#reverend john allen

[scotianostra]

The Scottish actor John Young passed away on October 30th 1996.

Born in Edinburgh during the First World War, Young did various jobs on leaving school before joining the Jevan Brandon-Thomas Company at the Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh. He had longed to become an actor since going to his first pantomime, at the age of four, recalling it as "sheer magic". He also acted in rep at the Citizens' Theatre, Glasgow and the Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton, and subsequently performed in most of Scotland's theatres.

Young was most prolific on television throughout the Seventies, most notably as Ramsay MacDonald in Jim Allen's acclaimed BBC series Days of Hope (1975), and as Alexander Carus in the Granada Television production of Adam Smith (1972-73). He later made appearances in Hess (1978), the Omega Factor (1979), The Houseman's Tale (1985-87), and The Justice Game (1989).

Perhaps some of you might remember John Young as the minister in Take the High Road,Reverend Ian McPherson.

Young also appeared in a the Monty Python films, Life of Brian and most notably Holy Grail, as the character who famous protested "I'm not dead" He also appeared as Eric Liddell's father in Chariots of Fire as well as The Wicker man and Ring of Bright Water.

The video is him in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, which FB warned me itwas Fact-checking before I posted this!!!

[blue-ravens]

David Ogden Stiers, Major Winchester on ‘M*A*S*H,’ Dies at 75

David Ogden Stiers, left, with Harry Morgan and William Christopher in a scene from “M*A*S*H.

By Anita Gates (04 March 2018)

David Ogden Stiers, the tall, balding, baritone-voiced actor who brought articulate, somewhat snobbish comic dignity to six seasons of the acclaimed television series “M*A*S*H,” died on Saturday at his home in Newport, Ore., a small coastal city southwest of Salem. He was 75.

His death was announced on Twitter by his agent, Mitchell K. Stubbs, who said the cause was bladder cancer.

Mr. Stiers joined the cast of “M*A*S*H” in 1977, when Larry Linville, who had played the pompous and inept Maj. Frank Burns, left the show. The series, a comedy-drama set in a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital during the Korean War, required a foil for its raucous, irreverent, martini-guzzling leads, Hawkeye Pierce (Alan Alda) and B.J. Hunnicutt (Mike Farrell), and Mr. Stiers’s imperious Maj. Charles Emerson Winchester III seemed to fit the bill.

Winchester’s upper-class Boston priggishness, however, turned out to be balanced by impressive medical skills, a heartfelt appreciation of the arts, real wit and a surprising level of compassionate humanity. Winchester was, unlike Frank Burns, a worthy adversary.

From the beginning, Mr. Stiers said, he felt confident about playing Winchester. “It’s just a matter of isolating the traits” from others in his own personality, he told The Salt Lake Tribune in 1977. But he confessed to one definite difference between himself and his aristocratic character. “Where he wears a smoking jacket to bed,” he suggested, “I often wear nothing but socks.”

The role earned Mr. Stiers two Emmy nominations (in 1981 and 1982). He was nominated a third time, in 1984, for his lead role in “The First Olympics: Athens in 1896,” a dramatic mini-series.

In a statement after his death, Loretta Swit, who played Maj. Margaret (Hot Lips) Houlihan on “M*A*S*H,” called Mr. Stiers “my sweet, dear shy friend,” adding, “Working with him was an adventure.”

Mr. Stiers, right, with Mike Farrell and Alan Alda on the set of “M*A*S*H” in 1980.

David Allen Ogden Stiers was born on Oct. 31, 1942, in Peoria, Ill., the son of Kenneth Stiers and the former Margaret Elizabeth Ogden. The family later moved to Eugene, Ore., where David graduated from high school.

After briefly attending the University of Oregon, he headed to California to pursue an acting career and worked with the Santa Clara Shakespeare Festival in California for seven years. In the late 1960s, he moved to New York to study drama at Juilliard.

There he became a member of John Houseman’s City Center Acting Company, making his Broadway debut with the company in 1973. He appeared in “The Three Sisters,” “The Beggar’s Opera” and three other plays, which ran in repertory.

He continued to appear on the New York stage in the 1970s and returned to Broadway later in his career, playing a beloved wartime general in the 2009-10 holiday run of “Irving Berlin’s White Christmas.”

Mr. Stiers as Reverend Brock in the musical “Tenderloin” at City Center in 2000.

Mr. Stiers had made his film debut with a small role in Jack Nicholson’s counterculture classic “Drive, He Said” (1971). That year, his voice was heard as the announcer in George Lucas’s debut feature film, the dystopian sci-fi drama “THX 1138.”

Voice roles went on to become an important part of Mr. Stiers’s career. He was in the cast of about two dozen Disney animated films, including “Lilo & Stitch” (2002), as the villain Jumba Jookiba, and “Beauty and the Beast” (1991), in which he was the voice of Cogsworth, a strong-willed pendulum clock. That character, often described as “tightly wound” and “ticked off,” suggests to the Beast at one point that he woo his love with “flowers, chocolates, promises you don’t intend to keep.”

Other movie work included roles in “Oh, God!” (1977), “The Man With One Red Shoe” (1985), “The Accidental Tourist” (1988) and four Woody Allen films. (He was a peculiar hypnotist in Mr. Allen’s “The Curse of the Jade Scorpion.”) His last screen appearance was in “The Joneses Unplugged,” a 2017 television movie about technology overload.

Like his “M*A*S*H” character, Mr. Stiers was a devoted fan of classical music. He conducted frequently and was the resident conductor of the Newport Symphony Orchestra (formerly the Yaquina Chamber Orchestra) in Oregon.

He never married. Some reports have suggested that he is survived by a son from an early relationship.

In early 2009, at 66, Mr. Stiers announced that he was gay and “very proud to be so” in a blog interview that was reported by ABC News. His secrecy, he said, had been strictly about the fear that openness about his sexuality might affect his livelihood. Now he regretted that.

“I wish to spend my life’s twilight being just who I am,” he said.

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Today in Christian History

Today is Thursday, June 29th. It is the 180th day of the year (181st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 185 days remain until the end of the year.

1073: Consecration of Gregory VII (Hildebrand). His reign will be marred by continual skirmishing with Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV.

1315: (traditional date) Death by stoning of mystic and missionary Raymond Lull in Bougie, North Africa (Tunisia). He had been persuaded by a vision to seek the conversion of Muslims, had founded a school to train men to the task, and had studied Islamic culture.

1629: Samuel Skelton and Francis Higginson, Presbyterian reverends, arrive on the ship Talbot to Massachusetts, the first clergymen of that sect in what will become the United States.

1770: John Beck, born to missionaries in Greenland, returns to his land of birth, having completed his formal education in Europe. He will serve as a Moravian missionary in Greenland for over fifty years.

1794: Bishop Asbury preaches the dedicatory sermon for Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, founded by Richard Allen and fellow African-Americans after they were segregated from white worshipers in St. George’s Church, Philadelphia.

1861: At Casa Guidi (in Florence, Italy) toward morning the poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning seems to be in an ecstasy. She tells her husband of her love for him, gives him her blessing, and raises herself to die in his arms. “It is beautiful,” are her last words. Among her poems is the sonnet “Speak low to me, my Saviour, low and sweet.”

1864: In a ceremony that fills Canterbury Cathedral beyond capacity, Samuel Adjai Crowther is consecrated as the first African bishop of the Church of England.

1875: The first Keswick convention opens, a holiness movement that spreads around the world. Delegates had met for prayer the day before.

1881: Convinced that he is the long-awaited Mahdi, Muhammad Ahmad, a Sufi Muslim in Kordofan (then a province of Sudan) proclaims “There is no God but God, and Muhammad is the Prophet of God, and Muhammad al-Mahdi is the successor of God’s Prophet!” He soon imprisons Christian missionaries and in 1885 will massacre many of the Christians in Khartoum.

1900: Pastor Meng is seized and beheaded at Pao ting Fu, having refused to flee, declaring he will stand by foreign missionaries whose lives are threatened.

1979: Repose (Death) of Archbishop Andrew (Father Adrian) of New Diveyevo Monastery in Jordanville, New York. Born in the Ukraine, he had been forced to flee his native land because of Soviet persecution, eventually migrating to the United States where he established an Orthodox monastery. He was sought out for his deep spirituality.

[eliceislandent]

Movie Life Lessons: Faith i& Courage in "The Poseidon Adventure"

Faith movies tend to get a bad rap. True, there have been the occasional big budget blockbuster exceptions such as The Passion of the Christ directed by Mel Gibson or the Noah directed by Darren Aronofsky. Then of course there is Cecil B DeMille’s famous “The Ten Commandments” with Charlton Heston…

Today, however, I am writing about the most religious movie you've ever seen — and probably didn't realize it.

Frankly, it’s one of the best movies of all time too.

I am talking about Irwin Allen’s disaster movie, The Poseidon Adventure.

Producer Irwin Allen became known as “The Master of Disaster” because of of two seminal movies he produced: 1972’s “The Poseidon Adventure" and 1974’s “The Towering Inferno.”

I love them both.

The Poseidon Adventure (1972)

The success of these movies, along with George Seaton’s “Airport” (1970) starring Burt Lancaster, spawned a new genre:

The Disaster Movie.

Because of the spectacles of these movies, both in their sizable and famous casts, plus the cinematic disasters they featured most of the focus and praise of these films goes to the disaster set pieces created through the magic of special fx which move the story along. This is true in nearly every single movie entry in the genre since then.

And because of this, the true meaning of “The Poseidon Adventure” is overlooked.

Take a closer look and you will see that The Poseidon Adventure is a movie about faith in God and faith in oneself. It’s about religion and prayer. It’s a flood story.

So, let’s dive in.

In the beginning of the movie, we are introduced to all of our characters as the ship’s voyage is underway and preparations are being made for a gala New Year’s Eve celebration to take place that night in the ship’s ballroom. The cast contains some many familiar faces to audiences in the 1970s (and today, among us cinephiles). Ernest Borgnine. Red Buttons. Stella Stevens. Roddy McDowell. And fo course, the great Shelley Winters.

The main character, however, is “Reverend Scott” played by the incomparable Gene Hackman. When people talk about roles that couldn't be played by anybody else, Hackman as Reverend Scott is one.

In his first scene, Hackman’s “Reverend Scott” is in conversation with the boat’s chaplain, played by Arthur O’Connell where we learn a little bit about Reverend Scott. We discover that he is being transferred to a parish deep in Africa, so far away he had to look it up on a map. We learns he is being sent there because of his radical ideas about God and faith and religion.

What's important is not the particular religion or the denomination, but rather that Reverend Scott is a character archetype: He is “A Man of Faith.” More specifically, he is at the moment we meet him, he is a shepherd without a flock.

We find Reverend Scott and Father John discussing God and faith in light of life-threatening circumstances. (A healthy bit of foreshadowing here). Reverend Scott is saying that if you're freezing to death you don't fall to your knees and pray to God. You get off your knees and you burn the furniture. You set fire to the building. His belief is that God wants you to take responsibility for your own life. He wants you to take action. Later, during his sermon, Reverend Scott tells the people, “Don’t pray to God to save you. Pray to that part of God within you. Have the guts to fight for yourself.” He then suggests that the New Years resolution they should all make is “to let God know they have the guts and the will to do it alone. To fight for those you love…Resolve to save your own life.” He tells them that if they do that, the part of God within them will be fighting with them all the way.

Father John responds that those are pretty radical ideas. Scott’s reply is that they are radical, but “realistic.”

The movie is an exploration of this idea.

It is a movie that attempts, I think, to answer the question why bad things happen to good people?

Father John jokingly questions whether Scott is still a reverend. As it happens, Reverend Scott has been stripped of most of his clerical powers (we realize he’s not wearing a frock and collar). However, he doesn’t view this as punishment but rather as “freedom…elbow room…freedom to find God in my own way.”

He’s mercurial and willful. But what we do know so far is that The movie continues, introducing us to the other characters. We are introduced to Ernest Borgnoine who plays “Mike Rogo,” a veteran New York City Detective, who we get the sense is on his first vacation ever. He seems out of place—a literal fish out of water if you will.

He is traveling with his wife “Linda,” who when we meet her is sea sick. The ship, Poseidon, has been sailing through a storm and rough seas (a harbinger of things to come). Rogo is very protective of his wife, at the same time as she seems a bit self-conscious about herself, despite both of their tough, take-no-shit, personalities. We come to find out this is because Linda, played by Stella Stevens, was a former hooker, and that she and Rogo met when he arrested her. Now, she’s his wife, and they are both finding their footing in this new phase of their relationship. It’s clear however, they are very much in love.

We also meet a young boy, “Robin” his sister, “Susan” as well as a quirky bachelor, “Mr. Martin,” played by Red Buttons who we first meet doing the funniest walk on film until Billy Crystal and Bruno Kirby went exercising in Central Park in “When Harry Met Sally.”

The other characters we meet or an older couple named “Manny” and “Belle Rosen” played by Jack Albertson and the incomprable Shelly Winters. They are an older Jewish couple who are on their way to Israel to see their two-year old grandson who they've never met before.

We are also introduced to the Captain played by the great Leslie Nielsen. A actor who reinvented himself as much s anyone who ever worked in Hollywood. As the Captain of Poseidon we get the sense that he is a man who loves the ocean, but has been out to sea for too long. We soon learn this is likely his last cruise before he gets dry docked. Which might explain why he is running three days behind schedule, (perhaps an attempt to prolong his final voyage?) Whatever the reason, there is pressure on him to go faster from the ship’s owners.

Eighteen minutes in, and the New Year's Eve party begins in the ballroom.

It's no accident that the movie is set on New Year's Eve. Of all the holidays that could be celebrated in this movie, one which marks a time of year when things are coming to an end and people are hoping for fresh starts and new beginnings. It serves as a perfect metaphorical holiday for the movies larger story. And all our secular celebrations, New Year's Eve is often tied in peoples minds to Christmas, which is of course a very holy day. In fact, there is a giant Christmas tree in the ballroom, which is going to be very crucial in a few moments.

We catch some snippets of conversation at the different tables, meeting some more characters. Some of Poseidon’s crew, among them the “Purser.” Referring to himself as the manager of a hotel that floats he says sounding only half-kidding that he is the real head of the ship, He is a figure of authority.

We again meet the boy, “Robin’s” (Eric Shea) as well as his older sister, “Susan” (Pamela Sue Martin), and Roddy McDowell’s kind-hearted, Irish bartender, “Acres.”

Meanwhile, at the Captain’s table, Leslie Neilsen is speaking to his guests about Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea, from whom the ship gets its name. The Captain makes an ominously prescient remark about Poseidon’s “ill-temper.” It is worth noting that Reverend Scott is at the table. So we have this Man of God sitting across from the Captain of a ship, who is worshipful of a different god. The Captain meanwhile gets a call that he is needed on the bridge and excuses himself.

The conversation and celebration continues with characters taking to the dance floor for a scene culminating countdown to the new year. (Which serves as a countdown to the disaster that is about to befall them all).

We cut back and forth between the ballroom and bridge, where the captain is given a report of an undersea earthquake triggered a tsunami. In other words, these are acts of God. As is the wave that will soon strike the ship.

In a great cinematic moment, the celebratory cheers of the characters in the ballroom are drowned out by ringing alarm of the ship’s klaxon signalling the “mayday” the captain has just ordered as the enormous rogue wave bears down on them.

The passenger’s world is literally about to be turned upside down.

The Ballroom Floods

This is usually how Acts of God tend to go.

In one of the classic scenes that made Irwin Allen the “Master of Disaster” the ship is struck by the rogue wave and capsizes!

The characters in the ballroom go flying every which way. Along with everything else. Furniture, plates, glasses, even the grand piano, all of it tumbling through the frame. This is where modern special fx better sell the realism, but the scene still plays and is shocking when it occurs.

The final shot is of a man dangling from a table on what is now the ceiling before he falls and crashes into the glass skylight (which now on the floor) smashing through it. The moment he lands landing (somewhat Christ-like) another explosion rocks the ship. Kaboom! The ship’s passengers, whomever is still alive, is plunged into darkness.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kKCbDw7lR4

When we fade back up, our characters find themselves in a new world.

In darkness. Underwater. In a world of chaos. Where up is down and down is up, things are on fire, people are dead, and the seawater surrounding them threatens at any moment to burst into the ballroom drowning them all.

No surprise then that the first words Linda Rogo speaks are “Jesus Christ.” Right. This utterance by Linda is not merely used as an expression of shock. It is meant religiously. To invoke God, even is reflexively. How do I know. Because the next person we see is Shelly Winters who is silently saying The Shema prayer, which is if perhaps the holiest, if not probably the most well known of the Jewish prayers, written in the Torah.

In other words, characters are in their own ways, acknowledging God and thanking him that they aren’t dead. Not little “g” god, like say, Poseidon, but the One God, in all his names. And they don’t say it lightly either. These are people who now understand what it means to fear God (as in to be awed by his power.)

Reverend Scott meanwhile goes to help a dying man crushed under the debris. He watches helplessly as the man dies in his arms.

Next, we hear the voice of the ship’s Purser — an authority figure — as he tries to get control of the situation. He tells people to stay calm, that help is on the way (he actually says it twice, the second time sounding more desperate than the first.)

Reverend Scott sees the boy “Robin” wandering around looking for his sister. He goes to help the boy, at which point we hear his sister’s voice from above. They look up and there is “Susan” crouched under a table which is bolted to the floor which is now the ceiling. She needs help getting down.

There’s only one way. She has to jump.

It’s a leap of faith.

Reverend Scott gathers some of the survivors and a tablecloth and tells Susan to jump. Scared, Susan can’t bring herself to do it. Reverend Scott tells her to trust him, that they will catch her, and to jump!

The faith is not in God (at this point) but in her fellow passengers. The moment of relief is cut short as the giant Christmas tree in the ballroom topples over almost killing some more passengers.

The ship’s Purser once again yells out for everyone to stay still and wait where they are.

Hackman’s Reverend Scott on the other hand, is taking action, helping people. Which is why Roddy McDowall’s “Acres”the bartender, who it turns out is also trapped on the ceiling calls out to Reverend Scott and not the ship’s Purser. (Fittingly, like any good movie bartender, even during a disaster, Acres remains behind the bar).

However, rather than get Acres down, Reverend Scott has a different idea. They're going to go up. Actually, it’s Red Bottom’s “Mr. Martin” who suggests going up, and the boy Robin who knows that the thinnest part of the hull where they are most likely to be rescued. Reverend Scott realizes they’re right and they need to go up.

Up.

Get it?

They’re going to go higher.

Why?

Well, ostensibly because they need to get to the bottom of the ship’s hull to get rescued, but also because they need to outrun the water that is shortly going to burst into the ballroom and drown everyone.

Does that sound like anything familiar? Anything…biblical?

It’s the Flood.

Many cultures have a flood story from the Old Testament Bible story of Noah, or the Babylonian epic of Gilgamesh. Fittingly, so does The Poseidon Adventure, a movie about faith and God.

The Sea pours in. The Flood.

So, a small group (a flock) of passengers are joining Reverend Scott in attempting to go up through the ship to reach the bottom. They have to go down to go up. Like metaphorically having to go through hell to get to heaven.

The question becomes how to reach Acres? How to get to higher ground? They need a ladder of some kind.

They find it in the toppled over Christmas tree.

And who does Reverend Scott choose to be the first one up the ladder? The boy Robyn.

And a small child shall lead them (Isiah 11:18)

At this point the ships Purser (authority figure) speaks up and tells everyone on the ship not to listen to the Reverend. His choice of words is interesting here. The Purser says, “For God’s sake, what you're doing is suicide." It’s almost a religious invocation to get them to stop. But it lacks the conviction of faith and instead sounds desperate. The two authority figures, The Reverend and The Purser square off.

The Reverend’s choice of words is as revealing as the Pursers. He says, "if you have any sense you'll come with us." In other words, the purser makes a religious appeal and the Reverend makes a common sense appeal.

Do the passengers listen to the Purser and stay where they are and wait to be rescued? “Pray” as he suggests to the Reverend.

Or do they join Hackman’s Reverend, who believes that “maybe by climbing up they can save themselves?

The first chapter of the Abrahamic stories in the Torah (the Old Testament) is God telling Abraham to leave his father’s house, to get up and go. (Hebrew: Lech lacha).

Each of our characters must make their choice.

Mike Rogo, the cop, wants to listen to the authority figure here, who he views a the ship’s purser. Linda calls out husband Mike for being a person who always follows the rules. As a reformed hooker, Linda mistrusts the “official authority” the purser represents and isn’t so quick to believe his promises or to conform to his rules. Not surprisingly, she is the next one up the ladder after Robin, the young boy.

We find Manny and Belle Rosen, the old Jewish couple. Belle is giving Manny her necklace, which is a hai, the Jewish word for life. She tells Manny to take the necklace to their grandson in Israel. She's not going. She's going to stay and wait with the others. Why? Because, she thinks she is too fat to climb.

Enter Reverend Scott. He tells Belle that she's coming with them. That she can't stay here.

Why not? she asks. It's a good question too. It’s is a realistic one. She isn’t in good enough shape to climb. Yet, it is Reverend Scott, the proponent of being realistic—but also a believer that every person has to try to fight for their life—who encourages her to climb. Pointing up, he tells her, “that way is life.” It's hard not to think that his invocation of the word “life”—the meaning of the symbol on her necklace that just moments ago she was giving to her husband having resigned herself to die—that gets her to go with Reverend Scott.

This is a key moment. Reverend Scott's demonstrates his belief in salvation through personal action. He is encouraging people to fight to save their lives. It is the place from which he derives (past of) his faith — in the fight for life.

So Reverend Scott and his group climb the tree and join Acres up top. Before they leave, Reverend Scott finds his friend, Father John. Reverend Scott asks Father John to be strong and come with them. Father John says he can't. He has to stay with the people staying behind. This sacrifice is in an anathema to Reverend Scott. He asks Father John what his life will be for, if he stays? Which is the point of their brief discussion when Reverend Scott asks Father John what he thought of his sermon. Father John tells Reverend Scott that he spoke only for the strong. Father John, looking over the desperate faces of the surviving passengers, tells Reverend Scott that he doesn't have any other choice. Father John knows that, as a man of God, he is meant to stay to bring comfort to the people who are about to meet their maker.

Before he departs, Reverend Scott pleads with the survivors one last time to reconsider and come with him. He's answered by the Purser who shouts back they're staying and waiting to be rescued.

For the first time, Reverend Scott invokes God as he begs the people to join him. “For God’s sake,” he says to them.

No one comes.

Reverend Scott ascends the Christmas tree (of life) alone. He makes one final appeal from up top (almost like a pulpit). There's another explosion! This time the ballroom is breached and the seawater floods in drowning everybody who decided to stay and wait for a rescue…that will never come. Terrified passengers attempt to climb the tree-ladder, but in their panic they end up toppling the Christmas tree and falling backward into the water to their death (Reverend Scott is almost pulled off from his perch by the frantic passengers). There's an incredible music cue at this moment as Hackman offers a final remorseful look at the drowning passengers.

He returns to his flock, telling them the terrible news. Terrible news that at the same time signifies they made the right choice.



The rest of the movie will be a race against the rising waters of the sinking ship. In other words, they are literally trying to outrun the flood.

Paradoxically, in this flood story, if the people want to live, they need to get off of a boat, instead of on one.

The group arrive at a burning hot door behind which is an inferno. Literally, the doors to hell.

Reverend Scott opens the doors. He goes first to find the way through, leading his flock safely through the fires. As they make their way the passengers are horrified at the sight of the dead bodies and frightened by the fires burning all around them. Ominous signs.

They make it through, but just barely. Once again, the waters burst in and threaten to drown them.

They escape. Barely.

To get to the next level they have to climb through an air duct. Once again, Shelly Winters is concerned she won’t fit. Linda, decides she’s done being polite and won’t be going after Belle Rosen because she doesn’t want to get stuck behind “old fat ass” as she calls Shelley Winters.

The group is having to face their fears in order to keep moving forward.

Nadia, the lounge singer, is claustrophobic and doesn’t want to go into the shaft. Mr Martin (Red Bottoms) has taken a protective shine to her, and is able to reassure her.

The climb is slowed down by Nadia’s claustrophobia. The waters, ever rising, stay close on their heels. Everyone climbs up the shaft.

Unfortunately, an explosion rocks the boat and poor Acres (Roddy McDowall) loses his grip and falls. Mike Rogo goes after him, but it’s too late. He’s gone.

Rogo climbs back up from the depths but gets stuck behind Mr. Martin and Nadia, who’s frozen with fear and won’t climb. Mr. Martin has to help her up…one rung at a time. He tells her not to think of anything but the next rung on the ladder. This is good advice in a crisis. You focus on the small steps. You take it one rung at a time. You try not to think about the whole journey. It can become too daunting.

Once the survivors make it out of the shaft Reverend Scott angrily confronts Rogo about Acre’s death. “I told you to keep everyone together,” he shouts!

Rogo, having had enough, shouts back, “Who do you think you are? God himself? There was an explosion, and he fell, and that’s it!”

Their fight nearly comes to blows but is broken up when the survivors see another group of passengers walking past. They are going down a corridor in the opposite direction than Reverend Scott’s flock. Reverend Scott asks one of the passengers where they're going and is told that they are following the doctor, (yet another authority figure).

Reverend Scott finds the doctor at the head of the pack and tells them they’re going the wrong way. The doctor insists the only way out is forward, and tells Reverend Scott the way he wants to go—through the engine room—is flooded. However, he hasn’t seen it for himself. A woman begs the Reverend to come with them. Instead, he again shouts at the group that they are going the wrong way!

At this, Mike Rogo wheels on Reverend Scott and ask him what makes him so sure that he's right and they're wrong?

Reverend Scott tells him that just because twenty people decide to drown themselves by going the wrong way isn't a good reason to follow them. This is one of the great maxims of life. Just because everyone is doing something doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. Furthermore, if you follow others blindly you may find yourself in a world of hurt. The idea is to think for yourself.

After some shouting, Reverend Scott makes a deal with Rogo. He tells Rogo that he will find the safe path to prove his way is passable.

Rogo gives him fifteen minutes. “Or we’re going the other way,” he warns Reverend Scott.

Reverend Scott finds himself traveling down another mangled corridor in darkness, which is an appropriate metaphor for this part of the journey they are on. Let's face it, very often in life we all feel like we're in the dark. Like we're not sure if we're going the right way. That maybe it's better to turn back. That maybe it's better to follow the herd. However, if we are confident of our knowledge, and have done the work to be ready, then we should trust ourselves to move forward on the path that looks like the right one to us. Even if others doubt, or don’t see the way forward when you do. Have faith in oneself, your choices, and hopefully have a belief that God is with you.

Which is what Reverend Scott seems to do in this scene.

Unsure of the way forward, surrounded by dead bodies, he has to sit down. There is a brief moment of self-contemplation here. We wonder, is he having doubts? He must be, considering the direness of his circumstances. We all have doubts whenever we attempt something very difficult in life.

The moment is interrupted when one of his flock, Nadia, shows up. She says she was scared and wanted to be with him. Sensing her worry, he reassures her that they’ll find another way.

The moment Nadia shows up we see a change in Reverend Scott's attitude and disposition. His worry and self-doubt is gone. Not entirely. Definitely not. But it is gone from the face he shows the world. Replaced instead with a confidence that he shares with Nadia, and which seems to reinvigorate him.

There are psychological studies that show that in a disaster people who survive are those who help others, and not themselves. The reason seems to be that, by doing so, they don't despair dwelling on their own predicament. Instead, they maintain a positive attitude for the sake of the people they're trying to help. The end result is that very often these people help themselves (to survive).

Meanwhile, back with the survivors they're beginning to have their doubts. It's been fifteen minutes and Reverend scott still isn't back yet. Rogo wants to move on. Manny argues that they should give him more time given all he's done for them. Then, Reverend Scott returns. He says he’s seen the engine room. He’s seen the way out.

As the group makes its way they encounter a new problem. The level is flooded. The way through that Reverend Scott found is now underwater.

Reverend Scott says that he will swim through and tie a rope to mark the path that they can all use to follow. This sets up one of the greatest sequences in any movie, and one of the great onscreen heroic deaths of all time.

As Reverend Scott prepares to make the swim, Shelly Winters’s “Belle Rosen” speaks up. She tells him to let her make the swim. That she was a high school swimming champion. That though she is a big fat lady on land, in the water she is light and fast. She wants to do this for the group. All along they’ve been pulling for her, and now she has a chance to be the difference-maker, to help those who’ve been helping her. It’s her chance to get in the fight.

Reverend Scott refuses. He can’t let her do that. Besides, he is certain he can make the swim in one breath. He dives in and begins the underwater swim. The others time him.

In a great underwater sequence, reverend Scott swims through the flooded compartment. As with all the other levels of hell they’ve had to travel this one is filled with just as much death. Dead bodies float listlessly past him as he swims by. Until he is startled by one, causing him to jostle a piece of debris which falls on top of him pinning him down. He can't move. He can’t lift the debris. He's going to drown.

Back with the other passengers, worry is starting to set in. They all have a bad feeling. He’s been gone too long. As the others fret about what to do, looking to Mike Rogo for answers, Belle Rosen provides the answer.

She dives into the water.

“What the hell is she doing?!” Mike Rogo shouts. Faithfully, her husband Manny responds, “She knows what she’s doing.”

Underwater, we follow Belle Rosen as she swims through the flooded corridors, eventually finding Reverend Scott. She sees he is trapped and despite already having swam under water for a couple of minutes, manages to free him. She then rescue-swims him to safety.

She saves his life.

She has a great line. “See, Mr. Scott, in the water, I’m a very skinny lady.”

In an absolutely heartbreaking moment, her victory is cut short as she suffers a heart attack and falls backward into the water.

Reverend Scott pulls her out of the water. He tells her to hold on, but she knows she’s done. Before she dies, she hands Reverend Scott her necklace with the Jewish symbol “Hai” and tells him to give it to Manny to give to their grandson. Thus ensuring the covenant of life God grants to us all is continued to the next generation. And the next. Which is of course how you sustain life for all time.

In the final moments of the scene, Belle Rosen tells Reverend Scott the meaning of the symbol on her necklace. “This is the sign for life,” she tells him. “Life always matters very much.” With her final line — one of the greats in movie history — she confirms for him the correctness of his belief: life is indeed worth fighting for. It’s even worth dying for.

I literally cannot watch this scene without crying. I’ve seen this movie nine thousand times, and every single time the tears come, and I get choked up. I’m just a big softie. Or perhaps, it’s that I am affected by the sacrifice Belle Rosen makes. I’m not the only one.

In the most profound moment in the movie, Reverend Scott speaks to God for the first time.

In terms of screenplay structure, this is the part of third act sometimes referred to as “the long dark night of the soul.” Because this is when victory is very much in doubt, and the characters believe themselves to be furthest from their destination. In truth, they are closer then they’ve ever been.

This is how life works. Often, when things are darkest, you are close to success. Darkest before the dawn is the cliché because it’s true.

First though, Reverend Scott, a Man of God who all along has been questioning his faith in his God, needs to have a revelation.

Cradling Belle Rosen’s body he speaks to God for the first time in the movie. He begs Him. “Not this woman.” The Preacher’s revelation is that faith, like life, requires sacrifice. And he knows Belle Rosen has just made the ultimate sacrifice for all of them. The Talmud (the Jewish oral Torah containing analysis, stories, and sayings) teaches that the save a single life is to save the whole world. This idea is echoed in Christianity and in Islam.

What does this mean for Reverend Scott’s beliefs? Might he perhaps be thinking of Father John’s final words to him? That Reverend Scott spoke only for the strong. Belle Rosen’s death calls to mind the questions that we all should be mindful of in our own lives: What about those who can’t make the swim, or the climb? What about those of us who falter along the journey? What does it take to ensure survival, not just of ourselves, but more importantly of our children, our families, and through them, our ideals and beliefs.

Which is of course what religion and faith is all about. Which is what “The Poseidon Adventure” is really about.

Mike Rogo makes the swim and appears next to Reverend Scott. At first, he doesn’t realize she’s dead. When he realizes she is, Rogo’s words are “Oh Jesus.” Which could simply be a lament, with nothing particularly religious attached to it. But given the movie’s story thus far, we understand that Mike Rogo is also speaking to his God, signifying his dawning realization (like Reverend Scott) that if they are to make it out alive they are going to need God’s providence.

In the run up to the final act of the movie, we see Reverend Scott’s dwindling flock make their way through more levels on fire. They travel up ladders, and over uneven ground. Sometimes heading to go up. This final “ascension” up the catwalk is a visual metaphor for the path these characters have had to travel. It’s basically the movie we’ve been watching for 101 minutes and 12 seconds.

If there is any doubt about the meaning of their journey, this short sequence — filmed almost entirely in a wide shot — makes it clear. This level of the ship, all iron, pipes and valves, which is ablaze with columns of fire everywhere, is an underwater hell. Their final passage before they reach their salvation.

The last door lies just ahead of them.

“There’s just one more door and we’re home!” Preacher shouts.

Even Mike Rogo starts to believe. “The bastard was right,” he says as he gets to his feet.

Then, an explosion rocks the ship! Rogo loses his grip on his wife, Linda, who loses her footing, and tragically, falls to her death.

Rogo wheels on Reverend Scott, eyes raging, pointing an accusing finger, and screaming at him, “Preacher! You lying, murdering, son of a bitch! You almost suckered me in! I started to believe in your promises! I started to believe we had a chance! What chance!”

He is a broken man…

“You took from me the only thing I ever loved,” Rogo weeps. “My Linda. You killed her!”

He has lost all faith, all hope, his reason to live. He crumbles to the catwalk. As if that’s not despairing enough, another explosion rocks the ship, and a jet of scalding hot steam erupts from a valve, blocking the door that is their way out. The wheel to turn off the steam valve is on the far wall…but the catwalk has fallen away in the explosion and no longer reaches it. Separating them from it is a chasm, beneath which are the churning, burning, rising flood waters.

For only the second time Reverend Scott speaks to God. “What more do you want from us?” he shouts. “We’ve come all this way! We did it on our own, no help from you! We didn’t ask you to fight for us, but dammit, don’t fight against us! Leave us alone!”

Of course, that’s not how life works. It doesn’t leave us alone. We struggle with it. In the process, often our faith, in ourselves, in others, and in God, is shaken.

This is what Reverend Scott is doing in this final monologue. He is wrestling with God. Arguing with him. This is a very Old Testament idea. Jacob wrestles with God on his journey. In Hebrew, “Israel” (the name God gives to Jacob after they wrestle) means “to struggle.”

“How many more sacrifices?” Reverend Scott asks God as he leaps to the red wheel.

The second leap of faith in this movie.

He makes it.

His hands grab hold of the scalding hot wheel. Despite the enormous pain, he manages to hang on, and turn the wheel until the burning hot steam shuts off, clearing The Way forward for his flock.

Dangling from the wheel, he turns back to face them. He tells them they can make it. He calls out to Mike Rogo. He tells him to “Get them through!” turning over responsibility for the flock to Rogo. In his sacrifice, Reverend Scott is attempting to give Mike Rogo back his faith.

Borgnoine’s “Mike Rogo” is not ready yet. He sits crumpled on the catwalk, not moving. Now it is calm, even-tempered, Mr. Martin who, filled with the faith Reverend Scott imparted to them along with the burning desire to live, Mr. Martin screams at Rogo. “What kind of a policeman were you?” He accuses him of having done nothing but complain and be negative. In other words, Mike Rogo has been the character with no faith, no beliefs in anything higher than himself, except perhaps for his wife, Linda.

Now, however, with Mr. Martin calling him out, Rogo rises to the occassion.

“Alright, that’s enough,” he proclaims as the music swells.

We’re still not sure Rogo believes, as much as he’s just pissed-off, but he gets up and takes the lead.

They make it to the engine room with its three inches of steel. It appears they’ve reached the end.

A dead end.

Until the boy, Robin reminds him of the thing he’s told them all along: this is right where they want to be (a child shall lead them, right). This is “shaft alley” the thinnest part of the hull.

Suddenly, they think they hear voices.

They grab wrenches and start banging on the hull. They get no response. But Mr. Martin shouts at the group that Reverend Scott would never quit! They keep banging.

This time, someone bangs back.

They’ve been rescued.

Mike Rogo throws down his wrench and says, his faith fully restored, a smile on his face for the first time the entire movie, as he says, “The Preacher was right. That beautiful, son of a bitch, was right!” He ruffles Robin’s hair. The boy never lost faith.

As the rescuers burn through the hull to get the survivors out, we see close-ups of all their faces. They’ve all been changed. Not merely because of the disaster they’ve survived. But because of how the journey restored their faith.

To make this point, Ernest Borgnine’s “Rogo” looks back behind him at the way they came. Through a hatch, we can see the orange light of the fires of the hell from which they’ve just emerged, flickering on the wall. Rogo weeps. Then looks up as the rescuers appear in the hull.

In case there is any thought to the idea that perhaps they just got lucky and that’s why they were rescued, the movie spares time for one final dialogue exchange as the rescuers ask the survivors how many of them there are. Mr. Martin tells them six. Then asks the rescuers if they found anyone else? Anyone from the bow? (meaning the other group following the ship’s doctor).

The rescuers shake their head. The only survivors were Reverend Scott’s.

This is one Poseidon’s Movie Life Lessons. The reason bad things happen to good people is because if they didn’t, if life was only good, there would be no need for faith. Things would just always work out.

It’s that we live in a fallen world of free will which leads to bad choices, and sometimes just bad circumstances that are no fault of our own, but which we must overcome. Whatever the case, Poseidon’s central Movie Life Lesson seems to be that in life it is important to have faith in yourself, but it is also necessary to have faith in God, (or some Power higher than yourself), if you want to reach your goals.

By the same token, faith alone is not enough. God can’t do it for you. You have to work for what you want. The prayers that get answered are the ones that are backed up with real effort and force of will. Thus, if we can find that faith in ourselves and faith in God, we will be rewarded not necessarily with success, but with the courage to become the versions of ourselves that will ultimately lead to success.

That is what makes The Poseidon Adventure one of the great Move Life Lessons of all time.

May you, have faith, have courage, and have success in all your endeavors.

[lboogie1906]

Allen University was founded by the AME Church in 1870. The University has a distinguished history, rich in the tradition of promoting spiritual growth and training men and women to become productive leaders in an ever-changing society. Allen University-educated men and women for stellar leadership and service.

Under the leadership of Bishop John M. Brown on July 29, 1870, the Columbia Conference purchased 150 acres of land in historic Cokesbury. The deed for the land and buildings was presented by Reverend Simon Miller, and the Institute was named in honor of Daniel A. Payne. The school prospered in fulfilling its mission of developing an educated clergy in the face of repression and violent opposition during the Reconstruction Era in South Carolina.

At the Annual Conference meeting in Spartanburg in 1880 (Bishop William F. Dickerson, delegates agreed on the need for a more centralized location for Payne Institute and voted to move it to Columbia, SC. Concurrently, Payne Institute has been renamed Allen University in honor of Bishop Richard Allen, founder of the AME Church. Between 1884 and 1890, 14 students received a degree, and 54 graduated from the Normal Collegiate Department. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence #hbcu

[ulkaralakbarova]

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson meet as boys in an English Boarding school. Holmes is known for his deductive ability even as a youth, amazing his classmates with his abilities. When they discover a plot to murder a series of British business men by an Egyptian cult, they move to stop it. Credits: TheMovieDb. Film Cast: Sherlock Holmes: Nicholas Rowe John Watson: Alan Cox Elizabeth Hardy: Sophie Ward Professor Rathe: Anthony Higgins Mrs. Dribb: Susan Fleetwood Det. Sgt. Lestrade: Roger Ashton-Griffiths Dudley’s Friend: Matthew Ryan Dudley: Earl Rhodes Chester Cragwitch: Freddie Jones Bentley Booster: Patrick Newell Khasek – Lower Nile Tavern Owner: Nadim Sawalha Rupert T. Waxflatter: Nigel Stock Master Snelgrove: Brian Oulton The Reverend Duncan Nesbitt: Donald Eccles Dudley’s Friend: Matthew Blakstad Dudley’s Friend: Jonathan Lacey Ethan Engel: Walter Sparrow Mr. Holmes: Roger Brierley Mrs. Holmes: Vivienne Chandler Curio Shop Owner: Lockwood West Cemetery Caretaker: John Scott Martin School Porter: George Malpas School Reverend: Willoughby Goddard Policeman with Lestrade: Michael Cule Policeman in Shop Window: Ralph Tabakin Hotel Receptionist: Nancy Nevinson Older Watson (voice): Michael Hordern Schoolboy (uncredited): Grant Burns Acolyte (uncredited): George Lane Cooper Chestnut Seller (uncredited): Salo Gardner Restaurant Patron (uncredited): Lew Hooper Footman (uncredited): Royston Munt School Master (uncredited): Henry Roberts Patron (Lower Nile Tavern) (uncredited): Fred Wood Film Crew: Animation: John Lasseter Casting: Irene Lamb Executive Producer: Steven Spielberg Executive Producer: Kathleen Kennedy Executive Producer: Frank Marshall Production Design: Norman Reynolds Visual Effects Supervisor: Dennis Muren Producer: Roger Birnbaum Director: Barry Levinson Producer: Mark Johnson Editor: Stu Linder Director of Photography: Stephen Goldblatt Animation: Eben Ostby Animation: Don Conway Animation: David DiFrancesco Set Decoration: Michael Ford Screenplay: Chris Columbus Makeup Artist: Nick Dudman Art Direction: Fred Hole Makeup Supervisor: Peter Robb-King Art Direction: Charles Bishop Assistant Art Director: Gavin Bocquet Original Music Composer: Bruce Broughton Associate Producer: Harry Benn Characters: Arthur Conan Doyle Costume Design: Raymond Hughes Producer: Henry Winkler Visual Effects Supervisor: David Allen Animation: Craig Good Second Unit Director: Andrew Grieve Visual Effects: Robert Cooper Assistant Art Director: George Djurkovic Third Assistant Director: Peter Heslop Visual Effects Camera: Jay Riddle Visual Effects: Blair Clark First Assistant Director: Michael Murray Animation Supervisor: Bruce Walters Art Direction: Dave Carson Visual Effects: Sean M. Casey Second Assistant Director: Ian Hickinbotham Makeup Artist: Jane Royle Animation: William Reeves Visual Effects: Tony Hudson Visual Effects: Jay Davis Animation: Barbara Brennan Animation: David Salesin Animation Supervisor: Ellen Lichtwardt Goodchild Dressing Prop: Paul Cheesman Art Designer: Michael Ploog Draughtsman: Reg Bream Rotoscoping Artist: Donna K. Baker Draughtsman: Peter Childs Animation: Robert L. Cook Animation: Gordon Baker Animation: Jack Mongovan Visual Effects: Tony Laudati Visual Effects: Marghi McMahon Movie Reviews:

[sunnyie-eve]

Devastated || 11. Motive

Paring: (Christopher "Sully" Sullivan x Original Female Character Mance!)

Word Count: 2189

Warnings: slight language

Last: Register | Next: Remorseful

"It's just-," Henry starts so Sully cuts in.

"Dude, can't we stop please? Right now we're looking for Trish. So why don't we just head to the sheriff's station? Trish could have went there looking for Danny."

"Danny's dead." Henry lets him know.

"You don't know that."

"So it Trish." He makes Sully turn to look at him, "I killed her."

"Hey, shut up, man. Seriously, just shut up."

"I killed my brother too. At the marina. I'm the rain. Remember? Abby almost caught me." Henry tells him the truth as Sully gets scared.

"Okay, what are you doing, Henry? I don't..."

"Coming clean. It's time to start a new life. You're my friend. You deserve to know before I... Well it's not like I killed then all. My dad did a lot." Henry walks towards him as Sully walks backwards.

"Your dad is dead. I went to his funeral."

"Oh, no, man, not that guy. Not that liar. My real dad. John Wakefield. He's the only person who's told me the truth." Henry keeps stepping forward.

"No. Y-y-you've been my best friend since junior high."

"Yeah." Henry takes out his knife.

"Oh, come on. Henry don't." Sully tells him gets scared more. "Don't make me shoot you." Sully raises his gun.

"I decapitated Reverend Fain. I harpooned Richard Allen. I even stabbed Katherine in the Candlewick while everyone was running around looking for Madison. Pretty exciting stuff."

"Do you want me to kill you?" Sully asks, causing Henry to chuckle.

"Hey, here's something funny. Do you remember that money we found? It was Uncle Marty's. He wanted to invest in Malcolm's brewery, be the big hero, save the day. I wanted Malcolm to find the cash see what would happen. He made good beer, didn't he?"

"You son of a bitch." Sully goes to shoot but nothing happens so Henry shows the shells he took out of it.

"Sorry. But it's gotta happen."

"So you're going to kill Jennifer when you get the chance?" Sully asks him.

"Of course not, no. That was never the plan. Just like how you're not supposed to get her either." Henry lets him know as Wakefield walks up.

At that moment, Jennifer finally sees Henry and Sully then Wakefield walking up to them. She runs from the side, full speed, basically tackling Henry as he stabs Sully. As Henry was on the ground, Wakefield tries to finish Sully, but Jennifer grabs Sully's hand running, only to tumble down a small hill then a larger one with a slight drop off.

Henry looks in the distance they went, "They won't get far. We can come back to them after the other two. Now, time to ring the bell." Wakefield makes his gun go off into the sky.

Meanwhile, Sully and Jennifer lay on the ground groaning in pain, "Sully!" She crawls over it him as he groans in serious pain. Jennifer sees blood and starts to cry, "We need to stitch you up to stop the bleeding. He just got a stab in. We can still do something about it." She panics.

"I think my arm is broken." He groans.

"Come on. We gotta get going." She helped him up but his ankle was sprained. "Sully, push through, please. I can't let you die now." She puts his good arm around her and they slowly walk away.

While they make their way out of the woods, Abby and Jimmy run into Henry. "Where's Sully and the others?" Abby asks him.

"I haven't seen them. I've been looking for Trish." Henry says, not realizing he messed up.

Abby tells Henry about Trish, and they discover her body is missing when they return to show him. Henry suggests that Trish could still be alive, and they must continue the search. Jimmy informs Henry, Trish is really dead, and Henry blows up. Henry runs into the woods looking for Trish, and Abby and Jimmy follow.

"I think we're getting closer." Jennifer tells Sully, still holding up his weight.

"We should go to the marina." He tells her, out of breath.

"You won't make it there if I don't take care of you." She tells him.

"Just leave me so you can get out of here. He wants you, Jen." Sully tells he.

"I don't care right now because I'm not leaving your side. Especially now." She huffs.

"I can't believe it's Henry... How did you know?"

"I had a bad feeling about him for the last few hours. Then he said something Wakefield said word for word as you guys left. Then after some thinking it hit me." She explains to him, Also,  you owe me an apology for thinking it was Jimmy." She gives him a weak smile.

"I'm sorry." He groans in pain with a smile.

Soon they hear the helicopter and look up, looking for it as they keep walking. At that moment, Abby runs outside from the church to signal for help while Wakefield yells to Henry that Abby is getting away, and Jimmy catches on.

Abby searches for the helicopter outside as Jimmy lights a flare and shoves it into Wakefield's stomach before tossing it into a curtain and running.

Wakefield instructs Henry to finish, and he is seen firing a shot toward Jimmy. Abby runs through the woods searching for the helicopter, and Henry runs after her.

He meets up with Abby, informing her that Jimmy didn't make it. Henry asks where to meet the coast guard as Abby begins to realize that Henry has been lying, and Henry pulls out his pocket knife.

Wakefield appears behind Abby as Henry shows her the knife. Henry pushes her out of the way and stabs Wakefield.

"Henry..." Wakefield says his name, so Abby runs as she realizes Henry is Wakefield's child. Henry grabs her and pulls her backward, knocking her unconscious on the ground.

After taking Abby to the house and locking her in the room, he goes to look for Sully and Jennifer. It didn't take him long to find them since he knew where Jennifer would want to take Sully.

"Jenny," Henry says her name making them turn to face him.

"Stay away." She tells him.

"I'm not going to hurt you." He walked closer to them, and Jennifer was basically holding all of Sully's weight up now since he was doing really bad at the moment.

"Henry, please." She begs him.

"Wakefield is dead. I killed him." He walks closer, and as she tries to back away, Sully falls to the ground causing her to bend down to him.

"Sully, come on. Stay awake." She cries. "Henry, please. Just let me take care of him. I'll do whatever you want but please. For me." She turns to him, looking up at him sobbing.

He didn't want to, but he agreed, taking them to where he took Abby. Sully was unconscious but was still alive, so Jennifer was happy he still had a heartbeat. She stitched up his stab wound, wrapping his ankle and arm best as she could before Henry dragged him out, tying him up where he had Jimmy.

"What did you do with him?!" She shouts as Henry comes back inside.

"He's fine. I didn't hurt him." He grabs her shoulders.

"Don't touch me!" She screams at him moving away. "Why? Why do all of this?" She cries.

"It's okay, calm down. I'll explain everything once you go clean up, please. I promise. You're safe, Jen." He tells her, so she listens, only wanting to get her surroundings and will play along till she can make a move.

When she was changed, she goes back downstairs to Henry, "Start explaining." She holds herself.

"It was all part of the plan. The three of us. You, Abby, and I. When we were kids how we hated that I had to leave the island. Remember how you and Abby said you both wish I could live here forever with you two. Just the three of us? Now we can." He smiles, and Jennifer thinks he was out of his fucking mind.

"You killed everyone for this?"

"Not everyone. I just killed Ben, Fain, Thomas, Richard, Malcolm, JD, Katherine, Trish, and Dad." He walks towards her, and she stays still.

"You killed your own brother?"

"He had to go for this, and he wasn't my real brother. I despised my parents for never telling me I was adopted, and I hated Sarah for throwing me away. At least your mother kept you, Jenny." He explains to her.

"How did you meet him?"

"I met him the day of the rampage. I didn't know he was my father then. But when I looked at him, there was a connection. I was inspired by him. Then about a year after the rampage, he tracked me down. He told me I was his son, that he's been searching his whole life for me. And trying to figure out how to see you and tell you the truth that you were his daughter. He taught me how to kill, and we had a plan. He wanted to get his daughter and get back at Abby. But I had other plans, of course." He rubs her shoulders as she listens to him.

"You betrayed your dad?" She keeps eye contact with him.

"Our dad, yes. Because I love you and Abby more." He makes her finally move away out of his touch.

"No, no, you don't. If you did, you wouldn't have put us through this." She walks backwards as he walks forward. "Where's Jimmy? Where did you take Sully?" She raises her voice.

"Jimmy and Sully are together, but I can't keep him here for too long. He has to go, Jen. You know that. It's only supposed to be us three."

"What are you going to do to Jimmy?" She asks, scared.

"I've kept Jimmy alive to set him up as Wakefield's accomplice." He says so she tries to think of how she can save Sully for some time, "The police believe we're all dead, thanks to blood samples I planted at the church."

"You're going to kill Sully?" She says, so he nods his head.

"I'm sick of him always asking throughout the years for me to help him get you. Do you think I like hearing him want you when it's my plan to have you here? He doesn't deserve you, yet here you are, caring for him and kissing him now? What happened to never going to happen?" He gets loud with her.

"As I told Danny, shit happens! And I told you, I have always had a thing for him."

"YOU ARN'T SUPPOST TO! Not him. You are smarter than that, Jen. And I'm going to make sure he stays out of the picture." He slightly snaps at her.

"You don't have to kill him! At least not yet...." A lightbulb goes off, "Wakefield can have two accomplices... Sully could have given them details about where Thomas would stand and helped them get around the hotel by distracting the others. And Sully can say that he only helped Shea and Madison get away because he would feel bad if a child died... He was their provider for information while they did the killings." She tells him, "He'll agree to do it for me. I promise. And Jimmy will too. If he knows Abby and I are okay."

Henry thinks it over before agreeing, "You're so smart, aren't you." He kisses her forehead, making her scream on the inside.

"Can I see them?" She turns to ask him as he walks into the kitchen. "Please, Henry. Just let Jimmy see me." She walks over to him.

"Fine." He grabs her wrist, taking her to where they were tied up.

She goes to Jimmy first, wrapping her arms around him and crying, "I promise I'm trying to figure something out." She whispers in his ear, "You're my only brother." She says before seeing Sully watching her, so she rushes over to him. "How are you feeling?" She cups his face so he moves his head from side to side.

Sully looks over at Henry, watching them closely, "Few more seconds, Jen." He tells her, so she pulls Sully's gag down so he leans forward to kiss her.

"I love you." He tells her, so Henry walks over pulling Jennifer up roughly, dragging her out and back to the house.

"Let go of me!" She fights him.

"He doesn't really love you." Henry says through his teeth, shoving her into a room and locking her in. "I'll let you out when you realize he doesn't love you like I love you." He walks away to see Abby walked downstairs.

While he tried to talk to her, Jennifer tried to get the window open, but of course, it wouldn't budge. She could hear Abby up so she banged on the door for her, but she never came because she ran back upstairs. Jennifer hears everything going on, so she gives up on trying to get out sitting on the floor in a corner. 

[patwrites]

Overall Body Count:

2001 Wakefield Massacre:

Harris Antonini

Joshua Aiken

Randall Martin

Christopher Cullen

Sarah Mills

Kate Seaver

2002-2008 Copycat Sprees:

Cody

Ashley

Peck

At least 5 additional people

2008 Wakefield-Dunn Massacre:

Ben Wellington

Marty Dunn

Reverend Fain

Kelly Seaver

Lucy Daramour

Hunter Jennings

Andrew Cullen

Sparky Mackle

Deputy Garrett

Joel Booth

Thomas Wellington

Richard Allen

Malcolm Ross

Cole Harkin

Brent Cyr

JD Dunn

Beth Barrington

Katherine Wellington

Darryl Riggens

Tyra Coulter

Maggie Krell

Charlie Mills

Nikki Bolton

Shane Pierce

Patrick Lillis

Cal Vandeusen

Chloe Carter

Danny Brooks

Trish Wellington

Chris Sullivan

John Wakefield

Henry Dunn

[gwyllmllwydd]

Radio EarthRites: The Yearly!

Dear Friends, we recently had a hosting price increase  from our station provider, as well as rises in web cost, hosting, music purchases etc. (which all cost)

We have a wonderful group of supporters at this point but would like to see some growth in our support network to cover all the costs that we incur. 

We have 2 forms of donations (see the button here at the top of the page: https://gwyllm.com/radio-earthrites/ ) you can subscribe for a monthly plan, or you can make a one-time donation, hopefully once a year!

Radio EarthRites has been on the air pretty much continuously for 18 years, 365days/24 hours a day. We have been increasing our aural diversity, with new shows (Lee’s Real Music Radio Pod)  (Earth Riot with Reverend Billy) with shows featuring (Poets Mary Oliver,, Seamus Heaney Allen Ginsberg etc.) and Spoken word, (David Graeber & David Wengrow, Dale Pendell, John Trudell, Noam Chomsky etc. ) We have featured shows about Ancient Celtic Anarchy, Brehon Law, and much more. We will continue to expand the palette of Radio EarthRites, and with increased donations we will be able to start having live shows and more. We are in the process of bringing on guests to host shows weekly & monthly…

This a fundraiser, yes, but it is also a call out to those who want to have a Radio Show on EarthRites.

Please Help Support Radio EarthRites!

Thanks To All Our Supporters, You Know Who You Are! Gwyllm

[tabernacleheart]

In 1 John 4:11, love is expressed as a binding obligation. It is a debt we ought to pay... [but it] is a debt which needs a great deal to clear it. Beloved, if God so loved us— if, that is, we have received so much love— we also ought, we owe it as a debt, to love one another. It is an invitation, it is a binding duty; but Saint John is not done yet. In sweeter, more alluring tones he puts it before us in another form. He, as it were, turns the prism once again to show us a yet more beautiful ray of coloured light: In 1 John 4:12 he shows us the indescribably blessed result which follows from loving one another; it is nothing else than this, the abiding of God within us. But Saint John knew man’s heart; he knew its dullness; he knew how slow we are to respond to an invitation, to regard it even when coming from the King of kings as something to be accepted or refused as we will... [in such laxity of response] we might make a [grave] mistake, perhaps from our all too slight acquaintance with our heavenly Sovereign; he knew, too, that some of us might underestimate the binding duty of paying our dues, that some would find it difficult to rise to the sublime height of appreciating the blessedness of God’s abiding Presence; and therefore, when [Saint John] reiterates his deduction for the fourth time, he puts it in a form about which there can be no manner of doubt. ‘This commandment have we from Him, that he who loveth God love his brother also.’ On no point was the closest friend of Jesus Christ more insistent than on this supreme duty of love. —It is as wide as its foundation. It is wide with the width of God’s heaven, for it is as wide as the love of God. Beloved, ‘one another’ includes all the souls whom God the Father created in love, whom God the Son redeemed in love, whom God the Holy Ghost is waiting to sanctify in love.

Reverend John Allen Wood

[scotianostra]

The Scottish actor John Young was born on June 16th 1916 in Edinburgh.

Young did various jobs on leaving school before joining the Jevan Brandon-Thomas Company at the Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh. He had longed to become an actor since going to his first pantomime, at the age of four, recalling it as “sheer magic”. He also acted in rep at the Citizens’ Theatre, Glasgow and the Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton, and subsequently performed in most of Scotland’s theatres.

John Young was most prolific on television throughout the Seventies, most notably as Ramsay MacDonald in Jim Allen’s acclaimed BBC series Days of Hope , and as Alexander Carus in the Granada Television production of Adam Smit.. He later made appearances in Hess, the Omega Factor,  The Houseman’s Tale , and The Justice Game.

Perhaps some of the Scots out there  might remember John Young as the minister in Take the High Road, Reverend Ian McPherson, he also played the  Reverend J.D. Liddell,  Eric Liddell’s father in Chariots of Fire, other film roles included roles in The Wicker man and Ring of Bright Water.

Young also appeared in the Monty Python films, Life of Brian and most notably Holy Grail, as the character who famous protested “I’m not dead”

[blondeheroine]

.August 8, 1962

Marilyn Monroe's funeral took place at 1:00pm on August 8, 1962, at the Westwood Village Mortuary Chapel on the grounds of the Westwood Memorial Cemetery. It was a very private service conducted by Reverend A. J. Soldan, a Lutheran minister from the Village Church of Westwood.

Joe DiMaggio flew in to look after arrangements for Marilyn's funeral. He called her elder half-sister Berniece Miracle to help. Marilyn's business manager Inez Melson also assisted. Under DiMaggio's express instructions, none of Marilyn's Hollywood friends were invited - he held them responsible, morally if not actually, for her death.

Marilyn Monroe's funeral took place at 1:00pm on August 8, 1962, at the Westwood Village Mortuary Chapel on the grounds of the Westwood Memorial Cemetery. It was a very private service conducted by Reverend A. J. Soldan, a Lutheran minister from the Village Church of Westwood. Readings were made of Psalm 23, chapter 14 of the Book of John, and excerpts from Pslams 46 adn 139. The Lord's Prayer was also read. The somber occasion began with the stains of Tchaikovsky's Sixth Symphony, and included, at Marilyn's request, Judy Garland's "Over the Rainbow". Lee Strasber delivered the eulogy, though only after DiMaggio's first choice, Carl Sandburg, was forced to decline due to ill-health.

Synder was among her pallbearers, along with Allen Abbott, Sidney Guilaroff, Ronald Hast, Leonard Krisminsky and Clarence Pierce.

This is the Eulogy that was performed by Lee Strasberg:

Marilyn Monroe was a legend.

In her own lifetime she created a myth of what a poor girl from a deprived background could attain. For the entire world she became a symbol of the eternal feminine.

But I have no words to describe the myth and the legend. I did not know this Marilyn Monroe.

We gathered here today, knew only Marilyn - a warm human being, impulsive and shy, sensitive and in fear of rejection, yet ever avid for life and reaching out for fulfillment. I will not insult the privacy of your memory of her - a privacy she sought and treasured - by trying to describe her whom you knew to you who knew her. In our memories of her she reamins alive, not only a shadow on the screen or a glamorous personality.

For us Marilyn was a devoted and loyal friend, a colleague constantly reaching for perfection. We shared her pain and difficulties and some of her joys. She was a member of our family. It is difficult to accept the fact that her zest for life has been ended by this dreadful accident.

Despite the heights and brillance she attained on the screen, she was planning for the future; she was looking forward to participating in the many exciting things which she planned. In her eyes and in mine her career was just beginning. The dream of her talent, which she had nurtured as a child, was not a mirage. When she first came to me I was amazed at the startling sensitivity which she possessed and which had remained fresh and undimmed, struggling to express itself despite the life to which she had been subjected. Others were as physically beautiful as she was, but there was obviously something more in her, something that people saw and recognized in her performances and with which they identified. She had a luminous quality - a combination of wistfulness, radiance, yearning - to set her apart and yet make everyone wish to be a part of it, to share in the childish naivete which was so shy and yet so vibrant.

This quality was even more evident when she was in the stage. I am truly sorry that the public who loved her did not have the opportunity to see her as we did, in many of the roles that foreshadowed what she would have become. Without a doubt she would have been one of the really great actresses of the stage.

Now it is at an end. I hope her death will stir sympathy and understanding for a sensitive artist and a woman who brought joy and pleasure to the world.

I cannot say goodby. Marilyn never liked goodbys, but in the peculiar way she had of turning things around so that they faced reality - I will say au revoir.

For the country to which she has gone, we must all someday visit.

During the service Marilyn's body lay in an open bronze casket lined with champagne-colored satin.

Partially exposed, she was dressed in her green Pucci dress and a green chiffon scarf, a favorite which she had worn at a press conference in Mexico City earlier that year (it was also worn during the photo shoot with Maf). For the last time, Allan "Whitey" Snyder did her makeup, a flask of gin fortifying him enough to carry out a promise he had made in jest many years earlier, and of which Marilyn had reminded him with an inscription on a gold money clip she gave him, saying, "Whitey Dear, While I'm still warm, Marilyn."

Because of the damage done by the autopsy, Agnes Flanagan, who prepared her hair that day, had to use a wig similar to how Marilyn had been wearing her hair in her aborted last picture, "Something's Got to Give". In her hands was a posy of pink teacup roses, a gift from DiMaggio, who had sat in vigil the night before.

- I will say au revoir. For the country to which she has gone, we must all someday visit.

[mcbastardsmausoleum]

NIGHT CREATURES (1963) COLLECTOR’S EDITION BLU-RAY ARRIVES APRIL 19th, 2022 FROM SCREAM FACTORY

Starring Peter Cushing, Yvonne Romain, Patrick Allen, and Oliver Reed 

Brace yourself for the long-awaited Hammer cult film classic debuting on Blu-ray. On April 19th, 2022, SCREAM FACTORY is excited to present the highly anticipated Hammer Fim cult classic NIGHT CREATURES Collector’s Edition Blu-ray. Directed by Peter Graham Scott (The Avengers) and produced by John Temple-Smith (The Island of Dr. Moreau), this chilling classic stars Peter Cushing (The Curse of Frankenstein), Yvonne Romain (Circus Of Horrors), Patrick Allen (When Dinosaurs Ruled The Earth), and Oliver Reed (Quatermass And The Pitt). A must-have for movie collectors and loyal fans of Hammer Films, this definitive Blu-ray release contains special bonus content, including new 2K scan of the interpositive, new audio commentary with film historian Bruce Hallenbeck, new interviews with author and historian Kim Newman, author and historian Jonathan Rigby and special effects artist Brian Johnson, and much more!

Order from ShoutFactory.com and get an Exclusive 18”x24” rolled poster featuring brand new artwork, available while supplies last!

In the 18th century, a Navy captain and his sailors investigate the rampaging “marsh phantoms” terrorizing a coastal town, but their search is hindered by Reverend Dr. Blyss and a horrifying curse.

“NIGHT CREATURES”

Starring PETER CUSHING YVONNE ROMAIN PATRICK ALLEN OLIVER REED

Screenplay By JOHN ELDER Directed By PETER GRAHAM SCOTT Produced By JOHN TEMPLE-SMITH

A HAMMER -MAJOR Production A UNIVERSAL INTERNATIONAL Release

© 1962 Universal Studios. Renewed 1990 Hammer Film Productions, Ltd.

Special Features:

- NEW 2K scan from the interpositive

- NEW audio commentary with film historian Bruce Hallenbeck

- NEW Pulp Friction – The Cinematic Captain Clegg – an interview with author/film historian Kim Newman

- NEW The Hammer Must Fall: Peter Cushing’s Changing Directions – an interview with author/film historian Jonathan Rigby

- NEW Brian with Bowie – an interview with special effects artist Brian Johnson

- The Making of Captain Clegg hosted by author Wayne Kinsey

- The Mossman Legacy: George Mossman’s Carriage Collection

- Theatrical Trailer

- Still Gallery

1080p High-Definition Widescreen (2.00:1)/DTS-HD Master Audio Mono/English SDH Subtitles/1963/Approximate Feature Running Time: +/- 83 Minutes 

[avidmoviecritic]

The Crucible(1996)

PG13

*a movie for every year I have been alive*

"After married man John Proctor (Daniel Day-Lewis) decides to break off his affair with his young lover, Abigail Williams (Winona Ryder), she leads other local girls in an occult rite to wish death upon his wife, Elizabeth (Joan Allen). When the ritual is discovered, the girls are brought to trial. Accusations begin to fly, and a literal witch hunt gets underway. Before long, Elizabeth is suspected of witchcraft, and John's attempt to defend her only makes matters worse"

Plot points

Hypocrisy and Judgement

The girls who accuse the innocent are the ones doing witchcraft at the beginning of the film. The innocent do not get a fair trial with someone representing them. They are against a group of girls, some children, who play the victim of these fake crimes. Because the fake crimes are unseen, it is difficult to say that the innocent were the ones commiting the acts. The girls lie and deceive the followers of the community committing terrible acts of having people hanged for sins they did not commit. Abigail tries to get rid of John's wife Elizabeth who has got in the way of her and John being together. She accuses Elizabeth of witchcraft and being with the devil. Elizabeth is a moral woman and ends up being pregnant when she gets arrested. Other girls accuse those members in their society they want to get rid of for land, money, or because they just do not like the individual. The girls have a lot of power within the community. After some of thr accused were hanged the girls are then ostracized and feared by the community. When Abigail tries to say a reverend's wife was with the devil and did something to her, she looses credibility. A reverend's wife cannot be accused as they are too close to God. After being turned down from John to come with her, Abigail runs away with stolen money.

Confess or be hanged

It is interesting that those who were accused had to say they were making a pact with the devil and sign a document stating this is correct. John has this scene were the leaders of the community try to persuade him to confess to being with the devil. This day is when John and a few of his friends will be hanged for commiting witchcraft. At first he lies and states that he was seen with the devil and signs the document. He realizes that he cannot be a coward and leave his innocent friends to die. Even though he will leave his wife, unborn child, and there two sons, John stands up for the right by being hanged with his friends.

Overall

It is irritating to think that the leaders took the girl's word for fact without any reliable evidence. Many innocent people were killed to satisfy these girl's revenge. John sacrificed himself for truth and these girls lied and did not get the consequences for there actions. The movie did a good job at providing authentic design of the period the Salem witch trials took place. The actors did a good job providing both drama and intensity to the movie. Overall it was an interesting movie and if someone is interested in the witch trials, a must watch.

Imdb rating: 6.8/10

My rating: 5.5/10

[lboogie1906]

James Robinson Johnston (March 12, 1876 – March 3, 1915) was a Canadian lawyer and community leader.

He was born in Halifax. He was the eldest of the five sons of William Johnston, a shoemaker, and Elizabeth Ann Thomas. His maternal grandparents were Reverend James Thomas, a white man from Wales who headed the African Baptist Association (1861-79), and Hannah Saunders, an African Nova Scotian woman.

He was restricted from attending public school due to Nova Scotia’s segregation laws. Under the system in place, Black children attended separate schools which suffered from underfunding. At the age of six, he began attending school at the Black Maynard School. In 1884, the segregation of schools was repealed and by 1887 he was attending the Albro Street School, making him the first Black student to attend a White school. The following year he transferred to the Halifax Academy. He was recognized as a brilliant student and upon graduating at the age of sixteen enrolled at Dalhousie College. He graduated with a Bachelor of Letters and entered Dalhousie Law School. He was the first Black Nova Scotian to graduate from university. He articled and was called to the Bar in 1900.

He worked for John Thomas Bulmer. In 1901, Bulmer died suddenly and he assumed the practice. He did not restrict himself from taking cases of only defending Blacks or minor cases to be heard in the minor courts; as White society of the time expected. He represented those who needed his legal services, regardless of being Black or white, rich or poor, residing in Halifax, or if need be traveling to other areas of the Province. He defended his clients in the police court, county court, as well as the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia.

He married Janie (Jennie) May Allen (1902). Their only son died in 1911 of meningitis. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[ulkaralakbarova]

A gangster, Nino, is in the Cash Money Brothers, making a million dollars every week selling crack. A cop, Scotty, discovers that the only way to infiltrate the gang is to become a dealer himself. Credits: TheMovieDb. Film Cast: Nino Brown: Wesley Snipes Scotty Appleton: Ice-T Garald “Gee Money” Welles: Allen Payne Pookie: Chris Rock Stone: Mario Van Peebles Selina: Michael Michele Duh Duh Duh Man: Bill Nunn Park: Russell Wong Old Man: Bill Cobbs Kareem Akbar: Christopher Williams Nick Peretti: Judd Nelson Keisha: Vanessa Williams Uniqua: Tracy Camilla Johns Frankie Needles: Anthony DeSando Reverend Oates: Nick Ashford Prosecuting Attorney Hawkins: Phyllis Yvonne Stickney Police Commissioner: Thalmus Rasulala Don Armeteo: John Aprea Master of Ceremonies: Fab 5 Freddy D.J.: Flavor Flav Frazier: Clebert Ford Prom Queen: Laverne Hart Fat Smitty: Eek-A-Mouse Biff: Gregg Smrz Teacher: Erica McFarquhar Singer at Wedding: Keith Sweat Gigantor: Max Rabinowitz Woman in Hallway: Marcella Lowery Judge: Manuel E. Santiago Prosecuting Attorney: Ben Gotlieb Reporter: Thelma Louise Carter Reporter: Linda Froehlich Bailiff: Christopher Michael Recovering Addict: Kelly Jo Minter Recovering Addict: Tina Lifford Recovering Addict: Erik Kilpatrick Assistant DA: Ron Millkie Kid on Stoop: Harold Baines Kid on Stoop: Sekou Campbell Kid on Stoop: Garvin Holder New Year’s Eve Band – (Guy): Teddy Riley New Year’s Eve Band – (Guy): Aaron Hall New Year’s Eve Band – (Guy): Damion Hall Singers – Spring – (Troop): Rodney Benford Singers – Spring – (Troop): John Harrell Singers – Winter – (Levert): Gerald Levert Singers – Winter – (Levert): Sean Levert Butchie The Doorman: Jimmy Cummings Courtroom Spectator (uncredited): Akosua Busia Prostitute in The Pool (uncredited): Lia Chang Gangster Standing at Bar (uncredited): Jake LaMotta Barber (uncredited): Larry M. Cherry Brides Maid (uncredited): Cynthia Elane Girl in the Window (uncredited): Toni Ann Johnson Connie The Waitress (uncredited): Candece Tarpley C.M.B. Member (uncredited): Chris Thornton Film Crew: Director: Mario Van Peebles Story: Thomas Lee Wright Music Supervisor: Doug McHenry Screenplay: Barry Michael Cooper Casting: Pat Golden Production Design: Charles C. Bennett Director of Photography: Francis Kenny Casting: John McCabe Editor: Steven Kemper Unit Production Manager: Preston L. Holmes Costume Design: Bernard Johnson Original Music Composer: Michel Colombier Music Supervisor: George Jackson Associate Producer: Fab 5 Freddy Associate Producer: Suzanne Broderick Associate Producer: James Bigwood First Assistant Director: Dwight Williams Stunt Coordinator: Jery Hewitt Stunts: Danny Aiello III Stunts: G. A. Aguilar Second Assistant Director: Joseph Ray Production Supervisor: Brent Owens First Assistant Editor: Kevin Stitt Camera Operator: John Newby First Assistant Camera: Gregory Irwin Second Assistant Camera: Myra-Lee Cohen Additional Camera: Ed Hershberger Steadicam Operator: Ted Churchill Production Sound Mixer: Frank Stettner Boom Operator: Keith Gardner Cableman: Rosa Howell-Thornhill Art Direction: Barbra Matis Art Direction: Laura Brock Art Department Coordinator: Roberta J. Holinko Set Decoration: Elaine O’Donnell Script Supervisor: Cornelia ‘Nini’ Rogan Makeup Artist: Diane Hammond Assistant Makeup Artist: Ellie Winslow Hairstylist: Larry M. Cherry Hairstylist: Aaron F. Quarles Wardrobe Supervisor: Barbara Hause Wardrobe Supervisor: Jane E. Myers Wardrobe Assistant: Jill E. Anderson Gaffer: Charles Houston Rigging Gaffer: Martin Andrews Best Boy Electric: Val DeSalvo Key Grip: Robert M. Andres Best Boy Grip: Paul Wachter Dolly Grip: Tom Kudlek Property Master: Octavio Molina Assistant Property Master: Laura Jean West Assistant Property Master: Kevin Ladson Charge Scenic Artist: Jeffrey L. Glave Construction Coordinator: Raymond M. Samitz Special Effects Supervisor: Steven Kirshoff Special Effects Coordinator: Wilfred Caban Second Unit Director: Jeff Lengyel Second Unit Director of Photography: Jacek Laskus Second Unit First Assistant D...