#fidel 2002

[abirdie]

Gael García Bernal in Fidel (2002, dir. David Attwood)

Gifs are all 540px wide so you can click to see larger.

[other gael filmography gifsets]

[oldmanpeace]

My favorite movie from each year, 1960+.

1960. Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock) 1961. Breakfast At Tiffany's (Blake Edwards) 1962. Cleo from 5 to 7 (Agnés Varda) 1963. 8½ (Federico Fellini) 1964. Dr. Strangelove (Stanley Kubrick) 1965. Pierrot le Fou (Jean-Luc Godard) 1966. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Sergio Leone) 1967. The Fearless Vampire Killers (Roman Polanski) 1968. Bullitt (Peter Yates) 1969. Easy Rider (Dennis Hopper) 1970. Kelly's Heroes (Brian G. Hutton) 1971. Harold and Maude (Hal Ashby) 1972. The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola) 1973. Badlands (Terrence Malick) 1974. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (Sam Peckinpah) 1975. Jaws (Steven Spielberg) 1976. The Bad News Bears (Michael Ritchie) 1977. Smokey and the Bandit (Hal Needham) 1978. Days of Heaven (Terrence Malick) 1979. Alien (Ridley Scott) 1980. Dressed To Kill (Brian De Palma) 1981. Thief (Michael Mann) 1982. Diner (Barry Levinson) 1983. Scarface (Brian De Palma) 1984. Paris, Texas (Wim Wenders) 1985. To Live and Die in L.A. (William Friedkin) 1986. Hoosiers (David Anspaugh) 1987. Full Metal Jacket (Stanley Kubrick) 1988. Big (Penny Marshall) 1989. Do the Right Thing (Spike Lee) 1990. Goodfellas (Martin Scorsese) 1991. JFK (Oliver Stone) 1992. Scent of a Woman (Martin Brest) 1993. Dazed and Confused (Richard Linklater) 1994. The Shawshank Redemption (Frank Darabont) 1995. Heat (Michael Mann) 1996. A Time to Kill (Joel Schumacher) 1997. Princess Mononoke (Hayao Miyazaki) 1998. Fucking Åmål (Lucas Moodysson) 1999. Fight Club (David Fincher) 2000. High Fidelity (Stephen Frears) 2001. The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson) 2002. Spider-Man (Sam Raimi) 2003. The Station Agent (Tom McCarthy) 2004. Sideways (Alexander Payne) 2005. Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (Shane Black) 2006. Volver (Pedro Almodóvar) 2007. Into the Wild (Sean Penn) 2008. In Bruges (Martin McDonagh) 2009. Up in the Air (Jason Reitman) 2010. Hesher (Spencer Susser) 2011. Drive (Nicolas Winding Refn) 2012. Zero Dark Thirty (Kathryn Bigelow) 2013. Nebraska (Alexander Payne) 2014. The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson) 2015. Sicario (Denis Villeneuve) 2016. Hell or High Water (David Mackenzie) 2017. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (Martin McDonagh) 2018. Manbiki kazoku (Hirokazu Koreeda) 2019. Uncut Gems (Benny & Josh Safdie) 2020. Nomadland (Chloé Zhao) 2021. Licorice Pizza (Paul Thomas Anderson) 2022. The Banshees of Inisherin (Martin McDonagh) 2023. The Holdovers (Alexander Payne)

[elwenyere]

The Most Chicago Movie of All Time

Not necessarily the best movie featuring the city of Chicago, but the best Chicago Movie. NB: Usual caveat about space limitations, and also Chicago (2002) isn't on the list, because they didn't film it in Chicago.

[leftistfeminista]

Yair Klein’s Gifted Student

From December 1987 to May 1988, Klein, a retired Israel Defense Forces (IDF) lieutenant colonel, trained fifty men at a “school for assassins” in the Magdalena Medio, just three hours away from Medellín. Operating with an official Israeli government license, Klein trained his students to carry out drive-bys in cars, assassinations by bombs and sniper fire, and door-to-door attacks on entire towns. Klein has since alleged that the CIA recruited him to train the Colombians and that he met with the now dissolved Colombian intelligence agency, the Department of Administrative Security (DAS), upon arriving in the country. “The Americans have the problem of public opinion, international image. We don’t have this problem,” one Israeli working for Klein’s Spearhead mercenary corporation said of the operation.

Five months later, Klein’s trainees Fidel and Carlos Castaño, Alonso de Jesús Baquero, and thirty other men carried out a massacre in the mining town of Segovia. There, Rita Ivon Tobón Areiza, a young woman from UP, had won the 1988 mayoral race by an overwhelming margin. Working with the US-backed Colombian Armed Forces, Jesús Baquero, one of the Castaño’s paramilitary chiefs, headed the massacre. His targets were suspected supporters of the UP.

On November 11, the day of the massacre, the military removed its checkpoints ordinarily positioned at the town’s entrance. According to an Amnesty International report, “regular garrisons of the police and military stood by while the killers moved freely through the town for over an hour.” Jesús Baquero’s forces, armed with a list of targets, carried out door-to-door killings of suspected UP supporters and an assault on the town square, killing forty-three people and wounding more than fifty others. “Yair Klein always considered me a gifted student,” Jesús Baquero would later recall.An Israeli firm sent three thousand assault rifles and 2.5 million rounds of ammunition to the AUC — arms they used to massacre leftists and displace thousands.

The Castaños would eventually form the United Self-Defense Forces (AUC) paramilitary. In 2001, Human Rights Watch determined the AUC was effectively a division of the Colombian military and, according to author John Lindsay-Poland, “the worst violator” in a conflict that claimed 262,197 lives in six decades. In 2002, GIRSA, an Israeli firm in Guatemala tied to the IDF, sent three thousand assault rifles and 2.5 million rounds of ammunition to the AUC — arms they used to massacre leftists and displace thousands.

[stroebe2]

thank you for tagging me @peachiyyy <3 list of favorites from 2023

albums :

Praise a Lord Who Chews but Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds), by Yves Tumor

Good Lies, by Overmono

if looks could kill, by Destroy Lonely

PLAY, by RL Grime

A Great Chaos, by Ken Carson

Did you know that there's a tunnel under Ocean Blvd, by Lana Del Rey

Quest for Fire, by Skrillex

Suntub, by ML Buch

10,000 gecs, by 100 gecs

Desire, I Want to Turn Into You, by Caroline Polachek

Don’t Get Too Close, by Skrillex

TW2052, by KayCyy

Sincèrement, by Hamza

Jam City Presents EFM, by Jam City

Sunrise Bang Ur Head Against Tha Wall, by Nia Archives

and plenty more singles/releases

films :

Paris, Texas (1984)

Barry Lyndon (1975)

Full Metal Jacket (1987)

Apocalypse Now (1979)

Fallen Angels (1995)

You Were Never Really Here (2017)

Ritual [Shiki-jitsu] (2000)

Irréversible (2002)

Salut les Cubains (1963)

Shin Godzilla (2016)

Infinity Pool (2023)

Excalibur (1985)

The Color of Pomegranates (1969)

Cold in July (2014)

Rocky (1976)

Kingdom of Heaven (2005)

Stage of Siege (1972)

Mandy (2018)

The Holy Mountain (1973)

Dune (2021)

Spring Breakers (2012)

The Paperboy (2012)

Asteroid City (2023)

Espion, lève-toi (1982)

Natural Born Killers (1994)

Barbie (2023)

The Exorcist (1973)

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)

Oppenheimer (2023)

Lake Mungo (2008)

The Blair Witch Project (1999)

The Witch (2015)

Children of Shatila (2018)

Scream (1996)

The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Saw II (2005)

A Thousand Billion Dollars (1982)

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

books :

Into the Badlands : Travels Through Urban America by John Williams

The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon

La Crise blanche by Alain Tondeur

House of Bush, House of Saud by Craig Unger

Les chemins de la victoire (La victoria estrategica : Por todos los caminos de la Sierra) by Fidel Castro

and a bunch of paranoid pdfs/books for a project im working on and doesnt really make sense to list on here

[heavenboy09]

Happy Birthday 🎂 🥳 🎉 🎈 🎁 🎊 To You

1 Of The Funniest & Comedic American Actor, Comedian, & Musician 🎶 Of The 90's & 2000's To Now

&

The Dragon 🐉 Warrior🐼 & King 👑 Of Bowser's 🐢Kingdom 🏰

Born On August 28th, 1969

He is an American actor, comedian, and musician. He is known for roles in family and comedy films, in addition to his voice work in animated films. His awards include an Emmy Award, a Grammy Award, and nominations for three Golden Globe Awards.

After portraying supporting roles in films including Dead Man Walking (1995), The Cable Guy (1996), Mars Attacks! (1996), and Enemy of the State (1998), Black had his breakout role in the musical film High Fidelity (2000). This led to larger roles in films like Shallow Hal (2001) and Orange County (2002), before he solidified his leading man status with his starring role in School of Rock (2003). He has since starred in King Kong (2005), The Holiday (2006), Nacho Libre (2006), Tropic Thunder (2008), Bernie (2011), Goosebumps (2016), Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017), its sequel Jumanji: The Next Level (2019), and The House with a Clock in Its Walls (2018). He has also voiced Po in the Kung Fu Panda franchise (2008–present) and Bowser in The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023).

Black is the lead vocalist of the band Tenacious D, which he formed in 1994 with long-time friend Kyle Gass. They won the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance for "The Last in Line" in 2015. Since 2018, Black has operated a YouTube channel called Jablinski Games.

PLEASE WISH THIS INCREDIBLELY ICONIC TALENTED & GIFTED COMEDIC AMERICAN ACTOR IN CINEMA 🎥 IN HOLLYWOOD

A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY 🎂 🥳 🎉 🎈 🎁 🎊

YOU KNOW HIM

YOU SEEN HIS MANY MEMORABLE & ICONIC FILMS 🎥 THAT YOU ALL KNOW & LOVE

& YOU JUST CANT HELP BUT LAUGH AT HIS FUNNINESS 🤣 EVERY TIME HE OPENS HIS 🤣 MOUTH

THE 1 & ONLY

MR. THOMAS JACOB BLACK AKA JACK BLACK ⚫ AKA PO THE DRAGON 🐉 WARRIOR OF DREAMWORKS ANIMATION, KUNG FU PANDA 🐼 & KING BOWSER 👑🐢 OF NINTENDO'S & ILLUMINATIONS, THE SUPER MARIO BROS MOVIE🧢🔧🔴🟢 🎥

HAPPY 55TH BIRTHDAY 🎂 🥳 🎉 🎈 🎁 🎊 TO YOU MR . BLACK ⚫ 🐼 & HERE'S TO MANY MORE YEARS TO COME.

#JackBlack #ShallowHal #SchoolOfRock #KingKong #NachoLibre #KungFuPanda #TropicThunder #KungFuPanda2 #KungFuPanda3 #Goosebumps #JumanjiWelcomeToTheJungle #TheHouseWithAClockInItsWall #JumanjiTheNextLevel #KungFuPandaandTheDragonKnight #TheSuperMarioBrosMovie #KungFuPanda4 #BorderLands #Po #DrSheldonShelleyOberon #KingBowser

[beardedmrbean]

A top American diplomat who used to be the US ambassador to Bolivia has been arrested for allegedly secretly working as a Cuban spy.

Manuel Rocha, 73, was taken into custody in Miami on Friday in what marked the culmination of a long-running FBI counterintelligence investigation, according to the Associated Press.

Two sources told the agency that Mr Rocha is accused of secretly working to promote the Cuban government’s interests.

Investigators allege that this is a violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act – a law which requires any individual lobbying and doing the political bidding of a foreign government on US soil to register with the Justice Department.

Further details about the 73-year-old’s alleged work as a Cuban government agent are expected to be revealed on Monday when he appears in federal court.

Neither the DOJ or Mr Rocha has yet publicly commented on his arrest.

Mr Rocha’s wife Karla Wittkop Rocha refused to comment and hung up the phone when reached for comment by the AP.

The bombshell arrest comes after Mr Rocha has spent 25 years working as a top US diplomat in several Latin American countries.

His diplomatic postings included a stint at the US Interests Section in Cuba during a time when the US lacked full diplomatic relations with Fidel Castro’s communist government.

Born in Colombia, Mr Rocha was raised in a working-class home in New York City and went on to obtain a succession of liberal arts degrees from Yale, Harvard and Georgetown before joining the foreign service in 1981.

He was the top US diplomat in Argentina between 1997 and 2000 as a decade-long currency stabilisation program backed by Washington was unraveling under the weight of huge foreign debt and stagnant growth, triggering a political crisis that would see the South American country cycle through five presidents in two weeks.

At his next post as ambassador to Bolivia, he intervened directly into the 2002 presidential race, warning weeks ahead of the vote that the US would cut off assistance to the poor South American country if it were to elect former coca grower Evo Morales.

“I want to remind the Bolivian electorate that if they vote for those who want Bolivia to return to exporting cocaine, that will seriously jeopardise any future aid to Bolivia from the United States,” Mr Rocha said in a speech that was widely interpreted as a an attempt to sustain US dominance in the region.

The gambit worked but three years later Bolivians elected Morales anyway and the leftist leader would expel Rocha’s successor as chief of the diplomatic mission for inciting “civil war”.

Mr Rocha also served in Italy, Honduras, Mexico and the Dominican Republic, and worked as a Latin America expert for the National Security Council.

Following his retirement from the State Department, Mr Rocha began a second career in business, serving as the president of a gold mine in the Dominican Republic partly owned by Canada’s Barrick Gold.

More recently, he’s held senior roles at XCoal, a Pennsylvania-based coal exporter; Clover Leaf Capital, a company formed to facilitate mergers in the cannabis industry; law firm Foley & Lardner and Spanish public relations firm Llorente & Cuenca.

[astrarobotica]

People like to say the Switch is aging but...

Metroid Prime Remastered gets a surprise release and there isn't a single part of me that thinks it looks old or outdated or even "last-gen".

I'm not sure why they called it a remaster. Remasters typically just have HD resolutions, higher-res textures and a few modern lighting/shader tricks. This thing is more of a remake, because it's been entirely rebuilt from the ground up. Every 3D asset is new. Every texture is new. Even character animations in cutscenes have been tweaked. Metroid Prime Remastered looks like a brand new game, even though the original came out in 2002.

I've seen a lot of people saying over the past few months that the Switch is "aging tech", people on reddit have convinced themselves that the "Super Switch" or "Switch 2" or whatever is imminent (just like the Switch Pro!). And yeah, Nintendo is probably gonna put out another console within a few years. But I don't feel like the Switch is getting too old. I'm just as excited for games coming out on it this year as I was when the console launched. I don't see this game and Tears of the Kingdom and think about how much better they could look on newer hardware. They obviously would look better, but they still look incredible on the Switch.

I think this is why Nintendo has my favorite first-party IPs; most big games over the past twenty years have been increasingly focused on hyper-realistic graphics, while Nintendo has almost always focused on art style, which translates well regardless of hardware. And I think some games benefit from hyper-realistic visuals like Red Dead Redemption 2. It's such an insanely beautiful game, but it's also a very good game in general. A lot of recent games feel like they use realistic graphics as a crutch to support bland game design. Graphical fidelity and art style are two different concepts. Good art style can age well even on limited hardware. Fallout 3 was a pretty good-looking game when it came out, fifteen years later however...

Nintendo prioritizes art style. The art style of a particular game/franchise can be adapted to whatever hardware it's being developed for and then pushed to the level of graphical fidelity the hardware can handle. Metroid Prime Remastered is an entirely rebuilt game, but it retains the exact same art style from twenty years ago. Breath of the Wild was a launch title for the Switch, but it still looks just as impressive six years later. Super Mario Odyssey, Splatoon 2/3, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Kirby and the Forgotten Kingdom (and many others)... they all look incredible on supposed "aging" hardware.

But why exactly is the Switch seemingly not good enough anymore? Well it came out after the PS4/XB1 and was already less powerful than those consoles. Now another generation of consoles have come out which are even more powerful, making the Switch seem more underpowered. People also tend to look at console generation trends, and most consoles are around for about seven years before the next one comes out. But that's an artificial reason; industry trends don't magically make the Switch outdated. The real reason is that people want a Nintendo to make a console with hardware on comparable level to other current consoles, or at least last-gen consoles at this point.

That's understandable, but is it because Nintendo games don't look good enough? No, it's because we want to play non-Switch games like Elden Ring and Cyberpunk 2077 on a handheld, in particular, one less bulky and with a better battery life than the Steam Deck, and one that still has Nintendo games on it. Sure, some Switch ports are quite bad, but we also have Doom Eternal, No Man's Sky, NieR: Automata, and plenty of others that were poorly optimized to begin with or seemingly "too much" for the Switch to handle, yet we have them, and they're amazing. There's also Xenoblade Chronicles 3, which uses very clever upsampling to produce an amazing image quality. The Witcher 3 may not look amazing on Switch, but people said it would never happen, yet here we are. That isn't to say the Switch is capable of running any game, even with clever ports and decent optimization. But it's much more capable than a lot of people give it credit for.

I bought a gaming PC in 2021, primarily for sim racing. So I don't need a PS5/XBS, but I wasn't planning on buying one even before that. The only big new game I've even played from the past year is Elden Ring. Those consoles have already been out for two years, and there's only a handful of games that can't also be bought for the previous generation. Yes, games will look and perform better on the newer consoles, but cross-generation releases have never lingered around for this long before.

Even though new generations of console will always be more powerful than the last, not many games use that extra power for much more than higher-fidelity graphics. The big issue with that is that it's a matter of diminishing returns; the jump in visual fidelity from one console generation to the next has become less and less impressive over the past twenty years. Visual detail in graphics will always get better as the hardware advances, but the closer you get to photorealism, the less there is to improve on. More polygons on-screen stops being impressive when you stop noticing the polygons. The jump from 480i to 1080p was far more noticeable than the jump from 1080p to 4K. A lot of games on newer consoles are starting to boast about 60fps, because in some cases, an increased framerate is the most noticable difference between the same game on two console generations.

Overall this trend is a bit concerning to me. Honestly, it began when the "pro" consoles came out during the last generation. The old business model feels like it's rapidly becoming obsolete, and Sony and Microsoft must feel the same way, considering how many of their first-party games they're releasing on PC these days. So it feels strange to me that the Switch is somehow too weak as the other consoles just over a generation ahead of it are running straight into a very real plateau. Metroid Prime Remastered looks just as visually impressive to me as any PS5/XBS game.

Yes, Nintendo will eventually release a new console. But we’ve reached a turning point with Sony and Microsoft where the reasons to buy their new consoles are less obvious and convincing than they’ve ever been. So maybe it's a smart strategy for Nintendo to take their time and make sure their next piece of hardware is substantially more impressive than the Switch 

[mitchipedia]

The secret history of Napoleon Bonaparte: Watching “The Emperor’s New Clothes” (2002) starring Ian Holm

We saw “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” an idiosyncratic and charming historical romantic-comedy that starred Ian Holm and came out in 2002.

Napoleon, in exile on the island of St. Helena after his defeat at Waterloo, executes a scheme to escape and be replaced on the island by a double, a common seaman who looks exactly like Napoleon, whose name is Eugene Lenormand. Napoleon will settle in Paris incognito, and the false Napoleon will reveal his true identity, as will the true Napoleon. France will rally and the empire will be restored.

But the plan goes wrong, and Napoleon needs to survive in Paris as Lenormand.

Fortunately for Napoleon, he’s taken in by a pretty widow.

But Napoleon never loses hope, and never stops planning to resume his rightful place as emperor.

Meawhile, he and the widow fall in love. She thinks he’s just Lenormand, a commoner like her, maybe someone who once did prison time.

Holm plays both Napoleon and the sailor Lenormand. He gives two great performances. As Napoleon, Holm is commanding, striding about erect with his hands clasped behind him. And he’s also sad and brave as he adjusts to life without the trappings and luxury of power.

In an early scene, Napoleon, disguised as Lenornmand, commands his ship’s captain to change course immediately and head for France. Holm’s performance is appropriately imperious, and you can easily imagine that underlings would be terrified to receive a command like that from the emperor. But now Napoleon is living the life of a common deckhand, and the ship’s captain just laughs at him.

Later, Napoleon marshals the same charisma to inspire rather than intimidate, and succeeds in rallying a band of struggling street vendors to sell fresh fruit.

Meanwhile, on St. Helena, the false Napoleon is enjoying his captivity. It’s a prison, but it’s posh and luxurious, with fine food, beautiful art and clothing, and servants to tend to Lenormand’s needs. In character as Lenormand, Holm is boorish, gluttonous, drunk and loud. His scenes are played for low comedy.

Iben Hjejle plays the widow, whom everybody calls “Pumpkin.” She’s a Danish actor, probably best known to American audiences for appearing as John Cusack’s girlfriend in “High Fidelity.” Pumpkin is your basic romantic-comedy woman’s role; she’s an auxiliary to the man. Her job is to look beautiful and adore Napoleon (whom she knows as Lenormand). Hjeile does the job. I’d like to see her in a real role sometime.

The magic of “The Emperor’s New Clothes” is that it commits to the bit. It takes its premise seriously.

As Roger Ebert noted in a 2002 review, you can easily imagine the movie going in a broad, Monty Python direction, but instead, “The Emperor’s New Clothes” is “a surprisingly sweet and gentle comedy.”

The dialogue and acting are first-rate, and the costumes and settings are up to the standards of any historical drama.

I was intrigued by “The Emperor’s New Clothes” because of a mention the movie got on the Age of Napoleon podcast, an extremely detailed history of the life and world of Napoleon, which has been running for seven years and isn’t anywhere near done. I’ve been listening to the podcast for several years.

The host, Everett Rummage, said he thought “The Emperor’s New Clothes” was the only movie that he ever saw that truly captured Napoleon’s character. This was before the current Ridley Scott movie came out.

Having now seen “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” I can absolutely see Rummage’s point. Granted, pretty much everything I know about Napoleon comes from Rummage’s podcast. But we know that Napoleon started as a minor nobleman in Corsica, went to French military school and quickly soared through the ranks during the Revolution. Napoleon was arrogant, but he also had a common touch. He was a democrat with a small “d,” unimpressed by aristocracy and valuing talent, character, and loyalty over inherited titles. He slept on the ground with his men in battle, gave them personal attention, and they loved him. We see all these qualities in “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” When the fictional Napoleon is required to scrub decks, sleep in a barn and rub elbows with street vendors, well, we can imagine that Napoleon had experience with that kind of thing.

In reality, Napoleon was a genius. He was an enlightened ruler who swept aside the old order and instituted more egalitarian forms of government that are influential to this day. He nurtured science, scholarship and the arts.

And Napoleon was also a bloodthirsty murderer, tyrant and monster who bathed Europe in blood and re-instituted a regime of brutal slavery that Haiti still has not recovered from more than two centuries later.

We only see the good side of Napoleon in “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” His evil is dealt with in a single line of dialogue. Which is as it should be in this particular movie.

The movie is loosely based on a novel by Simon Ley, “The Death of Napoleon.” Writer Peter Hicks compares the two. Hicks says the book is “a sustained elegy on the wisdom of recognising the important things in life, such as love, happiness, modest success,” which are far more important than the “chimaeras of power and military glory.” The movie has the same theme. As Ebert says, Napoleon gradually realizes that “the best of all worlds may involve selling melons and embracing Pumpkin.”

In an afterword to a 2006 edition of the book, Leys said the movie “was both sad and funny: sad, because Napoleon was interpreted to perfection by an actor (Ian Holm) whose performance made me dream of what could have been achieved had the producer and director bothered to read the book."

Based on Hicks’s description, I think I would prefer the movie and I am not tempted to read the book.

P.S. Hugh Bonneville, who stars “Downton Abbey” as Robert Crawley, plays a supporting role in “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” I didn’t recognize him.

[twwpress]

Weekly Press Briefing #40: March 26th - April 1st

Welcome back to the Weekly Press Briefing, where we bring you highlights from The West Wing fandom each week, including new fics, ongoing challenges, and more! This briefing covers all things posted from March 26 - April 1, 2023! Did we miss something? Let us know; you can find our contact info at the bottom of this briefing!

Challenges/Prompts:

No current challenges or prompts that we know of this week! Do you have a challenge or event you’d like us to promote? Be sure to get in touch with us! Contact info is at the bottom of this briefing.

Photos/Videos:

Here’s what was posted from March 26 - April 1. 

Allison Janney posted a throwback photo from a previous photo shoot. 

Amy Landecker posted a photo of Josh Lyman’s office name plaque from the TWW set. 

Bradley Whitford posted a video promoting a contest to win a zoom with him as a way to promote Janet Protasiecwiz for Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice in a state election coming up on April 4th. 

Dule Hill posted a throwback photo of himself as a kid with dancer Harold Nicholas, who he co-starred with on Broadway in The Tap Dance Kid. 

Dule Hill posted photos of himself and his wife at the Basquiat King Pleasure exhibit in LA. 

Josh Malina posted photos of Ian Weinberger directing Hamilton in a West Wing Weekly t-shirt. 

Josh Malina posted a video of himself in the audience up on the screen at a NY Knicks game.

Josh Malina posted a photo of the curtain call of Leopoldstadt. 

Kim Webster posted a video of herself “protecting her peace.”

Mary McCormack posted a TikTok video of her daughter Rose singing.  

Rob Lowe made multiple posts promoting his and his son Johnny’s new Netflix series Unstable: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 

Donna Moss Daily: March 26 | March 27 | March 28 | March 29 | March 30 | March 31 | April 1

Daily Josh Lyman: March 26 | March 27 | March 28 | March 29 | March 30 | March 31 | April 1

No Context BWhit:  March 26 | March 27 | March 28 | March 29 | March 30 | March 31 | April 1

@janelmilfoney: March 31

This Week in Canon:

Welcome to This Week in Canon, where we revisit moments in The West Wing that occurred on these dates during the show’s run.

Season 3, Episode 16: The U.S. Poet Laureate aired on March 27, 2002.

Season 4, Episode 18: Privateers aired on March 26, 2003.

Season 5, Episode 18: Access aired on March 31, 2004.

Season 6, Episode 21: Things Fall Apart aired on March 30, 2005.

Season 7, Episode 15: Welcome to Wherever You Are aired on March 26, 2006.

 Edits/Artwork

#ABBEYBARTLET: i can’t get you off my mind by livsbenson [VIDEO EDIT]

you belong with me | josh & donna by zoeonfilm [VIDEO EDIT]

Editors’ Choice: 

With the anniversary of the airing of Privateers, we have rounded up a few of our favorite stories featuring or centered around our favorite thoracic surgeon-slash-First Lady, Abbey Bartlet!

out, damned spot by jazzjo | Rated G | Abbey Bartlet & Leo McGarry, Abbey Bartlet/Jed Bartlet, Jed Bartlet & Leo McGarry | Complete | She had sworn to do no harm, and had meant it.

or,

Abbey tries to cope with the witchhunt and her own mistakes.

 of waffles and fidelity by tessaservopoulous | Rated T | Abbey Bartlet/Jed Bartlet | Complete | "You know I'd never cheat on you, right?"

 Cute-ish, fluffy tag to 'Life on Mars'.

 summer, or: our days were never numbered by rearviewmirror | Rated T | Abbey Bartlet/Jed Bartlet/Leo McGarry, Jed Bartlet/Leo McGarry, Abbey Bartlet/Jed Bartlet, Abbey Bartlet/Leo McGarry | Complete | jed, leo, and abbey go on vacation shortly after leo comes home from the war

 the moon in the arms of the sky by andsocanshe | Rated T | Abbey Bartlet/Jed Bartlet | Complete | “There weren’t words that she could form or explanations that she could attach to the distraught way her chest tightened, left aching to protect her own until the very moment that the remaining seconds between shift rotation dwindled to zero.”

Abbey comes home after a rough shift at the hospital. Pre-series.

never forget her name by Melacka for LadyRiesling | Rated G | Abbey Bartlet & C.J. Cregg (No pairings listed) | Complete | When CJ is working a little too hard early on in President Bartlet's first time, Abbey has some words of wisdom for her.

Doctor’s Orders by Etraytin | Rated T | Josh Lyman, Abbey Bartlet (No pairings listed) | Complete | A week after Opposition Research, Abbey Bartlet shows up at Santos for President HQ, looking for a certain troublemaker.

 Fics:

Presenting your weekly roundup of fics posted in the tag for The West Wing on Archive of Our Own. If you are so inclined, please be sure to leave the authors some love in the form of kudos or comments. Be mindful of posted warnings/tags for each story.

Josh/Donna

wherever you go, that’s where i am by flowersinapril | Rated G | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | In Progress

The Degree by pipisafoat |  Rated G |  Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete

Press Conference by Shinyrosa | Rated T | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete

Domestic Days by spooky_spacegirl | Rated G | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | In Progress

Eye of the Storm by spooky_spacegirl | Rated G | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete

this year’s love by hanyolo | Rated G | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | In Progress

 C.J./Danny

Ten Weeks by Jxjxjx | Rated T | Danny Concannon/C. J. Cregg | In Progress

None of Us are More than Caretakers by onekisstotakewithme for daylight_angel, miabicicletta, Luppiters, hondagirll | Rated T | Danny Concannon/C. J. Cregg | In Progress

 Other Pairings/Gen Fic

it started off with a kiss... now it ended up like this by imawkwardlysoc | Rated G | Sam Seaborn/Original Female Character | In Progress

A Banner Speech by Darsynia (Marvel Cinematic Universe crossover) | Rated T | Toby Ziegler/Bruce Banner | Complete

Ghost Town by starbuckmeggie | Rated T | No pairings listed | In Progress

Where The Hell…? by dumbchemist | Rated T | No Pairings Listed | In Progress

The Language of Healing by silasfinch for justdreaming88 | Rated M | Ellie Bartlet/Original Female Character(s) | Complete

sunset on the plain by rearviewmirror | Rated G | Jed Bartlet/Leo McGarry | Complete

In Conversation with Winnifred Hooper by Hackney123 | Rated G | Winifred Hooper (No pairings listed) | Complete

A Different Life by PreppyPrincess5103 (JAG crossover) | Rated M | Sarah "Mac" MacKenzie/Sam Seaborn | In progress 

Multiple Pairings

Don’t You (Forget About Me) by mlea7675 | Rated G | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss, Ainsley Hayes/Sam Seaborn, Abbey Bartlet/Jed Bartlet, C. J. Cregg/Toby Ziegler, Mandy Hampton/Josh Lyman, Andrea Wyatt/Toby Ziegler, Danny Concannon/C.J. Cregg | Complete 

Not Quite the Parent Trap by eowyn_of_rohan | Rated T | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss, Ainsley Hayes/Sam Seaborn | In Progress

THE WEEKLY PRESS BRIEFING TEAM CAN BE REACHED VIA THE FOLLOWING METHODS:

Twitter: @TWWPress

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Feel free to let us know if we missed something, if you have an event you’d like us to promote, or if you have an item that you’d like included in the next briefing!

xx, What’s next?

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 4.2

1513 – Having spotted land on March 27, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León comes ashore on what is now the U.S. state of Florida, landing somewhere between the modern city of St. Augustine and the mouth of the St. Johns River. 1755 – Commodore William James captures the Maratha fortress of Suvarnadurg on the west coast of India. 1792 – The Coinage Act is passed by Congress, establishing the United States Mint. 1800 – Ludwig van Beethoven leads the premiere of his First Symphony in Vienna. 1801 – French Revolutionary Wars: In the Battle of Copenhagen a British Royal Navy squadron defeats a hastily assembled, smaller, mostly-volunteer Dano-Norwegian Navy at high cost, forcing Denmark out of the Second League of Armed Neutrality. 1863 – American Civil War: The largest in a series of Southern bread riots occurs in Richmond, Virginia. 1865 – American Civil War: Defeat at the Third Battle of Petersburg forces the Army of Northern Virginia and the Confederate government to abandon Richmond, Virginia. 1885 – Canadian Cree warriors attack the village of Frog Lake, killing nine. 1902 – Dmitry Sipyagin, Minister of Interior of the Russian Empire, is assassinated in the Mariinsky Palace, Saint Petersburg. 1902 – "Electric Theatre", the first full-time movie theater in the United States, opens in Los Angeles. 1911 – The Australian Bureau of Statistics conducts the country's first national census. 1912 – The ill-fated RMS Titanic begins sea trials. 1917 – American entry into World War I: President Wilson asks the U.S. Congress for a declaration of war on Germany. 1921 – The Autonomous Government of Khorasan, a military government encompassing the modern state of Iran, is established. 1930 – After the mysterious death of Empress Zewditu, Haile Selassie is proclaimed emperor of Ethiopia. 1954 – A 19-month-old infant is swept up in the ocean tides at Hermosa Beach, California. Local photographer John L. Gaunt photographs the incident; 1955 Pulitzer winner "Tragedy by the Sea". 1956 – As the World Turns and The Edge of Night premiere on CBS. The two soaps become the first daytime dramas to debut in the 30-minute format. 1964 – The Soviet Union launches Zond 1. 1972 – Actor Charlie Chaplin returns to the United States for the first time since being labeled a communist during the Red Scare in the early 1950s. 1973 – Launch of the LexisNexis computerized legal research service. 1975 – Vietnam War: Thousands of civilian refugees flee from Quảng Ngãi Province in front of advancing North Vietnamese troops. 1976 – Prince Norodom Sihanouk resigns as leader of Cambodia and is placed under house arrest. 1979 – A Soviet bio-warfare laboratory at Sverdlovsk accidentally releases airborne anthrax spores, killing 66 plus an unknown amount of livestock. 1980 – United States President Jimmy Carter signs the Crude Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act. 1982 – Falklands War: Argentina invades the Falkland Islands. 1986 – Alabama governor George Wallace, a former segregationist, best known for the "Stand in the Schoolhouse Door", announces that he will not seek a fifth four-year term and will retire from public life upon the end of his term in January 1987. 1989 – Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev arrives in Havana, Cuba, to meet with Fidel Castro in an attempt to mend strained relations. 1991 – Rita Johnston becomes the first female Premier of a Canadian province when she succeeds William Vander Zalm (who had resigned) as Premier of British Columbia. 1992 – In New York, Mafia boss John Gotti is convicted of murder and racketeering and is later sentenced to life in prison. 1992 – Forty-two civilians are massacred in the town of Bijeljina in Bosnia and Herzegovina. 2002 – Israeli forces surround the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, into which armed Palestinians had retreated. 2004 – Islamist terrorists involved in the 11 March 2004 Madrid attacks attempt to bomb the Spanish high-speed train AVE near Madrid; the attack is thwarted. 2006 – Over 60 tornadoes break out in the United States; Tennessee is hardest hit with 29 people killed. 2012 – A mass shooting at Oikos University in California leaves seven people dead and three injured. 2014 – A spree shooting occurs at the Fort Hood army base in Texas, with four dead, including the gunman, and 16 others injured. 2015 – Gunmen attack Garissa University College in Kenya, killing at least 148 people and wounding 79 others. 2015 – Four men steal items worth up to £200 million from an underground safe deposit facility in London's Hatton Garden area in what has been called the "largest burglary in English legal history." 2020 – COVID-19 pandemic: The total number of confirmed cases reach one million. 2021 – At least 49 people are killed in a train derailment in Taiwan after a truck accidentally rolls onto the track. 2021 – A Capitol Police officer is killed and another injured when an attacker rams his car into a barricade outside the United States Capitol.

[ivanreycristo]

..hablando de la MARATON DE NEW YORK [q vería el 1_11_09 día de todos los Santos difuntos junto al monumento x las víctimas del Auto_hundi_miento del MAINE para entrar EEUU en guerra con ESPAÑA y quitarles CUBA como me contó el Yankee GREG GRISHAM VENTO y como vi q recuerda CUBA con monumento sobre ello q puso FIDEL CASTRO cuando estuve en la HABANA en oct'08..es decir junto a la COLUMBUS CIRCLE o plaza de COLON..pues justo en esa esquina de CENTRAL PARK y dentro del parque enfilan la RECTA FINAL] ..xq me gane un dorsal en la TUNE UP SEVILLA_NEW YORK [5_5_2002] q ganó el KENYATA James MOIBEN [le conocí en el Centro de ALTO Rendi_miento de la Isla de la CARTUJA y fuimos juntos a la Carrera o media maratón contándome q el SEVILLANO PENTI lo intentó engañar diciéndole que no tirara muy fuerte q no le iba a Sprintar pues era un especialista en distancias cortas pues a continuación ganó el ORO en 3000 mts obstáculos en EUROPEO de MUNICH colándose x la cuerda al final de forma increíble aunque luego sería imputado x tráfico de sustancias dopantes en Operación JIMBO=cantante de THE DOORS..y con el q me fotografie yendo luego con MOIBEN a recorrer SEVILLA subiendo a lo alto de la GIRALDILLA coronada con el GIRALDILLO q representa el TRIUNFO DE LA FE CRISTIANO y de cuya replica gane una x quedar entre los 10 primeros así como un dorsal para correr MARATON DE NEW YORK q cuesta 500€ corriendo 50.000 tipos pero aún así se obtienen x lotería o pagando en agencias concertadas..Carrera q corri con dorsal 5053 o sumando 13 como en la maratón de Sevilla de ese año con 0238 o mi primera carrera ese de 2002 q fue en TRES CANTOS con 904 haciendo publicidad de CRUZCAMPO o cerveza de SEVILLA y de ASICS=ALMA SANA en CUERPO SANO en LATIN..x lo q recuerdo q al final de la MARATON vino un tipo a buscarme al TUNEL DEL ESTADIO oLIMPIcO xq me quería entrevistar EDUARDO ALDAN para el programa DESPERADO CLUB SOCIAL de Antena 3TV q hacia con Cristian GALVEZ q financió el cd BLUE BIRD de VIRGINIA MAESTRO y q se acaba de divorciar de gimnasta ALMUDENA CID]..corri esa carrera TUNE UP SEVILLE_NEW YORK aprovechando el PUENTE DE MAYO para el q me había invitado la DOMINICANA RRPP "LADY" [q me presento al malogrado Sergio LUYK, al Atleta REYES ESTEVEZ , me llevo al Café de los ARTISTAS bajo la antigua catarata de plaza COLON poniéndose junto a mi nacho CANO de MECANO ex_novio de penelope CRUZ a la q conoció con 14 años en el video LA FUERZA DEL DESTINO teniendo él 25 años o a la fiesta de presentación de SOLARIS a la q dije no iba a ir y fallando GEORGE CLOONEY por una gripe a ULTIMA HORA pero vino la semana siguiente con la pierna escayolado x jugar al BASKET pues además presentaba su debut como director con CONFESIONES DE UNA MENTE PELIGROSA]..al apartamento de CONIL [Lo rebautize como COÑIL xq había muchos COÑOS DE BUEN VER pero como en todos los lados DIFICILES DE CONSEGUIR lo q fomenta q sea un PODER Y TESORO DE LA MUJER así como los VICIOS Y EXCESOS del DINERO o su FALSA MORAL q es LETAL como el FALSO AMOR O el SEXO CARO Y PROHIBITIVO]..q tenía una amiga SEVILLANA q además era dueña de la AGENCIA DE MODELOS en la q trabajaba y cuando llegue estaban en la playa y otra Dominicana llamada OLIVIA hablaba por teléfono para mandar a la mierda a su NOVIO..

..luego vinieron conmigo de Vuelta de SEVILLA a MADRID tras la carrera y días después recibí un SMS de una Tipa a la q JAMES MOIBEN [q ganaría a continuación sus 2 únicas maratones en CHINA] le enseño las fotos que nos hicimos en SEVILLA y quería quedar contigo como hicimos en ALCALA DE HENARES donde era PARACAIDISTA de la BRIPAC ..pero no me gusto físicamente sino ya me veía saltando en PARACA detrás de su CULO si estaba BUENA o me daba BUEN SEXO..como intento CASANDRA SAINTE_MARIE DEL AGUA q me dijo q con 18 años lo practicaba

[pieterstalenhoefmassachusetts]

Pieter Stalenhoef is Employed With Santander Investment Services as a Financial Advisor

As a result of his interviews with Femsa, Pieter Stalenhoef, who has been a prominent member of the Boston Security Analysts Society for over 18 years, has had the honor of being featured in Barron's Magazine. He is a well-known practitioner in the financial sector who has worked for some of the leading firms, including Fidelity Investments, Evergreen Investments, Wells Capital Management, and Provident Bank (Cincinnati).

He was the consumer, media, and healthcare analyst for the Wells Fargo Global Opportunities Fund while he was an equity analyst at Wells Capital Management. He used his Boston University training in financial management to analyze small- and mid-cap international equities. He is currently employed at Santander Investment Services in the Greater Boston area as a Financial Advisor.

For first-time skiers, Pieter Stalenhoef offers some advice on how to avoid pushing themselves too hard. He thinks that novices may be distracted from mastering the proper technique if they ski a trail too quickly. Leaning forward is the key to ski control, he says. Although it might seem unsettling at first, this helps a skier better control their skis and centers their gravity.

In terms of his professional background, he began employment at Wells Fargo Asset Management in October 2010 as an equity analyst. Prior to this, positions held as an equity analyst at Wells Capital Management from July 2005 to September 2010, an associate analyst from June 2002 to June 2003, and a senior research assistant from June 2002 to June 2003 at Evergreen Investments.

In terms of education, Pieter Stalenhoef holds a master's degree in investment management from Boston University as well as a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Vermont.

[fredborges98]

Sophia Loren - MAMBO italiano

O mambo é um estilo de dança de salão tipicamente latino, de origem cubana e com influências dos ritmos africanos e do jazz, criado nos anos 30. De coreografia rápida, essa é uma atividade que exige equilíbrio, fôlego e força.

Além disso, o casal deve tomar uma posição mais afastada, diferente do Tango, de modo a ter equilíbrio na execução dos passos. A flexibilidade, precisão e a rapidez também são pontos-chave a serem desenvolvidos pelos dançarinos para que a dança seja bem planejada e executada.

Por: Fred Borges

¿Estás Mambo?

Para você que acha que já morreu! Mambo! Para você que acha que está velho! Mambo! Para você que acha que não é nenhuma Sophia Loren ou Marcelo Mastroianni! Mambo!

A história do mambo moderno tem início em 1937 quando os irmãos Cachão escreveram uma dança (estilo com origens na contradança espanhola e a contradança francesa) chamada "Mambo", com o uso de ritmos derivados da música africana. A contradança chegou a Cuba no século XVIII, onde se tornou conhecida como danza. A chegada dos negros Beatrizanos no final do século mudou a contradança, acrescentando-lhe o cinquillo (também encontrado em outro descendente da contradanza, o Tango argentino). A origem do nome se deu com uma pergunta típica feita pelos músicos negros americanos:¿ Estás mambo?, que, traduzindo, significa:Tudo bem contigo?.

A capital do mambo de Nova York na década de 1950 era o Palladium Ballroom na Broadway com a 53rd Street. Mura Dehn, o cineasta, esteve lá em 1951 e o proclamou “o salão de dança popular mais glamoroso de Nova York”. Foi o lar de dançarinos famosos porto-riquenhos, afrocubanos e afro-americanos, além de italianos e judeus. Eles sentiram o espírito do mambo. Eles se esforçaram para torná-lo visual.

As quartas-feiras eram noites de concursos de dança, enchendo o salão de baile com círculos concêntricos de pessoas. Havia um círculo externo de espectadores e pessoas sentadas, incluindo celebridades como Kim Novak, Harry Belafonte e Marlon Brando, e um círculo interno, sentados no chão em comunidade, composto por conhecedores de dança negros, brancos e latinos e aspirantes a especialistas. .

Mambo é mais que um conjunto de passos de dança. É memória. É um momento recuperado das quadras de dança do Kongo. Em todas as aldeias do Norte do Kongo encontra-se este passo, especialmente durante matanga (“segundos funerais”). De acordo com um especialista indígena, Fu-Kiau Bunseki, o povo Bakongo refere-se a esta sequência de movimentos como buntika ye yalumuna makoto – “fechar e abrir os joelhos”. Fazer buntika significa “Estou aberto para dançar com você, se você estiver disposto(a)”. Yalumuna significa “Vamos nos mover juntos com os que estão na quadra de dança”.Mambo é confiar no parceiro,se entregar, deitar e rolar, no ombro e braços de entrelaçando, se apoiar, em movimento pendular,delirar,amar, Mambo só não vai quem acha que já morreu!!!!

Num Mundo VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex e ambíguos). Ou seja, volátil, incerto, complexo e ambíguo. O conceito VUCA foi introduzido ao mundo, nos anos 80, para designar as mudanças que a sociedade estava enfrentando e as estratégias militares que deveriam ser adotadas a partir de então. Por volta de 2002 a ideia se popularizou entre corporações para moldar estratégias disruptivas.Na guerra contra os terroristas do Hamas e Hesbollah por exemplo, os " pagers" e os " Walk Talkie" foran estrategicamente e taticamente " plantados" por bombas acionados por bombas que explodiram por acionamento por ondas de rádio.Na guerra ou na paz do Mambo, no VUCA , nas organizações, a inteligência é tudo! E não é e nunca será a IA ou IAGD!

Tudo junto e misturado já vinha na filosofia e no bailar do Mambo, lá não tem lugar para ideologias! Principalmente da esquerda populista ou comunista!

Numa Cuba " libre", sem bêbados ou bebidas, entorpecida por Che e Fidel, ambos ex-terroristas, estava a população muito bem sem os extremistas ou extremismos, Cuba era rica! Rica em tudo! Rica em liberdade cultural, livre e intelectual, que diga Hemingway e os intelectuais que fugiram para não perder tudo, inclusive a sua liberdade de criar e imaginar!

Nos aprisionamos, nos afligimos ditaduras para no final dar valor ao que perdemos: nossa liberdade!

Mambo é Liberdade!

Angela

Pamela

Sandra

Rita

Monica

Erica

Tina

Mary

Cassandra

Jessica, todas estão no Mambo #5 de Lou Bega!É uma canção dance originalmente composta e gravada por Pérez Prado em 1949.

E aí? Continua se achando estar morto? Velho? Nenhuma Sofia Loren ou Marcelo Mastroianni? Mambo!

[back-and-totheleft]

With yet another suicide bombing in Jerusalem Wednesday night — the second in that city in two days — I thought it was time to talk to Oliver Stone about his docu on Yasser Arafat. He said he is editing the Canal Plus-financed film for viewing with no outlet yet set in the U.S. He is also at work on his theatrical feature about Fidel Castro, whom he also interviewed — and says he has 30 hours of film with him. Stone was not able to interview Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon after his interview with Arafat in his Ramallah compound — because of the timing — but says he has spoken to three former Israeli prime ministers. Israel is concerned about Stone’s docu, says an article in the Jerusalem Post by Herb Keinon, which noted, “If (the) documentary on Yasser Arafat is as close to reality as were his movies on John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon, Israel has real reason for concern.” But Stone tells me, “I take no position on (Israel-Palestine). People think I’m pro one or the other.” Among his many interviews, he said, were those with suicide bombers, and he told me he “understands why they feel the way they do.” But he also reminded, “I’m against violence in these matters. I’m against suicide bombers — they kill innocent people.” He quickly added, ‘The (Jewish) settlements (on the West Bank) — they are something else. The Israelis have no business in the West Bank. The settlements have to be gotten out of the West Bank.” He likened some of the arrivals in the West Bank to “vigilantes of the Old West in America.” “We need a third power (the U.N.?) to patrol the area, as was done in the ’70s in the confrontations between the Turks and Greeks.” Stone did not put any credence into the (documented) reports that the Palestine Authority’s choice of armed struggle is a strategic means of realizing the establishment of a Palestinian state in the territories occupied by Israel since 1967. When I also told him of the education of Palestinian youths in an anti-Israel atmosphere and the glory of suicide bombing, he noted of the Arab-Israel tensions, “The memories are long as are the grudges and feuds.” -Army Archerd in Variety, June 19 2002

[pmcmarty]

Halfway Point Plus Red Sox!

The PMC is only 21 days away and I have crossed the halfway mark to my $12,000 goal!

I am confident that, with your help, I will get much closer to my goal as the date approaches.

In the meantime, tonight I will be attending my first PMC at Fenway Park event!

The PMC is the official charity of the Red Sox Foundation thanks in large part to the late Larry Lucchino.

In the words of Billy Starr, Founder and Executive Director of the PMC:

"…in [the] PMC world, there are few, if any, whose role allowed for such an oversized impact. Larry spoke at PMC Opening Ceremonies in 1995 (when he was with the San Diego Padres) and recognized the PMC’s potential immediately. When the Henry, Werner, Lucchino troika bought the team in 2002, Larry arranged for me to meet with John and Tom. My pitch was essentially: “The PMC is doing $15 million without you… imagine what we could raise with you.” Larry secured the sponsorship.

In 2003, the PMC signed a 3-year, $2.1 million sponsorship deal with the Red Sox. It was transformative – not just the money – but it being the first time – ever – a crown jewel sports franchise in the USA underwrote a bike event. Not a hospital, a bike event! Larry made that happen and the rest is history. He was smart, tough, fun, and deeply heartfelt. He had every reason to be, as a cancer survivor treated at Dana-Farber by PMC’s own Lee Nadler (who introduced the two of us). Larry always understood his obligation, and opportunity, to forward cancer research and treatment, given his Red Sox position and, soon thereafter, the Chairman of the Jimmy Fund as well as the co-chair of an earlier capital campaign (with current DFCI Chairman Josh Bekenstein). We were all the beneficiaries: from the Red Sox championships to a future filled with increasing hope for anybody receiving a cancer diagnosis. Larry was at the forefront of that battle as well. He will be terribly missed."

So at tonight's annual PMC Night at Fenway, PMC Riders who have survived cancer will be parading around the field before the game on their bikes. The PMC Logo will also be unveiled in its prominent position on the green Monster.

We have our commemorative hats and are very excited about tonight :-)

100% of every donation goes directly to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and supports cancer research & patient care.

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Thank you for your support!

Marty Middelmann

My 2024 Fundraising Goal: $12,000

Raised for 2024: $6,147

Number of Donors: 62

Corporate Matches: $450 (Including $200 Pending) 

My Progress Towards that Goal: 51.2%