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asnowperson · 5 months ago

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Tanbi to Heroine - Literary classics adapted into shoujo manga

I want to talk about the book of my dreams: Mangaka! Sekai Bungaku - Tanbi to Heroine (マンガ化! 世界文学耽美とヒロイン). It's a compilation of shoujo manga from the 1970s and 1980s which are adaptations of classics from world literature. Each manga has a little introduction about its artist, and the work it was adapted from. Thank you, our Tosho no Ie overlords.

It came out in 2022, and I'm so happy to own this book. After watching Aoi Bungaku and falling in love with what they did with Kokoro there, I've always wanted to see more anime/manga adaptations of literature. Seeing how authors/directors give the works their own interpretations while still staying faithful to the original work, and not trying to do a 1:1 adaptation can be great, as long as they don't jump the shark. Speaking of which, I even liked Gankutsuou despite the bizarre 3D space mecha fights because Edmond Dantès was still there. I can't get mad at it when the director gets the core of the work right.

Anyway, I want to present this awesome book and the manga collected in this volume!

Hagio Moto – Shiroi Tori ni Natta Shoujo (白い鳥になった少女)

Adapted from Andersen's The Girl Who Trod on A Loaf, and first published in Bessatsu Shoujo Comic 1972/12.

Hagio tells the story from the point of view of the girl who becomes a bird at the end of the tale, which is a very nice touch.

2. Mizuno Hideko – Cendrillon (サンドリヨン)

Adapted from Grimm Brothers' Cinderella, and first published in LaLa 1977/9 & 11.

With Mizuno's exquisite art, this Cinderella adaptation is the perfect fairy tale. On the first and last pages Hideko-tan breaks the fourth wall to give us information about the original work, and going "bruh, these are supposed to be tales for kids but some brutal stuff goes on in them. What's with all the mutilations and eye-gouging?!" It's adorable!

3. Maki Miyako – Hanakagerou (花陽炎)

Adapted from Murasaki Shikibu's The Tale of Genji, and first published in Big Comic for Lady 1987/2.

This excerpt is taken from vol. 2 of Maki's Genji Monogatari adaptation, and depicts a scene that doesn't exist in the original work: Hikaru meeting Lady Fujitsubo for the first time. I must say that all that Genji Monogatari Japanese went over my head ;_;

4. Miuchi Suzue – Takekurabe (たけくらべ)

Adapted From Higuchi Ichiyou's Takekurabe, and first published in Hana to Yume 1977/1 & 2. This story is actually part of Miuchi's Glass Mask. In the manga, it was acted in the third act, “Kaze no Naka wo Iku.” Compiled in vol.s 3-4 Hana to Yume comics version, vol.s 2-3 of Hakusensha Bunko, and vol.s 3-4 of the digital ebook.

Conveying the subtleties of the character through the way Ayumi and Maya acts is quite ingenious. We get adaptation-ception with this one, and I loved it. It really made me want to read the book to get to know Midori better.

5. Sakata Keiko – Okisaki to Nemuri Hime (お妃と眠り姫)

Adapted from Charles Perrault's Sleeping Beauty, and first published in Comic Tom 1989/1.

I haven't read Sakata's works, but she always strikes me as being the odd one in the shoujo scene. And this manga just strengthened my conviction. Her adaptation of Sleeping Beauty focuses on the ogre mother of the Prince, and her loneliness. Which is another ingenious way of going about adapting a fairy tale from a completely point of view. Her funny-looking art and humor adds to it.

6. Fumizuki Kyouko – Shiroki Mori no Chi ni (白き森の地に)

You get this color image I found online, because scanning this gorgeous double spread was impossible. And it's in grayscale in the book.

Adapted from Louis Hémon's Maria Chapdelaine, and first published in Bessatsu Shoujo Friend 1977/3.

I had no idea about this story, but wow, Hémon sure lived a life... This story that takes place in Canada feels really comforting. I'm surprised this didn't get an anime adaptation. Sure, it's not long enough for one, but it'd make a perfect comfort shoujo. "Comfort shoujo" as in people dying and the protagonist growing up after being hit by misery and having to make life-altering choices. I can see why this was popular in Japan.

7. Yamagishi Ryouko – Rapunzel Rapunzel (ラプンツェル・ラプンツェル)

Feast your eyes on this color Rapunzel illustration from the Yamagishi artbook I have.

Adapted from Grimm Brothers's Rapunzel, and first published in Bessatsu Shoujo Friend 1974/6.

Queen Yamagishi does not disappoint: We go full psychological and read about how parents ruin childrens' lives by projecting their shortcomings in life onto them, and their twisted sense of "love" can be worse than a sorceress's curse. Prince charming therapy time, baby!

8. Sato Shio – Bijo to Yajuu (美女と野獣)

Adapted from Madame de Beumont's Beauty and the Beast, and first published in Papermoon Shoujo Manga Fantasy Shoujo Manga – 1001 Nights (5.11.1980).

This short yet poignant adaptation really brings out the love in the story. She distilled the tale, and left what touches your heart the most in these 8 pages.

This work was also originally published in full color, and it's so gorgeous that I bought the book it was first published in. I hope to have it within the month.

So yeah, if you need to gift something to your old-shoujo loving friend, you now know what to get :)

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cityofgemblog · 1 year ago

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Unveiling the Mystique: Ancient Natural White Sapphire Mukkaru Bead

Introduction:

In the realm of gemstones, history is often as captivating as the stones themselves. Today, we delve into the story of an ancient treasure - the Natural White Sapphire Mukkaru Bead. This remarkable piece hails from a place where the Mukkaru people once thrived in Sri Lanka, adding another layer to the rich tapestry of the gem industry's history.

Ancient Origins:

The Mukkaru people, an ancient race from distant lands, embarked on a journey to Sri Lanka during the era of ancient kings. Their expertise? Gems - they were true specialists in the field. They settled in Sri Lanka with a singular purpose: mining and trading precious gemstones. Among their remarkable feats was the polishing of the hardest stones, such as Sapphire (with a remarkable Mohs hardness of 9), using traditional techniques involving Kabarondum dust.

The Mukkaru Bead:

Our spotlight today falls on a stunning artifact - the Natural White Sapphire Mukkaru Bead. Weighing in at 17.80 carats and measuring 16.2 x 13.5 x 9.1 mm, this bead is a true testament to the mastery of the Mukkaru people. Its colorless hue hides the centuries it has witnessed, while its clarity reveals its inclusion, giving it character and history.

A Glimpse into the Past:

The bead's origin, the Galpaya "Mukkaru" Deposit Mining site in Sri Lanka, is a place steeped in history. It's where the Mukkaru people once called home, some 700-1000 years ago. The gemstones that emerged from these mines became the heart of the gem industry's early days.

Rediscovery:

Today, we find ourselves re-mining these ancient grounds, unearthing treasures left behind by the Mukkaru people and those that were overlooked in the past. Among these, the White Sapphire stands tall. In its time, spinel and garnet were considered low-value stones. Today, their worth has skyrocketed, a testament to their enduring beauty.

The Legacy Lives On:

The Mukkaru Bead, with its ancient lineage, represents a link to a time long past. It carries within it the essence of a civilization dedicated to the pursuit of exquisite gemstones. This particular bead, the third-largest in our collection, is a glimpse into their ancient technology and craftsmanship.

Conclusion:

As we admire the Natural White Sapphire Mukkaru Bead, we honor the legacy of the Mukkaru people and the enduring allure of gemstones. Their story, etched in time, continues to inspire and captivate all who delve into the history of the gem industry. The adventure of rediscovering their treasures is a journey we cherish, as we continue to uncover the riches they left behind

#GemHistory #WhiteSapphire #MukkaruBead #AncientCraftsmanship #PreciousGems #RediscoverTreasures

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asmolbirb · 5 years ago

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A semi-comprehensive list of sexy moments in Love Run (2019) by The Amazing Devil

In honor of them hopefully releasing their new album today, I listened to their first album for the seven thousandth time and wrote down every moment that made my soul sing. I will not be talking (much) about lyrics here because I simply do not have the space to do so!

Love Run (Intro)

When Madeleine joins Joey on “love’s worth running to” and her voice goes up when his goes down. Ya bitch loves contrasting vocal harmonies!

The buildup of the “ahhh”

The quiet amalgam of lyrics from other tracks underlying the “ahhh” in the focus

King

The fact that King is in triple time is already Supremely Sexy

When Joey joins Madeleine on “let the seabirds cry” and the percussion drops out so it’s just vocals and guitar

How breathy Joey’s voice gets at “burning there”

The rhythmic buildup of the percussion under the second set of “let the seabirds cry”

“Every unwanted daughter” is just. Yeah.

Madeleine’s vocalizations under Joey’s “I’ll keep the king”s at the end of the song

Pruning Shears

Can I say “the whole song”? No? Fuck, okay, here we go

The percussive sound of the first verse, made all the more sexy because Joey has a tendency to close to consonants really quickly

(Also in the live version, the way Joey says “car is so kitch”)

The way Madeleine’s lines have overlapping syllables with Joey’s!! This is an Amazing Devil constant but it still FUCKS ME UP

How Madeleine’s line is actually lower than Joey’s at “had it all planned” emphasizing that this line/experience is from Joey’s POV whereas her verses are higher than Joey’s suggesting that her verses are her own POV

The vocalization under the second half of the final chorus !

The “whoa oh whoa oh” after the final chorus !!!

The percussive sound of Joey’s final “in the back” hhhh

Shower Day

Joey and Madeleine’s unison for the entirety of the first verse and chorus really underscores the way they split into harmony afterward

Just. The bi/pan solidarity of the “you” character both “lov[ing] him” and “kiss[ing] her sister” (OR, if you interpret the song like I sometimes do, the closeted struggle of “know[ing] you should love him” but wanting to “[kiss] her”)

The syncopation (hemiolas specifically) at “we’ll wear our eyeliner” !!!! Fuck me up!! (Also the solidarity of the male POV character/Joey wearing eyeliner too! We need more men in eyeliner, this is the future liberals want)

THE REVERBERATING PERCUSSION THAT JOINS IN AT “WELL I’M LOOKING BACK” AND ALSO LITERALLY EVERYTHING THAT FOLLOWS. This whole portion of the song is full of so much heartache and desperation and emotion!!

The way Madeleine and Joey sing “For Christ’s sake just say something” in a round

The way Joey says his S’s in the repeated “say something” section at the end

Elsa’s Song

Okay so the fact that this starts off a cappella is massively sexy

How every verse ends with “forget me not”

Everything about Madeleine’s harmony!! It’s the return of the contrasting vocal harmony but turned up to 11. If I listed out every sexy piece of contrasting harmony I would simply have to list out the whole song

The introduction of the rhythmic percussion in the third verse

In general, how Madeleine is really leaning into her sop range here! It’s such a lovely contrast to Joey’s baritone. It’s a treat to hear her sop range shine when she tends to stick to mezzo/alto lines.

Pray

How Madeleine closes to a hum on “mean” in “what holy men really mean”

How Joey echoes Madeleine in the second verse

(How Madeleine ad libs the repeated “I won’t, I won’t pray for” section in the live version)

Madeleine’s ad libbed vocalization directly after the “I won’t, I won’t pray for” section. Heart eyes motherfucker

The repeated “oh oh oh” under Madeleine starting at “why you cannot sleep for sighing”

The harmonic buildup of all the background vocalizations under Madeleine’s final chorus. Like every new measure adds another layer of harmony and it’s just SO SEXY

Little Miss Why So

Suddenly I can’t see through the fucking waterfall taking up residence on my face

This is such a poignant description of depression and how difficult it is to explain to people who don’t get it

The part that fucks me up the most is the accelerated repetition of “it’s so boring” that releases into the a tempo “etc”, simultaneously emphasizing the lover’s frustration and encapsulating the narrator’s apathy. The buildup and release of tension is exquisite.

Also every time Joey joins in is just....incredible. The desperation of “For Christ’s sake, just say something” kills me every time.

But I can’t really in good conscience call anything in this song sexy because it’s all so...gentle and it just hits home so hard

So. Moving on

New York Torch Song

DID U MEAN. MY LIFEBLOOD.

The “fuck you”s both at the beginning and in the bridge

The slide on “tomorrow” in the intro right before the percussion kicks in

Joey’s “bright with every hum, ah-ah”

Joey’s humming under Madeleine’s “watch the fire” in the choruses

How the section starting with “god or devil” speeds up and adds more percussive complexity

The way Joey closes to the consonants when he sings “from within this”. It’s so delightfully sibilant !

How Madeleine laughs as she says “can’t we just talk about this”

The way Joey says “tippy toe tin rooftops” hnnnng it’s already a sexy lyric because of the alliteration but he makes it so much more percussive

THE WAY JOEY FLIPS UP ON “LIGHT” IN “TRICK OF THE LIGHT”. THE WAY HE HAS TO GO INTO HIS HEAD VOICE. THIS WHOLE POST IS SIMPLY AN EXCUSE TO DIE OVER THIS WORD.

Two Minutes

The fact that it’s a live recording and not a studio recording and there are all these little noises and echoes in the background

Madeleine harmonizing with words that are just barely intelligible, right up until she finally sings “I can hear the children calling,” is so damn haunting

The moment when the piano picks up !!!

Not Yet / Love Run (Reprise)

Buckle in kids !!! This song is 8 minutes long and every second is sexy!

The contrast between the gentleness of Joey’s voice and the almost anthemic determination of Madeleine’s voice in the verses, plus the alternation between acoustic guitar and heavy percussion

Madeleine’s “seams” vs Joey’s “seems”, Madeleine’s “hell” vs Joey’s “I held”, Madeleine’s “she’d howl” vs Joey’s “she’d hold”

Just. Everything about the Not Yet chorus. It makes me so fucking tender

Especially Joey’s diphthong in “pirates”; he closes to the long i sound almost instantly and it w r e c k s me

The way Joey says “everyone knows sex is better when you’re unemployed,” especially in the bridge right before the breakdown

(The way Joey says “you can’t dance for shit” in the live version)

The way Madeleine basically growls “Where is God, ma / Where’s the vodka”

The harmonies under the bridge right before the breakdown

The fact that Madeleine sings Love Run (Reprise) when Joey sang Love Run (Intro)!!! Inversion bitchesss

Joey’s entire verse in Love Run (Reprise) hhhhh -- it’s just rife with all his little vocal tics that make me absolutely feral

The vocalizations beneath the main track that start at Joey’s verse and continue through the end of the song

The tradeoff of “love run” between Joey and Madeleine

Madeleine’s “all that matters is that you’re here, all that matters” is so haunting and beautiful and sexy

The brief moment of acoustic respite at the start of the third verse

THE SHOUTED/GROWLED “RUN”S UNDER THE SECOND AND THIRD CHORUSES AAAAA

In conclusion:

This post was brought to you by a bisexual disaster who is an Amazing Devil stan first and a functional human second

I’m almost definitely missing some moments because I only listened to the album like twice while I made this post so please feel free to add your own sexy moments

Please, Joey and Madeleine, for the love of god release The Horror and The Wild, I am starving--

#the amazing devil #joey batey #madeleine hyland #love run #the horror and the wild

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langandlitanxiety · 6 years ago

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Zofia Ossowska & Pola Żuk

The theme of sexuality in William Shakespeare’s “Othello”

Introduction

Over the course of Shakespeare’s artwork progress and evolution, his readers can observe his significantly increasing interest in the psychology of sex. Othello is his most widely exploring this topic piece, as the author investigates many varieties of sexuality concerning not only people of the same race and class, but also the ones having different ethnic origins and social statuses. General controversy spread around a black man being the eponymous character inspired Shakespeare to also present stereotypes of interracial sex that affect both family’s of the white, pure girl and the couple itself. Such stereotypes are mostly introduced by the main villain, Iago, who is most frequently using animal imagery to describe them as well as Othello’s and Desdemona’s intimate moments. His language only adds spiciness to the scenes concerning the characters he is speaking about and tension in the reader, as such imagery really evokes one’s imagination and in this case, often disgust.

Imagery used to refer to Othello and his intimate life with Desdemona (and the reaction of Desdemona’s father)

The first scene in which Iago comments on Othello’s and Desdemona’s sex life is when he wants to cause chaos and conflict between Brabantio, Desdemona’s father, and the couple. In order to do that, he puts an image of the dirty, old man shamingly interacting with his pure, young daughter and highlights the possibility of Desdemona getting pregnant with the child of the devil (such metaphor derives from Othello’s dark skin color).

“Zounds, sir, you’re robbed, for shame put on your gown!

Your heart is burst, you have lost half your soul,

Even now, now, very now, an old black ram

Is tupping your white ewe! Arise, arise,

Awake the snorting citizens with the bell

Or else the devil will make a grandsire of you, Arise I say!” (1.1.84-91)

Iago suggests that the fact of Desdemona’s sexual interaction with the Moor is shameful not only towards her herself, but specifically towards his father, who must have not raised her in the right way. He also pays attention to the difference of age between the two - Desdemona seems to be much younger than her lover, which is also not something to be proud of. As Desdemona represents a woman from the upper class, she should also choose someone at least equal to her rank for her husband not to disrespect hers and her family’s position. During the fight between Iago, Roderigo and Brabantio (though Iago speaks to Brabantio as Roderigo), the father of Desdemona accuses the men of being thieves. While responding to this accusation, Iago still tries (and succeeds) to play with Brabantio’s imagination by saying

“ [...] Because we come to

do you service, and you think we are ruffians, you’ll

have your daughter covered with a Barbary horse;

you’ll have your nephews neigh to you, you’ll have

courses for cousins and jennets for germans!” (1.1.109-112)

and

“I am one, sir, that comes to tell you your daughter and the Moor are now making the beast with two backs.” (1.1.114-115)

Saying all that, Iago successfully upsets Brabantio by bringing his attention to the marriage of his beloveddaughter with the Moor in a very unpleasant way.

Desdemona’s and Othello’s sex life; the symbol of their bridal bed

Another thing concerning the topic of sex that is worth noticing is the amount of trails Othello and Desdemona had to get intimate. Firstly, they had to call off their wedding-night in Venice as Othello was ordered to go to Cyprus:

“ Senator

You must away tonight.

Desdemona

Tonight, my lord?

Duke

This night.

Othello

With all my heart.” (1.3.275-279)

Secondly, due to the brawl between Cassio and Roderigo resulting from Iago’s manipulation, they were interrupted again, only in Cyprus. Othello was mad not only because of the fact of their fight, but also because his alone time with his lover was interrupted.

“Look if my gentle love be not raised up! I’ll make thee an example.” (2.3.246-247)

Such interruptions build the tension between Othello and Desdemona and only add to Othello’s madness developing after he believes that his wife is indeed cheating on him, as he cannot seem to get ahold of her, while he thinks that Cassio does.

Another thing worth mentioning is the bed, which Iago brings a couple of times during the play. It not only reminds the reader or viewer about the off-stage bridal bed, but is also a some kind of a connection between the final scene, during which Desdemona is killed by her beloved husband.

“Well: happiness to their sheets” (2.3.26)

This quotation is especially ironic, as right before her death Desdemona asked Emilia to change the sheets into their wedding ones as a sign of preparing for the big night with her love. This means that these mentioned by Iago bridal bed and sheets may signalize to the reader further course of the plot and highlight the huge juxtaposition: the bed and the sheets that were supposed to bring the couple happiness evolved into a symbol of their tragedy. In fact, the bridal bed is the place on which almost every dead body in this play lands in the end, what portrays the extreme changes that took place in a very short notice.

“I do not know, friends all, but now, even now,

In quarter and in terms like bride and groom

Divesting them for bed [...]” (2.3.175-177)

Is Iago gay?

There have been many discussions about Iago’s sexuality - some say that Iago is in fact homosexual and he wants to destroy Othello and his relationship with Desdemona out of jealousy caused by his unfulfilled love. However, such interpretation of Iago’s character is often made because people feel the need to justify such horrible actions as those presented by Iago. The truth is that this villain is an embodiment of evil, a character taking pleasure from causing chaos, trouble, and pain, as he not once shows any sign of regret, empathy, repentance or change. Humans always seem to seek for motive and need one - in case of Iago, he does not need motive, or more specifically, he’s only motive is to cause harm and enjoy its consequences. Therefore, the theory of Iago’s homosexuality is an overinterpretation that should not be taken under consideration while analyzing Shakespeare’s play.

The theme of womanhood in context of sexuality

The three women characters that are included in the play are supposed to represent women of different class and social status.

Desdemona is representing the highest social status and poses as a female role model, being referred to as a virtuous and loyal wife by several characters during the first few scenes of the play. She’s obedient and kind; even though Brabantio directly expresses his disappointment regarding Desdemona’s choice of husband, she remains respectful and thoughtful enough to not try to bother his father:

“Nor I; I would not there reside,

To put my father in impatient thoughts

By being in his eye.

Most gracious Duke,

To my unfolding lend your prosperous ear

And let me find a charter in your voice,

T' assist my simpleness.” (2.3.239-244)

Desdemona throws away her life in order to be with Othello and until the very end of her life, she remains obedient and in love.

Bianca is Desdemona’s polar opposite. She is Cassio’s lover and a mistress, thus being strongly linked with the theme of sexuality that appears throughout the play.

Despite her profession, Bianca seems to be very emotional about Cassio’s affection, frustrated at the way he disregards their relationship. Her jealousy of Cassio mirrors Othello’s jealousy of Desdemona. The character of a courtesan seems to serve as a way to emphasize Desdemona’s desirable traits of faithfulness and loyalty, and yet Othello is still incapable of telling the difference between the two types of women that Desdemona and Bianca represent.

A lot about how Bianca is presented and perceived by the male characters of the play can be seen in the way she is addressed or described by Cassio:

“Go to, woman!

Throw your vile guesses in the devil's teeth,

From whence you have them.

You are jealous now

That this is from some mistress, some remembrance:

No, in good troth, Bianca.” (3.4.179-183)

“I marry her! what? a customer! Prithee, bear some charity to my wit: do not think it so unwholesome. Ha, ha, ha!” (4.1.120-123)

Iago addresses Cassio’s problematic approach towards his lover as well:

“Now will I question Cassio of Bianca,

A housewife that by selling her desires

Buys herself bread and clothes: it is a creature

That dotes on Cassio; as 'tis the strumpet's plague

To beguile many and be beguiled by one:

He, when he hears of her, cannot refrain

From the excess of laughter.”

What is also very interesting is that not only does Cassio speak of Bianca in a pitiful and disrespectful manner, but he also seems deeply fascinated by Desdemona’s presence.

“Iago

Not this hour, lieutenant; 'tis not yet ten o' the clock. Our general cast us thus early for the love of his Desdemona; who let us not therefore blame: he hath not yet made wanton the night with her; and she is sport for Jove.

Cassio

She's a most exquisite lady.

Iago

And, I'll warrant her, fun of game.

Cassio

Indeed, she's a most fresh and delicate creature.” (2.3.13-20)

“An inviting eye; and yet methinks right modest.” (2.3.23)

Referring to Desdemona in such a way and constantly emphasizing how perfect and exquisite she is, Cassio creates even a more vivid contrast between her and Bianca. It is worth noticing that while it is most often the women who are accused of disloyalty, it is the male characters, including Cassio, who continuously make suggestive remarks towards or about the three women.

The third female character is Emilia, who seems to connect numerous traits of both Desdemona and Bianca. She’s a working-class woman and Iago’s husband. She’s obedient and loyal towards her loved one, but at the same time stresses that any woman would cheat on her husband given the right circumstances.

it is strongly suggested that all of these three women are fulfilling different kinds of men’s fantasies. Iago seems to be the only one to see that since the very beginning, as he is the one to tell Othello how hard it is to distinguish between a truly virtuous woman and one who plays the role she is expected to in a convincing way. The reliance of the representation womanhood on male characters’ vices and virtues directly relates to the important theme of gender that Shakespeare’s Othello touches upon.

Conclusion

The theme of sexuality and deriving from that topic of womanhood is strongly paid attention to in Shakespeare’s Othello. It is brought up in many situations in both literal and metaphorical ways. It is important that the author touches upon such a topic, as it is a big part of one's psyche and relationships, especially romantic ones. As the whole plot revolves around Desdemona’s alleged sexual betrayal of Othello, it is specifically crucial to focus more on the psychology of sex, which Shakespeare did very well.

#portfoliotask #othello

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nightibowl · 6 years ago

Text

The theme of sexuality in William Shakespeare’s “Othello”

Introduction

Imagery used to refer to Othello and his intimate life with Desdemona (and the reaction of Desdemona’s father)

“Zounds, sir, you’re robbed, for shame put on your gown!

Your heart is burst, you have lost half your soul,

Even now, now, very now, an old black ram

Is tupping your white ewe! Arise, arise,

Awake the snorting citizens with the bell

Or else the devil will make a grandsire of you,

Arise I say!” (1.1.84-91)

“ [...] Because we come to

do you service, and you think we are ruffians, you’ll

have your daughter covered with a Barbary horse;

you’ll have your nephews neigh to you, you’ll have

courses for cousins and jennets for germans!” (1.1.109-112)

and

“I am one, sir, that comes to tell you your daughter and the Moor are now making the beast with two backs.” (1.1.114-115)

Saying all that, Iago successfully upsets Brabantio by bringing his attention to the marriage of his beloved daughter with the Moor in a very unpleasant way.

Desdemona’s and Othello’s sex life; the symbol of their bridal bed

“ 1 Senator You must away tonight.

Desdemona Tonight, my lord?

Duke This night.

Othello With all my heart.” (1.3.275-279)

“Look if my gentle love be not raised up!

I’ll make thee an example.” (2.3.246-247)

“Well: happiness to their sheets” (2.3.26)

“I do not know, friends all, but now, even now,

In quarter and in terms like bride and groom

Divesting them for bed [...]” (2.3.175-177)

Is Iago gay?

There have been many discussions about Iago’s sexuality - some say that Iago is in fact homosexual and he wants to destroy Othello and his relationship with Desdemona out of jealousy caused by his unfulfilled love. However, such interpretation of Iago’s character is often made because people feel the need to justify such horrible actions as those presented by Iago. The truth is that this villain is an embodiment of evil, a character taking pleasure from causing chaos, trouble, and pain, as he not once shows any sign of regret, empathy, repentance or change. Humans always seem to seek for motive and need one - in case of Iago, he does not need motive, or more specifically, he’s only motive is to cause harm and enjoy its consequences. Therefore, the theory of Iago’s homosexuality is an over-interpretation that should not be taken under consideration while analyzing Shakespeare’s play.

The theme of womanhood in context of sexuality

The three women characters that are included in the play are supposed to represent women of different class and social status.

“Nor I; I would not there reside,

To put my father in impatient thoughts

By being in his eye. Most gracious Duke,

To my unfolding lend your prosperous ear

And let me find a charter in your voice,

T' assist my simpleness.” (2.3.239-244)

Desdemona throws away her life in order to be with Othello and until the very end of her life, she remains obedient and in love.

Bianca is Desdemona’s polar opposite. She is Cassio’s lover and a mistress, thus being strongly linked with the theme of sexuality that appears throughout the play.

A lot about how Bianca is presented and perceived by the male characters of the play can be seen in the way she is addressed or described by Cassio:

“Go to, woman!

Throw your vile guesses in the devil's teeth,

From whence you have them. You are jealous now

That this is from some mistress, some remembrance:

No, in good troth, Bianca.” (3.4.179-183)

“I marry her! what? a customer! Prithee, bear some

charity to my wit: do not think it so unwholesome.

Ha, ha, ha!” (4.1.120-123)

Iago addresses Cassio’s problematic approach towards his lover as well:

“Now will I question Cassio of Bianca,

A housewife that by selling her desires

Buys herself bread and clothes: it is a creature

That dotes on Cassio; as 'tis the strumpet's plague

To beguile many and be beguiled by one:

He, when he hears of her, cannot refrain

From the excess of laughter.”

What is also very interesting is that not only does Cassio speak of Bianca in a pitiful and disrespectful manner, but he also seems deeply fascinated by Desdemona’s presence.

“Iago Not this hour, lieutenant; 'tis not yet ten o' the

clock. Our general cast us thus early for the love

of his Desdemona; who let us not therefore blame:

he hath not yet made wanton the night with her; and

she is sport for Jove.

Cassio She's a most exquisite lady.

Iago And, I'll warrant her, fun of game.

Cassio Indeed, she's a most fresh and delicate creature.” (2.3.13-20)

“An inviting eye; and yet methinks right modest.” (2.3.23)

It is interesting that all three of the female characters are accused of infidelity at some point of the play. The entire theme of womanhood is essentially defined by and built upon the virtues and sexuality of the male characters. Each of the female characters represents a woman of different class and status, however, it is strongly suggested that all of these three women are fulfilling different kinds of men’s fantasies. Iago seems to be the only one to see that since the very beginning, as he is the one to tell Othello how hard it is to distinguish between a truly virtuous woman and one who plays the role she is expected to in a convincing way. The reliance of the representation womanhood on male characters’ vices and virtues directly relates to the important theme of gender that Shakespeare’s Othello touches upon.

Conclusion

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her-culture · 6 years ago

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My Top 10 Books of All Time, and Why You Need to Read Them

In my first article for Her Culture, I thought it would be fitting to write about books that have changed my life and shaped my world views in one way or another. My mom was a journalism major, so I guess I could say I got my love of reading from her. She used to read to me every night as a kid and imparted the importance of good literature to me. As a sociology major currently, these were very formative books in my adolescence that not only challenged certain misconceptions about the world, but allowed me to think in a more macroscopic way by reading different perspectives and experiences as well. I put my favorite quote from each book, if it had one, underneath each title—hopefully those will be enough to give you the general gist of each book. These aren’t listed in any particular order, but they are all relatively equally important to me, and it was incredibly hard to narrow it down (stay tuned for honorable mentions at the end):

The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald

“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”

When I think of this book, I have so many fond and nostalgic memories of adolescence. Even though it was not too long ago, I think this book was really my turning point to begin truly questioning the social facts that govern our society. Although the novel is relatively short, the story holds a much-needed allegory for some of the major plights of Western society: elitism, greed, class, consumerism, etc. I would call this book a buffet of sorts; I say this to mean you can take a plethora of different meanings from Fitzgerald’s relatively straightforward tale. Moreover, I recently learned that Fitzgerald was an Irish immigrant, so the concept of Gatsby’s relentless pursuit to be from East Egg is similar to his own trials and tribulations of fitting into American society—and invariably, not being able to in the end. I really love the imagery and the language in this book as well; essentially, Fitzgerald paints an exquisite portrait of the problem of the consumerist God we worship in America. My favorite imagery in the book is probably the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckelburg; that’s one of my favorite images ever in literature, actually.

Mrs. Dalloway – Virginia Woolf

“Fear no more the heat of the sun”

This book reminds me of the conversations I’d have with my best friend in high school every day after AP Literature. We’d get coffee and drive around and talk about the various existential topics the book discusses. The book takes place over the course of 24 hours, it essentially covers a middle-aged woman’s retrospective meditation of her life and past decisions as she prepares to throw a party. Although it seems like a simple plot, it delves into ideas about purpose, free will, and even the profound effect strangers can have on your life. I loved the interpolation of other people’s narratives into the story as well; it made the story richer than just Mrs. Dalloway’s narration. Furthermore, I like the stream of consciousness style that you don’t see in many critically acclaimed works, but it makes it feel all the more intimate. Not only do you feel for Mrs. Dalloway, Septimus, and others, but the power of this style of writing makes it seem like you are in that character’s predicament. It reminds me not only of the fragility of life itself, but of the gravity of what you would consider menial everyday interactions can have—the butterfly effect.

Song of Solomon – Toni Morrison

“If you surrendered to the air, you could ride it.”

My mother is specifically to thank for reading this book. She suggested it to me the summer before senior year, and since summer had always been my prime reading time in high school, I read it. Toni Morrison is one of the best writers of the century, without a doubt, and this book is all the proof you need to believe this claim. She created an intricate masterpiece, intertwining various double-entendres—especially with the names of characters, time periods, storylines, and more. Her language is vivid, and every word is meaningful; she has no fillers. Every aspect of the story adds to the jigsaw puzzle that is solved at the end of the book. I’d hate to give any of the plot away, but one of the characters is named Guitar because he’s instrumental to the development of the protagonist, but that’s just one example of her mastery. It explores race, ancestry, colorism, and the power of self as well. This is one of my top favorites of all time, and if I were to order them, this one would without a doubt be close to the top.

Flowers for Algernon – Daniel Keys

“I don’t know what’s worse: to not know what you are and be happy, or to become what you’ve always wanted to be, and feel alone.”

When I first read this book, I was relatively young, but it still had a profound impact. I think it challenged me to think about the power of sentience and that it’s one of the many things we take for granted. It reminds me a bit of some themes in Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men (an honorable mention), but in my opinion, it’s less cliché in a way. Although it’s technically supposed to be a young adult novel, I would say it has a lot of adult themes, so it was a good stepping stone into adult tragedy. Charly’s connection to Algernon is one of the most poignant relationships in literature, and I do feel like this book gets overlooked frequently when we discuss the greats. On another note, it also caused me to evaluate the power of interactions and relationships with others, as humans are innately relational; this book does a fantastic job of capturing that aspect of life.

Jazzy Miz Mozetta – Brenda C. Roberts

“Okay, young cats, let the beat hit your feet.”

This is the only children’s book in my top 10, but for a good reason. This is another book my mother introduced, but way earlier than the others she suggested, as she would read it to me at night. She’d read it probably 3-5 times a week because this was one of my favorite ones. When I see this book, I have so many fond memories of my mother tucking me in with my matching pajamas and warm milk at night. To this day, I appreciate this book as one of the most incredible children’s books of all time. Roberts’ incredible vision of music, color, and sound made me proud to be black at such a young age, in a world that doesn’t want you to feel comfortable in your own skin. Moreover, you don’t see many children’s books with black protagonists, and this was such a fantastic representation. Especially because I also love music, she did such a good job of creating that through the illustrations. It emphasizes community, music, and living life to the fullest.

Tuck Everlasting – Natalie Babbitt

“Don't be afraid of death; be afraid of an unlived life. You don't have to live forever, you just have to live.”

Tuck Everlasting was one of the first books that really caused me to examine mortality in a secular sense. I went to church school once a week as a kid, and that was the only space where we discussed life and death in that way, so this was an important introduction to the concept of death altogether, in a sense. We’ve all heard about the fountain of youth at one point or another in our lives, and this novel explores that idea essentially. I also really like the tension between immortality and a normal life, somewhat reminiscent of the Greek myth of Eurydice when Orpheus goes back to the Underworld to retrieve her. This is another book connected to my mother actually, who read it at the same time as me so I would have someone to discuss my reading with and bounce off my ideas. I think this is part of the reason this book resonated so deeply with me; I had an adult to converse complex topics of mortality with.

The Virgin Suicides

“It didn't matter in the end how old they had been, or that they were girls, but only that we had loved them, and that they hadn't heard us calling, still do not hear us, up here in the tree house, with our thinning hair and soft bellies, calling them out of those rooms where they went to be alone for all time, alone in suicide, which is deeper than death, and where we will never find the pieces to put them back together.”

The above quote is relatively long compared to the rest, but it’s one of my favorite passages in literature. I love the effervescent, ethereal nature of this book. I almost feel nostalgic reading it, although I didn’t grow up in the 70s, but there’s somewhat of a vintage quality to it. These aspects are kind of similar to Lois Lowry’s book A Summer to Die. If you can get past the gruesome, macabre aspect of the actual storyline—young girls committing suicide—you can bask in Eugenides’ masterpiece. His syntax is honestly unmatched, as well as his symbolism. In my opinion, this is a much better version of the popular young adult novel 13 Reasons Why, as it goes into detail about what led to the suicides and you get a look inside the minds of the girls, but from an outsider perspective (as young boys are the narrators of the novel, along with an occasional third person narrator). As a male, Eugenides encapsulates not only youth but the experience of adolescence as a girl as well. The writing is just beautiful, and that’s all I can say about it. The interesting part is that although I guess this would be categorized as a tragedy and certainly has a melancholy tinge to it, you don’t finish the book feeling sad necessarily. I was unsettled, but I still wouldn’t consider it a tragedy per se. Eugenides’ genre-defying classic is one that needs to be acknowledged as the phenomenal work that it is. To this day, I don’t know if I’ve read a book like this one, in the best way possible.

Slaughterhouse-Five – Kurt Vonnegut

“Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt.”

The way this book was introduced to me was as a book “about World War II and aliens,” and that is basically the most accurate summary I’ve ever read. It’s hard to say exactly what the premise of this book is because it really is about a wide array of topics, but it’s all connected, and it makes sense when you read it. It had a huge impact on me because I’ve never read a book as non-traditional as this one. I appreciate Vonnegut because he doesn’t subscribe to anyone’s rules—another genre-bender, one could say. It would be diminishing to this work to say that it’s about existentialism, but it is in a sense. The Tralfamadorians (the aliens in the novel), teach Billy how to look at his life macroscopically, and also about the deceptive nature of time. In Vonnegut’s words, “so it goes.”

Tess of the d’Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy

“Beauty lay not in the thing, but in what the thing symbolized.”

I can’t lie, I wasn’t the biggest fan of this book when I started it because I wasn’t sure where it was going. It has a Pride and Prejudice nature to it at the beginning before you delve into the plot that makes it seem sort of outdated, and although it is a timepiece technically, the actual message of the novel is timeless. There’s a lot more than meets the surface in this novel, and the imagery is also incredible. Hardy’s message is essentially about “crass casualty and dicing time” which is basically the notion that random things happen to us at random times and there’s nothing we can do about it. This also counters the notion of free will which is an interesting stance especially for the time this book was written. In fact, when this book was first published it was banned because of the depiction of rape and of secularism as well. At the time it was written (The Scarlet Letter era), the woman was the party at fault if she was raped, so it was met with generally negative feedback at first. Once I finished the book, I was a huge fan just because Hardy went against all norms to write such a tale. I specifically like the idea that Tess essentially saves herself in every scenario in the novel; Hardy knew even in 1891 that she didn’t need a man to save her.

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao – Junot Díaz

“Each morning, before Jackie started her studies, she wrote on a clean piece of paper: Tarde venientibus ossa. To the latecomers are left the bones.”

This book needs to be regarded as one of the best ones of our generation, as well as Junot Díaz as an author. Not only is this book timely, but it is also timeless. I really liked the integration of the actual history of the Dominican Republic into the novel, and also the acknowledgment of the intersection of race, language, history, and culture as the book is written in Spanglish. We don’t read many books in school or any books that garner any major media attention about Afro-Latino comic book nerds and their histories, so it’s important for a number of reasons. Díaz takes us on a long, vibrant journey through many genres, full of culture, and unrefined.

These are my top 10 books, at least as of right now, as the more books I read, the more the list changes. However, many of these will always remain at the top as classics to me. These are all must-reads not just because of how significant they were to me, but because of their respective contributions to literature. Outside of the fact that a few of them aren’t even categorizable into a genre, these books were truly eye-opening and formative for me. If you like to conceptualize the world and read about various topics from free will to mortality, I would highly consider reading at least a few of these, if not all.

Separately, I would like to think of this list as an ode to my childhood, and even more to my mother. She gave me this passion and this insatiable love of literature, so I truly thank her for taking the time to read to me, with me, and even for her suggestions. I can’t thank her enough.

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lucymachen · 3 years ago

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Introduction to Creative Play - 27/09/22

Our ease into the course and to get our creative juices flowing started with a way to expand our illustrative knowledge. We did this by starting off with a list of popular art styles in the media, such as South Park, The Simpsons, etc., and a list of different creatures and people in our lives. An online wheel spin would determine what combination, then create and design what we’re given. This was an exciting task, considering my personal love for many of these notable character designs, as well as my love for trying new things.

My first combination was a parrot in the style of Rick and Morty. When taking visual reference, I noticed the illustration uses quite soft shapes for the character's features and simple details. I also noticed how unrefined the outlines are, giving an accentuated feel for the chaotic themes of the show. My attempt was heavily reliant on the character features of Rick, the mad scientist and grandfather of Morty. His main plotline is using his scientific abilities to transform himself and Morty into various creatures, to which I applied this theme to my creation. I tried to mirror the illustration type and simplify the features to keep it on the theme. I think this was a good first attempt.

My second was a complete 180. It was a monkey in the style of Classic Disney. Since references for this were quite easily given (Abu from Aladdin, The Jungle Book, Rafiki from The Lion King, etc.) as well as the range of breeds of monkey, I decided to reference a type of ape that Disney has not illustrated before, a Gibbon. This was possibly my favourite attempt since I've always enjoyed Disney-style illustrations. The proportions are warped, and expressions are dramatized. There’s also the use of appeal, especially in anthropomorphized animals.

The third was quite an easy creation; a fox in the style of the animated sitcom Archer. I went with referencing a Tibetan sand fox. The art style is very comic-like and heavily reliant on sharp shadows and thick lines. The proportions are quite realistic, so when applying the style, all it really included was enhanced outlines and block shadowing. This in itself wasn’t entirely challenging; I believe this art style can only be recognized by applying it to people rather than animals.

My fourth and final combination for this task had a twist; take two art styles and combine a character from one into the style of the other. My two were Dexter’s Laboratory and Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away. I was drawn more to the style of Dexter’s Laboratory since it was much more visibly cartoon-like and proportionally bizarre. Dexter’s Laboratory heavily relies on geometric shapes to create expressions and proportions that represent the character’s identity: small feet and long bodies for adult female characters to give the light-footed feminine touch, whereas male characters have sharp and lanky features to portray a sharp-witted and sharp-minded disposition. I used this knowledge on the protagonist of Spirited Away, Chihiro Ogino. I kept her features softer to appeal to her age and a smaller proportioned body for her nimble character. I also tried to keep to the TV shows geometric concepts.

Our last task to finish our creativity off was a game of Exquisite Corpse, with three different pass-around for the head, torso, and legs. I kept my attempts similar in approach and wanted to portray a very caricature-like style. I enjoy this type of portrait illustration a lot, which is great for creating games like this. Let it be known that these creations were completely off the top of my head. I started off with the head, wanting to portray a lot of emotion, and was happy with its outcome. My torso also told a story of sorts. My proportions were slightly off, but it wasn’t something I relatively cared for at the moment. As long as I was successful in what story I wanted to tell. I got slightly more creative with the legs since I decided at the last minute to make it less human and more rabbit-like. I tried to be clear about the shapes and apply what I learned about with the previous challenge; accentuating features is what make caricatures more stylized and portray emotion and story quicker to the audience. All in all, this was my favourite task by far. It was a great way to customize our own characters and our own styles, after expanding our minds with the art styles we had previously studied. Below are my three attempts at Exquisite Corpse, highlighted are my creations.

#Introduction to Creative Play

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ucflibrary · 7 years ago

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Pride Month has arrived! While every day is a time to be proud of your identity and orientation, June is that extra special time for boldly celebrating with and for the LGBTQIA community (yes, there are more than lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender in the queer community). June was chosen to honor the Stonewall Riots which happened in 1969. Like other celebratory months, LGBT Pride Month started as a weeklong series of events and expanded into a full month of festivities.

In honor of Pride Month, UCF Library faculty and staff suggested books, movies and music from the UCF collection that represent a wide array of queer authors and characters. Additional events at UCF in June include “UCF Remembers” which is a week-long series of events to commemorate the shooting at the Pulse nightclub in 2016.

Click on the Keep Reading link below to see the full list, descriptions, and catalog links for the 20 titles by or about people in the LGBTQIA community suggested by UCF Library employees. These, and additional titles, are also on the Featured Bookshelf display on the second (main) floor next to the bank of two elevators.

A guide to LGBTQ+ inclusion on campus, post-Pulse edited by Virginia Stead The research in A Guide to LGBTQ+ Inclusion on Campus, Post-PULSE is premised on the notion that, because we cannot choose our sexual, racial, ethnic, cultural, political, geographic, economic, and chronological origins, with greater advantage comes greater responsibility to redistribute life's resources in favor of those whose human rights are compromised and who lack the fundamental necessities of life. Among these basic rights are access to higher education and to positive campus experiences. Queer folk and LGBTQ+ allies have collaborated on this new text in response to the June 16, 2016 targeted murder of 49 innocent victims at the PULSE nightclub, Orlando, Florida. Seasoned and novice members of the academy will find professional empowerment from these authors as they explicitly discuss multiple level theory, policy, and strategies to support LGBTQ+ campus inclusion. Their work illuminates how good, bad, and indeterminate public legislation impacts LGBTQ+ communities everywhere, and it animates multiple layers of campus life, ranging from lessons within a three-year-old day care center to policy-making among senior administration. Suggested by Tim Walker, Information Technology & Digital Initiatives

Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld Darcy Patel has put college on hold to publish her teen novel, Afterworlds. With a contract in hand, she arrives in New York City with no apartment, no friends, and all the wrong clothes. But lucky for Darcy, she’s taken under the wings of other seasoned and fledgling writers who help her navigate the city and the world of writing and publishing. Over the course of a year, Darcy finishes her book, faces critique, and falls in love. Woven into Darcy’s personal story is her novel, Afterworlds, a suspenseful thriller about a teen who slips into the “Afterworld” to survive a terrorist attack. The Afterworld is a place between the living and the dead, and where many unsolved—and terrifying—stories need to be reconciled. Like Darcy, Lizzie too falls in love…until a new threat resurfaces, and her special gifts may not be enough to protect those she cares about most. Suggested by Rebecca Hawk, Circulation

An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon Aster has little to offer folks in the way of rebuttal when they call her ogre and freak. She's used to the names; she only wishes there was more truth to them. If she were truly a monster, she'd be powerful enough to tear down the walls around her until nothing remains of her world. Aster lives in the lowdeck slums of the HSS Matilda, a space vessel organized much like the antebellum South. For generations, Matilda has ferried the last of humanity to a mythical Promised Land. On its way, the ship's leaders have imposed harsh moral restrictions and deep indignities on dark-skinned sharecroppers like Aster. Embroiled in a grudge with a brutal overseer, Aster learns there may be a way to improve her lot--if she's willing to sow the seeds of civil war. Suggested by Sandy Avila, Research & Information Services

And Then I Danced: traveling the road to LGBT equality: a memoir by Mark Segal On December 11, 1973, Mark Segal disrupted a live broadcast of the CBS Evening News when he sat on the desk directly between the camera and news anchor Walter Cronkite, yelling, "Gays protest CBS prejudice!" He was wrestled to the studio floor by the stagehands on live national television, thus ending LGBT invisibility. But this one victory left many more battles to fight, and creativity was required to find a way to challenge stereotypes surrounding the LGBT community. Mark Segal's job, as he saw it, was to show the nation who gay people are: our sons, daughters, fathers, and mothers. Because of activists like Mark Segal, whose life work is dramatically detailed in this poignant and important memoir, today there are openly LGBT people working in the White House and throughout corporate America. An entire community of gay world citizens is now finding the voice that they need to become visible. Suggested by Sandy Avila, Research & Information Services

Basically Queer: an intergenerational introduction to LGBTQA2S+ lives by Claire Robson, Kelsey Blair, and Jen Marchbank Basically Queer offers an introduction to what it can look and feel like to live life as lesbian, gay, bisexual, asexual, two spirited and trans. Written by youth and elders who've lived these lives first hand, the book combines no-nonsense explanations, definitions, and information with engaging stories and poetry that bring them to life. Basically Queer answers those questions that many want to ask but fear will give offence--What is it really like to be queer? What's appropriate language? How can I be an ally? It also provides a succinct and readable account of queer history and legal rights worldwide, addresses intergenerational issues, and offers some tips and tricks for living queer. It does so in an easy and conversational style that will be accessible to most readers, including teens. Suggested by Megan Haught, Teaching & Engagement/Research & Information Services

Fun Home by Alison Bechdel Meet Alison's father, a historic preservation expert and obsessive restorer of the family's Victorian home, a third-generation funeral home director, a high school English teacher, an icily distant parent, and a closeted homosexual who, as it turns out, is involved with his male students and a family babysitter. Through narrative that is alternately heartbreaking and fiercely funny, we are drawn into a daughter's complex yearning for her father. And yet, apart from assigned stints dusting caskets at the family-owned "fun home," as Alison and her brothers call it, the relationship achieves its most intimate expression through the shared code of books. When Alison comes out as homosexual herself in late adolescence, the denouement is swift, graphic -- and redemptive. Suggested by Sara Duff, Acquisitions & Collections, and Schuyler Kerby, Rosen Library

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado In Her Body and Other Parties, Carmen Maria Machado blithely demolishes the arbitrary borders between psychological realism and science fiction, comedy and horror, fantasy and fabulism. In this electric and provocative debut, Machado bends genre to shape startling narratives that map the realities of women's lives and the violence visited upon their bodies. A wife refuses her husband's entreaties to remove the green ribbon from around her neck. A woman recounts her sexual encounters as a plague slowly consumes humanity. A salesclerk in a mall makes a horrifying discovery within the seams of the store's prom dresses. One woman's surgery-induced weight loss results in an unwanted houseguest. And in the bravura novella "Especially Heinous," Machado reimagines every episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, a show we naively assumed had shown it all, generating a phantasmagoric police procedural full of doppelgangers, ghosts, and girls with bells for eyes. Earthy and otherworldly, antic and sexy, queer and caustic, comic and deadly serious, Her Body and Other Parties swings from horrific violence to the most exquisite sentiment. Suggested by Sara Duff, Acquisitions & Collections

Inseparable: desire between women in literature by Emma Donoghue Emma Donoghue examines how desire between women in English literature has been portrayed, from schoolgirls and vampires to runaway wives, from cross-dressing knights to contemporary murder stories. She looks at the work of those writers who have addressed the "unspeakable subject," examining whether same-sex desire is freakish or omnipresent, holy or evil, as she excavates a long-obscured tradition of (inseparable) friendship between women, one that is surprisingly central to our cultural history. Inseparable is a revelation of a centuries-old literary tradition — brilliant, amusing, and until now, deliberately overlooked. Suggested by Megan Haught, Teaching & Engagement/Research & Information Services

Let’s Talk About Love by Claire Kann Claire Kann’s debut novel Let’s Talk About Love, chosen by readers like you for Macmillan's young adult imprint Swoon Reads, gracefully explores the struggle with emerging adulthood and the complicated line between friendship and what it might mean to be something more. Suggested by Megan Haught, Teaching & Engagement/Research & Information Services

Little and Lion by Brandy Colbert Suzette returns home to Los Angeles from boarding school and grapples with her bisexual identity when she and her brother Lionel fall in love with the same girl, pushing Lionel's bipolar disorder to spin out of control and forcing Suzette to confront her own demons. Suggested by Emma Gisclair, Curriculum Materials Center

Myra Breckinridge by Gore Vidal Myra's personality is altered by her sex change operation and Myron is transported back through time to the year 1948. Suggested by Richard Harrison, Subject Librarian

Reflections in a Golden Eye by Carson McCullers Set on a Southern army base in the 1930s, REFLECTIONS tells the story of Captain Penderton, a bisexual whose life is upset by the arrival of Major Langdon, a charming womanizer who has an affair with Penderton's tempestuous and flirtatious wife, Leonora. Upon the novel's publication in 1941, reviewers were unsure of what to make of its relatively scandalous subject matter. But a critic for Time Magazine wrote, "In almost any hands, such material would yield a rank fruitcake of mere arty melodrama. But Carson McCullers tells her tale with simplicity, insight, and a rare gift of phrase." Written during a time when McCullers's own marriage to Reeves was on the brink of collapse, her second novel deals with her trademark themes of alienation and unfulfilled loves. Suggested by Richard Harrison, Subject Librarian

Speak No Evil by Uzodinma Iweala In the tradition of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah, Speak No Evil explores what it means to be different in a fundamentally conformist society and how that difference plays out in our inner and outer struggles. It is a novel about the power of words and self-identification, about who gets to speak and who has the power to speak for other people. As heart-wrenching and timely as his breakout debut, Beasts of No Nation, Uzodinma Iweala’s second novel cuts to the core of our humanity and leaves us reeling in its wake. Suggested by Sara Duff, Acquisitions & Collections

Tash hearts Tolstoy by Kathryn Ormsbee Fame and success come at a cost for Natasha "Tash" Zelenka when she creates the web series "Unhappy Families," a modern adaptation of Anna Karenina--written by Tash's eternal love Leo Tolstoy. Suggested by Megan Haught, Teaching & Engagement/Research & Information Services

The Boys in the Band by Mart Crowley The Boys in the Band was the first commercially successful play to reveal gay life to mainstream America. This is a special fortieth anniversary edition of the play, which includes an original preface by acclaimed writer Tony Kushner (Angels in America), along with previously unpublished photographs of Mart Crowley and the cast of the play/film. Suggested by Richard Harrison, Subject Librarian

The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman On the eve of her wedding, a young queen sets out to rescue a princess from an enchantment. She casts aside her fine wedding clothes, takes her chain mail and her sword, and follows her brave dwarf retainers into the tunnels under the mountain towards the sleeping kingdom. This queen will decide her own future -- and the princess who needs rescuing is not quite what she seems. Suggested by Rebecca Hawk, Circulation

Very Recent History: an entirely factual account of a year (c. AD 2009) in a large city by Choire Sicha What will the future make of us? In one of the greatest cities in the world, the richest man in town is the Mayor. Billionaires shed apartments like last season's fashion trends, even as the country's economy turns inside out and workers are expelled from the City's glass towers. The young and careless go on as they always have, getting laid and getting laid off, falling in and falling out of love, and trying to navigate the strange world they traffic in: the Internet, complex financial markets, credit cards, pop stars, microplane cheese graters, and sex apps. A true-life fable of money, sex, and politics, Very Recent History follows a man named John and his circle of friends, lovers, and enemies. It is a book that pieces together our every day, as if it were already forgotten. Suggested by Sara Duff, Acquisitions & Collections

Victim directed by Basil Dearden A highly respected, but closeted barrister, Melville Farr, risks his marriage and reputation to take on an elusive blackmail ring terrorizing gay men with the threat of public exposure and police action. Suggested by Richard Harrison, Subject Librarian

Why be happy when you could be normal? by Jeanette Winterson Traces the author's lifelong search for happiness as the adopted daughter of Pentecostal parents who raised her through practices of fierce control and paranoia, an experience that prompted her to search for her biological mother. Suggested by Lindsey Ritzert, Circulation

Written on the Body by Jeanette Winterson The most beguilingly seductive novel to date from the author of The Passion and Sexing the Cherry. Winterson chronicles the consuming affair between the narrator, who is given neither name nor gender, and the beloved, a complex and confused married woman. Suggested by Rebecca Hawk, Circulation

#lgbtq pride month #lgbtqia #pride month #neil gaiman #ucf #ucf library #ucf libraries bookshelf #booklr

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simplyhunter245 · 4 years ago

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Cs6 Design Standard Mac Download

Searching for an InDesign CS6 download link? Adobe InDesign is a software developed by Adobe Systems for layout and design of brochures, booklets, magazines, newspapers, books and other products intended for printing. In this article, I will go over the primary features of the Adobe InDesign CS6 version and provide download links for Mac and Windows.

Cs6 Design Standard Mac Download Free

Cs6 Design Standard Mac Download Windows 10

Adobe Cs6 Design Standard Mac Download

Download Adobe Cs6 For Mac

Integration with Illustrator and Photoshop. Adobe InDesign CS6 provides a unified design environment that doesn’t interrupt the creative process when switching from Illustrator or Photoshop to another program. Accordingly, since the information in the alpha channel when importing PSD is saved, picture masking and text flow control around graphics are available.

Design Standard Cs6 Mac. Here we've put together a complete set of adobe cs6 direct download links for all the new products (windows and mac os) design standard cs6 multilanguage is not available! This is not compatibile with macos 10.15 and higher. Adobe photoshop cs6 dmg for mac free. download full version. Adobe Design Standard CS6 Mac Product delivery: Digital (Download link from Adobe, Serial number & Instruction) Will be displayed after payment on website. License category: Full version (retail license) License works World Wide. Design Standard CS6 for Mac - Full Version - Download Legacy Version Version Full Operating Systems Supported Mac OS System Requirements Multicore Intel processor with 64-bit support Mac OS X v10.6.8 or v10.7 2GB of RAM (8GB recommended).

Another advantage is the ability to read documents in PDF format. To facilitate the transfer to InDesign, it includes support for publications collected in QuarkXPress and PageMaker.

Digital publishing. When creating a document, now it is possible to indicate not just the printing and web purposes but the digital printing one as well. This feature was introduced in order to simplify the process of converting from one medium or device specifications to another.

Since the old document model of Adobe had to be updated to optimize the program’s workflow, the introduction of this feature wasn’t unexpected. Plenty of designers and Adobe’s active users have been waiting for it. This is exactly the function that distinguishes the program from other InDesign alternatives.

Wide typographic possibilities. If you download InDesign CS6, you will get the whole nine yards. Their routine is brightened by such original items as the new technology of switching off and placing hyphenations in the text – Single-and Multi-line Composer.

Optical margin alignment, which corrects the location of certain characters in the text, taking into account their perception by the eye; displaying the properties of individual characters on a standard unified palette and displaying the tab position in the text with a vertical line makes it easier to accurately set these controls.

Adobe Animate for Mac. 57,758 downloads Updated: October 19, 2020 Trial. Review Free Download specifications 100% CLEAN report malware. Comprehensive and advanced authoring environment designed to help you develop rich, interactive multimedia content for digital platforms. Adobe animate free download mac. About: Adobe Animate 2020 v20.5 free. download full. Design interactive animations for games, TV shows, and the web. Bring cartoons and banner ads to life. Create animated doodles and avatars. And add action to eLearning content and infographics. With Animate, you can quickly publish to multiple platforms in just about any format.

Compressor 4 free download mac. Rich file formats support. InDesign CS6 enables export in JPEG, EPS, INX, INDD and other digital formats. The latest InDesign versions offer the Publish Online tool that is meant for publishing the final documents on various web resources.

Text frame fitting. Designers often have a hard time dealing with the text frame options. To facilitate this process, the program provides flexible width column options. This feature enables users to effortlessly manage the number and width of columns by modifying the size of the text frame. As soon as you achieve the set numbers, the columns will be added automatically. If the file has accomplished the maximum column width, the column will be eliminated.

View how to how buy InDesign at the most affordable price.

InDesign CS6 System Requirements

The same as other free Adobe software, Adobe InDesign CS6 download and installation will go easy on your computer. The program doesn’t have high system requirements and can be installed even on low-powered PCs. Get acquainted with all the requirements below.

InDesign CS6 for Windows

ProcessorIntel Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon 64 processorOperating systemMicrosoft Windows XP with Service Pack 3 or Windows 7 with Service Pack 1. Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 and CS6 applications also support Windows 8 and Windows 8.1RAM1 GB of RAM (2 GB advisable)Hard disk1.6 GB of available hard-disk space for installation; extra free space is required during installation (unable to install on removable flash storage devices)Monitor resolution1024 x 768 display (1280 x 800 advisable) with the 16-bit graphics adapterAdditionalAdobe Flash Player 10 software required to export SWF files Certain features in Adobe Bridge depend on a DirectX 9 – robust graphics adapter with at least 64 MB of VRAM

InDesign CS6 for Mac

ProcessorMulticore Intel processorOperating systemMac OS X v10.6.8 or v10.7. Adobe Creative Suite 5, CS5.5, and CS6 applications support Mac OS X v10.8 or v10.9 when installed on Intel-based systemsRAM1 GB of RAM (2 GB advisable)Hard disk2.6 GB of available hard-disk space for installation; extra free space is required during installation (unable to install on a volume that uses a case-sensitive file system or on removable flash storage devices)Monitor resolution1024 x 768 display (1280 x 800 advisable) with the 16-bit graphics adapterAdditionalAdobe Flash Player 10 software required to export SWF files

Freebies for InDesign CS6

InDesign is known for the support of fonts downloaded from various third-party resources. Take a closer look at the following bundle of free fonts, install and experiment with them. The fonts are aimed at enhancing your brochures, booklets and other printing products.

Ann Young

Hi there, I'm Ann Young - a professional blogger, read more

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Adobe Creative Suite 6 Design Standard Student and Teacher Edition software combines industry-standard tools for professional print design and digital publishing. Create eye-catching images and graphics at lightning speed with innovative painting and drawing tools and dozens of creative effects in Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. Lay out top-quality print pages with exquisite typography in Adobe InDesign. Also in InDesign, produce highly designed eBooks with support for the latest EPUB standards, and deliver media-rich publications for iPad and other tablet devices as easily as creating pages for print. Achieve exceptional quality and precise control with high-performance software that streamlines routine design and production tasks.

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Download Adobe Cs6 For Mac

Breakthrough image editing in Photoshop - Deliver eye-catching results with the industry standard in digital imaging. Enjoy creative freedom and precise control.

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Distinctive vector graphics in Illustrator - Create top-quality vector artwork for any project, from logos to illustrations for advertising, packaging, signage, and more.

Professional page layout in InDesign - Lay out, preflight, and produce stunning page layouts with intuitive design software that offers precise control over typography and built-in tools for creative effects.

Tablet publications in InDesign - Use InDesign to create media-rich publications for iPad and other tablet devices. Add interactive elements such as pan and zoom, slide shows, audio, and video. Upload to Adobe Digital Publishing Suite for distribution.

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smallpressdistribution · 7 years ago

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Wazzzzzap internet. Feast your eyes and your shelves on May’s

SPD Recommends *Backlist*,

ten titles from the 90's that continue to rock our world. boo-ya.

Scrunchies, Beverly Hills 90210, Ryan Gosling’s long hair, Xena, The Parent Trap with Lindsay Lohan, all those Bagel Bites commericals...just a small glimpse into humanity's greatest feats. It's not a coincidence that all these feats took place in the 90's either. That's because the 90's were great. It only makes sense that literature in the 90's was great too.

So hold tight to your Tamagotchi, Furby, or Beanie Baby collection: The 90's are back in the form of 10 awesome SPD backlist titles. These titles will leave you glowing brighter than any glow-in-the-dark star on your bedroom ceiling ever could. feat. New Star Books, Talisman House, Publishers, Kelsey Street Press, & more!

1. Debbie: An Epic by Lisa Robertson (New Star Books, 1997)

Lisa Robertson's Debbie: An Epic was a finalist for the 1998 Governor General's Award for Poetry. As arresting as the cover image, Robertson's strong, confident voice echoes a wide range of influences from Virgil to Edith Sitwell, yet remains unique and utterly unmistakable for that of any other writer. Brainy, witty, sensual, demonstrating a commanding grasp of language and rhetoric, Debbie: An Epic is nevertheless inviting and easy to read, even fun. Its eponymous heroine will annihilate your preconceptions about poetry - and about the name "Debbie."

2. The Tower of Babel by Jack Spicer (Talisman House, Publishers, 1994)

An established writer from an Eastern college returning to his former San Francisco haunts becomes entangled in a labyrinthine series of events that culminate in the sudden violent death of a respected poet. Described by Lewis Ellingham and Kevin Killian as "a satiric look at the private world of poetry gone public in the wake of the Six Gallery HOWL reading of October, 1955," The Tower of Babel includes finely detailed sketches of the San Francisco poetry world and gay life as they existed then.

3. Four Year Old Girl by Mei-mei Berssenbrugge (Kelsey Street Press, 1998)

In this extraordinary new collection of poems by Mei-mei Berssenbrugge, writing reflects human presence in the phenomenal world. Physical sensations of experience—a horizon, moisture, a child, a piece of quartz, a loss—become objects of focus and poetic elements. Her written lines, like strings of protein, both create and destroy bonds. Reading affords moments of exquisite vulnerability in which the perceived world is suddenly exposed to the quick. The pace of everday life slips into that of a waking dream. Winner of the 1998 Western States Book Award.

4. Brooklyn Bridge by Leslie Kaplan (Station Hill Press of Barrytown, 1992)

This is the first English translation of Leslie Kaplan's haunting novel about the meaning of childhood and the mysteriously intimate interworkings of child and adult. Here four adults and a child come together in a chance meeting in New York's Central Park, where the child's presence is a question to all of them. The novel pursues the erotic complexity of their various relationships with a special focus on the disturbing interaction between Julien and the child Nathalie. Woven through the affecting depictions of human characters, is the extraordinary depiction of the city, its tensions, its unexpected necessities, its urgencies. Written in a rhythm as electric as its setting, Brooklyn Bridge is a novel for the questioning child in us all.

5. WHATSAID Serif by Nathaniel Mackey (City Lights Publishers, 1998)

Nathaniel Mackey's third book of poems, WHATSAID Serif, is comprised of installments 16 through 35 of Song of the Andoumboulou, an ongoing serial work whose first fifteen installments appear in his two previous books, Eroding Witness and School of Udhra. Named after a Dogon funeral song whose raspy tonalities prelude rebirth, Song of the Andoumboulou has from its inception tracked interweavings of lore and lived apprehension, advancing this weave as its own sort of rasp. These twenty new installments evoke the what-sayer of Kalapalo storying practice as a figure for the rough texture of such interweaving. Mackey has suggested that the Andoumboulou, a failed, earlier form of human being in Dogon cosmology are "a rough draft of human being," that "the Andoumboulou are in fact us; we're the rough draft." The song is of possibility, yet to be fulfilled, aspiration's putative angel itself.

6. Another Smashed Pinecone by Bernadette Mayer (United Artists Books, 1998)

"It's OK that poetry won't save us from circumstance, or pave our road to what we're tempted to call Heaven, but it doesn't matter—because reading Bernadette Mayer's poetry is where I always want to be. Here, within the playfulness of her language, is where consequences of daily living are histories of heart and mind. Poetry is in life and life is in Bernadette's poetry, and that's all the reassurance we need."—Kristin Prevallet

7. Sight by Lyn Hejinian and Leslie Scalapino (Edge Books, 1999)

Equal parts poetry and philosophy, Lyn Hejinian and Leslie Scalapino's collaboration is organized around the act and idea of seeing, written in the form of a literary dialogue. "We were interested in a joint investigation into the workings of experience," writes Hejinian in the introduction, "how experience happens, what it consists of, how the experiencing (perceiving, feeling, thinking) of it occurs, what the sensation of sensing tells us." Visual descriptions interact with meditations on contemporary life, Western intellectual history, dream, film, poetry, and collaboration itself.

8. Close to Me & Closer...(The Language of Heaven) and Desamere by Alice Notley (O Books, 1995)

Alice Notley's two books collected here, Close to Me & Closer...and Desamere, are works that are wholly their art, meaning they occur as their language shape measure. She's invented a measure. The text is a rich current crossing, as at the moment of imagining, into being in death and in an expanded life. Notley transgresses conventional contemporary categories of genre; rather than genre, the form of the writing is the mind's inner sense and motion. "Alice Notley is, I think, the most challenging and engaging of our contemporary radical female poets...infused with uncommon verbal originality, intelligence and joyous playfullness, full of heart, intensity and wonder, provocatively addressing forever unsolved questions of form and identity, life and death, imagination and gender, Notley's poems are unsettling and inspiring"––the San Francisco Chronicle.

9. Barefoot Heart: Stories of a Migrant Child by Elva Trevino Hart (Bilingual Review Press, 1999)

A vividly told autobiographical account of the life of a child growing up in a family of migrant farm workers. It brings to life the day-to-day existence of people facing the obstacles of working in the fields and raising a family in an environment that is frequently hostile to those who have little education and speak another language. Assimilation brings its own problems, as the original culture is attenuated and the quality of family relationships is comprimised, consequences that are not inevitable but are instead a series of choices made along the way. It is also the story of how the author overcame the disadvantages of this background and found herself.

10. Local History by Erica Hunt (Roof Books, 1994)

"Erica Hunt's Local History blows the public and the personal inside out, estranging familiar forms of writing, letter and diary, while snatching moments of intimacy and insight in disembodied prose that anatomizes artifacts of mass culture, such as screenplay and cartoon strip."—Harryette Mullen

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aion-rsa · 4 years ago

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Best Movies Coming to Netflix in July 2021

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Movies are back. It at least feels that way when you see the numbers that films like F9 and A Quiet Place Part II are earning. But more than just the thrill of going back to theaters, July signals what is typically considered to be the height of the summer movie season. On a hot evening, there are few things better than some cold air conditioning and a colder drink of your choice while escapism plays across a screen.

That can prove just as true at home as in theaters. And as luck would have it, Netflix is pretty stuffed with new streaming content this month. Below there are space adventures, comedies, dramas, and more than a few epics worth your attention, either as a revisit or new discovery. And we’ve rounded them up for your scrolling pleasure.

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)

July 1

When the first Austin Powers opened in 1997, it was intended to be as much a crude love letter to the popular cinema of the 1960s as a modern day raunchy laugh-fest. Now with the benefit of another 20 years’ worth of hindsight, Mike Myers and Jay Roach’s spoof of Bondmania is itself an amusing time capsule of 1990s comedy tropes. There’s Myers’ cartoonishly larger-than-life characters—beginning with Powers but most dementedly perfected with Dr. Evil, the comedian’s riff on Ernst Stavro Blofeld—as well as the pair’s embrace of what they considered to be the defining trappings of the late ‘90s.

The film’s nostalgia for the ‘60s and its value as a piece of kitsch ‘90s nostalgia makes this Austin Powers (and to a lesser extent the second movie, The Spy Who Shagged Me) a fascinating relic, as well as a genuinely funny lowbrow symphony of sex gags, bathroom humor, and multiple digs at British stereotypes, including bad teeth. In other words, it’s a good time if you don’t take it too seriously. Just avoid the third one, which is also coming to Netflix.

The Karate Kid (1984)

July 1

1984’s The Karate Kid is the cultural apex of Reagan America’s obsession with martial arts movies and Rocky-style underdog stories. It offered ’80s kids the ultimate fantasy of learning martial arts to defeat local bullies and finding time to squeeze in a love subplot along the way. Granted, the Cobra Kai series has thrown a wrench into this film’s seemingly simple morality tale, but just try not to root for Daniel by the time you reach arguably the greatest montage in movie history.

There’s also something eternally comforting about watching Pat Morita beat-up ’80s thugs while validating parents everywhere by suggesting that you to can one day grow up to be a great warrior if you just sweep the floor, wax the car, and paint the fence.

Love Actually

July 1

Christmas in July? Sure, why not. This Yuletide classic likely needs no introduction. Writer-director Richard Curtis’ Love Actually is the ultimate romantic comedy, stuffing every cliché and setup from a holiday bag of tricks into one beautifully wrapped package. Perhaps its greatest strength though is it mixes in a touch of the bitter with its sweet, and doesn’t hide the thorns in its bouquet of roses. Plus, its use of “All I Want for Christmas” is still a banger nearly 20 years on.

Admittedly, we aren’t particularly inclined to watch this in July ourselves, but if you don’t mind the Christmas of it all, there are few better rom-coms in your queue at the moment.

Memoirs of a Geisha (2005)

July 1

This adaptation of the Arthur Golden novel of the same name was one of the highest profile literary adaptations of the early 2000s. It’s the story of a young girl sold to a geisha house in the legendary Gion district of Kyoto who then grows up to be the most famous geisha of 1930s imperial Japan… right before the war. The film (like its source material) had controversy in its day due to having a somewhat exoticized view of Japanese customs, as well as for the casting of Chinese actresses Michelle Yeoh and Zhang Ziyi in the roles of icons of Japanese culture, with Zhang playing central geisha Sayuri.

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But whatever its shortcomings, Memoirs of a Geisha is still an exquisitely crafted melodrama that provides an often delicate window into one of he most graceful and misunderstood arts. The film won Oscars for its costumes, art direction, and cinematography for a reason. Plus whenever Zhang and the actually Japanese Ken Watanabe share the screen, unrequited sizzle is hot to the touch.

Mortal Kombat (1995)

July 1

Look, 1995’s Mortal Kombat isn’t a great movie in the classic sense of the word. Those looking for notable ’90s schlock might even have a better time with 1994’s Street Fighter and Raul Julia’s scene-stealing performance as General M. Bison.

Yet at a time when video game movies still struggle to capture the magic of the games themselves, Mortal Kombat stands tall as one of the few adaptations that feel like an essential companion piece. It might lack the blood and gore that helped make 1992’s Mortal Kombat arcade game a cultural touchstone, but it perfectly captures the campy, shameless joy that has defined this franchise for nearly 30 years.

Star Trek (2009)

July 1

The idea of a Star Trek movie reboot wasn’t greeted with universal enthusiasm when it was first announced but then J.J. Abrams delighted many fans by creating a Trek origin story that was both familiar and new. Chris Pine shone as the cocky Kirk, bickering with Zachary Quinto’s Vulcan Spock while trying to save the universe from a pesky Romulan (Eric Bana). This was a standalone that could be enjoyed by audiences completely ignorant of the Star Trek legacy which also achieved the feat of not annoying many long-term followers of the multiple series. It was a combination of humor, heart, action and a zingy cast that won the day – it’s still the best of the three Star Trek reboot movies to date.

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2005)

July 1

Alongside Step Brothers, Tallageda Nights remains a a biting snapshot of the 2000s zeitgeist from writer-director Adam McKay. Eventually he would drop (most of) the crude smirks in favor of dramedies about the excesses of the Bush years via The Big Short (2013) and Dick Cheney biopic Vice (2018), however Talladega Nights remains a well-aged and damning satire of that brief time when “NASCAR Dads” were a thing, which is all the more impressive since it was filmed in the midst of such jingoistic fervor.

So enters Will Ferrell in one of his signature roles as a NASCAR driver and the quintessential ugly American who’s boastful of his ignorance and proud that his two sons are named “Walker” and “Texas Ranger.” He’d be almost irredeemable if the movie wasn’t so quotable and endearing with its sketch comedy absurdities. There’s a reason Ferrell and co-star John C. Reilly became a recurring thing after this lunacy. Plus, that ending where adherents of the homophobic humor of the mid-2000s found out the joke was on them? Still pretty satisfying.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

July 1

This is the movie that changed everything. Filmmakers had been experimenting with computer-generated visual effects for years, including director James Cameron with 1989’s The Abyss. But Cameron, as usual, upped his game with this 1991 action/sci-fi epic in which the main character — the villain — was a hybrid of live-action actor and CG visuals.

Those of us who saw T2 in the theater when it first came out can remember hearing the audience (and probably ourselves) audibly gasp as the T-1000 (an underrated and chilling Robert Patrick) slithered into his liquid metal form, creating a surreal and genuinely eerie moving target that not even Arnold Schwarzenegger’s brute strength could easily defeat. There were moments in this movie that remained seared into our brains for years as high points of what could be accomplished with CG.

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This writer prefers T2 to the original Terminator. It’s fashionable to go the other way, but the first movie, while excellent, is essentially a low-budget horror film, Schwarzenegger’s T-800 a somewhat more formidable stand-in for the usual unstoppable slasher. The characters in T2 are far more fleshed out, the action bigger and more spectacular, the stakes more grave and palpable. It was the first movie to cost more than $100 million but it felt like every penny was right there on the screen. And Cameron tied up his story ingeniously, making all the sequels and prequels, and sidequels since irrelevant and incoherent. We don’t need them; we have Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

Underworld (2003)

July 1

Is Underworld a good movie? No, not really. Is it a scary movie, what with the vampires and werewolves? Not at all. Well, is it at least entertaining?! Absolutely. Never before has a B-studio actioner been so deliciously pretentious and delightful in its pomposity.

Every bit the product of early 2000s action movie clichés, right down to Kate Beckinsale’s oh-so tight leather number, Underworld excels in part because of the casting of talent like Beckinsale. A former Oxford student and star of the West End stage, she got her start in cinema by appearing in a Kenneth Branagh Shakespeare adaptation, and she brings a wholly unneeded (but welcome) conviction to this tale of vampire versus werewolves in a centuries-long feud. Shamelessly riffing on Romeo and Juliet, the film ups the British thespian pedigree with movie-stealing performances by Bill Nighy as a vampire patriarch and Michael Sheen (Beckinsale’s then-husband who she met in a production of The Seagull) as an angsty, tragic werewolf. It’s bizarre, overdone, and highly entertaining in addition to all the fang on fur action.

Snowpiercer (2013)

July 2

Before there was Parasite, there was Snowpiercer, the action-driven class parable brought to horrific and mesmerizing life by Oscar-winning Korean director Bong Joon-ho in 2013. The film is set in a future ice age in which the last of humanity survives on a train that circumnavigates a post-climate change Earth. The story follows Chris Evans‘ Curtis as he leads a revolt from the working class caboose to the upper class engine at the front of the train.

Loosely based on a French graphic novel, filmed in the Czech Republic as a Korean-Czech co-production, and featuring some of Hollywood’s biggest stars, with dialogue in both English and Korean, Snowpiercer is not only a truly international production that will keep Western audiences guessing, but it packs an ever effective social critique as we head further into an age of climate change and wealth inequality. Also, there is a scene in which Chris Evans slips on a fish.

The Beguiled (2017)

July 16

Sofia Coppola’s remake of the 1971 film of the same name (both are based on a Thomas Cullinan novel) is a somewhat slight yet undeniably intriguing addition to the filmmaker’s catalog. It’s the story of a wounded Union soldier being taken in by a Southern school for girls–stranded in the middle of the American Civil War–with salvation turning into damnation as the power dynamics between the sexes are tested. It is also an evocative piece of Southern Gothic with an ending that will stick with you. Top notch work from a cast that also includes Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst, Elle Fanning, and Colin Farrell makes this a bit of an underrated gem.

The Twilight Saga

July 16

In July, not one, not two, not three, not even four, but all five of the movies adapted from Stephenie Meyer’s young adult phenomenon book series will be accessible on Netflix. Indulge in the nostalgia of Catherine Hardwicke’s faithful and comparatively intimate Twilight. Travel to Italy with a depressing Edward and Bella in New Moon. Lean into the horror absurdity of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 2. Or marathon all five for maximal escapism into a world where vegetarian vampires are the boyfriend ideal, the sun is always clouded, and the truly iconic emo-pop tunes never stop.

Django Unchained (2012)

July 24

The second film Quentin Tarantino won an Oscar for, Django Unchained remains a highly potent revenge fantasy where a Black former slave (Jamie Foxx) seeks to free his wife from Mississippian bondage and ends up wiping out the entire infrastructure of a plantation in the process. Brutal, dazzlingly verbose in dialogue, and highly triggering in every meaning of the word—including quickdraw shootouts—this is a Southern-fried Spaghetti Western at its finest.

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Perhaps its other great asset is a terrific cast of richly drawn characters, including Foxx as Django (the “D” is silent), Christoph Waltz as German dentist-turned-bounty hunter Dr. King Shultz, Leonardo DiCaprio as sadistic slaveowner Calvin Candie, and Samuel L. Jackson as Stephen. While Waltz won a deserved Oscar for the film (his second from a Tarantino joint), it is Jackson’s turn as a house slave who becomes by far the most dangerous and cruel of Django’s adversaries who lingers in the memory years later…

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smokeybrand · 5 years ago

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Pudding For Fools

I’m a huge fan of Tsugumomo. With the release of the second anime season, Tsugu Tsugumomo, i wanted to look back on how far this story has come and kind of reflect on my reasoning for being so attached to what, at first glance, is a generic School yard, battle anime, with eechi service sprinkled in for good measure.

My initial interest stemmed from the overwhelmingly gorgeous art. I men, have yo seen the lines in these pages? They’re exquisite! Before anything, i am an appreciator of art. When i was young, i voraciously read any book i could get on art theory or history. As i got older, i sought out How-to-Draw and figures studies. I’ve been drawing and developing my own style since i was six-years-old. Literally, the first thing i ever drew, was a copy of the cover to Venom: Lethal Protector. My best friend in the entire world and i, Rest in Peace EddyLee, bonded over our very distinct artistic disciplines. When i came across Yoshikazu Hamada’s intricately detailed, wildly distinctive, art style, i was immediately hooked. It was like seeing the work of Kubo Tite, Yoshiyuki Sadamato, Masamune Shirow, or Yoshitaka Amano for the very first time. They way he draws suck intricate detail in the world around his characters, while keeping the design of said characters so streamline, really resonated with my, own personal take. It reminded me a lot of the art style of Katsuhiro Otome, the creator of Akira. High praise, i know, but the pages of Tsugumomo illicit that same feeling i got, reading Akira for the first time.

Gorgeous art can only carry you thorough a manga for so long. I can’t tell you how many books with exquisite art i ended up dropping because the narrative was balls. Naruto immediately comes to mind. I know everyone wanks that series hard, like it’s the new Dragon Ball, but Naruto’s narrative is kind of mundane. The way Tsugumomo started, i thought it would turn out the same way but, unlike Naruto, the character writing saves this series. From the onset, Kiriha is far more dynamic than most shonen protagonists and she’s not even the lead. Kazuya is and,in the beginning, he was you’re cliche, harem lead, weenie. All of that “Preserve the friendship as is” shtick when absolute bombshells are literally grabbing his dick on the regular. However, over he course of 128 chapters, he’s become more Ichigo Kurosaki than Rito Yuki and i adore that. To see a male protagonist, evolve as an actual male in real life, is always awesome. He’s still hesitant to do the actual deed, but dude isn’t as averse to the occasional eechi romp as before and that makes the character feel real. I wish more books had this level of development but same evolution isn’t limited to just the main characters. Tsugumomo has some of the best supporting casts i have ever read in a manga.

If you know me, then you know i have a special place in my heart for tsunderes and Tsugumomo has one of the best. Sunao Sugaragi is absolutely adorable. In a lot of ways, she mirrors Kiriha who, herself, is mildly tsundere, but our my darling redhead takes that sh*t to a completely different level. She went from rival to unrequited lover but never loses her agency. She’s still as independent and powerful as she was during her bad ass introduction. She’s kept pace with Kazuya’s power wank, which is exceedingly rare for a supporting character in a shonen rag, even if she is the second love interest. I have a special place in my heart for Kazuya’s second Tsugumomo, Kyouka. Watching her develop from overwhelmed villain to jealous third wife has been fun to watch. She became one of my favorite characters, overall, during that whole tournament arc deal. I enjoy Kukuri, Oriobana, Kokuyou, the rest of the Mayoiga Tsugumomo, and especially Kazuya’s sister, Kasumi. She is a bro-con bad ass and i don’t think i have ever said those two things in the same sentence.

The narrative is a real slow burn, but when it starts cooking, it gets hot. You think you’re walking into a rather generic harem story but it opens up as you go along, meeting new characters, and learning about Kazuya’s pat. There is this entire subplot about his mom that comes to a head in an amazing battle and crushing defeat. Characters die and you’re left reeling. The reveal that Kanaka is the man antagonist and that Kazuya, himself, gave her means for resurrection, was a twist that rivaled Tobi being Obito. What i mean is, when it was sprung, you were mad surprised, if you weren’t paying attention. Kanaka is a beast with an underlying sadism that occasionally peeks through. That little glimpse is all you need to know she might be more cruel than she lets on. I n a lot of ways, she mirrors Goku; Way too strong for her own good and wildly listless without a challenge. Also like Goku, she will do ANYTHING to sate that apathy with a fight, leading to a choice that will have potentially, world-ending ramifications in the future because, at the end of the day, Kanaka and Goku the villains of their own stories. That nuanced writing, the ability to infuse such palpable emotion with foreshadowing and dread while delivering a lighthearted, titty romp, is quite entertaining. Lure them in with the boobs and dope art, reel them in with incredible action scenes, and land them with surprisingly endearing characters, heartfelt interactions, and an emotionally resonate plot that hits hard.

I cannot sing the praises of the Tsugumomo manga enough. It’s an amazing read filled with outstanding art, compelling events, wonderfully developed characters, and the most eechi fan service i’ve seen in a long time. it can be crass and a little juvenile at times but, at the end of the day, it’s a really heartfelt story that is driven by and emotional core. The anime does an interesting job of translating that feeling to screen and, at times, i think it falls short. The things chosen to be adapted, the cuts made to the narrative, i think does a disservice to he overall story but it was popular enough to get a second season. The fact that said season was mostly crowdfunded says that there is a growing audience for Kiriha and Kazuya’s adventures, for which i am very thankful. I love this book and i want more people to experience it. I think it’s one of the best out there and it deserves as much shine as it can get.

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sherlockxreader · 8 years ago

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An Unforeseen Delight

Title: An Unforeseen Delight Summary: Sherlock’s desire and plan to see your glorious assets on display takes an unlikely turn of events Author: Maddy (@laterthantherabbit) Words: 2600 Characters/Relationships: Sherlock x reader, John x sister!reader Warnings: None I think. Partial nudity?

Request: Heyy, what about a Sherlock x Reader in which the reader is John’s sister and she ist visiting the Bakerstreet Boys for the first time? She arrives in a pair of mom fitting/skinny jeans that accentuate her god damn beautiful ass and Sherlock likes seeing her in them. He just steals all the other ones she brought with her and hides them so she is forced to wear the ass accentuating ones for the whole weak. - @sherlockourhero

Author’s Notes: I finally did it, I got a request out! There will be another one tomorrow and then there are a few more to do over the next week. If you want please send in more requests we’ll be happy to write them! Thanks for your patience lovlies! I absolutely loved this request!! It was super fun to write and I loved writing every word of it. Thanks so much for this awesome idea @sherlockourhero, it was amazing!

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When John had said that his sister was coming out to Baker Street for a week’s visit, Sherlock had thought nothing of it. Harry must obviously be sobered up otherwise she wouldn’t be coming and John must have been trying to help her along as she makes it through the next week before moving back with Clara, obviously. Not obvious however, was the possibility of a third Watson and that it was in fact John’s second, and youngest sister coming to stay. When you climbed out of the cab in front of 221B late one afternoon, Sherlock had frozen whereas John had ran up to you with the biggest smile Sherlock had seen on his face ever, his arms outstretched for you to step into and be engulfed in a strong bear hug. You were obviously his favourite of the two sisters he had, or the two Sherlock knew about at least, and you were stunning. The afternoon sun shone through your hair, turning its natural hue into a golden sheen and your skin became soft in the light. Your slightly reddened cheeks brought out the iridescent colour of your eyes and your full lips had been curved into the most beautiful smile Sherlock had ever seen. So enraptured by your beauty he was, he didn’t realise John had let you go until you had turned to him, your hand extended ready for him to shake.

“Hi! I’m Y/N Watson, the prettier Watson. You must be Sherlock. It’s so nice to meet you finally! John’s told me all about you!” Sherlock snapped out of his stupor and shook your hand, his ‘friendly’ smile, as John dubbed it, becoming slightly wider and more genuine at your unusual introduction and shining smile, a smile he vowed to see more often.

“Likewise. Please, let me get your bag.” He made his way to the back of the cab before you stopped him with a hand on his chest. He hoped you couldn’t feel his heart which had begun to race through his white dress shirt.

“Oh don’t worry about that Sherlock, I didn’t bring much. Hold on a tick.” You turned from him and moved back to the cab, tapping the roof to prompt the driver to pop the boot, which was when Sherlock unconsciously scanned over your body, his eyes being drawn by your well-endowed behind. Squeezed into a pair of tight fitting skinny jeans, your arse was exquisite, even more so when you bent down a little to pick up the bags from the trunk. There was no other word for it Sherlock decided, it curved exquisitely from your back and into your thighs, which met your arse sharply, creating an even more pronounced shape. Your jeans especially complimented your figure, hugging the skin and muscle just so, so that the curves were defined but not altered or hidden greatly.

“Hey Sherlock, are you okay?” John nudged Sherlock’s side as you closed the trunk, reaching up to grasp the lid, your loose fitting tee-shirt riding up to show just a sliver of your slightly tanned skin, and goddamn it if that made your ass appear even more voluminous. He pulled his eyes away from your figure when you disappeared behind the car to pay the cabbie and he shook his head, reprimanding himself inside his mind because he should not be ogling his best friends sister a minute after they had met. That was a bit not good.

“Just fine John. Thinking is all.”

“Oh so that’s why you were staring into space.” John cocked his eyebrow at Sherlock as he turned to look at him. He couldn’t decipher whether John was serious and didn’t realise Sherlock had been checking out his sister’s arse or whether he was being sarcastic because he had caught him. Either way, Sherlock agreed with a small grunt, neither answering here nor there. You came back around the back of the cab as it drove off, picking up the duffel bag you had brought and flinging it over one shoulder and resting the other around John’s shoulders, struggling slightly as he was taller by a few centimetres. The air had begun to cool as the sun dipped closer to the horizon

“I’m sorry I wasn’t here earlier John. Work didn’t let me go til late.”

“It’s okay Y/N/N. I’m glad you’re here now. Let me show you up.”

“Going to show me this so called bombsite then? God knows you complain about it enough.” You laughed as Sherlock furrowed his brows and looked to John, who had gone red in embarrassment.

“Bombsite? Our home isn’t a bombsite John. It has a system.”

“Yeah, only one you can understand and one that looks like mess to everyone else. This way Y/N. Mrs. Hudson’s out at the moment but I’m sure you’ll see her either later tonight or tomorrow.” John took your bag from you, you protesting slightly before he pretty much wrestled it from you, and he took you by the hand, leading you inside and up the stairs, Sherlock trailing behind, mumbling about the system he had whilst he unconsciously observed your behind once more as he followed you up before he forced himself to look to the ground.

When he had entered the living room after you and John, John was nowhere to be found but Sherlock could hear him fussing about in the bedroom upstairs, probably making your bed on the trundle he had up there, whilst you stood in the living room with your hands on your hips and your back to him. Your fingers were pale against the dark denim of your jeans, which only made Sherlock look towards your arse again, the globe of it being highlighted by the warm glow of the fire. He snapped his eyes up when you had begun to turn back around to him, your arms dropping to your sides as you saw him and smiled. “I don’t see what John is talking about honestly.”

“Hm? Talking about what?”

“The ‘bombsite’. It’s not that messy and I’m sure I could figure out the system you have with a bit of guidance.” You winked and laughed at Sherlock’s stiffness from your wink. You turned and bent down to shuffle through your belongings, gifting Sherlock with another view of your glorious arse. Sherlock blushed significantly at the sight and at the images that were produced in his mind. He shook his head to rid himself of the pictures and moved to the kitchen, taking a glance at your bag to see what you had in there; a few more tee-shirts, a flannel shirt or two, your toiletries and another pair of jeans along with some sweats and your pyjammas. Sherlock could see the brand of your other pair of jeans and saw that they weren’t the same as the one’s you had on now, and that they were definitely not as accentuating. He had moved into the kitchen and began to prepare the kettle for tea, a plan hatching in his head.

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

You were in the shower after having had Chinese and a drink or two with Sherlock and John. John was puttering in the kitchen washing up some stray dishes and clearing away some of Sherlock’s more obstructive experiments and Sherlock was alone in the living room. With your duffel bag. He took one last look around to ensure no-one was able to catch him and he plunged down onto his knees next to your bag. He rifled through it carefully and plucked out your two pairs of sweatpants and your other pair of jeans and obscured them from sight by hiding them in his dressing gown. He casually (or as casually as he could with three pairs of pants against his stomach) made his way into his bedroom and shut the door quietly just as you finished showering. He let out a sigh and put the clothing into the bottom of his drawer, happy with how his plan turned out.

As he exited his bedroom, smiling evilly to himself and looking down, he heard you grumbling about in the living room and he heard John’s answering grumble. He looked up as he entered the living room only to stop dead in his tracks and blush furiously at the sight he saw. You were bent down at your duffel once more, searching through it frustrated, your ass perfectly on display clad in nothing but a pair of navy lace briefs. Sherlock felt his heart race and pound against his chest as you called out to John again, unaware of the dilemma Sherlock was in. He couldn’t reveal himself because you would know that he saw you in your undies and he couldn’t stay there and look at you because this was really not good, coupled with the extremely not good bit of hiding your pants. He also couldn’t back away because he just couldn’t stop watching you wiggling around as you searched your bag. The conversation that you were having with John finally started to make sense in his head and his blush reddened further as he realised what you were saying. “John I swear to God where are they?”

“I don’t know!”

“Well you must’ve taken them?”

“Why would I take your pyjamma pants, and your sweats and even your jeans?” Sherlock’s plan was not going to plan at all. Where were your pyjamma pants? He didn’t take them. Did he? He had planned to just take the pants you needed during the day so that it would look like you had just forgotten. He pulled his eyes away from your barely covered flesh and quietly, yet quickly, returned to his room and opened his drawer again, pulling out your clothing and looking through it with speed, stopping when he found the garment you were looking for; your pyjamma pants. He closed his eyes and hanged his head in frustration. How could he have been so stupid! He looked around without seeing anything, trying to come up with a solution without outing himself when he heard a throat being cleared from behind him. He stilled and his fiery face turned into an inferno as he turned ever so slowly to see your pantless, smirking figure in the doorway.

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

“Well, well, well, Sherly. What do we have here?” You stalked towards him with your arms crossed in front of your chest. You may or may not have been swaying your hips a little more than normal as you came to stand in front of him as he kneeled before you, surrounded by your ‘missing’ pants, the pyjammas you had been searching for clasped between his slightly trembling hands. The poor thing couldn’t look you in the eye and the stoic and emotionless sociopath that John had described to you was nowhere to be seen, replaced by the embarrassed man at your feet. You chuckled a little and crouched in front of him, your face in front of his and your eyes the only place he could see without staring blankly at the floor, which he chose rather than facing you. “You know, you could have just asked me Sherl.” He looked into your eyes then, his brows furrowed enough so a little crease appeared in confusion.

“Asked? Wha-”

“What, you think this is the first time someone had stolen my pants? The first time one of John’s mates have ogled me blatantly?” He gaped at you as you stood again and instead sat on his bed, crossing your legs one over the other, pronouncing your ass even more. “You should’ve seen John when we were teenagers. We went camping one weekend, just the two of us and another group of boys were at the same site. They stole all of my pants besides the denim shorts I owned. The too small shorts I might add. I’m not stupid, I have a great asset and I know how to flaunt it, and I know how it affects certain people. And I know how to deal with unwanted attention. Those boys never did imagine little ol’ me stealing their tents whilst they fished.” You smiled at the memory and looked down to Sherlock, who was looking positively terrified and awed by you simultaneously. You giggled and pointed at him, waggling your finger playfully. “I saw you downstairs at the cab by the way.” You giggled as his eyes widened comically.

“You-you saw me? Why didn’t you say anything? I’m so sorry I-” Sherlock was cut off by your boisterous laughter. He had stood and was pacing the room as he pulled his hair and worried about what was going to happen. He stopped when you huffed away the laughter and waved your hand about the air.

“I’m not mad Sherlock. Didn’t you hear what I said?”

“You said you stole their tents because they took your pants. Oh God you're going to steal something of mine aren’t you.” You giggled and got off the bed, reaching for your pyjamma pants and slipping them on.

“No Sherl I’m not. I only did that because it was unwanted attention, like I had already mentioned.”

“You mean,” Sherlock had his hands clasped in front of him, wringing them absent-mindedly as his cheeks flushed again as he realised what you were saying. “It’s not unwanted. My attention that is.” You shook your head and began to head out of the room, your arms full of the stolen clothing.

“No not really. I thought it was... endearing. Why don’t we head out for coffee tomorrow, just you and me yeah? I’ll even wear the jeans you like so much.” With that, you winked and returned to the living room. Sherlock stood stock-still in the middle of his room, processing what had just happened. You had sat back down in the living room with a cup of tea and had drunk plenty of it when you heard Sherlock’s now heavy footsteps rush into the room. You looked up at him calmly as he opened and closed his mouth in an attempt to form words.

“You-you want to- to go out with… me?” You drained your tea and set it aside, standing toe to toe with Sherlock as you replied.

“Well yes. I think it would be appropriate and, well, nice Sherlock. You’re not so bad yourself you know. I’ll see you in the morning.” You kissed his cheek and made your way into John’s room where your makeshift bed awaited you. Sherlock smiled as you left and when he heard the door shut, he reached up and cupped the cheek you had kissed.

“I’d watch out if I were you.” Sherlock straightened his back and lowered his hand quickly as he heard John’s voice come from the kitchen, where he had been watching the scene play out. “She may say she likes you, but don’t think she’ll forget what you did.” Sherlock turned and saw John leaning on the door frame with a knowing smirk on his face. Sherlock nodded, not sure what to make of the statement, and headed into his bedroom, leaving John to chuckle to himself as he secured the flat and made his way upstairs.

The next day, you were dressed in your ass defining jeans and a tight fitting shirt whereas Sherlock was clad in only his dress pants and socks, unable to find any of his shirts anywhere. They were all slightly too small for him anyway, not that you were complaining at all, as you watched a shirtless Sherlock run frantically about the flat, his shirts tucked safely away under your bed upstairs.

#request #ask #sherlockxreader #sherlock holmes #john watson #sherlock fanfiction #maddy #maddy writes #laterthantherabbit

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captain-fiza-khan-123-stuff · 5 years ago

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women wallet online in pakistan

BRANDED WOMEN WALLET ONLINE IN LAHORE

Correlation of the best ladies' wallets in 2020

Hi everybody ! I'm Juliette! It is I who made this site committed to portfolios. I work independent on inside structure assignments, and some web architecture ventures. It's commonsense in light of the fact that it implies that I can mastermind my calendar as I see fit. What's more, at the present time I'm investing a great deal of energy in my sister's calfskin products store helping her. In the event that you need to discover somewhat more about me, I divert you to my article called " About me ". For the others, how about we find a workable pace of the issue!

This site manages a wide range of portfolios. To explain your examination, I chose to isolate it into two sections: A section about ladies' wallets, and a section about men's wallets. You are here on the introduction page of the ladies portfolio area. On the off chance that you are searching for data on men's wallets, no issue, simply click here and you will show up on the page that intrigues you.

For the anxious, we will begin with the most significant: My positioning of the best ladies arrangement of the year:

Positioning of the best ladies' arrangement of the year

In front of the pack and gold decoration goes to Yaluxe zipped ladies' walletIt is the last wallet in date that I offered to myself! What's more, yes you have some good times in some cases. As should be obvious in the photograph here, this Yaluxeis an excellent fuchsia pink, and it has lovely brilliant terminations. My preferred point right now the quantity of cards that can be put away there. It offers in excess of twenty areas, which lets me store my numerous cards with request and accuracy! This is a point to which I am critical. Notwithstanding that, this extra is made of certifiable calfskin. This sensitive and safe calfskin improves with age! The wear will give it a patinated side of the most wonderful impact. It offers you a long and huge zipped pocket with a zipper, in which you can store your Iphone 6 or some other telephone of an indistinguishable organization.

WOMEN WALLET ONLINE IN KARACHI

It can likewise contain your coins and little articles on the off chance that you wish. This wallet is ultra handy, delightful, and at a truly sensible cost!

This lovely minimal expenditure Maker lady walletReal calfskin is the one I purchased to go to my companion's housewarming party in her insane condo. This frill is minimized and light. It offers a few pockets that nearby with zippers notwithstanding the openings for tickets. The quantity of card openings is restricted, yet I got it for a gathering, so I put forth an attempt to take just the basics with me. It exists in a few hues, yet I picked it generally calm, in a similar shading as that of the photograph inverse. It is cautious, however extremely exquisite. I utilized it for a night however it very well may be utilized during the day when you just need to take what is carefully essential. A straightforward compartment will let you slide a photograph, or a card that you need to exhibit frequently. Over all that, it is sold at a more than sensible cost. To get earnestly!

This item blends the upsides of a wallet and a satchel. It is ideal for the individuals who need to be rich and is ideal for gatherings and functions, for example, weddings or birthday celebrations. While being tasteful, the Damara evening wallet/bagoffers a dash of extravagance because of its rhinestones which will make you the sovereign of the day. It likewise stands apart gratitude to its quality materials. It is chiefly made of silk while its covering is made of strong texture. It has a solitary pocket where you can just slip your cell phone and a couple of little adornments, including your installment card or money. You can utilize it as a lady wallet just as a tote, since it has a steel chain. At last, the Damara E80250 ladies' wallet is accessible in various hues, permitting you to pick the one you like.

This delightful tote is made of engineered cowhide from Minetom, similar to the third portfolio in our positioning. It is smaller, and rather dainty. It likewise exists in a few hues, yet the one that truly grabbed my attention is the one you find in the photograph here. It offers in excess of twelve spots to store your cards of assorted types. For me, this is an exacting least to have the option to think about a portfolio as an accomplice to regular daily existence. One of these spaces is straightforward with the goal that you can swipe a photograph on it, or put a card in it that you present regularly and that you would prefer not to leave your tote unfailingly. It is an ideal wallet for groom with easygoing outfits in need, however which can be of an intriguing impact with certain night furnishes moreover. More, it is one of the modest lady wallet pockets that offers the best an incentive for cash that I have ever observed. So don't stop for a second!

This Koly Portfolio handbag is somewhat bigger than the last two we discussed, however it remains very sensible in size and wonderful to utilize. It is one of the ladies' wallets that offer enough card spaces to turn into a wallet that we utilize each day. What's more, for me to disclose to you that, you can be certain that she offers many! Of course, a portion of these openings are straightforward, so you can watch out for the cards as you slide them in without taking them out. It additionally offers you an enormous shut pocket with a zipper, to keep your pieces or your little items in security, without taking a chance with that they will go around in your sack. Its plan, with this matt dark on which splendid dark examples have been applied, and this salmon pink inside, is very fruitful. As I would like to think, this is a wallet that will interest little youngsters

AMAZON WOMEN WALLET ONLINE IN PAKISTAN

. It is additionally made of manufactured cowhide, however with sensible rendering and decent quality.

here are a few purposes behind purchasing a ladies' wallet, including:

You can store your coins and tickets there.

It can likewise contain your distinctive installment and faithfulness cards. You can likewise put your official papers, for instance your crucial card, your driving permit, your voter card or your character papers.

We can likewise think about it as a design embellishment and in this way remember it for your outfit.

The various sorts of ladies' wallets

You can pick between various sorts of ladies' wallets, every one of which has its own points of interest. Here are the principle ones:

Bifold wallet

It is just a wallet that opens and closes by being collapsed fifty-fifty, much like a book. It is in this manner for the most part a little wallet wherein you can without much of a stretch discover a spot in your pocket or in your satchel. It is a kind of ladies' wallet that doesn't permit you to store huge reports, particularly old renditions of driver's licenses and character cards. If it's not too much trouble note that a few models can be shut with a catch. Right now, is a tongue wallet.

Grip wallet

It is a sort of blend between a wallet and a tote. It is a sort of exquisite ladies' wallet that you can convey by hand and can be utilized as an accomplice to improve your outfit. They are commonly huge and their structure is very worked. This is the sort of ladies' wallet that you can impeccably use at a gathering or occasion, for example, a wedding. It goes impeccably with a dressy outfit. Some of them even have a regularly removable chain. So you can convey it on your shoulder like a genuine tote.

Exemplary wallet

This is the most ordinarily discovered model and is reasonable for the two ladies and men. It is an enormous model, by and large with a length and a particular width of 15 and 12 centimeters. The upside of this kind of wallet is that you can without much of a stretch store your official records there, particularly on the off chance that you have old forms of your driver's permit or personality card.

GM wallet

These are enormous wallets that ladies especially like. For the most part, they close with a zipper and their size is near that of a pocket wallet. It is an exceptionally functional model, since you can suit an enormous number of records, photographs and maps. Nonetheless, it is somewhat massive and it is prudent to convey it in a purse.

For greatest style, one could envision that it is prudent to coordinate the shade of your ladies' wallet and purse. Nonetheless, this isn't the situation. This is especially in light of the fact that your wallet is as a rule in your sack and thusly, that no one sees it. Moreover, it would not be handy since it is important to purge your wallet simultaneously as your sack. Also, nobody can envision everything in it. We in this way encourage you to choose the model you are griping about, without attempting to coordinate the hues.

Purchase a ladies' wallet, the criteria to consider

EBAY WOMEN WALLET ONLINE IN KARACHI

While picking your ladies' wallet, you have to ensure you pick a quality model. For this, precisely as we did right now Avis et Test, you should allude to a few criteria. For instance, you have to check out its size and ensure it meets your requirements and inclinations. Furthermore,

you ought to likewise investigate its structure. This one should clearly satisfy you. You ought to likewise ensure that it is a decent quality model and that it is especially powerful. At last, you should likewise be keen on its cost and ensure you profit by an amazing quality-value proportion.

Pick the size that suits you best

With regards to the size of a lady's wallet, it tends to be very hard to tell which one is directly for you. Luckily, this audit with Avis/Test should assist you with arriving. Everything relies upon what you intend to place in it. A little model can work in the event that you just use it for your Mastercard and cash. In any case, for authentic papers, particularly on the off chance that they are old, it might be intriguing to choose a bigger model. If it's not too much trouble additionally note that a huge lady wallet is likewise essential on the off chance that you need to store photographs or have numerous steadfastness cards. At last, you should ensure that it isn't excessively cumbersome and that it fits in your pocket or in your tote.

Intrigued by its structure

Configuration is clearly a significant paradigm when you purchase such an item. This is the reason we talk about it right now. With an extremely enormous number of models, you should initially investigate the material that forms it. By and large, you can for sure discover models in cowhide, texture, plastic or canvas. Also, numerous hues are accessible for this kind of item, so you can pick the one you pref

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ahouseoflies · 5 years ago

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The Best Films of 2019, Part II

Part I is here. ENDEARING CURIOSITIES WITH BIG FLAWS

106. Alita: Battle Angel (Robert Rodriguez)- I'm not looking at a list of films with budgets over $175 million, but I guarantee this is the one with the lowest stakes. It concerns a cyborg who tries to uncover the identity that the audience knows she has all along, and it takes place on three sets. I was intrigued by the prospect of Robert Rodriguez directing a James Cameron production, since the former uses effects to be lazy and the latter uses effects to challenge himself. Alita is more of a Rodriguez movie in that regard. Although it looks slightly better than those pictures he used to make in his backyard, it ain't by much. 105. The Upside (Neil Burger)- As good enough as movies get, good enough right up to the childish screenwriting contrivances of the third act. ("I guess he knows about wheelchairs now, so he gets a job at a wheelchair factory? Or maybe it's his own factory? I don't know--I'm still spitballing in this production draft.") Queen Nicole is criminally underserved though. Have you read that story about how Keanu Reeves's friend forged his name onto the contract for The Watcher, but Keanu didn't want to go through a prolonged legal battle, so he just showed up despite the fraud? Surely it's got to be something like that. Or maybe she was under the impression her character was still being fleshed out, but she got there and saw that nothing has been changed since the last draft? It's just like, "Yvonne looks stern. More to be added." I know for sure that no one told one of the greatest actresses in the world about the part in which she's supposed to be a good dancer. She would have prepared. 104. How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (Dean DeBlois)- HtTYD is still the most visually experimental animated franchise. For example, DeBlois hazes the image when a character is looking at another through a torch, there's a five-minute wordless sequence of dragons falling in love, and a lot of work has been put into crafting peach fuzz. I also appreciate that these films retain consequences. Hiccup has a prosthetic leg, and his dad is still dead. Narratively though, everything feels like a holding pattern, a brand extension that doesn't offer real stakes or real laughs. (Fishlegs has a beard now. That's his character development. That's it.) Even if The Hidden World offers an ending of sorts to the trilogy, it's a story of retreat/escape that can't help but feel like a sideways step from its already disappointing predecessor. My daughter tuned out and got really restless with about twenty minutes left. 103. Greta (Neil Jordan)- Such a boilerplate thriller that I was actually predicting the dialogue at points: "Miss, I'm sorry, but there's nothing we can do if she's just standing there across the street. She's not breaking the law." There is one notable thing that happens though. In a scene at a church, Huppert makes the Sign of the Cross incorrectly. As an actress, kind of negligent. As a French person, pretty exquisite. 102. Anna (Luc Besson)- The timeline-jumping didn't work for me, but without it, I don't think there's much notable about the quadruple-crossing here at all. The awe-inspiring restaurant fight sequence is the film's saving grace; I'm awarding an extra half-star for its slashing-throats-with-plates viscera. 101. Captain Marvel (Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden)- Was I supposed to know what a Skrull was before this? Lee Pace and Djimon Hounsou show up playing Guardians characters, so I think I was supposed to connect more of the sci-fi dots of the first twenty minutes than I did. All of that inter-planetary stuff was tough sledding for me, and I preferred the Elastica music cue and Radio Shack jokes. As it turns out, especially in this genre, it's dramatically frustrating to go on a hero's journey with a character who doesn't know who she is. It was nice to see Samuel L. Jackson, with convincing de-aging effects, get a real arc in one of these movies, rather than just posing here and there. Brie Larson does enough posing for the both of them. 100. Frozen II (Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee)- Frozen begins with sisters being separated after one injures the other. It plays for keeps from minute five. Frozen II, whose smaller stakes are felt in the one-or-so location, B-team songs, and forgettable new characters, never feels as real. 99. Aladdin (Guy Ritchie)- Even if the songs still bang and Nasim Pedrad is very funny, Aladdin feels as cynical and--don't say it, don't say it--unnecessary as all of these live-action remakes do. I'm looking forward to the animated remakes of the live-action remakes, which might figure out a way to reincarnate Robin Williams. One can dream, even cynically. 98. El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie (Vince Gilligan)- Finally, the TV movie--and no shade, but this ending we didn't ask for is definitely part of the TV movie tradition--that answers a burning question for Breaking Bad fans: Was Jesse ever interesting by himself?

97. High Life (Claire Denis)- As uncool as it makes me, I have to admit that I just don't care for Claire Denis's aesthetic. Knowing nothing going in, I was captivated by the mysterious first half-hour, but once the film started to explain itself, it seemed like a B movie with more ponderous music. High Life is effectively claustrophobic, but I found myself "yes-anding" most of it. Yes, for example, space is lonely, as I've learned from every other movie about space.

96. Where’d You Go, Bernadette? (Richard Linklater)- From the get-go, this movie doesn't work--structurally, tonally--but the miscalculations of Linklater and Blanchett and especially the mawkish music don't have enough consequence for the film to even fail on a noteworthy level. It's not unpleasant. You just laugh sparingly and think, on the way out, "I don't think she loved her daughter as much as she said she did" or "Get to Antarctica twenty minutes earlier or twenty minutes later." Linklater, an inestimable talent, has added an entry to his filmography that might as well not exist. Making movies, especially adaptations of epistolary books, is hard. I'm being too understanding of that or not understanding enough. 95. Dumbo (Tim Burton)- Just as Dumbo begins to take chances--fashioning itself as an anti-corporate parable with Keaton playing a Disney-esque "architect of dreams"--it settles back down to its own low expectations. Expectations that come from the storytelling and characterization and not the production design, which seems grandly practical except for the CG [rolls up sleeves, adjusts glasses, tightens shoes] elephant in the room. Of the performances, Farrell comes out on top, displaying Movie Star confidence despite very little to work with. (Can a World War I veteran who lost his arm and his wife be allowed a bit more pain?) It gives me no pleasure to dunk on child actors, but both of the kids seem to be reading their lines, and their monotones nearly sink the movie at the beginning. 94. Echo in the Canyon (Andrew Slater)- A nice enough introduction to the scene, but Jakob Dylan's constant presence as an interviewer and performer turns it into a vanity project. The film shuffles among talking heads interviews, prep for an anniversary concert, and an anniversary concert, and I'll let you guess which one of those is interesting. The access that the filmmakers got is impressive, but if a person didn't participate (Carole King is the obvious one), the filmmakers just pretend he or she didn't exist. 93. Diamantino (Gabriel Abrantes and Daniel Schmidt)- I like the notion of someone so specialized in his profession that he has a child-like understanding of the outside world, and Carloto Cotta sells the innocence of the title character. (The Donna Lewis needle-drop killed me too.) But too often this film feels as if it's focusing on sheer weirdness over satisfying narrative. Cult classics are fine, but you should try for the regular classic. 92. Ma (Tate Taylor)- There are some cool ideas here--the innocent entrees that technology provides, the way the movie earns its R rating. But the script needs a few more passes for everything to congeal past the silliness, especially with regard to the hammy flashbacks that attempt to provide motivation for the Ma figure. I respect the attempt to humanize a monster, but she would be more scary if left opaque. 91. Bombshell (Jay Roach)- The films that try explicitly to comment on our current social climate are never the most successful ones, especially if their internal politics are this muddled. The film takes great pleasure in implicating the toxic system of Fox News, taking shots at anyone who would participate. Then it starts to pick and choose who to like in that system, which is where it gets weird. Obviously, a Fox News employee who sexually harasses another employee is "worse" than an employee who gets harassed. But then the Charles Randolph screenplay starts to sort closeted lesbians and career-strivers, and it's not sure who the bad guys really are. The film moves quite swiftly in its first half, and Charlize Theron's mimicking of Megyn Kelly is eerie. But I don't think Jay Roach knows what he believes. The lurid, claustrophobic scene between Margot Robbie's composite Kayla and John Lithgow's breathy Roger Ailes is the transcendent moment. It teases out the humiliation slowly and powerfully. With a quite meta flourish, the scene makes you hate yourself if you've ever objectified one of the most objectified actresses in the world; she's that great at illustrating her discomfort.

90. Glass (M. Night Shyamalan)- 1. A great example of "story" vs. "things happening." A negative example, I'm afraid. 2. The Osaka Tower represents the literal and figurative highs that the film will literally and figuratively not reach. 3. Spencer Treat Clark back!!! 4. The flashbacks are actual deleted scenes from Unbreakable, which is amazing. 5. Not since Lost has there been a work that seems like obsessive fan service, but the fan in mind is the creator, not any member of the audience. We do not want your explanations about Jai the security guard's role in your universe, Night. 6. This is a sequel to Unbreakable and a sequel to Split, but it somehow does not feel like a third chapter of anything. 7. It makes sense that I watched this on the same day that I listened to Weezer's The Teal Album, their surprise collection of punctilious '80s covers. In both cases, there's an artist who was really important to me in formative years but who has used up the last of whatever capital he has accrued by giving in to his worst instincts. In Shyamalan's case though, at least it's a confident swing. The second act pretty much tells us that we were dumb to believe what he sold us on. Even though it's dramatically inert and completely stops halfway through, this is exactly the movie he wanted to make, which I stupidly still admire. 89. Five Feet Apart (Justin Baldoni)- I checked this out because I have the sneaking suspicion that Haley Lu Richardson is a Movie Star, and she is continuing to progress into that power/responsibility. Otherwise the movie is a by-the-numbers weepie that doesn't really have a new spin on anything but hits its marks adequately. I was surprised that Claire Forlani got neither a "with" nor an "and" card in the credits. How rude. 88. Pet Sematary (Kevin Kolsch and Dennis Widmyer)- I like the bleak dive the film takes following its second big twist, which is handled well, but there is a ceiling for an adaptation of one of King's least ambitious and most predetermined tales. 87. Wild Rose (Tom Harper)- So conventional that Jessie Buckley almost got nominated for a Golden Globe. 86. Judy (Rupert Goold)- Just as the leaves start to change, we get biopics like these: too earnest to be cliched, too safe to be original. I'm on the ground floor of the Zellwegerssaince, but Judy is a slog in stretches. 85. The King (David Michod)- Capable but superfluous. Animal Kingdom was nine years ago, so it's quite possible that David Michod, even when he has an imperious Ben Mendelsohn at his disposal, has lost the urgency. The reason that anyone should see this--at least until someone puts together a YouTube compilation of just his scenes--is for Robert Pattinson, whose take on The Dauphin is the frontrunner for Most On-One Performance of the Year. 84. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (J.J. Abrams)- There are just enough moments--the first Force battle between Kylo and Rey being one of them--that remind the viewer of the magic of Star Wars. Kylo Ren's arc concludes in a more satisfying way than I expected, Babu Frik is officially my dude, and Daisy Ridley's post-Star Wars career intrigues me. My Dolby seat was rumbling, and I was pretty charged up on candy. But, man, most of the business here feels compromised, undermined, and inessential. It's a rushed connect-the-dots compared to The Last Jedi. There's a scene in which the gang has to risk wiping C-3PO's memory to gain important information--they need a thing to get to another thing to get to another thing--and there appear to be stakes for just a second. Then, as if to reassure the audience that there will be ten more of these movies, Rey adds, "Doesn't R2 have a backup of your memory?" That's the whole movie in an expensive, nostalgic nutshell.

83. Queen & Slim (Melina Matsoukas)- Capable of tender moments but shot in the foot by its episodic nature, Queen & Slim is the most uneven picture of the year. The characters work well as foils to each other, but Jodie Turner-Smith's performance is overshadowed by Kaluuya's. I have no idea what Chloe Sevigny and Flea are trying to do in their brief time on screen, and I have no idea what the film is trying to do when it disturbs the point of view for a misguided protest sequence. 82. Hustlers (Lorene Scafaria)- It has been a long time since I was so surprised that a movie was over. The coda comes up telling us about, in real life, what kind of criminal slaps on the wrists the characters received, and I got pushed out of the theater wondering what it all amounted to. Yeah, that's the point. I know. Just as none of the 2008 bankers went to jail in the wake of their destruction, none of the women who drugged and exploited them did much time beyond "14 months of weekends" either. But should I applaud moral confusion? Can I be angry about the lack of consequences for both parties? If you want me to judge the film I watched instead of the film I wanted to watch, I can be more complimentary. Some of the most electric moments in 2019 cinema are here, rooted in 2008 strip club music. And saying 2008 strip club rap was good is like saying 1890 French Impressionism was good. Nearly every performance works, from Lili Reinhart's bashfulness to Wai Ching Ho's gratitude to Jennifer Lopez's intractable confidence. Also, I don't know if anyone has noticed this before, but J. Lo has a nice butt. 81. The Report (Scott Z. Burns)- There are some interesting things going on here. For example, this feedback loop: An hour or so in, protagonist Daniel Jones watches a fabricated news feature that explains what waterboarding is, and I had an instinct as an audience member to go, "Like we don't know by now. Don't hold my hand." But the only reason I know is because of news reports like that, informed by work that the real Daniel Jones did, dramatized in the events of the first half of this very movie. Still, this movie is a lot like one of those dishes in which every single element sounds like something you would like--"Ooh, pork belly, delicious. Oooh, lemongrass. Bet those would go well together"--but you take a bite, and it doesn't taste good. Is that your fault or the restaurant's?

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