#but she was nearly a decade removed from those relationships when she released the TVs and time had tempered a lot

[wavesoutbeingtossed]

The closer we get to TTPD the more I wonder if the eventuality of releasing rep tv down the line kinda gives her the ick lol

[yumeka36]

Thoughts on Rebuild of Evangelion (all movies plus ending interpretation)

*Artwork credited to リオ on pixiv*

Now that Evangelion 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time, the last movie of the Rebuild of Evangelion saga, has been released, I'm finally ready to discuss all the movies as a whole, including my interpretation of the ending...

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!

I've been a fan of Evangelion for nearly 20 years, starting back in 2002. After hearing the series praised by some classmates, I asked for the DVD set of the original TV anime for Christmas that year. I was 15 years old and a fairly new anime fan at the time, so naturally I was blown away by the show. The Internet was young then, and since there were no fandom wikis or YouTube explanation videos available in those days, I had to rely on a few scattered fan sites and my own resources (mostly bonus features on the old DVDs) to try and figure out the lore and symbolism. Even though many aspects of the series, as well as the eventual "true ending" movie, End of Evangelion, left me scratching my head, I still loved it and it left a long-lasting impression on me. And now, here I am almost two decades later, sharing my thoughts about the new movies...

-Before Thrice Upon a Time was released, I hadn't touched Evangelion since 3.33 came out in 2012. I had forgotten many details, and since Evangelion is a franchise that is fraught with nuances and subtleties that can be key to understanding what the heck is going on, I wanted to watch all the Rebuild movies again before watching Thrice Upon a Time. So I plowed through all four movies this week, and I gotta say, after being away from the franchise for so many years, I'm happy to report that I still thoroughly enjoyed it. But I can also recognize that it is definitely not a series for everyone. The drawn-out technobabble, constant introduction of lore jargon with little to no explanation, and the ambiguity between what's real and what's symbolic, can certainly turn off casual viewers (it gives Kingdom Hearts lore a run for its money!) Funnily enough, as I was watching the Rebuild movies, I was thinking, "I understood the lore better 20 years ago than I do now, lol" (maybe it's because I was younger and didn't have as strong of a theorizing mind as I do now!) But after reading through a bunch of pages on the EvaGeeks Wiki, I learned enough to get a gist of the story's vaguer elements. But unfortunately, the fact that information necessary for understanding the plot can only be found by Internet research, could certainly be a turn-off for viewers. But at the same time, for those willing to make the commitment, or at least appreciate the series' other qualities even if you can't follow many aspects of the lore, it's definitely an anime unlike any other. There's a reason it's been such a well-known franchise in Japan for so long.

-Asuka has been one of my favorite anime characters ever since I saw the original Eva TV series, and thankfully, I'm happy with what they did with her character in the Rebuild movies. My only complaint is that I preferred her original backstory that emphasized her relationship with her mother, rather than having a "clone-complex" similar to Rei. However, her character development in this new storyline made up for it. The Rebuild movies really nailed her abrasive, no-nonsense personality that hides depth within. There were also more scenes that showed her "softer" side, something I always felt was lacking in the original series, such as when she confides in Misato towards the end of 2.22 and when she confesses her feelings to Shinji in Thrice Upon a Time. I also felt her initial dislike for Shinji and Rei was a bit more warranted this time; despising the fact that they were able to become Eva pilots purely by connection to Gendo while she had to work hard for it. But again, we get more hints at her kinder side when she makes the sacrifice to help Rei get Shinji and Gendo together. This is pretty contrasting to the original series, where she was always oozing hate for Rei. Even their infamous elevator scene ended differently in 2.22 compared to the TV series, where instead of hitting and yelling at Rei, she agrees to help her (in her subtle, Asuka-way). Asuka and Rei also had a brief scene together when they were at Village 3 in Thrice Upon a Time, and the way Asuka talked to her made me feel like she actually cared about her, or at least didn't hate her. But even with the Rebuild movies giving Asuka more scenes to show her goodness, they still stayed true to her tough-love personality - it's not like she suddenly started smiling a lot, or gave Shinji a passionate hug, or broke out in tears...they developed her character without making her do a 180 change, which I appreciated. Even in her final scene with Shinji on the beach before he saves her (loved that scene, and the shoutout to End of Eva there) she still reacted in her "tsundere" way (though not as harshly of course). I'd also like to mention that they made the fourteen year time-skip in 3.33 very believable in terms of Asuka's growth. I really liked the hardened, lone-wolf, protector role she had in Thrice Upon a Time because it makes sense - fourteen years had passed and she not only matured during that time, but she had spent all those years being the sole Eva pilot along with Mari fighting to protect humanity, so settling into that kind of identity makes sense for her. But yeah, Asuka's always been a great character, and the Rebuild movies made her even more awesome in my opinion.

-When I first watched 2.22 years ago when it came out, I was puzzled that they decided to put Asuka in the Eva that Unit-01 ends up destroying rather than Toji. But looking back on it it now, it worked better since they had a plan for Toji's character that had nothing to do with the Evas. I did kind of miss Asuka's friendship with Hikari though (they could have tied that into her staying with Toji and Hikari at Village 3 instead of with Kensuke). I actually wrote a WYDS fanfic for End of Evangelion way back in 2003 that emphasizes Asuka and Hikari's friendship (that's somehow still on Fanfiction.net!) But she got a friendship with Mari instead, so it's fine, lol (I also liked that they removed her crush on Kaji, which I never thought fit well in the original series). But I do wish we got to see what was going through her mind while she was stuck in the Eva and getting attacked by Unit-01. We know she was aware of what was going on because she knew what Shinji did (that he didn't try to save her or attack) so it would have been nice to see a scene or two of her reactions.

-Misato was always my second favorite character after Asuka, but I wasn't thrilled with the coldness she exhibited towards Shinji after the time-skip in 3.33. I know she probably got hardened after all those years and maybe still felt resentment towards him for initiating Near Third Impact (which killed Kaji among others). But even so, I felt like her coldness was more to keep the suspense rather than stay true to her character (plus she was the one encouraging him to do what we wanted at the time of Near Third Impact). It makes sense for Asuka to be cold to Shinji, since she was always standoffish like that, but Misato was always shown to be a source of warmth and the most "human" of the characters. But at least she made up with Shinji in the end and got to finish her story arc with a bang (literally).

-I'm not sure if it's still a thing now, but back in the day, Shinji got a lot of hate from anime fans for being too whiny and indecisive when confronted with his task of piloting the Eva. But even all those years ago, I always thought those reactions made him believable. Maybe it's because he's compared to anime shonen heroes like Naruto and Luffy, who are always cheerful and brimming with motivation, while Shinji is pretty much the opposite of those kinds of characters. But it makes sense for him to be like that...if I were a fourteen-year old kid who never knew my mother, had a father who abandoned me, and had to live on my own in a crumbling world while witnessing death and destruction all around, I'd be pretty hesitant and scared too. He's definitely not a "wish-fulfilling" protagonist like many shonen and super heroes are, but a protagonist grounded more in reality, representing a disillusioned youth. So it was nice to see him finally get over his insecurities and be proactive with saving everyone at the end of Thrice Upon a Time (compared to everyone giving him the pep talk at the end of the original series). Though I did think his personality shift was a bit abrupt...he was at his lowest point at the beginning of Thrice Upon a Time, but the one kind gesture from Rei seemed to immediately snap him out of it. A little more gradual build-up to his change would have been better, but it's a nitpick.

-Mari was an enigma in 2.22 and 3.33, so I was hoping Thrice Upon a Time would give us her origin story. Unfortunately, it didn't offer much and maybe brought up more questions than not. My main question is, we see that she knew Gendo and Yui when they were younger, yet if she was their age then, that doesn't match up to the age she appears to be when Shinji first meets her. So she must have been afflicted with the "Eva curse" all those years back, which means she must have become an Eva pilot around that time, but it seems too soon. I thought the first Evangelion pilots didn't exist until after Yui died, so Mari should have been older...I don't know, I'm still having trouble figuring out her place in the timeline. But besides that, I did like her relationship with Asuka that we see in Thrice Upon a Time. Again, it makes sense in terms of the time-skip that they'd develop a good friendship after spending all those years being Eva pilots together.

-I don't have a lot to say about Rei, since I feel her story arc is one of the simpler ones (which isn't saying much for this series, lol). The scenes of her in Village 3 in Thrice Upon a Time were endearing, though I knew they would end in tragedy. Actually, that whole part of the movie with the characters spending time in the village was great. The world-building in those scenes was fantastic too - it really felt like what a post-apocolyptic survival camp in that situation would be like. It was nice to see the characters partaking in and reacting to situations that don't have to do with Angels and Evas (spin-off series for this when?)

-And lastly, how did I interpret the end of the Rebuild saga? Was I satisfied with how it ended? Right after I watched Thrice Upon a Time, I wasn't totally sure. But after reading some more wiki pages and watching some explanation videos, especially this one here (it's a great explanation if you can forgive the bad pronunciation of the names), I've realized just how brilliant of a conclusion it is. There's been speculation that the story involves a time loop, with the events of the original TV series, as well as the Death & Rebirth and End of Evangelion movies, being different versions of the time loop, while the Rebuild movies is where the loop ends because Shinji finally overcomes the pain of his past and can restore the world this time (while he had failed to in the previous loops). I don't think it's a time loop so much as a cycle that keeps resetting and repeating. Further support for this theory is that Kaoru acts like he's met Shinji before, since he's reborn in each cycle to meet Shinji only to be killed by him later (all the coffins seen on the moon are for his past/future selves). I think the final movie title is symbolic of this too, with "Thrice Upon a Time" meaning "three times upon a time," the three times being the three cycles of the Evangelion story: the original TV series, the movies Death & Rebirth and The End of Evangelion, and finally the Rebirth movies. But mostly, the scene towards the end where Shinji meets Rei in the anti-verse, and they're standing in what appears to be a filming room while projected images from the Eva TV series are shown behind them. This to me symbolizes that the original Eva series exists in the Rebuild movies as one version of the cycle, and Shinji has now finally broken out of the loop. Once Shinji has saved everyone, the filming room (which symbolizes the old versions of the story, as I believe it's supposed to be the room where live-action footage used in previous Eva works was filmed) fades away and the literal animation around Shinji begins to break down into its purest forms, as key animation, then layouts, etc., - a near 4th wall-breaking depiction of the world resetting. However, Gendo and Yui had sacrificed themselves so that Shinji wouldn't have to, so Mari is able to pull him back into the world, just like she had promised. In the end, Shinji is able to join his friends in the new world that's free of Evas. Without the Eva curse, all the pilots are now their proper ages as well. The movie closes with Mari and Shinji heading off somewhere in their new lives while the environment merges into live-action footage, representing the fact that the story has now transcended animation and is now "real" because the cycle has finally ended and a true Neon Genesis took place. Like many aspects of the franchise, there are many ways to interpret this ending, but this is the interpretation I've settled on.

-While I am satisfied with the ending overall, I do wish the epilogue showed us more of what the other characters were doing, especially the survivors from Wille and Village 3. I know we can assume they're living out their lives as well, but it would have been nice to get confirmation of that with a few quick cameos. But there are some main characters whose fates are uncertain, particularly Misato, Kaji, and Fuyutsuki. I'm assuming the only people Shinji was able to save were the ones whose souls were still bound to Evas, namely Asuka, Rei, and Kaoru. I don't know about Kaji since I'm still not clear on exactly how he died. Maybe Shinji couldn't save Misato because she died "for real" and wasn't just trapped inside an Eva/Angel. But it is implied that many souls, not just Eva pilots, were saved when the world was restored...so maybe she was too? And like Kaji, I'm not sure what happened with Fuyutsuki. Did he turn into LCL because he gave up his humanity in some way, like Gendo? I'm also a little salty that we didn't get a decent shot of adult Asuka at the train station, lol. I'm not sure if the ending was hinting at Mari and Shinji being an item...possibly Rei and Kaoru too, maybe even Asuka and Kensuke. Like many things in the franchise, the eventual pairings, or lack thereof, could be interpreted in many ways.

In conclusion, while there were some aspects of the old Eva TV series and movies that I liked better, the Rebuild movies overall did an excellent job of retelling the story with the same rich lore and thought-provoking symbolism that we're used to for the franchise, but with enough new twists to make it stand out. And as I mentioned in my interpretation of the ending, these movies weren't just a retelling but a redefinition of the franchise as whole, bringing together the previous versions of the story and giving them true closure. Though we could see some spin-off material at some point, Thrice Upon a Time does seem like it was intended to be the final installment of the Evangelion series. While I was satisfied enough with the endings for the TV series and End of Eva movie, having watched the Rebuild movies, I do believe they're the "retelling we didn't know we needed." It's a tad bittersweet to know that such an influential franchise, and one of my favorite anime for years, has come to its true end. So, to translate the text in the below fan art...

"Thank you , Evangelion."

*Artwork credited to リオ on pixiv*

[ramajmedia]

Dog the Bounty Hunter Refuses to Re-Marry Following Wife's Death

Dog the Bounty Hunter’s Duane "Dog" Chapman has begun to talk openly about the tragic passing of wife Beth Chapman. He addressed the pain of moving on from heartbreak and whether or not remarrying would be a possibility in the future.

After 16 years together, Dog and Beth married in a Hawaii ceremony in 2006. The nuptials reportedly took place only a day after Dog’s 23-year-old daughter, Barbara, was killed in a car accident. A&E released a statement at the time expressing that instead of mourning, it was decided that the wedding would instead be a celebration of her life. The pair’s union remained strong in the face of more adversity when Beth was diagnosed with stage 2 throat cancer in September 2017. After undergoing a 12-hour surgery that removed a tumor, she was reported to be cancer-free in November 2017. Unfortunately, she was beset with a more aggressive form of cancer the following year. Beth was eventually hospitalized and placed in a medically-induced coma. She passed away on June 26, 2019.

Related: Dog the Bounty Hunter’s Store Burglarized, Late Wife’s Personal Items Stolen

Dog has made it clear he is grieving the death of his wife, stating that her loss feels like “a dream," and added that “her toothbrush is still in the sink." However, recent interviews (via Country Living) have indicated the reality star will ultimately find the strength to enter into a new relationship - with his late wife's blessing. Dog said that before Beth passed away, the couple talked about the prospect of him dating again once she was gone. Even though Dog admitted that he will likely move on in due time, he had a few caveats. A tattoo of his wife’s name will always remain proudly displayed on his chest. He also has declared that while he may date, he “will never get married." Dog explained, "And she said to me, 'We are human, okay?' And probably the same thing I'd say to her: 'I know you’re gonna have a boyfriend, I hope you have 10, but don't go fricking marry one, and say those words. Don't you dare do that.' I would say that, and she did say that to me."

The illness was never enough of an obstacle to keep Beth down. Despite the inconvenience of endless treatments and hospital stays, she persisted in following through with her professional obligations. Beth and Dog carried through with filming for a new show, Dog’s Most Wanted, and Beth often spoke candidly about her condition. Dog said she was determined to be transparent with her cancer battle, and wanted to show every bit of her life as it was. He added that she decided to undergo chemotherapy the second time around, but the aftereffects of just one treatment were devastating. “It just about killed her. She couldn't even move her pinky,” Dog said. “So, they said, well, you could get 16 months with chemo or 15 without it. And she said I've got to be out there with you and the family. So, she went all the way to the end. The week before she went to heaven, she put a guy in jail."

Regardless of whether Dog decides to date in the future or not, it’s clear that he and Beth truly cared about one another. The couple was the lynchpin of Dog the Bounty Hunter, with relatable chemistry built up of over two decades of love and companionship. They both knew this and reveled in it. With Beth now gone, their unique contribution to reality TV demonstrates that both she, and the program, won’t easily be replaced.

Next: Dog the Bounty Hunter Targeted in Scam For Nearly Half a Million Dollars

Source: Country Living

source https://screenrant.com/dog-the-bounty-hunter-never-re-marry-following-beth-chapman-death/

[davedimartino-yahoo-blog]

Don’t Stop: Fleetwood Mac’s Grammy-Winning ‘Rumours,’ 40 Years On

CIRCA 1977: (L-R) Lindsey Buckingham, Christine McVie, Mick Fleetwood, Stevie Nicks and John McVie of the rock group ‘Fleetwood Mac’ pose for a portrait in circa 1977. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

It was the album of a generation — a bestseller boasting hits galore and a backstory that would rival Dynasty and Dallas and the other TV soaps soon to emerge.

It was made by a colorful, attractive band whose first Rolling Stone cover depicted all five band members in bed together.

The year was 1977, the band was Fleetwood Mac, and the album was Rumours.

Incredibly, it turns 40 this week, on Feb. 4.

To say that Rumours changed popular culture would not be an exaggeration. It was the album that lifted what had been a successful, long-lived, onetime British blues band into the sales stratosphere; that launched the unforgettable image of the bejeweled, twirling, scarf-bedecked, deliberately mystical singer Stevie Nicks; that was filled with catchy but often deeply personal songs about disintegrating relationships — and, not incidentally, a polished piece of pop perfection that sounds equally inspirational four decades on.

A significant amount of drugs were involved in its making.

But then, that was the ‘70s, wasn’t it?

Founded in 1967 in London by legendary blues guitarist Peter Green, Fleetwood Mac played wonderful music but changed band members with alarming regularity. By the time Rumours had come to be, gone were great slate of players including guitarists Green, Jeremy Spencer, Danny Kirwan, and America’s own Bob Welch — and in were the colorful pair of Nicks and onetime romantic partner Lindsey Buckingham. They’d joined the band in 1975, and with remaining Mac members Mick Fleetwood and then-married couple John and Christine McVie, recorded an eponymous album that — unexpectedly for all concerned — hit No. 1 and would go on to sell more than 5 million copies.

Then things really got weird.

With the last album’s success of the Christine McVie-penned “Over My Head” and “Say You Love Me” and Stevie Nicks’s own, culturally myth-making “Rhiannon,” recording a follow-up might have been a breeze. But it absolutely was not. Not helping? The decaying personal relationships of literally every band member. The McVies had split and were barely communicating; Buckingham and Nicks were a couple no more; and drummer Fleetwood himself was facing an on-again/off-again relationship with wife Jenny Boyd, which finally ended in 1978.

And about the drug thing: “Those days were crazy,” drummer Fleetwood would later tell writer Craig Rosen in his book The Billboard Book of Number One Albums (Billboard Books, 1996). “It’s no secret that we were definitely abusing drugs in those days. It was one major lunatic party.”

Finally, there was an almost freakishly obsessive drive to record a sonically perfect follow-up. The band first moved en masse to Sausalito, spent nine weeks recording material they ultimately found unsatisfactory, stopped to tour a bit while Fleetwood Mac reached Billboard’s No. 1 slot, then watched in horror as their intended master tapes for the new album started wearing thin due to multiple overdubbing.

But when it was done, it was done, and Rumours — as it was called, at John McVie’s suggestion — was first announced by the December 1976 arrival of lead-up single “Go Your Own Way,” a top 10 hit with a telling title and lyric that well represented the coming album’s emotionally turbulent themes.

And then: BOOM!

Rumours soared to No. 1, knocking off no less than the Eagles’ Hotel California, and with its surplus of new hits including “Dreams,” “Don’t Stop,” and “You Making Loving Fun,” stayed there for 31 weeks. It would later win the 1977 Grammy for Album of the Year, sell more than 45 million copies worldwide, and in 2014 receive the extremely rare diamond (translation = even better than gold or platinum) certification from the RIAA for U.S. sales of over 20 million. And that was three years ago.

But back then, success — and excess–was taking its toll. There was rough emotional going, and while other albums by this diamond-version Mac would follow — the rewarding and experimental Tusk, a live set, the mildly disappointing Mirage, and the extraordinary (and soon to be re-released in a deluxe version) Tango in the Night — Lindsey Buckingham would then depart, and things were never quite the same again.

Sort of.

While there was an unexpected respite in 1993, when the full band memorably reunited for President Bill Clinton’s inauguration ball and gave “Don’t Stop” — Clinton’s chosen campaign song — an unexpected re-performance, solo albums by nearly every Mac member was the norm for most of the ‘90s.

***

Fast forward to May 22, 1997, and guess who’s back? Live on a Burbank soundstage, celebrating the 20th anniversary of Rumours, it’s the newly reunited Fleetwood Mac: Buckingham, Nicks, Fleetwood, and the McVies. If making that album had been a case study of study of the impact of excess on business efficiency, time has changed much: From this reunion performance would come an MTV special, a separate VH1 special, a live album (The Dance), and eventually a home video release. And it all served as a preview for an upcoming live tour. Fleetwood Mac: They’re back!

It is still May 1997, a bit later, and I am sitting in a small waiting room in Conway Studios in Hollywood. In one of those uniquely journalistic scenarios, while I sit in the room, recorder and notes nearby, each of the members of Fleetwood Mac is brought in for questioning. Surreal? You bet.

Lindsey Buckingham is discussing his original reason for departing the band back in 1987. “It really was a survival move, emotionally and physically,” he says. “It was just the atmosphere was not very conducive to being creative. A lot of the people had personal problems. It was just in order to regroup — and get back on a track where I felt I was really grounded in the process again, and was sort of, in theory, doing it for the right reasons again.”

Rumours and all that it entailed did much for popular culture, but it’s a good bet it did even more for — and to — the five members of Fleetwood Mac who were a part of it.

Buckingham says the time away from the band has done him very well indeed. “I’ve settled down a lot emotionally, and a lot of that comes from just having been away,” he says. “Really, you break up with Stevie in ‘77, and then you work with her for the next 10 years. I mean, it’s just not normal. It’s just not the way it’s done.” He laughs.

“And you would think, ‘Well, 10 years, get over it, buddy,’ but certain things just did not get resolved until I removed myself from the situation. So there’s that, there’s the fact that everyone’s habits are little bit different now. I mean, Stevie especially — she’s like very reminiscent of the person I used to live with, the person I fell in love with. There’s a sweetness that was totally absent, or blank, before.”

Later, and separately, Stevie Nicks is sitting down, exuding warmth, candor, and the sort of difficult-to-pinpoint personal appeal that made her an entire generation’s most-favorite-ever Welsh Witch.

Did she ever wish things in Fleetwood Mac, back in those days, had gone down differently?

“Oh, it could never have been any different than it was,” she says with absolute conviction. “You know, Lindsey and I didn’t even drink when we joined Fleetwood. We couldn’t afford to drink. So we started drinking like anybody else starts drinking — just to handle the mental pressure. We were really young, you know? Twenty-seven years old, really, really young, and this was all so big and so heavy around us, and people expected so much from us. And all of a sudden we went from barely having enough money to pay for a small apartment to being rich overnight — and how do you deal with that when you’re 27 years old?

“You kind of don’t deal with it very well. And nobody dealt with it very well.

“But all of those problems, and all of those drugs, and all of the fun and all of the craziness, all made for writing all those songs. If we’d been a big healthy great group of guys and gals that just were, you know…” She looks for a word that conveys regular or ordinary. “…then none of those great songs would’ve been written, you know?”

Reconfirming that point of view with warmth, charm, and noticeably excessive height, lanky drummer Mick Fleetwood takes his seat at Conway and discussed the mythology of the Mac, of that Rumours time and all that came with it. And even later.

“No matter how many horrors stories people were told,” he says, “and how many horror stories we told, I think you’ll find when you speak with everyone — the reality is that we never lost, there’s a real underlying love, a true love that is fairly unique, in this band, in my opinion. We’ve all done terrible things to one another, just as lovers do. And now, we truly look at that and go, there’s business involved, but this is not business.”

It was an interesting time back then in 1997, for Fleetwood Mac and how Rumours was then perceived. Don’t forget, it came at the height of punk rock’s popular emergence, and in some ways the band and all they represented — dollars, lifestyle, conspicuous consumption — was the antithesis of all then deemed cool. But not for long. Conspicuous era hipsters like Billy Corgan and Courtney Love were singing Fleetwood Mac’s praises back then. Corgan’s Smashing Pumpkins would go on to cover “Landslide,” and Love herself took on “Gold Dust Woman” and “Silver Springs.”

Buckingham mentions it when we speak of the timeliness of the Mac’s 1997 reunion. “You’ve got this whole younger group of people whose parents used to come see shows,” he says. “And they know the Fleetwood Mac music on record, and maybe because people like Courtney and Smashing Pumpkins have sort of been vocal about saying, ‘Hey, Fleetwood Mac is, whatever, not the enemy anymore — or whatever you want to say about that. The timing of that is great.”

And while the music of Corgan and Love continues to fall in and out fashion, in 2017 the 40-year-old Rumours sounds as fresh and inspiring as ever. These days, music reviewers refer to it when they want to describe a new musical work reflecting deep personal turmoil, frazzled relationships, even gleeful excess, etc. And its impact has only grown with time. As of today, “Go Your Own Way” has been played 110,903,863 times on Spotify — and I reckon that it will continue to be listened to long after that streaming music service ends its run.

Of all people, it might be Nicks who nails what it is that makes Rumours so special.

She is recounting what it felt like to perform that material again — with Fleetwood Mac, in front of that live audience. The reception could not have been more enthusiastic, I tell her.

“It makes you feel a little bit like you’re having a kind of a holy experience,” she says, a bit of the mystic apparently hitting her. “Like we’re all going back to how we were when we heard ‘Gold Dust Woman’ on the radio — when we were driving down the street with the top down on the car, we’re all back there, and the ‘silver spoon’ and ‘dig your grave’ lyrics, and ‘Don’t Stop.’

“It’s like, when I think of those songs, I remember where I was and what I was doing when I was hearing them. And I can see it in people’s faces. I can see… it’s like all of us get to go back. For a little while in time, we get to escape back there.”

[yes-dal456]

Oprah Wants The World To Know Henrietta Lacks Is A Hidden Figure No More

Oprah Winfrey is a one-of-a-kind woman.

Her life story is inspiring, her presence powerful and her influence unmatched. And when it comes to successful black women in media, Oprah reigns supreme.

But if Oprah is a well-crafted diamond, consider Baltimore the pressure that helped make her shine. She moved to the city in 1976 to pursue her career as a newscaster, which presented both great opportunities for success as well as challenges she eventually overcame. She spent nearly eight years in the city, first working for a local TV station ― where she was assigned to learn about every neighborhood ― and later as a personable and popular co-host for a show called “People are Talking” that helped to significantly boost her profile. 

She told stories, and she told them well ― but in the nearly eight years she lived in the city and of all the people she came across, there was one hugely significant story of a woman who lived in Baltimore who she ― and much of the world ― never knew about: Her name was Henrietta Lacks, also known as the “mother of modern medicine,” and she was a black woman who produced the first immortal human cell line, known as HeLa, that has entirely revolutionized medical research.

“I worked in Baltimore as a young reporter from the time I was 22 to 30. I lived there, I went to church every Sunday,” Oprah said Tuesday at a press event with all black women reporters, including myself. “I am a student of the African American culture ... I have never, in all of my readings, in all of my stories, heard of HeLa or Henrietta Lacks. I could not believe that, how could I have been in this town all this time and never seen one thing about her?”

It wasn’t until Oprah read Rebecca Skloot’s New York Times best-selling biographical book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks that she learned of Lacks’ story and how she changed the world.  

“When I first read her story in 2010, I wanted to tell the story,” she said. And by “tell,” she meant giving the story the full-blown Oprah treatment and bringing it to life through film and her own magic touch. Because, after all, when Oprah stumbles across a good story, she shares it with the world.

“It is my nature to share everything,” she said. “I wanted as many people to know about the story as possible ... and so now you do.”

“The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” premieres Saturday on HBO, starring Winfrey as Deborah, Lacks’ daughter, who was desperate to learn more about her mother’s cells and how they have been used for medical research. The family had been unaware of the dealings of Lacks’ cells for decades because her name had been changed to Helen Lane in print. This effectively concealed Lacks’ identity and kept hidden from the family how her cells had been “taken, bought, sold and used in research without her knowledge or theirs,” according to Skloot’s book.

Skloot, a freelance science writer from Portland, Oregon, first learned of Lacks’ story in high school and was so moved by it that she pushed to make it more widely known through her book ― which took years of heavy research and the family’s cooperation to create. Skloot, who is portrayed in the film by actress Rose Byrne, tracked Deborah down, and together, the two went on a journey to discover what exactly had happened to Lacks’ cells. The experience also unveiled truths that allowed Deborah to learn more about herself and her heritage.

“The reason Deborah is taking the journey [with Rebecca] in the first place is because she really wants to know about her mother’s cells,” Oprah said. “The journey for her is to discover herself and by learning about her mother, she [did]. This relationship becomes her balm, her solace, her comfort.”

Oprah is remarkable in her role as she portrays Deborah’s perseverance and the pain she experienced for decades from not knowing more about her mother. Deborah wanted to dig into history to discover what exactly happened that day in 1951 when Lacks, who was a mother of five, entered Johns Hopkins Hospital. And Deborah demanded to know how it was possible that her cancer cells continued to live on despite the fact that they also led to her death later that same year.

Lacks was 31 when she first checked herself into the hospital for the excruciating pain she had been experiencing in her lower stomach. Doctors discovered that a cancerous tumor had been growing on her cervix at a terrifying rate. Researchers at the time were conducting studies to better understand the cancer and, though Lacks never gave doctors authorized permission, they removed two dime-sized pieces of tissue that were eventually used to successfully create the first immortal human cells ― those that could repeatedly replicate themselves outside of the body without ever dying. They came to be known as HeLa.

It was a fascinating discovery and one that shocked doctors, who knew that HeLa cells had potential to make way for a new world of possibilities in medicine. And they did. Over the decades, HeLa cells have led to countless medical breakthroughs ― they helped to create the first polio vaccine; have traveled to space for research on the impact zero gravity has on human cells; been used to identify abnormalities in chromosomes; helped in studying the mapping of the human genome; and aided in research of the human papillomavirus, commonly known as HPV, which causes the cervical cancer that killed Lacks.

To many, what happened to Lacks is perceived as a disturbing and unethical case. However, Tony-award winning actress Renee Goldsberry, who beautifully portrays Lacks in the film, believes she showed immense courage throughout her harrowing experience at Hopkins ― which, Goldsberry said, is a reminder of the bravery black women, like her own grandmother, express every day. 

“I love the bravery with which she moves through the biggest nightmare anyone can imagine, and that I think that informs me of the bravery my grandmother must have had,” Goldsberry told reporters Tuesday. “That’s what inspires, that’s what I want all of us to take from this, it’s to embrace the idea that these women were powerful. Not victims, they’re powerful.”

George C. Wolfe, the award-winning director who led this film, reinforced that message, saying that while it’s important to reflect on the painful parts of Lacks’ legacy, it’s also crucial that we examine what makes her story so empowering.

“When you speak about Jim Crow, it’s important to talk about the injustice of it but equally important is to talk about how the community fortified itself. Henrietta was part of that dynamic,” he said. “[She had] an incredible sense of responsibility and caring and needing and nurturing and therefore then the cells come along and they’re continuing to do the exact same thing.”  

“And one of the things that I love, really, really, conceptually love,” he continued, “is that on paper, you would look at Henrietta Lacks: She’s marginally educated, she’s a black woman in Jim Crow South, she has five children when she’s 31 ... you’d go: ‘Oh, [she has] no power.’ But in death, any time HeLa comes into contact with any other cell, they [show that they are] in charge ... that power of who she was just continues to live on.”

Any time HeLa comes into contact with any other cell, they [show that they are] in charge ... that power of who she was just continues to live on.” George C. Wolfe

It was Wolfe and his well-respected work in theater and film that ultimately convinced Oprah to play the protagonist Deborah in the movie, which she admitted was a challenging but rewarding role. She also credits her experiences in media for helping to mold her into the actress she is today.

“I’ve done a lot of healing being on the ‘Oprah’ show every day; it really was an effective space for me to learn a lot about myself, and life and people and dysfunction,” she said.

Like Oprah, Lacks’ influence in the world is uniquely powerful. And now, more people are able to learn of the real story behind the woman who, in a very special way, lived on even after her death. Sadly, as remarkable as both the book and the film are, Deborah never got to see them. She died in her sleep in 2009, mere months before the book’s release. But Oprah believes she now rests peacefully, knowing she did and gave all she could to have the world know the truth about her mother.

“I think that in the end, that’s what gave her a sense of peace and why she was able to leave the planet, because she knew it had been done,” Oprah said. “The real work that she came to do, the real work that she needed to resolve within herself, had been finished.”

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

from http://ift.tt/2pHRDOq from Blogger http://ift.tt/2oVrNUt

[ongames]

Oprah Wants The World To Know Henrietta Lacks Is A Hidden Figure No More

Oprah Winfrey is a one-of-a-kind woman.

Her life story is inspiring, her presence powerful and her influence unmatched. And when it comes to successful black women in media, Oprah reigns supreme.

But if Oprah is a well-crafted diamond, consider Baltimore the pressure that helped make her shine. She moved to the city in 1976 to pursue her career as a newscaster, which presented both great opportunities for success as well as challenges she eventually overcame. She spent nearly eight years in the city, first working for a local TV station ― where she was assigned to learn about every neighborhood ― and later as a personable and popular co-host for a show called “People are Talking” that helped to significantly boost her profile. 

She told stories, and she told them well ― but in the nearly eight years she lived in the city and of all the people she came across, there was one hugely significant story of a woman who lived in Baltimore who she ― and much of the world ― never knew about: Her name was Henrietta Lacks, also known as the “mother of modern medicine,” and she was a black woman who produced the first immortal human cell line, known as HeLa, that has entirely revolutionized medical research.

“I worked in Baltimore as a young reporter from the time I was 22 to 30. I lived there, I went to church every Sunday,” Oprah said Tuesday at a press event with all black women reporters, including myself. “I am a student of the African American culture ... I have never, in all of my readings, in all of my stories, heard of HeLa or Henrietta Lacks. I could not believe that, how could I have been in this town all this time and never seen one thing about her?”

It wasn’t until Oprah read Rebecca Skloot’s New York Times best-selling biographical book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks that she learned of Lacks’ story and how she changed the world.  

“When I first read her story in 2010, I wanted to tell the story,” she said. And by “tell,” she meant giving the story the full-blown Oprah treatment and bringing it to life through film and her own magic touch. Because, after all, when Oprah stumbles across a good story, she shares it with the world.

“It is my nature to share everything,” she said. “I wanted as many people to know about the story as possible ... and so now you do.”

“The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” premieres Saturday on HBO, starring Winfrey as Deborah, Lacks’ daughter, who was desperate to learn more about her mother’s cells and how they have been used for medical research. The family had been unaware of the dealings of Lacks’ cells for decades because her name had been changed to Helen Lane in print. This effectively concealed Lacks’ identity and kept hidden from the family how her cells had been “taken, bought, sold and used in research without her knowledge or theirs,” according to Skloot’s book.

Skloot, a freelance science writer from Portland, Oregon, first learned of Lacks’ story in high school and was so moved by it that she pushed to make it more widely known through her book ― which took years of heavy research and the family’s cooperation to create. Skloot, who is portrayed in the film by actress Rose Byrne, tracked Deborah down, and together, the two went on a journey to discover what exactly had happened to Lacks’ cells. The experience also unveiled truths that allowed Deborah to learn more about herself and her heritage.

“The reason Deborah is taking the journey [with Rebecca] in the first place is because she really wants to know about her mother’s cells,” Oprah said. “The journey for her is to discover herself and by learning about her mother, she [did]. This relationship becomes her balm, her solace, her comfort.”

Oprah is remarkable in her role as she portrays Deborah’s perseverance and the pain she experienced for decades from not knowing more about her mother. Deborah wanted to dig into history to discover what exactly happened that day in 1951 when Lacks, who was a mother of five, entered Johns Hopkins Hospital. And Deborah demanded to know how it was possible that her cancer cells continued to live on despite the fact that they also led to her death later that same year.

Lacks was 31 when she first checked herself into the hospital for the excruciating pain she had been experiencing in her lower stomach. Doctors discovered that a cancerous tumor had been growing on her cervix at a terrifying rate. Researchers at the time were conducting studies to better understand the cancer and, though Lacks never gave doctors authorized permission, they removed two dime-sized pieces of tissue that were eventually used to successfully create the first immortal human cells ― those that could repeatedly replicate themselves outside of the body without ever dying. They came to be known as HeLa.

It was a fascinating discovery and one that shocked doctors, who knew that HeLa cells had potential to make way for a new world of possibilities in medicine. And they did. Over the decades, HeLa cells have led to countless medical breakthroughs ― they helped to create the first polio vaccine; have traveled to space for research on the impact zero gravity has on human cells; been used to identify abnormalities in chromosomes; helped in studying the mapping of the human genome; and aided in research of the human papillomavirus, commonly known as HPV, which causes the cervical cancer that killed Lacks.

To many, what happened to Lacks is perceived as a disturbing and unethical case. However, Tony-award winning actress Renee Goldsberry, who beautifully portrays Lacks in the film, believes she showed immense courage throughout her harrowing experience at Hopkins ― which, Goldsberry said, is a reminder of the bravery black women, like her own grandmother, express every day. 

“I love the bravery with which she moves through the biggest nightmare anyone can imagine, and that I think that informs me of the bravery my grandmother must have had,” Goldsberry told reporters Tuesday. “That’s what inspires, that’s what I want all of us to take from this, it’s to embrace the idea that these women were powerful. Not victims, they’re powerful.”

George C. Wolfe, the award-winning director who led this film, reinforced that message, saying that while it’s important to reflect on the painful parts of Lacks’ legacy, it’s also crucial that we examine what makes her story so empowering.

“When you speak about Jim Crow, it’s important to talk about the injustice of it but equally important is to talk about how the community fortified itself. Henrietta was part of that dynamic,” he said. “[She had] an incredible sense of responsibility and caring and needing and nurturing and therefore then the cells come along and they’re continuing to do the exact same thing.”  

“And one of the things that I love, really, really, conceptually love,” he continued, “is that on paper, you would look at Henrietta Lacks: She’s marginally educated, she’s a black woman in Jim Crow South, she has five children when she’s 31 ... you’d go: ‘Oh, [she has] no power.’ But in death, any time HeLa comes into contact with any other cell, they [show that they are] in charge ... that power of who she was just continues to live on.”

Any time HeLa comes into contact with any other cell, they [show that they are] in charge ... that power of who she was just continues to live on.” George C. Wolfe

It was Wolfe and his well-respected work in theater and film that ultimately convinced Oprah to play the protagonist Deborah in the movie, which she admitted was a challenging but rewarding role. She also credits her experiences in media for helping to mold her into the actress she is today.

“I’ve done a lot of healing being on the ‘Oprah’ show every day; it really was an effective space for me to learn a lot about myself, and life and people and dysfunction,” she said.

Like Oprah, Lacks’ influence in the world is uniquely powerful. And now, more people are able to learn of the real story behind the woman who, in a very special way, lived on even after her death. Sadly, as remarkable as both the book and the film are, Deborah never got to see them. She died in her sleep in 2009, mere months before the book’s release. But Oprah believes she now rests peacefully, knowing she did and gave all she could to have the world know the truth about her mother.

“I think that in the end, that’s what gave her a sense of peace and why she was able to leave the planet, because she knew it had been done,” Oprah said. “The real work that she came to do, the real work that she needed to resolve within herself, had been finished.”

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

Oprah Wants The World To Know Henrietta Lacks Is A Hidden Figure No More published first on http://ift.tt/2lnpciY

[imreviewblog]

Oprah Wants The World To Know Henrietta Lacks Is A Hidden Figure No More

Oprah Winfrey is a one-of-a-kind woman.

Her life story is inspiring, her presence powerful and her influence unmatched. And when it comes to successful black women in media, Oprah reigns supreme.

But if Oprah is a well-crafted diamond, consider Baltimore the pressure that helped make her shine. She moved to the city in 1976 to pursue her career as a newscaster, which presented both great opportunities for success as well as challenges she eventually overcame. She spent nearly eight years in the city, first working for a local TV station ― where she was assigned to learn about every neighborhood ― and later as a personable and popular co-host for a show called “People are Talking” that helped to significantly boost her profile. 

She told stories, and she told them well ― but in the nearly eight years she lived in the city and of all the people she came across, there was one hugely significant story of a woman who lived in Baltimore who she ― and much of the world ― never knew about: Her name was Henrietta Lacks, also known as the “mother of modern medicine,” and she was a black woman who produced the first immortal human cell line, known as HeLa, that has entirely revolutionized medical research.

“I worked in Baltimore as a young reporter from the time I was 22 to 30. I lived there, I went to church every Sunday,” Oprah said Tuesday at a press event with all black women reporters, including myself. “I am a student of the African American culture ... I have never, in all of my readings, in all of my stories, heard of HeLa or Henrietta Lacks. I could not believe that, how could I have been in this town all this time and never seen one thing about her?”

It wasn’t until Oprah read Rebecca Skloot’s New York Times best-selling biographical book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks that she learned of Lacks’ story and how she changed the world.  

“When I first read her story in 2010, I wanted to tell the story,” she said. And by “tell,” she meant giving the story the full-blown Oprah treatment and bringing it to life through film and her own magic touch. Because, after all, when Oprah stumbles across a good story, she shares it with the world.

“It is my nature to share everything,” she said. “I wanted as many people to know about the story as possible ... and so now you do.”

“The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” premieres Saturday on HBO, starring Winfrey as Deborah, Lacks’ daughter, who was desperate to learn more about her mother’s cells and how they have been used for medical research. The family had been unaware of the dealings of Lacks’ cells for decades because her name had been changed to Helen Lane in print. This effectively concealed Lacks’ identity and kept hidden from the family how her cells had been “taken, bought, sold and used in research without her knowledge or theirs,” according to Skloot’s book.

Skloot, a freelance science writer from Portland, Oregon, first learned of Lacks’ story in high school and was so moved by it that she pushed to make it more widely known through her book ― which took years of heavy research and the family’s cooperation to create. Skloot, who is portrayed in the film by actress Rose Byrne, tracked Deborah down, and together, the two went on a journey to discover what exactly had happened to Lacks’ cells. The experience also unveiled truths that allowed Deborah to learn more about herself and her heritage.

“The reason Deborah is taking the journey [with Rebecca] in the first place is because she really wants to know about her mother’s cells,” Oprah said. “The journey for her is to discover herself and by learning about her mother, she [did]. This relationship becomes her balm, her solace, her comfort.”

Oprah is remarkable in her role as she portrays Deborah’s perseverance and the pain she experienced for decades from not knowing more about her mother. Deborah wanted to dig into history to discover what exactly happened that day in 1951 when Lacks, who was a mother of five, entered Johns Hopkins Hospital. And Deborah demanded to know how it was possible that her cancer cells continued to live on despite the fact that they also led to her death later that same year.

Lacks was 31 when she first checked herself into the hospital for the excruciating pain she had been experiencing in her lower stomach. Doctors discovered that a cancerous tumor had been growing on her cervix at a terrifying rate. Researchers at the time were conducting studies to better understand the cancer and, though Lacks never gave doctors authorized permission, they removed two dime-sized pieces of tissue that were eventually used to successfully create the first immortal human cells ― those that could repeatedly replicate themselves outside of the body without ever dying. They came to be known as HeLa.

It was a fascinating discovery and one that shocked doctors, who knew that HeLa cells had potential to make way for a new world of possibilities in medicine. And they did. Over the decades, HeLa cells have led to countless medical breakthroughs ― they helped to create the first polio vaccine; have traveled to space for research on the impact zero gravity has on human cells; been used to identify abnormalities in chromosomes; helped in studying the mapping of the human genome; and aided in research of the human papillomavirus, commonly known as HPV, which causes the cervical cancer that killed Lacks.

To many, what happened to Lacks is perceived as a disturbing and unethical case. However, Tony-award winning actress Renee Goldsberry, who beautifully portrays Lacks in the film, believes she showed immense courage throughout her harrowing experience at Hopkins ― which, Goldsberry said, is a reminder of the bravery black women, like her own grandmother, express every day. 

“I love the bravery with which she moves through the biggest nightmare anyone can imagine, and that I think that informs me of the bravery my grandmother must have had,” Goldsberry told reporters Tuesday. “That’s what inspires, that’s what I want all of us to take from this, it’s to embrace the idea that these women were powerful. Not victims, they’re powerful.”

George C. Wolfe, the award-winning director who led this film, reinforced that message, saying that while it’s important to reflect on the painful parts of Lacks’ legacy, it’s also crucial that we examine what makes her story so empowering.

“When you speak about Jim Crow, it’s important to talk about the injustice of it but equally important is to talk about how the community fortified itself. Henrietta was part of that dynamic,” he said. “[She had] an incredible sense of responsibility and caring and needing and nurturing and therefore then the cells come along and they’re continuing to do the exact same thing.”  

“And one of the things that I love, really, really, conceptually love,” he continued, “is that on paper, you would look at Henrietta Lacks: She’s marginally educated, she’s a black woman in Jim Crow South, she has five children when she’s 31 ... you’d go: ‘Oh, [she has] no power.’ But in death, any time HeLa comes into contact with any other cell, they [show that they are] in charge ... that power of who she was just continues to live on.”

Any time HeLa comes into contact with any other cell, they [show that they are] in charge ... that power of who she was just continues to live on.” George C. Wolfe

It was Wolfe and his well-respected work in theater and film that ultimately convinced Oprah to play the protagonist Deborah in the movie, which she admitted was a challenging but rewarding role. She also credits her experiences in media for helping to mold her into the actress she is today.

“I’ve done a lot of healing being on the ‘Oprah’ show every day; it really was an effective space for me to learn a lot about myself, and life and people and dysfunction,” she said.

Like Oprah, Lacks’ influence in the world is uniquely powerful. And now, more people are able to learn of the real story behind the woman who, in a very special way, lived on even after her death. Sadly, as remarkable as both the book and the film are, Deborah never got to see them. She died in her sleep in 2009, mere months before the book’s release. But Oprah believes she now rests peacefully, knowing she did and gave all she could to have the world know the truth about her mother.

“I think that in the end, that’s what gave her a sense of peace and why she was able to leave the planet, because she knew it had been done,” Oprah said. “The real work that she came to do, the real work that she needed to resolve within herself, had been finished.”

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

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