#birthdays after his 52nd one

[lenievi]

January is just a month of my fave fictional characters’ birthday celebrations. And mine too lol 

[crookedkryptonitebeliever]

Would Blanche like it if darling wants to celebrate his birthday? If he would ever allow them to find out that is

Unlike Yves, Blanche seems to overshare. You knew his birthday in the first meeting, it's on the 22nd October.

He would be giddy during the week of his birthday, already planning a nice little party between him and his (only) dear friend, you. Blanche has been yapping about how wonderful and fun his birthday will be, he wants you to stay the night before, so he can receive his midnight birthday kisses and cuddles.

Later in the morning, he would already start baking his cake using metal trays and including only his freshest eggs from the coop. Preparing the frosting, cream, and toppings for you and him to decorate the sweet treat with. Of course, he will have some savory dishes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the two of you.

The actual celebration will only happen late in the afternoon when the cake is all assembled and his kitchen is a mess. It wouldn't be this chaotic nor would it take this long if you weren't there, he is actually a neat and almost clinical baker, but you brought out the jolly side of him. He doesn't mind cleaning up a lot more after, because he had fun and it's with you.

Oddly enough, he doesn't remember how old he is. But upon seeing his government-issued identity card, you count that he was celebrating his 52nd birthday. You're surprised because he looks fifteen years younger than he actually is, save for the greying hair.

You were the one who told him that you don't think it's a good idea to fit 52 candles on a cake. It is by no means small, but that is just a ridiculous amount of melted wax on something edible and beautiful. That is why you bought him candles that are shaped into the numbers '5' and '2'. He found it funny to swap it, so it says '25' on the cake instead, Blanche would be giggling and clapping his hands at his joke.

You and Blanche would have his birthday cake with a cup of his herbal tea, chatting away about your day and his while a gentle and soothing, old-fashioned birthday song plays softly in the background. The box of Jolly and Joy would be brought out, allowing you and him to enjoy the day away with such jollity. Blanche would be tenderly bobbing his head towards the music that's playing out of his gramophone while he knits, crochets, paints, or completes a puzzle with you. Even if it's his special day, you get to choose what to do from his wooden box. You need not worry, as it almost seems like it contains an unlimited variety of items and games. However, you must slow dance with him at least once, to the song of his choosing. It's always pleasant to listen to and easy to follow.

In the end, you will be completely tuckered out, resting your head on his lap as he hums a birthday tune to himself. Blanche would be raking his fingernails through your hair and scalp, allowing you to fully relax on him. Eventually, you will fall into a deep, deep slumber with all the coziness and snuggliness of it all.

Usually, he would let you rest on his lap while he knits or crochets something for you to bring home. But he's a bit worried. So he would retrieve his notebook and pencil from somewhere and read through his notes all over again.

Yes. He's 52 this year on (legal) paper. However, Blanche is wracking his brain trying to figure out how old he actually is. Could it be, that his memory is failing him due to aging? He was sure to drink his ginkgo and do some sort of mental exercise every day.

He would release a quiet sigh. Blanche needs to refer to his past notebooks which are stashed in his "Suitcase of Secrets". Or simply, receptacle #3467 for Blanche's personal cataloguing.

But as of now, he is just going to enjoy the remainder of his birthday in peace. Blanche would put his notebook away and pick up a pair of knitting needles. He pressed one last kiss on your forehead, making you stir a bit before sitting up straight to work on his birthday gift for you.

[eddieredmayneargentinablog]

New Video: Joel Grey and Eddie Redmayne Talk CABARET and The 'Emcee' Legacy

Last night, the company and audience of Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club celebrated Broadway legend Joel Grey’s 92nd birthday on stage at the August Wilson Theatre.

By: A.A. CristiApr. 12, 2024, Broadway World.

Last night, the company of Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club wilkommened some very special guests to their immersive nightclub home!

Eddie Redmayne currently in previews as the ‘Emcee’ in Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club celebrated Broadway legend Joel Grey’s 92nd birthday on stage at the August Wilson Theatre.

In the video Grey, who won Tony and Academy Awards for originating the role of the Emcee, reacts to the immersive new production now in previews on Broadway and its star Eddie Redmayne.

Redmayne described the feeling of performing for Grey and the show's composer, John Kander as "extraordinary, horrendously intimidating, as well, but joyful," and revealed a special moment he shared with the star during the performance.

Grey, who originated the role of the ‘Emcee’ on Broadway in 1966 and went on to star in the beloved film of Cabaret, took the stage as the entire cast, band, and creative team sang “Happy Birthday” while a custom cake, shaped like a giant pineapple, emerged from the stage.

During his speech honoring Grey, Eddie Redmayne said, “Tonight is an extraordinarily special night for us because we are in the presence of an extraordinary human being without whom none of us would be here.” After thunderous applause, Redmayne continued “Your performance in this part changed my life and it was one of the things that made me want to be an actor.”

The cast and Grey were also joined on stage by Cabaret composer John Kander.

Alongside Joel’s daughter Jennifer Grey and Kander, a star-studded crowd came out to fete the theater icon including Anderson Cooper, Candice Bergen, Jackie Hoffman, Jane Krakowski, Lin-Manuel Miranda, David Rockwell, and more. They were joined by numerous alum of Cabaret spanning the decades including Maude Apatow (Sally Bowles in London, 2023), Madeline Brewer (Sally Bowles in London, 2022), Joely Fisher (Sally Bowles on Broadway, 2000), Gina Gershon (Sally Bowles on Broadway, 2001), Mason Alexander Park (Emcee in London, 2023), Adam Pascal (Emcee on Broadway, 2003), Molly Ringwald (Sally Bowles on Broadway, 2002), Jake Shears (Emcee in London, 2023), and Brooke Shields (Sally Bowles on Broadway, 2001).

About CABARET AT THE KIT KAT CLUB

Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club is now in previews on Broadway at the August Wilson Theatre (245 West 52nd Street). The production, directed by Olivier Award winner Rebecca Frecknall and designed by Tony Award nominee and Evening Standard Award® winner Tom Scutt, will have decadent twin opening night gala celebrations starting Saturday, April 20 and continuing into the following night, with the official press opening on Sunday, April 21. Tickets are on sale now at www.kitkat.club or via Seat Geek HERE.

In addition to Redmayne, Cabaret also stars Gayle Rankin as the toast of Mayfair ‘Sally Bowles, two-time Tony Award winner Bebe Neuwirth as ‘Fraulein Schneider,’ Tony Award nominee Ato Blankson-Wood as ‘Clifford Bradshaw,’ Obie Award winner and Drama Desk Award® nominee Steven Skybell as ‘Herr Schultz,’ Henry Gottfried as ‘Ernst Ludwig,’ and three-time Helen Hayes Award winner Natascia Diaz as ‘Fritzie/Kost.’

The cast of Cabaret includes Gabi Campo as ‘Frenchie,’ Ayla Ciccone-Burton as ‘Helga,’ Colin Cunliffe as ‘Hans,’ Marty Lauter as ‘Victor,’ Loren Lester as‘Herman/Max,’ David Merino as ‘Lulu,’ Julian Ramos as ‘Bobby,’ MiMi Scardulla as ‘Texas,’ and Paige Smallwood as ‘Rosie.’ Swings include Hannah Florence, Pedro Garza, Christian Kidd, Corinne Munsch, Chloé Nadon-Enriquez, and Karl Skyler Urban.

The Prologue Company, the dancers and musicians that welcome audiences to the club, feature dancers Alaïa, Iron Bryan, Will Ervin Jr., Sun Kim, Deja McNair and swings Ida Saki and Spencer James Weidie. The musicians of the Prologue are Brian Russell Carey (piano & bass), Francesca Dawis (violin), Keiji Ishiguri (dedicated substitute), Maeve Stier (accordion), and Michael Winograd (clarinet).

For this production of Cabaret, the creative team have transformed the August Wilson Theatre into the Kit Kat Club with an in-the-round auditorium and custom spaces which guests will be invited to explore during the Prologue, the production’s pre-show entertainment. After purchasing tickets, guests will receive a “club entry time” to allow them to take in the world of the club before the show starts.

Patrons can upgrade their experience at the Kit Kat Club with exclusive dining or drinks packages that allow them to soak up the pre-show atmosphere. These various upgrades offer unparalleled service and unique experiences in the heart of the Kit Kat Club. Drinks can be enjoyed before and during the show, while food will be cleared shortly before the performance begins, ensuring uninterrupted and unmissable views of Cabaret. For a complete menu and more information on the upgrade packages, please visit www.kitkat.club/upgrade.

[yyh4ever]

Review of Yoshihiro Togashi Exhibition -PUZZLE-

I would like to make a summary of Togashi's Exhibition that is currently taking place at the Mori Arts Center Gallery located on the 52nd floor of Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, in Tokyo, from October 28, 2022 to January 9, 2023. After that, it will head to Osaka in Summer 2023 and to Fukuoka from Autumn 2023 to Winter 2024.

Since photos are not allowed in the venue, I will be using photos from the press and from the official catalog to illustrate my review. I focused more on the Yu Yu Hakusho Area.

The press had access to the exhibition one day before the official opening to the public. Even though photos are forbidden, you can buy the exhibition catalog at the official store. It contains the manuscripts, storyboards, original illustrations, and other exclusive materials displayed at Puzzle.

If you type "富樫義博展" (Yoshihiro Togashi Exhibition) on YouTube, you will also find good coverage from the media that will provide you with a general view of the place.

Before entering the exhibition, you can rent for 700 yen a 30-min audio guide voiced by the comedian Bakarhythm and voice actor Daisuke Namikawa (Hisoka and Prince Baka VA).

Bakarhythm is the navigator, and Daisuke is the commentary narrator. The guide includes a quiz, if you solve it correctly, you will hear a message from Hisoka.

The Exhibition consists of more than 350 original drawings distributed in 6 different spaces, plus an official shop.

Prologue

Area 01. Yu Yu Hakusho

Area 02. Level E

Area 03. HunterxHunter

Area 04. World of Strange Creatures

Area 05. Yoshihiro Togashi

Shop

This little map that comes with the audio guide may help you visualize the exhibition layout. The numbers 1 to 14 are also the spots where you can hear Bakarhythm or Daisuke Namikawa talk.

The areas have information panels with explanatory text and english translation. As english is not available in the official catalog, I tried to take notes and copy some of the explanations.

"Prologue"

This space is basically a hallway to welcome the visitors. It introduces the author and the concept of the exhibition: "Puzzle". Several characters from all his works are displayed as puzzle pieces in the walls and hanging from the ceiling, inviting everyone to join the wonderful world of Yoshihiro Togashi.

As soon as you enter the Prologue area, there is a black panel with a greeting from the organizers and Togashi's basic profile:

Profile

Yoshihiro Togashi was born in Shinjo, Yamagata in 1966. In 1987, his one-shot story Tonda Birthday Present was published in the Weekly Shounen Jump Special Edition Winter Special. In 1989, he made his debut as a serial manga artist with Ten de Showaru Cupid, which was published in Weekly Shounen Jump. Following the huge success of his second series, Yu Yu Hakusho (1990-1994), he became one of Weekly Shounen Jump's leading manga artists and went on to publish Level E (1995-1996) and HunterxHunter (1998-present) in Weekly Shounen Jump. Fans of all ages praises his captivating, skillful artwork.

There's also a handwritten greeting from the author himself. Photos are not allowed, but luckily, his greeting is included in the official catalog (scan by: @Vishkujo)

Greeting

Expression of Gratitude I would like to sincerely thank you for visiting the Yoshihiro Togashi Exhibition -PUZZLE-. I hope everyone enjoys the various displays and information that are only available here. My progress is slow due to health reasons, but I intend to continue leaving new footprints.

Next to his dog avatar, there's a haiku poetry. I tried to follow the haiku syllable rule of 5-7-5 for each line.

Tip of my dip pen When it severs the sound is like That of my lower back - Yoshihiro Togashi

And next to Togashi's hips, there's the onomatopoeia "guki" (グキッ), which is the cracking sound of the joints. *crack*

Still in the "Prologue", right before reaching the YYH area, there's an explanation about the "Exhibition Concept".

Togashi's works stand out in terms of "character," "setting," "depiction," and "story," all important elements in the creation of a manga. So, in order to gain a deeper understand of the charm of his series (YYH, Level E and HxH), the exhibition is focused on these 4 points:

Character

Story

Setting

Depiction

Each series also has a fifth point called "special piece", a singularity that is particular to each one. I'll talk more about them later, but they are called:

Yu Yu Hakusho: Punch Line

Level E: An Unexpected Development

Hunter x Hunter: Nen

The handwritten manuscripts are undoubtedly a piece of the puzzle that Togashi-sensei continues to create. The idea is that you appreciate all the precious original drawings, while having in mind the five points and the thought process that goes into the completion of each piece.

After you leave the "Prologue", you will arrive at Area 01 dedicated to "Yu Yu Hakusho".

The 3 main areas "Yu Yu Hakusho", "Level E" and "HxH" begin with general information, including: serialization period in the Weekly Shounen Jump, number of chapters, copies sold, and Togashi's first comment in the Table of Contents.

Area 01. "Yu Yu Hakusho"

Serialization Period: November 20, 1990 (Weekly Shounen Jump 51, 1990) to July 12, 1994 (Weekly Shounen Jump32, 1994). 175 chapters in total.

Series cumulative circulation (including digital editions): more than 50 million (as of September 2022)

Comment at the start of the series: "I went back to the basics and started drawing. I aim to create a story that I myself am satisfied with. I'm hoping for you support." (Yoshihiro)

If you are interested in Togashi's comments from all the 175 chapters, please have a look on my translations: Togashi’s Comments from the Table of Contents (1990-1994)

As introduced in the Prologue, Yu Yu Hakusho is explained and detailed in four topics: Character, Setting, Story and Depiction.

There is also an Introduction section that shows a synopsis of YYH, some colored manuscripts, the cover of the WSJ#51 1990, and an explanation about the production background and how Togashi came up with the name "Yu Yu Hakusho". Actually, it's the same explanation found in the volume 6 of HxH, end of chapter 46.

Synopsis "One day, a delinquent junior high school student named Yusuke Urameshi dies saving a child from a traffic accident. It was an unplanned event in the Spirit World. The Spirit World gives Yusuke a test, and after he passes it, they bring him back to life as a special exception. Then, after becoming a Spirit Detective by order of Great King Emma's son, Koenma, Yusuke joins powerful companions and begins a life of fierce battles with demons."

An interesting panel also talks about his influences.

Influenced Works "When interviewed in 2003, he said that he was influenced by H. R. Giger, who designed the alien in the 1979 movie Alien (directed by Ridley Scott). He has also stated in the first volume of Ten de Shouwaru Cupid that if he were to choose just one manga work as his favorite, he would pick The Drifting Classroom by Umezu Kazuo."

Then, we learn more about the characters, setting, story and depiction.

An informative panel introduces the characters:

Character "There's the delinquent but hot-blooded Yusuke, the chivalrous Kuwabara, the clever Kurama, and the always cool-headed Hiei. With these four at the center, even the enemies have attracted zealous fans, and their popularity has spread to readers of all walks of life around the world. The characters' ranges are broadened by the dissonance between facial expressions that are drawn with a dramatic touch despite their caricature-like look, as well as the dissonance created by words and actions that occasionally provide comic relief in the midst of serious developments, which have heightened the appeal of the work."

There's a colored manuscript of Yusuke facing Toguro after Kuwabara's "death", and an explanatory text:

Yusuke Urameshi "Until this point, Yusuke had been enjoying fighting to some degree. That's when Younger Toguro takes Kuwabara's life (his death is actually temporary) in order to draw out Yusuke's power at the Dark Tournament. Unable to forgive himself, the soft, clear eyes of Yusuke as he stands up are enough to convey to the reader a change in his Spirit Energy and a sudden strengthening of his power."

Then, following this "Character" wall, we learn more about the other main characters of YYH. Kuwabara's highlight is the storyboard of chapter 36 (Byakko's Battle Roar!!) when he fights Byakko's beasts.

The Storyboard for Chapter 36 "The storyboard of an early work that was specially provided for this exhibition as a valuable material of the time. Chapter 36 depicts Kuwabara's battle strategy of using his Spirit Sword to skewer the beasts unleashed by Byakko, which is shocking even for Hiei."

I like that the explanatory texts also include some Togashi's comments taken from interviews and the "Yu Yu Hakusho Official Characters Book".

For example, they mentioned that Hiei wasn't supposed to become an ally, like Kurama, but it was Togashi's editor at the time who suggested it (Togashi mentioned that in a interview with Kishimoto to JUMP GIGA, 2016). A colored manuscript of the second popularity poll is also displayed with a note saying that Hiei won first place twice during the serialization. It's not mentioned, but after the serialization, there was a third poll in WSJ, and Hiei got first place again.

Character Popularity Poll "Hiei topped the character popularity polls conducted twice during the series. Initially, Kurama was drawn with a conscious effort to create a popular character, and Hiei was not even planned to be a part of the group. Hiei was only put in the group after an editor pointed out that he should be, but he eventually grew to become a beloved character with top-ranking popularity."

Other interesting comments taken from the official databook (2005) and "Yoshirin de Pon!" (1994) also appear. Kurama and Hiei weren't named after the mountains in Kyoto, but Togashi came up with their names by himself. Shuuichi's family name "Minamino" comes from celebrity Youko Minamino, and Hiei's model is Skunky from "Patalliro!". If you're interested, I made a post once of Togashi's comments about Hiei and Kurama.

Another example is the text about Toguro in the "Story" section:

Story "The powerful enemies in the story are not necessarily absolutely evil, and the story's ending is not defined by the duality of right and wrong. The reason why Younger Toguro stopped being human, and the reason why Sensui lost faith in humanity was because they were only humans. What awaits beyond the fierce battles are questions posed to the readers by these very human characters." Younger Toguro "In the series, Koenma speculates that Younger Toguro's relentless pursuit of strength was based on his anger at his former powerlessness and his need to redeem himself for his friends. However, Mr. Togashi tell us that Younger Toguro has no remorse for his actions and all his decisions were his own to make."

The last part about Togashi's commentary on Toguro is actually an excerpt from the databook.

The "Story" section also brings a brief synopsis about Sensui, the former spirit detective.

Sensui "Sensui was a Spirit Detective before Yusuke. The dark side of humanity that he encountered during his mission changed him. Sensui, who feels that human existence itself is evil, aspires to join the demons and eventually opens the entrance to the Demon World. Sensui goes to the demon world out of contempt for humanity, and Yusuke is a demon who tries to protect humans. Although they are both Spirit Detectives, we realize that their paths were completely opposite."

I don't know if it was a matter of space, but I wish they also had talked about Yomi and the 3 Kings Arc arc in this section.

I like that on the "Setting" wall, they included a panel of Kurama VS Kaito.

Setting "Yu Yu Hakusho features a number of battle styles, including one-to-ones, battle royale, and tournaments. Yusuke and his companions are often involved in some kind of disturbance or test, whether it is against humans or demons. On the other hand, the battle settings themselves are also wide-ranging, from strength battles to brain battles to videos games, such as the Knife Edge Death Match, a head to head battle; Taboo, a battle of words without physical attacks; and Game Master, a gaming match. Each battle has a betrayal in a good sense, and the satisfying betrayal makes the reader feel even more expectations for the story."

VS Kaito "A prime example of a "brain battle" in this brilliant battle manga is the famous game between Kurama and Kaito. Kurama proposed an unusual rule: every minute, one letter of the alphabet is banned from being spoken. Something not commonly seen before, this battle of intellect highlights Kurama's cognitive capabilities and gave birth to a new type of "battle scene" that was more than a simple clash of power and strength, what's profoundly impacted the manga world."

It is said that Togashi has been inspired by many works, and the "territory" from this chapter was based off a Yasutaka Tsutsui's novel. He actually mentioned that information in an interview with Kishimoto, from Naruto's fanbook.

Yu Yu Hakusho gradually develops to a typical battle shounen, but in the Sensui Saga, it turns into a battle of wits.

The "Depiction" is a small section with some battle manuscripts from the Dark Tournament of Yusuke VS Jin and VS Younger Toguro. It talks about the impressive fights, spreads, and Togashi's skillfulness to guide the viewers between stillness and movement.

Depiction "There are many famous scenes in the series, but the battle scenes are especially impressive. The effective use of the spread, the skillful segmentation of the frame to guide the viewer's gaze, the contrast between stillness and movement that seems to stop time for the reader, and the occasional deliberately clear background are all designed to make the movement look spectacular."

After going through the introduction, and the explanations and manuscripts dedicated to the four points - Character, Setting, Story and Depiction - of the Yu Yu Hakusho series, we reach the fifth point.

When it comes to the "special piece" mentioned in the Prologue, the Yu Yu Hakusho Area has a special section called "Punch Line". The walls are decorated with the characters famous quotes, and there are also many selected manuscripts with famous lines.

Punch Line

"Words are powerful in Yu Yu Hakusho. The work captivates the readers with monologues and explanatory text that are sometimes even more convincing than the illustrations. Famous lines includes, "I'm going to kill you with a double-page spread," "Don't underestimate the power of the evil eye," and "You don't even deserve the death." Togashi says his favorite part of the creative process is by far the making of storyboards. He says the peak of enjoyment is when he is thinking of what to draw just before starting the storyboard. Many of his hard-hitting punchlines are likely to have been created during the storyboard creative process."

I really like this special segment. Yu Yu Hakusho's lines and words have marked a whole generation and continue to attract new fans. I guess we all use some of the characters quotes in our daily lives.

One of my favorite quotes is Kurama's "You don't even deserve death" to Elder Toguro.

After gaining a better understanding of Yu Yu Hakusho, we arrive at a bigger hall, it's finally time to appreciate the original drawings and color illustrations. They are displayed in chronological order, following the arcs of the "Spirit Detective", "Dark Tournament", "Black Chapter" (Door to Makai) and "Three Kings" (Makai Tournament). The walls are also painted and decorated with many scenes from the manga.

The cool thing about the manuscripts is that some words are actually different from the ones published, and we can even see some fine details such as Mukuro's nipples, that were erased afterwards in the comics. You can also buy copies of the manuscripts of the last two chapters in the shop.

In the center of the Yu Yu Hakusho Area, there are those big panels of Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei and Kurama. Behind them, there are original manuscripts called "Battle Scene Selection".

I thought we could take photos of this central area, but they are forbidden. It's understandable, otherwise the fans would form a huge queue and obstruct the flow of people. Be aware to not step on those white/black lines. The staff called me out many times (lol).

This is an example of the carefully selected battle scenes that are behind the central panels. The double spreads of Hiei VS Seiryuu and VS Shigure are my favorite.

The battle scenes of the quartet include manuscripts of:

Yusuke: VS Suzaku; VS Jin; VS Younger Toguro; the famous scene of Yusuke knocking every one of his opponents off of the platform, in the preliminary matches of the Makai Tournament.

Kuwabara: VS Rinku; VS Rishou; VS Elder Toguro; VS Mitarai (seaman).

Kurama: VS Touya; VS Karasu; VS Kaito; VS Elder Toguro.

Hiei: VS Seiryuu; VS Zeru; VS Shigure.

The Yu Yu Hakusho Area ends with the last chapter Act 175. "And so...". Notice the big illustration of the guys, drawn exclusive for the the Yu Yu Hakusho Artbook (2005), decorating the wall.

Now, we head to Area 02 - Level E.

Area 02. "Level E"

Serialization Period: September 19, 1995 (Weekly Shounen Jump 42, 1995) to December 21, 1996 (Weekly Shounen Jump Double Issue 3/4, 1997). 16 chapters in total.

Cumulative circulation (including digital editions): 2,6 million (as of September 2022)

Comment at the start of the series: "I wanted to do everything myself, so I decided to make a monthly series. Each successive chapter will appear when you've already forgotten the last one. Please feel free to read it." (Yoshihiro)

To get a better understanding of the Level E series, there is an introductory panel with a synopsis:

Synopsis "Hundreds of alien species come and go, living their lives on Earth. The only people unaware of this fact are the earthlings living on the planet. One day, Yukitaka Tsuisui, an ordinary high school student, meets a young man who calls himself an alien, and his daily life is disrupted without warning. This science fiction story depicts the strange lives of various aliens through Prince Baka, the first prince of the planet Dogra, who has both the brain of a genius and a devilish personality, and gets everyone else involved in his mischievous escapades with irreversible results."

Production Background "The production of Level E began with the unthinkable idea of creating a work that would not receive votes in a reader survey. As if to say he had drawn enough orthodox manga for his preview work, Yu Yu Hakusho, Mr. Togashi made the most of all the tools in his drawers and wrote it in an omnibus style, drawing what he liked in a monthly serialization."

Then, another panel that merges the 4 themes (Character, Setting, Story and Depiction) into a single explanation called "An Unexpected Development" (想定の斜め上).

The japanese expression "斜め上" literally means "diagonally above", and it means going up at a 45-degree angle (diagonally above) from one's imagination; to describe things that are unexpected or in a way different from what was expected. Because of its relatively widespread use since the 90s, this expression recently got into the japanese dictionary. It is said to be first used by Togashi in the Level E manga, a quote from Captain Kraft. Togashi-sensei is really a genius!

An Unexpected Development "In a sense, the lines of malicious dialogue by Kraft, a character in the work, most accurately express the essence of the work Level E. The series provides fresh surprise and excitement by always taking the least expect turns. As the fifth special piece to showcase the appeal, we have chosen one of these unexpected developments."

Initially, Level E was planned to be a self-contained series that does not need prior viewing of any other chapter to understand. However, Prince Baka was so well received by the readers, that he became the main character of Level E. It was really an unexpected development.

In this area, selected manuscripts from all 16 chapters are distributed in an 8-episode exhibition.

In Japan, Level E is known for its 8 small episodes or arcs:

Episode 1. バカ王子・地球襲来編

Prince Baka: Invasion of Earth Arc (Chapters 01 to 03)

Episode 2. 食人鬼編

Cannibal Demon Arc (Chapters 04 to 05)

Episode 3. 原色戦隊カラーレンジャー編

Genshoku Sentai Color Rangers Arc (Chapters 06 to 09)

Episode 4. マクバク族サキ王女・ムコ探し編

Princess Saki of the Macbac Kingdom: Searching for a Husband Arc (Chapters 10 to 11)

Episode 5. 高校野球地区予選編

High School Baseball District Qualifiers Arc (Chapters 12 to 13)

On their way to the regional preliminary site for Koshien, the entire bus containing the Kisaragi High School baseball team members gets lost in a mysterious space. The baseball team tries to solve the mystery of supernatural phenomena caused by the subconscious mind, and the readers have as much fun guessing the "culprit" as the characters do.

Episode 6. 原色戦隊カラーレンジャー・人魚編

Genshoku Sentai Color Rangers: Mermaid Arc (Chapter 14)

Episode 7. バカ王子・結婚編

Prince Baka: Marriage Arc (Chapter 15)

In this chapter, Prince Baka proposes to Princess Luna. It's said that Togashi got the idea from Goku and Chichi's sudden marriage, from Dragon Ball.

Episode 8. バカ王・ハネムーン編

Prince Baka: Honeymoon Arc (Chapter 16)

This area is the smallest of the 3 series, but it feels like you're in a science fiction movie. Prince Baka's decoration is also too cute.

Area 03. "Hunter x Hunter"

Serialization Period: March 3, 1998 (Weekly Shounen Jump 14, 1998) to present.

Series cumulative circulation (including digital editions): more than 84 million (as of September 2022)

Comment at the start of the series: "Nice to meet you! My name is Togashi Yoshihiro, and I am excited to be able to create my dream Jump series. Please address your letters to "Toga P." (Yoshihiro)

It begins with an Introduction section:

Synopsis Gon Freecss, who aspires to become a hunter in order to find his father, Ging, passes the Hunter Exam, which is said to be extremely difficult, with the help of the friends he meets, and obtain a Hunter License. He then train as a hunter during his journey to find Ging, maturing as he overcomes various challenges. The storyline is unpredictable, and the novel Nen battles, which features both physical and intellectual combat, are just one of the elements that keep readers engaged in the adventurous action.

As explained in the Prologue, and similar to the "Yu Yu Hakusho" Area, the HxH work is also detailed in four points - Character, Setting, Story and Depiction.

I copied the english explanations from the "Character" and "Depiction" sections:

Character "The story centers around Gon, Killua, Kurapika and Leorio. However, in some chapters, characters other than the four are depicted as the focus of the story, and the individual characters have a strong presence that contributes to the distinctive appeal of the work."

Hyskoa "Hyskoa is a magician that Gon meets in the Hunter Exam. He is a combat enthusiast who takes great pleasure in fighting and winning against strong opponents. Mr. Togashi also describes him as a popular character whose next action is always unexpected. He is a master trickster who acts only to satisfy his own desires and becomes both an enemy and ally of Gon and his companions."

Meeleem "Meeleem is born as the king of the Chimera Ants. He is portrayed as the strongest enemy of mankind, who believes violence to be true virtue. However, his encounter with a human girl named Komugi gradually changed his mind, and he appears to grow as a statesman. The conclusion of the emotional exchange between a tyrant and a weak girl becomes a shocking scene that remains one of the most famous in manga history."

Depiciton "Mr. Togashi says that one of the most important aspects of manga portrayal is whether or not what the character is trying to do in that moment is conveyed. Evident in the depicition in HunterxHunter is a sense of confidence in the ability to make the reader understand what is going on without relying on explanatory lines or stage directions."

When it comes to the 5th point, instead of a punch line section, there is a special section called "NEN".

This special exhibition also shows some Togashi's unpublished notes about "nen". It is called Togashi Memo's "Nen Ability Setting Material" (冨樫メモの「念能力の設定資料」). If you're interested, you can see scans of this material and translations on reddit.

My personal opinion: this is probably early notes from when Togashi was still creating and developing the nen system. It doesn't mean you have to follow those memos to the letter. I believe Togashi is still improving his ideas, and making changes over the years.

After immersing yourself in the world of HxH, we arrive at the main exhibition room. The original manuscripts follow a chronological order, beginning with Gon meeting his friends to the current arc. They are divided in 7 parts:

Hunter Exam Arc (ハンター試験編)

Heavens Arena Arc (天空闘技場編)

Yorkshin Arc (ヨークシン編)

Greed Island Arc (グリードアイランド編)

Chimera Ant Arc (キメラ＝アント編)

Election Arc (選挙編)

Succession to the Throne Arc (王位継承編)

In the last arc, there is like this huge chart with all the characters that appear in the succession war. It is explained that Togashi challenged himself by asking, "How many characters can one have in one chapter of the manga?". His goal for the Succession Arc is to surpass the number of characters in Captain Tsubasa's Jr. Youth Arc (excerpt from Jump Ryu interview, 2016). They also added that counting from chapter 340, when the Kakin Kingdom was introduced, over 200 characters have already appeared in 50 chapters.

In the exhibition, the manuscripts are displayed in frames, but when you buy the official catalog or copies of Hunter x Hunter manuscripts, you realize that many of them don't use the standard HxH manuscript paper with the "Yoshihiro Togashi POT" logo, but instead, it's Naoko Takeuchi's manuscript paper. What a cute couple!

In the center of the HxH area, there's the mizumi-shiki glass (water divination glass).

Unfortunately, we can't neither take pictures nor do the test :P

Adjacent to the HxH Area, there's a weird area with manuscripts of bizarre creatures, it's Area 04.

Area 04. "World of Strange Creatures"

This small area is a special exhibition dedicated to the bizarre creatures that appear in Togashi's works. I was happy to see Helen from Yu Yu Hakusho.

World of Strange Creatures "The creatures (?) with bizarre designs that occasionally appear in Togashi's works leave a powerful impression. This special exhibition area features a collection of all the strange and lovable beings depicted in each work. They are an interesting bunch of designs that offer a glimpse into the creativity and tastes of the artist."

Finally, we reach the last area.

Area 05. Yoshihiro Togashi

As the name suggests, this area is dedicated to the author.

It begins with a timeline of his life, from his birth in 1966, the first submission to the Weekly Shounen Jump in 1986, manuscripts from his early works (one-shots and his first series "Ten de wa Showaru Cupid"), to the present day.

"Sensee wa Toshishita" was a finalist of the 20th H☆S Award in 1986. Togashi won a cash prize and got a call from Toshimasa Takahashi who became his first editor, the same who proposed to Togashi that Hiei should become a main character.

Togashi's first submission is displayed in his timeline and printed in the catalog. He used a pen name at the time, Toritome Yomoya.

It was hard to tell the correct reading of his pen name (鳥留 夜母屋), because the furigana (reading of the chinese character) was not printed in the WSJ magazine. But, now, thanks to the exhibition, we know it reads as Toritome Yomoya.

In Yuusuke Murata's book, Hetappi Manga Laboratory Returns, Togashi mentioned that in his first submission he asked for sharp criticism that would kill his enthusiasm of a beginner. The late editor Mr. Takahashi had also mentioned that this particular line caught his attention.

It's funny that Togashi thought that someone else was in charge of creating the titles for the covers. That also crossed my mind. Yu Yu Hakusho, for example, has such a beautiful logo with stars (幽☆遊☆白書).

In the back wall of this area, there are color illustrations of all his works, and in the opposite wall from his timeline, a corner called "Creators Messages".

Creators Messages

To congratulate Togashi for his exhibition, there are a total of 9 messages and illustrations from other manga artists and celebrities.

Messages and illustrations from other mangaka

(to see HD scans, follow @Vishkujo thread on Twitter)

Yusuke Urameshi by Hirohiko Araki (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure)

Gon Freecss, Monkey D. Luffy, and Tony Tony Chopper by Eiichiro Oda (One Piece)

Pakunoda and Hisoka Morow by Gege Akutami (Jujutsu Kaisen)

Machi Komacine and Shizuku Murasaki by Koyoharu Gotouge (Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba)

Yusuke Urameshi, Kazuma Kuwabara, Hiei, Kurama, Gon Freecss, Killua Zoldyck, Hisoka Morow, Chrollo Lucilfer, Prince Baka, and Kraft by Sui Ishida (Tokyo Ghoul)

Translated messages by #hxhsource:

Messages from celebrities

(check original scans on @Vishku)

I translated the messages from:

Film director Chloé Zhao

Togashi-sensei, congratulations on your exhibition! "Yu Yu Hakusho" had a great artistic influence on me when I was young, and it continues to inspire my work to this day. I can't forget the emotion I felt when I first read the scene where Toguro bids farewell to Genkai on the bridge of the Spirit World. When he took off his glasses, smiled at her and uttered his last words, I was 14 years old, and cried my eyes out in a crowded bus! Toguro's last words still bring me to tears. I re-read all the volumes every year, but when I see the photo of Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, and Hiei on the last page, it always brings a lump to my throat. The beautiful and complex human nature of the heroes and villains depicted by Togashi-sensei has set the standard for me to tell amazing stories. Thank you, Togashi-sensei!

Actor Kento Kaku

Yoshihiro Togashi-sensei, nice to meet you. My name is Kento Kaku, and I am an actor. I am fully aware that it is very rude for someone like me to have the privilege to comment on sensei's great day. However, allow me to inform you. When I saw sensei's work for the first time, was deeply impressed. By the story, the characters, the development, the structure, everything. Once I came across it, my criteria for "amusing" became sensei's work. I was at a loss. I was no longer excited by other stories. How many times did I practice the Black Dragon Wave (kokuryuuha), in my youthful days? (I also tried to feel like Bui). Why can't become a demon fox (Youko)? Why can't I put out 120% of my power? Sometimes, I spent half a day practicing "ten" (纏) (I also practiced "ten" (点) like I'm supposed to). I also imagined the flow of "gyo". In my Water Divination, the leaf do not move at all. There must be people throughout the world who have had the same experiences. That's how much we're obsessed with sensei's work. Sensei, thank you very much for giving us such exciting emotions. I would like to continue enjoying sensei's work.

T/N:

纏 (Ten): "Envelop"/"Shroud", the first of the Four Major Principles of Nen.

点 (Ten): "Point", the first exercise of the "Nen of the Flame".

TV Producer Nobuyuki Sakuma

Togashi-sensei has been in a different league, since I was a teenager 30 years ago. "This manga is so interesting to me now, but will I find it even more interesting when I'm older? I still don't understand it at all, do I?". With this thought in mind, I put it back on the bookshelf and read it again from time to time. It's entertainment, it's art, a guide, but in the end it's an extremely interesting manga. I'm glad I was born in the world line where Togashi-sensei was born and is drawing manga. Thank you very much.

Writer Yumeaki Hirayama

Despite the position Togashi-sensei holds in the current manga industry, isn't his writing style itself unusual? And yet, even though he sticks to it, there is no sign the reader's enthusiasm will drop at all. This is surely rare, and I have never heard of such a thing. According to his passionate believers, one of the charms of Togashi's work is the basso continuo (severe realism) that lies in his shounen manga style. Sometimes it looks splendidly cruel, sometimes even grotesque. However, I guess it is the outstanding grasp of reality that makes his work so appealing. I believe this is the reason why it has become a bible for modern youth. For me personally, it is as if you're being challenged to play a long, long tens of thousands-moves "tsume shogi". It is always a frightening work where there is no correct answer other than the checkmate. When I think about how much trial and error goes into producing the next frame, I can only shudder and gaze at his work in wonderment. I'm praying from the lowest seat that you may continue to wield a powerful pen for many years to come.

Togashi Yoshihiro Amusement Land

In the center of Togashi Area there's the only spot where photos are allowed, the "Togashi Yoshihiro Amusement Land".

There are big covers of the first volumes of "Yu Yu Hakusho", "Hunter x Hunter" and "Level E". Hanging from the ceiling: Botan & Puu (Yu Yu Hakusho); Color Ranger's Golden Hammer crushing Prince Baka (Level E); and Knuckle's Potclean (HxH).

New illustrations

Behind the big covers of the photo area, the beautiful frame "ALL☆STAR in the PUZZLE", with the exhibition visual key, is strategically placed. So, it's impossible to take any photo. I'm glad the media shared this one. This frame is absolutely amazing, I want it in my living room.

Finally, when you are leaving area 5, there's a message from Togashi, "Thank you very much for visiting us", and one more big surprise:

A totally new illustration of Gon and Yusuke (check HD scan on @Vishkujo)!

Some people have been complaining that Yusuke is red, but Togashi color-coded him red many times during the YYH serialization in the 90s. I guess we all have this strong green image of him from the anime.

Official Shop

Of course, before you exit, don't forget to visit the Official Shop. Depending on the day or time you visit it, you may face a queue to get in. I recommend purchasing the Exhibition Official Catalog. It's just a pity that they didn't include the english text displayed at the exhibition in there.

Moreover, check the official site to see the current status of the merchandise. Many products are out of stock or being back-ordered. They have also changed the limit purchase of some items. And, if you're buying from resellers, take a look at the original price on the site first. Some products are being sold on sites like Mericari for three times more the retail price.

The goods will also be sold after the exhibition ends. So, probably only in 2024, after the Fukuoka tour. Details will be announced on the official site.

Pieces Cafe

On the 52rd floor, next to the venue, there's also the Pieces Cafe. Contrary to the shop, you don't need to have bought a ticket and visited the exhibition to enter the cafe.

I only had time for the Quartet Eternal Bond Tapioca milk/tea drink. The photo of the quartet is precious, I could hardly eat it.

Next time, I want to try the Kurama x Hiei "TWO SHOTS" curry and the Toguro Brothers dessert.

I didn't have much time in Tokyo, so I hope I can spend more time and take down more notes when the exhibition comes to Osaka. I could only stay a few hours, but I would recommend at least four to five hours if you wanna check all the details and properly enjoy the shop and the cafe.

That's all. I want to write more, but this post is already too long and Tumblr only allows 30 photos per post. Maybe, I'll do a second post, talking more about the manuscripts and catalog. It's hard to explain everything without showing photos or videos of the place, so if there's any confusing information, let me know.

[slickshoesareyoucrazy]

Birthdays and Deaths

Today is J's 52nd birthday. His mom died when she was 51. I've read and heard from others who have lost parents relatively young that once they hit or pass their parent's oldest age, there's a bit of existential crisis and maybe a weird form of survivor's guilt. So I suspected (correctly) that this birthday would be a little tough for him. He cried last night while our son was taking a shower. I said I understood but asked him if something specific triggered sadness to tears (which is very rare for J).

"You asked me what kind of cake I wanted, and I thought how my mom made my cake every year. 29 cakes.😢"

I told J I was glad his mom was the person who gave him doubt free love and good birthday memories for 29 years. I told him I hope he feels loved in his birthdays now; that I try my best, but I know there's always going to be a void I can't fill. I told him I felt cheated, I felt our son was cheated, because we never got to meet his mother. I told him that I couldn't speak for her obviously, but I was sure she would be so proud of him and so glad that he's happy now. "I am happy now, peaches." ❤️

A was the person who gave me 'happy birthdays' for 30 years. Oddly this year on J's birthday, we both understand each other's carried grief more. He feels safer expressing his continuing grief to me because I can't contain mine, I think. I'm not even trying to contain it anymore. And while J has always been understanding of my relationship with A, in the sense that he was never jealous or suspicious of A like other romantic interests in my life were, and that he himself has a long term friendship that mirrored mine with A in a lot of ways, I think he really 'gets it' now. A was never a romantic partner or a parental figure in my life, but he was never 'just a friend,' either. He was the longest lasting person present in my life who gave me doubt free love; almost the equivalent of J's mom for him. J will (hopefully) eventually pass up A. Hopefully our son will too. Because they'll both be in my life more than 34 years (I hope). But right now for sure, that's one of the main reasons why the grief is so pronounced and enduring. J still misses his mother (of course) 23 years later, not really any 'less' than he did right after she passed away, enough to cry thinking about birthday cake. And he understands better now that I will cry sometimes about A for a long time, with triggers that might be mysterious to other people.

I know that's a weird thing to write about on J's birthday, but it's also right before Memorial Day, and it's also just a fact that grief doesn't really give a damn what day it is. I am grateful I have a partner in my life who understands and makes space for my grief. I hope he feels like I understand and make space for his too. I'm starting to think that's what love is. Maybe that seems morbid or depressing, but big lasting love definitely makes big lasting grief. And if you love people big and lasting, you need people in your life who understand and make space for that.

Anyway, happy birthday, J. I hope it really is happy. I love you big and lasting. ❤️❤️❤️

[my-deer-history]

Francis Kinloch in the Müller-Bonstetten letters (and others): Part 5

More translations, taken from various sources (here, here, here and here). The letters are to Bonstetten unless otherwise noted. Biographical details sourced from Kinloch of South Carolina.

13 May 1780

Because of Mr Kinloch, I am filled with joy and dread. Dread, because his city has been besieged by 10,000 men with a great deal of artillery; joy, because he has married a very amiable and wealthy woman*. I receive regular letters from his brother; his own are often lost due to the perils of war.

*Kinloch’s first wife was Mildred Walker, though it seems they were only married on 22 Feb 1781. She died in Nov 1784.

9 Sept 1780

Kinloch, after having performed bravely in various engagements, was wounded in the arm, whereupon South Carolina unanimously elected him as a delegate to the Continental Congress; he sits with his colleagues in Philadelphia, not very peacefully, I think.

11 Aug 1781

I spent two days sorting more than 500 letters that came from Geneva along with my books. Memories of Kinloch, Nassau, Bonnet, Tronchin, Boone, Knight, Sandys, Abbot sweetened the work

7 Dec 1782, to his mother

I have largely been happy with my life up until now: but almost never on the path that I intended to take. Twelve years ago, I wished to marry*, and to live in Schaffhausen on a few professorships; I then had various plans for England and Flanders; at one point, the greatest and best thing seemed to me to witness the blossoming and progress of a new free country with Kinloch, and the serve a free people in war and peace;

*Original annotation: The desire lasted only a few days.

January 1784

It is neither my place to compare myself with such writers nor to scorn what God has given me: but after almost losing many years of my early youth, the 33rd [year] is finally here, but in an occupation to which I was not suited, the 24th and 25th I spent with Kinloch, leaving me little time for my own studies of friendship and duty

9 Aug 1786

Nothing else has changed in my household, except that Mr Boone, Kinloch’s former guardian and governor of South Carolina, has sent his son here, and he is living with me; he does not take up any of my time, as I only see him at mealtimes; he is an amiable officer, who was also very popular at Aschaffenburg.*

*A town in Bavaria.

20 Feb 1801

In my letter writing, I had to ensure that there was also a reply to Kinloch in South Carolina. Do you remember the noble youth? Now he is a grandfather;* he lives happily besides and I have just read an excellent essay of his about the character of the revolution.**

*Kinloch’s daughter, Eliza Kinloch Nelson, gave birth to a son called Francis in 1800.

**From context, the French rather than American revolution. 

7 Jan 1803

Not enjoyable, as you can see, but rather tender in its sufferings and joys was the transition into my 52nd year. On that birthday I wrote to South Carolina, responding to two of Kinloch’s letters, full of spirit and love.

22 Oct 1803

I already wrote to you that Kinloch has arrived in Bordeaux and will soon be in Geneva; he wrote to me at once in such a brotherly way, rejoiced at the long-awaited reunion, and for a few days took me back to the charming dreams of my youth! I answered him immediately; we shall see each other in the coming year. If nothing unusual happens, I can easily get a few months' leave; should it not be possible from this or that perspective, then the one who has crossed the ocean and all of France will also make these 60 posts himself. 

25 Jan 1804

Write to me in Dresden at once. If the world quietens, or at least does not continue to burn, I hope to visit you and Kinloch in the summer.

18 June 1804

To Geneva, first, came the most beautiful letters from Berlin, gracious, joyful, inducing longing. Then Kinloch’s embrace! he is as he was; slightly fatter; his heart noble, as before; a husband, like you; a caring father; a faithful brother; a morally perfect person.

13 May 1780

Ich bin wegen Hrn. Kinloch in großer Freude und Furcht. In Furcht, weil seine Stadt von 10,000 Mann mit vieler Artillerie belagert wird; in Freude, weil er eine sehr liebenswürdige und reiche Frau geheirathet hat. Von seinem Bruder bekomme ich öftere Briefe; die seinigen gehen durch die Kriegsgefahren häufig verlohren.

9 Sept 1780

Kinloch, nachdem er sich in verschiedenen Treffen tapfer gehalten, ist am Arm verwundet worden, worauf Südcarolina ihn einmüthig zum Deputirten auf den Generalcongreß erwählt hat; er sitzt mit seinen Collegen zu Philadelphia, nicht eben ruhig, denke ich.

11 Aug 1781

Zwei Tage sind mir über der Anordnung von mehr als 500 Briefen, die nebst meinen Büchern aus Genf gekommen sind, verflossen. Manche Erinnerung an Kinloch, Nassau, Bonnet, Tronchin, Boone, Knight, Sandys, Abbot, versüßte die Arbeit

7 Dec 1782, to his mother

Ich bin in meinem Leben bis dahin meist glücklich gewesen: fast nie aber auf dem Weg, den ich gehen wollte. Vor zwölf Jahren wünschte ich zu heirathen*, und mit ein Paar Professorstellen zu Schaffhausen zu leben; ich hatte nachmals auf England und Flandern verschiedene Plane; einst schien mir das größte und beste, mit Kinloch dem Aufblühen und Fortgang eines neuen Freistaates beizuwohnen, und im Krieg und Frieden einem freien Volk zu dienen;

*Der Wunsch dauerte nur wenige Tage.

January 1784

Es kömmt weder mir zu, mich solchen Schriftstellern zu vergleichen oder zu verachten, was Gott auch mir gegeben: aber nachdem ich viele Jahre der ersten Jugend fast verloren, das 33ste endlich hier, aber in einer Beschäftigung, für die ich nicht war, das 24ste und 25ste mit Kinloch, so daß mir für eigene Studien von Freundschaft und Pflicht wenige Zeit gelassen wurde

9 Aug 1786

In meinem Hauswesen hat sich weiter nichts verändert, als daß Hr. Boone, Kinloch's ehmaliger Vormund, und von Südcarolina Gouverneur, seinen Sohn' hieher gesandt, welcher bei mir wohnt; Zeit kostet er mir keine, da ich nur bei Tafel ihn sehe; er ist ein liebenswürdiger Officier, der auch zu Aschaffenburg sehr wohl gefallen.

20 Feb 1801

Von meiner Briefschreibung muß ich nachholen, daß auch nach Südcarolina an Kinloch eine Antwort dabei war. Erinnerst du dich des edlen Jünglings? Nun ist er Großvater; lebt übrigens glücklich und ich habe so eben einen vortrefflichen Aufsatz über den Charakter der Revolution von ihm gelesen. 

7 Jan 1803

Nicht lustig war, wie du siehst, aber zärtlich in Leiden und Freuden der Uebergang in mein 52stes Jahr. An dem Geburtstag wurde nach Südcarolina geschrieben, auf zwei Briefe Kinloch's voll Geist und Liebe.

22 Oct 1803

Schrieb ich dir schon, daß Kinloch zu Bordeaux angekommen ist und nun zu Genf seyn wird; wie brüderlich er mir sogleich schrieb, des lang ersehnten Wiedersehens frohlockte, und für einige Tage mich ganz in der Jugend holde Trăume zurück versehte! Ich habe ihm sogleich geantwortet; sehen werden wir uns im zukünftigen Jahr. Wenn nichts besonderes eintritt, so kann ich Urlaub auf ein paar Monate leicht erhalten; sollte es aus der oder der Betrachtung nicht seyn können, so wird der über das Weltmeer und ganz Frankreich Hergekommene auch diese 60 Posten selbst noch machen. 

25 Jan 1804

Nach Dresden schreibe mir sogleich. Wenn die Welt ruhig, oder doch nicht weiterhin entflammt wird, so hoffe ich auf den Sommer Euch und Kinloch zu besuchen.

18 June 1804

Zu Genf erstlich die schönsten Briefe von Berlin, gnädig, freudevoll, sehnsuchterregend. Dann Kinloch's Umarmung! er ist, wie er war; etwas fetter; sein Herz edel, wie vorhin; ein Gatte, wie du; ein sorgsamer Vater; ein treuer Bruder; ein moralisch vollkommener Mensch. 

[gendecoder]

The Death Of Slim Shady

The video let's us know the release date is for 7 December 2024. A date that can be expressed as 12/7 or 7/12, the mirror of it would be 721 or 217

The release date for the album comes 51 days after his birthday

This year being his 52nd birthday, however, at the time of the time of the trailer release or this moment in time he is 51 years old.

One could also say he's already in his 52nd year of life. That would make the full span of days 52. Making the album release on the 52nd day of being 52.

25 is the mirror of 52 and since we're talking about 'The Death of Slim Shady, the words 'death' and the acronym 'R. I. P.' equates to 25

Sticking with the theme of death, notice

Foreshadowing much?

[xerks44]

1981 MAX ROACH & tap dancer HAROLD NICHOLAS of the NICHOLAS BROTHERS

MAX ROACH DAY JANUARY 10, 1924 – AUGUST 16, 2007

A BIRTHDAY TRIBUTE TO AN ALL-TIME JAZZ GREAT

Drummer Max Roach was born on January 10, 1924 in Newland, North Carolina.

Roach, who grew up in Brooklyn, started on the drums when he was ten and studied at the Manhattan School Of Music.

He was in the house band at Monroe’s Uptown House in 1942, getting opportunities to jam with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie who both recognized his forward-looking talents.

Roach made his recording debut with Coleman Hawkins in 1943 (and was on Hawkins’ pioneering bop sessions the following year), worked with the Benny Carter Orchestra, and played on 52nd Street with Gillespie.

With Kenny Clarke (who was the first bop drummer) in the service, Roach built upon his innovations and was quite busy during the second half of the 1940s including working with Stan Getz, Allan Eager, Hawkins, the Charlie Parker Quintet (1947-49), Miles Davis’ Birth of the Cool Nonet (1949-50) and virtually every name in modern jazz including with Parker and Gillespie at the famous 1953 Massey Hall Concert.

He co-founded the Debut label with Charles Mingus in 1952 and worked with Louis Jordan, Red Allen, the Lighthouse All-Stars and Jazz At The Philharmonic.

During 1954-56, Roach co-led a pacesetting quintet with Clifford Brown that by late-1955 included Sonny Rollins; after Brown’s tragic death other members of the group included Kenny Dorham, Ray Bryant, Booker Little, Tommy Turrentine, Freddie Hubbard, Hank Mobley, George Coleman, Stanley Turrentine, Clifford Jordan, Julian Priester and Roach’s wife singer Abbey Lincoln.

One of the most respected and skilled jazz drummers of all time (and a master at using space as he built up his solos), Roach continued leading groups for the remainder of his life including a long-time quartet with Odean Pope, Cecil Bridgewater and Tyrone Brown, the all-percussion group M’Boom, the Uptown String Quartet, and special duo albums with the likes of Cecil Taylor, Anthony Braxton and Archie Shepp.

Here is Max Roach accompanying and interacting with dancer Harold Nicholas in 1981.

-Scott Yanow

[arisawati]

Reviewing the details and quality of the 52nd selected work of Denny Ja: "God's Love alone"

This year, we are all present to commemorate and celebrate the 52nd birthday of one of the important figures in Indonesia, namely Denny JA. In this celebration, his latest work entitled "LOVE LORD only" is a decent spotlight for us to review in detail. In this article, we will discuss carefully and appreciate the quality of this selected work. In "God's love alone", Denny Ja presents a story full of life and deep meaning. He described the journey of a main character who fought against a hard and challenging life. This story not only stirred us up, but also gave us the spotlight of the power of love and firm faith to God. One of the things that stands out of this work is strong characterization. Denny JA managed to build the main character very well, so we can feel his emotions and motivations. We can see how strong the encouragement of love and beliefs of this main character is when he faces the obstacles in his life. This makes us even more connected to the story and deepen our understanding of the power of true love. In addition to strong characterization, Denny JA also presents an interesting and well -structured storyline. He is able to show changes and developments in the main character gradually, so that we can see how the struggle and transformation. The storyline that flows well makes us keep being captivated to continue reading to the end. Not only that, the use of beautiful and descriptive language by Denny JA is also appreciated. He is able to describe the atmosphere and settings in great detail, so that we can feel the atmosphere and feel the emotions in the story. The use of creative metaphors and images also makes this work more lively in our imagination. In "God's love alone", Denny JA also presents a universal and inspiring theme. He discusses love and beliefs that can move and change one's life. This work invites us to reflect on how important it is to have strong beliefs and sincere love in dealing with all obstacles of life. The moral message conveyed by this work is very relevant and can inspire readers. The quality of this selected work is also seen in the development of mature plots and satisfying story completion. Denny JA was able to present a tense climax moment and reveal the mystery in the story. Settlement of satisfying stories makes us feel satisfied and give a deep impression after reading this work. "God's love alone" also received high appreciation from literary critics and readers. This work succeeded in attracting the attention of readers from various circles, because the story is full of deep tension and emotions. The quality of writing of Denny JA's consistent and sharp in this work is also one of the determinants of his success. Overall, "God's love alone" is a very worthy work to be appreciated and read by everyone. In this work, Denny JA succeeded in presenting a strong story, a deep character, and an inspiring theme. The use of beautiful language and interesting storylines keep us involved in this story. The quality of this work is also seen in the development of mature plots and satisfying story completion.

Check in full: review the details and quality of Denny JA's selected work to 52: "God's love alone"

[tatiekfuji]

Revealing the hidden meaning in Denny Ja’s selected work: God’s love alone

In the world of Indonesian literature, Denny Ja has become one of the inevitable names. Known as a well -known author and writer, his work always steals attention and invites debate. At his 52nd birthday celebration, Denny JA launched his latest work entitled Love God alone. This work has a deep and hidden meaning, and through this article, we will reveal this meaning.    God’s love is merely a fiction essay poem that tells the story of a man named Rama in searching the meaning of true love. Rama, who almost lost his hope in seeking love, decided to withdraw from the world and focus his attention on spirituality and religion. He decided to travel to a legendary holy place, where he said there was true love that was able to change a person’s life.    On his way, Rama met with various interesting characters who helped him reveal the true meaning of love. From a wise street sweeper to an inspirational street poet, each character gives valuable lessons to Rama. They teach that true love is not about the fulfillment of personal desires, but rather about giving and receiving selflessness.    Through Rama’s spiritual journey, Denny JA presents various philosophical questions about love and religion. How is the relationship of love with God’s existence? Can true love only be found in the context of religion? In God’s love alone, Denny JA invites the reader to reflect on the meaning of more deep love and dive into his relationship with spirituality.    In addition, God’s love also invites the reader to see love in various forms and forms. In this story, Denny Ja describes love as a power that is able to change a person’s life, both in the romantic context, friendship, and affection for fellow human beings. He emphasized that love is not only limited to feelings, but also concrete actions that can bring good to the world.    In this essay poem, Denny Ja also uses beautiful and descriptive language to describe every scene. He described the beauty of nature, city life, and spiritual miracle with stunning words. The reader will feel as if he was beside Rama on his spiritual journey, and felt the miracle he met.    Through God’s love alone, Denny Ja also conveys a message about the importance of tolerance and respect for differences. In Rama’s journey, he interacts with various religious groups and different beliefs. However, Denny Ja succeeded in describing that in true love, there is no room for hatred or lack of understanding. True love is about mutual respect and accept differences with sincerity.    Apart from the deep and hidden meaning, God’s love is also a work that is entertaining. The diversity of characters and interesting storylines makes the reader captivated and cannot escape from page after page. Denny Ja succeeded in creating a work that touched the heart, made a laugh, and inspired at the same time.

Check more: reveal the hidden meaning in Denny Ja’s selected work: God’s love alone

[neliakablog]

Exploring a deep message in Denny Ja’s selected work 52: “God’s love alone”

In the world of Indonesian literature, the name Denny Ja has become one of the most recognized and respected. As a writer, poet, and social activist, Denny JA has touched the hearts of many people through his elected work. One of his latest works that inspires is “God’s LOVE”.    “LOVE LORD only” is a poem written by Denny JA in his 52nd birthday celebration. This poem is able to arouse a deep feeling and present a strong message about the diversity, love, and human relationship with God.    In this poem, Denny JA describes the beauty and diverse of the universe created by God. He wrote about the wonders of the nature that surrounded us, ranging from the sparkling stars in the night sky to the trees dancing in the wind. In every word and sentence, Denny Ja shows how great and unlimited God’s love that creates everything with full of beauty and miracle.    In addition, “God’s love alone” also invites us to accept diversity in life. Denny Ja asserted that God’s love did not look at difference, but instead united us as human beings. He invites us to distance ourselves from prejudice and discrimination, and accept every individual with an open heart. This poem conveys an important message that diversity is a wealth that must be maintained and celebrated.    In some verse poetry, Denny Ja also raised the theme of life and death. He arranged words that arouse curiosity and reflection about what happened after this life ended. In dealing with this uncertainty, Denny Ja invites us to find strength and calm in God’s love alone. This poem reminds us to live wisely and make peace with destiny.    Through “God’s only love”, Denny Ja also highlighted the role of literature in delivering a deep message. He revealed that in every word, poetry, and story, contained power that is able to embrace the soul and change one’s outlook on life. Denny Ja invites us to read, write, and appreciate literature as a means to find a deeper meaning in our lives.    This poem not only inspires, but also invites us to act. Denny Ja conveys the message that God’s love is not only quite understood, but must also be realized in concrete actions. He encourages us to become agents of change that fight injustice, embrace goodness, and spread love to fellow human beings.    At the end of the poem, Denny Ja invites us to be grateful for the life given by God. He reminded us not to forget that every second is a gift that must be appreciated and utilized as best as possible. This poem gives a strong reminder of the importance of gratitude and lives life with gratitude.    “God’s Love alone” is a work full of meaning and deep message. Through this poem, Denny Ja invites us to explore the beauty of the universe, embrace diversity, seek meaning in life, and spread love to fellow humans. This poem brings us on a spiritual journey that arouses sensitivity and gratitude in us.

Check in full: Exploring a deep message in the 52nd Denny Ja selected work: “God’s love alone”

[abiyatno]

Diving in the meaning of Denny Ja’s selected work 52: “God’s love alone”

In his 52nd anniversary celebration, Denny Ja, a famous Indonesian writer, again presented a stunning and meaningful work. His work entitled “LOVE LORD only” is a very deep thought and invites us to reflect on human relations with God.    In this work, Denny JA explores various aspects of human life that are very closely with the existence of God. He described how love to God is an irreplaceable source of strength and inspiration. In a variety of short stories presented, Denny JA invites the reader to explore the meaning of love to God and how it shapes human life.    One of the most impressive stories in this work is about a poor young man who struggles to achieve his image. Although his life is full of trials and difficulties, he never loses the belief that God will always give a way out. In his life journey, the young man learned that God’s love is an unlimited source of power and helps him through all challenges.    Denny JA also presents another story that inspires a woman about a woman who loses everything in her life after losing the person she loves. In his despair, the woman found God’s love present to cheer her up and give new hope. Through this story, Denny Ja wants to convey the message that God’s love is a cure for a soul that is injured and lost.    In addition, this work also illustrates that God’s love does not only exist in a difficult and sorrow moment. Denny Ja invites us to see God’s love in the beauty of the universe. He described the greatness of God through the natural beauty that surrounds us. In every gust of wind, thunderous thunder, or sunlight that illuminates the earth, Denny Ja teaches us to feel and appreciate God’s love which includes everything in this world.    In writing his work, Denny Ja uses beautiful and imagination. He is able to describe every detail very clearly, so that the reader can feel and dive into every meaning he conveys. The writing style is typical and full of strong graffiti making this work so alluring and difficult to forget.    Through “God’s only love”, Denny Ja invites us to do deep reflections on our lives and our relationships with God. He reminds us of the importance of God’s love in dealing with all struggles and difficulties in life. This work also provides hope and inspiration for those who feel down and lose.    As an experienced writer, Denny Ja has succeeded in creating a work that inspires the heart and seeps into the soul of the reader. “God’s love alone” is a work that is not just entertainment, but also provides valuable lessons about the meaning of life and the importance of our relationship with God.    In his 52nd birthday celebration, Denny Ja gave gifts to the readers with the presence of this meaningful work. Through the various stories presented, Denny Ja invites us to dive into and feel God’s love that is so strong and never ends.

Check more: Dive into the meaning of the 52nd Denny Ja selected work: “God’s love alone”

[bollywood143114]

Bhagyashree goes back to Goa with her husband. She looks amazing even at the age of 52

Bhagyashree images: In Bollywood, there are many stars who are active on social media even though they are far from movies. One of them is Bhagyashree, a famous actress from the past. Yes, the beautiful Bollywood actress Bhagyashree keeps sharing updates about her daily and personal life with her fans. In fact, Bhagyashree is currently on a birthday holiday with her husband and continues to share photos. In her published photos, she is wearing a blue and white striped crop top and hot pants. Bhagyashree, as she is resting on a stone, is looking at the sun and enjoying the weather. Previously, she shared many pictures of herself looking at the ocean waves from her balcony. During this time he is wearing a peacock green colored top. Let's just say he recently celebrated his 52nd birthday. It is no exaggeration to say that Bhagyashree's face still has that innocence and beauty that many people rave about. Rocky has not gone anywhere! Her husband, Adil, ran away with cash and jewels within days of their wedding. Let actress Bhagyashree start her career with television. His first serial, 'Kachchi Dhoop', came out in 1987. However, Bhagyashree was confirmed for her film debut with Salman Khan. Salman Khan and Bhagyashree created a sensation in the film industry with 'Maine Pyar Kiya'. The movie was loved by people and was a huge hit at the time. The two got married shortly after the film premiered. He may be leaving Bollywood today, but he still holds his place in the hearts of his fans. From Rajasthani cuisine to classic Awadhi and royal Rajputana food, check out Kiara-Siddharth’s special wedding menu. DISCLAIMER Thanks for visit our website bollywoodofindia.com . We have taken all measures to ensure that the information provided in this article and on our social media platform is credible, verified and sourced from other Big media Houses. For any feedback or complaint, reach out to us at bollywoodofindiaa@gmail.com Read the full article

[ts1989fanatic]

Taylor Swift’s 50 Best Songs, Ranked

By Chris Willman

Taylor Swift

“I’m doing good, I’m on some new shit,” Taylor Swift softly declared at the outset of “Folklore,” and truer sentiments are never constantly spoken than in the case of the woman who somehow manages to the best and most prolific songwriter in pop. Consider that, just since the last time she went on tour, Swift has released six albums, four of which were all-new, two of which dug into her vaults and proved she’s even more of a constant song fount than we knew. New shit is her brand — maybe her compulsion, too — and definitely our pleasure.

So sometimes it takes a special occasion to tear yourself away from the chronic relistenability of a “Midnights” to ask yourself: What do “Speak Now,” “1989,” “Reputation,” et al. have to say to me today? Fortunately, we have such an occasion — Swift’s birthday, as the star turns 33 on Dec. 13. It’s a good, celebratory time to try to pull out a best songs list. Sure, it would have been appropriate and maybe even lucky to come up with a 13-song list, or even 33 songs, in honor of her spot on the mortal odometer. But given her catalog of 225-plus songs, even cutting a best list down to 50 is a tough task, so that ended up being where we drew the line.

If your favorite Swift song is missing from this highly subjective, critical 50-best list, rest assured that it’s probably in our unspoken 51st or 52nd slot. And know that on any given day, the winds might have blown differently and we might even have put “Shake It Off” or “Love Story” on the list. For now, there were just too many brilliant deep cuts to consider to let all the bigger hits hog the top ranks of the canon. And having just named “Midnights” the album of the year, I didn’t think it was too soon to push some cuts from that record onto this “Eras”-spanning list. Are you ready for it? (Boom, boom, boom.)

50

Tim McGraw

This introductory, career-establishing single certainly counts as a simple pleasure now, against all the more sophisticated writing she’s done since. But its winsomeness still speaks to how we experience music as not just a soundtrack to life events but a spiritual partnership with them. The genius of it was in a concept that hadn’t been tried much before — establishing that a couple might not just have “our song” but “our artist.” And in making Tim McGraw the guy, thank God she chose someone whose name and stature have aged well. We wouldn’t have quite the nostalgic affection that we do for this 2006 single if the teen lovers had bonded over Big & Rich.

49

You're on Your Own, Kid

In case there was any doubt that it’s unresolved childhood loneliness and rejection that make the greatest breeding ground for uber-driven superstars, Swift clears it all up for us by effectively conceding as much in this childhood origin story for her ambition and independence. It’s somehow more affecting for how matter-of-factly she presents these subdued moments of almost steely self-realization. (Later in the “Midnights” album, she revisited basically the same subject in a passing aside in the closing “Mastermind”; it almost felt like one of those moments in the theater where you get a quick reprise of an earlier key theme.)

48

Enchanted

Swift takes a backstage introduction to an indie-pop dude she had a crush on and turns it into something that feels like an epic moment at a royal ball. Even if you are a less than A-level romantic, you may still find something enduringly swoony about the way she frames something that feels like classic love at first sight (even if in practicality it’s check-his-socials-later-to-see-if-he’s-claimed at first sight). She probably forgot about the guy the next day, but she got a hell of a testament to the magic of instantaneous infatuation out of it. (And a fragrance.)

47

Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince

Swift has been surprisingly unafraid to boldly speak out about political matters in recent years, after being criticized for staying quiet in her early career. (Of course the blowback from going vocal has amounted to many times the crap she ever took for keeping her mouth shut.) She still hasn’t gotten topical too often in song itself, but a major exception came in the form of “Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince,” which subsequently lent half its name to a documentary about her political coming-out. This “Lover” track is basically a play on the idea that all adult life is just like high school, but now she’s breaking up not with a boy but with the center-right assumptions that had her growing up assuming that America would always stay on the right track. As tends to be the case with lyrics that exist entirely on a metaphorical plane, this isn’t one of her most emotionally connecting tracks. But to hear America’s one-time princess worry that she and the direction of her country may never, ever get back together is affecting.

46

Lavender Haze

Listening to “Tim McGraw” or “Teardrops” back in the day, how little would anyone have imagined that Swift someday would be decrying “the 1950s shit they want from me” while extolling the sensual benefits of a relationship that just cozily is what it is. “Lavender Haze” kicks off “Midnights” with a groove that’s almost a little too laid back to quite call R&B… although you could probably say that of a lot of the best subtle R&B. It’s Swift locked into a good groove in every possible regard.

45

'Tis the Damn Season

This list needs a Christmas song, and you know it’s not going to be “Christmas Must Mean Something More,” at least not without a lot more spiked nog. Lucky for everyone’s personalized holiday mixes that Swift did eventually follow up her early Christmas EP many years later with a sentimental one-off (“Christmas Tree Farm”) but also, more significantly, this fairly unsentimental ode to hometown ex sex during the holidays. Like much of the “Evermore”/”Folklore” cycle, we can take this as an act of imagination (i.e., there is no mention of where the paparazzi are going to go while she and her old classmate briefly reignite some embers just for the hell of it). But all the mixed, pragmatic feelings that come up over the course of the song sure feel lived-in. Ho ho sigh.

44

Teardrops on My Guitar

This is the one that began it all, not on the country side of things, where she was already well-established before her sophomore album came out, but on the MTV side, where many “pop mixes” were to come before she finally “picked a lane,” as she put it. It sounds almost primitive now, but an honestly felt teardrop on an honest instrument never goes out of style. (Many years later, on “My Tears Ricochet,” she would subtly do a kind of sequel to this ballad, with record company executives understood to be replacing the far more benign Drew as the villains of the piece.)

43

Mad Woman

It’s easy to see a lot of the darker material on “Folklore” through two lenses — that they’re breakup songs, or they’re breakup-with-Big-Machine songs. Either interpretation of “Mad Woman” works, but if this is one of her personal tunes on the album and not one of the character songs, the unusual intensity with which she writes and sings it sure makes it seem like it’s more about a recent business split than some long-ago bad romance she’s dredging up for song fodder. Of course, this interpretation is furthered by just how openly angry she allowed herself to be in her public messages about what went wrong, to the extent she has to know some observers were asking, “Why can’t she just move on?” However you feel about the situation with the sale of the masters, you have to take note of her refusal to take it any less seriously over time. “Every time you call me crazy, it makes me more crazy,” she warns. A scorpion fighting back “strike(s) to kill, and you know I will.” Geez, we’re a long way from slamming screen doors and first or last kisses here — and it’s riveting.

42

False God

A song about why a relationship that’s escalated for some of the wrong reasons can’t help but feel right when you throw that slinky a groove on it — and throw in something Swift has never employed from her arsenal before: a solo saxophone. When she pulled this out for an especially sexy-sounding second number on an “SNL” appearance, it made fans wish this was a direction she’d explore more in the future. Listen, she’s got time.

41

Haunted

Every female singer with a little bit of lung power and a big taste for drama should write their own version of an Evanescence song at least once in their career. This heavily orchestrated Goth-rocker from her third album, “Speak Now,” came at the tail end of the era when she still had a touch of girlish shrillness in her voice. She is 100% — no, maybe 1000% — a better singer now than she was then, but that doesn’t mean we can’t feel a twinge of quaint nostalgia for the less trained, barely post-adolescent, I-mean-it tones pushing this anguished lament over the top.

40

...Ready for It?

Yes, we are, or were, as a matter of fact. This “Reputation” opener made for a great introductory number on the 2018 tour of the same name, too. It gets knocked, in some quarters, for Swift having sung the verses in a kind of hip-hop cadence. But that does set up the constantly changing dynamics of the tune, which goes from that into a featherweight-sweet and sexy pre-chorus, before Max Martin and Shellback bring the hammer down again with a recurring synth riff that feels like heavy metal. That cathartic rush is worth the wait of the ellipses.

39

Soon You'll Get Better

When Swift revealed that she’d enlisted the Dixie Chicks for a collaboration, nearly everyone assumed it’d be a fun lark, like the murder ballad she eventually did with Haim. Instead she murdered everyone’s hearts with “Soon You’ll Get Better,” a song about coming to terms with her mother’s cancer that hit upon many of the stages of grieving… not a death, but an illness that ends the carefree life a family once knew, anyway. This was most people’s “skip” track on the “Lover” album — but surely Swift, most of all, would know that’s no knock against it. Even if you’re blessed not to currently have any loved ones with chronic or incurable illnesses, this is one to necessarily be employed in private.

38

Daylight (Live From Paris)

As the closing track on the 2019 “Lover” album, “Daylight” didn’t make that much of an impression; it seemed like maybe just one in a series of hopeful denouements to otherwise more dramatic collections, in a tradition with “New Year’s Day” and “Clean” but not as memorable. But the song turned out to be slightly the victim of a rare instance of overly busy balladic production that didn’t do the tune many favors. Stripped of that for a mostly acoustic version that appeared on a live album just before the pandemic, her of-the-moment love song became something more touching, like her one-night-only “Lover” show in the City of Lights really did bring it into the sunshine.

37

The Last Great American Dynasty

Swift really, really likes women who are viewed as insane. Hard to imagine why, after a few solid years of vilification in the previous decade, right? And so, after she bought a Rhode Island mansion in the mid-2010s, she formed an identification with a famous former owner, wealthy socialite Rebekah Harkness, and decided to tell her story of how she became willfully self-ostracized from her community. There’s a theme running there between that tracks like “Mad Woman,” but also with the older Swift song “The Lucky One,” a portrait of a star who threw it all away and went into happy seclusion. This is a terrific piece of character writing, and though it’s hardly diaristic in the manner of so many other Swift songs, it is possibly telling us that what she aspires to become late in life is a “crazy,” rich and powerful old spinster lady trading dirty looks and derogatory laughs across the fence with the townspeople. (Maybe let’s not mention this to Joe.)

36

Peace

What do you get from the girl who has everything? Everything but placidity, Swift tells her man in one of the more obviously true-to-life songs from 2020’s “Folklore.” In other words, for as long as she and her beloved are together, putting the phrase “You need to calm down” into action may not be possible. It’s less of a red flag than it might otherwise be, given that we understand it to be about an active celebrity couple. But probably lots of other couples where at least one partner is in a high-stress or high-visibility situation have been able to find themselves in this song, too. It’s a sweet, and just slightly foreboding, acknowledgement from one lover to another that there is some sacrifice involved sometimes in being with someone whose lifestyle, circumstances or even just natural personality type is… a lot.

35

All You Had to Do Was Stay

Another of her “I asked just one thing of you: to not leave” songs. Having forbidden that one command, like Adam of the garden, he of course banished when he realized his mistake, too late. This could have been a much more conventional song, melodically. But Swift had a dream where all she could utter was the word “stay!,” in an unnaturally high voice — and she worked that effect into the chorus instead of keeping the vocal in a natural register. it’s just another example of a Swift move that feels risky when you first hear it within a song and seems perfectly natural, even inevitable by the third listen. As fun a trick as that is, I’m still struck most of all by the ballsiness of the song… that however desperately she wanted the relationship to continue, once a fellow calls it, there are no takebacks. (That happens a lot in the Swift ouevre.) That’s actually some pretty good role-modeling going on, for her still emotionally impressionable younger fans.

34

I Knew You Were Trouble

We knew they were trouble, good trouble, when they walked in — Max Martin and Shellback that is, who were charged with updating Swift’s sound for just a handful of tracks on her fourth album, “Red.” Nathan Chapman was still the bigger part of the production picture, doing his part in expertly helming sensitive, wounded classics-to-be like “All Too Well” and “Sad Beautiful Tragic.” But the introduction of the Swedish overlords was a sign that we weren’t in Kansas anymore, or anywhere else where country music is going to rule forever. “I Knew You Were Trouble” was the most radical of the steps forward, throwing something like actual dubstep in for an artist who might have safely stuck closer to dobros. It’s slightly dated but still holds up — there’s almost a kind of musical violence to the electronic chorus, something that sounds like it really should be the soundtrack for a woman throwing herself onto the tile over a bad call with a good looker.

33

Karma

I’m going to out on a limb and boldly posit this as by far the funniest song Swift has ever written — and yes, despite her reputation for earnestness, there is some competition for that. When “Midnights” came out, there were some humorless scolds who laid into this song’s exaggerated statements of self-satisfaction and cosmic comeuppance as if they were to be taken completely seriously… as if “Karma is a cat / Purring in my lap ’cause it loves me / Flexing like a goddamn acrobat” isn’t some of the best comedy that anybody has written in any recent year. But acknowledging the levity of the writing doesn’t mean that Swift probably isn’t also completely serious, in some ways: The song is a victory lap, or maybe a vindication lap, of sorts when it comes to how mutual fortunes have swung around in certain circumstances. And no doubt she does believe that the arc of history bends toward justice for those with a moral center. Still, the awesomely clever co-production touches of Antonoff on this tune establish it as a soft banger. And it make for a great sequel to “I Forgot You Existed,” in which she contends that fate itself did not forget.

32

Should've Said No

So many of Swift’s best post-breakup songs, especially in the early parts of her songwriting career, are her just reiterating the obvious to her exes, post-mortem. Like: All you had to do was… stay! All you had to say was… no! Dudes: You had one job.

31

I Did Something Bad

This is a kind of sequel, in spirit, to “Blank Space.” In that one, she was still playing at being the bad girl, for satire. By the time of “Reputation,” she was doing it not so much for laughs — this is an “I could eff you up, seriously” song. No wonder it was such a highlight of her 2018 tour; the song rocks, and could manhandle a stadium with it as well as handled a single man.

30

Champagne Problems

A dire but weirdly satisfying fantasy of disruption. On the “Lover” album, with “Paper Rings,” Swift had also engaged — so to speak — in an engagement-ring scenario, but there, it was a joyful exploration of what it would feel like to make promises like paupers who couldn’t afford real rings. This song is the opposite in every conceivable way: The protagonist in her song says no to a proposal that was meant to lead to a big public pronouncement her would-be fiance had already promised his well-to-do family. Ruining everything is terrible and great and terrible again, as the singer imagines everyone saying, “She would’ve made such a lovely bride / What a shame she’s fucked in the head.” Once she would have played this for high musical melodrama, if she’d even have ventured to write a song so much not about herself before. Here, it’s all brilliant detail and delicacy on the way to that effed-up-ever-after ending.

29

The Man

Swift’s most outright feminist statement could read as polemical, and maybe it counts. But agitprop doesn’t get too much more fun, or too much more indisputably true. “When everyone believes ya —

what’s that like?” asks the woman whose word was automatically assumed to be suspect, as opposed to that of a guy who subsequently proved to be the least reliable narrator the entertainment world has ever seen. But we digress. This one is really an I’m-every-woman anthem, not personal memoir, and she serves her gender well with one you-know-it’s-fact zinger after another. There’s hardly any line she’s ever written that has better wordplay than one of the simplest lines she’s ever written: “If I was a man, then I’d be the man.”

28

The 1

If there’s any track on “Folklore” that’s been a little bit too slept-on, it might be “The 1,” a humble little masterpiece hiding in plain sight right there as the opening track. Why does this not get more love? Maybe it’s because of its very unassuming nature, which is actually makes it great and an essential part of the Swift canon. Lord knows she has given fans dozens of songs in which love is understood as an urgent matter of life and death. Here, it’s like, “Eh — would have been nice to have seen that one through to the end to see how it turned out, but no biggie.” That might be one of the ultimate signs of maturity in her writing, that the woman who made wuthering heights her lyrical brand can also sweetly say “c’est la vie” and make that work for a terrific song, too. Except, maybe the woman doth not protest enough — there’s a touch of melancholy in the unusual chord changes that she or Aaron Dessner built into the track that let you know the wistfulness runs deeper than the acceptance. Meanwhile, I suspect there’s a musical joke embedded in the title, which is written as a numeral, the way a musician would render it, versus “the one.” At the end of the chorus, the word “one” begins on the last note of one bar and slides over to the next, where it lands on… you know it, the 1. It’s like an additional subliminal tip-off that the guy that got away both wasn’t and was the one.

27

Invisible String

The greatest of all of Swift’s blatantly autobiographical and adoring love songs — admittedly a small subset of her overall work, given her penchant for drama, but there is some strong competition there. Not always one to look for the supernatural in things, Swift does use this exquisitely plucked acoustic track to wonder if there might be some serendipity in the air, tying things together with a divine smile. The lyrics here felt so baldly true to life that you knew even before you Googled it that her significant other of many years will turn out to have toiled in a blue shirt in a yogurt shop, or that one of her celebrity exes did in fact have a newborn infant that would have precipitated a gift from her. So much specificity for one sweet ditty, but again, with a chorus easily adapted by any young lovers who also see their paths as intwined by something spookier than chance.

26

This Is Me Trying

Swift has never sounded so exhausted as she does on this track… which is part of its novel appeal, and sense of a different kind of honesty, since tiredness is not her natural state. Normally, “depleted-sounding” would not be the highest compliment we could pay a song, but this one is different. It’s the sound of someone standing in a doorway, maybe for the rest of time, asking for one more chance with a last bit of willpower they can’t quite physically manifest. As down-tempo as it is, it’s also kind of an anthem of hope… and, in its anti-assuming fashion, a total, flat-out earworm.

25

Out of the Woods

How many stitches did he get, Taylor? Twenty, was it? One reason her more autobiographical songs hold such power is her constant inclination to provide small details — eye color, necklace shapes, astrological signs, clothing items street names or, yes, numbers of stitches — while leaving fans to do guesswork, be it educated or fanciful, over just what kind of bigger picture these brushstrokes enhance. With “Out of the Woods,” one of the most talked-about tracks from “1989,” it’s really enough to know what the emotional tenor of the scenario is, and not who she spent a night in the emergency room with. If you can set some of those precise details on the back burner, you can experience it as a song about a relationship that’s come to some sort of reasonable plateau but isn’t really out of the woods yet. The telling way in the choruses that she keeps answering “good!” to every repetition of the “Are we in the clear yet?” question lets you know that this is a protagonist who constantly has to talk herself into believing that everything’s fine. The snowmobile emerged but she’s spending the whole lyric back in the trees.

24

Illicit Affairs

This reads like one of the many works of fiction that Swift embarked upon with the “Folklore” album. At least, it’s hard to imagine that, even if she wanted to, a superstar is probably able to have the guilt-wracked “clandestine meetings” described in this deep dive into the morality and petty details of adultery. Yet Swift sure must have done some research with friends — or just has that vivid a literary imagination — to come up with absorbing details like “Leave the perfume on the shelf

that you picked out just for him / So you leave no trace behind” and “Tell your friends you’re out for a run / You’ll be flushed when you return.” Like, damn, girl. But this brilliantly written song isn’t just a list of 50 ways to meet your lover. There’s a real sense of panic, desire and self-loathing in verses describing an affair as “a dwindling, mercurial high — a drug that only worked the first few hundred times” and despairing: “You taught me a secret language I can’t speak with anyone else.” In just a few minutes, Swift has written a whole movie’s worth of insight about cheating. It certainly ought to give you faith in what she could pull off as an actual screenwriter.

23

Cowboy Like Me

Swift used to count as a country star in her early days, but never really indulged in what we’d call “country-rock.” She did a little bit, though, in dribs and drabs on the “Folklore” and “Evermore” albums, where the laconic quality of a few of Aaron Dessner’s in particular lent itself to something that felt a little like the laid-back early ’70s style. One of the more obviously fictional narratives she was trying out, “Cowboy Like Me” has her as an unsentimental grifter in some unnamed resort area — I’m picturing Montana — who meets and falls for someone in the same shady line of non-work. It’s good that Taylor doesn’t really believe that “forever is the sweetest con,” and good that she’s stretched out to the kind of writing where she can create a character to say it.

22

Back to December

After her second album, “Fearless,” Swift had an album of the year Grammy but also a reputation as someone who only wrote vindictive songs about ex-boyfriends. (There are people who still believe this, to this day. You should not have these people as your friends.) So it was the beginning of a correction in the popular mindset when, for her third album, “Speak Now,” she made a point of writing a song for an ex-boyfriend in which she took credit for what went wrong and expressed apologies and regrets — normal human actions, in other words, for someone who was not the narcissistic teen wraith some of the culture had set out to make her. All image adjustment concerns aside… damn, this is still just a lovely song, isn’t it?

21

Marjorie

If your tear ducts can withstand this bold line of attack from a song about Swift’s late grandmother, you’re made of more stoic stuff than most of the rest of us. (Maybe you’re a good candidate to go join the grifters in that other “Evermore” track, “Cowboy Like Me.”) For me, it was the receipts that finally got me — that is, the part where she’s singing, “I should’ve asked you how to be / Asked you to write it down for me / Should’ve kept every grocery store receipt / ‘Cause every scrap of you would be taken from me.” Any kid who ever took for granted that a cherished elder would always be around has been there, but the specificity of just how tiny a remnant she’d settle for is heart-rending. And it’s hard to imagine anything to melt your already-rended heart more than Swift pulling out the stops to actually include an audio excerpt of her grandmother’s operatic singing for a ghostly coda. This has been your pool (as in, puddle on the floor) reporter.

20

Cruel Summer

No amazing amount of depth to this one — it’s just pure cotton candy, with a little emotional fiber sprinkled around the edges. Her fandom is in near-universal agreement that this should have been a single to accompany her planned “LoverFest” tour of 2019, but that summer turned out to be crueler than anyone imagined, so it was a smash only in an alternate reality. The kind of Vocoder part in the call-and-response verses suggests this bop has an origin point somewhere in the ELO era, and of course it’s hard not to think of Banamarama, who were also cruelty-tested once upon a time. But this was all late-2010s in all its glory, before that glory got masked up.

19

Mastermind

The premise of the closing song of “Midnights” sounds almost megalomaniacal, when you read it on paper, and maybe even when you’re first hearing the brashness of the lyric. Swift sings that, as a not-so-evil genius, she pre-engineered every aspect of coming together with the partner with whom she now shares a deep, fulfilling relationship. It’s a statement of near-omnipotence you usually only find in pop songs with darker leanings. To an extent, we have to understand that she’s exaggerating, for effect, about these apparent superpowers of hers. And yet the end intent of the song is deeply serious: She’s explaining that women historically have to go to extreme lengths to be the steerer in relationships that controlling men typically screw up. There’s also a whole backstory about the childhood slights that led her to develop these powers to manipulate for good. This leads to one of the greatest lines in all of Swift-dom: “I swear, I’m only cryptic and Machiavellian ’cause I care.” Is she kidding with that lyric? At least a little, I’m sure. Is she dead-serious, too? Undoubtedly. Suffice it to say that entire thesis papers will be written just about this one audacious track.

18

The Way I Loved You

Back in the “Fearless” days, we occasionally got Taylor Swift, the rock singer. (Arguably, we still have her, just without the rock arrangements.) The prime example was this track that pitted the polite guy who does everything right, who inspires no passion at all, versus the apparent scoundrel she was forced to leave behind, who made her want to stand in monsoons. Rock ‘n’ roll was played as a character trait for Mr. Passion, versus the string quartet on the verses that represented Mr. Right. Hearing those slamming guitars kind of fade in, the way they occasionally do on hits like “I Touch Myself,” was a nice way to alert the listener there’s a storm coming. However exaggerated the differences in this triangle might have been, it was only album 2 and Swift was already wanting to signal she wasn’t completely the Nice Girl portrayed on album 1.

17

Cardigan

It got a little confusing, for non-hardcore Swifties, trying to figure out which characters in which “Folklore” songs were which, after she revealed some of them recurred and had payoffs from one tune to another. Does the couple that shares a sweter together stay together? Did they come back together years later, as the pining outro strongly suggests? What we can say for sure is that Taylor Swift firmly cemented what Mister Rogers first promised: the cardigan as a signifier that everything is going to be all right.

16

Fearless

So much of the “Fearless” album came to be about the bracingly candid breakup songs, or embracing the fairy tale, in “Love Story,” and rejecting it, in “White Horse” (and “Fifteen,” for that matter). That was more than enough grist to get Swift the first of her three album of the year Grammy wins, while she was still a teenager. But amid all that high romance and higher drama, there’s something at least as enduring about the simpler ambitions of the title song, which just speaks — via a typically great melodic line — to being unafraid. It was followed by a career that’s embraced what the song promised at pretty much every moment.

15

Lover

One thing that Swift didn’t have a lot of in her catalog: 6/8 waltzes. Situation rectified! It’s a wedding song for people who don’t intend, right away at least, to get married — there’s even a fakeout wedding scene in the middle of the song that ends with them vowing in front of God and onlookers to be, well, lovers — but anyone who wants to use it for actual nuptials probably gets a pass. It’s just universal enough to get that kind of usage in American customs and rituals, but you have to savor the bits that are pure Swift, whether it’s the guitar-string scars on her fingers or her custom-made vow: “Swear to be overdramatic and true.” Wait, is it her entire public she’s pretend-marrying, as well as this guy?

14

Dear John

At 6 minutes and 44 seconds, it’s still the longest song she’s released that doesn’t actually announce its running time in the title. And as a slow burn, it ends every second of the anger, sorrow, shame, lashing out and self-reclamation it unleashes. “Dear John,” about a character that the title does not leave too much cryptic mystery about, details the worst night she ever had that involved someone showing up for her party instead of missing it. At the time, it felt jolting well beyond expectation, that after the kiss-off experiences detailed in her previous album, she’d moved on to unabashedly detail what she considered a far more damaging experience. In retrospect, it doesn’t play as quite as musically furious a ballad as it seemed at the time, but it still packs a hell of a punch. And she still means it: One of the bonus tracks on the “Midnights” album, “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve,” is clearly intended as a 12-years-later sequel, with certain numerological connotations that give her meaning away even if the lyrics didn’t. In Swift land, there are certain things you never get over — a curse, but for the purposes of art, also a blessing.

13

Blank Space

This is not necessarily the song you want to go back to constantly for pleasure now, but what a pleasure it was in 2016 when Swift used it to explode her own mythos, in one of the great power moves of modern pop. Her goal, she said, was to take every terrible trope that was being spread about her (hey, didja hear she was a serial dater?) and own it in a prideful anthem of ill will. And she did it magnificently, playing her public like a violin, including the ones who mostly got it and even the smaller portion that was left puzzled by her pop variant on country music’s classic “Your Good Girl’s Gonna Go Bad.” The satire was broad, but effective. Unfortunately, looking at the generation of influencers that’s arisen since, it’s not clear that some of them didn’t just take this spoof as a how-to manual.

12

Our Song

The finest song from Swift’s first album is an idyllic vision of an America where screen doors slam behind happy families and innocent teen lovers, who keep their late-night phone calls on the down-low “’cause it’s late, and your mama don’t know.” Imagine such a wonderful place exists — it’s easy if you try. Yes, it’s a song of puppy love, but maybe more importantly, it’s a Taylor Swift origin story. The premise of the lyric is that the developing couple, who are working up the courage to kiss, does not have “their song” yet. (They may have their artist, Tim McGraw, but that’s different, right?) So the tune ends with her sitting down to put pen to paper to write one, instead of passively waiting for something suitable to come up on the radio they can adopt. Mostly, you’ve probably thought of this as a frilly crush song — and it’s a great one of those, too — but what it really is first and foremost, right under our noses, is a declaration of young female artistic agency.

11

Mean

Surely you know the story behind this, among the greatest of all “answer” songs. Girl meets industry blogger boy; industry blogger professes admiration until her somewhat off-key performance at the Grammys causes him to spontaneously declare girl’s career completely over; girl writes song pushing back on that, landing a triple-platinum single with her response. And she does it with a pointed return to country music, something she had already effectively moved past in everything but name by the “Speak Now” album, singing in a childlike tone that made her sound like a little hillbilly David, taking on an influencer Goliath. Probably not many of those millions of fans paid close attention to the exact background to the lyrics. But apart from the “I can’t sing” bridge, this song was applicable to anyone who’s ever felt bullied in life, by a classmate, boss, family member, etc. It’s too bad it predated the social media explosion, by a little: “Mean” is really the Twitter National Anthem.

10

Gold Rush

Listening to the “Folklore” album, you could jump to assume that “Gold Rush,” like some of the other songs, is character writing. Otherwise, why would Swift be coming up with a song about someone who’s even prettier than she is, whose sheer charm takes up all the oxygen in a room — something that can’t be happening a lot to one of the most sought-after pop superstars in the world? Unless there was a romantic partner in her past who actually fit that bill… someone whose “hair (was) falling into place like dominos”… It all starts to make sense. But even if you don’t read that far into it, it’s a phenomenal song about the price being paid for being around that kind of charisma being too high to pay, whoever the charmer might be.

9

Anti Hero

When “Midnights” first came out, with none of the songs pre-issued to the public, if you weren’t paying attention to video premieres or that sort of splash, you might have taken “Anti Hero” as one of the odder songs on the album, not a sure out-of-the-box hit. But in Swift land, slightly weird works. Even the initial minor controversy over the “sexy baby” line — is it cribbed from “50 Rock,” or is it infantilization — abated, as almost everyone took it for as funny as it was, in the course of a verse where Swift is imagining herself as a feared and hated monster who’s going to be taken down. It’s a song about self-loathing, as she described it, and imposter syndrome, and clinical or unclinical depression… and wouldn’t you know, it’s also a deeply funny bop. That we can have such a bizarre amalgam at the top of the Hot 100 for weeks on end proves that, thanks to Swift being able to sell something this idiosyncratic, these are strange and wonderful times.

8

Right Where You Left Me

This is not the first time Swift relegated one of an album’s better numbers to bonus-track status, although she usually makes the right editing decisions. But “Right Where You Left Me” is another case entirely from, say, even “New Romantics”: The “Evermore” deluxe-edition also-ran is flatly one of her best and most dramatic songs, period. As a song about not being able to let go of an obsession with a deceased relationship, it’s pretty close to being up there with “All Too Well,” even if the fact that it’s written mostly in metaphor lands it in slightly more intellectualized territory than that other favorite.

Playing the role of someone presumably other than herself for this one, Swift describes in calm, cool, clipped sentences how she was dumped by a beau at a dinner meeting, and then simply never got up from the table, herself; she’s been frozen in place there, a ghost, for years. (Lucky or unlucky for her, not a high table turnover rate at this place.) If you are obsessive enough by nature to have become obsessed with the obsession in “All Too Well” — show of hands? — then you’ll probably have lived “Right Where You Left Me” at some point in your life. Swift’s talky verses suggest the cadences of somebody who really has been only talking to herself for too long, and collaborator Aaron Dessner is a perfect foil in creating a tense, slow build toward a big chill. A bit of sad, distorted guitar at the end sounds like it might be being piped in from the alternate dimension the protagonist is slowly sinking into.

7

We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together

Swift has plenty of superior instances across her many records of breakups that sound like the end of the world. But she doesn’t have many of them that sound like a party. “We Are Never…” is the best bacchanal in her catalog. I’m not sure I want to join the exact celebration that is happening in her music video for the song, because furries are scary. But the way Max Martin and Shellback stacked her vocals on this fizzy delight of a song clearly aurally indicate that Swift is capable of having a freedom soiree all by herself. Everything here clicks into place for a start-to-finish perfect pop song, from the peculiar stop-and-start opening guitar riff to the cheerleader-style chant that makes the chorus one of the great modern pop sing-alongs. Even all the indie bands whose records her ex thought were much cooler than her love this song. And, of course, embedding a voice memo late in the track, one in which Swift seems to be spontaneously describing a recent split with language that will make its way into the song title, is just a hilarious power move.

6

Clean

A sense of recovery from trauma figures into a number of Swift’s songs, most of all this “1989” closer that represented a one-time co-write with indie artist Imogene Heap. The word “clean” is used with two different meanings here, although pretty much toward a common end. It’s clean as in the feeling of taking a prolonged shower after the accumulated grime of a sucky relationship… or as in getting clean, kicking an addition to toxic love. Either way, there’s been some bad juju at play, and somebody — Nurse Heap, maybe? — is helping take the curse off. What prompted Swift to co-write this calming, cathartic ballad is probably nobody’s business, but a lot of listeners have brought their own ugly experiences or addictive experiences to bear in appreciating this bath-salt ballad.

5

Mirrorball

“I’ll be your mirror,” the Velvet Underground once sang; this is Swift following up with: “Let me count the ways.” The Antonoff-cowritten “Folklore” track really does qualify as “shimmering,” for lack of a less obvious word. But deceptively so — Swift obviously doesn’t mean to suggest that serving as a pure reflector to the world’s varying wants and needs is a healthy thing, even though she sounds awfully darn pliant about the prospect within the confines of the magical music. This one has been compared to the Sundays and other prettily guitar-based indie-pop groups of yore, with a lulling electric guitar and a missing drumbeat you keep expecting to kick the song further into gear at any moment, in vain. It’s all so lovely — the funny thing is, in coming up with a song about being a people-pleaser, she came up with one of her most legitimately ear-pleasing tunes.

4

Style

Swift’s partner in this deeply sexy track is cosplaying as James Dean, at least in her mind, and she’s cosplaying as… Taylor Swift? Thee’s no duet part to let his hear point of view, but she does attest that he likes her “good girl faith and a tight little skirt,” and there’s no reason to believe she’s misreporting what turns the guy on. Honestly, Swift has never written a less deep song, and depth has never mattered so little, either. Max Martin and Shellback put some of their computer programming instincts aside to start this off with an R&B electric guitar riff that immediately sucks you in. And once the kind of light-disco-martial beat kicks in, the track feels like taking an open-top drive around Miami with Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas, only they’re a horny hetero cis couple.

3

Getaway Car

Swift was playing with a lot of fresh tricks on her “Reputation” album, and well, from some hip-hop styled phrasing on her part to some harsher electronic sounds being brought in by Max Martin and Shellback, making their final appearance to date on a Swift album. But with her other go-to collaborator of the time, Jack Antonoff, Swift crafted the song that is the most conventional-sounding track on the album, and also ultimately the best: “Getaway Car.” While much of the rest of the album flits back and forth between a defensive posture against public perceptions and an embrace of secret love, “Getaway Car” is something else altogether: an open letter of intent to move on, sung by a Bonnie who’s about to ditch her Clyde, with no particular shame or guilt attached to her leavin’ feelings.

In some ways this might be the most hard-ass song Swift ever wrote — it’s pretty close to a taunt, to a soon-to-be ex. She’s describing the dynamic of how sometimes you need a fresh flirtation to pull you out of a failing relationship, and how that can take on serial form: “Don’t pretend it’s such a mystery / Think about the place where you first met me / Ridin’ in a getaway car,” she tells the possibly uncomprehending fellow. This is an uptempo track with a lot of fun to how it plays, but the haunting quality of the chorus melody makes it feel profoundly sad, too, like she’s not as tough as she sounds, describing an escape pattern that’s just destined to be repeated by her and others over and over. Anyway, if you were to read this as literally about her past, it’s something that the public record shows she’s clearly moved on from. The happy ending is inherent, leaving us this strangely wonderful combination of arena-rock and hardboiled, fatalist noir to enjoy as one of her most fascinating tracks.

2

All Too Well (10-Minute Version)

In its original, truncated form on the “Red” album, “All Too Well” already felt a fluid narrative, but stretched out to more than twice its length for a “Taylor’s Version” remake, its details and remembrances transcend any sense of linear narrative. The song’s story feels almost like a “Groundhog Day” of meditative pain in which the story will never end because the couple will just never stop breaking up, in her mind. (Well, it might end if the sister ever returned the damn scarf, but by this point she don’t need their closure.) It becomes almost like a chant, even more soothing than it is bitter.

Having effectively talked Swift into recording a 10-minute draft of the song with their longstanding, cult-like devotion to the tune, Swifties need to take it to the next level. You know there have got to be another 10 minutes’ worth of rough verses to “All Too Well” in a drawer somewhere. We need the full-on Gregorian experience of this song, right? It’s time to petition for “All Too Well (20-Minute Version).” (Could you even imagine the explosion of joy?)

1

You Belong With Me

It’s as eternally teenaged as anything Swift ever wrote, but that’s no reason to have to grow out of it. Adult life is full of nothing if not many equivalents to high-school friend-zoning. Who among us eer stops wishing we’d be seen for our true selves by the guy who can’t take his eyes off the cheer captain, whether for us that’s the boss, peers, a distracted spouse or a seemingly indifferent deity? To the end, we beat on — boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the bleachers!

But seriously, has there been anything more monstrously hooky than this in the succeeding decade and a half? Even the parts of the song that seem like they shouldn’t work — like the way that Swift adds extra, melodically odd lines to the second verse (“What you doing with a girl like that?” What you doing singing in a key like that?) — only masterfully set up the return to the chorus to end all 21st century anthemic choruses. It is all of human yearning and striving packed into a song about remembering to take your specs off so the kid next door realizes you’re a cutie.

ts1989fanatic don’t necessarily agree with the order of his top 50 especially his numbers 1 and 2 they should really be reversed in my opinion. I can agree with his write ups on his track list.

[your-dietician]

‘Real Housewives’ alum Cynthia Bailey announces divorce after 2 years of marriage

New Post has been published on https://medianwire.com/real-housewives-alum-cynthia-bailey-announces-divorce-after-2-years-of-marriage/

‘Real Housewives’ alum Cynthia Bailey announces divorce after 2 years of marriage

“Real Housewives of Atlanta” alum Cynthia Bailey and her husband Mike Hill have announced they are divorcing after two years of marriage. 

The former couple shared the news in a joint Instagram post uploaded on Oct. 12.

Next to a photo of the two holding hands and smiling together, they wrote, “LOVE is a beautiful thing. While we both will always have love for one another, we have decided to go our separate ways.”

They assured fans that they are not on bad terms.

“No one is to blame and we are grateful that we remain good friends,” they said. “We will always cherish the many memories we’ve shared together as husband and wife.”

Bailey, 55, and Hill, 52, then expressed their gratitude for their family, friends and fans and their support throughout their relationship and in the future. 

“Thank you for your prayers & well wishes! Cynthia & Mike,” they concluded.

The couple initially got engaged in July 2019 after 14 months of dating, People reported. 

On Oct. 10, 2020, the model and the sportscaster tied the knot in a Georgia ceremony, according to People. 

The publication reported that 250 guests attended the wedding, including “RHOA” co-stars Kandi Burruss and Kenya Moore as well as former cast member and “America’s Next Top Model” winner Eva Marcille. All three women were bridesmaids. 

Their ceremony was also featured in Season 13 of “RHOA.”

After the nuptials, the newlyweds spoke to People about their love story.

“Mike and I are elated that today has finally come!” they said at the time. “10/10/20 is and always will be our perfect date. We are not perfect, but, are perfect for each other. We are living in a very different time, and now more than ever we realize that life is too short, and to never take anything for granted. We are so grateful to have found each other. Love with the help of God conquers all.”

Earlier this year, Bailey competed as a contestant on “Celebrity Big Brother” Season 3. Hill briefly made an appearance on the program to send her off before she entered the “Big Brother” house.

In August, Hill praised his wife on Instagram.

He uploaded a picture of Bailey and wrote in the caption. “I wish everyone could find this kind of sunshine on their cloudy days!!”

Hill added, “Through it all, you continue to stand tall. You’re appreciated @cynthiabailey” and included the hashtags “blessed” and “walk in faith.”

Bailey gushed about her husband a few days later in honor of his 52nd birthday. 

She uploaded three photos to Instagram of Hill and cheered, “Happy Birthday to this handsome, wonderful, smart, funny & super talented man!”

The reality television star talked about their future and said, “I know in my heart that the best is yet to come! And I can’t wait to cheer you on!”

She called him a “king” and encouraged her fans to send him birthday messages. 

Bailey was previously married to Peter Thomas from 2010 to 2017. The couple said “I do” during a Season 3 episode of “RHOA.”

The TV personality and her former partner, Leon Robinson, share 22-year-old daughter Noelle.

This was Hill’s third marriage. The talk show host confirmed in a 2019 interview with Madame Noire that he had been married twice.

He has two daughters, Ashlee and Kayla, and has shared pictures from their “daddy daughter” dates on social media. 

This story appeared first on TODAY.com.

Read the full article here

[yourlocalaphrodisian]

Happy Late Women's Day!

Your boy got the date messed up but my social worker grandma went to a meeting yesterday and was telling stories about it and I went "wait it was Women's Day???" Your boy thought it was in August.

Anyway, today's post is dedicated to one of my all time favourite women in history.

Rokeya Shakhawat Hossein

More commonly known as Begum Rokeya. Mrs. Hossein was born in 1880 in the city of Pairaband, Rangpur in what was then called the Bengal Presidency of British India. She was a pioneer of women's rights in South Asia, and today I present to you the life and achievements of an Unsung Heroine of Bengal. Let me, today, tell you of Begom Rokeya, who changed the life of women not only in Bangladesh, but in the entire Indian subcontinent.

Born into an extremely conservative Muslim society, Rokeya Khatun was raised under extreme purdah in the family of a Zamindar (called Jomidar in Bangla). She was kept in her home under guard of her male relatives as was the case in every Muslim woman in Bengal. Her education was limited to the Muslim standard (for women) of Farsi and Arabic. However, Rokeya and her elder sister Korimunnesa, to the great disdain of their family, learnt both English and Bangla (called Bangala at the time) from their older brother, Ibrahim Saber.

Rokeya was married to Khan Bahadur Shakhawat Hossain, an Urdu-speaking deputy magistrate of Bhagalpur, Bihar, after the death of his first wife. Shakhawat Hossain was a member of the Royal Agricultural Society of England. As a liberal (rare at the time really), encouraged his wife to keep pursuing her dreams in learning Bangla. He also encouraged her to write and advised her (and she heeded) to take up Bangla as the primary language of her works. Shakhawat Hossain unfortunately passed in 1909, an year after his wife's first English work.

Rokeya's literary career began when she launched her essay 'পিপাসা/Pipasha (Thirst)'. She later published her most notable work 'মতিচুর (Motichur)', the first volume in 1904 and the second in 1922. She later wrote the Novelette Sultana's Dream, which was a satirical science fiction story where men and women reversed societal roles. The system was matriarchal and men were confined to mandanas (male equivalent of zenana, rooms in Indian and Irani houses were women were secluded to). Rokeya also depicts innovative gadgets such as cloud-condensers, solar ovens and flying cars which benefitted the entirety of society. Other literary works she has written consist of "পদ্মরাগ/Padmarag (Essence of Lotus)", "সৌরজগত/Shourjogot (Solar System)", "অবারধ বাসিনি/Obarodh Bashini (The Secluded Woman)", "বলিগর্থ/Boligortho (Sacrifice Pit)", "নারীর অধিকার/Narir Odhikar (Women's Rights; unfinished)".

Five months after her husband's death, Rokeya established Shakhawat Memorial Girls' High School, naming it after her husband. It was first set in Bhagalpur, where a majority of people spoke Urdu, with a total of five students. However, after a dispute with her in-laws over land, she moved the school to Kolkata where a majority spoke Bangla. She ran the school for 24 years.

Rokeya also founded Anjuman-e-Khawateen-e-Islam (Islamic Women's Association) which regularly held debates and conferences regarding the status of women and education. She advocated for reform, especially of women's rights. She gathered Anjuman-e-Khawateen-e-Islam to fight the conservative idealogy of Bengali Muslims by preaching the lost teachings of pure Islam, uncorrupted by misogynist men.

Every story has an ending, and Rokeya's ended on her 52nd Birthday. This great woman passed away at that date, leaving behind an incomparable legacy. Every woman and man of South Asia is indebted this woman. So on this day where we celebrate Women, let us celebrate Begum Rokeya Shakhawat Hossain.

Say her name, and never forget.