#icons wolf burke

[justapillowpetpanda]

Horror Roundup: Terrifier 3, SCREAMBOX in May & More!

Welcome, weirdos to the BrittNic Creations’ Horror Roundup! Today, I’ve brought you some news and updates from the horror realm. The topics could include new clips from an upcoming horror film*, gothic artwork, indie games, and much more! There’s a mixture of horror goodies for everyone in the Horror Roundup. This will always be a random post. I like to think that life and horror aren’t any fun without some absurdity included in them. Now, let’s get to the fun part!

SCREAMBOX May Streaming Lineup

SCREAMBOX has revealed new films are joining the horror streaming service in May, including Life of Belle, México Bárbaro II, and Death 4 Told. Journey south of the border with México Bárbaro II on SCREAMBOX May 10. Michelle Garza Cervera (Huesera: The Bone Woman) and Diego Cohen (Mark of the Devil) are among the anthology's nine filmmakers exploring Mexico's most horrific traditions and legends.

One body, two heads, and 6,000 teeth take a bite out of SCREAMBOX in 2-Headed Shark Attack on May 10. Carmen Electra (Scary Movie), Charlie O'Connell (The Bachelor), and Brooke Hogan (Hogan Knows Best) star in the campy creature feature.

Enjoy four wicked tales of terror in Death 4 Told on SCREAMBOX May 10. The 2004 indie horror anthology features Margot Kidder (Black Christmas), Tom Savini (Dawn of the Dead), Alicia Goranson (Roseanne), Rich Sommer (Mad Men), and Lily Pilblad (Fringe).

Drawing comparisons to Paranormal Activity and Skinamarink, Life of Belle haunts SCREAMBOX on May 17. The found footage film attempts to piece together the mysterious disappearance of a young girl. Other May highlights include: Old Habits Die Hard, starring horror icon Kane Hodder (Friday the 13th franchise); Russian psychological horror The Bride; Harlow’s Haunt, featuring The Texas Chain Saw Massacre's John Dugan; Japanese oddity Occult Bolshevism; and furry slasher Lone Wolf.

'Terrifier 3' Premiere Date Changed

Cineverse, an innovative streaming technology and entertainment company, and Bloody Disgusting, its horror division, have today announced that the Terrifier 3 is now slated for an October 11th premiere this year. This moves the release date up two weeks, giving fans even more time to get into the holiday spirit –and make sure their stomachs are fully settled in time for any year-end family gatherings and dinners.

Courtesy of Cineverse and Bloody Disgusting In Terrifier 3, from filmmakers Damien Leone and Phil Falcone, Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton) is set to unleash another round of chaos on the unsuspecting residents of Miles County as they peacefully drift off to sleep on Christmas Eve. Returning cast includes Lauren LaVera (Sienna), Samantha Scaffidi (Victoria Heyes), Elliot Fullam (Jonathan Shaw) and AEW superstar Chris Jericho (Burke), with Daniel Roebuck set to debut as Santa Claus. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHxJMJOH54w "We're so excited to bring the next Terrifier to theaters this fall just in time for the Halloween season," said franchise producer Phil Falcone. "Terrifier 3 will deliver everything the fans expect and more with Art the Clown taking things to the next level. We can't thank our fans enough for their support and for making us believe we've made something truly special." "I knew the second I saw Terrifier 2 that it would be a generational horror film and was ecstatic when horror fans showed up to experience the movie in theaters making it one of the biggest indie horror successes of all time," added Brad Miska, VP, Bloody Disgusting for Cineverse. "With Terrifier 3, Damien Leone and Phil Falcone have handcrafted a theatrical experience like no other that will shock the hell out of audiences this fall. Art the Clown will slay October once again." https://twitter.com/damienleone/status/1777443451983863865 Written and directed by Leone, Terrifier 3 comes courtesy of Dark Age Cinema Productions. Phil Falcone Produces with Lisa Falcone acting as Executive Producer. Co-producers include Michael Leavy, Jason Leavy, George Steuber, and Steve Della Salla. Brad Miska, Brandon Hill, and Erick Opeka Executive Produce for Cineverse. Matthew Helderman and Luke Taylor also Executive Produce. Following the theatrical run, Cineverse plans to release the film across all platforms, including its SCREAMBOX horror streaming service.

Horror Books & Graphic Novels To Look Out For!

Bram Stoker Award nominee and critically acclaimed Black horror writer Johnny Compton returns with his eagerly anticipated sophomore novel Devils Kill Devils (on-sale Sep. 24, 2024) where monsters walk among us and in their wake lay shredded limbs, vengeful ambitions, and age-old prophecies edging ever-closer to reality. A Southern gothic horror set in the sticky Texas heat, Devils Kill Devils follows one brave woman in her pulse-pounding race against the hordes of hell. Compton’s Devils Kill Devils is infused with the dark corners and breathless urgency of Silvia Moreno-Garcia's Certain Dark Things. Through the steeled, steady courage of Sarita Bardales, this layered and terrifying tale reveals the blurred lines between angels and demons—and the pain of being caught in their crossfire.

Bestselling and #HorrorBookTok-favorite author Nick Cutter, THE QUEEN (on sale October 2) is a creeping, crawling horror that follows a young woman searching for answers around her friend’s disappearance and uncovering secrets beyond her wildest nightmares along the way. When Margaret Carpenter’s best friend, Charity Atwater, goes missing after a party, she believes her to be dead until an iPhone appears at her doorstep pinging with texts and clues from the missing girl. In a twisted scavenger hunt over one feverish day, Margaret follows Charity’s increasingly frantic breadcrumbs through their high school, under the city, and into the orbit of Rudyard Crate—a terrifying tech titan dedicating his billions to depraved gene-mutation experiments.

This fall, Ten Speed Graphic will launch a supernatural mystery series by acclaimed comics creator Tri Vuong: The Strange Tales of Oscar Zahn: Volume One (on sale September 10th, 2024). Adapted into a graphic novel from the fan-favorite Webtoon series, The Strange Tales of Oscar Zahn is beautifully illustrated and features extended artwork and an expanded storyline. Oscar Zahn is just like any other paranormal investigator—he’s working hard to make the world a better place, one exorcism at a time. So what if he’s just a floating skull wearing a trench coat? He’s still got a heart of gold! The Strange Tales of Oscar Zahn: Volume One introduces readers to Oscar and his mysterious assistant Agnes as they embark on a frightening yet heartwarming journey across ethereal realms, rescuing lost souls and solving creepy mysteries. Yet the more mysteries Oscar solves, the clearer it becomes that there's a greater game afoot, one that involves his own forgotten origin story.

'The Boys' Season 4 Trailer

Credit: Amazon MGM Studios The Boys will premiere its fourth season on June 13, 2024, with three episodes, followed by a new episode each week, ending with the epic season finale on Thursday, July 18. The eight-episode season will stream exclusively on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide. In Season Four, the world is on the brink. Victoria Neuman is closer than ever to the Oval Office and under the muscly thumb of Homelander, who is consolidating his power. Butcher, with only months to live, has lost Becca’s son and his job as The Boys’ leader. The rest of the team are fed up with his lies. With the stakes higher than ever, they have to find a way to work together and save the world before it’s too late. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzFXDvC-EwM The Boys stars Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Jessie T. Usher, Laz Alonso, Chace Crawford, Tomer Capone, Karen Fukuhara, Colby Minifie, Claudia Doumit, and Cameron Crovetti. Season Four will welcome Susan Heyward, Valorie Curry, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan.

Credit: Amazon MGM Studios The Boys is based on The New York Times best-selling comic by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, who also serve as executive producers, and developed by executive producer and showrunner Eric Kripke. Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, James Weaver, Neal H. Moritz, Pavun Shetty, Phil Sgriccia, Michaela Starr, Paul Grellong, David Reed, Meredith Glynn, Judalina Neira, Ken F. Levin, and Jason Netter also serve as executive producers. The Boys is produced by Sony Pictures Television, Amazon MGM Studios with Kripke Enterprises, Original Film, and Point Grey Pictures. Read the full article

[punkalope]

what are your fave novel, movie, and album?

Oh man this is a hard one just because I'm so indecisive. I might reblog this in the morning with more if I remember.

Novel? One specific is hard but I read Compass Rose & it's sequel Sea Wolf by Anna Burke this year and adored them. They weren't perfect by any means (I'm not the biggest YA fan but I kinda just saw "lesbian scifi pirates" and dove in) but I enjoyed it and I'm actually really excited for this author's next book this week! It's about vampires!

Tho tbh if I had to pick a current favourite standalone novel I'd saaaay. True Nature by Jae. It's technically a sequel but stands on it's own just fine. I read it I think in early 2022? And its really peak Werewolf Novel imo. It was also extremely fun to read dialogue from deaf / hoh characters and their pov. Also good sex scenes too tbh.

Watership Down is also really high up there but I read it in high school and I want to reread because I had to rush reading it for a school project and I don't think I absorbed it as much as I could've lol.

Movie is also hard! The Spiderverse movies are up high because they're works of art. I rewatched ATSV today with friends for the 3rd time and my first two times were in theateres lol. It actually made me wanna go into animation again if ever possible.

Nimona also just hit me in a really emotional spot. It was not perfect at all but it felt special to me. Hence my icon change lol.

Skinamarink was super my thing and I loved what it did. I want more like it.

But honestly despite that I think my favourite movie(s) might be the Fear Street trilogy just because it's something I feel like I have to recommend with nothing but "if you like horror pls watch it". I think it's best experienced completely blind outside of trigger warnings. Please trust me and watch them I beg of you.

Albums... This is something I've been thinking of a lot. I know I have a favourite album but it changes so often lol. It's also like my music and there's "albums that meant a lot to me growing up" vs "this is whats been rotting my brain for days to weeks rn".

I always find myself coming back to Linkin Park's A Thousand Suns though. So I'll say it's that.

[smhicons]

se salvar like

icons sem psd

[fnafdlc]

vanny / vanessa 🐰 he/bun/she 🐰 22

hi hi! this is my fnaf IRL sideblog! the theming of this blog will likely change a lot because i like to change things up to match what i feel, but i’ll likely be keeping the same url no matter what so don’t worry about that !! :P

i probably won’t be comfortable with you if you’re a ‘double’/kin any of my irls unless we already know each other!

header img by itslillyillustrates, icon from here, edited by me!

taglist under the cut!

this list is subject to change both in how the tags look at who’s on the list :P

(note: some characters are listed as both f/o and cc! this is because my feelings differ about them depending what my current main d/a shift is!)

IRL TAGS:

𝗶𝗿𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝗴: springbonnie 🌻 𝗶𝗿𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝗴: vanny 🐰 𝗶𝗿𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝗴: roxanne wolf 🐺 𝗶𝗿𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝗴: sun ☀️ 𝗶𝗿𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝗴: charlie emily 🕹️ 𝗶𝗿𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝗴: bonnie 🎸 𝗶𝗿𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝗴: glamrock bonnie 🌠 𝗶𝗿𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝗴: toy bonnie 🎼 𝗶𝗿𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝗴: circus baby 🍦 𝗶𝗿𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝗴: ennard ⚙️ 𝗶𝗿𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝗴: springtrap 🐇 𝗶𝗿𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝗴: vanessa 🔦 𝗶𝗿𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝗴: gregory 💫 𝗶𝗿𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝗴: plushtrap 🪑 𝗶𝗿𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝗴: crying child 🧸 𝗶𝗿𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝗴: jack-o-bonnie 🎃 𝗶𝗿𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝗴: the puppet 🎁 𝗶𝗿𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝗴: tape girl 📼 𝗶𝗿𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝗴: bonbon ✨ 𝗶𝗿𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝗴: toy chica 🧁 𝗶𝗿𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝗴:  jeremy fitzgerald 🖥️

F/O TAGS:

𝗳/𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗴: fredbear 🍯 𝗳/𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗴: luis cabrera ⭐ 𝗳/𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗴: glamrock chica 🍕 𝗳/𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗴: moon 🌙 𝗳/𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗴: carlton burke 𝗳/𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗴: freddy fazbear 🐻 𝗳/𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗴: glamrock freddy ⚡ 𝗳/𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗴: toy freddy 🎤 𝗳/𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗴: funtime freddy 🔋 𝗳/𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗴: golden freddy 🐾 𝗳/𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗴: michael afton 🍂 𝗳/𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗴: fritz smith 🔧 𝗳/𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗴: mangle 🌸

CC TAGS:

𝗰𝗰 𝘁𝗮𝗴: glamrock freddy ⚡ 𝗰𝗰 𝘁𝗮𝗴: glamrock chica 🍕 𝗰𝗰 𝘁𝗮𝗴: montgomery gator 🐊 𝗰𝗰 𝘁𝗮𝗴: mangle 🌸 𝗰𝗰 𝘁𝗮𝗴: chica 🐤 𝗰𝗰 𝘁𝗮𝗴: henry emily 🗜️ 𝗰𝗰 𝘁𝗮𝗴: michael afton 🍂 𝗰𝗰 𝘁𝗮𝗴: happy frog 🐸 𝗰𝗰 𝘁𝗮𝗴: balloon boy 🎈 𝗰𝗰 𝘁𝗮𝗴: dj music man 🎶 𝗰𝗰 𝘁𝗮𝗴: lolbit 📺 𝗰𝗰 𝘁𝗮𝗴: wet floor bot ⚠️ 𝗰𝗰 𝘁𝗮𝗴: glitchtrap 👾 𝗰𝗰 𝘁𝗮𝗴: ballora 🩰 𝗰𝗰 𝘁𝗮𝗴: funtime foxy 🦊

[daycaretheatre]

moon / moonie 🌙 he / him / night / nights 🌙 22

this is my fnaf d/a sideblog! I will most likely be talking about memories and stuff like that across all of my d/a’s, the theming of this blog will change a lot depending on how I’m feeling but I'll be keeping the same url :] I am NOT comfortable with doubles of my d/a’s and people who have the same F/O’s as me, if you do for any of these then please do not interact with my blog I will just block you. (/srs)

icon by

taglist under the cut!

D/A TAGS

𝗱/𝗮 𝘁𝗮𝗴: moon 🌙 𝗱/𝗮 𝘁𝗮𝗴: glitchtrap 👾 𝗱/𝗮 𝘁𝗮𝗴: glamrock freddy ⚡ 𝗱/𝗮 𝘁𝗮𝗴: glamrock chica 🍕 𝗱/𝗮 𝘁𝗮𝗴: montgomery gator 🐊 𝗱/𝗮 𝘁𝗮𝗴: foxy the pirate 🏴‍☠️ 𝗱/𝗮 𝘁𝗮𝗴: freddy fazbear 🐻 𝗱/𝗮 𝘁𝗮𝗴: funtime foxy 🦊 𝗱/𝗮 𝘁𝗮𝗴: funtime freddy 𝗱/𝗮 𝘁𝗮𝗴: toy freddy 🎤 𝗱/𝗮 𝘁𝗮𝗴: mangle 🌸 𝗱/𝗮 𝘁𝗮𝗴: fredbear 🍯 𝗱/𝗮 𝘁𝗮𝗴: golden freddy 🐾 𝗱/𝗮 𝘁𝗮𝗴: carlton burke 🕹️    𝗱/𝗮 𝘁𝗮𝗴: fritz smith 🔧 𝗱/𝗮 𝘁𝗮𝗴: luis cabrera ⭐ 𝗱/𝗮 𝘁𝗮𝗴: michael afton 🍂    𝗱/𝗮 𝘁𝗮𝗴: henry emily🗜️

F/O TAGS

𝗳/𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗴: springbonnie 🌻 𝗳/𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗴: vanny 🐰 𝗳/𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗴: roxanne wolf 🐺 𝗳/𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗴: sun ☀️ 𝗳/𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗴: charlie emily 🕹️ 𝗳/𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗴: bonnie 🎸 𝗳/𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗴: glamrock bonnie 🌠 𝗳/𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗴: toy bonnie 🎼 𝗳/𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗴: springtrap 🐇 𝗳/𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗴: vanessa 🔦 𝗳/𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗴: tape girl 📼

CC TAGS

𝗰𝗰 𝘁𝗮𝗴: chica 🐤 𝗰𝗰 𝘁𝗮𝗴: ballora 🩰 𝗰𝗰 𝘁𝗮𝗴: the puppet 🎁 𝗰𝗰 𝘁𝗮𝗴: gregory 💫 𝗰𝗰 𝘁𝗮𝗴: wet floor bot ⚠️

[peterguralnick]

Looking To Get Lost on October 27

Music’s Preeminent Biographer Peter Guralnick Returns With “Revelatory” (Kirkus) New Anthology Looking To Get Lost: Adventures In Music And Writing (Little, Brown, October 27)

Includes Chapters On Ray Charles, Solomon Burke, Tammy Wynette, Bill Monroe And More 

On October 27, Little, Brown will publish Looking To Get Lost: Adventures in

 Music and Writing, the first book in five years by best-selling and award-winning author Peter Guralnick.  Nearly fifty years after the publication of his first anthology of music writing, Guralnick is sharing his most personal collection to date as he pulls back the curtain on the writing process itself, and some of his memorable encounters with music icons like Ray Charles, Chuck Berry, Johnny Cash, Tammy Wynette, Eric Clapton, Elvis Costello, Allen Toussaint, Howlin’ Wolf, Solomon Burke, Merle Haggard, and Dick Curless. A starred Kirkus review calls it “revelatory” while historian Douglas Brinkley has hailed it as “a pulsing jukebox of a memoir and cultural history…a literary masterpiece.”

While Guralnick is perhaps best known as one of our preeminent biographers -- winning numerous awards and "Book of The Decade" honors for his definitive works on Elvis Presley, Sam Cooke, Robert Johnson, and Sun Records founder Sam Phillips -- Looking To Get Lost is a diverse, wide-ranging anthology recalling his ground-breaking ‘70s collection Feel Like Going Home.

Some of the stories featured in Looking To Get Lost include Guralnick’s novella-length account of the life and hard-then-redemptive times of Dick Curless, along with masterful portraits of Merle Haggard, caught at a particularly fragile moment in his personal and professional life, and songwriter Doc Pomus, of whom it has been said, “If the music business had a heart, it would be Doc Pomus.” There are also jewel-like profiles of Chuck Berry, Willie Dixon, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Howlin’ Wolf as well as an epic new portrait-in-three-parts of Solomon Burke, the “King of Rock ‘n’ Soul,” through the filter of a 30-year friendship, not to mention a fresh take on Elvis Presley’s career through a unique (and very personal) portrait of his tirelessly innovative manager Colonel Tom Parker called “Me and the Colonel.”

Through his books, Guralnick has earned an illustrious list of on-record fans and collaborators, including Bob Dylan, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Ken Burns, Lucinda Williams,  Bruce Springsteen, Martin Scorsese, Chuck D, , Leonardo DiCaprio, and Mick Jagger; Jagger and DiCaprio are currently working on a film adaption of Guralnick's most recent book, 2015's Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock 'n' Roll. His Presley biographyLast Train To Memphis was named one of the Books of The Decade by Esquire and Entertainment Weekly, while Sweet Soul Music, his epic account of the rise of Southern Soul and Lost Highway have been prominently placed on Best Music Books of All Time lists by Pitchfork, VIBE, and Billboard. The late Lester Bangs once said that “You put [his] book down feeling that its sweep is vast, that you have read of giants who walked among us.” Social and cultural historian Nat Hentoff compared Guralnick’s work to Chekhov’s, and Greil Marcus hailed his first book as “the most loving book I have ever read about American popular music, and one of the more savvy.”

[thewellzine]

Some books I’ve acquired or read (or both) during quarantine.

By William Page 

Hoodoo by Ronald L. Smith

I recently added a bunch of middle grade speculative fiction by Black authors to my list because 1. I’ll never outgrow good middle grade fiction and 2. I want to be able to give better recs to young Black readers. The blurb told me that the main character’s name is actually Hoodoo (Hatcher). Wasn’t expecting that. It also alludes to a central conflict between Hoodoo and a sinister stranger with “black magic,” a characterization that Courtney Reid-Eaton long ago brought to my attention as problematic (equating blackness or darkness with evil). Still, I haven’t come across many middle grade books dealing with Black folk magic, and I’m interested in seeing what the author does with it.

The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter

Has been on my radar for a while. I’ve heard it described as a collection of feminist retellings of “traditional” fairytales and myths, which I can definitely get down with. It does make me think about conversations we’ve had during the course of the DDP re: subverting the “canon” vs. forgetting it/making a new one.

Zone One by Colson Whitehead

I can’t overstate my love for this person. The Underground Railroad blew my mind. The Nickel Boys was great in a completely different, often more subtle way. His oeuvre makes a case for him as the most versatile writer writing. I also had a chance to hear him give a talk once, and can personally attest to his wit and humor. I’d never read this one, and reached for it as a relevant quarantine/pandemic read (i.e. it takes place in the aftermath of a pandemic that has turned most people into zombies). Unfortunately, though, the beginning didn’t grab me, and I eventually put it down. This has happened with books that I’ve later come back to and loved (most notably One Hundred Years of Solitude), so I’m hopeful that this just wasn’t the right time.

Forest of a Thousand Daemons: A Hunter’s Saga by D. O. Fagunwa

Marlon James put me on during an episode of his podcast with his editor, Jake Morrissey (“Marlon and Jake Read Dead People”). He sighted it as one of the works that influenced his Black, queer, epic, epic, epic fantasy masterpiece, Black Leopard, Red Wolf. Fagunwa’s novel is considered the first ever written in Yoruba, and it predated fantasy “classics” like Lord of the Rings. It’s strictly episodic in form, and I most enjoyed the rich depictions of the mythological beings inhabiting the forest.

The Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste

Same as with Hoodoo, I want to read this partially because I want to be able to recommend more Black, speculative works to young Black readers! The blurb told me that it’s a retelling of a classic Haitian folktale, “The Magic Orange Tree,” which I’m not familiar with. Rather, I was drawn by the title, which reminded me of the mako jumbie that makes a brief but memorable appearance in Nalo Hopkinson’s Midnight Robber. Haillee Mason also recently introduced me to moko jumbies. So, I guess I’ve been thinking a fair amount about jumbies.

Meji: Book One by Milon Davis

Milton Davis writes what Charles Saunders coined “sword-and-soul,” or sword-and-sorcery (a fantasy subgenre) centering African histories, cultures, traditions, mythologies, etc. (Davis wrote a short sword-and-soul primer that can be found at https://www.miltonjdavis.com/post/a-sword-and-soul-primer.) Sword-and-sorcery/soul isn’t typically my go-to speculative subgenre, but I’m excited to give it a try.

Let’s Play White by Chesya Burke

I just started reading this collection of stories. The first, “Walter and the Three-Legged King” (which surprised me with the collection’s titular phrase[?]), was just okay to me. The second, “Purse,” was really short and disturbing (not a bad thing). The third, “I Make People Do Bad Things,” was a well-rendered, somewhat morbid period piece (definitely Harlem, seemingly sometime in the early part of the 20th century, though I don’t think it’s stated explicitly) with several big characters. The fourth, “The Unremembered,” was very tender and fed my interest in explorations of legacy and inheritance. All were undoubtedly unique in concept. I’m looking forward to the rest.

Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey

I don’t read a ton of brand-new releases by author’s I’m not already somewhat familiar with, but this one drew me for whatever reason. I saw it described as a story about a group of travelling, queer librarians in an unambiguously fascist, dystopian, near-future American West. The story moves pretty quickly (with lots of action), and I found myself wishing it was longer. Still, the author develops the two main characters well and I was at times audibly rooting for them. The depiction of the various forms that resistance can take and the ways in which community underpins it all felt very relevant.

Lakewood by Megan Giddings

Land, who owns the bookshop where I work, brought me this advance copy from the American Booksellers Association’s 2020 Winter Institute. I didn’t get around to it for a few months, and therefore didn’t realize that he got her to sign it to me :) It (the book) was chilling primarily because of how plausible it felt thanks to our country’s long history of race-based medical experimentation and violence.

The New Moon’s Arms by Nalo Hopkinson

Nalo Hopkinson is one of the O.G.s of Black Caribbean speculative fiction. I have a bunch of her novels (including the aforementioned Midnight Robber), but had never heard of this. The blurb doesn’t give much away regarding the mechanism of the main character’s power, and that makes me really curious about it. The power to find lost things sounds ideal, but it’ll clearly be much more complicated than that.

The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin

I don’t post much on IG, but The City We Became brought me out of the woodwork. Since I already wrote that, I’ve copied it below.

It's like she wrote a love letter to NYC and let us read it. And by "love letter," I don't mean trite, or even always that warm, or rooted in romanticization. The city I met as a reader felt genuine, with a definite edge. Also taut, maybe? Somehow still very tender. Gritty (this one might be trite, but, if so, charge it to me, not her). Frustrating in ways that rang true and which were often tooooooo familiar. I don't think it's a spoiler to say that soul-sucking gentrification, general anti-Blackness, the ways that capital and power operate in art spaces, and a host of other ills not unique to any one place figure prominently in the story. And in this case, they become magnified in an interdimensional way, become harbingers and footholds for something incomprehensible and deeply unsettling (her imagery for this element, in particular, is striking). The story was also, at times, kind of hilarious. And thrilling. And everything but simple or straightforward, which makes sense given that it's a meditation on cities (which are neither of those things). What are they, then, really? What gives them their soul? In what ways are they strong, and from where does this strength flow? And what might one do or sacrifice for their own? It's not difficult to get some sense of how she feels about hers (in her acknowledgements she says she's both hated and loved the city, and I immediately thought about Jimmie Fails iconic quote from The Last Black Man in San Francisco: "you don't get to hate it unless you love it.") It definitely caused me to reflect more on mine. At this point, I have her to thank for way more than a few trippy and magnificent reading experiences. How lucky I feel to be living in the time of N.K. Jemisin.

[forksofwisdom]

12, 13, 14, & 16 👉🏻

Yay, more questions! Thank you (also some of these were really difficult ಥωಥ)

12. favorite character casting(s)?

Rami Malek - it was such a treat to see him as Benjamin in Breaking Dawn: the part lost inside the void. The only thing I was excited about seeing in Breaking Dawn was the foreign vampires, and they didn’t disappoint!

Billy Burke as Charlie “mustachio” Swan

*cough* Alex Meraz *cough* Julia Jones *hack* the entire wolf pack *wheeze*

13. least favorite character casting(s)?

CGI baby?? I don’t know - I’ve never really thought about it - maybe Mackenzie Foy, but that’s just because I want to bleach my mind free of any Renesmee reminders.

14. favorite songs from the soundtracks?

Oh, easy - the ever iconic Supermassive Black Hole by Muse!

16. which character would you want to be?

Why are these questions so difficult??? Maybe Marcus just for the sake of the angst and family drama? But I am an Avatar the Last Airbender nerd at heart, so I have to go with Benjamin (also I love watching documentaries about ancient Egypt, so I like the idea of being there in person)

Questions found here!

[breegullbeakreviews]

           So the Rampage movie is out and its fine action shlock, but something was lost in adaptation. The monsters are mutated animals as opposed to mutated humans. So here is my pitch on how to adapt what the film is into one where Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson turns into a giant gorilla.

Spoilers for Rampage

           The movie Rampage as it stands has an evil corporation using the genetics research of Dr. Kate Caldwell, a woman trying to afford to save her brother to create genetically modified animals. Once she finds out what they’re doing she tries to stop it and is arrested and never gets to see her brother before he passes away. This woman is not are lead. In fact despite having the more interesting backstory she’s more or less the side-kick to the actual lead, a primatologist named Davis who is ex-military so that he can have some explanation for being an action hero and a scientist man. If you know that games you know what is missing here based off of that first sentence. The monsters are just giant hybrid animals. In the game they’re humans who are turned into giant animals, and missing this is missing a massive amount of potential for a more interesting movie.

           In my pitch the film isn’t that different in character motivations, in fact you can probably keep most of the current cast and character backstories the same. Our lead isn’t Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson though, or at least he isn’t the main focus. Kate is the lead and she keeps her current story for the most part. The Davis character is either her brother or her lover or whatever that she is trying to save because most importantly, he is dying, and even more importantly, his name is George. Kate works at the same evil corporation, and in a desperate attempt to save his life is authorized to test the experimental formula on him. The formula is designed to genetically enhance humans with different animal like abilities for military use. It’s dumb, but so is genetically modified animals.

           From here the film is basically the Incredible Hulk but with even more giant monsters and played way less seriously. While the formula does give you enhanced abilities, getting angry of more animalistic in nature starts to turn you into a giant animal monster based on the genes you were given. So basically Kate and the now super powered Gorilla powered man named George are on the run for some reason. Being authorized to use the formula was a trap and the evil corporation now plans to use the military to put there test monkey through the ringer. Joe Manganiello is our Emily Blonsky for the film, or as he was known in the Incredible Hulk: Abomination, the other green monster man. Instead of being some solider named Burke who is killed by the giant wolf, he is the wolf. His name is Ralph and in order to hunt down Kate and George he is given a formula to give him wolf abilities so that he’s on an even playing field with George. Obviously this is built to like in Incredible Hulk and not done right off the bat, but it’s done much earlier on and progresses much faster to a full on Wolf man. In fact he’s probably the first to go full beast and that could be what pushes George to go full ape.

             Several action scenes later are leading duo realize that due to the nature of how George was given the formula, being pretty much dead at the time of injection, the animal side is taking over so they need to head back to the labs in Chicago to use the research there to stabilize him before his human side is lost forever. Of course things don’t go smoothly. Evil company head Elizabeth Wyden, name changed from the movie we got, but still mostly the same character from the movie and still played by Malin Akerman, tries to stop them using the military who are still led by Harvey Russell as played by Jeffery Dean Morgan and her brother Larry/Curtis Wyden, played by Jake Lacy. If the name changes didn’t make it apparent, in a last ditch effort to capture George and Kate for study, the two use the formulas on themselves. Elizabeth turns into Lizzie the giant Lizard and Larry/Curtis turns into a giant Rat.

           These series mascots battle it out with George while Kate discovers that Lizzie and Larry/Curtis are both in full control as is Ralph. She also discovers a way to get George back under control using science, but with no safe way to get to George as he is battling the other giant monsters she needs a way there fast and safely. The military, or at least Harvey realizes she and George have been set up and they’re being played. The two race to the waring monsters where Kate gets out and powers up herself after giving a little speech. You know the one. The “If I don’t come back you know what to do” speech. Now I could have changed Kate’s name to Ruby and had her turn into the Lobster from the sequel to the original game, there is even the massive roster of the 2006 game to pull from. Sadly outside Lizzie most of the designs suck for the female monsters, so Kate is turning into a giant Leopard monster instead. Maybe have George call her “Kat” jokingly early in the film. From here it’s a two on three monster battle. Maybe we somehow squeeze Boris the Rhino in here as well.

           Now how can we get a happy ending here? Our heroes are monsters as are the villains and the military probably isn’t having any of this. Well that’s where we go back to what the best part of Rampage the game is, when the player monster loses all of their health they shrink back down into their normal naked self’s. This way we don’t have to throw out the iconic monsters if we ever want a sequel, which of course we’ll tease. All you need to do is knock the monster unconscious or do enough damage to them to have them revert back to their human self. George and Kate manage defeat the other monsters who revert back to their unconscious forms where they are arrested as Kate left behind all the proof needed to show that Elizabeth and Larry/Curtis were behind all of this. George and Kate escape and knock each other out. They come forward and while are kept in containment for testing because un-tested science and what not, the two are considered to be heroes.

           Now how do we tease a sequel? Well the whole world has clearly seen this incident, and I guess end on another evil business man or maybe someone in the military recovering the various other formulas for potential later use. I’m thinking go nuts like the 2006 game and have as many mutant monsters as possible, but for now a tease that there are more animal powers ready to go.

           Now what do these character changes mean for the overall message of the film which was originally about learning to trust people again. Well I guess anger control or something I don’t know. This is just a vague idea of what this film could have been, and these thoughts were often overshadowing the film as it stands while I was watching it.

[burkeandharesworld]

Hello there its Mr Burke here wanting talk about another icon of horror and today I want talk about the great Claude Rains. Claude Rains is English actor stared in a lot the classic universal monster films. He was in The Wolf Man The Phantom Of The opera and to me his best role and his most know role The Invisible Man. That to me is iconic character as Jack Griffin The Invisible Man. To me Claude was a legend of horror who work is timeless and his legacy will last forever. And I want to say thank you Claude. #clauderains #clauderainsmovies #theinvisibleman #phantomoftheopera #horror #horrorfans #horrorfansworldwide #horroricons #actors #famousactors #legends #hollywood https://www.instagram.com/p/CGdpGZHlHid/?igshid=189wwq3wqzc0s

[junker-town]

Western Illinois, Year 21, 2027-2028

The Western Illinois Leathernecks try to defend their latest national championship in our College Hoops 2K8 sim dynasty.

Welcome back to our simulated dynasty with the Western Illinois Leathernecks in College Hoops 2K8. You can find a full explanation of this project + spoiler-free links to previous seasons here. Check out the introduction to this series from early April for full context. As a reminder, we simulate every game in this series and only control the recruiting and coaching strategies.

Before we start Year 21 of Coach Rick’s tenure at Western Illinois, here’s a recap of everything that has happened so far last season:

Western Illinois entered the season seeking redemption after losing to Cal in the first round of the NCAA tournament the previous year. We struggled against a difficult non-conference schedule before sweeping the Summit League and again capturing the conference tournament championship. We entered the NCAA tournament at 24-6 overall.

We earned a No. 12 seed in the NCAA tournament. We defeated No. 5 seed Minnesota, 89-72, in the first round. We beat No. 4 seed Ole Miss, 116-85, in the round of 32 as senior wing Wilky Henry set a program record with 46 points. We defeated No. 1 seed Dayton, 109-82, in the Sweet 16, and then we beat No. 2 seed Indiana in the Elite Eight, 105-69. You can read a full recap of our road to the Final Four here.

We defeated No. 2 seed Pepperdine, 93-70, in the Final Four. We then beat No. 5 seed Villanova, 97-67, to win the national championship. Read a full recap of our Final Four performance + the offseason here.

We recruited for one scholarship and landed five-star JUCO shooting guard Edwin Wolfe after the season.

It’s our third national championship since I arrived at Western Illinois. Hang the damn banner!

Absolutely historic, hilariously dominant run for our ‘Necks, winning by an average of 27.3 points per game during our six-game sweep of the tournament. Did I mention that we were a No. 12 seed? We’re the lowest-seeded team ever to win the national championship — breaking our own record as a No. 10 seed in 2015 — and we did it with easily the largest margin of victory for any national champion ever.

When I took over at Western Illinois as a fresh 25-year-old head coach, I knew the school (read: the game) had a mandatory retirement policy after 40 years. We have now crossed the halfway point of the dynasty. A few numbers to contextualize our accomplishments here so far:

Overall record: 531-126

Summit League regular season championships: 18

Summit League tournament championships: 15

NCAA tournament appearances: 17

Sweet 16 appearances: 8

Final Four appearances: 4

NCAA tournament record: 36-14

And three ‘ships. The goal is turn the worst college basketball program ever into the best college basketball program ever. We’re coming for you, Coach K.

The best news? We return four starters from last season. While our stud small forward Wilky Henry is off to the NBA, everyone else is coming back, including iconic power forward Allan Cunningham. In the previous two times we won a national championship, we lost in the first round the very next year. We can’t let that happen again this season.

We’re running it back.

Here’s a first look at our roster heading into Year 21.

Back-to-back national championships is one thing we yet to accomplish during our time at Western Illinois. We want national title No. 4 and we have the team to do it.

Let’s meet the starters. If you click the link on their name it will reveal their full attributes.

PG Tron Whaley, redshirt senior, 90 overall: Whaley is everything we want out of a point guard. He has great size at 6’4, he’s the team’s best three-point shooter with an 87 rating from behind the arc, and he’s been less turnover prone than some of our lead guards in the past. He also has a sick name. Tron famously scored 21 points in the first half of our Sweet 16 win over No. 1 Dayton last season before leading us to a national title. He already feels like a top-three point guard in program history, but another title could have him going down as the best to ever play the position for the ‘Necks. Former No. 128 overall recruit with C+ potential.

SG Mathew Alloway, redshirt sophomore, 87 overall: Alloway was a rare freshman starter for the Leathernecks last season and provided a steady scoring presence on the perimeter. He’s grown an inch to 6’7 over the offseason and projects as a burgeoning two-way force at shooting guard. Alloway has improved to an 81 rating in three-point shooting with promising defensive playmaking ability. He still needs to work on his awareness at both ends. The former Mr. Basketball out of Minnesota was once the No. 31 overall recruit and has B- potential.

SF Wilbur Ager, redshirt junior, 91 overall: Ager is our only new starter, and he has big shoes to fill at small forward after Wilky Henry’s legendary NCAA tournament run last season. A 6’7 wing, Ager is a bit shaky as a three-point shooter (75 rating), but has a well-rounded skill set and no glaring weaknesses in his game. Former No. 110 overall recruit out of Chicago with C+ potential.

PF Allan Cunningham, redshirt senior, 92 overall: Cunningham has a chance to go down as the greatest player in program history as he enters his senior season. The 6’11, 292-pound power forward is a consistent scorer with a damn near unstoppable skill set. Ham uses his massive size advantages to bully opposing fours down low, but also can step out and rip three-pointers. He has proven time and time again that he is one of the most dependable players we’ve ever had during streams. We can’t wait to see how he closes out his legendary career. Former No. 67 overall recruit and projected top pick in the NBA draft.

C Pat Giddens, redshirt senior, 94 overall: It’s shocking to see Giddens return for his senior season after being projected as a lottery pick last season. Giddens starts the year as the second highest rated player in America. While he struggled to live up to his lofty overall rating for much of his career, Giddens proved his worth anchoring our title run in the middle last year. Giddens’ lack of height (6’9) could still be a problem against the wrong matchup, but he is hilariously large at nearly 300 pounds. Last year’s tournament run should silence any lingering questions about his game.

We’re going to be playing five guys off the bench for a 10-man rotation. Sophomore center Kevin Brazzle will be our sixth man as a 7’2 big man already projected as a first round pick by NBA scouts. He’ll be joined in the front court by fellow sophomore L.F. Neal, a 6’10, 201 pound string bean who flies all over the court whenever he’s in the game. 6’10 wing Jitim Dupre will get minutes at small forward as a freshman, while legendary recruiting bust Vitor Andrisevic gets a handful of minutes at the two in his senior year, and sophomore Jamie Burke runs backup point.

We also welcome one new recruit this year, five-star JUCO shooting guard Edwin Wolfe from Federal Way, Washington. Wolfe comes in as a 70 overall with C+ potential, which is for sure disappointing. He’ll redshirt.

Recruiting

This isn’t just a huge season because we’re trying to repeat as national champions — we also have four scholarships to recruit for to ensure the future of the program is as bright as the present. Power forward is the biggest position of need, because we have four players who will be redshirt sophomores next year with a hole at the four. I considered going after a five-star JUCO power forward, but ultimately think it’s most important to focus on getting good guards.

After surveying the available options, I decide to use my early visits on the following players:

PG Alexis Willingham out of Chicago, No. 68 overall and No. 28 at his position

SG Jeromy Perry out of Atlanta, No 55 overall and No. 16 at his position

I also offer center Dick Copeland, ranked No. 113 overall and No. 2 at his position, and power forward J.J. Bracy, ranked No. 24 overall and No. 2 at his position, on first day we’re allowed to extend scholarships.

We also have a player to create for the winner of last year’s bracket challenge: reader Gavin. His created player requires a little explanation because it’s a reference to one of the most infamous moments in the history of our Twitch stream. A few years back, we lost an assistant coach during the offseason. As I went to hire someone new, the Twitch chat was going wild telling me to hire a man named Rudolpho Butt. I hired a different coach instead, and the chat turned on me quick. It remains a running joke to this day. The created player reader Gavin created is choosing to make? 6’11 power forward Rudolpho Butt Jr. As a reminder, we don’t go after the players we recruit to preserve the integrity of the game, but we’ll follow Butt Jr. throughout his career.

It’s time to begin the regular season. We start the year rated as a 99 overall. Let’s run it back.

First game: @ Dayton

It seems like only yesterday we were creating Matt Boswell as the winner of our first ever bracket contest. Now he’s a senior power forward at Dayton and one of the best players in America. Can’t believe it’s been four years! While many are saying Boswell’s reputation took a hit after he predicted he would be ‘dropping 28’ on Giddens in the Sweet 16 last year only to get completely demolished, we still respect what he’s accomplished during his college career. Now let’s send him out as a loser.

Loss, 89-81. Man, not how we wanted to open the year. We just fell apart in the second half offensively. Giddens had a nice night scoring the ball, but he also gave up 28 points to Dayton’s starting center. Boswell had 11 points as he was limited to 18 minutes because of foul trouble. More troubling: our shooting. It’s going to be tough to win any game when you only hit four three-pointers. Henry was our most prolific shooter last season so we’ll have to prove we can still rain threes without him.

Next we’re in the Hawaii Invitational tournament aka We Couldn’t Get the Rights To Call It The Maui. Win a championship and we take you to Hawaii, those are the rules. Our first game is against Harvard.

Win, 91-65. Ham going ham with 22 points, 10 rebounds, and three blocks on 11-of-13 shooting at the foul line. Love to see Tron with nine dimes to one turnover.

Next up, we face Michigan State, who is unranked but enters at 4-0 on the season.

Win, 101-82. GIDDENS, what a game. A cool 25 points, seven rebounds, and four stocks. Big is beautiful. Nice to see Ager consistently force his way to the line and give us some scoring on the wing. Bench brought it, too. Now we’re in the title game of the tournament against No. 21 Alabama.

We streamed the simulated game on Twitch. It should tip off when you press play.

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Win, 105-82. Maui Hawaii Invitational champs! This felt very similar to our streams last season, when we turned every game into a blow out shortly after halftime and it never felt like there was any chance we were going to lose. We had six scorers in double-figures, and I was really impressed with Ager and Giddens in particular. Our Stream Team just keeps whooping ass. Let’s keep that energy going.

As we sim to the next week, I see that my shooting guard recruit Perry gets an offer from Troy that he likes better than ours. Bummer, but that means I can start visiting Bracy, who still doesn’t have any other offers and already has significant interest in our Leathernecks. Landing Bracy would be huge because he would get us two coaching points that have alluded us for the first 20 seasons: a) landing a five-star recruit in season, and b) signing an All-American. He’d also be the highest-rated recruit in program history. Here’s hoping. I also offer a scholarship to Skip Clemmons, a 6’6 shooting guard ranked No. 38 overall, to replace Perry.

Next up we have No. 17 LSU. The Tigers have quietly been a consistent winner in this simulation and might have their best team yet this season. This will be a big test.

Loss, 96-60. Woof. LSU just blew the doors off us from the opening tip. What an awful shooting night outside of Ham. That’s why he’s an icon. I’m hoping this is an instance of us being a better stream team than a sim team.

Next we have Louisville. The Cards beat us in a regular season game that we streamed last season and entered the NCAA tournament as a No. 1 seed. It seems like they’ve lost a lot of talent off that team and enter this game at 3-1 on the year.

Loss, 75-73. Man, that’s a tough one. Giddens was excellent, everyone else was just okay, and we coughed up the ball way too much with 10 turnovers. I need more out of my wings Ager and Alloway, who are way too talented to be combining for 11 points

As we sim to the next week, we have some news: J.J. Bracy is a Leatherneck!

YUGE. Bracy is the highest-rated recruit in program history at No. 24 overall, according to reader Evan’s Leathernecks Recruiting Database. He gets us the two coaching points as our first All-American and first five-star to commit in-season. He also plays a position of need and will likely slot into the starting power forward spot as a redshirt sophomore playing with four other seniors. It will be interesting to see how good he is during the stream games because he’s definitely undersized for a power forward at 6’6 and his numbers don’t blow you away. Hopefully he grows. Always great to land the Mr. Basketball in Illinois either way.

More news: Rudolpho Butt Jr. has signed with South Florida!

I feel like he’s going to be the most dominant create-a-player we’ve made yet. Can’t wait to follow his college career.

We’re also in position to land Alexis Willingham, who is at 100 percent with no other offers as we head into the second week of the early signing period.

We play this week Charlotte and then have our two early conference games

Win, 85-67. Wooo. Charlotte is also perennially excellent in this simulation, so it’s pretty great to beat them by 18. Our offense was spread around evenly to like every player the roster; no one with more than 10, everyone on the bench chipping in with a bucket or two. Then we win both of our early conference games big and that pushes us to 6-3 on the year.

As I sim to the next week, Alexis Willingham commits!

Willingham is a great get as the No. 68 overall recruit. He already has good size at 6’2 and will hopefully grow once he gets into school. I love his scoring ability (16.3 points per game) and his accuracy from three-point range (45.8 percent from deep). Turnovers are high, but that’s okay. It’s big-time to get any four-star recruit at the early signing period. It is really rare that we land multiple recruits at the early signing deadline, so I am thrilled by this.

We are also in great position for both of our other targets: center Dick Copeland and shooting guard Skip Clemmons. We lead by far for Copeland, and he doesn’t have any other offers. He’d be our highest-rated center recruit ever (No. 2 at his position) though he’s also short for a five man at 6’8. Clemmons has elite size for a shooting guard 6’6, 226 pounds and is also a 47.2 percent three-point shooter. Would be our best class ever if we can land both in the spring.

We have two games this week: home against Illinois and on the road against Kansas at Phog Allen. Let’s keep the momentum going vs. our forever rival the Illini.

Loss, 68-67. Ugh. Illinois is decent this season but they don’t have anyone close to 90 overall, so this is a big upset. Throw out the record books when these two programs meet, I guess. Our wings really let us down. How are Alloway and Ager only combining for three shot attempts on the night? On the streams it feels like Alloway averages three shot attempts himself every two minutes.

Now Kansas. Jayhawks are in something of a rebuilding year but are still talented af. Please show that Illini loss was an aberration.

Win, 89-69. Hell yeah. Look at our 7’2 backup center Kevin Brazzle go to work: 22 points in 24 minutes. That’s how you get on the NBA’s radar as a redshirt sophomore. We’ve never had anyone leave that early, but it would be kind of awesome to see him do it even if hurts us in the short term. Ham was great as well with 23 points. We only have one regular season game left and it’s against No. 2 Florida.

Florida is totally stacked and has one of the best rosters in the country. This is measuring stick game.

Loss, 82-78. Tough loss, but I like that we competed. Giddens has put together a really solid non-conference season and is taking a big jump up in production as a senior to help fill the scoring void left by Wilky Henry. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see Florida again in March.

We enter conference season at 7-5 overall. Can we run the table the rest of the way? Yes we can. We sweep the Summit League once again and enter the conference tournament as the top seed at 23-5 overall. Here’s a look at our end-of-season stats.

Our big men just wrecked everything in their way this year. Giddens took a big scoring leap as a senior (19.2 points per game) to lead the team, Cunningham continued to prove he’s one of the most reliable performers in program history, and Brazzle showed why he’s a projected first round draft pick by becoming our third leading scorer despite being our sixth man. Pretty nice to have a 7’2 backup center with that type of ability.

Here’s a look at the shooting percentages. My first thought: Giddens better than 35 percent from three on respectable volume??? I’ve never seen him hit a three with my own eyes. Also this team needs to be jacking way, way more threes. We have shooters everywhere. That will be nice to have in our back pocket come tournament time.

Now it’s time for the Summit League tournament

2028 Summit League tournament

Time to lock down the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Our first game is against IUPUI.

Win, 91-43. Ham, Giddens, Brazzle, all wonderful. I love my big, beefy boys. How is anyone supposed to matchup with three bigs so huge and so skilled? Next game is against Southern Utah.

Win, 101-59. Throwing Giddens and Brazzle out there against Summit League centers is just unfair. Now we face UL-Calcutta for the conference tournament title and the automatic berth to the NCAA tournament. Let’s go!

Win, 95-57. We’re going dancing!

I am fascinated to see what seed we get this time around. There were a few impressive wins on our resume, but also a couple bad losses in the non-conference slate. I’m thinking we could get anywhere between a No. 8 seed and a No. 12 seed. Avoid that 8-9 matchup might be for the best just so we don’t have to see a top-seed in the second round.

2028 NCAA tournament

Welp. We get a No. 9 seed and a first round matchup with No. 8 Michigan. If we win, top-seeded Xavier will be waiting in the round of 32. The quest to repeat is going to get very interesting in the first weekend.

Here’s a look at our roster heading to the tournament:

There’s a strong case to be made that this is our best roster ever.

All five starters are rated as a 90 or above. We have nearly 600 pounds and 190 overall points in the front court. Knock down shooters in the backcourt. Another 90-rated player off the bench and oh yeah he’s 7’2.

I’m also shocked to say Giddens is our highest-rated center ever. At 96 overall, he’s tied with Ime Terrell, Bert Draughan, Billy Assel, and Vernard Fulton as the highest rated player in program history, per reader Evan’s database. There’s so much depth on this team, too. There’s only one question: who will fill Henry’s void as our go-to perimeter scorer? Ager, Alloway, and Tron are all talented enough to do it, but someone will need to step up if we’re going to repeat.

We’ve never streamed a game against Michigan before, so this is going to be a fun matchup. Here’s a look at how the two teams stack up:

We are a 100 overall in every category but coaching — and the two bonus points we just got for landing Bracy will help with that in the offseason. Here’s a look at Michigan’s roster.

I’m feeling great about our chances at repeating, but the first weekend is going to be a massive test. We’re streaming the first weekend of the 2028 NCAA tournament on Thursday, Sept. 3 at 8:30 p.m. ET on Twitch. More info on that in a second. But first, let’s get to this year’s bracket contest.

Bracket contest

We’ve been running a bracket contest for the last few seasons, and it’s been a ton of fun. We’re opening it up to anyone who wants to enter as long as you turn in your bracket before we stream our first NCAA tournament game on Thursday, Sept. 3 at 8:30 p.m. ET on Twitch.

Here’s a look at the full NCAA tournament bracket.

This is everything you need to know:

How does scoring work?

We use a standard scoring format. You get one point for correctly guessing the winner in a first round game, two points for correctly a winner in a round of 32 game, four points for correctly guessing a winner in a Sweet 16 game, eight points for correctly guessing a winner in an Elite Eight game, 16 points for correctly guessing a winner in the Final Four, and 32 points for correctly guessing the national champion.

Can I see the rosters for the other teams?

Yes. You can find the rosters for every team on the right side of the bracket in the East and West regionals here. You can find the rosters for every team on the left side of the bracket for the South and Midwest regionals here. Just arrow over to scroll through the rosters.

How do I enter?

1. Click this link to open the interactive bracket.

2. After opening, in the top left select File > Make a Copy

3. Make your picks

4. In the top left, select File and either “Share” and share with sean@hoopsinsight.com or “Email as attachment” and email as an Excel file (not PDF please!) to sean@hoopsinsight.com

Once your picks are entered, you can track scoring with Sean’s Blog Team app that works on desktop and mobile.

What does the winner get?

The winner gets to create themselves or a character as a five-star recruit ahead of next season. We won’t go after the created recruits at Western Illinois to preserve the integrity of the game, but we’ll follow the career of your character throughout our series.

Please enter the bracket contest and join us on Thursday, because it’s going to be really fun. Here’s how you can watch Western Illinois vs. Michigan in the NCAA tournament.

No. 9 seed Western Illinois vs. No. 8 seed Michigan, first round, 2028 NCAA tournament

Game: No. 9 seed Western Illinois vs. No. 8 seed Michigan, first round, 2028 NCAA tournament

How to watch: My Twitch channel. You don’t need to sign up for anything to watch, but you do need to register for an account to comment. Do it, it’s fun.

Date: Thursday, Sept. 3 at 8:30 p.m. ET on Twitch.

Tip-off time: 8:30 p.m. ET

If we win: We’ll face the winner of No. 1 seed Xavier vs. No. 16 seed South Carolina State in the round of 32 immediately following the first round game. I’m also thinking we’ll stream the Sweet 16 game too if we win. Why not?

A few links before I get out of here.

Reader Luke started his own spin-off series in NCAA Football 14 with Akron. He’s doing his first stream on Friday night. Catch up on Coach Luke’s series here and and subscribe for updates.

Reader Thanh wrote an e-book on the first eight years of Coach Rick at Western Illinois. It’s super fun and adds a new layer of depth to our project.

Continue the discussion on our subreddit.

I’ll see you Thursday on Twitch. Go ‘Necks.

[lucasspade]

Alternatives to Modern Horror (the slasher…)

Nosferatu (1922)

Dir. F. W. Murnau

Starring: Max Schrek, Gustav von Wangenheim, and Greta Schröder

The Bela Lugosi Dracula is iconic and Gary Oldman’s interpretation is also amazing, but to me the definitive vampire is Nosferatu “Count Orlok”. Max Schrek is absolutely terrifying and Murnau’s usage of shadows is heightened by the almost ethereal lighting of these old prints.

The Phantom of the Opera (1925)

Dir. Rupert Julian

Starring: Lon Chaney, Mary Philbin, and Norman Kerry

Popularized of late by the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, this original adaption of the novel is much closer to the novel I am told and far more thrilling. Lon Chaney “the man of a thousand faces” is at the height of his skill here crafting one of the best makeup jobs for the phantom I have seen. Something about the black and white filming helps heighten the terror for many of these films.

The Island of Lost Souls (1932)

Dir. Erle C. Kenton

Starring: Charles Laughton, Bela Lugosi, Richard Arlen, and Kathleen Burke

One of the first adaptions of The Island of Dr. Moreau, this is my favorite version because it does not get too bogged down in the philosophical themes. It is fairly straight forward and still a bit creepy and chilling. Made before the Hays Code it was considered shocking at the time and was originally banned in the UK.

Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)

Dir. Jack Arnold

Starring: Richard Carlson, Julie Adams, and Richard Denning

Can be counted among the classic movie monsters of Universal along with Dracula, The Wolf Man, and The Invisible Man, this monster film is unique for its underwater sequences and incredible creature suit. Not quite as terrifying as the others on this list, but more a fun monster film in the vein of The Wolf Man (1941) also one to watch if you have not seen it.

[allspark]

It’s time for our weekly Diamond Comics Shipping List! Check out some great titles IDW has in store for us next week like Transformers: Unicron, Optimus Prime, Rom & The Micronauts, My Little Pony, Sonic the Hedgehog, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and more! All coming your way for March 28th!

OPTIMUS PRIME #18

John Barber (A/CVR B) Livio Ramondelli (A/CVR A) Kei Zama

“The Falling,” Interlude: Who is Onyx Prime? Leader of beasts, and one of the original Primes who led Cybertron, Onyx has been missing for millennia. Yet, his schemes go on. Where did he come from, and how will his reappearance change Cybertron forever?

FCBD 2018 TRANSFORMERS UNICRON #0

John Barber (A) Alex Milne (CVR) Sara Pitre-Durocher

Not a whimper, nor a bang-the end comes with a squall of entropy shrieking from the ravenous maw of death itself. The message is clear: Unicron has arrived. The Transformers lock into a desperate bid to save Rom’s homeworld from the world-killer – but why has Unicron chosen this world on his path to Cybertron… and Earth? The biggest story in the history of Transformers starts now: for Unicron’s arrival can mean nothing less than the end of a universe.

TRANSFORMERS TILL ALL ARE ONE TP VOL 03

Mairghread Scott (A/CVR) Sara Pitre-Durocher

The fate of Cybertron lies in the hands of Starscream and Windblade as each tries to win allies and support in order to gain control over the Council of Worlds. After the costly victory against the Titans, Iacon is in shambles and Starscream finds himself on shakier ground than ever. The key to his political (and likely literal) survival rests in the outcome of a very unlikely event: the trial of the Council’s first official war criminal-Chromia of Caminus! Collects issues #9-12 and the 2017 Annual.

ROM & THE MICRONAUTS #4

Christos Gage (A) Paolo Villanelli (CVR A) E. J. Su (CVR B) Giannis Milonogiannis

Asymmetric Warfare! Newly emerged from Microspace, Rom and the Micronauts seek out Baron Karza and his Dire Wraith allies. But it may be too late to save Earth from being consumed by a dark god from beyond our dimension!

MY LITTLE PONY FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC #65

Thom Zahler (A/CVR A) Andy Price (CVR B) Sara Richard

Princess Celestia disguises herself to live amongst ordinary ponies for a day. What she learns about her subjects, and herself, will surprise her!

MY LITTLE PONY LEGENDS OF MAGIC TP VOL 02

Jeremy Whitley (A) Tony Fleecs (CVR A) Brenda Hickey

The origin of Equestria’s most famous pony heroes continues as they come together to face the greatest evil any have ever encountered! Will they be able to overcome their differences to defeat an enemy that knows all of their weaknesses? Collects issues #7-12.

BACK TO THE FUTURE TIME TRAIN #4

Bob Gale, John Barber (A/CVR A) Megan Levens (CVR B) Philip Murphy

Doc and the Brown family venture ever deeper into the 1939 World’s Fair as a case of mistaken identity puts Jules and Verne in the crosshairs of German spies!

DUCKTALES #8

Joe Caramagna (A) Antonello Dalena, Andrea Greppi, Gianfranco Florio, Michela Frare, Luca Usai (CVR A&B) Marco Ghiglione

Scrooge finally finds someone he trusts to run his business while he’s out adventuring: Manny, the Headless Man-Horse! Mrs. Beakley is called back into spy duty by British Intelligence, but when she isn’t available, she’s replaced by Webby and Lena Le Strange!

DUCKTALES MYSTERIES & MALLARDS TP

Joey Cavaleri (A) Luca Usai, Graziano Barbaro, Various (CVR) Marco Ghiglione

Scrooge’s treasure hunts can lead to some pretty spooky places, and spooky comes in all sorts of packages! But whether they’re trying to outwit the ghost of Nostradogmas, discover the creepy secret of the Pumpkin People, or solve the mystery of a town where not everything is what it seems, Scrooge and the gang have it covered. Collects issues #3-5 of the ongoing series.

GEARS OF WAR RISE OF RAAM #4

Kurtis J. Wiebe (A) Max Dunbar (CVR A) Ryan Brown

One of the most iconic villains of the Gears of War universe takes the spotlight! Years before he became the bane of humanity on Emergence Day, RAAM rose through the ranks to take leadership of the Locust Horde armies thanks to his intelligence, strength, and ruthlessness. Now, witness that swift and brutal ascent in… The Rise of RAAM!

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #2

Ian Flynn (A/CVR B) Adam Bryce Thomas (CVR A) Tyson Hesse

Sonic’s new adventure continues, and when he comes across another town in need of saving, his old pal Amy arrives just in time to join the fight! The banter is fun, and the stakes are high, but things get really serious when Amy presents Sonic with a big request: rejoin the Resistance!

SPIDER KING #3

Josh Vann (A/CVR A) Simone D’Armini (CVR B) Simon Roy

This issue follows the Viking queen Sigrid as she attempts to assassinate Aarek the Wolf and prevent a catastrophic, intergalactic war. But Sigrid is unprepared for the new and improved Aarek, who has bonded with an alien parasite to become the Spider King.

STAR WARS ADVENTURES #9

Sholly Fisch (A) Jamal Peppers (CVR A) Chad Thomas (CVR B) Nick Brokenshire

Droids take center stage in both stories of this comical and exciting adventure! C-3PO might be in over his head as he takes on a new job, and IG-88 is determined to capture his crafty bounty!

STAR WARS ADVENTURES #9

Sholly Fisch (A) Jamal Peppers (CVR A) Chad Thomas (CVR B) Nick Brokenshire

Droids take center stage in both stories of this comical and exciting adventure! C-3PO might be in over his head as he takes on a new job, and IG-88 is determined to capture his crafty bounty!

FCBD 2018 STAR WARS ADVENTURES

Cavan Scott (A/CVR) Derek Charm

In this all-new story set before Star Wars: A New Hope, feared bounty hunters Zuckuss and 4-LOM finally have two of the biggest scoundrels in the galaxy in their sights! Timed to follow hot on the heels of Star WarsDay 2018!

STRETCH ARMSTRONG & FLEX FIGHTERS #3

Kevin Burke, Chris “Doc” Wyatt (A) Nikos Koutsis (CVR A) Aluir Amancio

The Flex Fighters are on the run with a giant Mantis monster in tow! Will they be able to save the Mantoid before it’s too late?

TMNT ONGOING #81

Tom Waltz, Kevin Eastman (A) Brahm Revel (CVR A) Dave Wachter (CVR B) Kevin Eastman

“Kingdom of the Rats,” Part 1. New York City is in ruins after the Triceraton Invasion. Various groups jockey for control in the power vacuum. But there is one who doesn’t care about power, only chaos… the Rat King! Will the TMNT be able to stop him from doing the unspeakable?

TMNT USAGI YOJIMBO EXPANDED ED

Stan Sakai (A/CVR) Stan Sakai

Revisit the critically acclaimed crossover comic between the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Usagi Yojimbo! This special extended edition comes with new features including the rare Mirage-era story The Treaty! A new cover by Stan Sakai and additional extras!

UNCLE SCROOGE #35

Giorgio Fontana, Thad Komorowski (A) Marco Mazzarello (CVR A) Andrea Freccero (CVR B) Paco Rodriquez

“A Tale of Two Biddies!” It’s Valentine’s Day in Duckburg, and Scrooge faces a firestorm from two dastardly dates-Klondike goldminer Glittering Goldie and brassy business-gal Brigitta MacBridge! What have they got that Scrooge hasn’t got? Wouldn’t you like to know? •   Continues this beloved series’ legacy numbering at #439!

WALT DISNEY SHOWCASE #2 MICKEY MOUSE

Alberto Savini, Jonathan H. Gray (A) Giampaolo Soldati (CVR A) Andrea Freccero (CVR B) Davide Cesarello

“The Secret of Gold City!” Deep in a Wild West boom town, everyone knows the 19th century legend of “Mickey the Kid” and “Six-Gun Goofy”! Now our modern-day Mouse and Goof trace their ancestors’ trail into a web of mystery and danger…

  Join the IDW Hasbro Shared Universe related conversation here in our Comics Discussion and Reviews section and here for all other franchises, superheroes, or general comic book discussions! Not a member? Join our community by creating your own free account here! Or jump right into the live chat on our Discord server!

IDW Comics Shipping List for April 11th! It’s time for our weekly Diamond Comics Shipping List! Check out some great titles IDW has in store for us next week like 

[ba3tor]

BMW - THE CONCEPT i4 x Cajsa Wessberg from Pascal Thieret on Vimeo.

"Stay ahead in style" - campaign for International Women‘s Day 2020

Client: BMWi Agentur/Produktion: TERRITORY webguerillas

Director: Pascal Thieret Director of Photography: Josua Stäbler

Head of Production: Hondo Ratkovic Producer: Julian Pfretzschner

1. AC: Loris Gleixner DIT: Mats Böhl-Jacobs

Gaffer: Thorsten Baier Electrician: Tobi Speidel, Rainer Trautmann Grip: Christian Paschoud

Art Department: Katja Severin, Angel Martinez, Magnus Hörmann

Hair & Make Up: Fritzi Feldmann Styling: Laura Fries, Caro Schreck

Catering: Pit Giehler

Executive Creative Director: Marlies Bayha Account Manager: Benjamin Roth, Jan Fricke, Ina Fölster Client: Dominik Wagner, Chiara Gherzi, Florian Stroehlein, Laura Kanamueller Car care: Christian Kuegele, Maximilian Boxrucker Talent: Cajsa Wessberg Agent Talent: Nina Philipson (Iconic Sthlm) Still Photographer: Markus Burke

Concept: Pascal Thieret Edit: David Herbst Grading: Peter Hacker Musik: We Are Modular Sounddesign & Audio: Staub Audio VO recording: Orange Sound

Additional thanks to: Anima Doering, Sebastian Wolf, Natalie Gruenler, Alexander Osmajic

[londontheatre]

From the North Country, following a sell-out, critically acclaimed run at The Old Vic. Brought to life by an exceptional company of actors and musicians, award-winning playwright Conor McPherson beautifully weaves the iconic songbook of Bob Dylan into this new show full of hope, heartbreak and soul.

Duluth, Minnesota. 1934. A community living on a knife-edge huddle together in the local guesthouse. The owner, Nick, owes more money than he can ever repay, his wife Elizabeth is losing her mind and their daughter Marianne is carrying a child no one will account for. And, when a preacher selling bibles and a boxer looking for a comeback show up in the middle of the night, things start to spiral beyond the point of no return…

Girl from the North Country features a stellar cast: Sheila Atim plays Marianne Laine. Recent theatre credits include Babette’s Feast (Coronet Printroom), The Tempest, Henry IV and Julius Ceasar as part of the Shakespeare Trilogy (Donmar Warehouse), Hopelessly Devoted (Paines Plough) and Les Blancs (National Theatre). Other theatre credits include Volpone, Love’s Sacrifice, The Jew of Malta (RSC), Black Lives Black Words – The Interrogation of Sandra Bland (Bush Theatre), Rachel (Finborough Theatre) and Klook’s Last Stand (Park Theatre). Sheila’s television credits include I Live With Models and the upcoming second series of Harlots.

Hannah Azuonye is part of the ensemble. This production marks her professional and West End debut. Her theatre credits include Thick Skin (Poor Michelle Theatre Company) which won the Samuel French New Play Award at the National Student Drama Festival. Her recent screen credits include The Things I Will Not Miss.

Ross Dawes is part of the ensemble. His theatre credits include Charlie & the Chocolate Factory (Theatre Royal Drury Lane), Shrek The Musical (Theatre Royal Drury Lane), Passion (Donmar Warehouse), Spamalot (Palace Theatre) Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (London Palladium), Starlight Express (Apollo Victoria), Saturday Night Fever (London Palladium), Evita (UK Tour) and Singing in the Rain (UK Tour). His television includes Victoria Wood’s Midlife Christmas and The Bill.

Mary Doherty is part of the ensemble. Her recent theatre credits include Twelfth Night (National Theatre), Henry IV Trilogy, Anne Boleyn, All’s Well That Ends Well, Henry VIII (The Globe), Inherit the Wind (Old Vic), Merry Wives the Musical (RSC), Two Cities (Salisbury Playhouse), Avenue Q (West End), Grease (UK Tour). Her film and television credits include Shakespeare Uncovered and True Stories. Her radio credits include How to Have a Perfect Marriage and The Saudi Prince and the Pauper.

Bronagh Gallagher plays Mrs Burke. Theatre credits include The Faith Machine, Dublin Carol (Royal Court), Every Good Boy Deser ves Favour and War Horse (National Theatre). Film credits include Sherlock Holmes, Tamara Drewe, Tristan & Isolde, Last Chance Harvey, The Commitments, Pulp Fiction, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. Television credits include You Me and the Apocalypse, The Street, The Accused.

David Ganly plays Mr. Burke. His theatre credits include On Blueberry Hill (Dublin Theatre Festival), Once (Olympia Theatre Dublin), Lonesome West (Tron Theatre), The Plough & the Stars (Abbey Theatre Dublin and Irish & US Tour), Shakespeare in Love (Noel Coward Theatre), Threepenny Opera (Gate Theatre), King Lear (Theatre Royal Bath), Cinderella (Lyric Hammersmith) Macbeth (Sheffield Crucible), The Lonesome West (Druid Theatre, The Royal Court, Sydney Festival and Lyceum, Broadway) Of Mice and Men (The Watermill), The Wizard of Oz (London Palladium), The Beauty Queen of Leenane (Young Vic)for which David received an OFFIE nomination for Best Actor, Chicago (Cambridge Theatre London), The Weir (Gate Theatre), Translations (National Theatre) and The Full Monty (Prince of Wales Theatre). His film and television credits include Citizen Charlie, Sunset Song, Body of Lies, Hippie Hippie Shake, Dorothy Mills, Widow’s Peak and Space Truckers.

Shirley Henderson plays Elizabeth Laine. Shirley’s career spans film, television and theatre; her extensive theatre credits include Shining Souls (The Old Vic), The Maiden Stone, Lions in the Streets (Hampstead Theatre), My Mother Said I Never Should (Royal Court), Entertaining Strangers, The Winter’s Tale, The Tempest (National Theatre), Eurydice (Chichester Festival), Anna Weiss (Whitehall Theatre), Romeo & Juliet (Citizens Theatre) and The Life of Stuff (Traverse Theatre). On screen, Shirley is best known for films Trainspotting, Bridget Jones and the Harry Potter series, and for her roles in television dramas Frozen and Southcliffe, she won the BAFTA Scotland Award for ‘Best Actress’ in both. Other television credits include Happy Valley, Jamaica Inn, Bob Servant Independent, Death In Paradise, Treasure Island, Crimson Petal and the White, Marple: Murder is Easy, Dr Who, The Taming Of The Shrew and Dirty Filthy Love, and her other film credits include Okja, Never Steady, Never Still, Love Song: Wolf Alice, Urban Hymn, The Tale Of Tales, The Caravan, Set Fire To The Stars, Filth, The Look Of Love, Anna Karenina, Everyday, Wild Child and Marie Antoinette.

Ciaran Hinds plays Nick Laine. Ciaran has worked extensively for the Glasgow Citizens Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company, National Theatre, Donmar Warehouse, Gate Theatre and Abbey Theatre, Dublin. Theatre credits include Hamlet (Barbican), The Night Alive, Assassins (Donmar Warehouse), Juno and The Paycock, Burnt By The Sun, Machinal (National Theatre), Closer (National Theatre and Broadway), The Yalta Game (Gate Theatre), Our Few and Evil Days (Abbey Theatre Dublin), Simpatico (Royal Court) and Richard III (Royal Shakespeare Company). Broadway credits include The Crucible, Cat on A Hot Tin Roof and The Seafarer. Film credits include Justice League, Red Sparrow, Woman Walks Ahead, Bleed for This, Silence, Frozen, The Woman in Black, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, The Debt, The Eclipse, There Will Be Blood, Miami Vice, Munich, Road to Perdition, Veronica Guerin, Calendar Girls, Tombraider II, The Sun of all Fears and Persuasion. Television credits include The Terror, Game of Thrones, Political Animals, Above Suspicion, Rome, The Mayor of Casterbridge, Jane Eyre and Persuasion.

Adam James plays Dr. Walker. His recent theatre credits include Consent (National Theatre), An Enemy of the People (Chichester Festival Theatre), Bull (Young Vic), My Child (Royal Court), 13 (National Theatre) and King Charles III for which he received the Clarence Derwent Award for best supporting actor. Further theatre credits include Rapture, Blister, Burn and Tiger Country (Hampstead Theatre), Much Ado About Nothing (Wyndhams Theatre), The Pride (Broadway) for which he received Lucille Lortel Award for Best Actor in a Featured Role, Gethsemane, Blood & Gifts (National Theatre), Now or Later (Royal Court) and King Lear (Royal Exchange). His television credits include Home From Home, Eric, Ernie and Me, Doctor Foster, King Charles III, Endeavour, Grantchester, Coalition, The Game, The Crimson Field, Law & Order, Family Tree, Miranda, Doctor Who, Hustle, Secret Diary of a Call Girl, Ashes to Ashes, Extras, England Expects, Love Soup, The Lost Battalion and Band of Brothers. His film credits include Johnny English III, Hunter Killer, A Little Chaos, Last Chance Harvey, Mother of Tears and Road To Guantanamo.

Claudia Jolly plays Katherine Draper. A recent graduate of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (Gold Medial recipient). Claudia was recently seen in the BBC adaptation of NW and is soon to appear in the film On Chesil Beach. Claudia plays Mariarosa in the BBC Radio 4 adaptation of Ela Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels.

Karl Johnson plays Mr Perry. His recent theatre credits include King Lear (Old Vic), Hamlet (Barbican Centre), Fathers and Sons (Donmar Warehouse), Barking in Essex (Wyndham’s Theatre), Noises Off (Old Vic and West End), Frankenstein, The Seafarer, Tales From The Vienna Wood, Scenes From the Big Picture, The Walls (National Theatre). The Absence of Women (Lyric Theatre, Belfast), Almost Nothing/At the Table, Not Not Not Not Not Enough Oxygen, This is a Chair and The Night Heron (Royal Court). His television credits include King Lear, Mum, Born to Kill, Dickensian, Plebs, Atlantis, Call the Midwife, Merlin, The Trial of Tony Blair and Rules of Engagement. His film credits include Peterloo, Kaleidoscope, Mr Turner, The Deep Blue Sea and Close My Eyes.

Arinzé Kene plays Joe Scott. His theatre credits include One Night In Miami (Donmar Warehouse), Decade (Headlong), Been So Long (Young Vic Theatre), The Lion King (Lyceum Theatre), Daddy Cool (Shaftesbury Theatre) and Torn (Arcola Theatre). Arinzé’s television credits include Crazyhead, Our Girl, Youngers, EastEnders and Informer. His film credits include Been So Long, The Pass, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Freestyle.

Emmanuel Kojo is part of the ensemble. His recent theatre credits include Oklahoma! (BBC Proms 2017), Twelfth Night (National Theatre), Show Boat (Sheffield Theatre, West End), Kiss Me Kate (Opera North) and The Scottsboro Boys (Garrick Theatre and Young Vic). His television credits include Oklahoma! and Walliams and Friends.

Debbie Kurup plays Mrs Neilsen. Her theatre credits include The Threepenny Opera (National Theatre), The Bodyguard (Adelphi Theatre), Chicago (Cambridge Theatre and Adelphi Theatre), Sister Act (London Palladium), West Side Story (Prince of Wales Theatre London), Tonight’s The Night (Victoria Palace), Rent (Prince of Wales Theatre and UK), Boogie Nights (Savoy Theatre), Anything Goes (Sheffield Theatres and UK tour), Jack and the Beanstalk (Hackney Empire), East (Leicester Curve), Fame (UK tour), Guys and Dolls (Sheffield Theatres), Pal Joey (Chichester Festival Theatre) and Poison (Tricycle Theatre). Debbie’s film credits include 28 Weeks Later and Hollow.

Finbar Lynch plays Reverend Marlowe. His extensive theatre credits include The Lady From the Sea (Donmar Warehouse), Richard III (Almeida Theatre), Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The Hothouse, Antony and Cleopatra, Not About Nightingales and King Lear (National Theatre), Antigone (Barbican Centre / World Tour), The Silence of the Sea (Trafalgar Studios), Translations (Donmar Warehouse), Desire Under The Elms, The Big Fellah (Lyric Hammersmith), The Fairy Queen (Glyndebourne / Paris / New York), The Duchess of Malfi and Dancing at Lughnasa (The Old Vic), The Fastest Clock in the Universe (Hampstead Theatre / Leicester Curve), Portrait of a Lady and A Doll’s House (Bath Theatre), Three Sisters on Hope Street (Hampstead Theatre / Liverpool Everyman), Ghosts (Gate Theatre), The Tempest, Julius Caesar, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Measure for Measure, Coriolanus, The Alchemist, The Virtuoso, Amphibians, and The Two Gentlemen of Verona (RSC), The Birthday Party (Duchess Theatre) and Three Sisters (Royal Court / Gate Theatre Dublin). His television credits include Foyle’s War, DCI Banks, Breathless, Game of Thrones, Silk, Richard II, Proof, Dalziel and Pascoe, Waking the Dead, Red Cap, Atilla the Hun, Second Sight, Mind Games, Small World, Between the Lines and Glenroe. Film credits include The World We Knew, Black 47, Property of the State, Suffragette, Child 44, Departure, The Numbers Station, Matilde, To Kill a King, Lost Batallion, King Lear, Scold’s Bridle, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Schooner and Rawhead Rex.

Sam Reid plays Gene Laine. His theatre credits include ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore (West Yorkshire Playhouse) and One Night In November (Belgrade Theatre). Sam’s television credits include Tennison, Codes of Conduct, Astronauts Wives Club, Miss Marple: Greenshaw’s Folly, Hatfields & McCoys, Whitechapel, Endeavour, Spooks, MI-5 and All Saints. His film credits include Limehouse Golem, 2:22, Despite the Falling Snow, Serena, Tigers, The Riot Club, ’71, Belle and The Railway Man.

Jack Shalloo plays Elias Burke. Theatre credits include Groundhog Day (The Old Vic), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Theatre Royal Drury Lane), The Snow Queen (The Nuffield Theatre), A Clockwork Orange (Stratford East Theatre Royal), Goodbye Barcelona (Arcola Theatre) and Our House (Birmingham Rep and Original UK Tour). Jack’s television credits include People Just Do Nothing, Dickensian, The Interceptor, Doctors, Miranda Hart’s New Year’s Eve Sketch Show, The Man Who Loved The Lakes, EastEnders, Out Of Control, Holby City, The Suspicions of Mr Whicher and The Bill. His film credits include Fit, Kick-Off and Bashment.

Conor McPherson is an acclaimed writer and director. He was born in Dublin in 1971 and attended University College Dublin where he began to write and direct. Stage plays include Rum & Vodka, The Good Thief, This Lime Tree Bower, St Nicholas, The Weir (Olivier, Evening Standard, and Critics Circle Awards), Dublin Carol, Port Authority, Shining City (Tony Award nominated), The Seafarer (Tony, Olivier and Evening Standard Award nominated), The Veil, and The Night Alive (New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play, Olivier, Evening Standard and Lucille Lortel Award nominated).

Writer & Director Conor McPherson Music & Lyrics Bob Dylan Designer Rae Smith Orchestrator, Arrangements & Musical Supervisor Simon Hale Lighting Mark Henderson Sound Simon Baker Movement Director Lucy Hind Casting Director Jessica Ronane CDG

Noël Coward Theatre St Martin’s Lane London WC2N 4AU

http://ift.tt/2zcfsTa London Theatre 1

[chavighurst]

Americana Lifetime Achievement Awards 2017

I was once again pleased to contribute program notes for the Americana Honors & Awards Lifetime Achievement winners for 2017. I wanted to give these a permanent home on the web, so to read my short essays on Robert Cray, HighTone Records founders Larry Sloven and Bruce Bromberg, Iris DeMent, Graham Nash, Van Morrison and the Hi Rhythm Section, click through to the jump and scroll. They’re all on one post. 

Robert Cray - Performer

On the jacket of the 1983 Alligator Records ensemble album Showdown! a young Robert Cray mimes a guitar jam, standing between blues legends Johnny “Clyde” Copeland and Albert Collins. Cray’s smiling gaze is transfixed by the left hand of his hero Collins on the fretboard. The image symbolizes the hours Cray spent as an aspiring guitarist, studying the Ice Man’s phrases and passionate vibrato.

By that year, Cray had emerged as a favorite in the clubs and theaters of the Pacific Northwest. He’d released two albums on HighTone Records and was being hailed as “a one man Wave of The Blues Future,” as expressed by album producers Bruce Iglauer and Dick Sherman. But even their expectations were exceeded over the next few years as Robert Cray became the only African American blues and traditional R&B artist/songwriter to enjoy massive radio airplay and platinum record sales in his era. His vehicle was the album Strong Persuader and the hit single “Smoking Gun.” His tools were a silky vocal style reminiscent of Sam Cooke, a piquant electric guitar that moved the music in both lead and rhythm mode, and original songs that told relatable stories in fresh, carefully crafted forms.

High profile collaborations further fueled Cray’s prominence, including recordings with Eric Clapton and John Lee Hooker, a slot on the feature documentary Chuck Berry tribute concert Hail! Hail! Rock ‘n’ Roll and tours with the Rolling Stones and Bonnie Raitt. Steadily and without mis-steps he amassed a deep catalog and nailed down five Grammy Awards.

Cray’s most recent project saw him return to Memphis where sessions with the veteran studio cats of Royal Studios produced Robert Cray and Hi Rhythm, an 11-song set that underlines Cray’s statesman stature in American music and his enduring fascination with traditional R&B. His success, even in the infertile soil of 1980s pop/rock radio, wasn’t a matter of fortuitous timing but of soul and skill. He’d have been a hitmaker in the 60s, 70s, or 2010s had it worked out that way. He’s that tapped into a timeless firmament.

Larry Sloven and Bruce Bromberg / HighTone Records - Jack Emerson Lifetime Achievement Award for Executive

Several of this year’s lifetime achievement awards are connected by history. Robert Cray was introduced to the public thanks to the vision and risk-taking of Larry Sloven and Bruce Bromberg who made 1983’s Bad Influence the inaugural release of their new HighTone Records. It proved an auspicious start for a company that would enrich and enlarge the very idea of American roots music, with important releases in blues, country, folk and rock and roll. The label produced more than 300 albums over 25 years, including essential discography titles by Bill Kirchen, Dave Alvin, Rosie Flores, Chris Gaffney, Dick Dale, Chris Smither, Tom Russell, Geoff Muldaur, Dale Watson, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Joe Ely and 13-time Americana Award winner Buddy Miller.

“Larry and Bruce cared about signing music that was real. They didn’t care if something was making a splash,” Miller says. And across his four solo albums, plus two more by Julie Miller and a duo album, “they gave us complete creative freedom. I’m so glad this award is happening.”

Sloven and Bromberg had jobs in record sales and distribution when they met in the late 1970s, bonding musically over a shared love of Merle Haggard. When they took on the Robert Cray release six years later, it was a side project with little hope of being anything else. But two years in, HighTone Records was a self-sufficient, full time pursuit, based out of Oakland, CA.

Bromberg, a blues maven with a history of producing important artists such as Lightnin’ Hopkins and Johnny Shines, was the chief talent scout; he contributed as a songwriter as well. Sloven tended more to the business side of the label with an art-before-commerce philosophy. With the multi-platinum status of Cray’s 1986’s Strong Persuader album, the partners were able to put a firm foundation under the venture and release what moved them. That included a distinguished blues reissue series, spotlights on underappreciated veterans like Hank Thompson and ventures into Latin roots music.

The founders never achieved their dream of bringing Merle Haggard into the label’s fold, but they did oversee a tribute concert and album with Marshall Crenshaw, Joe Ely, Lucinda Williams, Iris DeMent and others performing Haggard songs. The resulting Tulare Dust project became the first No. 1 album on the very first Gavin Report Americana chart, making it a signifier and landmark for the new format. Today, any respectable Americana/roots CD collection will have scores of HighTone logos on the shelves.

Iris DeMent - Trailblazer

Few artists have told their roots music origin story in song as clearly and memorably as Iris DeMent did on her 1992 debut album Infamous Angel with the song “Moma’s Opry.” In a proud, plaintive voice, DeMent relates: “I'll never forget her face when she revealed to me, That she'd dreamed about singing at The Grand Ole Opry.”

With a few strokes, the artist conveys how deeply music ran in her heritage, as well as music’s power to widen horizons and inspire hope. Music, she told an interviewer once, “wasn’t a plaything” in her family. “It was something you had to have to live.”

DeMent’s own aspirations were quieter and more personal than being a country star, but she gradually developed a yearning to write and perform. She joined a widening American folk music scene in the 1980s, where her tart, rural diction became a country counterpart to the more urbane sounds of the Lilith Fair era. Fellow Americana Lifetime Achievement Award-winner Jim Rooney championed her music and helped her land on Rounder/Philo Records, where her first album earned such acclaim and success it was picked up by Warner Bros.

DeMent has been more selective and patient than prolific in her creative career, but her work is unfailingly observant, compassionate and relevant. In “Our Town,” one of her earliest songs, she documented rural America’s economic decline before it was a hot national topic. She offered a sort of hillbilly Taoism with “Let The Mystery Be.” And her 1996 anthem “Wasteland of the Free” was a searing and comprehensive indictment of America’s shortcomings that presaged the politics of today.

Iris DeMent has earned the Trailblazer Award for her commitment to making classic folk and country forms relevant in her time.

Graham Nash - Spirit of Americana Free Speech in Music Award

When Graham Nash emigrated to the United States in the late 60s to join Crosby, Stills & Nash, the songwriter wasted no time and minced no words engaging in America’s vital, cacophonous democracy. He wrote “Chicago” about the fraught Democratic National Convention of 1968 and the trial of Black Panther co-founder Bobby Seale and the Chicago Eight. Angry but idealistic, it included the line “We can change the world / rearrange the world.” About the same time, his acerbic “Military Madness” confronted his adopted home country with its violence in Vietnam. That song became the opening track on his debut solo album in 1971. These and other compositions marked the opening salvos in a life devoted to music and change-making, from Woodstock to Occupy Wall Street and beyond.

Nash says he developed his sense of social justice as a boy, seeing how the judicial system in England treated his hard-up father versus its genteel lenience with the upper classes. His music took flight in England as a singer and songwriter with The Hollies. Success with that pop group led him to the US on tour, where he met David Crosby and Stephen Stills. His decision to move – musically and geographically – was inspired by a chance to make music that said something topical and vital at a time of great tumult.

Crosby, Stills & Nash, with and without Neil Young, became one of the iconic folk/rock groups, whose success was fueled as much by its message as by its floating, inspiring harmonies. They helped make Joni Mitchell’s “Woodstock” a national anthem of the counterculture. They made a hit of Nash’s starry eyed and hopeful “Teach Your Children” only to purposefully bump it off the radio when Neil Young’s hot take on Kent State, “Ohio,” needed to vent anger at the establishment.

Nash’s music-fueled activism extended beyond the quartet and his own musical pursuits. In 1979, he partnered with Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt to create Musicians United for Safe Energy (MUSE) and to produce No Nukes: The Muse Concerts for a Non-Nuclear Future. In the summer of 2006, Nash and his old quartet toured behind Neil Young’s angry Living With War album. It was the first time Nash experienced death threats. Nevertheless, he told Jambase: “I was out there doing what I am supposed to do, which is to make music and to a certain degree entertain people, but to a large degree make them think.”

With Graham Nash it was ever thus.

Van Morrison - Songwriter

Where The Rolling Stones helped boomerang the blues of Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters back to American audiences during the British Invasion phase of rock and roll, Van Morrison accomplished something similar on behalf of Ray Charles and Solomon Burke. R&B pioneers were linchpins of Morrison’s father’s record collection in Belfast, Northern Ireland. And American roots music informed Van’s development at every level. His first guitar lessons came from a Carter Family folio compiled by Alan Lomax. He formed a skiffle group and then a proto-rock and roll band named after Leadbelly’s Midnight Special. Gradually, improbably, the secondary school dropout built a life in music that took its first public step with Them, a rock and roll band that toured the US in 1966 and left behind Morrison’s widely covered “Gloria.”

Morrison’s solo career began with the R&B flavored “Brown Eyed Girl,” which was part of a small and frustrating record deal in 1967. In near poverty conditions, in the Fall of 1968 in New York, Morrison composed and recorded his masterwork Astral Weeks. While its initial reception was mixed commercially and critically, the album was rather quickly recognized as a profound and iconoclastic statement. When Moondance, the album and single, followed in early 1970, Morrison’s career exploded.

He’s a supple, emotive and attention grabbing vocalist, but his epic output of songs gave that voice wings over a 50-year, 35-album career. He wrote about love, freedom and beauty in “Tupelo Honey.” He wrote unsentimentally but nostalgically about his youth in “Take Me Back” and “Redwood Tree.” He employed dense and cryptic language when it suited him, as in “St Dominic’s Preview,” and yet he could write the breezy and romantic “Moondance” as well. He was ever spiritual and sometimes overtly prayerful, as with “In The Garden.”

With access to a vast range of human emotion, an eye for provocative subject matter and an ear for soaring melodies, Van Morrison would have been a major influence even if he’d only written for other singers. Happily and majestically, this highly controlled and creatively demanding artist has been his own best muse.

Hi Rhythm Section - Instrumentalists

As the mighty Stax Records empire began to unwind around 1972, Hi Records found its footing and became home for a new wave of soul, steered by Memphis lifer Willie Mitchell out of Royal Studios at 1320 South Lauderdale Street. As with Stax and FAME Studio down the road in Muscle Shoals, AL, Hi/Royal developed a sound defined by a cadre of studio musicians. They became known as Hi Rhythm.

Three brothers were at the core of it - Mabon “Teenie” Hodges on guitar plus Charles on organ and Leroy on bass. Drummer Howard Grimes was an alum of Satellite and Stax Records. And keyboardist Archie “Hubbie” Turner was also in the circle. They are the silk purse making the pocket on Al Green's "Love and Happiness," Otis Clay's "Tryin' To Live my Life Without You," Ann Peebles' "I Can't Stand The Rain," Syl Johnson's "Dresses Too Short," O.V. Wright's "Eight Men, Four Women" and many more.

Scott Bomar, founder of the Bo-Keys, in which Grimes and Turner play today, says the Hi Rhythm section followed in the footsteps of the Memphis Boys, Mitchell’s first house band, when they went on to work for Chips Moman at American Sound Studio. Being slightly younger than the Stax team they similarly admired, the Hodges were attuned to the raw energy of rock and roll. “And having three brothers who’d grown up playing music with their father gave them a special feel and bond and chemistry, kind of a telepathy that no other studio group really had,” Bomar says.

The brothers recorded their own work as Hi Rhythm in the mid 70s and regrouped to tour with Albert Collins and Otis Clay. In more recent years, members of Hi Rhythm have played on projects by Melissa Etheridge, Cyndi Lauper, Cat Power and Robert Cray. They’re also prominent in the 2014 documentary Take Me To The River featuring meetings between old and young Memphis talent. Teenie Hodges died in 2014. The rest remain part of the heartbeat of Memphis.