#nicolas Gonzales

[postguiltypleasures]

My Peak TV Journey *Betty la Fea La Historia Continua*

I need to say upfront, that I was really excited about this series, and I remain mostly satisfied. I look forward to the second season continuing (and wrapping up?) this story. I also finished watching the edited-for-Peacock version of the original.  I will say that the sequel is for people like me, people who think the original loses steam after the return from Cartagena. Also, while they can show Armando in touch with his emotions, they don’t show him having any idea how to act on them in a healthy manner. Despite this he and Betty accept that they’re still in love, generally better together so they get together without resolving Betty’s deep trust issues, or how Armando still needs to learn anger management and better communication skills. It’s amazing they lasted as long as they did.

I don’t want to fight anyone over the quality of the series, but there are some things I have to defend. Namely the structural differences between the sequel and original. By structural, I mean mostly pacing, cast size, and how information is revealed. The differences between setting up a story that will most likely run through through hundreds of episodes more or less uninterrupted for over a year vs something that the two episode once a week, for a total of ten where continuation will be indefinite continuation is essentially a change of medium. The techniques and rules for storytelling change. The now. de-cannonized sequel spinoff Ecomoda is criticized for being too much of a sitcom when figuring out how to deal with this.  La Hisotria Continua is more like the original telenovela in tone and plot points, but it has to unfold differently than the original. (Also in being more like the original, it’s going to torture its main characters a new. If you can’t accept it, don’t watch and don’t comment.) In the original an early episode is dedicated to Betty and Nicholas reading a magazine covering an event Ecomoda had, with flashbacks to event, where we really get to know many of the major characters, what they are up to and then we watch what’s happening next. This season comes with the assumption that we are familiar with most of the characters, but we don’t really know what they’ve been up to, and most importantly, we don’t know how they relate to the new ones. Crucially, it isn’t laid out so we know what kind of danger Betty is walking into like in the original. Int the original the intrigue was “what will happen?” Here it’s more “what has happened?” This comes with mixed results. The first episode especially felt needlessly confusing. And even by the end of the season, there were things, like how and why Majo got involved with Ecomoda, that I wish had been clarified by then. However, there was a moment in the second episode made it more clear that they knew what they were doing. This starts with Betty telling Bertha and Sandra that she was not a good president of Ecomoda because she only made the rich richer. I took this as a sign that this was taking on the extreme classism in the original, how it was mostly treated as “that’s the way the world works” kind of way. 

The series opens at Don Roberto’s (Armando’s father) funeral. Armando’s relationship with his father was always  fucked up though the original series seemed to loose interest in the more negative aspects of his character as it went on. One of the messed up things about their relationship was how accommodating Roberto was to Daniel, so of his former business associates and Armando’s rivalry. The not too subtle subtext is that Roberto thought of Daniel as a more serious minded person for business and wished Armando was more like him, while also showing little to know interest in anything else about who Armando is as a person. He didn’t have much interest in who Daniel was as a person either. This all business approach helped him appear to be out of the fray, when he really very much was in it. In the new series, through  a video of his will, Roberto sets up a plan for Ecomoda that manipulates a reluctant Betty back while telling Armando how he once again failed as president.  No wonder after Roberto’s death Armando is haunted by visions of Roberto saying he should have spent more time in prison, and that he doesn’t deserve someone as wonderful as Betty. The latter statement is pretty ironic, given that Roberto treated Betty pretty coldly. Everyone ignores the fact that in the original series when they first met he refused to shake her hand. Roberto definitely deserves some of the blame for how Marcela became a lingering presence over Betty and Armando’s marriage, and Betty never feeling entirely welcome in the Mendoza family. And of course as we later learn, her fired Betty to appease Marcela, when that was bad for everyone.

Looking back after the season, I think Marcela might have been the character who most benefited from the changes in structure. The story was put into motion by her worst qualities, her anger, lack of curiosity, the ways she isolates herself. But she didn’t have enough air time to for these traits to become too tiresome and have us give up on her. And she is left in a position where she has to make some life changing decisions. We learn early on Marcela blames Betty for Daniel’s downfall. Betty was aware that something was wrong with the company financially, alerted the police and the investigation led to Daniel being arrested for money laundering and then being murdered in prison. But, for the plot of this series, the real issue is how aggressively Marcela only sees what she wants to see. Marcela seems to have natural blinders towards so much in life. She wants vengeance of getting rid of Betty and Armando and then taking over Ecomoda with Ignacio. But she is not paying attention to what Ignacio is doing. When she learns if a lot of it in the last episodes she’s appalled. But she mostly doesn’t want to. Her relationship with Ignacio is the inverse of how she treated Armando as a boyfriend, but reminiscent of how she never had interest in the running of Ecomoda, never check in on Armando and Mario’s business schemes and ignored how her brother sexually harassed her best friend. So her not checking in more on Nacho feels in character, but is part of the way she’s always been frustrating. After the reveal that Ignacio is her half brother, instead of her nephew as she believed, I began to wonder if it was a revelation to force her to change this aspect of her character? Does knowing her father had a second family make her aware that this isn’t just keeping her head high out of the muck? (Or whatever she says to herself.) She’s ignoring things that matter. It also made me think are we supposed to reassess her constant monitoring of Armando during their relationship as some kind of subconscious way of making up of all the ways she ignored the poor behavior of the men in her immediate family? For most of the season the relationship between Marcela and Nacho was treated as a mystery, much of the office assuming that he was her boyfriend, while fans knew he was a secret member of the Valencia family and having the full answer include how much Marcela doesn’t look at or explore things involving her familys interesting. I hope the next season follows up on this. Some of the follow up will involve Pascual, Nacho’s secret parter and Marcela’s new love interest. I’m not sure Pascual will actually be good for Marcela in the long run.  She needs to have her single minded desire to hurt Betty and Armando broken by other desires. And I don’t think she’s thought of wanting anything else for a while. But he gives mixed messages all the time. As a secret patter who express interest in becoming part of the high society fashion world. But in his first scene he says the line “Para mi papero y papito son los mismos nombres.”  Indicating he’s not that interested in changing his identity.  He has a couple of ugly divorces and says he wants to be fawned over by models, but he also is instantly smitten with Marcela and pursues her with the most blunt and crass language I can imagine.  He also has as little interest in remaking Ecomoda’s image as he does his own image, to Nacho’s presumed chagrin.

Marcela also had surprisingly little interaction Patricia, which did affect a lot of the show. It’s an interesting way showing of how people have changed and stayed the same. During the first episode I hated Bertha and Sandra’s jokes about Patricia’s husband. They were gross and agist.  (Later meeting him at the quinceñera flash back made Patricia’s relationship  seem like elder abuse. But, I kind of like that Patricia’s in a relationship that she wants to be known, but doesn’t want to bring attention to. It’s a change of pace from the original where she was single, desperate and frequently saying how she could have a boyfriend whenever she wanted. The change seems like an appropriate response to Daniel regularly offering to pimp her out to his friends. I also like that she was promoted to Gutierrez’s position as a way to show everything being different but similar. Patricia was always about bossing around el cuartel. Gutierrez also seemed to think of his job as chiding people back into looking busy whenever. The change in position a good reason for Bertha and Sandra’s renewed hatred for Patricia a fits with the ways Gutierrez was awful. Bertha’s obsession with “chisme” might actually make her good at the job, She can make people feel seen and heard and communicate between workers and executives. People could feel more motivated to work when they understand more of what is going on in the company. But it doesn’t fit with the intense classism that rules Ecomoda. It would be a view of the position completely alien to Gutierrez.  

As I was saying earlier, whatever is going on with Majo, Mario and Armando seems more needlessly confusing than intriguing. Why is Armando friendly with Majo again after her kiss at the end of the first episode causes such disruption? Those scenes with the them at the club were weird. I don’t for a second believe she’s an alternate love interest, but why should I care? As the season went on I find myself more intrigued by the lack of scenes between Majo and Mario. He talks her up whenever he’s alone with Armando and even expected her to have a conjugal visit with him in prison. Yet she never talks about him, and they never talk directly to each other. I’ve come to think of her as not so much wanting Armando, as wanting Armando to want a divorce because that what Mario, her secret real employer wants. But this is based on absence, rather than what’s on screen. For what does Mario want control over Armando? And why is he still so bad at vetting potential business alliances? I hate the character of Mario, but the season could have improved by filling in some gaps about what he’s up to.

Betty’s alternate love interest, Esteban, isn’t a better defined character than Majo, but at least he’s not supposed to have created some kind of bond with the main characters off screen in the time between series’s.  He’s a better alternative love interest than Michel in that he’s a better listener and has more in common with Betty. But he’s still too boring to compete with Armando.

As someone who always thought Armando didn’t show up enough what he learned, of that he necessarily knew how to be, I kind of loved events on the third and fourth episodes as revisiting things in the original series, including punch Esteban like he punched Nicolas in the original for being a perceived romantic rival. While that was a new low originally, it didn’t motivate Armando to change his behavior. If anything, the original series suggests that violently lashing out is fine when you’re lashing out at the right people as demonstrated by him later punching Mario. His attempt to change includes joining a group therapy with Freddy. This leads to revisiting Armando in drag, only this time to better understand Betty’s point of view, not simply be emasculated for the failures of his toxic masculinity and homophobia as in the original. In some ways I felt for him more in this series than I did in the original. He just seemed so lost, but also not putting himself at the center of everything as he did in the original.  Betty briefly made him VP of Finances, a roll to which he is not suited, but doing so gives him the time to confess to his misdeeds on his own time, I found myself wishing that they made Armando majoring in something more mechanical a bigger part of his character. Then I could say “that’s what he’s good at.” But he seems otherwise most interested in maintaining vendor and supplier relations which seems closer to Marcela’s specialty. Being at Ecomoda is bad for him as a person. During the flashback to the fight while Betty left him he says he sacrificed his social circle for their relationship. There is a truth to this. Mario’s ability to slip back into his life is a sight of how real it feels. But the bigger truth is that between the hours he spent at Ecomoda, and the class rigidity of the institution, he never had the opportunity to make new friendships. This is poignantly present in his scenes with Freddy, where we see how hard it is to accept Freddy as a friend. 

All this talk about how social hierarchies having ruinous effect on personal it’s time to do a brief, segue about the uses of “usted” and “tú” in both series, with the caveat that I am neither a native Spanish speaker nor a Colombian nor someone who’s ever been to Colombia. I know I’m missing a lot of cultural context. I have heard that Colombia uses usted more than other Spanish speaking countries. Still, the use in the original seemed extreme. It helped illustrate the ingrained classicism of the original. Betty and Armando reverting to “usted”  even en a flashback to happier times, after beginning to use “tú” near the end of the original is a bad sign. It adds opportunity to misunderstand one another and hints that they haven’t quite gotten over the class divide after years of marriage. In the original it sometimes seems like one has to be upper class to deign tutear. The Cuartel, Betty’s parents within their relationship with each other and with Betty, as well as Betty with Nicolás all use “usted” with each other despite being personally close. In contrast to this Patricia’s use of tú comes off as impudent,  and Nicolás only uses tú when trying to impress Patricia by pretending to have more money than he’s worth. This language barrier, in the original Betty sees herself as an extension of Armando who always had to prove herself. (This is common amongst Ecomoda employees, see Berta’s reluctance to share Gutierrez’s home phone number while he was sexually harassing Aura Maria and Sandra’s self flagellation after lying to Mario.) By the new series Betty strongly associates more with the employees of Ecomoda than any of its owners. Which explains her return to “usted,” and Mila’s regular use of “tú” as a sign of how hard it is for them to get each other. The continuation seems pretty aware that this emphasis on formality was a not great set up for life.

Mila starts the season very angry with her mother and ends angry with her father. While taking notes I surmised that all the hurtful things Mila said to Betty early on showed a fear of understanding what happened between her parents. She knew it was too potentially painful. She chose to support Armando because she thought he wanted to reconnect in a way Betty didn’t. This fear is completely founded, and when she does find out about her parents history, the reason her mother quickly abandoned trust in her father, she switches allegiance. Though this happens right around the time Betty is starting to consciously realize that her reaction 

Early in the season Betty says something about needing to break vicious cycles. She’s right about that need,  but her technique of just cutting off all contact is by now her own contribution vicious cycle, and therefore counter productive. She would have known more about what she was walking into returning to Ecomoda if she opened those emails. Also, while she definitely had the right to be angry with Armando about how his failed negotiations with Roberto and Marcela affected her, and the way she was cut out of them, it would have been better for all if after a couple of days of cooling down they decided to meet for counseling. The extended radio silence was just bad for everyone. Also I would like more detail on what Betty and Nicolas were up to in their time away from Ecomoda. I am under the impression that Doña Julia was ill and died during that time period, so Betty spent a lot of time with her mother during her last days and shut off any contact Armando tried to make simultaneously. But what else? What was she thinking about as possible futures? Nicolas is even more of a blank slate. All I know is that Mila has apparently t been telling I’m for yeas that the amount of hair gel he uses makes him look older than necessary. She is right, see any picture of Mario Duarte out of character. 

While I wish more detail was given to Betty’s life away from Ecomoda, I like pretty much everything about how she acts after she returns. As I said before, I like how explicitly she relates to non share holding staff instead of favoring the actionistas. This includes her room ring Freddy and demoting Mario. I hope there is more follow up on that next season. More concerning this season’s plot, I like that Betty got the heads up about financial shenanigans from Hugo. It was unexpected, but in character for both. Also it reflects poorly on Marcela, who could have gotten answers to what Armando was doing if she just talked to Hugo like an equal. 

I don’t know anything about the Colombian’ legal system. So I can’t say anything about how realistically or not Armando turning himself and Gutierrez in between the episodes. The important thing is how it plays in comparison to his downward spiral after Betty exposed the Terramoda scheme in the original. Which is that he’s more willing to take responsibility for his actions, go public and not pick fights. Betty also has changed since then, demonstrated by going to visit him in jail and talk. Then they have sex in a scene reminiscent of their first time in the original, only with some roll reversal. This is emotionally confusing for Betty. In someways exactly why she justified cutting him off with no contact. On the other hand she gets to speak to someone who cares about the real emotional turmoil affecting her and learns more about Ecomoda’s quagmire. 

Another aspect recently revealed aspect of Betty I would like to see more of is the things that led Betty to tell her father that he wasn’t a great husband. He wasn’t, but it was something that couldn’t be articulated outside of some face making Doña Julia did, and the way she and her mother hid things from him. It fits with a theme of the series of saying things they couldn’t say in the original. Hermès’ dogmatism is in conflict with Betty’s journey of becoming more of a humanist. 

I’m now going to wrap this up by writing about the new generation followed by some thoughts on finish the original series in a more complete way than ever before.

Other than Mila, Ignacio is the best defined of the new characters. Viewers were quick to say he has the Daniel Valencia role of the original. After all he is someone aligned with Marcela acting antagonistically towards Betty and Armando. And while this series played with that assumption, the two characters are most interesting in their differences. Ignacio is charming while Daniel was aggressively not. To the extent Daniel had a charm, it’s based on the idea that he’s saying to your face what other people say behind your back. As a guy setting up a mass surveillance program through Ecomoda, Ignacio not going to pretend that he’s the one person telling the truth to your face. But he sincerely does like Mila, even though the circumstance means he’s betrayed her before anything started between them. At the end of this season I found myself wishing that there was more time spent on Jeff and Carmen so that the love quadrangle that Mila and Ignacio are with them felt juicier. It’s got long running soap potential. 

Finishing the original while watching this has brought back some of the dread that I had going into the last section of the novela. Much of the post Cartagena plot feels like the show is spinning its wheels before deciding how to hastily rush to the finish line. Contributing to this feeling is the over reliance on flashbacks. The scenes involving Betty’s return to Ecomoda are particularly bad with this, and they didn’t even cut them from the Peacock edits. (These would have been some of the first edits if I were supervising it.) This section drops  various subplots, including Inesita’s estranged husband coming home to die, which real does make the way the series doesn’t know what to do stand out. Theresa are some high points likeel desfile del Cuartel. But that is also supposedly the resolution of the Sofia/Jenny plot, and it’s not satisfying as such. I get that the cast and crew were exhausted, and some of them had signed contracts to work with other tv networks lessening their availability. But on a level of pure drama, these plots points are simply inexcusable. Also dropping the cuartel’s pilots makes them worse friends. They suddenly only have gossiping about Betty going on and no respect for boundaries or treating her like an actual person, instead of the lead in a telenovela. Equally inexcusable is how because Armando now is conscious of his feelings for Betty, the fact that so much of the way it’s shown involves violating her boundaries by stalking her on meetings he wasn’t invited to and secretly steeling and reading her diary, is why I can’t be too angry at Betty for dropping him the way she did.

This time around I was aware of how often real life designer Bettina Spitz had her name dropped and showed up on screen. Didn’t even realize I was missing that before. 

[channeledhistory]

[...] Am Donnerstag haben die USA den am Sonntag nach offiziellen Angaben unterlegenen Oppositionskandidaten Edmundo González Urrutia de facto zum Präsidenten des Landes erklärt. »Angesichts der überwältigenden Beweise ist es für die Vereinigten Staaten und vor allem für das venezolanische Volk klar, dass Edmundo González bei der Präsidentenwahl am 28. Juli die meisten Stimmen erhalten hat«, erklärte US-Außenminister Antony Blinken.

Beweise dafür präsentierte Washingtons Chefdiplomat jedoch nicht. Bisher berief er sich lediglich auf Nachwahlbefragungen der US-Firma Edison Research sowie auf Angaben der rechten Opposition. Laut Blinken hat diese »mehr als 80 Prozent der Wahlprotokolle veröffentlicht, die direkt aus den Wahllokalen des gesamten Landes« kämen und belegten, »dass González die Mehrheit der Stimmen erhalten hat«, so der US-Auslandssender Voice of America. Überprüfen lässt sich das nicht. Dennoch griff die US-Regierung mit ihrer Entscheidung der Veröffentlichung der endgültigen Ergebnisse durch die venezolanische Wahlkommission CNE vor, die laut Gesetz innerhalb von 30 Tagen nach dem Urnengang erfolgen muss. Auch eine von Präsident Nicolás Maduro beantragte Überprüfung der Resultate durch das Oberste Gericht steht noch aus.

Die Aktion wurde mit anderen westlichen Regierungen abgestimmt. »Wir haben uns mit Partnern und Verbündeten auf der ganzen Welt beraten, und obwohl die Länder unterschiedlich reagieren, ist keines zu dem Schluss gekommen, dass Maduro die meisten Stimmen erhalten hat«, sagte Blinken. Dann drohte er: »Wir unterstützen den Prozess der Wiederherstellung demokratischer Normen in Venezuela und sind bereit, gemeinsam mit unseren internationalen Partnern nach Wegen zu suchen, ihn zu stärken.« Ähnlich hatte der Westen schon 2019 auf den Wahlsieg Maduros reagiert. Als erstes Land erkannten die USA den bis dahin unbekannten Oppositionspolitiker Juan Guaidó an, der sich selbst zum »Interimspräsidenten« ernannt hatte, knapp 60 der 193 UN-Mitgliedsländer folgten.

[dennistorejaperez]

Top Cop Resigns After Controversial Press Briefing With Road Rage Suspect

Quezon City Police District (QCPD) Brig. Gen. Nicolas Torre III tendered his courtesy resignation to Philippine National Police chief Gen. Benjamin Acorda Jr. on Wednesday, following widespread criticism over an “inappropriate” press briefing he organized for road rage suspect Wilfredo Gonzales. In an interview with INQUIRER.net, Torre announced that his resignation would take effect on August…

[pressplusdaily]

Top Cop Resigns After Controversial Press Briefing With Road Rage Suspect

Quezon City Police District (QCPD) Brig. Gen. Nicolas Torre III tendered his courtesy resignation to Philippine National Police chief Gen. Benjamin Acorda Jr. on Wednesday, following widespread criticism over an “inappropriate” press briefing he organized for road rage suspect Wilfredo Gonzales. In an interview with INQUIRER.net, Torre announced that his resignation would take effect on August…

[erstwhile-punk-guerito]

[senioralfy]

VENEZUELA

This is a collaboration that was posted on July 5th on instagram to celebrate the Venezuelan day of independence. Now, I repost it here to speak of the atrocities that the Venezuelan people are enduring this very moment.

The Venezuelan elections took place this 28th of July, and our dictator has yet again cheated his way into victory. Nicolas Maduro is the reason 7 million Venezuelans, including myself and the collaborators of this art piece, have fled seeking political refuge to other countries. He is also the reason that those who remain in Venezuela suffer everyday. The people were stripped of the peace and change they were hoping to achieve by voting for Edmundo Gonzales this 28th, as Maduro claims to have won by 51 percent with no evidence whatsoever.

There is hope, as the people of Venezuela are now protesting to claim back the country and culture that is rightfully theirs against the Chavismo movement. The people fighting in those streets today are incredibly brave. I urge you to keep an eye on Venezuela, read about the situation and inform others. Many of us yearn to see the country our families spoke so dearly about,

Thank you.

[alldancersaretalented]

Showbiz National Diamond Title Winners and Runner-Up 2006

Daytona Beach

Petite Mr. Showbiz and Petite Miss Showbiz

Nathan Maas - Larkin, Annelisa Ritacca - Temecula

Kaylin Flores - Temecula

Maddie Woltman - Larkin

Junior Mr. Showbiz and Junior Miss Showbiz

Colin Fuller - New Dimensions, Emma Young - Juliana's AoD

Arcadian Broad - New Dimensions, Kelsey Sutter - Larkin

Alec Abercrombie - Larkin, Kiersten Benzing - Robin Dawn APA

Teen Mr. Showbiz and Teen Miss Showbiz

Dare Kujava - Larkin, Brittney Brewer - Temecula

Justin Duke - Temecula, Jenny Kelly - New Dimensions

Lee Gumbs - Fokus PAS, Deidre Rogan - Robin Dawn APA

Senior Mr. Showbiz and Senior Miss. Showbiz

Evan Kasprzak - Juliana's AoD, Nicole Fishman, Fokus PAS

Trumpie Card - Larkin, Rachael Hopkins - Rolann's SotD

Josh Green - Larkin, Christen Snyder - Juliana's AoD

Palm Springs

Petite Mr. Showbiz and Petite Miss Showbiz

Celina Aranda - Dance Rage Elite

Kiana Mariano - DP

Gia Ferrero - Rocky Mountain SoD

Junior Mr. Showbiz and Junior Miss Showbiz

Nicholas Stich - Dance Connection PA, Kartlyn Kazanjian - DP

Brandon Beltran - DP, Kristen Fukuto - WCSA

Nicola Aranda - Dance Rage Elite, Jasmine Mason - DP

Teen Mr. Showbiz and Teen Miss Showbiz

Galen Higgins - Dance Shoppe, Paula Van Oppen, DP

Robert Vail - Dance Connection PA, Ashley Gonzales - DP

Nathan Trasoras - DP, Julianne Jouglard - WCCSA

Senior Mr. Showbiz and Senior Miss. Showbiz

Cooper Zamorano - WCSA, Brittney Baker - WCSA

Justin Boulet - Rocky Mountain SoD, Jessica Gillan - Rocky Mountain SoD

Marshea Kidd - DP, Francine Espiritu - DP

Dallas

Petite Mr. Showbiz and Petite Miss Showbiz

Kennedy Huff - Plano's Dane Expression

Kassidy Buth - Unity Dance Co

Sloan Marak - Ms. Karen's Dance Studio

Junior Mr. Showbiz and Junior Miss Showbiz

Sierra Tuthill - Dallas Power House of Dance

Kate Alberger - Plano's Dance Expression

Courtne' Lee - Chorus Line DC

Teen Mr. Showbiz and Teen Miss Showbiz

Caleb Eklofe - Starstruck PAC, Meredith Jones - Dallas Power House of Dance

Nick Rusin - Stage Door PA, Marissa Vandanacker - Stage Door PA

Anthony Gabriel - Stage Door PA, Taylor McKie - Dancin' Feet

Senior Mr. Showbiz and Senior Miss. Showbiz

Grant Johnson - Stage Door PA, Laurin Hogan - Storm!

Jonathan Maize - Dancer's Studio Etc., Ariel Swinney - Starstruck PAC

Lacee Franks - Stage Door PA

[patiencesinners]

Emma Bürklin (@plush__baby): 

Earlier this year we completed 6 videos for @panicatthedisco filmed over the course of 9(.5) days. This was a massive undertaking for our crew and cast and this entire team knocked it out of the park. I will never get over the intricacy and care of every aspect. Thank you to everyone who made these happen❗️

Directed by @breadandwalter Executive Producer: @jesyodio Producer: @plush__baby Director of Photography: @ericbader Production Designer: @sokocreations Editors: Brendan Walter, Kevin Hindriks Production Company: @teenager.ent Color: Bryan Smaller, Kevin Hindriks

UPM: @doriansthomas 1st AD: @taylormade215 Script Supervisor: @andishezohoori Choreographer: @monikafelicesmith Costume Designer: @stylistbrooke Key Hair & Makeup Artist: @makeuphair_mayra Groomer: @aikafloreshair Gaffer: @kylebartreid Key Grip: Anthony Schrader, James O’Connor Sound Mixer: @life_jedy Location Manager: Pete Abrahams VFX: Taylor Armstrong Animators: Kevin Hindriks, Gon Borela, Glen Dones, DJ Belga, Paula Gohing SHIFTai @fotokem_la Stunt Coordinator: Travis Wong Casting: @rebelcasting

AE: Jonathan Rosenblit 1st AC: Rich Hawkinson 2nd AC: Brian Freeman, Kyle Deven, Greg Hatton, Deepak Adhikary DIT/Utility: Jacob Seldes Ronin Op: Ben Fredman Steadicam: Will Sampson, Quaid Cde Baca B-Cam Op: Geoffrey Brent Shrewsbury BBE: Justin Sadler, Jim Ed Willis, Sam Needham 1st SLT: Mike Winokur, Paul Kane 2nd SLT: Sam Needham Best Grip/Driver: Richie Brush Dolly Grip: James O’Connor Grip: Nick Limina, Abel Soto, Rich Ferrat, Christian Andrew, Shane Greavette Boom Operator: Ethan Rhanielle, Alex Gilroy Art Directors: Devin Parker, Spencer Trent Set Dresser: Mitch Dillon, Reno Bennedetti Leadmen: Shay Turner, Zach Riddle Pyro Tech: Anthony Delzio Lifeguard: Tony Whitmore Production Coordinators: Kalid Hussein, Nathan Vaughan Office Production Coordinator: Ariel Hutchins-Fuhr 2nd AD: Alexandria Cardiel 2nd 2nd AD: Teck Holmes AD PAs: Nafeisa Johnson, Anthony Sturdivant Office PAs: Jubilee Daws, Jane Kim, Hollis Dohr Truck PAs: Alex Reyes Méndez, Colin Hagiwara, Sean Lass, Jay Arias, Jordan Pelzl Set PAs: Collin Wade, Kyle Ali, Jem Murillo, Corey Cunningham, Skylar Conner

Assistant Costume Designer: Anastasia Magoutas On-Set Costumer: Maggie Kimball Costume Assistant: Lucas Ciotti, Rachel Apatoff, Brooke Mulkins Seamstress: Olga Podymova Costume PA: Marissa Channing SPFX Makeup Artists: Brittany Fontaine, Sam Tansey HMU Assistants: Rob Sheppy, Sophie Guzman, Julie Dinh, Ashley Lee, Kandi Hernandez, Charde Thompson, Stacey Gonzalez, Nadine Robinson, Megan Gray, Carmen Martinez Assistant Choreographer: Riley Roberts Key Crafty Attendant: Sabino Salas Miranda, Raul Aguirre, Josh Gresham COVID Officer: Stephen George, Caitlin Hiroto Set Medic: Melissa Reed Security: Crew Protection Stunt Double: Nikita Teterev Studio Teacher: Bettina Russo Drivers: EJ Smith, Bill Colino, Josh Collins, Malik Riley

Starring: @onlyleah as Maggie Mike Naran on Guitar Nicole Row on Bass Dan Pawlovich on Drums The Beer Boys: Mike Viola, Rachel White, Jake Sinclair Robert Javinett as Manager Jesse Merlin as Host & Stage Manager Angel Ahabue as Salesperson Galen Howard & Nafeisa Johnson as “The PAs” Mauricio Marte as Medic Zak Cassar as Masked Man Monika Felice Smith as Teacher Christian Valentino Maita as Young Brendon Nora Harriet as Young Maggie Kids: Dominic McDonald, Aurora Lewis Jester: Galen Howard

Dancers: Crystal Chestnut, Cierra Crowley, Edith Morales, Genna Moroni, Katherine Cheng, Adriano Bettinelli, Cedric Thane Sanders, Hugh Aparente, Nicolas Karosy, Robbie Bianton

Cameos: Mike Naran, Nicole Row, Dan Pawlovich, Morgan Kibby, Butch Walker, Brandon Dermer, Suzy Shinn, Rachel White, Pete Wentz, Betty Who, Spencer Smith, Evan Taubenfeld, Nina Jordan, Tatjana Vujovic, Jake Wesley Rogers , Sam Barbera, Linda Ignarro Smith

Funeral Extras: Hannah May Evans, Jasmine Wilson, Abraham Baltazar, Robert "Rexx" Gonzales, Galen Howard

Extras: Ronee Collins, Chibuike Nwuda, Born M'Allah, Graham Selden, Gigi Ganza, Toky Mahamaro, Ludovica Rossato, Elise Biscaro, Jimmy Lee Nguyen, Stephanie Paige, Daniel Stonewall, Olivia Lodge, Hayley Olivia Strubbe, Mariah Salae Jackson, Mary Morgan Bond, Laura Dromerick, Drake Williams, Molly Malin, Shreya Jhalani, Zachary Colvin, Hakop Mkhsian, Michael Parker, Brittany McVicker, Umar Saqid, Romy Evans, Harsimran Ghotra, Andreina Boada, Richard Follin, Brianna Gurdzhyan, Andejela Belosevic, Cairo Spencer, Angela Lin, Robby Ché, Jonel Awit, Pearrie, Darius Levante, Stefan Freeth, Julia Cornell, Gordana Simunovic, Cort King, Robert Rodriquez, Ramona Tibrin

[lamaisongaga]

LADY GAGA x COTTON ON x BTW FOUNDATION

Cat's out of the bag! Australian retail store Cotton On has just revealed its collection in support of Lady Gaga's Born This Way Foundation. 100% net of the proceeds from Cotton On Foundation products and donations will support Gaga's foundation in sharing mental health resources!

The campaign was styled by Nicola Formichetti with assistance by Hunter Clem and Erica Garcia-Valle.

Gaga wore pieces from her own unisex collaboration which she, of course, got heavily customized with safety pins and studs by costume designers Orchid Satellite, Elias Martian and Sailor D. Gonzales to make them her own and to inspire you!

She opted for the oversized denim trucker jacket with 3D embroidery that says "We can build a kinder, braver world together" ($130), a pair of wide-leg relaxed jeans in "Bottle Blue" ($69.99), the graphic tee with globe ($25) and the embroidered cap in white ($25).

Shop:

Cotton On x BTW Foundation Denim Jacket ($130.00)

Cotton On Wide-Leg Jeans ($69.99)

Cotton On x BTW Foundation T-Shirt ($25.00)

Cotton On x BTW Foundation Cap ($25.00)

I'm so happy to introduce not one but three new, small jewelry labels to you today!

For the earrings, we got the Into My Trap silver orbital earrings from the Fall/Winter 2022 collection of Chinese label Lost in Echo.

We also got two layered necklaces on LG. The first one is this chunky stainless steel link necklace with nut bolts by concept brand Apt.1007.

The slimmer necklace is the Frou York I'm a Star rhodium-plated brass double layer chain necklace with safety pin, stars and spikes which you can pre-order for only $52!

Shop:

Frou York "I'm a Star" Necklace ($52.00)

LG was stacked with a total of 5 rings by various smaller labels!

She rocked the micro spike ring ($80), micro spike single band ring ($70) and safety pin ring ($90) all by Rare Romance, the tiny heart band ring by Rat Betty ($59), and the bleeding heart ring by Frou York ($46).

Shop:

Rare Romance Micro Spike Ring ($80.00)

Rare Romance Micro Spike Single Band Ring ($70.00)

Rare Romance Safety Pin Ring ($90.00)

Rat Betty Tiny Heart Ring ($59.00)

Frou York Bleeding Heart Ring ($46.00)

The look was completed with her beloved custom Giuseppe Zanotti silver metallic leather square-toe platform lace-up ankle boots.

[ringotingo]

My favorite things that I may or may not post about

Bands/Artists

The Beatles ❤️

The Who ❤️

Radiohead

Nine Inch Nails

Primus

Pink Floyd

System of a Down

Rush

Tame Impala

Iron Butterfly

The Doors

Red Vox

Supertramp

ELP

Tennis

My Chemical Romance

Metallica

Composers

Antonio Vivaldi

Ludwig van Beethoven

J.S. Bach

Frédéric Chopin

Franz Liszt

Erik Satie

Shows/Movies

Monty Python

Mob Psycho 100

South Park

King of the Hill

Steven Universe

Regular Show

X-Files

Actors

Nicolas Cage

Harrison Ford

Clint Eastwood

George Clooney

Books, etc.

Sherlock Holmes

Stephen King

Lord of the Rings

Harry Potter

Oscar Wilde

Various classic novels...

Youtubers

Drew Gooden

Danny Gonzales

Kurtis Conner

Cr1tikal

Twitch

Vinesauce Vinny

Vinesauce Joel

Jerma

[ulkaralakbarova]

When a promised job for Texan Michael fails to materialize in Wyoming, Mike is mistaken by Wayne to be the hitman he hired to kill his unfaithful wife, Suzanne. Mike takes full advantage of the situation, collects the money, and runs. During his getaway, things go wrong, and soon get worse when he runs into the real hitman, Lyle. Credits: TheMovieDb. Film Cast: Michael Williams: Nicolas Cage Lyle from Dallas: Dennis Hopper Suzanne Brown: Lara Flynn Boyle Wayne Brown: J.T. Walsh Deputy Matt Greytack: Timothy Carhart Deputy Russ Bowman: Dan Shor Truck Driver: Dwight Yoakam Jim: Craig Reay Mr. Johnson: Vance Johnson Howard: Robert Apel Old Man: Bobby Joe McFadden Kurt: Dale Gibson Cashier: Ted Parks Receptionist: Babs Bram Doctor: Robert Guajardo Nurse: Sarah Sullivan Red Rock Bartender: Michael Ruud Truck Driver’s Buddy: Peter Kevin Quinn Country Girl Bartender: Jeff Levine Ted: Shawn Michael Ryan Jane: Barbara Glover Caretaker: Robert Beecher Caretaker’s Wife: Jody Carter Film Crew: Screenplay: John Dahl Associate Producer: Rick Dahl Producer: Steve Golin Executive Producer: Michael Kuhn Executive Producer: Jane McGann Producer: Sigurjón Sighvatsson Original Music Composer: William Olvis Director of Photography: Marc Reshovsky Editor: Scott Chestnut Art Direction: Don Diers Set Decoration: Kate J. Sullivan Casting: Carol Lewis Costume Design: Terry Dresbach Executive In Charge Of Production: Tim Clawson Associate Producer: Lynn Weimer Production Design: Robert Pearson Supervising Producer: Aron Warner Production Manager: Philip Rose First Assistant Director: Mike Topoozian Second Assistant Director: Michael McCue Post Production Supervisor: Vincent Landay Script Supervisor: Nancy Karlin Production Coordinator: Larry Shapiro Production Coordinator: Beth DePatie Assistant Production Coordinator: Jeff Caulfield First Assistant Camera: Karl Owens Camera Loader: Jon Massey Still Photographer: Suzanne Tenner Sound Mixer: Mark Weingarten Boom Operator: Yehuda Maayan Gaffer: Stephen Rocha Best Boy Electric: Robert Eyslee Electrician: Dana Arnold Electrician: Fred Gibson Electrician: Michael E. Gips Electrician: Raymond Gonzales Electrician: Peter Pearce Electrician: Gary W. Shaw Key Grip: Mark Shane Davis Dolly Grip: Levon Besnelian Additional Photography: Rohn Schmidt Property Master: Jonathan R. Hodges Hairstylist: Fríða Aradóttir Makeup Artist: Patty York Costume Supervisor: Lori Eskowitz Special Effects Coordinator: Frank Ceglia Special Effects: Mark R. Byers Special Effects Makeup Artist: John Carl Buechler Sculptor: Dean Gates Stunt Coordinator: Dan Bradley Stunts: Rick Barker Stunts: Charlie Carpenter Stunts: Scott Alan Cook Stunts: Dale Gibson Stunts: Don Ruffin Stunts: Keith Campbell Movie Reviews: Steve: A bit dated looking at it over 20 years later, but still entertaining. A slick neo-noir that helped revive the genre. John Chard: All Roads Lead To Intrigue. Red Rock West is directed by John Dahl who also co-wrote the screenplay with his brother Rick. It stars Nicolas Cage, Dennis Hopper, Lara Flynn Boyle, J. T. Walsh and Timothy Carhart. Music is by William Olvis and cinematography by Marc Reshovsky. When a promised job in Wyoming fails to materialise on account of an injury sustained in combat, Michael Williams (Cage) drifts into the town of Red Rock and is mistaken in a bar for a hit-man hired to kill an unfaithful wife. Tempted by the high cash on offer, Michael plays along and promptly finds himself in a web of intrigue from which escape is looking unlikely Welcome To Red Rock/You Are Now Leaving Red Rock. The studio didn’t know what to do with it, a neo-noir flavoured with contemporary Western spices. Put out on cable in America and thriving on its limited release in Europe, it started to gain a cult fan-base. More so after a theatre in the Frisco Bay area started showing it and it made considerable coinage. Today it still remains more of a cult piece than anything else, which while it deserves more accolades and exposure, is still kind of nice for the fans, because it’s like we have our ...

[megacityvip]

Zawles Designs- Don't Stop (SPOT2)

Zawles Designs Clothing Zawles Designs Clothing Zawles Designs – Commercial Spot2- ‘Don’t Stop’ Starring: Malcom Adenola Adejobi Voice Over by Matthew ‘Zawles’ Gonzales Music By: The Import Music Group (Nicolas Boulland) Edited by MegaCityVip Studios

[montysworld]

Hard To Explain from Simon Kilian on Vimeo.

`Hard To Explain´ is a film, exploring the feelings of becoming older capturing the undefinable tenderness of youth confronting adulthood.

Director - Simon Kilian Director of Photography - Louis Lustermann

Production Company - Akkurat Studios GmbH Executive Producer - Rocco Kopecny Producer - Nian Tang PA - Helena Brockerhoff PA - Anton Emmerich

Colorist - Jonny Thorpe, Glassworks VFX Editor - Simon Hartl Music - Samba Jean Baptiste Mix&Master - Rene Billotin, 2WEI Audio

First Assistant Camera - Julien Bauer Key Grip - Henri Buehler Assistant Grip - Sophie Heyer

Art Direction - Hauke Stark Casting - Fiona Teal, Neu Casting, Das Deck Starring - Camilo Nicolas Payares Gonzales, Wiebke Hellmich, Mitja Over, Noemi Liv Nicolaisen, Nike Philipp, Olivia FlorentineSeiberth

Special thanks to Michael Boxrucker (Kodak Germany), Akkurat Studios, Glassworks VFX, 2WEI Audio, Studio CNP, Cinegrell Berlin, Silverway Paris, Apparat Rental, Camelot

[bookclub4m]

Episode 179 - Battle of the Books 2023

This episode we’re giving our book pitches for our Battle of the Books 2023! Each of us has picked one title that we think we should all read and discuss and you get to vote for which one it is! Will we read Spear by Nicola Griffith, Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey, Free: A Child and a Country at the End of History by Lea Ypi, or The Mushroom at the End of the World by Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing? You decide! 

You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or your favourite podcast delivery system.

In this episode

Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray | Jam Edwards

Books We Pitched

Meghan - Spear by Nicola Griffith

Jam - Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey

Matthew - Free: A Child and a Country at the End of History by Lea Ypi

Anna - The Mushroom at the End of the World by Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing

Vote for which we should read!

Our “Long List” of Titles

Meghan

Women of the Fur Trade by Frances Koncan (Wikipedia)

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill

Jam

How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures by Sabrina Imbler

Trust Kids!: Stories on Youth Autonomy and Confronting Adult Supremacy edited by carla joy bergman

Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree

Anna

Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

The Best Simpsons Intro Is About Losing Everything You Love (Jacob Geller video in which he recommended this book in the outro.)

A Mind Spread Out on the Ground by Alicia Elliott

Matthew

Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures by Merlin Sheldrake

The New Teen Titans, vol. 1 by Marv Wolfman, George Pérez, and Romeo Tanghal

Podcast Episodes

Episode 178 - Aliens, Extraterrestrials, and UFOs (listen to the end of this episode!)

Episode 058 - The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making

Episode 079 - Which Book Should We Read?

Episode 083 - The Fifth Season

Episode 103 - Battle of the Books 2020

Episode 107 - Pet by Akwaeke Emezi

Episode 130 - Battle of the Books 2021

Episode 134 - Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

Episode 154 - Book pitches

Episode 159 - Hurts So Good: The Science and Culture of Pain on Purpose by Leigh Cowart

Links, Articles, Books, and Things

The Coode Street Podcast

Episode 576: Nicola Griffith and Spear

French Makes No Sense: Pronouns by Loic Suberville

Gender Reveal: Episode 136 with Sabrina Imbler

River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey

Cursed Princess Club, vol. 1 by LambCat

Read on Webtoon

Jacob Geller - Who’s Afraid of Modern Art: Vandalism, Video Games, and Fascism

Shady Characters: The Secret Life of Punctuation, Symbols & Other Typographical Marks by Keith Houston

Teen Titans Go! (Wikipedia)

15 Comedic Science Fiction & Fantasy by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) Authors

Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers’ Advisory Podcasts chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) authors - to help readers to diversify their reading and library professionals to diversify their readers' advisory. All of the lists can be found here.

Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson

One for the Morning Glory by John Barnes

Waypoint Kangaroo by Curtis C. Chen

The Law of Love by Laura Esquivel

The Coyote Kings of the Space-Age Bachelor Pad by Minister Faust

From the Notebooks of Dr. Brain by Minister Faust

Tears of the Trufflepig by Fernando A. Flores

The Regional Office is Under Attack! by Manuel Gonzales

Severance by Ling Ma

Popisho by Leone Ross

Motorcycles & Sweetgrass by Drew Hayden Taylor

Chilling Effect by Valerie Valdes

Bang Bang Bodhisattva by Aubrey Wood

Super Extra Grande by Yoss

How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu

Give us feedback!

Fill out the form to ask for a recommendation or suggest a genre or title for us to read!

Vote for which book we should read!

Check out our Tumblr, follow us on Instagram, join our Facebook Group, or send us an email!

Join us again on Tuesday, August 1st we’ll be discussing the fiction genre of Pulp!

Then on Tuesday, August 15th we’ll be talking about books and other media we’ve recently enjoyed in our Summer 2023 Media Update!

[enfanttxrriblx]

Part 2: Note "Musik an David"

White Fence & Ty Segall - Time

Dear Meadow - Sleepy Silver Door 

Aguaturbia - Heartbreaker 

Rollo Weissensee & Blend - Pastis Duval 

Shabjeed & Al Nather - Mtak Mtak

Arca - Arca (komplettes Album, ich revidiere meine Entscheidung zu Best Album und wähle dieses :) arca hat unter anderem das fka twigs Album mit produziert) 

Shygirl - Freak 

Coucou Chloe - Flip U 

Sevdaliza- Oh My God 

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - The Lord Lightning 

Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie - Bloomdido

Vladimir Dubyshkin - Lady of the Night 

Chopin - Mazurka 

Erik Satie - Gnossienne 

Brutalismus 3000 - Pentagramm 

Ariel Pink - Not enough violence 

DIIV - Under the sun 

Aleide - 123

Alvvays - Plimsoll Punks 

Amnesia Scanner - AS Too Wrong 

Arigto & Nicolas Savva - Fragile Resistence of of Falling silent 

Bauhaus - Bella Lugosi‘s Dead

Beach House - Space Song 

Best Coast - Boyfriend 

BETWEEN FRIENDS - affection

Big Thief - Shark Smile 

binki- wiggle 

Birthday Party - Nick the Stripper 

Bonjr - it‘s ok, you‘re ok 

BRONCHO - China 

Chilly Gonzales - Lana Del Rey Medley 

CHLOBOCOP - 999 (oder Narcotics)

Dream Wife - Sports! 

The Emotions - Blind Alley

The Exploited - Sex & Violence 

The Friends of Distinction - And I Love Him

Fugazi- Waiting Room 

The Garden - Clench to Stay Awake 

Gary Numan - Trois Gymnopedies

Arvo Pärt - Tabula Rasa: I. Ludus

Grouper - Dragging a Deer up the hill 

The Hails - Sugar 

HYUKOH - Wanli

IDLES - I‘m scum 

Jagwar Ma - Howlin

Japanese Telecom - Cigarette Lighter 

The Jesus and Mary Chain - Just Like Honey 

John Maus - ... And the Rain

Julien Andreas - Lethal Hardcore 3 

Juniore - Magnifique 

La Goony Chonga - Dimension 

Lebanon Hanover - Gallow Dance 

Unaloon - Codependency 

Lime Cordiale - Screw Loose 

Low - In the Drugs 

The Marias - Only in my Dreams 

Mystique Braves - To Myself 

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - As I Sat by her side 

Papooz - Ann Wants to Dance 

The Pink Slips - Sweet Talker 

Psychic TV - The Orchids 

Ragamuffs - Used to Be

Remi Wolf - You‘re A Dog 

Rui Ho - Theia Impact 

Ryo Fukui - Early Summer 

Salami Rose Joe Louis - I Miss You So 

SALES - Chinese New Year 

Shamir - On My Own 

ShitKid - Highway 

Shuggie Oties - Aht Uh Mi Head 

Siouxsie & The Banshees - Arabian Knights 

The Sister Of Mercy - Never Land 

The Skellywags - Don‘t Preach Me 

Skeggs- Spring Has Sprung 

Slaves - The Hunter 

Still Woozy - Wolfcat 

Tigers Jaw - The Sun

Tom Hengst - Click Block 

TV Girl - Birds Don‘t Sing 

Vacations - Days 

Veruca Salt - Seether 

Yves Tumour - ALLES ICH LIEBE SEINE MUSIK 

Zola Jesus - Skin 

Swans - A little God in my hands 

13th Floor Elevator - You‘re Gonna Miss Me 

Future Beat Alliance - Hippocampus 

Aïsha Devi - Mazda 

A.A.L. - Alucinao

Pan Daijing - Disease 

Astrid Gnosis - Drop Dead 

Textasy - Deja Vu Bass (oder Touch My Level aus SoundCloud) 

Sidiki Diabaté - Choisie 

Parcels - Tied Up Right Now 

Clinic - The Equalizer 

Claire Lafutt - Mojo 

Sexy Sushi - Sex Appeal 

Clara Lucini - La grenade 

Abra - Roses 

Kris Wu - Tian Di

Cerrone - Supernature