#made between 1996 - 2005...

[nutzo0001]

i doubt it is on youtube, but there used to be series, 5 to 15 minutes long, on var. space facts. it was usually "anchored" by this woman who looked, iirc, like trinity from matrix actress; or Kaylee Frye (Actress Jewel Staite) from Firefly, TV series; but neither i guess is right, it was just how similar she looked the intro and bg was brown, like cafe-pergamen old paper got it was called "via universe" "vea voyage" or such, but idk, it was like 10-20 years ago probably, and the programme could be even older, made between 1996 - 2005...

[alpaca-clouds]

The 1990s and the Monsters

Back when Digimon game to the west, everyone was very quick to decide that it was a rip-off of Pokémon. Every Digimon fan obviously knows that this is not true, given how close the origin of the franchises lay too each other in Japan. The first Pokémon game released in Japan in October 1996, the Digital Monster Tamagotchi release in Japan in June 1997, not even a full year later. In fact, we do know how Digimon started: By Bandai trying (and somewhat failing) to market Tamagotchi to boys. (Digimon was still a lot more popular with girls. lol Turns out girls love monsters, too.)

But here is the thing: Monster taming was a popular genre in Japanese media for decades at the time - and something about the second half of the 1990s made several companies go: "You know what we need right now? A monster training franchise!"

While Pokémon is by far the most famous of the franchises, and Digimon probably follows in second place -internationally - those two were by far not the only ones. As someone who grew up at the time, had access to the internet, and was very liberal in regards to downloading anime... Oh boy, there was a lot of monster stuff happening at the time.

Some of it was great. Most of it never came to the west. A lot of it never got a second, let alone a third season. And oh boy, I want to talk about it. Which is why I will do this during the next couple weeks, because... You know what? You deserve to know about all those monster shows that came out between like 1995 and 2005. It sure was a lot. And you might find something in there that you are going to absolutely adore.

And mind you, while YGO never was intended to fall into this, it ended up falling into it too. But YGO you all probably know, given that it is fairly popular in the west. Monster Rancher also came out in the west - though somehow barely anyone seems to remember it existing. I am not quite sure why.

But generally speaking, this particular time had a ton of stuff that was based around the idea of "kid teams up with (somewhat) sentient non-human creature(s) to do stuff". This stuff could be anything. Saving the world, fighting in some sort of tournament, or - quite often - hacking stuff. It was after all the millennium and computers were the new hot shit. The internet was finally starting to be more widely used ans such.

I think next to this, the Japanese idea of living "things" (an even more literal ghost in the machine) and also a variety of traditions - such as Onmyouji - were playing a role into why this particular idea was becoming so popular in Japan. Though I guess no one can doubt that some part of it also was that Pokémon came out in 1996, became popular, and everyone was trying to jump onto the bandwagon. While I will still maintain that this was not thetruth for all of it (Digimon and Monster Farm released as games too close to Pokémon to be inspired by it and as I noted: YGO was inspired by MTG, not Pokémon).

Still, as someone who grew up on those shows, I am fascinated by them - and especially by those that got forgotten by the wider audiences.

And yeah, I think the others never came out over here. So, yeah.

Over the next weeks I am going to talk about them.

[wellofdean]

OK, I was going to reblog this excellent post by @luckshiptoshore so go read it, because yes. Yes!! YES!!! But then when I got started my post got super long and I felt bad tacking it onto her post and decided to make my own in response to these tags:

#i am actually a bit obsessed by the whole hunting as queerness metaphor#it’s so clearly something everyone involved in the show is thinking about#supernatural

Gurl, me too! Like go back to the start! By the time Supernatural began, the backlash against the Joseph Campbell Monomyth-style mode of storytelling had already begun in the hallowed halls of USC film school, and yo: I was there at the time of Kripke's graduation, and my best friends from college are full scale big giant time filmmakers now, whose names I will not share on main because it's uncool, and I don't want that attention, but... yeah. I am referencing FIRST HAND SOURCES on this.

But, for a real source? The Oxford English Dictionary places the first use of the term "Queer Theory" in 1990, with Queer Studies as an option in the academy by 1992. I know the kids think it's a new-fangled thing, but Kripke graduated USC in 1996 (I graduated in 1995) and it was ALL THE RAGE by then. My friends read queer theory in their Critical Studies courses in the Film School, I read it in the College of Humanities getting my degree in Literature. By that time, you could not get through that school with any degree in any non-STEM subject without knowing about ye olde postmodern lenses, queer and feminist theory, and without knowing how to employ those lenses.

Queer refers to sexuality, yes, but the word's earliest use (again, according to the OED) is in the 1500's, meaning: strange, odd, peculiar, eccentric. Also: of questionable character; suspicious, dubious.

So, ok, in 2005, Enter Supernatural, episode 1:

Presented? Two brothers. One actively seeking credit in the straight world that is not available to him in the bosom of his family: Stanford, law school, hot co-ed girlfriend, the other bound to his fractured, wounded family by duty, yes, but also by love, living on the fringe, alone, fighting monsters, and chasing after his father's approval, and who has long since given up any dream of being 'normal'. Episode 1 presents Sam's call to adventure, which he refuses when it's just familial duty, honor and love calling him, but accepts when the show takes a very straightforward and very telling path by classically fridging his woman. Ok, now he's on board. Like John, whose motivation is another dead woman, his motivation is revenge. So far so straight!

Dean though: he's different. He is already on the adventure and he was not 'called' or given the option of accepting or refusing because he had no agency when his feet were set upon this road. He does not fit the straight world at all, because he is cobbled together out of love, duty, deep guilt, striving, desperation and fear. This is who he is now, in some elemental, incontrovertible way. It was not a choice for him, he was born to it. His mother is dead, and we later learn, she made the choices that brought them all to this fate. Dean remembers her idyllically, but he is not motivated by revenge, more than any other thing, he wants to be worthy. He wants his father's approval, his brother's love.

Enter Supernatural's main theme: fucked up relationships between men enmeshed in patriarchy, which will eventually expand to include fucking GOD HIMSELF.

And like, there are SO MANY CLEAR STEPS ALONG THE ROAD in season one, and I am not even talking about sexuality and gender here, but there is SO MUCH TO SAY about it in season 1. But I am not talking about that -- I am talking at a structural, narrative level, the whole thing is just fucking all the way queered, yo.

The big climax?

At the end of the season, Dean says: "I just want my family back together. You, me, Dad... it's all I have." He is Sam's mother, John's partner! His vulnerability and emotion is feminized and contrasted with Sam and John's more overtly driven by their more masculine/straight heroic revenge quest. John: "Sam and I can get pretty obsessed, but you always take care of this family." Only that's not John talking, it's Azazel, and Dean knows it is because his father would never forgive how soft he is, how he will always choose love and family over revenge. Then, in the end, the show makes a huge point of telegraphing that Sam is finally aligning with Dean by refusing to shoot Azazel because he's possessing John, and Sam just can't do that to Dean.

Sam and Dean are thus bound together and cemented into a marginalised path, living on the road, haunting liminal spaces and cheap motels, confronting the monstrous everyday. Sam is presented as the brains of the operation, he does research, logics his way through things (masculine) while Dean is the heart who acts impulsively and on instinct and intuition (feminine).

It later transpires that Sam has a piece of the monster inside himself, and Dean has to learn to love the monstrous, he has no choice, because Sam is his brother and then Cas... and, and, and!

Like... I could go on and on, citing ENDLESS EXAMPLES. This could be a literal book. Maybe one you need to read with a magnifying glass like my condensed edition of the OED. LIke, the queerness of Supernatural is DIZZYING and MYRIAD.

But basically? FROM THE START, hunting is a queered version of family, and within that, Dean is a queered version of a Campbellian hero. Hunting is a metaphor for otherness and liminality, and that's even before you say a WORD about sex. It starts in deviation from the norms of family, masculinity and expands from there on so many levels both in story and on a meta level. The story is flesh on queer fucking bones.

I'm so sorry, but anyone who thinks queerness was not BAKED INTO Supernatural and more specifically into Dean from DAY 1 has clearly never seen Dean's insane lip gloss in season 1, and vastly underestimates the cultural awareness of people who write shit in Hollywood, and also the other people who put pink lip gloss on pretty boys in Hollywood. Nothing that gets on your screen wasn't a fucking choice made and approved by a LONG LIST of people who know what they are about.

[argumate]

Likud policy under Begin in 1977:

The “original” party platform, published in 1977 under the leadership of former Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin, claimed that only the Jewish people have “the right” to “the land” of historical Palestine, which it called Eretz Israel, a Hebrew phrase meaning the Land of Israel.

This “Jewish right” is “eternal and indisputable”, the document said. As a result, “Judea and Samaria will not be handed to any foreign administration; between the Sea and Jordan there will only be Israeli sovereignty.”

In 1978, this Likud assertion was confirmed by then-US Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, saying that the Likud party “calls for permanent Israeli retention of all of the West Bank and Gaza”, reducing the possibility of an independent Palestinian state to nothing.

Likud policy under Sharon in 1999:

The 1999 version of the charter, a document linked to former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon’s leadership, did not change much on the party’s approach toward the occupied West Bank and Gaza.

“The Government of Israel flatly rejects the establishment of a Palestinian Arab state west of the Jordan River,” said the charter.

It suggested an autonomous status for Palestinians under Israeli control, an offer different Palestinian resistance groups – from Fatah to Hamas – have long opposed.

“The Palestinians can run their lives freely in the framework of self-rule, but not as an independent and sovereign state. Thus, for example, in matters of foreign affairs, security, immigration and ecology, their activity shall be limited in accordance with imperatives of Israel's existence, security and national needs,” it added.

Likud policy under Netanyahu in 2009:

In 2009, another version of the charter emerged after Netanyahu – who became the Likud leader in 2005 following Sharon’s departure from the party – came to power. Like the 1999 text, the 2009 charter also opposed the two-state solution, dismissing the possibility of an independent Palestinian state.

The 2009 document also clearly states that Likud governments “will maintain Jerusalem as a unified city, the capital of Israel, under Israeli rule”, opposing its division between the Palestinian Authority and Israel, a stance which violates international law.

The Likud document also threatened that any attempt to divide Jerusalem would lead to a regional war.

In 2018, the then Likud government led by Netanyahu enacted a controversial Nation State Law, which recognises the right of self-determination only for Jews in Israel, evoking the original 1977 party charter’s assertion that the “Jewish right” is “eternal and indisputable” between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River.

During the ongoing Gaza war, Netanyahu made a very similar assertion to what the 1999 Likud party charter already declared regarding an independent Palestinian state, using almost the same words to say that he and his allies “flat out reject” the formation of “a Palestinian state”.

comments from Likud backbencher Nissim Vaturi this year:

“We want to remove all the Arabs from Gaza. They should not be in Judea and Samaria either,” says Vaturi.

“Transfer is not an illegitimate word. First of all, we need to transfer the Arabs of Gaza and also begin in Judea and Samaria, begin in Area C,” continues the MK.

“We need to wake up. We need to expel the Arabs from here. We need to expel everyone now. Send them to countries who want them so badly. We should not be afraid because God is with us,” concludes Vaturi.

a Likud member has been prime minister in Israel for approximately 36 of the past 48 years, or 75% of the past half century:

1977-1984

1986-1992

1996-1999

2001-2005

2009-2021

2023-present

of course Israel has an often fractious parliamentary system with coalition governments, but it seems reasonable to see the Likud party platform as playing a significant role in the overall national vision and governance of Israel given the party's electoral success.

[wei-ying-kexing-apologist]

Bengiyo's Queer Cinema Syllabus

For those of you who don’t know, I decided to run the gauntlet of @bengiyo’s queer cinema syllabus, which is comprised of 9 units. I have completed four of the units (here is my queer cinema syllabus round up post with all the films I’ve watched and written about so far). It is time for me to make my way through Unit 5- Lesbians, which includes the following films: The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love (1995), Bound (1996), Water Lilies (2007)[finally got my hands on this one but I still need to watch it], Saving Face (2004), D.E.B.S. (2004), Set It Off (1996), The Handmaiden (2016), Carol (2015), Imagine Me and You (2005), Two of Us (2019), Rafiki (2018), and The Color Purple (1985). 

Today I will be watching

Imagine Me & You (2005) dir. Ol Parker

Summary: A newlywed bride becomes infatuated with another woman who questions her sexual orientation, promoting a stir among the bride's family and friends.

Cast: - Piper Parebo as Rachel - Lena Headey as Luce

___

THIS SHIT WAS CUTE! I have never seen it before, despite seeing the cover for this film for years of my life. I expected it to be your standard romcom, and for the most part it was but to be quite honest, I was kind of surprised that they made Heck a genuinely good guy and therefore complicating the decision for Rachel to leave. 

It’s strange for me in that this is the queer cinema syllabus, right? So you would think that I would focus more on the queer aspect of this story than anything else. Except, I kept getting hung up on how much I genuinely loved the portrayal of domesticity between Heck and Rachel. They made, to me, a believably happily married couple at the beginning, with her doing her makeup in the bathroom while Heck is peeing, them being in bed together passing sections of the newspaper back and forth, and honestly even with Heck not being concerned at all about Rachel renting a porn film and being genuinely interested and excited to sit down and watch it with her. Obviously for him, he thinks it’s more foreplay in to sex rather than Rachel exploring her own sexuality, but regardless I really liked those little moments. 

Sure, Cooper is kind of a dick, and that at first would leave me to believe that Heck is kind of a dick. But he genuinely loves Rachel, and I did not expect to be so surprised that he knew that her favorite flowers were lilies (maybe that’s unfair towards heterosexual men in romcoms on my part but) and that he never really thought about the fact that Luce might be in love with Rachel. Which I also appreciate from the perspective of, say, Cooper who immediately figures it out and goes to harass Luce about it. 

I love the little romance moments between Luce and Rachel, the way Rachel is thinking about touching Luce during the school presentation, and the way that she responds to Luce touching her diaphragm during the football/soccer game. I like that it is Rachel that makes the decision to initiate the kiss, and I understand why after listening to the conversation that Luce and Heck have that she would want to cut off contact with Luce and try to maintain the life that she has with Heck. Heck and Rachel both have a lot to lose, and Rachel and Luce both know that there is a really wonderful guy here that they are or will be hurting by following their feelings. 

I was really happy that Heck decided the right thing to do was to let Rachel go. I’m glad that we got that little epilogue during the credits to see that he will in fact meet someone else, and that Rachel and Luce are still happy. 

And also, in a kind of tangent, I wanted to commend the writing of the parents in this film. The way all three of them were written made the personalities of the children (meaning Rachel, H, and Luce) very identifiable and their connection to each other believable. I loved the honesty that Rachel’s dad spoke with and the way that Rachel’s mom looked genuinely surprised and hurt that her husband felt like she was just tolerating him and that she would leave him the second she found a better offer. 

And shout out to city living for inventing traffic and making sure that Luce couldn’t run away. 

Favorite Moment 

My favorite moment is honestly when H goes by herself to check on Heck and make sure that he is doing okay. That she sits there with him, and lets him cry, and brings him candy is such a lovely, caring thing to do and I appreciate that she recognized that in all the excitement to get Rachel to reunite with Luce that H was probably hurting and needing people in his corner too. I think it speaks a lot to the way they wrote H’s character too, that she is a little girl who asks too many questions despite knowing that her family gets annoyed at everything she wants to know and who is pawned off to Luce the second that Luce humors any question that makes her the exactly correct character to think about the forgotten person in all of this.

Favorite Quote 

“Don’t forget me.”  “I won’t remember anything else.” 

Such a tragic fucking line. 

Score 

8.5/10

I do not have any major complaints about this film. Sure there was homophobia written in it but that was definitely and obviously intentional and also I loved how the different moments of intimacy were interrupted. First by Michael and Michael which…lmfao of course. Secondly by rose thorns to the ass because what else do you think is going to happen when you make out in a flower shop? Also, I know I keep saying names of actresses and stuff but like…thank you to the casting director for making sure that there is at least one film out there with Lena Headey being gay as hell.

[shiroasada]

How much time has passed...

The ratio of how many musicals each of the five story arcs contains varies quite a bit.

For a long time there was only a musical for the first season (okay, there is the revised version and the shortened version, but they were never recorded...)

Gaiden Dark Kingdom Fukkatsu

It took 20 years until the second musical for the first season was released to celebrate the 20th anniversary.

La Reconquista

Five years later, the Nogizaka Musical was released to mark the 25th anniversary and The Super Live was launched.

Nogizaka Version & The Super Live

The new musicals seem to be a bit obsessed with initial story arcs. After all, there are now five different versions of Nogizaka46 musicals. There are also two versions of The Super Live with eight different teams. (From 2019 to 2020 there was also Shining Moon Tokyo if you want to empathize with that.)

In contrast, it took until 2001/2002 for a musical to be performed in the second story arc. By that time, musicals had already been around for eight years...

Tanjou Ankoku no Princess Black Lady & Tanjou Ankoku no Princess Black Lady Wakusei Nemesis no Nazo (Kaiteiban)

Then it took 12 years until the second and final musical for the second season appeared.

Petite Éstrangère

The third one is where things get complicated. The first three musicals for the third were quite incomplete. Many characters and story elements were missing. What's more, two of them were never recorded...

Usagi Ai no Senshi e no Michi

Henshin Super Senshi e no Michi & Henshin Super Senshi e no Michi (Kaiteiban) (not recorded)

It wasn't until seven years later that a musical for the third season was released, featuring all the characters. However, it included unnecessary supporting characters...

Mugen Gakuen Misstress Labyrinth & Mugen Gakuen Misstress Labyrinth Kaiteiban (2002 - 2003)

12 years later, the last and 6th musical for the third season was released.

Un Nouveau Voyage

The dream arc is similar to the second season. There are only two musicals.

Yume Senshi Ai eien ni & Yume Senshi Ai eien ni Saturn Fukkatsu (Kaiteiban) (1995 - 1996)

20 years later, the second and final musical for the fourth season was released.

Amour Eternal

The Bandai were obsessed with Star arc, unlike the new musicals.

Between 1996 and 1998 alone, five musicals based on the star arc were released in succession. (One of them, creatively, even has that name.)

If we start from 1998, there was a musical for the first season, but none at all for the second. For the third season, however, there were all incomplete and some never recorded, and there was one for the dream arc.

Sailor Stars

Sailor Stars Kaiteiban

Eien Densetsu

Eien Densetsu Kaiteiban the Final First Stage

Shin Densetsu Kourin

Then there was peace for 5 years until...

Starlight Ryuusei Densetsu & Kakyuu Ouhi Kourin was released. (2003 - 2004)

In 2017, the 8th musical (and last one) for the final story arc was released.

Le Mouvement Final

A musical based on the longest short story and film, Kaguya-hime no Koibito, was also released in 2021.

Then there are the musicals that are neither based on the manga nor the anime and tell their own complete story. 1999 to early 2001 was the era of original story musicals.

It all started with Kaguya Shima Densetsu and the revised version. For which a remake was made in 2004/2005.

From 2000 to 2001 the Dracul arc ran with four musicals.

In 2002, there was only a musical with its own story to celebrate the 10th anniversary. To celebrate the 30th anniversary, there was also a musical with its own story. (It is the only new musical that has its own story and isn't based on the manga.)

(In the pictures, we see the Moons in their first transformation form. I chose Anza symbolically for all Bandai Moons, because Fumina-moon was never in the vanilla Moon form. There are now 16 Moons and if you count the live action series and Shinning Moon Tokyo, there are even 19 actresses.)

[batsplat]

We were a good team. And we had a lot of fun in that 1996 season. Or rather, I had a lot of fun. That was me at my craziest. I really was an absolute pest. I had no respect for anyone on the track. To me they were all the same, it made no difference if it was a veteran vying for the title, or a debutant like me. I just wanted to go fast, very fast, and if I saw an opening, I went for it. I wanted to overtake everyone, come what may. In other words, I made people uncomfortable. I was fast, but I made mistakes. Too many times I threw away decent positions. I think I must have fallen fifteen or so times that season. In the very first race, I got into an argument with Jorge Martinez. We were at Shah Alam in Malaysia. I was making my debut and had secured a spot in the third row. I started very well and I'm not sure how, but I somehow found myself alongside the leaders early on. I was cruising along somewhere between seventh and eighth position. At one point, Dirk Raudies was in front of me and Martinez just behind me. Raudies' engine seized up, and, to avoid him, I instinctively braked, changing trajectory. Martinez was unable to avoid me, hit me, and fell. That was the year in which Martinez, riding the "official" Aprilia, was heavily favoured in the race for the title. I had just upset one of the darlings, one of the "untouchables" of the world championship. I finished the race in sixth place and was quite pleased. In fact, everyone around me was pleased, we were all celebrating. Then, suddenly, I came face to face with Martinez and Angel Nieto. "Son of a bitch!" they shouted. "We're going to tear you a new arsehole!" That's when I realised they probably did not like me very much. So I slipped behind the mechanic, who was a big guy, using him as a shield. The two Spaniards were rabid, they looked as if they wanted to beat me up, so the big mechanic did come in very handy, as a deterrent. But I soon started enjoying the scene, rather than being frightened. The pair of them were absolutely furious, but they also looked so funny, in the way that only short people can look funny when they get really angry. And both of them were tiny, unintimidating in every way. I was not really worried at all.

Valentino Rossi in his 2005 autobiography, What if I had never tried it

he went on to beat jorge martinez for his first ever race win - from the rec list:

[justforbooks]

We’ve lost a true legend

Eddie Jordan, former F1 team owner, dies aged 76

Tributes have been paid from across Formula One after the death of the former team owner Eddie Jordan, aged 76. The Irishman was a well-liked and well-respected figure who had defied the odds to bring his independent Jordan team into the sport and went on to achieve notable successes such as four grand prix wins, including one for Damon Hill, and giving Michael Schumacher his first seat in F1.

Jordan, popularly known as “EJ”, had been diagnosed with bladder and prostate cancer in December of last year that had spread to his spine and pelvis. His family released a statement on Thursday morning announcing he had passed away peacefully at his home in Cape Town.

“EJ brought an abundance of charisma, energy and Irish charm everywhere he went,” they said. “We all have a huge hole missing without his presence. He will be missed by so many people, but he leaves us with tons of great memories to keep us smiling through our sorrow.”

Hill, who took the team’s debut F1 victory at Spa in 1998, described ­Jordan as a true legend.

“Eddie was chaotic and a genius all at the same time. He had the energy of 100 men. He created so much joy and had a massive heart. There will only ever be one EJ,” he said. “He left his mark on the sport. He came from nothing, he worked his way up by using his cunning and guile. And, by his own admission, it wasn’t because of his good looks but because he was undeniable.

“He had a way of getting himself into your life. He was extraordinary and brilliant. He had a lovely family and he enriched life all around him. My heart goes out to them. The sport has lost a true legend and we have lost a true friend.”

Jordan was a dynamic, enthusiastic force of nature within F1, renowned for pulling off deals, his warmth, humour and his direct speaking that he retained throughout his life. Insistent on doing things his own way, he was unbowed by the scale and power of the competition he faced while running his team, which he forged from nothing and which would go on at their peak to be in the running for a championship during the period they raced between 1991 and 2005.

A former driver, he won the Irish kart championship at his first attempt in 1971 but suffered an accident in Formula Three in 1976 and in 1979 moved into team ownership. As Eddie Jordan Racing he enjoyed success in Formula 3000 and F3, including with Johnny Herbert winning the British F3 title in 1987.

His eye for talent was keen and over this period he gave a start to a host of drivers who would go on to success, including Hill and Herbert, Jean Alesi, Eddie Irvine and Martin Brundle.

That eye for talent extended to his personnel and he brought in the engineer Gary Anderson to design their first car, the 191, a distinctive, remarkably good-looking F1 car to this day, which would set the standard for the team punching above their weight.

Equally notable was Jordan putting Schumacher, who would go on to take seven world championships, into it that season when he needed a replacement for the Belgian GP, after his driver Bertrand Gachot had been jailed. The German shone in qualifying and, despite an early race exit with a mechanical failure, Jordan wanted to keep him on only for Benetton to sign him for the next race. A baptism of fire – “Welcome to the Piranha Club” was the McLaren head Ron Dennis’s response – to the brutal realities of F1.

Undeterred, he battled relentlessly, achieving results well beyond the means of his small outfit struggling for backing and resources. Ever with an eye for a deal, Jordan secured the sponsorship of the cigarette manufacturer Benson & Hedges in 1996 and with the funding made great strides. In 1998 he had Hill, who had won the world championship with Williams in 1996, on board, a new deal with Honda engines and the designer Mike Gascoyne. They took their first victory – a one-two for Hill and his teammate Ralf Schumacher – at a wet Belgian GP.

A year later they enjoyed their best season, with Heinz-Harald Frentzen, who won two races, alongside Hill, and the team made it to third in the championship, heights they would not reach again. The financial backing subsequently dwindled and with it the results. They scored one further win, at the chaotic Brazilian GP in 2003. The victory was initially awarded to Kimi Räikkönen when a major crash halted proceedings, until Jordan pointed out that his man, Giancarlo Fisichella, had been leading when it was stopped and the win was duly given to Jordan.

Unable to compete with the major players financially and match their investment in performance, Jordan reluctantly sold the team to the Midland group in 2006 for $60m, an immense return. They would then go through the iterations of Spyker, Force India and Racing Point before becoming Aston Martin in 2021. Aston still used the original Jordan Silverstone base right up until they took up residence in a state of the art factory at the ­circuit last year.

The chief executive of F1, Stefano Domenicali, paid tribute to Jordan on behalf of the sport. “We are deeply saddened to hear about the sudden loss of Eddie Jordan,” he said. “With his inexhaustible energy he always knew how to make people smile, remaining genuine and brilliant at all times. Eddie has been a protagonist of an era of F1 and he will be deeply missed. In this moment of sorrow, my thoughts and those of the entire Formula One family are with his family and loved ones.”

The Red Bull team principal, Christian Horner, to whom Jordan had offered his team for sale, also acknowledged his importance to the sport. “Very sorry to hear Eddie Jordan has sadly passed. Eddie was a hugely colourful character who I first met in 1991 as a young driver at his then new factory after his first year in Formula One. His advice, ‘get a good sponsor … ‘Welcome to the Piranha Club’,” he said. “Formula One has lost a legend and we will miss his wit and his Irish charm.”

F1’s governing body, the FIA, paid a similar tribute. “Eddie Jordan was a legend of Formula One. He made an invaluable contribution to global motor sport throughout his life,” it said. “All of us at the FIA would like to send our deepest condolences to his family and friends at this very difficult time. Eddie will always be remembered as a great sportsman and passionate ambassador for Formula One on and off the track.”

Jordan remained working in F1 as an outspoken TV pundit for the BBC and ­Channel 4 and then as the manager for ­the enormously successful designer Adrian Newey, for whom he negotiated a deal to leave Red Bull and join Aston Martin, the team that had evolved from Jordan’s fledgling outfit and with whom Newey began work earlier this year.

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

[timeagainreviews]

In Space, Nobody Can Hear You Scream for Your Nappy Change

Few shows have had as many pilot episodes as Doctor Who. From “An Unearthly Child,” to the 1996 TV movie, to 2005’s “Rose,” and now “Space Babies.” However, one could argue that every new Doctor is essentially a pilot episode. There are notable shifts in the show’s dynamic to such a degree that it’s practically a reset. Any major personnel shift is a renewal. The transition from William Hartnell to Patrick Troughton, the transfer of power from Russell T Davies to Steven Moffat, and again, from Moffat to Chris Chibnall, for example. Even series ten began with the cheeky title “The Pilot,” where we find the Doctor earthbound as a college professor with his student, Bill, and his wife, Nardole. But “Space Babies,” is an odd one, for so many reasons. Mostly because it’s introducing us to characters we’ve been getting to know for a couple of episodes now. Then, of course, there’s everything else.

For some, an episode called “Space Babies” was always going to be a hard sale. Back in March when they revealed the new episode titles as a series of vignettes, Space Babies looked and sounded a lot like what we got. Sometimes a very literal title can be a bit of fun. “Snakes on a Plane,” tells you everything you need to know going in. While it may have benefitted from a bit of virality, you could argue that it does more with its premise than something like “Cocaine Bear,” which was little more than its title. I’ve complained in the past that my issue with the concept of the Timeless Child was that you could figure out the story by hearing the words. If I can watch a story in my head from its title, then in the words of Amy Pond- what is the point of you? My reaction to the title “Space Babies,” was very similar. Except in this case, I would say it was closer to a “Snakes On a Plane,” than a “Cocaine Bear.”

We’re off to a great start. I got to mention cocaine and babies in the same sentence. Speaking of awkward starts, why did Russell T Davies decide to open the show with the twee episode for the kiddies? Those types of stories are usually relegated to the mid-season point, after a really good one. I guess they needed a palette cleanser to put some space between “The Giggle,” and “The Devil’s Chord,” as they’re essentially the same story twice. But that’s for the next review. Though “Rose,” has its own brand of wacky weirdness with man-eating rubbish bins and plastic boyfriend doppelgangers with pizza peels for hands. Even still, it’s an odd choice for the “pilot.”

A lot of the episode’s enjoyment is predicated on how cute you think babies are. In my case, it’s not very much. If they had called the episode “Space Kittens,” it would have hooked me. But babies come with baggage. People are weird about babies. Babies are often politicised, which this episode definitely does, but more on that later. Another reason why babies were a hard sell for me is they’re not actors. Child actors are rarely good, so filtering their performances through the vacant faces of babies is like making a bad thing worse. Sure, they animated their mouths with cutting-edge technology straight from 1995’s “Babe,” but their faces gave us no range of emotion unless you count Eric, whose facial expression was that of one constantly bricking it in his diaper. I was reminded of the Gelflings in “The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance,” in that it takes some getting used to the look of their faces. Except in the case of the Gelflings, the Jim Henson Creature Workshop knew their limitations and used CGI where the puppets fell short. A furrowed brow would have gone a long way to sell the babies.

However, I’m not made of stone. I’m not so joyless that I can’t send my critical brain on a little vacay for 46 minutes. I also appreciate that Doctor Who still takes the time to do stories for children. It’s a family show, after all. I was even impressed that the episode was able to sell me on the concept of a booger man (or Bogeyman to be precise) when “Sleep No More,” had so utterly failed to sell me on the concept of eye booger men previously. Even more, I had never expected to feel an emotional connection to said Bogeyman. While a lot of it had to do with Ncuti Gatwa’s performance, I’ll admit I actually got a little choked up at the end of the episode. Even a snotty little freak of nature deserves a place in the world, and I identified with that. It’s nice when a Doctor Who episode ends and it was actually about something.

As mentioned before, Russell T Davies uses the baggage that comes along with babies to stoke the fire of his own story. Through the eyes of Jocylen, the ship’s reluctant nanny, we see the babies in another light- as a constant source of worry. Having never wanted the job in the first place, Jocylen’s part is one of necessity rather than vocation. No one working in the field of charity or crisis aid wants to be doing the work. Sure, it’s fulfilling, but the nature of its necessity is telling of the world at large, or in this case- star system. In a perfect star system, no child would go unhugged, unattended, or forgotten. Yet here she is, forced by circumstance and emboldened by compassion to rise to the occasion. She may not be nailing it, but seriously, who the hell else was taking care of the children they forced to exist? If “Kill the Moon,” was Doctor Who’s pro-life story, this episode stands in stark contrast as the pro-choice story.

An episode with a butt-shaped space station that farts its way to the shores of freedom seems like an odd choice to talk about refugees, but it’s also the episode that gave a booger a soul. While a lot of the tone aligns more with “Aliens of London/World War Three,” or “Love and Monsters,” the message aligns more with something like “Turn Left.” Russell T Davies is giving us a spoonful of sugar with our medicine, which seems the correct approach in a show where Christmas trees are capable of murder. Suffice it to say, seeing a Rwandan refugee playing a British icon on the BBC commenting on the conservative government’s Rwandan bill is better than anything the show could do on its own. You almost have to do it, and more than I’m glad RTD rose to the occasion, I’m glad it was Ncuti who got to do it.

Speaking of things only Ncuti Gatwa could do, I appreciate that his Doctor is emotionally available enough to offer a hug to a child while still being alien enough to scare the bejeezus out of them. I can’t really picture Tom Baker hugging anyone, though I can imagine him scaring the bejeezus out of someone. Maybe Matt Smith would do it. Jodie as well. But Gatwa’s Doctor is an interesting mixture of compassionate and completely aloof. It’s a mixture that is sometimes at odds with itself, but it works. You see it in brief moments like when Ruby’s caretaker instincts take over and she runs head-on into danger, while the Doctor takes a moment to pop around the corner and catch up to her. It’s the classic dynamic of the Doctor being reminded of human nature by his companion.

I really like this selfless defender of the people streak in Ruby’s personality. It reminds me a lot of an ‘80s companion. She’s like a mixture of Nyssa and Ace. She puts herself in harm's way to protect others. She writes songs to cheer up lovesick lesbians. She’s got a very full personality that is palpable very early on. We got this level of character development with RTD’s earlier companions, and it’s nice to see it continue. What’s less nice is how he seems to have also taken a page from Steven Moffat’s book where the companion must also be needlessly complicated. What’s more is it feels less enticing and more like retreading familiar territory. It’s giving “The Impossible Girl,” vibes with an Amy Pond pregnancy body scan to bring it full circle. This is one of my biggest issues with the RTD2 era so far- it feels like a remix of past Doctor Who. That isn’t to say he’s added nothing new to the show, but it does feel a bit Clara 2.0. I’m just saying, it doesn’t always have to be some star-crossed destiny. If you do it every time, it loses its power.  Sometimes people just meet each other. Say what you will about Yaz’s characterisation, but at least she was allowed to be a person.

The story at the heart of “Space Babies,” is ultimately a bit thin. You could argue that there was never any real threat, but that happens sometimes on Doctor Who (take “Listen,” for example). I’ve seen some people online complaining that the Bogeyman doesn’t die, but what does it really do other than scare people? Sure, you see Eric’s pram toppled and find him characteristically bricking it in his diaper, but he’s not got a scratch on him. What if Eric went missing because the Bogeyman “ate” him. They could reveal that he actually was protecting Eric from the dangers of the malfunctioning bowels of the ship. Imagine the bogey bits tearing away out of the airlock, slowly revealing Eric inside. Not only would Jocylen have almost taken an innocent life, but two innocent lives. Pair that with the Doctor's brave rescue and blammo! It could have upped the tension and implied more danger, is all I’m saying.

I was a bit confused by the ship’s computer creating the Bogeyman in the first place. That entire aspect of the plot was skimmed over and very flimsy. I thought they were doing something with the show’s new magical premise, a “superstition of the Bogeyman made him exist,” sort of angle. But no, it was just something the ship did, for reasons. I also expected that to be the reason for Ruby's transformation into the weird scaly lizard woman. I expected it to suddenly be possible through superstition that stepping on a butterfly could change the course of history. But instead, the Doctor forgot to push the butterfly compensator on the TARDIS console. Kinda weird that RTD had two moments to further his own mythology but sided on technobabble. Not bad, just odd.

One aspect that bothered me was how long it took them to reveal the Bogeyman was made of snot. When they took the time to do this whole to do with the babies blowing their noses, I immediately looked over at my wife and said “The Bogeyman is made of baby boogers,’ to which she responded “I hate that you’re right.” They telegraphed it so hard that it made the Doctor seem slow on the uptake. If you recall from my review of "The Husbands of River Song," I felt like they did the same thing to River with how long it took her to recognise the Doctor. However, I imagine it's a bit of a balancing act to know when to reveal something. The Doctor doesn't necessarily have all of the information we have as an audience.

As pilots go, “Space Babies,” could have done better at introducing a new audience to Doctor Who. Much of the expository dialogue about who the Doctor is or where he came from felt rushed and unnatural. My friend Taryn said she enjoyed this aspect of the Doctor being less cryptic and more forthcoming with information. While I agree, I feel like the execution was clumsy, a word we’re starting to see more often in my reviews of the RTD2 era. For comparison, take Fallout, a show that came out only a month earlier. Both are technically first seasons of tv shows based on pre-existing properties with dense lore. Both have eight episodes to tell their stories. And yet with Fallout, we get a trickle of information as things happen. With Doctor Who we have the Doctor stopping his companion mid-sentence to say “Oh yeah, by the way, I have two hearts.” Look, I get it, I’m neurodivergent. I appreciate a good infodump. But there’s a big reason people are calling Fallout a triumph- it respects its audience enough to reveal things over time.

RTD said recently that young people won’t watch black and white. I don’t know if this is true as I am a cusp gen x/millennial. I don’t know much about what kids get up to these days, but I also don’t go around saying what they will and won’t do. It sounds a lot like “Those damn kids with their hip hop video games,” or like “Kids don’t like anything that isn’t Tik Tok or Roblox.” It feels like it misunderstands the appeal of storytelling in the first place. Studio executives have never fully understood what is good about Doctor Who. In the ‘70s and ‘80s, it was “Why can’t it be like Star Wars?” In the Chibnall era, the goal was to compete with Netflix. And now it’s “We need to meet the same standards of Marvel.” But if Doctor Who is always being compared to something else, you curse it into always being behind the curve. When I fell in love with Doctor Who, it was because it wasn’t like anything I had ever seen before. If I want to watch Iron Man, I’ll watch Iron Man.

Not all of the expository dialogue was without merit. I’ve been continually impressed by RTD’s handling of the Timeless Child storyline. As longtime readers know, I was not a fan of that story. Hell, first-time readers probably picked up on it in this article. But I don’t think it’s fair to discount the people who did enjoy that story. And I think it is far more interesting for the show to develop the idea as opposed to sweeping it under the rug. We learned that the Time Lord genocide was cellular, which helps the whole concept of the Master achieving what millions of Daleks couldn’t do make more sense. It’s amazing how much a single line of dialogue can overcome a lot of shoddy writing. I liked the Doctor stating that it doesn’t matter where he comes from, as I’ve been saying that the whole damn time. It’s also nice that despite everything, the Doctor is still a Time Lord in his hearts of hearts. We as fans kinda need those moments so we can collectively move on from what has been a rather ugly time in the fandom.

That’s not to say we aren’t still in an ugly culture battle within the fandom. Racism is still a very real aspect to the conversation. As are ableism, sexism, transphobia. And despite RTD meeting these things head-on with the grace of a fish out of water, we’ve still got some great points of intrigue. Who is this woman played by Susan Twist we keep seeing in the background? Who is the one who waits? Is Mrs Flood the White Guardian to Susan Twist’s Black Guardian? I would love to say it’s the Rani because it’s been 20 fucking years of it not being the Rani, which is also the exact reason I won’t say it’s the Rani. But god I wish it was the Rani. They even name-drop her! Give us this one, please. My point being, despite its daftness and its expressionless babies, “Space Babies,” still gives us a lot to go off of. If you didn’t like it, do what I did and watch it twice. The emotional resonance works better when it feels less like you’re watching a car accident.

Look, if you didn’t like “Space Babies,” I get it. Maybe it’s not for you. There are weird little problems with the episode. The expository dialogue I mentioned, for example. The babies are a bit much. The Bogeyman howling like a werewolf was batshit weird. I guess it was because they compared him to a dog. Even then, why not make it bark? You could ask things like “Why didn’t the Doctor use the TARDIS to fly them to safety instead of setting their space station on a crash course with the planet’s surface?” or "Why didn't the Doctor get sucked out of the airlock? It's air pressure, not gravity." Is the humour still falling a bit flat? Sure. It’s easy to pick stuff apart. But come on, the episode is called “Space Babies,” you knew ahead of time if that concept was going to work for you or not.

_______________________________________________

Thanks for reading! I'm sorry these articles are taking a while. Having two episodes drop simultaneously doubles my workload! I'll have the review for "The Devil's Chord," up tomorrow! Hopefully next week will be more timely.

[slayerdurge]

Tag Game: Top 10 Albums

I love tag games, but I'm always hesitant to start my own. (Which doesn't really make sense, 'cause, I mean, they gotta start somewhere, right? 😂) So I decided to start one!

Anyway, I've seen a ton of these going around about music, and I was thinking, we've all got our favorite songs, but it's a rare and beautiful thing to find an entire album where you can vibe with every (or almost every) track. With that in mind...

Rules: List your top 10 favorite albums, and (if you want) include a brief description for why each one made it onto the list. Then, tag 10 (or however many you want, really) others to do the same.

Tagging: @merge-conflict, @fereldanwench, @halliserres, @milkywayes, @illusivesoul, @ghostoffuturespast, @luvwich, @kirschewine, @mirandaputsherbestbuttforward, and @andrewknightley.

My 10 Ten Albums

#1 Coral Fang (2003) - The Distillers

Reasons: Every few years, I rediscover this album and remember that it's my favorite album of all time. Brody Dalle's voice is harsh, deep, raspy, melodious, and emotional. The instrumentals are high octane and immersive. This album is a beating heart to me. It's feral.

#2 Fantastic Planet (1996) - Failure

Reasons: Failure's my favorite band of all time. My favorite album from them is Fantastic Planet. It's industrial, grunge, and shoegaze all in one package. With a sci-fi theme to boot, and a otherworldly soundscape. This band is extremely underrated. They really should be up there with the other greats of the 90s.

#3 Bleed Out (2022) - The Mountain Goats

Reasons: I think this is the newest album on my list, which is kinda funny. John Darnielle is my favorite songwriter of all time. His lyrics are deeply wonderful and quirky and disturbing. It's hard to pick a favorite album by The Mountain Goats, but the dark, violent, and insightful film noir theme of this one really does it for me.

#4 Light Me Up (2010) - The Pretty Reckless

Reasons: I haven't listened to this one in a bit, but it's mostly just because I've heard it about a billion times since I was 15. It's an iconic part of my teenage years. Taylor Momsen is literally my favorite vocalist of all time. Her voice never fails to impress me.

#5 With Teeth (2005) - Nine Inch Nails

Reason: It was hard to pick my preferred NIN album because I've never heard a song by them that didn't instantly rewire my brain and become my new favorite song. Actually, it was a toss up between this and Year Zero. If you asked me a different day, I might pick Year Zero. But I think this one has more songs that are top NIN songs for me. It's nearly a toss up though.

#6 Live it Out (2005) - Metric

Reasons: This is one of Metric's older albums, back when they had a more garage rock sound, although they still went pretty heavy on the electronic elements and they had the same dystopian sci-fi themes they do today. I prefer it to their newer stuff mostly just because of the heavier sound.

#7 Live (Secrets of the Lost Satellite Tour, Spring 2007) - Ken Andrews

Reasons: Ken Andrews is the lead singer of Failure, my favorite band. This does have some of the same songs that are on Fantastic Planet, but it also has some of Ken's solo work. It's a very atmospheric and dreamy album, and the fact that it's live and you can hear the crowd sometimes and the way he talks to them adds to that.

#8 So You've Ruined Your Life (2003) - Get Set Go

Reasons: This is Get Set Go's first album, and it's always been my favorite, even though I love Mike's newer stuff too. He's not as pop punk as he used to be, which is why I prefer it, but his outrageous and obscene lyrics are exactly what they used to be. This is the same guy who wrote a song about wanting to have sex with dinosaurs. A very explicit song about wanting to have sex with dinosaurs. He's ridiculous.

#9 Brand New Eyes (2009) - Paramore

Reasons: Some people would probably say I'm a fake Paramore fan, because I don't really care for any of their new stuff. It's not bad or anything, it just doesn't appeal to me on the same level that their first three albums do. I do love Riot! for its extreme energy and emotional highs of anger and joy, but Brand New Eyes is better for me thematically. I love the lyrics about growth and change and independence.

#10 xx (2009) - the xx

Reasons: I don't think I've ever heard duets better than what Romy and Oliver can do. The way the lyrics overlap, the way they finish each other's words. They do things with the concept of a duet that other groups just don't. The soundscape is very lowkey and chill and almost kinda highbrow in a weird way. Like, I feel like this is the kind of music that professional musicians list as their favorite music, if that makes sense.

[pompadourpink]

hi mom ik you're a big fan of cinema and im lookign for new movies to watch, can u share your top 4? thank uuu

Oh dear, you're killing me.

Phantom of the Paradise - Brian de Palma (1974), a musical and the lovechild of the myth of Faust, the Phantom of the Opera, and the Shining (the soundtrack is to die for).

La Folie des Grandeurs - Gérard Oury (1971), an adaptation from a play (by the author of les Mis) about politics, the Court of Spain, love, greed - I've been in love with the lackey my whole life.

The Seventh Seal - Ingmar Bergman (1957), the story of a medieval soldier playing chess against Death to save his life (and a great source of relief when my head was playing against me).

The 101 Dalmatians - Stephen Herek (1996), not quite auteur cinema but my favourite comfort movie, at first a great reminder of how peaceful life without modern day tech was, then an amazing love story, then an investigation, a fantastic cast, perfect villains, many dogs, great music, my whole heart on a platter.

I will make a longer list and you cannot stop me:

Some like it hot - Billy Wilder (1959), where two men escape bandits by cross-dressing and joining a women's band.

Rear Window - Alfred Hitchcock (1954), where a photographer stuck at home after an accident grows suspicious of a neighbour whose wife has disappeared.

La Jetée - Chris Marker (1962), an experimental sci-fi short movie made by one of my favourite directors, about the scientific experiments done on a man to save the world, that later inspired Terry Gilliam's Twelve Monkeys (that could also be on this list).

Anything? (Seven chances, Cops, The Cameraman) - Buster Keaton (1920s), my second favourite director and a firework on legs who was never afraid of a stunt.

The Host - Bong Joon Ho (2006), where lab waste thrown into the sea creates a monster that kidnaps a girl, forcing her good for nothing father to finally do something with his life.

Death becomes her - Robert Zemeckis (1992), where two middle-aged actresses fight for a man, get blinded by their desire for youth and cross paths with magic and murder.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show - Jim Sharman (1975), the meeting between a young old school couple and a group of weird creatures in a mansion (including my husband Tim Curry).

Pride and Prejudice - Joe Wright (2005), of course.

Body Snatchers - Philip Kaufman (1978), one of the four adaptations of the book and the best one in my opinion, the story of people mysteriously disappearing and returning changed and a tale about human passion.

Old boy - Park Chan-Wook (2003), the visually stunning and heartbreaking story of a man randomly kidnapped, kept somewhere for years, then released without a word.

Minority Report - Spielberg (2002), a dystopian movie about a world where the efforts of science and exploitation have put an end to criminality, at a great price.

Sleeping Beauty - Disney (1959), the most beautiful one, the only one with a composer's music, one of the best villains.

The Age of Adaline - Lee Toland Krieger (2015), the story of a woman who stopped aging and navigates the world while trying to not get caught or catch feelings.

Planet Terror - Robert Rodriguez (2007), an unserious tale of zombies, a virus, and Rose McGowan's pew pew leg.

Home alone 2 - Chris Columbus (1992), for Christmas in New York, Tim Curry, the toy store's owner, and the pigeon lady.

Electrick children - Rebecca Thomas (2012), where a Mormon teenager gets pregnant with the child of God after listening to a tape and runs away to Vegas to find the dad.

And many more I'm afraid. Hope you will like those! x

[haveyoulistenedtothisalbum-poll]

Tracklist:

Shudder Before The Beautiful • Weak Fantasy • Élan • Yours Is An Empty Hope • Our Decades In The Sun • My Walden • Endless Forms Most Beautiful • Edema Ruh • Alpenglow • The Eyes Of Sharbat Gula • The Greatest Show On Earth (i. Four Point Six, ii. Life, iii. The Toolmaker, iv. The Understanding, v. Sear-Worn Driftwood)

Spotify ♪ YouTube

Submitter's note included under the break due to length.

This album is the first album made with their current and third singer and first without their previous drummer who had to retire due to severe insomnia and is themed around science and reason to constrast the previous album about fantasy. The latter part of the album quotes passages from Charles Darwin and Richard Dawkins. One of their live shows even had Richard Dawkins as a guest and he read live for their insane 21 minute track 'The Greatest Show On Earth' which is a song about evolutionary history. The album is intended by the songwriter Toumas Holopainen to be listened to beginning to end like a movie. The band camped out in an isolated cabin to write this album. They also got a crab "Tanidromites nightwishorum" AND a prehistoric rockshelter (Alpenglow Rockshelter) named after them/their songs for this album.

The band: Nightwish is a Finnish symphonic metal band that started in 1996 that has had three different lead singers over its run, with the first (Tarja Turunen) parting ways with the band in a very public and emotionally fraught friend breakup in 2005 that to this day causes divisive fights in the fanbase about the decision between the really old fans and the newer ones. Their current lead singer and the one for this album is Floor Jensen, a classically trained dutch singer who joined in 2015 and has incredible range. They are one of the most successful Finnish bands. Their songs contain repeating themes of wonder at the natural world and wanting to return to innocence/childhood, but may broach a variety of topics.

Songs not on this album you might know them from: End of All Hope - Song used a lot in amvs on youtube. Wish I Had An Angel - biggest US hit single Amaranth - got very popular in Europe as a single Ghost Love Score - The live version with Floor instead of the album version with Anette (the second singer) is fairly popular on youtube. This is a song that most fans start with as its a good introduction to Nightwish's current style without being too isoteric. Interesting song notes: In 'Yours Is an Empty Hope' that is indeed Floor doing the super low death growls. Marco is the one singing clean. Yes really. Alpenglow is considered the "ultimate Nightwish song" by Holopainen.

The Greatest Show on Earth is the longest song this band has recorded to date, includes quotes by Dawkins and Darwin, and includes homages to music history with excerpts from Dies Irae, Minuet in G major, Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565 by Bach and Enter Sandman by Metallica. Holopainen considers this song their most ambitious song to date he says the song "is probably the culmination of everything that we've done together". Personal notes: AAAAUUHGHGHG This band makes me insane. They make a song an atmospheric experience. Most bands are not great live- they are better live. Somehow. They have incredible stage presence. This album is my favorite Nightwish album and probably my favorite album of all time.

[juanabaloo]

Top 5 sapphic movie recs? :)

Thanks for the ask! In order, from 5 to 1: D.E.B.S. (2004) - Lucy and Amy Mosquita y Mari (2012) - Yolanda y Mari - the one movie i would show my kid self (if i could time travel) Bound (1996) - Violet and Corky Imagine Me and You (2005) - Luce and Rachel Saving Face (2004) - Wil and Vivian - the one movie I would save from a fire (if i could only save one)

[captions top to bottom: Lucy and Amy with guns drawn in D.E.B.S. Yolanda and Mari hanging out in Mosquita y Mari. Violet reaches out to hold Corky's hand in Bound. Luce laughs as Rachel fishes her wedding ring out of the punch in Imagine Me and You. Wil looks at Vivian's hair and then stares longingly at her face in Saving Face.]

Highly reco all of these! More spoiler-free ranting, worksafe gifs, and trailer links under the cut. (one mild SPOILER ... but good news: none of these women die, like not even a little bit!!)

starting the list at Number Five: D.E.B.S. (2004) is Comedy, rated PG-13, and a campy delight. I buy the chemistry between Lucy (L below) and Amy (R ), and it's a cute enemies-to-lovers story. It doesn't take itself too seriously. And as the gif text says: Charlie's Angels but it's actually gay!!!

Best to watch: when you want something campy with some fun spy action scenes. Kissing plus. Also: Jordana Brewster!

D.E.B.S. (2004) trailer

Number Four: Mosquita y Mari (2012) is an unrated Drama (PG-13-ish IMO) that's one of my all-time faves*. Mari (L below) and Yolanda (R ) are high schoolers and they are INTO EACH OTHER. You can practically see the vibrations in between them. It's about two Chicanas and it touches on family and money and immigrant stuff. (*If I could go back in time and show my kid self one movie - out of all the movies in the world - it would be this one.) There is a lot of intimacy between them, but there's nothing explicit.

Best to watch: when you want to reminisce about high school and that friend you had feelings for. Grappling and holding hands and snuggling. Also: gorgeously shot scenes that set the mood, even with no dialogue.

Mosquita y Mari (2012) trailer

coming in at Number Three: Bound (1996) is a Heist movie, rated R, and amazing. The directorial debut of the Wachowski sisters. Chemistry for MILES between Violet (L below) and Corky (R ). Also a strong crime/thriller/heist plot, aside from all the chemistry. I don't find the violence to be THAT explicit but that's my opinion.

Best to watch: when you want to see a very sexy heist movie and don't mind some violence. Rated R for a reason (both sex and violence). Also: Jennifer Tilly and her voice! Gina Gershon in a white tank top! Both of them in leather jackets!

Bound (1996) trailer

Number Two: Imagine Me and You (2005) is a Rom-Com that's rated R, and super cute. It's love at first sight but there's some angst. Rachel (first gif below, L) is trying to resist her attraction to Luce (R ). I feel like this movie doesn't really deserve the R rating. Anyway, it's cute and fun.

Best to watch: when you want some decent angst, but a happy ending. Lots of intense making out. Also: British accents! a flower shop! Dance Dance Revolution! Piper Perabo and Lena Headey!

Imagine Me and You (2005) trailer

and at the top of my list at Number One: Saving Face (2004) is another Rom-Com that's rated R, and it's PERFECT TO ME. If I could only grab one movie to save from a fire - out of all the movies ever made - it would be this one! It's childhood friends - who reconnect as adults - to lovers. Vivian (L below in the first gif) is a dancer while Wil (R ) is a doctor, technically a surgeon. There's family and immigrant stuff, and they are both Chinese-American.

Best to watch: when you want angst with a happy ending, with some good mother-daughter stuff too. Flirting, making out, intense making out, hand holding, and yes a bedroom scene. Also: authentic Mandarin! a comforting mother-daughter relationship! a race to the airport scene!

Saving Face (2004) trailer

Lightning in a bottle stuff here, seriously. Lynn Chen (who plays Vivian) had never been in a feature film before. Michelle Krusiec (who plays Wil) had never had a lead role before. Alice Wu wrote AND directed the movie, and this was literally her FIRST MOVIE. You would never guess any of that watching this movie. They all knock it out of the park!!

Any questions about any of these movies, send in an ask!

[wei-ying-kexing-apologist]

Bengiyo's Queer Cinema Syllabus

For those of you who don’t know, I decided to run the gauntlet of @bengiyo’s queer cinema syllabus, which is comprised of 9 units. I have completed four of the units (here is my queer cinema syllabus round up post with all the films I’ve watched and written about so far). It is time for me to make my way through Unit 5- Lesbians, which includes the following films: The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love (1995), Bound (1996), Water Lilies (2007)[finally got my hands on this one but I still need to watch it], Saving Face (2004), D.E.B.S. (2004), Set It Off (1996), The Handmaiden (2016), Carol (2015), Imagine Me and You (2005), Two of Us (2019), Rafiki (2018), and The Color Purple (1985). 

Today I will be watching

Carol (2015) dir. Todd Haynes

Summary: Aspiring photographer Therese spots the beautiful, elegant Carol perusing the doll displays in a 1950s Manhattan department store. The two women develop a fast bond that becomes a love with complicated consequences.

Cast -Cate Blanchett as Carol Aird -Rooney Mara as Therese Belivet

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Dear readers, 

I cannot for the life of me tell you what it was about this movie that made it so difficult for me to start it but alas I have finally gotten here, finally watched it, and finally typed up my thoughts. Hilariously, this viewing was perfectly timed for the holidays because it is mainly set at Christmas and even if it wasn’t the extremely strong red/green color scheme of Carol and between Carol and Therese would have gotten me there anyway. 

Sorry to those of you who may have absolutely loved this movie, but I found it…okay? I definitely didn’t hate it or anything but it’s definitely not going on my list of favorites. I did enjoy how much of the film relied on stolen glances between Carol and Therese to be like “lesbian?” “lesbian?!” because that kind of subtle quiet signalling in the shoulder touches and the intense eye contact is what you are often forced to do for the sake of safety.

The other thing I did find to be really interesting and important to the narrative is the way in which Carol’s soon-to-be ex-husband is holding Rindy over Carol’s head to try to get what he wants. I think Carol is in a really precarious situation here because while Therese is lower class, and lacks a general amount of power, Carol has a chance of losing any and all access to her daughter because she refuses to be controlled by Harge’s desires. 

And I appreciate the representation of the mental and physical toll that trying to go back in the closet and some version of conversion therapy takes on a person who is trying to pretend to be something they are not for the sake of maintaining a relationship with the people in their life that they care about. Generally speaking, I do not think it is unfair of Carol to leave Therese in order to maintain a relationship with Rindy. 

What is not fair, is leaving Therese in the middle of the night and having Abby take care of Therese after that. Especially after Therese has been illegally recorded having sex with Carol. Like I can see trying to put space between yourself and the person who you have indirectly harmed. But while I do believe that Carol has every right to break it off with Therese in an effort to maintain her parental custody of Rindy, and that Therese can be allowed to forgive Carol for that and re-establish a relationship with her later. I was honestly kind of mad at Therese for agreeing to try again with Carol after the way Carol left her. Because to me, that wasn’t fair to Therese for what she has lost pursuing her own feelings. Carol left her in the middle of the night, she went no contact, she maintained that boundary when Therese tried to check in on her, but the second that she has figured out a way out of her situation. When he’s allowed Harge to take custody of Rindy but with visitation rights, she thinks she can just go running back to the person she left hanging with the knowledge that she is a part of a fucking illegally recorded porn video that is just fucking floating around somewhere probably. 

I was really excited when at first Therese rebuked Carol’s proposal to start back over, and was disappointed when she walked that back soon after. Though, was I surprised? No. Getting back to what I mentioned earlier about the color-coding. Carol’s whole life was green. When Therese first goes to her home, Carol is wearing green, she has a “green present” for Rindy (the Christmas tree), the phone she uses is green, if I remember correctly, even her car is green. So when Therese returns home and paints her entire fucking apartment green what else was going to happen? Therese made her choice. And we reaffirm the ending when the other lesbian woman tries to approach her at the house party to no avail. 

Favorite Moment

Honestly, I think my favorite moment was Carol still affirming to Therese that she is interested in her and wants to be physically intimate, share a bed, etc even after the illegal porn recording. And I think I feel the same about Therese, still choosing to be intimate with Carol after the video. In some ways it feels like they are liberating themselves, and I like that they don’t run scared from intimacy or their lust/desire because someone is trying to hold it over their head.

Favorite Quote

“I love her”  “I can’t help you with that.” 

GET FUCKED HARGE. 

I do truly appreciate that Abby does not give a single fuck for Harge’s feelings. Because he is being kind of a massive dick. 

Score 

8/10

There was a lot a liked about this film. It had a strong visual message and knew what it was trying to say. I liked that the lesbians were still pretty unapologetic and that it did feel real, and I like that Therese didn’t run from her feelings for Carol and that Carol stood up for herself and her sexuality in the hearing. I do not want people to think that I am docking the film for simply struggling to hit play. There is a lot to like about this film. Also, Cate Blanchett being a lesbian is always a plus.

[hylianengineer]

Brilliant Minds Episode 8 is also excellent.

Something something pathologization of unusual sexuality and Wolf resisting that to help his patient be the version of herself that makes her happy. The pathologization of June's hypersexuality is making me think of how asexuality is also pathologized in young people - it's not the sex drive or lack of it that's considered wrong, it's contextual and cultural, because sexuality in youth is normalized and in old age it's stigmatized. Most of the Western medical system will attack anything that challenges accepted social norms, but Wolf is a beautiful example of the opposite impulse - radical acceptance of his patients and their wants and needs, even if they're weird. He doesn't judge people for being weird - possibly because he is also weird, as in queer and autistic. We need more diversity in the medical field so badly for this and many other reasons.

Also. That conversation between Wolf and his mom, where she reveals she sent Tom the medical student away to protect him, because of the difference in age and life stage, not because she was against him dating a man. And Wolf's affronted "Then why didn't you say that? Because by saying nothing you implied that there was something about me that you didn't like. I felt rejected for years."

Hello, this is an exact parallel of my own Biggest Ever Misunderstanding with my mom. Okay, well, not in the sense that I thought my mom didn't like my queerness - it's a long and rather private story involving me getting hurt and thinking she blamed me for it. But just like Oliver's mom, she didn't talk to me and made me feel like she was ashamed of me, when in reality she felt nothing of the sort. She just didn't know how to fucking talk about emotions when stuff goes wrong. Hello, emotionally incompetent parenting! It fucks you up, even decades later. At least me and my mom are still on speaking terms, but I do envy a little that Oliver got to have an actual conversation about it and figure out what really happened. I should maybe do that but I'm a chicken.

And Oliver's mom says: "I didn't say anything... or ask anything, because... I didn't want to know."

I can't know my mom's motivation because of the aforementioned being too chicken to ask, but I would bet money this was at least part of it. You ever just see a character going through something and go "holy shit, this is me?" I feel so fucking seen right now.

And then the show goes and makes me feel sorry for Oliver's mother, because she was a doctor in New York City during the 1990s. You know, AIDs epidemic era. And she just found out her son was interested in men. She saw him kiss a man. And she wondered if they had sex, and knew that if they did, if he got HIV, there wasn't a damn thing she could do to save him. The first drug approved to treat AIDs (Zidovudine) came out in 1987, but it only slowed it down, and antiretrovirals (much more effective and still in use today - people can have essentially normal lives thanks to these medications) didn't become available until 1996. PEP wasn't available except for occupational exposure until 2005. So. I can see why she freaked out.

I also love that Wolf does not stop being angry just because she had an understandable reason. "You are my mother." The way he said that line, so hurt and angry and devastated, is more than a little relatable. I have wanted to say that to my mom - that it is a parent's duty to take care of their kid even if they're uncomfortable or scared or whatever else. They signed up for raising a human, and if they screw up, as mine and Oliver's both did, those consequences do not go away just because the mistake was understandable. We, their kids, have to live with them, sometimes for our entire lives, and we have the right to be upset about it even if they were doing their best.

[skyscratch-wc]

WC Skyfall AU Timeline: From The Skyfall to The Light in the Mist

This is a draft timeline for the Skyfall AU outline. All dates are approximate and subject to change.

Winter 1920 - Skyclan is exiled from the forest after human settlement drives them from their home territory. The remaining clans refuse to aid the homeless clan and Skyclan leaves the forest. Only Birdflight, the mate of Cloudstar of Skyclan, and their kittens remain behind. Skyclan vows to never turn to Starclan again, causing the formation of the Skypaws, which becomes Skyclan's ancestral skies.

Spring 1921 - Skyclan arrives at the gorge. Cloudstar dies soon after, the stress of the events in the forest and the subsequent journey catching up to him. Buzzardstar is named leader.

1938-1940 - The Thunderclan Civil War fought between the Cloudstar and Redstar's descendants within Thunderclan. The result is the death of many warriors and the Thunderclan leader (and Cloudstar descendant), Yarrowstar, and the formation of the Skybloods as a group within Thunderclan.

Summer 1950 - Amberstar of Thunderclan becomes the first true Skyblood leader of Thunderclan. Her descendants (Birdstar, Oakstar, Pinestar, Tigerstar of Shadowclan, and Bramblestar) would lead Thunderclan for the majority of the next several decades.

1958 - Birdstar of Thunderclan and Frondstar of Shadowclan begin leading raids into the town, kidnapping kits in the process. These raids would continue through the reigns of the leaders' successors Oakstar and Houndstar.

1975 - Mapleshade's Vengeance takes place. Darkstar of Riverclan, upset at Oakstar for damning the kittens along with the mother, adds a law to the warrior code: Kittens are to be protected, regardless of their origins or the actions of their kin.

"Mapleshade may have been the one to bring those kittens to the river, but they would not have been there had it not been for your rashness, Oakstar. Kittens are not to be blamed for the actions of their kin."

1984 - Pinestar's Choice begins

1985 - Doestar of Thunderclan ends the raids on the town and establishes friendly, although fragile, relations with the cats of the town.

1986 - Goosefeather's Curse begins [this may be scrapped-- I am not a big fan of this novella or it's implications for future events]

1989 - Yellowfang's Secret and Tallstar's Revenge begin

1991 - Pinestar becomes leader of Thunderclan

1994 - Bluestar's Prophecy and Crookedstar's Promise begin

1996 - Pinestar leaves Thunderclan to become a house-cat, abandoning his family in the process. Leopardfoot, his ex-mate, suggests a new law for the code in her anger: A noble warrior rejects the life of a house-cat and will lay down their life in service of their clan

1997 - Tallstar becomes leader of Windclan and Leopardstar's Honor begins.

Winter 1998 - Blueflame [Bluefur/Bluestar] gives birth to Mistykit, Stonekit, and Mosskit in Thunderclan. Mistykit and Stonekit are given to their father, Oakheart of Riverclan, while Mosskit passes away on the trip to the river. Blueflame is named deputy of Thunderclan.

2000 - Redtail's Debt and Spottedleaf's Heart begin. Crookedstar becomes leader of Riverclan.

2001 - Bluestar becomes leader of Thunderclan.

Spring 2003 - Rusty the Kittypet joins Thunderclan as Firepaw. Windclan is driven from the forest by Brokenstar.

Summer 2003 - Brokenstar is driven out of Shadowclan.

Early Fall 2003 - Fireheart and Graystripe help bring Windclan home after they are driven out by Brokenstar.

2005 - Tigerclaw is exiled from Thunderclan. Fireheart is named deputy of Thunderclan.

2006 - Firestar becomes leader of Thunderclan. The Darkest Hour takes place.

2007 - Firestar's Quest takes place. Skyclan is re-established in the gorge, albeit with very different structure from the Forest Four due to a prolonged time apart. Leafstar is made leader of the newly refounded clan, with Sharpclaw as her deputy and Echosong as her cleric.

2008 - The New Prophecy begins

2009 - the clans arrive at The Lake. Leafpool discovers the Moonpool

2009 - Windclan Civil War takes place after Tallstar's death. Peatstar [Onestar] is named leader of Windclan.

2010 - Leopardstar passes away and Mistystar becomes leader of Riverclan.

2011 - The Three are born to Leafpool of Thunderclan. Her sister, Squirrelflight, adopts the kittens and presents them to the clan as her own. In reality, Lionkit is the son of Leafpool and Mothwing of Riverclan while Jaykit and Hollykit are the kits of Leafpool and Crowfeather of Windclan.

2013 - The Battle of the Eclipse takes place.

Spring 2014 - Hollyleaf reveals the truth of the Three's parentage at a gathering and murders Ashfur before fleeing into the tunnels.

Summer 2014 - The Fourth Apprentice takes place.

Summer 2016 - The Battle of the Dark Forest takes place. Blackstar of Shadowclan dies in the battle and Tawnystar becomes leader of Shadowclan. Firestar of Thunderclan also dies in the battle and Bramblestar becomes leader of Thunderclan.

2018 - The Apprentice's Quest takes place

2019 - Darktail and The Kin arrive at the Lake

Fall 2019 - Tawnystar is killed attempting to drive Darktail away from the lake. Shadowclan is temporarily leaderless.

2020 - Darktail is killed by his estranged father, Peatstar. Harestar becomes leader of Windclan and Goldenstar becomes leader of Shadowclan.

2021 - Lost Stars takes place.

2022 - Ashfur is defeated. A shaken Bramblestar steps down from leadership and Squirrelstar becomes leader of Thunderclan.

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A few notes to make:

Bluefur is now Blueflame

Tigerheart is now Goldenheart (I hated that he was named Tiger to begin with)

Squirrelstar becomes leader several books earlier

The prequels have been shuffled around a little bit in order to better match the cats ages in TPB

Leader deaths have been moved around a lot on the timeline. Some leaders live wayyyyyy too long

I added a large time period between Cloudstar's Journey and Mapleshade's Vengeance. The clans need time to forget that Skyclan existed.

Please let me know if I have made any glaring mistakes in terms of seasons -- I haven't re-read any books recently other than The Prophecies Begin, which I read a few weeks ago. I am mostly relying on my memory of the books, knowledge gained from tumblr, and the wiki.

I likely won't do a ton of work on anything past OotS, since that is the last arc I fully read when I was reading the books as a teenager.

A timeline for DotC through to The Skyfall will be posted eventually