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lemmythelemuel · 2 years

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[FAZRESUMENES #1] Into the Pit

La historia comienza con Oswald en el coche de su padre, este esta preparado para ir a su ultimo día de clase, pero realmente no esta muy emocionado, hace 3 años, cuando solo tenia 7 añitos, había un montón de lugares donde pasar el verano, pero el molino que daba vida al pueblo cerro, dejando a un montón de familias sin trabajo, muchas familias se marcharon de la ciudad, entre ellas la familia de Ben, el mejor amigo de Oswald.

La familia de Oswald decidio no mudarse, porque el trabajo de enfermera de su madre era estable, ademas no querian alejarse de su abuela, el padre de Oswald habia encontrado un trabajo en el Snack Place por 5 dolares menos por hora de lo que ganaba en el Molino, por lo que la vida de Oswald era estable, pero no lo suficientemente buena.

Ya en la escuela, conocemos a Dylan Cooper, un bully que lleva llamando desde Parvulos: "Oswald el Ocelote" a nuestro protagonista debido a unos dibujos animados que salian en la tele cuando eran niños, Oswald decide pasar de largo e ignorarlo, era mejor que le llamara eso que lo llamara Oswald Lee Harvey (El asesino de Kennedy).

Ya en clase, la señorita Meecham dejo que los alumnos usaran sus consolas y tabletas, pero Oswald no tenia ninguna, y su teléfono estaba tan desfasado que se reirían de este, asi que no le quedo mas remedio que dibujar, a Oswald le gustaba dibujar animales, animales mecanicos, con agujeros que mostraran sus esqueletos de robot, el no sabia la razón, esos dibujos simplemente salieron.

Despues de la clase, en el recreo, observaba como los demas niños hablaban de como iban a pasar las vacaciones fuera, pero Oswald no iba a moverse de la ciudad, no habia dinero, y con Ben fuera, iba a ser un largo y aburrido verano.

*******

La madre de Oswald trabajaba de 12 pm a 12 am por lo que el padre de Oswald se encargaba de la cena, mientras cenaban, su padre le conto como iba a pasar su verano ya que no queria que pasara todo el verano en casa:

Por las mañanas, su padre le llevaria a la biblioteca, luego cuando tuviera hambre, iria a Jeff pizza a almorzar y luego su padre lo buscaría para la comida y ya pasaria la tarde en casa.

A la noche siguiente, Oswald veia un poco de Tokusatsu (es un genero de cine japones con muchos efectos especiales) y deseo fuertemente que pase algo bueno este verano.

*******

Asi empezó el primer dia de Verano, Oswald despertó y desayuno con su madre (la unica hora del dia que podia verla), despues fue a la biblioteca donde jugo juegos en linea y leyo un Manga sobre una escuela de superheroes donde chicos con poderes aprendian a salvar el mundo, y despues fue a Jeff Pizza.

Jeff's era un lugar raro, y estaba casi siempre vacio, normalmente solo habian algunos trabajadores en su descanso para la comida, habian un monton de espacios vacios, y una piscina de bolas con un cartel que decia:

-NO USAR-

Oswald pidió una porción de Pizza y una soda de naranja, tras eso se dirigio a una mesa y se puso a comer, para su sorpresa un rato despues Jeff se le aparecio, Oswald creia que queria echarlo, pero no, Jeff le ofrecio pizza gratis ya que le sobro, y de paso le relleno la soda, Jeff era un tipo muy raro y frio, apenas mostraba sentimientos, pero parece ser, que era buena persona.

Oswald paso un par de semanas, todo iba bien, hasta que recibio un mensaje de Ben, este le hablo de su maravilloso Verano en las playas, arcades y Minigolfs, y luego sintio lastima de Oswald por pasar todos los dias en la misma rutina, esto enfurecio a Oswald un montón.

A la mañana siguiente, Oswald tuvo una acalorada discusión con su padre, y paso todo el dia con furia, la biblioteca ya le aburria, siempre comia las mismas pizzas porque su padre no le daba mas dinero para otros condimentos, estaba furioso.

Este en venganza decidio vengarse de su padre, iba a esconderse en la piscina de pelotas, y esperar a que su padre entrara a buscarlo, en lugar de que sea Oswald el que salga, asi que decidio poner su plan en marcha.

Oswald entro en la piscina, y una vez dentro podia escuchar en su mente la voz de su madre diciendo: "vas a pillar una conjuntivitis" este se quedaba sin aire, y entonces salio, pero todo habia cambiado.Jeff ya no era el sitio triste, silencioso y aburrido, estaba lleno de musica, niños y de arcades y animatronicos, Oswald encontro un cartel que decia Freddy Fazbear Pizza, en este sitio, Oswald conocio a dos chicos, Chip con el pelo bastante arreglado y Mike un chico de piel oscura con gafas, con los cuales paso toda la tarde jugando.

Mientras Oswald jugaba con ellos noto como un misterioso conejo amarillo los observaba pero nadie le prestaba atención.

El dia acababa, y Oswald volvio a la piscina cuando nadie miraba, una vez salio de ella volvio a Jeff y recibió el mensaje de su padre, apenas habia pasado unos minutos, este volvio a casa alegre, pues habia descubierto una forma de que los siguientes meses sean mas divertidos.

*******

Oswald probo la piscina por segunda vez y allí estaba la pizzeria del pasado, este exploro un poco y encontró un calendario que decía 1985, definitivamente estaba en el pasado, allí se encontró a Chip y Mike los cuales le invitaron a pizza y hablaron del mal rollo que dan los Anomatronicos, Oswald pensó en en conejo amarillo el cual seguía todavía ahí, observando, tras pasar toda la tarde jugando, Oswald volvió al presente.

Los viajes en el tiempo se hacían regulares, Oswald trataba de usar ropa neutra, que no desvelará cosas del futuro y cada vez que sus amigos mencionaban una peli el la buscaba online, era como una especie de estudiante de intercambio.

Un día, Oswald se sintió mal porque Chip y Mike le habían invitado todos los días, estos le dijeron que dieron por sentado que su abuela (Oswald les dijo que pasaba el verano con ella) y les daba igual, iban a seguir invitándolo, pero de repente paso algo inusual, los bolsillos de Oswald pesaban, estaban llenos de Tokens, ese día Oswald fue el que invitó a sus amigos.

*******

A la mañana siguiente, el último dia de las vacaciones de verano, Oswald pregunto a su Padre cuantos años tenía en el 85, su padre respondió que más o menos la misma edad de Oswald, este le preguntó si antes había una pizzeria con Arcades en Jeff y su padre afirmo, Oswald noto que su padre estaba aliviado de llegar a la biblioteca, era como si no quisiera responder más preguntas.

Oswald entró en la piscina como siempre, pero al llegar a Freddys todo era diferente, podía ver gente corriendo, gritando y pidiendo ayuda, Oswald quería volver al presente, pero estaba preocupado por Chip y Mike así que fue en dirección contraria, allí vio al conejo amarillo abrir una puerta que decía: "Privado", Oswald le siguió en un largo pasillo oscuro, se sentía como una versión siniestra de Alicia en el país de las maravillas, una vez en el final, el conejo abrió la puerta de una sala de fiestas y hizo un gesto para decirle a Oswald que entrará, allí vio el horror:

Media docena de niños, con gorros de fiesta, espatarrados en el suelo, algunos con los ojos cerrados como si estuvieran dormidos, otros con una mirada vacía como si fueran muñecos.

Oswald no sabia como habian muerto, pero sabia que el conejo era el responsable, entonces huyo, el conejo le perseguia, asi que Oswald salto directo a la piscina.

En cuanto salió, allí le esperaban Jeff y si Padre, este estaba furioso "¿como se te ocurre esconderte Ahi? Esta muy sucio, como se entere tu madre ", de repente dos brazos amarillos le agarraron y lo hundieron en la piscina, de allí salió el conejo, el cual se ajustó la pajarita y agarro a Oswald, Jeff se despidió como si nada.

El conejo metió a Oswald en el coche y condujo hacia casa, luego agarro la llave que Oswald tenía en el cuello y abrió la puerta, tras eso, simplemente se quedó en la entrada, a lo que Oswald se refugió en su cuarto y pidió ayuda a su madre, cuando esta llegó le calmo y dijo que su padre estaba bien, viendo la tele, lo que calmo a Oswald, por lo que simplemente se fue a la cama.

A la mañana siguiente empezaban las clases y al bajar a desayunar encontró al conejo, al parecer todo el mundo veía al conejo como si fuera el padre de Oswald, solo Oswald y Jinx, el gato negro de este podían ver a la Cosa Amarilla, este monstruo imitaba la misma rutina que su padre, asi que llevo a Oswald al colegio.

Por el camino, Oswald solo podia pensar en que habria ocurrido con su padre, incluso llego a vacilar a su bully, Dylan diciendo que tenia cosas mas importantes de las que preocuparse.

En el recreo, Oswald estaba sentado en un banco, pensando y pensando sobre que hacer, hasta que aparecio una niña de pelo negro y rizado, esta le pregunto si podia sentarse, Oswald la dejo y esta empezo a leer un libro de Mitologia Griega, la chica menciono que esas historias le daban el valor que necesitaba

Ella era nueva, y no conocia a nadie, necesitaba valor para acostumbrarse, y pensar en que esos heroes se enfrentaron a criaturas le hicieron sentir aliviada, ella no tenia que enfrentarse a ningún monstruo, Oswald necesitaba oir eso, necesitaba saber que debia tener valor y enfrentarse a la situacion, era justo lo que Oswald necesitaba, este se presento a la chica, a lo que ella se presento a si misma como Gabrielle.

*******

Una vez en casa, Oswald fingio que el tambien veia a su padre y se paso la tarde "estudiando" en su cuarto, tranquilizando a Jinx, una vez todos dormian Oswald huyo de la casa y se dirigio a Jeff, este le pidio una Soda para distraerlo y se dirigio a la Piscina.

Alli Oswald se encontro a su padre, y con todas las fuerzas trato de sacarlo de la Piscina, pero entonces el conejo aparecio, Oswald se enfrento a la cosa amarilla, hasta que esta le acorralo y abrio la boca, mostrando una segunda fila de colmillos afilados los cuales se dirigieron a la garganta de Oswald, el conejo iba a matar, pero afortunadamente, Oswald lo bloqueo con el brazo, la criatura libero el brazo y se dirigio hacia el padre de Oswald, con la mandibula medio-abierta como una serpiente mirando a su presa.

Ese era el momento, Oswald debia sacar el valor de los heroes griegos que Gabrielle leia, debia ser valiente, Oswald se enfrento a la criatura, dando puñetazos, arañando sus ojos definitivamente no humanos, el conejo tropezo con la red y las cuerdas del cartel de no usar, pero agarro a Oswald y lo lanzo contra la piscina. (Into the Pit ba dum tuss).

Oswald salio de la piscina, preparado para enfrentarse a la criatura, pero no hacia falta, el cuello de este se enredo en la cuerda, estaba ahogandose, Oswald vio como la criatura suplicaba, pero Oswald no iba a ayudarle, la Cosa amarilla murio, y el padre de Oswald desperto.

Oswald le explico que se desmayo en la piscina y el le rescato, su padre luego vio la marca de mordisco en el brazo y pidio explicaciones, a lo que Oswald mintió diciendo que fue con el borde de la piscina, este dijo que fueran a casa y su madre curaria esa herida, padre e hijo salieron, pero no sin antes ver la criatura, que ahora solo era un traje vacio que disgusto al padre de Oswald.

Oswald iba a echar de menos a Chip y Mike, pero debia centrarse en el presente, no en el pasado, tenia una nueva amiga, Gabrielle, tras decirle a su padre que le quiere, ambos se fueron hacia casa, entonces vino Jeff que impotente viendo como sus clientes se iban dijo:

"¡Chico, te olvidas de tu Soda!"

#resumenes

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qnewslgbtiqa · 4 months

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Taylor Swift's drag double recreates Eras Tour in Melbourne

New Post has been published on https://qnews.com.au/taylor-swifts-drag-double-recreates-eras-tour-in-melbourne/

Taylor Swift's drag double recreates Eras Tour in Melbourne

Filipino drag queen Taylor Sheesh has recreated Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in Melbourne and performed a free gig for thousands of Swifties who couldn’t get tickets to the real thing.

It all started last year. Diehard Swifties in the Philippines waited to find out if Taylor would bring the Eras tour there.

She didn’t, so a local fan group organised their own. They booked a shopping centre and asked drag queen Taylor Sheesh, who has been impersonating Swift since 2017, to fill in.

Thousands packed the shopping centre to watch Taylor Sheesh perform the 90-minute Eras Tour recreation. The concert was complete with backup dancers and incredible costume recreations.

The drag queen made and wore a copy of Taylor’s blue bodysuit for Midnights, her flowing gown for Speak Now, and the Red two-piece.

Soon, Taylor Sheesh was drawing thousands to larger outdoor venues as her free concerts, now dubbed the Errors Tour, continued.

Taylor Sheesh performs free concert in Melbourne

On Friday, Taylor Sheesh came to Australia and performed one of her concerts here for the first time.

It was hosted by All the Queens Men producer Tristan Meecham, who brought the Filipino drag queen to Melbourne to lip sync the show for a cheering crowd of thousands at Fed Square.

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Aussie fans in the crowd cheered for Sheesh and waved signs with her name on them.

The drag queen from the Philippines said she is still “in shock and awe” at the popularity of her lip-synced tribute shows.

“We didn’t expect all the recognition we’ve received internationally,” Sheesh told JOY Media.

“We made it into Rolling Stone, we didn’t expect that… Everything that’s happened still hasn’t sunk into my mind. We’re forever grateful to my fans and fellow Swifties.”

The drag queen is, naturally, a lifelong fan of Taylor Swift. While in Melbourne, Sheesh saw Swift perform at her final Melbourne concert on Sunday night (February 18).

“I’m a fan since 2009, when I was in high school. I love her,” Sheesh said.

“For every situation there’s a Taylor Swift song. Not just relationships, but when you have self-doubt and need to boost your confidence.”

The drag performer declared her favourite Taylor Swift songs are Love Story and You Belong With Me.

“Those songs are very old but forever gold,” she said.

@makayla.smartTaylor sheesh in melbourne♬ original sound – Makayla Smart

For the latest LGBTIQA+ Sister Girl and Brother Boy news, entertainment, community stories in Australia, visit qnews.com.au. Check out our latest magazines or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

#melbourne #pop music

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spencerluvtrinagh12z · 1 year

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msclaritea · 1 year

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David Choe's Casting On "Beef" Is Hollywood Nepotism At Its Worst

"Netflix almost had the best show of the year on its hands. Beef, a hypnotic portrait of strangers who take their self-hatred out on each other after a parking lot spat, has racked up the admiration of audiences and critics — including myself — since it came out on April 6. But less than two weeks after its release, the show’s legacy has already been tainted by a controversy surrounding one of its main cast members: David Choe, a celebrity artist who plays Isaac, a temperamental grifter on parole. He’s come under fire for his history of graphically bragging and joking about rape.

In 2014, on his podcast DVDASA, which stands for “Double Vag, Double Anal, Sensitive Artist,” Choe recounted a story about forcing his massage therapist to watch him masturbate, then hold his penis, then perform oral sex on him. His friend and cohost, the porn actor Asa Akira, interjected to say that he was “basically” admitting to rape, but he shrugged it off.

A month later, after journalist Melissa Stetten brought public attention to the incident in a post on xoJane, Choe issued a formal apology in which he claimed that he made the story up, calling it his mission as “an artist and a storyteller” to challenge his friends and listeners with “dark, tasteless” ideas. But his career continued apace. Although one of his murals was vandalized in 2017, presumably in protest of the same controversy, which prompted another public apology, Choe didn’t seem to suffer any major professional consequences. Being provocative merely became part of his brand. In a 2021 profile in the New York Times, Choe said “it was strangely comforting to be so despised” in 2014 because the external hate finally matched his own self-loathing. It didn’t seem to bother him that Disney warned its subsidiary company FX against acquiring his TV series, The Choe Show, on account of his controversial history. He funded the show himself, and after all, the company bought it anyway. In a smug but prescient quote, he declared, “If you want to come and try to cancel me, that’s OK.”

Now that he’s attached to a project as high profile as Beef, this 9-year-old controversy has become inescapable. Writers Aura Bogado and Meecham Meriweather recirculated clips of the original podcast episode on Twitter last week, causing fans to wonder why Choe had been cast and what steps Beef’s production team would take to condemn his behavior. (Twitter deleted the tweets after Choe’s foundation requested that Bogado’s and Meriweather’s tweets be removed on copyright grounds). This time, people have drawn attention to Choe’s description of his massage therapist as “half Black, half white,” arguing that his story not only normalizes rape but contributes to a long history of objectifying Black women, who experience sexual violence at disproportionately high rates.

Thus far, nobody from Beef has made any public comments. Show creator Lee Sung Jin, as well as costars and executive producers Ali Wong and Steven Yeun, have remained silent. (Wong set her Twitter account to private seemingly in light of the controversy). As far as damage control goes, it’s disappointingly evasive.

I loved Beef, not as a piece of Asian American representation but as a strange, unsettling work of art. It’s tempting to imagine how much better Beef would be without Choe; with his unwaveringly barking line delivery, he wasn’t a particularly good performer anyway.

But Choe’s casting is inextricable from the show’s other production choices. As Lee told Today.com, he cast Choe over hundreds of actors because he saw The Choe Show and thought he embodied a wounded aggression that fit the part of Isaac. After texting Yeun and Wong, both friends of Choe’s, to ask if he would consider acting, Lee cast him on the basis of his self-tape.

This choice exemplifies a few pitfalls of typical Hollywood casting. Nepotism prevails over equal opportunity — Choe got the part because he knew someone, not because he had any acting experience. And yet creator mythology masks this nepotism as a bold artistic choice; Lee explained that all of the previous actors he auditioned hammed up the “Korean mafioso” element of the character without understanding Isaac’s vulnerability, and thus he had to go with Choe. It paints Choe as a unique soul, anointed by Lee’s powerful vision as an auteur; it elides the truth that acting is a teachable skill, and directing is supposed to mold actors’ existing ideas. Surely, many of the actors up for this role could have embodied Isaac’s traumatic background if encouraged to, but arguing that Choe had some innate je ne sais quoi makes for a more romantic story of artmaking.

Nepotism prevails over equal opportunity — Choe got the part because he knew someone, not because he had any acting experience.

Meanwhile, “stunt casting” — the placement of a nonactor celebrity in an onscreen role to boost a movie or TV show’s hype — has become an increasingly common practice in recent years. It’s a useful marketing strategy. A star like Harry Styles will bring his own built-in audience to screenings of Don’t Worry Darling, even if his actual performance is less interesting than the tabloid gossip that stems from his presence on set. And as consumers hunger for content that shows us who celebrities really are — TikToks and Instagram stories, Architectural Digest house tours, intimate documentaries, etc. — stunt casting thrillingly blurs the boundaries between art and life. The real personality of an actor supplements the character. In the case of Choe, his edginess as a self-described “liar, thief, gambler, vandal, vagabond, and ex-criminal” gives his performance a punky sheen that one critic called “entertainingly slippery,” until the slippage between Choe’s onscreen and offscreen lives proved to be too much.

It’s impossible to separate the choice to cast Choe from the celebrity networks and Hollywood marketing tactics that delivered him into the role. He got the part because he’s a celebrity with celebrity friends. That is the same reason he’s been allowed to continue making art and entertainment in the face of a controversy he has not apologized for beyond denying that he caused any actual harm. Even if Choe is thoroughly deplatformed over this incident, ending his career won’t solve the problem that Hollywood’s most basic elements — like casting — keep powerful people in power because it is profitable to do so. If that means ignoring a celebrity’s unsavory history, so be it.

For every David Choe, there’s another artist whose controversies have blown over twice and will pass, unremarked upon, a third time. For every Jonathan Majors, dropped by his manager and PR firm after being arrested for assault (charges Majors’s attorneys have denied), there is an Ezra Miller, who has a long history of violent behavior but continues to prop up an entire DC franchise as the star of The Flash. Picking off perpetrators of sexual harassment and violence one by one is cathartic, but it’s unwise to isolate their worst behaviors from other people’s seemingly innocent choices to further their careers, or from an industry that privileges fame over accountability."

The only issue I have with this article (besides it being from Buzzfeed) is the Ezra Miller comment. People have been saying for months that the accusations came from a stalker of the actor. It would be cool if Discovery WB released some sort of article to clear this up because attacks against the actor are still being circulated online.

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wilsonneate · 1 year

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Pound Shop Atmosphere (after Charles Meecham). Sierra Nevada mountains, CA. February 2023.

#joydivision #atmosphere

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heywasistdas · 1 year

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Trevor Beales - Fireside Stories

Everyone loves a tale of lost genius that it can be all too seductive when a press release comes along promising such. Add in a dash of Hebden Bridge then wrap it up in the contemporary photographs of Charlie Meecham and the omens were so strong that anything other than a revelation would be a severe disappointment. Thankfully it delivers on the promise and the vinyl is already on its second…

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#1971 #2022 #Basin Rock #Trevor Beale

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chasenews · 2 years

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UK: BMG songwriters honored at the 2022 BMI London Awards

(c) BMI London Awards BMG songwriters contributed to a whopping 13 songs that were honored at the 2022 BMI London Awards on October 3. The prestigious award recognizes top UK and European songwriters, composers, and music publishers of the most-performed songs of the previous year. Six songs from BMG songwriters were honored in the ‘Pop’ category including Andrew Meecham and Dean Meredith for…

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ausetkmt · 2 years

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Kanye West Slammed for Wearing ‘Dangerously Dumb’ White Lives Matter Shirt: ‘He Doesn’t Care About the Black Community’

Today Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, launched a surprise Yzy fashion show in Paris. The event was attended by celebrities like Beyoncé, Rihanna, Angelina Jolie, Lauryn Hill, Naomi Campbell, Emily Ratajkowski, Gisele Bündchen and Bella Hadid and featured a Sunday Service-style musical number that included a children’s choir (West’s daughter North West was among the singers).

But all that anybody can talk about is the controversial black sweatshirt Ye wore, which had a picture of the pope on the front and the words “White Lives Matter” on the back.

Online, there was immediate debate as to whether it was some kind of marketing stunt or just him trolling. And although Ye has a well-documented history of mental illness, he has also shown himself to, time and time again, promote extremely conservative values and ideologues, like him wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat and meeting with former president Donald Trump in an official endorsement.

Twitter quickly responded to his bizarre sartorial choice. In a since-deleted post, Jaden Smith denounced the move, saying that he can’t stand behind West’s choice and that “he does not have the full support of the youth.” The son of Will and Jada Pinkett Smith has left tweets up saying “Black Lives Matter” and “I Don’t Care Who’s It Is If I Don’t Feel The Message I’m Out.”

“Uphill” author Jemele Hill called the sweatshirt “dangerously dumb.” Writer Meecham Meriweather said, “Kanye SHOWS y’all and TELLS y’all he doesn’t care about the black community and yet and still y’all be right there at Sunday Service buying every GI Joe boot and every piece of raggedy fabric he drops.”

Many others pointed to an Instagram exchange between former professional basketball player Jack McClinton and producer and media personality Van Lathan, the latter of whom wrote eloquently of the “white supremacist notion” behind West’s sweatshirt slogan.

“We don’t need a reminder of the worth of white lives,” Lathan said. “America is a shrine to the worth of white people. This message is reactionary to a message affirming the worth of Black lives, which have never been worth anything in America. In its intent, it’s a white supremacist notion, because it posits that we can’t have a conversation about the worth of Black people without having a conversation about the worth of white people, which is fucking insane. The notion that it ALWAYS has to be about white people in America is incredibly frustrating, emotionally draining, and the whole problem. But here’s Kanye, apparently centering that notion.”

Temple University professor and BET host Marc Lamont Hill called the shirt “disgusting, dangerous and irresponsible.” And Rap TV pointed out that West and conservative pundit Candice Owens (who was famously against the Black Lives Matter movement) were wearing the same thing.

#white supremacists in black skin #ye #yeezies #kanye needs help #Kanye West Slammed for Wearing ‘Dangerously Dumb’ White Lives Matter Shirt #white supremacy #white hate #white lies #slavery was not a choice

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moviesteve · 2 years

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11 Harrowhouse https://bit.ly/3C21xPZ Misconceived but full of good things, 11 Harrowhouse (sometimes called Fast Fortune) is also a classic example of a film that didn’t do incredibly well at test screenings and then did even less well with real audiences after it was “improved”. It’s a paranoid screwball heist caper starring Charles Grodin as a smalltime diamond trader who decides to rob a big diamond house situated at 11 Harrowhouse Street in London. This racket run as if it were a venerable institution is headed by one Mr Meecham, or “Sir”, a man played with a curled lip and superciliousness at full blare by John Gielgud. Along for what looks like the sheer hell of it … Read more

#11 harrowhouse #Aram Avakian #Candice Bergen #Charles Grodin #Fast fortune #john gielgud #trevor howard

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dailyrugbytoday · 2 years

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The Wrap: ‘This is World Rugby’s problem to fix and the longer it takes, the more the sport will be damaged’

New Post has been published on https://thedailyrugby.com/the-wrap-this-is-world-rugbys-problem-to-fix-and-the-longer-it-takes-the-more-the-sport-will-be-damaged/

The Daily Rugby

https://thedailyrugby.com/the-wrap-this-is-world-rugbys-problem-to-fix-and-the-longer-it-takes-the-more-the-sport-will-be-damaged/

The Wrap: ‘This is World Rugby’s problem to fix and the longer it takes, the more the sport will be damaged’

Rugby wouldn’t be rugby without a north versus south divide over something or other.

While these flash points often feel intense, invariably things settle and the rugby caravan moves on without lasting damage done to the fabric of the game.

The latest stoush – Australia and New Zealand defiantly continuing on with 20-minute red cards, and World Rugby and northern hemisphere nations insisting that transgressors pay full freight for their misdeeds – is different.

Why so? If rugby is to flourish into the future, after this generation has drained its last pints and shut down its Twitter accounts, the existential challenge that is head injury must be solved.

And it can only be solved if all parties are furiously aligned.

The general view from the north is that Australia and New Zealand are watering down efforts to lower tackle heights at precisely the same time concern about head injuries in rugby has never been higher.

The counter-view is that rugby in these parts competes for eyeballs in a highly competitive market, and paying audiences are overwhelmingly in favour of contests not being reduced to 15 versus 14. More particularly, when current frameworks provide for red cards that, in some instances, are for accidental collisions.

(Photo by Peter Meecham/Getty Images)

This kind of binary framing is unhelpful, because it conflates two separate issues into one. The incidence of concussion, the construct of rugby’s laws, application of the laws (refereeing), and the judicial process are all linked, but they are also separate and distinct.

Blunt use of any of the latter to effect change on the former might be well-intentioned, but is flawed.

One of the biggest problems with the whole concussion debate right now is how it has been framed as a refereeing issue.

Let’s pluck out an obvious starting point. ‘Does rugby want or need to minimize incidences of concussion?’

Another important discussion point might be: ‘Does rugby want or need more accuracy and consistency in refereeing?’

These are not the same question. Most people would answer yes to both, but a solution to the second question – to what extent this is actually possible – does not automatically address the first.

The story that captures the headlines thus becomes the inequity in the recent treatment of Angus Ta’avao and Andrew Porter, not what is the best way to prevent the injuries suffered by Garry Ringrose and Brodie Retallick.

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In allowing itself to become bogged down arguing the toss around initial points of contact, degrees of force, absorption, the ball-carrier dropping in height and so on, rugby is in danger of losing focus on the bigger picture.

Last week, a new research paper published in ‘Frontiers in Neurology’ nailed that big picture.

The paper, compiled by nine researchers across six different countries, detailed how “there was a consistent association between repetitive head impacts and CTE”, and that “there was a plausible mechanism between the cause and the effect, and that greater exposure led to greater incidence”.

Lead author Chris Nowinski, CEO of the Concussion Legacy Foundation, said the analysis “gives us the highest scientific confidence that repeated head impacts cause CTE”.

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Since 2011, rugby (along with a number of other sports) has employed assessment and return to play processes and protocols recommended by the global Concussion in Sport Group (CISG).

Discontent has grown about potential conflicts of interest – the vast majority of members have been or are employed by various sports – and the group’s reticence to acknowledge the links between head injury and CTE.

Earlier this year, the CISG was rocked by plagiarism allegations against its chair, Dr. Paul McCrory, who subsequently resigned.

This felt like a watershed moment; an opportunity for the CISG to produce a new concussion statement that more accurately reflects the latest research and current concerns, or an opportunity for World Rugby to step out of CISG’s shadow of convenience, and forge a bolder path forward, demonstrating a willingness to protect players and the future of the sport.

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No longer can World Rugby hide in the grey area that is conflicting or yet to be determined science. Causation is causation, and if the age-old argument ‘we didn’t know what we were dealing with’ ever did apply, it applies no longer.

Six recent Test matches in Australia and New Zealand, involving England and Ireland, delivered 12 failed HIAs or notable head injuries.

Seventy-five times capped, triple grand-slam winning Welsh second-rower Ryan Jones, aged only 41, has just announced that he suffering from early onset dementia and probable CTE.

There are many others suffering like Jones. He joins a host of other recently retired, afflicted players attached to an action against World Rugby, which appears destined to be run through the UK courts.

In this environment it isn’t hard to imagine players all around the globe wondering if their own experiences with concussion represent a ticking bomb. And to imagine how increasingly negative publicity influences parents, and what impact this will have on junior, and eventually adult, participation rates.

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This is World Rugby’s problem to fix, and the longer it takes to do so, the more the sport will be damaged.

What makes the issue so difficult – and why much of the noise around referees and cards is misplaced – is that the danger to rugby comes from a place far broader in scope than that what is posed by high-contact foul play.

Of major concern is the accumulation of sub-concussive hits, including those suffered by junior players before their brains are fully developed, and also the accumulation of seemingly minor ‘head knocks’ collected by players whilst training.

With respect to how the game is played, data collated and released recently by Ross Tucker of ‘Science in Sport’ details how the risk of concussion to either the ball carrier or tackler increases markedly if both players enter contact upright, compared to instances where the tackler is bent and the ball carrier is upright.

James Parsons of the Blues walks off with concussion during a Super Rugby match (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

In this regard, the focus on getting tacklers to lower their body height is easily understood.

But there remains significant risk in all cases, including where the tackler and/or the ball runner are bent over. Thus, while it is important to address foul play, it is crucial not to conflate this into the issuing of different types of red cards being the solution, or even a major part of the solution, to the concussion problem.

What is far more likely to change matters is leading thinkers and coaches in the game continuing to come together to work on ways to modify behaviours, so that upright tackling is eliminated, and the safest tacking techniques are employed.

That this might result in more off-loading and ball movement, and a depowering of the gain-line collision would naturally force consideration and examination of flow-on effects, and likely lead to other law changes and modifications.

Complex and difficult for sure, but nothing less than what will be required.

It feels almost inevitable that contact rugby will be disallowed for juniors and gradually introduced for teenagers, after age 14.

Given concerning research around the deleterious effects of concussion on females, contact in girls and women’s rugby will potentially be even more severely curtailed. Expect contact minutes during training, at all levels, to be strictly limited.

Foul play will remain an important consideration, but with respect to the current red card debate there is no evidence that full-match red cards versus 20-minute red cards serve as a greater deterrent or change player behaviour, or are more effective in preventing concussions.

Particularly so when the red card – once reserved for egregious acts of foul play – is now a catch-all for everything from intentional kicking and eye gouging through to unintentional head clashes.

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This is precisely why the legal system recognises different levels of culpability with respect to homicide. Distinctions are made not because these effectively deter people from killing each other, but because they more appropriately reflect degrees of culpability and intent.

What is ironic is that fans are not so much being frustrated and turned off the game by the extent of the head injuries – at least not yet – but more so by the ham-fisted way in which the game is dealing with the issue.

It is not downplaying the importance of acting on concussion to recognise that there is a real opportunity cost in tasking match officials with assessing each event via a clunky, time-consuming framework which detracts from the overall rugby experience.

Particularly so for fans who are live at matches, who are often in the dark about what is unfolding.

Match officials have been forced into the role of ‘concussion removalist’. This places expectations upon them that are grossly unfair and which have no hope of being satisfied.

Rugby’s law book is complicated enough as it is; let the officials focus on that, have them send players off for the whole game who commit the gravest fouls, and have everything else dealt with by a yellow card and a citing and judiciary process. One with appropriately lengthy suspensions that will drive change in player behaviour.

So, if it is not the referee’s job to solve the concussion problem, whose is it?

It is for World Rugby to form a full understanding of the issue, develop a comprehensive plan that appropriately covers all areas of the game (professional, amateur and junior), and to administer and communicate in such a way that all of rugby’s stakeholders – players, coaches, administrators, medics, match officials, judiciary, media, parents and fans – combat the issue in a cohesive, joined-up manner.

World Rugby might believe they are doing that already but, despite best intentions, that is patently not the case. The concussion issue is galloping ahead of the ability of the game to grasp what is required and act upon it.

Witness the incoherence surrounding World Rugby’s recent announcement of a mandatory 12-day stand-down for players who are concussed or fail an HIA.

(Photo By Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

Within days, Ireland’s Johnathan Sexton was being navigated through a series of return to play exemptions that saw him take the field in the second Test against New Zealand, a week after he failed an HIA in the first.

Whatever justification offered by Sexton and Ireland’s medical staff, such an outcome merely fosters cynicism and confusion and, more broadly, waters down efforts to educate people on the issue.

It is time for World Rugby to appoint a concussion commissioner. This needs to be a highly visible, high-level appointee on the same level as director of rugby Phil Davies, charged with overarching responsibility on all matters relating to head injury.

This is not to downplay work currently being done across areas including medical research and data collection, legal, laws, coaching and refereeing, but to ensure that actions are better coordinated and that rugby’s responses to the issue are proactive rather than reactive.

One reason sports have been slow and cautious is because of concerns over legal liability. This is where a change in policy may potentially be interpreted as acknowledgment that prior policy was deficient, thus opening the door for legal action.

Conversely, with all of the money and legal might at its disposal, there should be no impediment to World Rugby being able to demonstrate appropriate responses given the information it had at its disposal – then and now.

In this respect, new research coming to light is helpful, in that it offers World Rugby new markers from which it can fairly reset its policies and operating frameworks.

One of the Concussion Commissioner’s responsibilities must be to ensure better communication. Rugby badly needs a simple, honed common message that is easily understood and repeated by everyone in the game.

The commissioner must also strive to ensure that broadcast media steps up to the plate. By all means let supposed expert TV commentators argue the toss on tactics and selection etc, but there must be no space for commentators to spout misinformation and ill-informed personal opinion on a matter this serious.

It is precisely because there is an information and communication vacuum that the current debate has become mired in such a hopeless and ultimately irrelevant spiral around the worth of 20-minute red cards versus full red cards.

Neither of these is a solution.

Rugby can, and must, do better.

Rugby – The Roar

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