.

Translations

Among the array of projects I’m working on, I am also overseeing the translation of all my work into Afrikaans! Kay and I have already completed translation of a number of my short stories, to which we’ve already received positive and encouraging feedback from a few select readers!

It’s slow going however, and since I can’t afford to pay anyone to translate these stories, time will tell when these will become available. However, the goal is to increase my readership, and to expand my market to include South African Afrikaans-readers, as well as ex-pats now living abroad. To this end, “Space Sucks!” will be released in Afrikaans sometime next year.

In the long-term I am also looking into expanding my translation efforts into German, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian – basically any language where anyone shows interest! All that aside, I’m also open to any offers to convert stories into screenplays! If you are willing to help out with this project, please drop me a line!

Editing

On the other side of the street, I’m also acting as Editor on two distinctly separate projects at the moment – the first one being with LightBearer Publishing (through which I published both “Bugspray” and my father’s collection of short fiction “African Assignment“) in which I have compiled a number of poems for an anthology called “Vampyre Bytes – voices from the South African Vampyre Community”, which features Gothic poetry from participants in this fascinating subculture. The interior illustrations and the cover images of this book are by local South African artist and poet, Wendy K. Gloss.

What is this anthology about?

“The modern vampire (or vampyre) subculture spans the world. While stereotypes abound, there are self-identified vampi(y)res present in every other culture, creed, religion to be found in every country, and frequently with a thriving and growing subculture to match. They are not all goths, emos or metal heads. Most are ordinary folks – cops, soldiers, firemen, bankers, the girl next door, the guy on the bus, the old man behind the counter, the kid in your class.

Adherents of the ‘scene’ maintain that it is not so much a lifestyle, hobby or interest as a collection of people who share the same life experiences and needs – that is, experiencing awakening, a period of emotional turmoil in which their vampyric characteristics are first experienced, recognized and accepted – the sum of which mark them as something different – people with an undeniable need for prana, life-force, or vital energy.

Far from being the predatory monsters seen in fiction – those whom admittedly inspire the popular modern fictional vampire image – real living Vampyres and vampyric people are also typically intelligent, creative and productive members of South African society. They are socially responsible people who run NGO’s, protest cruelty against animals, host charity drives – and they like to party.

This anthology deals with the creative facet of the South African Vampyre Community – Vampyres and their friends. While the brief to all contributors allowed the use of pen-names, most participants in the subculture use ‘nightside names’, or names chosen by them to represent their unique identities. The anthology is intended to provide a holistic look at the vampi(y)re from a South African perspective.

Contributions will be categorized into several sections:

Awakening – Dealing with awakening and realization.

Being Thus – Dealing with being a vampyric person.

Frenzy – About the need to feed.

Tantric Vamps – The Power of Life.

Vampyre Love – poems about Vampyre relationships.

Submissions are still open!

  (Submission of material is not a guarantee of placement. LightBearer Publishing and its editors reserve the right to select content which is appropriate to the project.)”

Please mail me your entries/submissions at christinaengela@gmail.com

The other anthology is being published through Riot Pink, called “Embracing Justice”, a benefit anthology to fight anti-LGBT discrimination. This is a benefit anthology to promote awareness of discrimination against LGBT people, tell our stories and find resources. This will be due out whenever we reach enough submissions to go to press.

So far there have been quite a few poetry entries, as well as a few articles and short fiction items. More is always welcome, and in fact necessary in order to actually go to press!

What is the inspiration behind “Embracing Justice”?

“The huge increase in incidence of hate crime and violence reported across the USA against LGBT people – and in other places around the world, linked to an apparent rise in bigotry and anti-human rights sentiments – is nothing less than an outrage! There is also legal discrimination to contend with, where a vulnerable minority faces discrimination which although immoral, is nonetheless enforced by unjust laws.

The type of content we’re looking for will fit into four sections:

First-hand accounts of anti-LGBT attacks (i.e. from personal experience – what happened, how did it affect you, how did it make you feel?),

Poetry (about homophobia or transphobia etc),

Short fiction (also about homophobia or transphobia etc) and

Resources (information, links or organizations that assist LGBTI people, suicide prevention etc) – and since this project is open to international entry, these can be based anywhere).

Submissions are still open!

(Submission of material is not a guarantee of placement. Riot Pink and its editors reserve the right to select content which is appropriate to the project.)”

Please mail me your entries/submissions at christinaengela@gmail.com

Moving on from editing for other people, I will also be working on more of my dad’s work for possible release in the near future. Also, for the first time, I will be preparing my mother’s works for publication! Not too long ago I also posted a few tasters of my mother’s poetry. Once I’ve determined the way forward in this regard, a collection may be coming out soon as well!

Collaborations

During the next month or so I’ll be putting my head together with my friend and famed horror and ‘barfazo’ author Alex S. Johnson in collaborating on a sci-fi horror-comedy called – “Space Cases“!

Competitions

In 2016 we held two giveaway competitions, and I had the pleasure of sending prizes to several lucky winners who received ebook (Kindle format) copies of “Blachart“, book one in the Galaxii Series, and “Black Sunrise“, book one in the Quantum Series.

This year there will be  few giveaways planned, but the formats are likely to be different, and may include a paperback copy or two. Stay tuned for announcements in this regard.

On A Personal Note

As you can imagine, time is always too short over at The Crow Bar. There are never enough hours in a day to get to everything – writing, editing, design, marketing, promotion, translation, collaboration, strategics – and also having to balance all that with daily life, work, social and other responsibilities – and realizing that even a semi-human like myself needs rest!

This holiday has been filled with relaxing activities – and also more physically challenging ones, including the D.I.Y.ing sort, and I’ve managed to refurbish and paint parts of Fort Engela, ‘de-jungled’ the front garden by removing the infestation of wild, vicious prehensile ferns – and everything except the double-yellow hibiscus tree – and poured a concrete slab! Those wold prehensile ferns sure were vicious – they even ate my 30 year old, giant fat plant! The old partly-collapsed wooden grape-vine trellis along one side of the house has been replaced with a new PVC pipe framework, and I’ve used several old concrete fence slabs to form a wall along the garden bed under the trellis, to raise the height of the bed, and filled that with several bags of potting soils so we can start growing veggies! The grape vine is recovering nicely from mildew and a bout of pruning (to prevent it from escaping over the roof), and should give us some nice grapes either this year or the next. Hopefully. Maybe one day I can actually get enough grapes to give wine-making a try!

We also finished some outstanding projects at home, and did some tile grouting in the back garden, and resurfaced and painted the old Victorian clawed-foot tub we use as a ‘chill-pool’. Over all, Fort Engela is our little paradise, our refuge from the harsh realities of the world, and despite the aching muscles and occasional little bumps and scrapes, it’s well worth the effort – and come on, waking up and doing a zombie-walk down the passage while moaning “Ow! My everything!” is kinda funny! It also makes those moments in life spent enjoying the best hugs in the world, holding hands, and wiggling naked toes in beach sand, extra special!

Peace and love are the most important things there are in the world, because with those two in place, universally, everything else can follow.

In Closing

I got some amazing reviews and positive comments on my writing over the past year! I’m always willing to chat with fans of my writing, so if you would like to, please feel free to interact with me in my facebook group, or via email (christinaengela@gmail.com) or via the contact page on my website.

Your sketches or commentary about how you perceive characters or the settings of my stories are eagerly awaited and welcome – I would love to see and hear how you feel about them!

You can show me your support by leaving helpful reviews of my books where you purchased them, whether on Lulu, Amazon, Goodreads, Kobo, Lybrary, iTunes or Nook. You might not realize it, but it makes a difference – not just to me in seeing that people liked my work, but also to others who may be thinking about getting it, and wondering if it’s worthwhile since there aren’t many (or any) helpful reviews!

Thanks again for all your support and interest over the past year! Well done – keep it up! Let’s see where 2017 takes us! More next time!

All the best!

Christina Engela

News From The Crow Bar #1 – Jan 2017 From the Good morning, fans and friends! My PA (and long suffering girlfriend) Kay (a.k.a. Wendy K.