#n. mcmillian

[sebfreak]

N. McMillian

[jackiekashian]

Fan Faves of 2022

The votes are in for 2022!

ALL THE EPS have something for someone and are great but here is a starter list if you’re thinking to start listening to TDF and are not a numerologist completest. and it’s just guest name and dorkdom. www.dorkforest.com or wherever you listen to podcasts. It’s also on youtube.

Note: show’s been going since 2006 but I’ve only been surveying since 2011. Standup info and other podcast is at www.jackiekashian.com

2022

TDF EP 659 and 688 - Both with my Sister Darla Kashian (Fiddly/SimpleMeals and Orchestras)  TDFEP 660 - My brother Phil Kashian - Fly Fishing TDF EP 658 - Caitlin Durante - Paddington Bear TDF EP 665 - Irene Tu - In-N-Out Burger TDF EP 670 - Moontower LIVE w Guy Branum, Atsuko, Chris Cubas TDF EP 675 - Shelley McLendon - Cult Documentaries TDF EP 678 - Andy Ashcraft - Marvel Phase Four TDF EP 679 - Kyle Clark - Learning to Draw TDF EP 691 - Sean Blair Flannery - Chicago Dive Bars TDF EP 696 - Carmen Morales - Collaging  

TDF EP 677 - Andrea Jones-Rooy - Spreadsheets TDF EP 704 - Nour Hadidi - Pokemon TDF EP 692 - CJ Sullivan - Professional Gamblers TDF EP 703  - Kurt Braunohler - Surfing TDF EP 684 - Antonio Portela - Trombone

SO MANY GOOD ONES THIS YEAR. I’m feeling pretty strong on my “encourage people to talk” skills!! :) yay dorkouts. 

DUDE. the formatting on the rest of this blows. I will try to fix it and repost. but here’s the good news. It’s LIKE PROSE NOW!

2021

TDF EP 611 - Greg Proops - Negro Leagues TDF EP 654 - Jamie Loftus - Chuck E Cheese TDF EP 605 - Tom Papa - Bread TDF EP 627 - Joyelle Johnson - Gone with the Wind TDF EP 652 - Andy Ashcraft - Sandman LARPS TDF EP 626 - Aisha Alfa - Korean Food TDF EP 634 – Heather Tomson – Grey Gardens TDF EP 640 - Brandon Palomo - Pearl Jam TDF EP 620 - Brian Swartz  - M.A.S.H. TDF EP 642 - Danielle Koenig – CHEERS

TDF EP 646 - Caitlin Gill - Silk Screening Shirts TDF EP 601 – Jenn Welch - Animal Crossing TDF EP 617 - Katie McMillian - Stardew Valley TDF EP 635 – Kate Gaffney – Stevie Wonder TDF EP 651 – Tess Rafferty – Light Murder Mysteries TDF EP 624 - David Rees  - Effects Pedals TDF EP 649 – Ophira Eisenberg – Novels galore TDF EP 644 – Matthew Chadourne – Criterion Collection TDF EP 647 – Jenny Zigrino – Estate Sales TDF EP 628 – Justin Mohareb – Marvel

2020 TDF EP 562 - Guy Branum - Mitford Sisters TDF EP 568 - Maria Bamford - Canadian Reality Shows TDF EP 599 - Jen Kirkman - Hallmark Christmas Movies TDF EP 565 - Darla Kashian – COOKING TDF EP 598 - Russ Kashian - Hallmark Christmas Movies TDF EP 549 - Tig Notaro – Veganism TDF EP 581 - Jenny Yang - Comfort Food TDF EP 591 - Amber Preston - Church Cookbooks TDF EP 574 - Ron Funches - Call of Duty and Animal Crossing TDF EP 577 - Barbara Holiday - Escape Rooms TDF EP 558 - Sarah Mowrey - Fleetwood Mac TDF EP566 - Matt Kirshen/Myq Kaplan - Advice Columns TDF EP 595 - Kristin Key - Mad Libs TDF EP 576 - Robert Jenkins - Guns and Safety TDF EP 588 - Sofiya Alexandra - Wheel of Time books TDF EP 570- Jim Woster – Columbo TDF EP 573 - Robert Hurt - Babylon 5 TDF EP 550 - Danielle Perez - Mariah Carey TDF EP 583 - Dar Vendegna  - PIckleball TDF SPOILER 3 - Andy & Jackie - Rise of Skywalker

2019 TDF EP 523 Lydia Popovich Dolly Parton TDF EP 511 Auggie Smith Dead Comedians TDF EP 535 Christopher Titus Prince TDF EP 530 Phil Kashian Hitchhiking TDF EP 532 Brian Posehn Heavy Metal TDF EP 549 Tig Notaro Veganism SP1 Endgame Spoiler Dork Out TDF EP 503 Wynter Spears Public Restrooms TDF EP 524 Sara Benincasa Frederick Law Olmstead TDF EP 529 Caitlin Gill Murder She Wrote TDF EP 545 Mary Becquet Chinese Ghosts Vampires TDF EP 525 Matt Oswalt Taking Pictures TDF EP 510 Gary Anthony Williams Birds TDF EP 531 Robert Hurt DS9 TDF EP 547 Thom Tran The Flash TDF EP 540 Brian Jacobovitz Cthulu RPGs TDF EP 515 Judith Stephen CosPlay TDF EP 528 Justin Hermann Heroscape TDF EP 538 Dave Ross Zelda and LINK TDF EP 544 Sharon Houston Netflix British Reality Shows TDF EP 505 Kat Burdick Next Generation TDF EP 509 Michelle Biloon NYT Crossowords

2018 TDF EP 487 Amy Miller - Dolly Parton TDF EP 471 Emma Arnold - BEES TDF EP 499 - Erin Foley - Hallmark Christmas Movies TDF EP 481 - Cheryl Jones - Maritime History TDF EP 471 - Andy Ashcraft - GenCon TDF EP 482 - Nato Green - Union Organizing TDF EP 473 - Tamra Brown - Tiki Bars TDF EP 493 - Nina Manni - Air and Hotel Points TDF EP 446 - Carlos Delgado - Great British Bakeoff TDF EP 495 - Alice Wetterlund - Sharks TDF EP 487 - Mark Waid - Superman TDF EP 454 - Open Mike Eagle - Wrestling TDF EP 457 - Jean Grea - Ikea TDF EP 447 - Gariana Abeyta - All Genres have Great Movies

2017 TDF EP 390 - Phil Kashian - LOTR and MY BROTHER TDF EP 422 - Steve Agee  - John Hughes Movies. Weird Science TDF EP 426 - Sara Schaefer - Cross Stitch TDF EP 431 - Jenny Jaffe - Planners. Calendars. Stickers. All the things. TDF EP 405 - Rebecca Sugar - Musicals TDF EP 438 - Jen Briney - freaking CONGRESS TDF EP 423 - Karen Rontowski - Moth Man TDF EP 401 - Jason Hatrick - Scuba diving TDF EP 429 - Kyle Clark - Halloween Theme Parks TDF EP 417 - Nat Towsen - Speed Racer TDF EP 402 - Tyler Hinman - Escape Rooms TDF EP 428 - Solomon Georgio - Black Sitcoms TDF EP 403 - Hal Lublin - Saturday Night Live TDF EP 408 - Al Madrigal - Jack Reacher NOVELS TDF EP 435 - Wyatt Gray - HP Lovecraft TDF EP 442 - Doug Stanhope - getting naked and Leisure Suits TDF EP 404 - Julie Dixson Jackson - Geneology TDF EP 427 - Lisa Allard – Quilting

2016 TDF EP 336 Jim Stewart Allen - Oregon Trail TDF EP 383 Jenny Chalikian – Xena TDF EP 387 Caitlin Gill - Roald Dahl TDF EP 358 Wil Anderson - Cricket TDF EP 359 Heather Simmons - Alice in Wonderland. TDF EP 340 Barbara Holm - Buffy the Vampire Slayer TDF EP 380 Beverly D’Angelo - things that Change your Life - Music, Places TDF EP 366 Karen Rontowski - Tarot Cards TDF EP 373 Stu Goldsmith - Boardgames with a STORY TDF EP 364 Maria Bamford LIVE at JFL Montreal (Bandcamp) 2016 I really liked: TDF EP 385 Jenny Zigrino - Authentic Historical Costuming TDF EP 347 Riley Silverman - The Potato. Mostly Frozen. TDF EP 355 Ivan Van Norman/Andy Ashcraft - Zombies & pen/paper games TDF EP 341 Cathy Ladman - Knitting TDF EP 349 Moon Zappa - The BIG questions TDF EP 368 Martha Kelly - Law and Order SVU TDF EP 367 Phil Johnson - Pirates TDF EP 362 Rory Scovel - Golf (quietly clap) TDF EP 339 Sovereign Syre - Spanish Invasion of Florida. TDF EP 348 Dash Kwiatkowski - Superman TDF EP 338 TJ Chambers - Chess TDF EP 379 Michelle Thaller – SPACE! LIVE DC Drafthouse (Bandcamp)

2015 TDF EP 303 Matt Saxe – all Vice Presidents. TDF EP 298 Jason Klamm – Vice Presidents and Lego! TDF EP 312 Greg Proops at LA Podfest – 70s Movies TDF EP 320 Wil Wheaton – BEER and Boardgames TDF EP 287 Michelle McNamara – Robert Durst and more True Crime TDF EP 294 Retta – Purses. Handbags TDF EP 323 Chez Amanda – Xfiles. Finally. TDF EP 310 David Koechner – History dork! TDF EP 268 Tammy Pescatelli – Thrift stores and Vampires TDF EP 279 Brian Kiley – Presidential Biographic Minutia TDF EP 285 Ian Abramson – McDonald’s Land TDF EP 316 Breanna Conley – Old time Photo Booth collecting 2015 another 12 that I picked: TDF EP 329 Robert Hurt – Space Ships TDF EP 321 Ryan Stout – Injustice. AS USUAL. TDF EP 324 Suzy Soro – Ghosts. TDF EP 313 Danielle Radford – great “bad” movies TDF EP 305 Murray Valeriano & Monty Franklin – Surfin. TDF EP 269 Christian Brown, Roselle Hurley and Andy Ashcraft - LARPing TDF EP 271 Bridget Everett - Barry Manilow, Richard Simmons & Rudy TDF EP 273 Sean Crespo – DUNE TDF EP 284 Brian Upton - history and aesthetics of gaming TDF EP 293 Live at Bridgetown Branum, Kilgariff and Preston (Bandcamp) TDF EP 300 Amy Shira Teitel – SPACE TDF EP 325 Gail Carriger Live in SF – Anglophile. (Bandcamp)

2014 TDF EP 259 – Laraine Newman - Dubstep TDF EP 245 – Brittnee Braun - Cosplay TDF EP 249 – Brian Regan – Line Mentality TDF EP 215 – Robert Hack – Doctor Who TDF EP 264 – Joseph Scrimshaw – Star War Prequels TDF EP 227 – Emily Gordon – Breakfast around the world TDF EP 239 – Rhea Butcher – Back to the Future Movies TDF EP 260 – Jimmy Pardo – Chicago (the band) TDF EP210 – Corey Olsen – Tolkien TDF EP 258 – Emily Heller – ESM & HS Debate

2013 TDF EP 177 - Greg Proops - Ancient History TDF EP 172 – Janeane/Bamford - Beading/SuzeOrman TDF EP198 – Live Podfest w Kilgariff/Bamford/Anthony/Valeriano - Salad TDF EP 189 – Moshe Kasher - Religion TDF EP 199 – Michelle McNamara - True Crime TDF EP 203 – Ryan Stout - Traffic Court

TDF EP 150 – Gina Yashere - Ghosts/Elevators TDF EP 151 – Craig Shoemaker - Wizard of Oz TDF EP 207 –  Matt Mira - James Bond TDF EP 167 – David Huntsberger - Horses TDF EP 200 –  Andy Peters/Mike Schmidt - Wrestling TDF EP 190 –  Cameron Esposito - Lesbians TDF EP 202 –  Matt Weinhold/Dana Gould/ Shawn Sheridan - Halloween

2012 TDF EP 129 – Live with Michelle McNamara (True Crime) TDF EP 111 – Jim Gaffigan (obscure news personality) TDF EP 117 – Corey Olsen (TolkienProf) TDF EP 142 – Live with Retta, Rajskub, Kilmartin and Scovel TDF EP 94 – Mary Jo Pehl (reading and writing and more reading) TDF EP 133 – Kira Soltonovich (Korean Spas) TDF EP 113 – Jesse Schell and Andy Ashcraft (oh. Video Games) TDF EP 98 – Henry Phillips and Mike Phirman (Guitar Comedy and Music) TDF EP 139 – Joel Hodgson (ventriloquism) TDF EP 93 – Live with Ernie Cline (the 80s and Ready Player One) TDF EP 102 – Dan Telfer (Dinosaurs and science in general) TDF EP 108 – Al Madrigal (Sales and Cartoons) TDF EP 148 – Guy Branum - Canada TDF EP 95 – Live with Kevin Eastman (ninja turtles) TDF EP 97 – Rose Abdoo and John Matta (tiny tiny ART! And The Thing) TDF EP 99 – Asterios Kokkinos (Pokemon) TDF EP 100 – PF Wilson – (history of the various football leagues) TDF EP 103 – Live with Andy Kindler (“indie” comic books) TDF EP 104 – Merrill Markoe (I feel like we talked dogs mostly) TDF EP 110 – Patrick Brady (animation)   TDF EP 120 – Erin Foley (NY Giants) TDF EP 121 – Tom Franck (Art) TDF EP 130 – Lois McMaster Bujold (I dork out AT her. She talks writing) TDF EP 138 – Michael Everson (coding fonts for obscure languages)

2011 # 55 Greg Proops – Making Baseball interesting           # 67 Hardwick/Palascak – Harry Potter                       # 37 Karen Kilgariff  - Sandra Bullock                         # 16 Dana Gould – Planet of the Apes                         # 48 Aisha Tyler – girl on girl fandom                         # 24 Jen Kirkman/ Karen Rontowksi – ghosts/UFO                 # 49 Dana/James - HOLLYWOOD                               # 40 April/Vargus – TRIP TO MIDDLE EAST                                                   # 3 Madigan/Kilmartin – the KENNEDY’S #42 Maile Flanagan/Yuri Lowenthal - Animation #50 Michelle McNamara – True Crime #30 Ed Brubaker / Kermet Apio – Comics #14 Thrilling Adventure Hour – so many things Origin Story – #69 Andy Origin Story - #71 Maria #73 Rich Sommer – Mad Men and Boardgames #77 Matt Weinhold/Ken Daly – Horror Movies #82 Chad Daniels/David Huntsberger – just hilarious #80 Bengt Washburn – Fine art #51 Andrew Solmssen - IT #28 Eric Drysdale - VIEWMASTER #58 Bees – uh, BEES #63 Perfume – and, PERFUME #44 Jim Coughlin – A4 Paper #91 Trains!    

NOTE Premium eps w/o iTunes: Here’s how to download albums from Bandcamp:

1.    Download the .zip file from Bandcamp. 2.    Unzip the file to your Music folder. 3.    Rescan your Music folder. 4.    Open the music app and listen to your tunes.

[ear-worthy]

What True-Crime Podcasts Have Taught Us About Our Criminal Justice System

The other day, I discovered a true-crime podcast about true-crime podcasts. I think that means that podcasting may have jumped the shark.

Although there are some fabulous true-crime podcasts, I am always afraid that podcasting will become the Discovery's ID Channel or HLN's Forensic Files of the audio world.

Podcasting has so much more to offer than true-crime. Everything from factual science like Science Vs to traditional entertainment like Wait Wait…Don't Tell Me! to shows for underrepresented voices like Democracy-ish.

Don't get me wrong here. I do love the true-crime genre. My personal favorites are Criminal, Killer Queens, and The Murder Sheet. My least favorite is Crime Junkie because of its derivative proclivities.

Listeners do love these true-crime podcasts. Last week, the Dateline NBC podcast began its subscription service on Apple podcasts and has exceeded all expectations.

Despite my constant whining about the exploding number of true-crime podcasts (they procreate faster than fruit flies), true-crime podcasts have identified and highlighted crucial weaknesses and a few strengths in our justice system.

What can we learn from all these true-crime podcasts? Key themes resonate in these shows repeatedly.

The police arrest, and prosecutors convict, a disturbing number of innocent people. Founded in 1992 by Barry C. Scheck and Peter J. Neufeld at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University, the Innocence Project works to free the innocent, prevent wrongful convictions, and create fair, compassionate, and equitable systems of justice for everyone. The Innocence Project is inundated with requests from incarcerated people and their families.

Innocent people being arrested by the police and then prosecuted despite their innocence is a key theme of many true-crime podcasts. Depending on your source, between three and six percent of people currently in jail are innocent. That's fertile ground for true-crime podcasts. Especially since more than 2,800 people have been exonerated of crimes that they were imprisoned for in the last 30 years. That number is apparently the floating ice that hides the iceberg.

Even more disturbing is that four of every 100 people sentenced to death are innocent, but only half that number are eventually exonerated.

The six primary reasons for wrongful arrest and conviction are mistaken witness or eyewitness identification, false confession, false or misleading forensic evidence, or its misapplication, perjury or false accusation, informants, official and government misconduct, and inadequate legal defense.

Innocent people being convicted of a crime is the second most popular theme of true-crime podcasts, after unsolved cases.

Podcasts like Serial and other true-crime shows continue to demonstrate that police and prosecutors arrest and convict people who are innocent.

Why are innocent people arrested and convicted? See below.

Racism is a primary reason that people are wrongly accused and convicted.

No one knows how many innocent blacks were arrested and convicted for crimes they did not commit in the nearly 100 years of Jim Crow. Nowhere is racism more explicit than the 2019 film Just Mercy starring Michael B. Jordan as young defense attorney Bryan Stevenson who represents poor people on death row in the South. Featured is his work with Walter McMillian, a black man who had been wrongfully convicted of the murder of a young woman.

True-crime podcasts to their credit often highlight this major flaw in the justice system. For example, although blacks make up about 13 percent of the U.S. population, 49 percent of wrongful conviction exonerations involve black defendants.

The justice system also has a class prejudice.

In many cases, innocent people in jail are there because of inadequate or negligent legal counsel.

In effect, there don't have money to hire a lawyer or hire a good one. Not having a lawyer in our justice system typically leads to a plea deal (despite innocence) and then we're back to why so many innocent people are in prison.

For example, until April 2022, Maine was the only state that had no public defenders. Thanks to an exhaustive investigation by ProPublica, state lawmakers were finally pressured to secure money to hire Maine’s first public defenders. Now it will have five -- for the entire state. In January 2022, the Public Defenseless podcast with Hunter Parnell also exposed this serious legal flaw. Rich people make out much better than people with little access to expensive and time-consuming legal care. There are multiple true-crime podcasts about real-estate heir and serial killer Robert Durst. Podcasts such Jury Duty and The Jinx followed his trial and ultimate life-sentence conviction in 2021. Durst died in prison earlier this year.

Durst's case was ultimately satisfying because, for a change, a rich person didn't get away with a crime. In Durst's case, heinous, violent crimes.

True-crime podcasts can and will run their own investigations. Sometimes, their podcast even leads to identifying the perpetrator and to a conviction.

For example, the subject of Australian true-crime podcast, The Teachers Pet, Chris Dawson has recently been found guilty in the Australian Supreme Court of murdering his first wife, who vanished more than four decades ago. Hedley Thomas, an Australian journalist, investigated the case in a successful 14-episode podcast containing what he claimed was new evidence. The podcast was released in 2018 at the same time as the local police had started re-investigating Lynette Dawson’s disappearance.

Forensics is a double-edged sword: It helps to identify the guilty person with DNA, but also is not as scientifically bulletproof as crime TV shows depict

For instance, in the episode #147 of the Junk Science podcast, host Josh Dubin covered the pseudo-science of blood spatter pattern evidence. In episode 11 of the Adam Ruins Everything podcast, host Adam Conover discussed outdated forensic techniques such as bite mark analysis, with Chris Fabricant, Director of Strategic Litigation at the Innocence Project.

In the Stuff To Blow Your Mind iHeart podcast, the episode was titled, "What if bad science put you in prison for a crime you didn't commit"

In the Heartland Daily podcast, economist Roger Koppl discussed the inherent problem of the government’s monopoly on crime labs, pointing to institutional incentives for experts in a variety of fields. From fingerprint analysis to DNA matching, Koppl estimated that 20,000 individuals are wrongly convicted each year in the United States because of faulty forensic evidence.

Then we have true-crime podcasts that report how forensics science, especially DNA genealogy and public databases, have caught murderers who otherwise never be caught and convicted.

The DNA:ID podcast, for example, looks at crimes solved by genetic genealogy, and examine the connection - if any - between the victim and the killer, and why the crime occurred.

Numerous true-crime podcasts covered how the Green River Killer and Golden State Killer were finally caught with DNA evidence.

True-crime podcasts can -- and do -- offer us more of a Webb telescope view of our justice system than we've ever had before. Despite podcast networks cooking up as many true-crime podcasts as we can humanly stand, true-crime podcasts often provide several valuable services.

First, these podcasts continue to focus on the unacceptable number of innocent people serving sentences for crimes they did not commit.

Second, these podcasts remind us -- and we need the reminder -- that racism infects the core of our justice system, from police to prosecutors to penitentiaries.

Third, these podcasts highlight how rich, powerful people (those traits tend to go together) can "game" the justice system due to money, influence, and authority.

Fourth, we have to be cautious about swooning over fictional and documentary-style forensics TV shows because they can -- and do -- position forensics as somehow beyond reproach and incontrovertible evidence. DNA evidence can be subject to secondary transfer, where DNA from the accused can be transferred to someone else who carried it to the scene. Further, lab mistakes with DNA have been made and exposed by true-crime podcasts.

Unlike some TV "police" reality shows that overdramatize routine police work and reinforce racial and class stereotypes, true-crime podcasts have, for the most part, presented their audience a more balanced view of the criminal justice system.

photo of crime scene tape. In 2019, Dan Taberski and the team behind Missing Richard Simmons podcast investigated COPS — the longest running reality show in TV history — and its cultural impact on policing in America with his Running From COPS podcast. It was not a flattering portrait of the TV show, with Taberski revealing how show producers orchestrated arrests and often overruled law enforcement.

So we end this article, with a question.

Why do listeners digest so many true-crime podcasts like competitive eaters ram down hot dogs at an eating contest?

Earlier this year, Chistine Persaud of Digital Trends explained it this way: "The answer leans to part escapism, part morbid curiosity. Ironically, while true crime is rooted in fact, watching these terrible tales about events that took place decades or even just a few years ago offers a strange sense of satisfaction that maybe things are and will be OK, because, well, they could be worse."

Photo Credit: Kat Wilcox

[cxglovekernels]

Love Kernels - 16 & 17 July

CAST

- Rachel Bloom will be a part of the SYFY WIRE Fangrrls: Women Changing the Game panel at Comic Con, on 20 July in Room 6DE.

- Speaking of Comic-Con, Michael McMillian (Tim) will sign free copies of his comic Adventure Van at COMICS N' STUFF BOOTH #929 on 20 and 21 July (12 pm – 2 pm).

- Podcast A Funny Feeling talked with Paul Welsh (Trent) for stories of spooky Connecticut and a very interesting discussion about the politeness of ghosts.

- Emma Willman (Beth) started a new podcast, the Secret Keepers Club, in which she and co-host Carly Aquilino will give their honest and raw opinions on anonymous emails sent by listeners of their deepest secrets.

- You can now watch Variety’s A Night in the Writers’ Room with, among others, Rachel Bloom.

META & REVIEWS

- “The Unicorn Scale” at Bisexual.org takes another look at Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, to this time talk about Valencia.

- Spoiler TV includes Crazy Ex-Girlfriend in a list of Most Relevant shows on air.

FANDOM

- Podcast Earbuds & Earworms discuss, among other things, Settle for Me, in their latest episode called TGIP (Thank God It’s Podday).

- Steph85 made a new quiz for Sporcle, asking you to pick the Crazy Ex-Girlfriend song by picture.

- @witchofeindor talks about the Jewish theme of self-redemption in season 3.

- @bevrichie shares their season 4 predictions.

- @poolsidescientist expands upon her headcanon of Valencia having autism.

- @notbang wrote a Nathaniel/Maya ficlet, based on the prompt things you said that I wish you hadn’t. (It’s a continuation of their March ficlet based on the prompt Undone).

- @notbang is collecting their one-shots (most of which have been posted on Tumblr already) in and we are well versed in moments for the Rebecca/Nathaniel ones and measure your life out in coffee spoons for the other ones.

- @tygerbloom shares some Rebecca fanart.

- Twitter user @Drawnbymon shares some Rebecca & Paula fanart.

- @blueberrys shares some Heather fanart.

A calendar with all the cast & fandom events mentioned in this newsletter can be found here

[hfbsmulticulturaljournal]

Just Mercy

Just Mercy, a 2019 film directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, follows the true story of a Black man, Walter McMillian, who was wrongfully convicted of murdering a white woman in his town, and was placed on death row, even before he was on trial. Bryan Stevenson, a new Harvard graduate and defense attorney, sets up an office in Alabama seeking to bring justice for Walter McMillian and other inmates wrongfully set on death row.

Figure 1.

Note: Michael B. Jordan as Bryan Stevenson and Jamie Foxx as Walter McMillian in Just Mercy, 2019.

Figure 2.

Note: Walter McMillian and Bryan Stevenson, Equal Justice Initiative.

As Stevenson looks at the evidence for McMillian’s case, he finds that it is based almost entirely on a white convicted felon’s feeble testimony and that Black witnesses who attested to McMillian’s alibi and innocence were suppressed from testifying. The story sheds light on racism, corrupt police officers and court systems, and how little Black people are valued, including veterans with PTSD. Just Mercy strongly relates to Multicultural Art class on the United States history of racism, violence, and the struggle for civil rights and freedom. This movie relates to the darkening of a photo of O.J. Simpson in order to make him look more “dangerous” (Kurtz, 1994): one felon on death row was convicted because the prosecutor said “he was guilty based on his look”. In other words, in Just Mercy, in this class’s documents and photos, and out in the world, people view Black people as dangerous as well as capable and responsible for terrible crimes they didn’t commit, just based on their skin color. A scene in Just Mercy, where a group of people gather to nonchalantly watch the electrocution of a Black man, Herbert Richardson, is similar to the lynching scenes and photographs in the “hooded” archives described by Mirzoeff in “The Shadow and the Substance: Race, Photography and the Index” (2003). 

As a white person watching this film, I can witness the struggles and hurt of Black people and their communities as well as their strength and courage. The film easily shows the McMillian and other convicted felons on death row are innocent and deserve true justice, but it also challenges viewers on how they view people of color in daily life and if negative biases are perhaps present.

Just Mercy generates many conversations about race, racism, personal biases and corrupt systems, especially because it is a true story and relates strongly to today—where videos and media are finally capturing the disgusting treatment of people of color as well as others who justify that treatment. As Stevenson in the movie pointed out, the system is not about justice and right or wrong, it is about white versus black: a white convicted felon was coerced into telling a false testimony and believed, but law-abiding Black citizens were not allowed to testify, Stevenson, a Harvard defense attorney, was illegally stopped and harassed at gunpoint by cops. These events in this movie are relatable to the murders of so many Black citizens at the hands of cops.

Figure 3.

Note: Rob Morgan as Herbert Richardson, being led to execution.

Figure 4.

Note: Protest poster displaying the names of Black people murdered.

The movie ends on a positive note—McMillian was finally proved innocent and released, and he and Stevenson continued to fight for justice for Black people and others on death row. This generates a message of action to be anti-racist and to make moves to help people of color and to stand up for justice.

 Citations:

Just Mercy. Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, performance by Michael B. Jordan & Jamie Foxx [image]. Warner Bros. Pictures, 2019. Amazon Prime, https://www.amazon.com/Just-Mercy-Michael-B-Jordan/dp/B082YJ8THX.

Just Mercy. Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, performance by Rob Morgan [image]. Warner Bros. Pictures, 2019. Amazon Prime, https://www.amazon.com/Just-Mercy-Michael-B-Jordan/dp/B082YJ8THX.

Just Mercy (2019). Warner Bros. Pictures. Amazon Prime. https://www.amazon.com/Just-Mercy-Michael-B-Jordan/dp/B082YJ8THX.

Kurtz, H. (1994, June 22). TIME'S 'SINISTER' SIMPSON. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1994/06/22/times-sinister-simpson/6659311e-0bc0-4215-96f5-40271e38525a/.

Manterfield, M. L. (2020). Say Their Names. WSAV. photograph. https://www.wsav.com/news/local-news/live-updates-protesters-gather-in-downtown-savannah-over-george-floyd-death/.

Mirzoeff, N. (2003). The Shadow and the Substance: Race, Photography and the Index. In C. Fusco & B. Willis (Eds.), Only Skin Deep: Changing Visions of the American Self (pp. 111-127). International Center of Photography.

Walter McMillian and Bryan Stevenson. (2020). New York Post. photograph. https://nypost.com/2020/06/04/the-harrowing-true-story-of-just-mercy/.

[orbemnews]

Officials identify New Haven firefighter who died in the line of duty, another in critical condition Ricardo Torres. New Haven Independent / Contributed NEW HAVEN, CT (WFSB) – A New Haven firefighter is being remembered after he died in the line of duty while battling a fire very early Wednesday morning. Chief John Alston of the New Haven Fire Department identified the firefighter as Ricardo Torres Jr. The fire broke out around 1 a.m. at a multi-family home on Valley Street overnight. Minutes after crews arrived, firefighters said they rescued a woman inside. A New Haven firefighter died while battling a fire on Wednesday. “Companies on arrival saw heavy fire, flames,” Alston. “[There was a] report of multiple occupants trapped.” After they got the woman out, there was a mayday call. A firefighter died and four others were hospitalized from a fire in New Haven Wednesday morning. “One firefighter reported being lost and disorientated,” Alston said. “We activated our search and rescue team to find them. Turned out, it was two of them.” Lt. Samod Rankins. New Haven Independent / Contributed The second firefighter was identified as Lt. Samod Rankins. Both firefighters were unconscious when they were found. Torres died. Rankins was critically injured and brought to Bridgeport Hospital for respiratory injuries. A New Haven firefighter is being remembered after he died in the line of duty while battling a fire very early Wednesday morning. City officials said another two firefighters were hospitalized as well. They suffered minor injuries. Chief John Alston of the New Haven Fire Department identified the firefighter as Ricardo Torres. An eyewitness told Channel 3 that he was outside the house while firefighters were working to rescue the firefighters. “All of a sudden, when they found out the firefighter was caught in the house, that’s when they started rushing. There was the sound, the oxygen tanks, when they are running out of oxygen,” said Jean-Pierre Sanchez-Solis, a New Haven resident. Channel 3 also spoke to a woman who lives in the house. She said it was her mother who was trapped inside the home and taken to the hospital. She is expected to be ok. Firefighters were visibly upset on the scene. “This is a very difficult time for our department,” Alston said. “Many of our members are hurting. We ask the public [for] their prayers.” A radio call was put out to all New Haven firefighters late Wednesday morning alerting them of the tragedy. A radio call went out to all New Haven firefighters Wednesday morning following a line of duty death. The state fire marshal responded to the scene, along with New Haven police. A cause has yet to be determined. Torres would have been with the department for two years this July. Ricardo Torres New Haven Independent / Contributed Mayor Justin Elicker said it is a challenging time for the community. “To lose someone who is truly a hero who went into harm’s way to ensure the safety of others, this is something that will impact us for months and years to come,” Elicker said. Alston said that though this was tragic, heroes rose above and beyond. He also spoke about what he would like people to remember about Torres. “I want them to remember that since he was a child, he wanted to be a firefighter,” he said. “I want him to be remembered doing what he loved to do and that he sacrifice his life saving someone else.” Torres leaves behind a wife and child, and another child on the way. Rankins joined the department three years ago and was promoted to his new position in March. Tributes from other public service departments were posted on Wednesday. Take a look here. A GoFundMe has been set up to support Torres’ family, and can be found by clicking here. This marked the second time in less than a week that the New Haven Fire Department had to mourn the death of one of their own. William McMillian passed away last week at the age of 27. NEW HAVEN, CT (WFSB) – The New Haven Fire Department is mourning the loss of one of their own. The details of his death were not released. !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s) if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function()n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments); if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0'; n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0; t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)(window, document,'script', 'https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js'); fbq('init', '471524917159477'); fbq('track', 'PageView'); Source link Orbem News #Alarm #app #buildingindustry #channel #condition #condolence #critical #died #Duty #eyewitness #firedepartment #firemarshal #Firefighter #Haven #hospital #identify #injury #jean-pierresanchez-solis #johnalston #justinelicker #Law #Line #mayday #Mayor #Medicine #newhaven #official #Officials #Police #portlandfiredepartment #prayer #ricardotorres #ricardotorresjr. #samodrankins #socialservices #statement #tribute #Work

[sebfreak]

Phantomhive Household

[notanotherreview]

Just Mercy Review (2020)        #7

Director: Destin Daniel Cretton 

Stars:  Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Foxx Brie Larson Tim Blake Nelson

This film touches and pulls at your heartstrings, the fact that it’s a true story makes it even more compelling. We get a hard glimpse at what the justice system was like for the Black community and the fight of one man and his team to get wrongly convicted men off of death row. 

In 1987 Walter McMillian (Jamie Foxx) gets accused and convicted of the murder of an 18 year old girl based off the one testament which has quite frankly more holes in it than a sponge. Bryan Stevenson (Michael B. Jordan) comes straight out of Harvard and down to the state of Alabama to help those who are in need of legal aid. With the help if legal advocate Eva Ansley (Brie Larson) Bryan takes on several cases but the one that stands out for him is the case of Walters, in the process of this case it becomes a history making fight for justice and for all those wrongly accused of crimes. 

As the film unfolds before our eyes on-screen we get a huge sense of what the hell corruption, the sheer in your face racism, the need to put another black and minority person in jail not because they have proof but because they want to get another minority person off the streets. The lies and cover ups the police do are beyond belief. 

As Bryan digs into Walters case he very quickly finds out that he is completely innocent, but the more he pokes around the more people become suspicious of him and Eva, Eva receives a phone call telling her that there’s a bomb under her house and it’s going to explode if she doesn’t stop working with the (N word) in trying to free those on death row. This surely must have been rife though we don’t see it they must have had to put up with that a lot in the coming years. 

The scenes on Death Row paint a picture of the excuses the police came up with to convict them, one being “You looked like it was you from your picture” clearly that’s enough “evidence” you need. 

Sadly one of the cases gets rejected an there’s not enough time for an appeal, in these coming scenes we get the raw and powerful emotions every single actor in these scenes plays it wonderfully, to the man walking to be sat on the electric chair to the guards first time strapping a man in to die, the other inmates on death row banging there cups of the bars and making enough noise for all to hear in support of the man in that said chair, it grips you right to the core seeing this played out. 

Bryan manages to get an appeal date in court and after we see him pin point all the evidence in Walters favour, even the testament of the man that said they saw him. You’re shocked at the length the police go to get this man to confess they saw Walter commit the murder and when he retracts his statement in court and all the other damning evidence in Walters favour we still see the court make the same decision and reject a re-trial.

Thinking all is lost Bryan makes one last desperate plea and goes to the Supreme Court. A court outside Alabama and one that can overrule the first decision. They agree that there should be an appeal to have all convictions dropped. They finally get a court date where he gets all convictions dropped and can walk out a free man.

The raw emotion from everyone involve is plain to see in that court room, a man who's life has been turned upside down all because the colour of his skin and the fact it suited them to have him being made out to be the killer.

Jamie Foxx is phenomenal in his performance, he shows his emotion his raw passion his desire to convey what it is like to be convicted for something you never done but still be held accountable for all those years. Michael B Jordan plays his role superbly seeing him go through all emotions in this film makes me believe he will be a top actor for the next few decades. Brie Larson though a small part still plays a vital role, she plays someone not afraid to stand up to justice and she plays that role well.

Overall I liked this film greatly, real eye opener as to what life was like for people of colour in Alabama at least, the lengths the police went to avoid doing real police work and not actually catching and convicting the real criminals, kind of shocked me the lack of evidence they got but yet were able to get convictions, luckily as we see at the end of the film Bryan and Walter manage to get quite a few convictions overturned and of which is a pleasant surprise at the end.

9/10

[shinigami-mistress]

McMillan, Ronald, and Eric perhaps?

McMillan

M: What is their favourite dessert? 

He has quite a sweet tooth. His favorite is a stacked apple cake, which he used to enjoy at home.

C: Can they swim well? 

He can swim like a fish. He fell into the water when he was younger and learned very quickly.

M: What is their favourite dessert? 

He also likes many of the candies from the Funtom Company.

I: On a scale of 1 to 10, how much do they love themselves? 

He’s still quite shy, and he doesn’t think of highly of himself as he should. He’d probably be about a four.

L: What is their favourite board game? 

McMillian likes chess, although he rarely plays other people.

L: What is their favourite board game? 

Same as above.

A: What are/were this character’s best subjects in school? 

He’s good in literature. He enjoys reading.

N: What do they usually eat for breakfast? 

Whatever is being served at Weston.

Ronald

R: What are their hands like? 

There’s nothing particularly unusual or interesting about Ronald’s hands. They aren’t particularly strong. He’s good enough with hands, and he particularly likes to hold hands with someone special.

O: What would it take to break them, inside and out? 

That’s a tough question now. At one point, something did break Ronald or else he wouldn’t be a shinigami now. He’s experience this loss before, and it might still be under the surface.

N: What do they usually eat for breakfast? 

He actually doesn’t usually eat breakfast. He’s usually in a bit of a hurry, so he skips breakfast and enjoys a larger lunch later.

A: What are/were this character’s best subjects in school? 

In regular school, he was a strictly average student. He wasn’t exceptional in any one subject, he got along with most everyone. In the academy, he was good in ethics.

L: What is their favourite board game? 

He will play checkers now and again, but he prefers cards to board games.

D: How they react to being flirted with? 

He’d be shocked that he wasn’t the one flirting first. Ronald’s a natural flirt, and he loves being flirted with. He’d be setting up a date.

Eric

E: How are they with children? 

Eric’s okay with children. He’s not particularly fond of kids, but he has nothing against them either.

R: What are their hands like? 

Eric’s hands are rough yet gentle. He has small scars because he didn’t care to be injured, yet his touch represents the tenderness in his heart.

I: On a scale of 1 to 10, how much do they love themselves? 

I’d give him a four overall. He obviously loved Alan more than he loved himself.

C: Can they swim well? 

Eric’s a strong swimmer, and he enjoys going for a dip now and again.

[kuwentista]

Fear of 13 is a reality based verse set in various cities in the US and abroad. Written by X and Berry, Fear of 13 follows the fictional lives of characters impacted by choice - their own or those forced upon them misguided beliefs and preconceived notions. This verse is about survival. Not only the senseless violence and turf wars littering the streets of Chicago or the sleepless and broken hearted in the city of New York. 

Fear of 13 challenges the notions of life as we know it. The comfort many find in death. The pain birthed from matters involving shattered hearts. The constant struggle to maintain both sanity and sobriety in a world where neither are the perceived norm. The battle to remain faithful to the hopes and dreams that existed before fear became a constant companion. This verse will feature adult themes and potential explicit content that will involve drugs, racism, violence, sexual, and abusive situations. While inspired by real life events, this verse and its characters are fictional.

*This verse crosses with the verses Excess Baggage, The Game, Band of Thieves, and City of Gods.

Verse inspiration. [EST. November 2016] Various settings. Exclusive. NSFW 21+

K U W E N T I S T A

Chicago, Illinois

Fernando Xavier Ordosgoitia  [ Maluma ] ➝ deli shop worker

Ingeras Watz [ Jesse Eisenberg ] ➝ college student

Ira Ayokunle Ademola [ Idris Elba ] ➝ business owner

Moses Aasim Alexander [ Don Benjamin ] ➝ drug dealer

Oliver Callum Muthig, Jr. [ Henry Cavill ] ➝ photographer

Samuel King [ Jack O’Connell ] ➝ business owner

Istanbul, Turkey & London, UK

Kader Asım Mücahit Şahin [ Çağatay Ulusoy ] ➝ taxi driver

Nadim Efe [ Can Yaman ] ➝ plumber, small business owner

Manila & Oriental Mindoro, Philippines

Alon Monteverde [ Enrique Iglesias ] ➝ haciendero, vet

Bethel & New York, New York

Eirian Lewis [ Luke Evans ] ➝ movie producer

Elias Rogalski [ Jake Gyllenhaal ] ➝ racer

Juan Alfonso Aguilar [ Miguel Ángel Silvestre ] ➝ pediatrician

Kwang-Seon “Sonny Boy” Kim [ Jeon Jeong-guk ] ➝ aspiring ny detective

Nisha Patel [ Deepika Padukone ] ➝ pediatrician

Raúl Frost [ Tommy Martinez ] ➝ butcher, escort

Saša River Leventis [ Sebastian Stan ] ➝ musician

Sofia Ann Watz [ Gemma Arterton ] ➝ office staff

Jacinto Mattin De Quesada [ Maluma ] ➝ unemployed

Hana, Hawaii

Dominador Dimaguiba [  ] ➝ bar owner

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

José Tristão 'Zé' Batista [ Neymar Jr. ] ➝ business heir

SOLILOQVIES

Chicago, Illinois

Anthony Jones [ Trevante Rhodes ] ➝ club security

Ayo Ademola [ Kiersey Clemons ] ➝ college student

Basil Hart [ Miles McMillian ] ➝ unemployed

Jasper Kane [ Armie Hammer ] ➝ tba

Giovanni Drago [ Nico Tortorella ] ➝ mafia

Harper Jeffries [ Gabriella Wilde ] ➝ college student

Ida Pinder [ Viola Davis ] ➝ social worker/ child protective service worker

Natalia Muñoz [ Diane Guerrero ] ➝ emt, nanny

Samantha King [ Lyndsy Fonseca ] ➝ business owner

Istanbul, Turkey/London, UK

Ayse Şahin [ Elit İşcan ] ➝ uni student

Yonca Sadik [ Demet Özdemir ]  ➝ baker’s assistant

Koray Badem [ Berk Cankat ] ➝ contractor

Manila & Oriental Mindoro, Philippines

Tala Santos [ Anne Curtis ] ➝ helper

New York, New York

Gisela Nardo [ Monica Bellucci ] ➝ business owner

Javier Da Costa [ Diego Barrueco ] ➝ model, escort

Jinsoo Moon [ Park Ji-min ] ➝ college student, musician

Ridge Jolin [ Chris Wood ] ➝ bartender

Seth Gervais [ Xavier Dolan ] ➝ journalist

Choi Jae-in [ Nam Joo-hyuk ]  ➝ md in training

Hana, Hawaii

Quinn Daniels [ Amber Heard ] ➝ tba

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Marissa Vargas [ Bruna Marquezine ] ➝ uni student

Seoul, South Korea; United States

Doe Miller [ Lauren London ] ➝ business owner

Tokyo, Japan; Seoul, South Korea; United States

Percy Miller [ Greg Tarzan Davis ] ➝ co-owns a few businesses with doe; invests with martell; involved with enzo's family also in some criminal elements of their business

Non-playable Character/s

Emily Kim [ Han Ye-ri ] ➝ office staff

Asher [ Erika Linder ] ➝ unemployed

Ma. Francisca Dimaguiba [ Rhian Ramos ] ➝ actress

[hunter-mcmillian]

s t u n n i n g https://t.co/IHwURpMHBb - Hunter McMillian

s t u n n i n g https://t.co/IHwURpMHBb

— hpmcmill (@hpmcmill) September 15, 2020

from Twitter https://twitter.com/hpmcmill September 15, 2020 at 12:35PM via IFTTT

[placetobenation]

The Rescuers

Release Date: June 22nd, 1977

Inspiration: “The Rescuers and Miss Bianca” by Margery Sharp

Budget: $7.5 million

Domestic Gross: $71.2 million

Worldwide Gross: $169 million

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 80%

IMDB Score: 6.9/10

Storyline (per IMDB): When a bottle containing a plea for help from a little girl named Penny makes its way to the Rescue Aid Society, a mouse organization in the basement of the United Nations building dedicated to the rescue and well-being of anyone in need, it is up to the brave mouse Miss Bianca and her chosen partner, the shy janitor Bernard, to rescue the girl. Searching for clues at Penny’s home at Morningside Orphanage in New York City, the two mice discover that the girl has been kidnapped by the evil pawn shop owner Madame Medusa and her companion Mr. Snoops. On the back of Orville the albatross, Miss Bianca and Bernard travel to the terrifyingly gloomy Devil’s Bayou where they learn the shocking truth: the innocent young girl is being forced down into a dangerous, dark underground pirate’s cave where she must find the Devil’s Eye, the world’s largest diamond and Madame Medusa’s greatest obsession.

Pre-Watching Thoughts: We now come to the last Disney film of the 1970s and the second film released in 1977 as we have the first instance of two films being released in one calendar year. If you ask some people, they will say that this film is still one of the most underrated films in Disney’s history and is one that doesn’t get talked about enough as being one of the best films ever. I’ll be honest, I might have seen this film only once as I was more of a fan of the sequel which we will get to down the road, but hopefully this film will prove those people correct that this is one of the best films ever that doesn’t get the credit it deserves.

Voice Cast: As I mentioned in the last film, we were getting to a point where the number of returning stars for these films is starting to dwindle as a new crop of talent were starting to emerge and fill the gaps. Now unlike the previous film which was mostly made up of returning stars and only a few newcomers, this one has a lot of newcomers while also having a few returning voices. For the returning voices, we have the return of Eva Gabor as she voices Miss Bianca in a pretty memorable role and this is the role I think she is better remembered for as opposed to Duchess, and then we have Pat Buttram making his return as he voices Luke the muskrat. We then have James MacDonald return as he voices Evinrude in what would be his last film role as well as his last film in general while working at Disney, and then we have George Lindsay who voices Deadeye the rabbit in what would be one of his last roles. Finally, we have John Fielder who voices Deacon Owl as he continues to become a familiar voice for the Disney films, and as mentioned the list of returning voices is definitely getting smaller with each passing film. Now moving onto our debuting actors, at the top of the list is comedy legend Bob Newhart as he voices Bernard in a memorable role, and then we have Geraldine Paige who voices Madame Medusa in what would end up being her lone animated film and she makes the most of it. Next, we have child actress Michelle Stacy who voices Penny in her first major role and quite possible her most memorable role, and then we have Joe Flynn who voices Mr. Snoops in what ends up being his final film role as he sadly passed away prior to the film’s release and the film was dedicated to him. We then have Jim Jordan who voices Orville in what was his first film role after retiring 40 years ago and it would also be his final film role overall, and then we have John McIntire who voices Rufus the cat in one of two animated films he would appear in for his whole career. We then have Jeanette Nolan who voices Ellie Mae the muskrat in what was one of her first animated film appearances, and then we have Bernard Fox who voices the Chairman of the Rescue Aid Society in his first animated film appearance as well. Finally to quickly finish things off, we have Larry Clemmons who voices Gramps the turtle, Dub Taylor as Digger the mole, and Bill McMillian as a TV announcer to fill out the remainder of the film. It is going to be interesting as we head into the next decade how many of these new actors return and how much longer the returning ones stick around and continue to contribute to these films.

Hero/Prince: For the third time in the last few films, we have a pair of heroes to talk about here and that is of course the pair of Bernard and Miss Bianca. Bianca is an agent for the Rescue Aid Society and is chosen to go on this mission though she needs a partner and to everyone’s surprise, she chooses Bernard who is working as a janitor. They are sent to investigate the kidnapping of an orphan where they discover the orphan is being used to find a valuable diamond, and with the cooperation of other animals they manage to save the orphan and retrieve the diamond which leads Bernard to being declared an agent and he becomes official partners with Bianca. The pair are about as opposite as you can get as Bernard is overly cautious and very superstitious while Bianca is fearless and is willing to dive head first into this mission, but there is a chemistry between them as Bianca is very fond of Bernard hence why she chose him to join her. Despite being mice, they are able to use their resources along with the help of their fellow animals to thwart the villains and save the day, and they are perhaps the most underappreciated heroes in the Disney canon and could potentially rank high in the list.

Princess: N/A

Villain: We once again have a film with multiple villains as it will be interesting to see going forward if this is a common theme or if we end up going back to one main villain and some henchmen. But we do have a pair that dominates the majority of the film and the brains of the outfit is Madame Medusa, a pawnshop owner who obsesses with finding the world’s largest diamond called the Devil’s Eye. She enlists her partner Mr. Snoops into kidnapping an orphan and they take her to the Devil’s Bayou where the diamond is rumored to be, and when they find it Medusa betrays Snoops and looks to keep the diamond for herself only for Bernard, Bianca, and the other animals to foil them. Medusa is about as basic a villain as you could get as she wants the diamond to potentially sell and make a lot of money off of it, and she even goes as far as to betray her partner so she can reap the benefits. Snoops is an example of just going along for the ride until he realizes that he is being screwed over, and he is more guilty by association as opposed to being a real villain. I should also call out Medusa’s pet alligators Nero and Brutus who serve as her weapons until the end when even they turn on her and try to eat her in the end. While greed is definitely a strong motivator to do bad things, it can also cloud one’s judgment which it does to Medusa and her ultimate demise, and honestly she will not rank high as a villain when comparing her to the other ones.

Other Characters: Much like the last couple of films that have come out especially in this decade, the majority of the other characters in this film are animals and they dominate the majority of the film aside from a few humans. Aside from Medusa and Snoops, we have one other main human in the film and that is Penny, the orphan who is kidnapped by Medusa and forced to find the Devil’s Eye diamond though she is saved by Bernard and Bianca before being adopted by a family. We then have Orville the albatross who helps bring Bernard and Bianca to New Orleans and then leaves despite being sucked through Medusa’s airboat, and then we have the various animals living in the bayou led by Evinrude the dragonfly who all despise Medusa with a passion and they help Bernard and Bianca save Penny and the diamond. Finally, we have the members of the Rescue Aid Society who we see at the beginning and the end of the film as they support Bianca in her decision to go as well as her choice of Bernard as her partner. This was a clear example of aside from a few of these other characters, a lot of the focus is on the main characters and these other characters are simply there to help move the plot along and fill out the scenes.

Songs: Going into this project, there were a few films that I wasn’t sure if they had any songs in them or not, and this was one of them as I didn’t think there were be songs in it but to my surprise there were a few. Amazingly, all of the songs aside from one are simply done in the background to serve really as transitional songs as opposed to songs that are recognizable to the film. The one song that is sung by characters in the film is the theme song for the Rescue Aid Society, which was simply a chant sung by its members to outline their call to duty. As for the other songs in the film, the one thing they have in common is that they are all sung by singer Shelby Flint, and the first one is the song played during the opening credits called “The Journey” which doesn’t feature much singing and is rather an orchestral piece. The next song is “Tomorrow is Another Day” which is sung while Bernard and Bianca are flying to New Orleans with Orville, and it is a fine piece that showcases Flint’s ability as a musician. The final song is “Somebody’s Waiting for You” which is sung in essence to Penny to let her know that better days are ahead of her, and it is a fine ballad sung by Flint and serves as a solid anchor song for the film. While these are not songs that will rank highly amongst the more recognizable songs from the Disney canon, they are still fine songs and are perfect for the film.

Plot: Going through the catalog of these films, there are a few that legit surprised me that they were actually based on a novel or some sort of short story because I had no idea that there was a children’s novel called “The Rescuers”. I’m also probably going to assume that most of the general public that saw this film did not know it was based off a novel either, especially since the plot had nothing to do with the actual novel. The plot sees a group of mice called the Rescue Aid Society that serve in the shadow of the United Nations, and when they receive a call of a kidnapped girl that needs saving Bianca volunteers to go and chooses the janitor Bernard as her partner much to everyone’s shock. Arriving in New Orleans with their new friend Orville, they learn from the various animals that the girl named Penny is being used by Medusa and Snoops to find the Devil’s Eye diamond. The two mice help Penny retrieve the diamond and Medusa tries to escape with the diamond herself, but with the assistance of the other animals Bernard and Bianca save Penny and recover the diamond as Medusa is left to fend for herself. In the end, the diamond is delivered to the Smithsonian Institute and Penny is adopted by a family, and Bernard is welcomed into the Rescue Aid Society as they receive another call to aid. The plot of the film is pretty solid for this film and it is always fun seeing a group of animals outwit a human regardless if the human is smart or not, and it works well for this film and it also does open the door for a potential sequel which we have yet to receive to this point.

Random Watching Thoughts: We finally get our first film without opening credits, but as soon as I say that here they come; That bottle went through quite the journey to get to New York; I wonder if all these delegates in the UN actually knew that mice were traveling with them; For being the janitor, the delegates seem to like Bernard in that respond to him when he says “hello” to them; It’s a wonder why Euripides Mouse hasn’t appeared in history books for his contributions to society; Considering that they are there for an emergency, they still have the time to sing their theme song; Bernard must’ve been working there for so long if he knows the theme song as well; Only mice would use a comb as a ladder; I don’t know what math Bernard is using because there are way more than 13 steps on that “ladder”; The only way that note could be so worn out is if water got into the bottle, but that cork seemed pretty secure on there; You can tell that Bernard clearly has some sort of affection for Bianca if he didn’t want her to go, but she also sees something in him if she was willing to choose him to help her; Bianca must be pretty popular in the Society if all those men were wanting to be her partner; That is quite a trek to the orphanage and if they could save time by going through the zoo, why not take it?; If that lion is in a cage, why is Bernard so scared when he knows the lion can’t chase him?; Bianca just assumes that Bernard did something to make the lion mad and determines that being woken up at this time at night made him grumpy; Was Penny gone that long that they were willing to put a “hold until further notice” sticker on it?; It’s not often that a cat is wearing glasses; Bernard did make a good point that Penny would’ve taken her stuff with her if she was adopted; One of the rare films where a human can understand an animal talking as Penny has a detailed conversation with Rufus; Is it just me or does Penny’s teddy bear have a striking resemblance to Winnie-the-Pooh?; A fun fact is when Rufus tells Penny the story about the bluebird, the bluebird that we see flying by is from “Alice in Wonderland”; I wonder what happened to Penny to cause her to lose her front teeth like that; Not many cats probably like ginger; The police must not be doing a good job in trying to find Penny if they gave up weeks ago; Penny must know enough not to get into the car with Medusa; That is quite the pawn shop that Medusa owns; Why would Medusa keep Penny’s book in her office?; It’s not often that you hear someone call their pawn shop a boutique; I thought maybe that the Devil’s Bayou was based on a real place, but it turns out it’s not; Medusa is clearly in a rush that she’s not even bothering to pack her suitcase correctly; Fun fact, the original villain for the film was supposed to be Cruella De Vil and if you look closely at Medusa’s car, it is designed the same way as Cruella’s; Medusa didn’t do a good job in securing everything if her suitcase went flying out of her car that easily; At least Bianca was honest in saying that a lady has to pack a lot of things; So this must be set prior to the invention of the airplane since the airport is a standard building and they use helicopters; For all the people that come and go at that airport, you would think someone would notice Orville’s place and question why a bird would have his own air service; Poor Bernard and his premonitions about the number 13; Orville made fly beautifully, but he needs some work on his landing especially if he considers that one of his better one; It would be Bernard’s luck that the steps leading onto Orville would be 13; Bianca is willing to sacrifice herself and not buckle up tightly because she doesn’t want to get her dress wrinkled; Orville really needs to work on his conditioning if he gets real winded just by running to takeoff; So of course the fun fact about this film that everyone remembers is that on some of the early video tapes of this film, if you pause it at a certain frame when the three are flying through the city you can see a photo of a topless woman in one of the windows of the buildings; A roller scoater?; Not only does Bianca not buckle up tightly, but she runs red lights too; That flight from New York to New Orleans was quite the trek, they are lucky that Medusa didn’t find the diamond prior to them making it; Medusa must’ve trained those gators real well that they just are trained to find Penny and not attack her; Medusa must be a fan of Greek mythology if she named the gators Nero and Brutus; Considering how rickety that airboat is, it’s no surprise that Medusa has constant trouble starting it up; That is a crap load of fireworks that they have in that boat, where were they able to get that many?; Again, of all the luck for them to be flying right as they are setting off those fireworks; Is it just me or do the fireworks look like they are live-action shots?; Whatever Luke is brewing, he needs to adjust the formula if he is constantly burping up fire; That was a dick move by Orville just moving away and letting Bernard and Bianca fall into the puddle, why couldn’t he just catch them?; Great, Luke just made Bernard an alcoholic; Orville couldn’t wait to get out of there and was in such a rush that he ended up being sucked into Medusa’s airboat; A typical boat in the bayou is a leaf being pushed by a dragonfly; They went so fast in that they managed to pull ahead of the gators and they got brushed aside by them when they swam by; It is a bit sad that they treat Evinrude just like a simple motor; It was a bit of a cool moment that Snoops used the fireworks to spell out “Got Girl”; Just like Snoops to pass the buck onto the gators; That is quite the stash of jewels that they were able to find, but of course Medusa only cares about the one diamond that matters; Medusa saying she has a way with children is the biggest oxymoron I’ve ever heard; How strong is Bianca’s perfume that the gators were able to smell it so strongly?; That organ is so out of tune it’s not even funny; You wouldn’t think that gators would be versed in working an organ and knowing which key blows the air out of which pipe; I always find it funny when a woman sees a mouse, they jump onto a chair and pull their dress or skirt up; Where did Medusa pull that gun out from?; The gun runs out of ammo and she assumes that it jammed or it malfunctioned; Considering the flak they got for the topless woman photo showing up which they should’ve, I’m surprised more people didn’t freak out about a little girl basically being shown half naked for a brief time; I’m not going to lie, Medusa is pretty ugly and I’m surprised the mirror didn’t break; Is it just me or do those two deer look exactly like Bambi and his mother?; I don’t think it’s safe for Penny to be walking on those boards barefooted as she could get a splinter; She actually has a nightcap for her teddy bear; At this point, it shouldn’t be a surprise that Penny can understand Bernard and Bianca when we saw her conversing with a cat earlier; There aren’t many boats that I remember that ever had an elevator in them unless they were cruise ships, and that ship was a very old ship and didn’t seem to merit an elevator; Penny did a pretty spot on impression of Medusa despite having only known her for a few days; Poor Evinrude had to fly right into that flock of bats and cost him precious time to get to the rest of the animals; As much as I don’t like spiders, I do feel bad for that one having his web destroyed by Evinrude and the bats; I wonder if the Devil’s Bayou is located at the Gulf of Mexico since they can only have Penny go in at low tide without the risk of drowning; Penny knew that pirates used that cave because the skeleton happened to have a pirate’s hat, clothes, and a sword; Considering how many jewels they already had thanks to Penny, the fact there are even more down there is astonishing and it makes you wonder why they didn’t just demand her to grab all that as well as the Devil’s Eye; Bernard tries so hard to be brave but at times just can’t bring himself to do it unless he has to help Bianca; I wonder how that big diamond managed to be squeezed into that skull; Much like the fireworks, that diamond looks like a live-action diamond; Does Medusa know that if Penny doesn’t make it out, then she won’t be able to get the diamond?; That must’ve been a tense scene in the theaters when Penny, Bernard, and Bianca went down in that whirlpool and could’ve drowned; Typical heel move for Medusa to cut Snoops out of his promised cut; Another tense scene as Evinrude knows the bats are waiting for him and his home is just mere feet away; Evinrude just escaped with his life from those bats and everyone crowds around him like he didn’t just fly for his life, but then Luke’s brew is just the thing to bring him a new burst of energy; That is the biggest rag-tag group of animals brought together to help Bianca and Bernard; Of all the places that Medusa would put the diamond, she had to use Penny’s teddy bear; They were lucky that Brutus and Nero just barely fit into that elevator or their plan would’ve been shot; Another pretty risky scene having Medusa shooting a shotgun at a child; Not only is Luke’s brew basically alcohol and an energy drink, now it apparently works as gasoline for this airboat; You could tell that Brutus and Nero finally had enough when Medusa used them as jet skis and was whipping them; I don’t want to sound negative because Penny deserved to get a loving family, but it is a bit coincidental that this story comes out about her finding this diamond and then she gets adopted; If Penny wasn’t a child, her telling the reporter that mice talked to her and helped her would make believe think that she was absolutely insane; How did Evinrude manage to make that long trip from New Orleans all the way to New York?; Of course they had to show the calendar and reveal it was Friday the 13th; Every time he goes flying, Bernard is going to comment that they should’ve taken the train.

Overall Thoughts: Overall, I thought that this film was a great film and I firmly believe to this day that it still does not get the credit that it deserves and is still one of the most underrated films in the Disney canon. This period of time leading into the mid-80s is widely considered one of the weakest stretches in history and I feel this film gets lumped in with the rest of those films, and I feel that is grossly unfair because this is a really good film that stands out even though it doesn’t quite compare to the classics that came before it. We come to the end of the 1970s and it has been a pretty interesting decade to say the least, and we head into the 1980s where little did anyone know that there was some turbulence going on behind the scenes and it would affect them for at least a little bit. As for this specific film, it is a great film and deserves to be recognized as one of the best films in the Disney canon and earn its proper rating while no longer being considered underrated.

Final Grade: 8.5/10

[sebfreak]

[purests-archive]

。・゜☆ ゜・。・゜☆ REECE MCMILLIAN ☆ ゜・。・゜☆  ゜・。

name:  Reece McMillian

birthday: January 13th

age: 27

siblings: n/a

sexuality: bisexual

occupation: fisherman 

nationality: american

eye color: green

hair color: hazelnut

hair style: long messy

languages: english 

personality: He’s a very nice person, he seems like the quiet one from town, but he’s really not. He’s funny, & polite.

more about: He lives in an old town, by the sea shore. Every morning, he can hear the waves through his window. He’s a fisherman, just like his father was, his grandfather, and great-grandfather. He sells what he catches to the town’s fish market. He’s a bit of a drunk.

[iqvts]

30 Deer Creek Woods, Ladue, MO 63124 from iQ Visual Tours on Vimeo.

For more information: cbphomes.com/listing/56-506121/30-deer-creek-woods-ladue-mo-63124

Open Sunday, Nov. 12th from 1-3. Here's your chance to have this beautifully renovated 2-story (last home on the street)backing up to Tilles Park! Spectacular screen porch w/Ipe floor (Brazilian hardwood),bead board ceiling w/speakers, Heat n Glo gas fireplace w/ stone surround, custom oversized screens, azek rails;looks out to the professionally landscaped backyard...truly an oasis w/gorgeous perennials, stone work, & gate to quiet side of Tilles. Master suite w/ huge walk-in closet and NEW top of the line bath (Mitchell Wall designed and McMillian built). No expense spared! Arched breakfast room w/ palladian windows off gourmet kitchen (w/new high-end stainless appliances), opens to hearth room w/box beam ceilings, built-ins flanking the fireplace and wet bar. Great flow... open floor plan and flooded with light! Finished lower level with another fireplace (3rd), several entertaining spaces, full wood-paneled bar (ice maker, dishwasher, fridge), gym, & full bath...all renovated!

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