#seeing a bit of himself in alan in that moment... his relationship with his folk roots not unlike alan's relationship with his band

[hide-your-bugs-away]

May 6th, 1965 -

Alan Price tells Bob Dylan that he has left The Animals...

and i have never been the same since

[hotdaemondtargaryen]

TOM GLYNN-CARNEY INTERVIEWED BY AV CLUB MAGAZINE.

KNOWING WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN TO AEGON IN EPISODES FOUR AND FIVE, HOW DID YOU WANT TO PLAY UP HIS STATE OF MIND BEFORE HE DECIDES TO RIDE ON SUNFYRE STRAIGHT INTO BATTLE? WHAT WERE THE CONFLICTING EMOTIONS YOU WANTED TO TAKE THE TIME TO DEPICT?

"I think the focus was to show he’s pushed to the limit in a way he hasn’t before."

"He’d just been painfully reminded about his biggest insecurity of being seen as weak and useless."

"Alicent said that to him in no uncertain terms."

"So I think he felt like he was backed into a corner and felt this was the only thing he could do."

"At least that’s how I justified his actions."

"And in doing so he realizes he’s not naturally a warrior."

"He doesn’t have that sort of brave, fearless mentality of some of the other characters."

"So he needs something to numb his fear and gets absolutely blind drunk and gets around to it."

HOW MUCH DO YOU THINI IT WEIGHS ON AEGON THAT HE HAS TO FOLLOW IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF HIS FATHER?

"Viserys [Paddy Considine] was the only sort of positive male figure on the show."

"Not positive to Aegon necessarily, but at least to the masses, so that’s his experience."

"I think seeing the way the small folk responded to Viserys while he was growing up showed Aegon his father was a good king who was liked and well-respected."

"He’s forged good and healthy relationships with people, so I definitely think it’s an element Aegon wants to replicate."

"You see that in episode one."

"But there’s a very, very quick realization that Aegon isn’t Viserys."

"He’s a completely different beast who has to play to his strengths."

IN EPISODE FOUR, AEGON IS FIGHTING MELEYS AND RHAENYS, THEN FEELS RELIEF WHEN AEMOND SHOWS UP, AND IT QUICKLY TURNS TO FEAR. WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO PORTRAY THIS RANGE IN SO LITTLE TIME? WHAT TALKS DID YOU HAVE WITH ALAN TAYLOR ABOUT YOUR PERFORMANCE IN IT?

"Yeah, as you said there wasn’t much time."

"We did like bullet points of moments we wanted to bring to life and what needs to be a priority."

"Yes, he sees his brother coming on Vhagar and the goal is to show that Aegon thinks it’s to rescue him."

"But the melee continues because that’s how the dragons are and that’s how the fight is going."

"There’s no escaping that fire and whatever else is coming Aegon’s way."

"Of course, people can make their own decisions on what Aemond’s intentions are, that bit is up for grabs."

"We didn’t want to fully spoon-feed that either."

"We spoke at length about these moments, especially seeing fear in Aegon’s eyes but also showing that he’s driven to prove himself."

EPISODE FIVE REVEALS THAT HE'S ALIVE BUT BADLY BURNED. THERE'S ONLY ONE LINE OF DIALOGUE YOU GET, WHICH IS "MUMMY." IT FEELS VERY VULNERABLE AND UNDERSTANDABLE THAT HE REGRESSES TO THIS CHILD-LIKE STATE AND CALLS AFTER HIS MOTHER.

"Exactly."

"He’s completely disfigured."

"He can’t breathe or see or talk. talk."

"I’m sure we all would regress to a child-like state."

WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO PLAY THIS VERSION OF AEGON NOW AND HOW LONG DID IT TAKE TO GET INTO CHARACTER IN TERMS OF THE MAKEUP AND PROSTHETICS?

"There’s less acting required of course but it didn’t feel too different or that I was doing less work."

"Getting the makeup done took a long time though, especially in the early stages."

"It was taking seven hours and we gradually got that down to fewer hours."

"It’s still a long time, and I was also in that armor for the full day."

"Luckily, I was surrounded by a gorgeous team who were so accommodating, helpful, and encouraging."

"It was great when it could have been more difficult, let’s put it that way."

A KEY SCENE FOR AEGON IS WHEN HE FIRES OTTO HIGHTOWER (RHYS IFANS) AS HIS HAND. DO YOU FEEL LIKE IT MARKED A TURNING POINT IN HOW HE SAW HIMSELF OPERATING AS A RULER? WILL HE REGRET DOING IT NOW?

"I don’t think he regrets it because Otto was restricting and filtering Aegon."

"He was slamming the brakes the entire time, he was like a handbrake."

"And as soon as that happened, he sort of snapped free."

"He felt like he could make progress even if it wasn’t an immediate success."

"So no, I don’t think he regrets it."

"It’s for sure a turning point as well because I think finds strength in it."

"You really see him step into being the king and using his power."

"He’s been in the same room as Otto many times and knows he’s one of the most powerful people."

"That status shifts at that moment for Aegon."

"I find it so stimulating because here’s this person who is the patriarch of the family and is just being reduced to a little boy who has to take his badge off and give it to someone else."

WHAT'S IT LIKE TO WORK WITH EWAN MITCHELL, ESPECIALLY AS AEGON AND AEMOND'S BROTHERLY RIVALRY COMES TO A HEAD THIS SEASON?

"Oh, yeah, I love Ewan."

"He’s great, it’s always a joy to scare scenes with him."

"We both dive in and take it seriously when we’re living in these characters, but it’s a lot of fun."

"As for the brotherly bond, everyone thinks Aegon is ripping Aemond, but then he calls him out too at the small council meeting [in Valyrian]."

"It’s the same thing. It’s bullying as well."

"So what happens in that brothel scene."

For example, if you walk in and find your brother there, you’re not going to go: — 'Sorry guys, I’ll leave you alone.'

"You’ll make fun of him, too."

YOU'VE SAID BEFORE YOU WATCHED THE ENTIRETY OF GAME OF THRONES IN THREE WEEKS ONCE YOU GOT THE HOTD ROLE. DID WATCHING IT INFLUENCE YOUR PERFORMANCE IN THIS SHOW AT ALL?

"No, I find that dangerous, in that you can start to try and replicate a template that’s already been set for some by someone else."

"The beauty of a show like ours is that we’ve got a lot of actors jumping into it with fresh ideas."

"And we’re not making Game Of Thrones even if it’s part of the same world."

"It’s a different show entirely."

"What has been great to see this season is the newer characters and people working on it come in with their own opinions and brave, bold choices."

"It’s multi-layered and colorful."

YOU'RE ABLE TO BRING MORE LAYERS TO AEGON THIS SEASON, AND IT'S EASY TO FEEL BAD FOR HIM AT TIMES. WHAT'S IT LIKE TO BE ABLE FLESH OUT HIS COMPLEXITIES SO HE'S NOT A ONE-NOTE VILLAIN?

"It’s great to be able to spend longer with a character because you end up getting to know them more and your choices become more informed."

"Aegon feels more lived in now because I’m coming at it from a greater depth and investigation."

"A lot of that work has been done."

"So yeah, it’s great because the character becomes a part of you in a way."

"After all, you’ve played them for so long."

"Aegon has increased responsibility this time so I like riding the wave of where they’re going with it."

"It’s brilliant that he’s a pivotal character in the story even now after episode five."

[achraf1149]

TWELVE HILARIOUSLY FUNNY BOOK CLUB BOOKS

Are you trying to find funny book club books to enliven your next meet? notice hysterical, quirky, and utterly relatable titles during this book list!

Disclosure: This web site contains affiliate links for products and services I like to recommend. after you create a buying deal through Associate in a Nursing affiliate link, at no extra price to you, I'll earn a little commission.

Because generally you only want a decent laugh. And your book club buddies don’t invariably wish to over-analyze serious sh*t.

I love a decent WWII novel, however genre alliance aside, a number of my best book discussions are over lightsome, realistically funny books. have to say a handful of bottles of wine, a comfortable couch, and your best girlfriends and you’ve got yourself a direction for the proper night.

Whether you’re a mama trying to find an evening away or a dedicated reader simply trying to find one thing lighter, these kinky and funny book club books can speak to your heart.

TWELVE FUNNY BOOKS FOR YOUR NEXT BOOK CLUB

funny book club books - The Rosie Project

THE ROSIE PROJECT BY GRAEME SIMSION

I don’t assume there’s a book I’ve suggested additionally like a professional person than The Rosie Project. Simsion’s novel may be a good balance of queerness and humor.

Single, psychoneurotic compulsive biology faculty member, Don Tillman decides it’s time to search out a better half. His set up – The better half Project – is to eliminate undesirable candidates through an easy form.

Rosie is on a probe of her own, to search out her birth father. once she asks Don for facilitating, the 2 square measures drawn to at least one another, although square measure a terrible match on paper.

Rosie challenges Don’s psychoneurotic habits and encourages him to be spontaneous. will these 2 truly be a match?

The Rosie Project is Associate in Nursing intelligent, a however sweet romantic comedy with protagonists World Health Organization square measure awkward misfits, however winners in their ways that.

funny book club books - Where'd You Go, Bernadette,

WHERE’D YOU GO, BERNADETTE BY MARIA SEMPLE

My coworker and that I have a running joke. She recommends Where’d You Go, Bernadette, like I like to recommend The Rosie Project. Laugh aloud funny. Literally.

Where’d You Go Bernadette is one among those spit your sip of wine out funny books, good for an evening of book club laughs.

15-year-old Bee Branch’s folks, software system genius, Elgin, and former creator, Bernadette, promise their female offspring a cruise to the continent. Bernadette although, is on the brink of disaster.

After a feud with a neighbor and a faculty fundraiser went wrong, Bernadette disappears. Bee determined to induce everybody on board – virtually – together with her cruise, picks up her mother’s path. She weaves along with emails, faculty memos, and conversations together with her Bernadette’s Indian assistant, Manjula.

Will Bee and her father notice Bernadette? Is she fully insane of simply sane enough? this can speak to the little bit of crazy all told people.

ELEANOR OLIPHANT is FINE BY GAIL HONEYMAN

We all understand Associate in Nursing Eleanor. Socially awkward. Hasn’t cut her hair since she was 13. will crossword puzzle puzzles throughout lunch. Weekends square measure bookended with bottles of hard drink and phone conversations together with her mother. Her coworkers assume she’s socially underdeveloped and she or he thinks them, idiots.

Eleanor doesn’t understand that life ought to be something over fine. however, an opportunity encounter Eleanor and Raymond, a coworker, have with Associate in Nursing senior man World Health Organization collapses on the road changes everything.

As clues to Eleanor’s unhappy, troubled past surface, her new relationship with Raymond drives her to break from isolation.

But wait, this doesn’t sound funny…

Eleanor Oliphant is Fine is kinky and affirmative, despite themes of loneliness and psychological injury, funny. Awkwardly humorous and bizarre, Eleanor charms the hearts of readers and rakes in additional than a handful of guffaws.

funny book club books - a person known as Ove

A MAN knew as OVE BY FREDRIK BACKMAN

Ove may be a miserable, senior citizen of Associate in Nursing previous man. At fifty-nine years previous, Ove may be a widowman who’s tried (and failed) to kill himself multiple times. His neighbors decision him the bitter neighbor from hell.

But, one morning, his chatty new neighbors accidentally run over Ove’s mailbox, and he, sadly, must refer to them. And apparently, teach them a way to drive. What follows a funny tale of human values, community, and relationship.

A Man known as Ove speaks to what it suggests that to not simply live, however, be alive. Humor mixed with real human feelings can have you ever crying one moment and happy following.

funny book club books - Confessions of a Domestic Failure

CONFESSIONS OF A DOMESTIC FAILURE BY BUNMI LADITAN

Ashley Helen Adams Keller may be a career girl turned to occupy home hot-mess, momma, to eight-month previous Aubrey. Emily Walker keeps a Pinterest-worthy home and runs a palmy momma journal and media empire.

When Ashley snags a spot in Emily’s maternity higher Bootcamp, she sees an opportunity to boost as a mother and housewife. Ashely tries to navigate her manner through crafts, momma teams, and makeovers.

But hot mess mater may be a title more durable to abandon than she realizes. however, she’s on the point of the amendment during a manner the maternity higher Bootcamp may ne'er have ready her for.

Speaking to the pressures of period parenting – Associate in Nursingd living – this title can resonate with anyone World Health Organization owns a telephone or has an Instagram account. Or anyone World Health Organization has ever felt or laughed at the requirement to be good.

funny book club books - St. Brigid Jones's Diary

BRIDGET JONES’S DIARY BY Helen FIELDING.

Bridget Jones’s Diary chronicles the lifetime of {bridget|Bridget|Saint St. Brigid|St. Bridget|Brigid|Saint Brigid|St. Brigid|Bride|Saint Bride|St. Bride|abbess|mother superior|prioress|saint} Jones, one thirties living in London. Through her journal entries, we tend to follow her struggles with weight loss, career advancements, family and friends, and, most significantly, finding love.

She’s smitten for her boss, however, her folks have their sights on Mark Darcy, a single-family friend. the net gets pretty tangled.

Loosely supported Pride and Prejudice, this adaptation marks the start of the chick-lit movement. jam-packed with trendy, romantic humor (even twenty years later) St. Brigid Jones’s Diary may be a must-read for ladies all over.

WOMAN LAST SEEN IN HER THIRTIES BY CAMILLE PAGAN

Maggie Harris is gayly married with 2 healthy youngsters. Anxious naturally, she contains several not invariably rational fears, like fraud and falling air-conditioners.

The least of her worries is finding herself single at thirty 3. however once her husband walks out on her, Maggie comes face to face together with her biggest concern – herself.

After years of caring for everybody however, Maggie embarks on a visit to Rome, begins a brand new career, and even enters into a brand new relationship. however, once disaster strikes – once more – what's going to Maggie risk to keep up her new sense of self. And avoid a nervous breakdown?

BOSSYPANTS BY TINA FEY

Tina Fey tells her own story. Not simply the story of Saturday Night Live and Liz Lemon, however her story.

Through biographic essays, Fey delivers magazine vogue parodies of her beauty program, faculty romance, and her “me time” as a brand new parent (ha!). beat jest, of course, this provides a novel angle into however this comedienne came to be.

WHEN LIFE provides YOU LULULEMONS BY LAUREN WEISBERGER

Emily Charlton, a la The Devil Wears Prada, returns post-Miranda Priestly. A somewhat palmy authority herself, Emily lands in borough CT with the work of relaunching former model Karolina.

Karolina finds herself in plight when her legislator husband’s public indiscretion and her arrest for drunk driving. Her solely friend is Miriam, a brand new dynasty lawyer turned to occupy the home mater.

Together they’ll navigate this new territory…the suburbs.

THE 100-YEAR-OLD MAN World Health Organization CLIMBED OUT THE WINDOW AND DISAPPEARED BY JONAS JONASSON

Alan Karlsson had Associated in Nursing eventful life. He turns a hundred in exactly daily and his rest home is coming up with an enormous celebration…though he’d like that there be additional hard drink.

He’s in good health and isn’t all that fascinated by celebrating. therefore Alan escapes out the window and embarks on a humorous and stunning journey, complete with a grip jam-packed with cash Associate in Nursingd an elephant.

Alternating together with his adventures square measure flashbacks from his wildly fantastic past. Alan befriended President Truman, helped create the atomic bomb, dined with Charles Charles de Gaulle, and have become a spy. maybe the rest home was simply too quiet for him.

[doomonfilm]

Thoughts : Watchmen [HBO, Episodes 7-9] (2019)

It’s been nine weeks of intense ups and downs, slow reveals to astonishing questions, and red herrings that turn into lore-shifting revelations, but it seems that HBO’s collaboration with Damon Lindelof has resulted in a true television gem in the form of Watchmen.  Though initially plagued by waves of confusion, negative feedback due to it’s unflinching look at race, and the ever-present specter of Alan Moore fans that echo his displeasure in any Watchmen property that is not the original run, the series eventually found strength via word of mouth, and the eventual fan service that arrived coincided with this new wave of interest.  The series is certainly a fascinating one, and it will go down as one of my favorites from the powerhouse that is HBO.

THE STORY CONCLUDES

Episode 07 : An Almost Religious Awe Angela finds herself in the custody of Lady Trieu as she recovers from an overdose of Will’s Nostalgia pills.  Already in a fragile state due to the harsh and traumatic nature of Will’s memories, Angela finds herself wading through the recesses of her own troubled past, specifically the loss of her parents, her time in a Saigon orphanage, and her near escape by way of her Grandmother’s custody attempted turned to untimely death.  Agent Petey discovers the remnants of a shootout at Looking Glass’s home, but there is no trace of Looking Glass to be found.  Special Agent Blake pays Jane Crawford a visit to confront her about the Cyclops organization, only to find herself a captive of Cyclops and the Seventh Kalvary.  Adrian Veidt faces a trial from the Game Warden.  Lady Trieu reveals that Dr. Manhattan is not on Mars, and that he is actually on Earth, forcing Angela to confront Cal (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II)about his mysterious past and the impending doom in his near future.

Episode 08 : A God Walks into Abar Cal, now revealed to be Dr. Manhattan, struggles to piece together the missing ten years from his life while attempting to orient himself after his sudden reappearance.  In 2009, he meets Angela for the first time and attempts to woo her.  In 1985, he creates life on the Jupiter-based moon of Europa, only to become disenchanted with the creatures made out of the image of his once childhood saviors and educators.  In 2009, he visits Adrian Veidt, who himself is disenchanted, in order to receive a device that will humanize the God-like Dr. Manhattan, and in exchange, Veidt is sent to Europa.  In 2009, Cal visits Will, and while informing Will about his missing granddaughter Angela and the feelings that have arisen for her, he inadvertently informs Will of Judd’s involvement with Cyclops.  In 2019, Dr. Manhattan realizes why he fell in love with Angela in the first place, and the two head into battle against an inescapable fate.

Episode 09 : See How They Fly The story of Lady Trieu’s origin is revealed when we learn that her mother broke into Adrian Veidt’s office during the recording of his presentation to President Robert Redford, found the storage of semen behind his painting of Alexander the Great, and inseminated herself.  Many years later, Lady Trieu receives Adrian’s S.O.S. from Europa and sends him a rescue pod, but Veidt soon learns of Trieu’s true intentions... a plan to undercut Sen. Keane’s attempt at stealing Dr. Manhattan’s powers, all in hopes of transferring them to herself.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

The Peteypedia : A weekly collection of documents relevant to the world of Watchmen, similar to the opening and closing inclusions in the original comic issues and graphic novel.

The Official Watchmen Podcast : Host Craig Mazin and showrunner Damon Lindelof discuss the HBO Watchmen series.  More episodes have been possibly teased, but as for now, Episode 3 marks the end of the podcast.

THOUGHTS ON THE SHOW

If making Will Reeves turn out to be Hooded Justice was world-changing, then I find myself at a loss for words to describe what the reveal of Cal as Dr. Manhattan was in terms of scope and scale.  The clues were there the entire time, as I often brought up to people in conversations about the show how locked in Special Agent Blake seemed to be to Cal, which in hindsight makes complete sense.  Cal’s incredibly reserved nature and no-nonsense approach to life echoed that of Dr. Manhattan’s indifference to the way that we perceive reality as well.  His continual search for love, despite his omniscience, is given another complex layer in the form of his romance with Angela Abar, and the unanswered questions we are left with in terms of his lasting impact on her continued life are simultaneously satisfying and frustrating, as any good story ending should be.  The seamless inclusion of what seemed to be a separate Adrian Veidt story helped bring it all home.

Those who were lucky enough to be following the Peteypedia during the run of the series were also given additional insight into the world of the show.  The texts provided gave us a look into the world that Lindelof built, including insight into Lady Trieu and her many business interests, continued connections to the Fogdancer lore from the original Watchmen, a look at how Nostalgia went from being a fad to a blacklisted item, and even an easter egg that answered a question that many viewers of the show were left believing was a hanging thread.  Totally random, but in a world with limited technology, I thought Lady Trieu’s use of an elephant as a makeshift hard drive was great writing.

Cal always seemed a bit too reserved not to be noticed, and yet to many (including myself), his reveal as Dr. Manhattan came as a complete shock.  Only a small number of people in the community were predicting this, and the payoff was one of the most rewarding in my recollection of TV reveals.  His calm and kind nature fits the predetermined mold, the revelation answered the question of how Angela survived the White Night, and his final moments being quotes from the Watchmen comic brought definitive connection between the HBO series and the original comic run.

Bian was another character that hid in plain sight, with the revelation of her turning out to be Lady Trieu’s mother helping tie the twisted knot (no pun intended) that was the relationship of Bian, Lady Trieu and Adrian Veidt.  Her creation also serves as a hint towards her intentions to supplant Dr. Manhattan, as her creation of Bian in her mother’s image mirrors Manhattan’s creation of Phillips and Crookshanks on Europa in homage of their impact on his life.

The understanding of who Mr. Phillips and Ms. Crookshanks were also sheds new light on the depths of Adrian’s cruelty, which we later learn was simply done as a tactic to keep himself from going mad during his ‘captivity’ on Europa.  Learning about their love and how it inspired Dr. Manhattan to create life in their image made the repeat burning of Mr. Phillips in front of Crookshanks during their performances of The Watchmaker’s Son cruel in retrospect, and while the numerous copies he killed to create his message for help were ultimately a sick, sad means to an end, it does seem that Adrian reveled in the dispatching of his ‘foes’.

If you watched this series without keeping tabs on the Peteypedia, you were watching Watchmen all wrong.

EXPECTATIONS AND REALITY

The ending made sense, I will give it that.  The way that the Millennium Clock was being built up, however, as well as the vagueness of Will’s connection to Lady Trieu, led me to believe that a mesmerizing operation would take place.  This, in my opinion, would have been a proper bookend to the inclusion of the Tulsa Riots, the White Night and the theater riot that happened while Will Reeves was a cop in New York, courtesy of Cyclops and the mesmerizing ray.  Police Chief Judd Crawford’s death at the hands of Will would have played as a test run for large scale chaos.  As Lindelof stated in one of the previous episodes of the Watchmen Podcast, however, once Dr. Manhattan lays his cards on the table, the nature of the game changes.  It was inevitable that any and all focus would shift to him once his presence on Earth was felt, but the way that Lady Trieu ultimately tried to Scooby Doo villain her way into Dr. Manhattan’s powers made logical sense, but lacked the imagination I would have come to expect from the self-proclaimed ‘smartest woman in the world’.  Playing the ending that did take place as Dr. Manhattan’s chance to make a selfless gesture, however, did make up for the imagination with emotional ingredients.

THE QUESTIONS

The only true questions here are whether or not Lindelof (or another creator) will choose to continue Watchmen as a series.  In light of this, my questions would center around the following thoughts : 

- What would the impact on the world be if Angela Abar was able to inherit any form of Dr. Manhattan’s powers?

- With no internet in the current world of Watchmen, how would a rogue Dale Petey share his information?

- With the power structure of Cyclops and the Seventh Kalvary obliterated, will the remaining members of the Seventh Kalvary continue to be a force of opposition?

- Unless I missed something, it seems that Bian survived what Lady Trieu did not... could this open the door to Trieu Industries continuing under her hand?

- With Special Agent Blake having seemingly arrested Adrian Veidt, does this open the door for a Night Owl appearance, seeing as both men would theoretically be Federal prisoners?

Nobody at this point knows what is in store for the future of Watchmen, but with this series having a successful ending, and the conclusion of Doomsday Clock on the horizon, I can imagine folks like myself will be hungry for more.

[theteenagetrickster]

D'Angelo's 'Witchcraft' Redefined What an R&B Album Can Be

A four-and-a-half-minute-long, NSFW video recording changed the whole program of D'Angelo's career.

"Untitled (Exactly How Performs It Feel)" begins accidently, panning coming from the vocalist's nice cornrows to his gap-toothed grin. Stripped-down and also susceptible, the normally smooth performer looks slightly uneasy. This pain is relatable; it is actually the sensation of undressing before somebody who has never ever observed you nude. With his look corrected below his midsection, you're left behind pondering what the heck is actually going on below the chance. In a job interview along with? uestlove, the vocalist would not assure or reject if he was actually obtaining dental sex, but his superficial breathing merely contributes to the implication. The magnetism of "Untitled," as well as it's exciting grandeur, makes it very easy to miss out on the Jesus crucifix pendant hanging coming from his back. The dichotomy of religion as well as sexuality has actually been the core pressure in the production of D'Angelo.

Even with the results of 1995's Brown Sugar, and also eventually Witchcraft-- which transforms twenty years outdated today-- the R&B vocalist stayed an enigma: He was actually evolving as D'Angelo, the sex symbolic representation, yet dealing with like heck to be actually Michael Archer, the choir young boy who grew in his father's Pentecostal religion. The measure of Dark quality is actually frequently assessed by just how remarkably our company may harmonize our double awareness: that we are actually versus who the world identifies our company to be. Honored as the second coming of Prince, D'Angelo's radiance plagued him, as well as his sophomore album will test just how much he was willing to compromise for self-preservation.

"As I started to hear what ended up being Voodoo, I swiftly started to recognize that this was actually not simply Brown Sugar part 2," excursion supervisor Alan Leeds said in the docudrama. "It was crystal clear to me that he went to the forefront of no matter where Dark popular music was visiting use the following 10 or twenty years."

Created in his bed room on a 4-track in Richmond, Brown Glucose pleases each of the detects. The "cherry in [his] chocolate-covered goals" remains on your lips on "Me and also Those Dreamin' Eyes of Mine," and you can easily see his blood-stained hands through the side of the bluesy "Crap, Damn, Motherfucker." D'Angelo's songwriting frequently mixes fragrant as well as scrumptious, as he carries out on the record's eponymous solitary. "I receive higher on your affection, do not recognize exactly how to behave," wasn't for dramatic impact; it was actually an ode to a forthright as balmy as the hooptie you hotboxed in college. Reprising 90s R&B in his picture, D'Angelo was actually identical parts Sly Rock and A People Referred To As Pursuit; this crash of soul and also road offered childbirth to a brand-new label of rhythm as well as blues that fit him like a handwear cover. "I was regularly choosing to make hip-hop without possessing to seem R&B," he informed? uestlove.

"After [Brown Sugar] was performed I enjoyed it, yet there were certain songs that I experienced it lost one thing in between the demonstration version plus all of the creation that went into it," he said in a 2014 meeting with Reddish Bull Popular Music Academy. After thinking that his debut came to be "a little homogenized," D'Angelo generated his consequence to test the mainstream. "Straight from the cow to the glass-- that's what Voodoo was actually," he pointed out.

As followers awaited an additional cd and also the second fifty percent of the 90s played out, life didn't seem to slow down. The O.J. Simpson murder trial split the country, along with the absolution of the previous expert football gamer astonishing The United States. Louis Farrakhan's attempt to industry the Thousand Man March as a symbol of unity didn't assist the Dark community's social anguish. Tupac and also Big deal's massacres were actually mindless, and also when the Nyc Cops Division shot 41 chance ats Amadou Diallo, a disarmed 23-year-old immigrant from Guinea, the target on the spines of Black men were amplified. As the many years wound down, Bill Clinton, who Toni Morrison the moment referred to as our "initial Dark president," was dealing with impeachment for an occasion with Monica Lewinsky, a White Property trainee.

Twenty years later, United States has finally seen 2 terms of its own actual first Black president, yet the country remains mistaken in myriad ways: possible impeachment is actually as soon as again on the perspective, appealing sporting activities heroes are actually still confined in massacre hearings, and also cops violence remains to dominate the titles. Voodoo's brilliant depends on D'Angelo's selection to make an album as incomplete as the amount of times.

The cd's title alone redeemed dark magic decades just before the expression "black (gal) miracle" became a symbol of empowerment. Glorifying the spiritual methods of the American South, Caribbean islands, as well as West Africa, Voodoo symbolized the marital relationship of the intricacies of Dark life and also faith affecting his sound. Somewhat than decrease Vodou to spells and ritual killings, the performer conjured the soul of the Haitians that birthed the faith on slavery farmsteads.

"I discovered that everything that exists, all music, stems from Africa," D'Angelo said to desire hampton in a 2000 problem of FEEL. "I began to find all the links of music aiming back to Africa, and I wished to show all those styles. Like what Sly was actually attempting to perform, like what Royal prince was actually attempting to carry out, as well as Jimi too."

D'Angelo taped Voodoo at Greenwich Town's Electric Girl Studios. Certainly there, summoning the power of Hendrix-- that developed the studio in the 70s-- as well as packing it with signboards of various other soul guys like Royal prince as well as The Isley Brothers, he made it a shrine to his heroes. As an adolescent in Richmond, a prospective mentorship with Ellis Marsalis Jr. dropped through, and now, he had actually located the positive side: training would possess created him also brightened, and also Witchcraft was the reverse of formal musicality. The recording of Voodoo was fully uncustomary. Envious a demo-like premium that was actually shed on Brownish Sweets, he videotaped most of the album in one take, determining what to keep after playback. Tunes appeared primarily out of jam treatments, along with tracks like "Greatdayndamornin'" and "The Origin" fastened all together through designer Russ Elevado.

What is actually most significant isn't just the means they recorded, yet exactly how they participated in." [Witchcraft] revolutionized how audio equipments and reside guitars could possibly sound," guitar player Jesse Johnson pointed out in Devil's Cake. "It was actually so anti-music market, I liked it since also the trendiest song, which was 'Untitled,' really did not possess a headline." Working with reduced zing drums as well as a regular 4-string bass guitar, Witchcraft was actually a snarling whisper compared to its contemporaries.? uest's drumming was modeled after J Dilla's trademark type, "bit [ping] to seamless gutter pail degrees," or even playing inaccurate, as he commonly explains it.

Certainly not only was the manufacturing highly textured, yet thus was actually the album's lyricism. The off-center drumming and distant vocals of "Hen Oil" developed a special combination for his analogies. Poultry, much like music, is ideal with the remainders of tastes the oil carries, as well as D'Angelo desired listeners to taste that spice. "Simmer to a sizzle like the day of outdated/ Yet I'll wait til I've learnt this, allow the others go initially," he vocalizes. This notion of frowning at brilliance, as well as the reparations it asks for, haunt him on various other tunes like "Free throw line": "I mentioned the tension is on/ Coming from every viewpoint, political to individual," he performs. "Will I dangle or even receive left behind hangin'?/ Will I diminish, or even is it bangin'?"

Despite his insecurities, Voodoo was a transformation. It was a middle finger to bureaucracy relating to the restrictions positioned on Dark popular music, but it was actually also a method of healing.

The only issue was, his setting as a recently produced sex symbolic representation was actually risking his principles, ultimately ending up being a disturbance coming from his songs.

Adhering to "Untitled," D'Angelo concerts ended up being a storm of demands to find him shirtless, regardless of the gravitation of the tunes on Voodoo. He 'd oblige, stripping down as rapidly as twenty mins in to his collection simply to keep his enthusiasts fulfilled. Carrying out became the form of chains he performed approximately on "Evil one's Pie," a monitor more hip-hop than R&B that was made through DJ Premier. "The spirit of the vocals is actually extra like a chain gang, or even area of servants, choosing whatever the fuck owner had our company picking, and also's what our experts 'd be actually vocal singing in the very hot fucking sunlight," he informed Red Upward. Prating off the strange traits folks do for amount of money as well as desire, he performs certainly not exclude himself. "Who am I to warrant/ All the misery in our eye/ When I myself feel the higher/ From everything I abhor?" he performs. D'Angelo devoted the following 14 years hunting for the response to that concern.

To be actually Dark as well as exceptional methods that you must be both in all times. There is actually seldom any sort of space for mistake, and also it's certainly not adequate to simply be actually dazzling-- you must be actually "twice as excellent." "Everything short of one's absolute best is a different off the upright and also slim put together for our team by whatever generation went through before our team-- as well as a dishonor to what we owe them," Steven Undergrowth composed for. The skills of Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, Donny Hathaway, Jimi Hendrix, Marvin Gaye, as well as D'Angelo's peer J Dilla were actually darkened through their fatalities. The idea that D'Angelo's destiny can represent those of his heroes paralyzed Michael Archer, and an individual.

Reborn in the time of Dark Lives Concern, D'Angelo's long-awaited Black Messiah gotten here in 2014 as a response to the massacre of Michael Brown, a disarmed teenager, due to the Ferguson Cops Department. Even with his 3rd album being actually near-complete for virtually two years, he possessed reservations concerning discharging it. "He yearned for one thing that was actually much more free-flowing, that more showed anarchy as well as seriousness as well as circle," Jocelyn Cooper, that signed the vocalist in the 90s, said to. Every thing he knew on his sophomore cd was happening cycle.

When Sorcery was actually complete, D'Angelo revealed that his mission was actually to boost the audios of his preferred artists, as opposed to example all of them.? uestlove talked to the singer, "Thus would certainly you point out that [the album] is actually that eyesight materialized?"

"Yeah ... but not entirely," D'Angelo pointed out. "I seem like it is actually the start of it. We refined it with Witchcraft."

Kristin Corry is a workers author for VICE.Additional picture through: Frank Micelotta/Getty Images

This content was originally published here.

[bmaxwell]

Top games of 2019

For much of the year I thought I might have a hard time building a solid list of 10 games. As it turned out, I could have made a top 20 without much trouble. So it was a good year for games, but maybe there weren’t many 10/10 classics for me. I did have BT’s, BB’s, and even a BD-1 though!

First up, my Old Game of Year: Yakuza 0

The dichotomy between Yakuza 0′s melodramatic main story and its silly tongue-in-cheek side missions made the game an absolute joy to play. One minute you’re dealing with warring Yakuza factions and torn loyalties, and the next you’re doing minigames like karaoke, bowling, RC car racing, and darts, and then you’re helping a dominatrix find her confidence or helping a human statue sneak away from his post to go take a much-needed shit. All throughout you’re also beating the shit out of legions of street thugs and yakuza dudes using kicks, punches, bats, bicycles, salt shakers, teapots, and whatever else is handy. I fell in love with this game in a way I very much did not expect.

Also good ”old” games:  World of Final Fantasy, Ni No Kuni 2, Steamworld Heist, Odin Sphere Leifthrasir

Best Music: Death Stranding

The game’s score is good, but the licensed music was key in some of Death Stranding’s best moments. The above song starts playing during your first journey in the game, and the tone is just spot-on perfect. Death Stranding works for me in a similar way that American Truck Simulator works for me. When you’re barely surviving a long trek, and a peaceful, melancholy song starts playing just as you reach the top of the hill and finally see your destination? Just perfect.

Also excellent music: Sayonara Wild Hearts

Most disappointing: Control

Well, I got fucking Alan Wake’d by Remedy again. Fantastic atmosphere and setting for a game, cocked up by repetitive, boring combat. So much about Control is so very good. I love the mystery of the janitor and the main character, the Twilight Zone/X-Files vibe of the agency and the Oldest House. The game’s architecture is arresting, and the writing is excellent. 

But for me it was undone by the combat which quickly became a tedious, thing I had to Get Through to see more of the good stuff, and the more challenging fights became something I just didn’t want to engage with anymore. The checkpoint system and maps weren’t helpful, and I received too many optional side quests that I couldn’t complete because I hadn’t found the necessary traversal power yet. I loved so much about the game, but the moment to moment playing of the game was frequently not fun for me.

Ultimately it felt like a game that did not respect my time. The game desperately needed an Easy setting so I could just blow through the bits that I didn’t like. Like Alan Wake, I expect to be pulled back into it and then bounce off again at least two more times. 

And now, the games that were in the running for the top 10 but missed the cut:

Dicey Dungeons:

You roll dice and spend them to activate equipment, gaining more equipment as you go. It’s a close cousin to deckbuilding games, but a little lighter and more forgiving. Slotting dice into cards feels good though. The variety in characters and cards help give this game good replay value. Give me randomized cards/gear, and characters to unlock in a run-based game and I’m a happy guy.

Judgment:

Yakuza minus Kiryu and Majima, with some investigation minigames thrown in. It’s pretty good! Most of the new detective minigames feel like they get in the way (tailing people is just silly, taking photos doesn’t work great). I never really felt strongly compelled to stick with it though. I miss the charm of Kiryu and the grime of 80′s Kamurocho. It’s an excellent game I might have enjoyed more if I hadn’t played Yakuza first.

Chocobo’s Mystery Dungeon: Everybuddy!:

This port of a Nintendo Wii roguelike is one that I missed in its original incarnation. It’s got the “I move - all the enemies move” turn-based gameplay that I love, and classes to unlock. All of this is very much my shit. It’s goofy the way that Final Fantasy games are, and the design feels older than it is (I thought it was a PS2 port before I looked it up). But hey - give me stuff to unlock and the old “I move - you move” gameplay and, again, I’m a happy guy.

Ring Fit Adventure

This game is getting me to exercise just about every day. It’s not a great video game (nor should it try to be) but as a workout tool it’s wonderful for someone like me who has trouble finding the time and motivation to go out of the house and exercise.

Untitled Goose Game

You are a winged angel of chaos in this joyous little game. I found the gameplay itself to be pretty shallow and lacking, but it’s a wonderful sandbox to play in. Tormenting people is great fun, and the way the goose animates is just perfect.

Table of Tales: The Crooked Crown

This was the PSVR game that stood out the most for me this year. It’s a tactical RPG complete with a DM that narrates everything, tiles to move your characters around on, and card-based combat. It’s a charming game and I hope they make more. 

Luigi’s Mansion 3

This was my first game in the series, and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. It’s a charming game, and the variety from floor to floor. I could forgive the wonky control scheme, but I think there’s just a low ceiling on how much a cutesy, family-friendly Nintendo title can resonate with me these days.

Dragon Quest Builders 2

Dragon Quest and Minecraft had a baby. This was my favorite game of the year for turning my brain off and checking things off a list. I’m not sure Dragon Quest Builders 2 is a Great Game, but it’s wonderful gaming comfort food for a Dragon Quest fan.

Void Bastards

Void Bastards might be this year’s Dead Cells - a run based game that never quite hooked me, but I’ll keep coming back to it. The developers really did a lot without a lot of variety in the way of art assets. It’s a satisfying, often funny shooter (admittedly not my jam). What a terrific name though.

Steamworld Quest

The Steamworld series is an impressive, weird thing. I’ve never seen a series change genres like this; they started with Steamworld Dig (Metroidvania) then made Heist (a tactical combat game) then another Dig, and finally this year they released Steamworld Quest - a deckbuilding RPG. Customization and unlockables are among my favorite gaming buzzwords, and they’re here in spades.

Sayonara Wild Hearts

More of a visual companion set to a pop album than a conventional game. This is for me what Rez was for a lot of folks. Most stages are autorunners where you’re collecting hearts, dodging obstacles, shooting giant wolves, and fighting lesbians while racing atop motorcycles. It’s a story about love, heartbreak, and finding yourself, told through music and images. Nice to have a game that feels like it was made specifically for marginalized folks.

10. Concrete Genie

Concrete Genie’s best trait is its earnestness - an increasingly rare thing in 2019. It’s about an artistic being pursued by bullies in a run-down town. He finds a magic brush that lets him paint friendly monsters into life and also paint magical landscape scenes onto buildings in an effort to bring life back to the town.

The themes of the game and how they’re handled feel a little after school special to me, but the game has a lot of heart. And the gameplay loop of creating monsters, painting buildings, and unlocking new types of things to paint never got old because it’s so damned beautiful. And you have a lot of room to be creative with how you paint. The game is not challenging, and I think the experience is better for it. There is some light platforming, puzzling, and combat, but none of it ever got frustrating. A wholesome game like this was a very welcome thing this year.

9. Indivisible

Indivisible is a odd mashup of platformer, RPG, and fighting game that blends those well enough that I can't easily put it into any one box. For me, it’s the closest to a fighting game I’ve played in probably 20 years. It has launchers and finishers and timed blocks. You collect a big old army of people you can swap in and out, the writing is smart. The platforming parts are the weakest part of the game, as some of the jumping challenges can feel uneven, and there’s a lot of “I see what I have to do, now I just need to try over and over until I execute”

The setting (Asian mythology as a backdrop) and combat felt unique enough to keep me going, and the game has a charm and personality. I like how the main character is a well-intended fuck up that has to atone for her mistakes, somewhat reminiscent of Mae from Night in the Woods.

8. Children of Morta

This is an action RPG with character progression where you are playing members of a family. The gameplay is solid, and the game drip feeds story and character interaction between runs. It’s a well-narrated and charming thing. The writing can be funny and often touching. There are story bits like the uncle crafting a pair of daggers for Kevin, who falls in love with them. Mary - his mother - takes them away for being too dangerous, and she doesn’t want her boy putting himself at risk helped me feel invested in the characters and story more than most ARPG’s.

The movement and combat feel snappy, and there are plenty of skills to unlock so you always feel like progress was made even when a run falls short. There are plenty of little secrets and tchotchkes to find in the dungeons, and between runs you can see the family members doing their own thing in the house where they live together. It’s a refreshing take on the action RPG genre.

7.  Outer Worlds

I remember when The Outer Worlds was announced at The Game Awards. None of this checks any boxes for me: sci-fi setting, shooting, wacky characters. You can make your character DUMB and get special dialogue choices! Humor in game very rarely works for me, and this sounded like it was going to be that jaded, shitty Rockstar brand of humor. Hard pass from me.

Enter Xbox Game Pass. The Outer Wilds Worlds started getting positive word of mouth and it was included with Game Pass, so I figured I may as well give it a go. I encountered something I didn’t expect: really terrific writing.

I turned the difficulty down to its lowest settings and mowed through the game, savoring the tongue-in-cheek dialogue in a world where corporations own literally everything. The first character you meet is hiding out in a cave because he’s been wounded. Not too wounded to give you the company’s sales pitch though! It’s not the best choice, it’s Spacer’s Choice.

The whole “corporations are in charge” bleak humor hits more than it misses, but the real star of the show is your companions. They are generally convincing and feel like real, fleshed out characters and not simple tropes. Each companion character gets their own interesting set of side quests (except for the dumb boring robot companion). My first companion Parvati’s story revolved around mustering the courage to pursue a romantic relationship with a woman. They wrote Parvati as an asexual character, and it felt natural and not forced - not an easy task. 

It leans into being a dumb video game in all the right ways and made me care about the characters more than the story. The story’s cynicism wore thin eventually, but the game ended at just about the right time and didn’t overstay its welcome.

6. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

Jedi Fallen Order lies at the intersection of 2 things I admire more than enjoy: Star Wars and Souls-likes. It’s also EA doing their best to show that they can release a AAA Star Wars game with no microtransactions after the tire fire that was Star Wars Battlefront II. This game is an excellent make-good for EA, though I’m sure it’s more “We had to do this to restore consumer trust in us” than any real change of heart.

This game, at the time of this writing on a base PS4 anyhow, has some jank. Textures would often pop in after a second or two, I had a Stormtrooper get stuck in place like a statue, and I had a couple of hard crashes. Despite all of that, I kept coming back to the game every night until it was finished. And it impressed me enough to put an EA Star Wars game in my top 10. You win, universe. The combat was a good balance of fun shit like force-pushing dude off a cliff and tense one-on-one battle where parries and dodges are needed to get by.

The game’s story is what kept me wanting to see what was next. It’s a game set in the Star Wars universe with the confidence to resist reminding you of the characters and places you know from the films, and it’s better for it. I found myself invested in the fates of the characters. While the main character is more or less a blank cipher for the player, he’s still a better protagonist than Anakin Skywalker because I didn’t actively dislike him.

5. Bloodstained 

New games succeeding as remakes or homages with goofy videogame-ass videogame stuff was sure a theme this year. Bloodstained is so ridiculous in so many ways. A lady asked me to bring her a specific piece of armor to honor one of the fallen villagers. When I did so, she tearfully thanked me then gave me 3 pizzas as a reward. The paintings on the walls will often come to life and attack you; those paintings are all portraits of people who backed the game on Kickstarter. One of the enemies resembles a giant house cat, another is a giant domestic dog. NPC’s repeat the same dialogue, such as a quest giver named Lindsay who says “Kill those murderers DEAD!” every time you speak to her. 

And there is a metric ton of shit to find, collect, and craft. Most of the gear you equip looks goofy as hell. And the more new skills and gear you unlock, the more overpowered and broken you feel. The dialogue is corny as hell and plays things straight, which is the only way a screwball game like this actually works. The combat feels good. Experimenting with the powers and systems is a blast, and uncovering the map and secrets is satisfying. 

4. Fire Emblem 3 Houses

- Despite being extremely my kind of shit on the surface, I’ve never done more than dabble with a Fire Emblem game. When I heard people invoking Persona and Harry Potter. I mean, a strategy RPG with relationship stories set in a school environment checks too many of my boxes to ignore.

What surprised me with the game is how much I came to really know the students in my house.* I felt like I knew Bernadetta, Dorothea, Ferdinand, Edelgard, and all the others. Alternating between exploring the school grounds, choosing lesson plans, having tea with a student, and leading them into battle was a nice way to mix up the experience. Training them in skills based on which character class you wanted to promote them to was a nice touch. 

3. Death Stranding

Death Stranding has all of the batshittery it was rumored to have: Norman Reedus hiking around with a baby in a jar, poo grenades, tar squids, and people with names like Die Hardman, Mama, and Fragile. Kojima has about as much subtlety as David Cage with the metaphors and themes of the game. Cell phones latch onto you like handcuffs, and Likes are much sought after to the point where people are addicted to them. The game is all about reuniting America and forging connections. You play as a man named Sam. He’s a porter who works for the Bridges company. His name is Sam Porter Bridges.

Sam is playing a major role in reconnecting the country by hand delivering packages from city to city as well as reconnecting the country up to wifi. Continuing with the games themes, Sam has a touch phobia. It’s a game about isolation and introspection, and about the need for connection with one another. Hideo Kojima makes for damn certain that you know that when you play the game. It’s a little like David Cage, but with less cringe and more weirdness. 

It’s an introspective game full of small moments. Sam curling up under a structure that another player has built, exhausted and cradling his jar baby as a melancholy song plays is the kind of moment that doesn’t play well in a demo or a video, and won’t resonate with everyone. Those of us it does work for, however, are in love with the experience. It takes the hard-to-describe appeal of a game like American Truck Simulator and adds a decidedly human element to it. There is comfort to motion and travel. We like to be rocked, or transported in a vehicle as babies. It’s the simple comfort of motion, and a way to connect to our world. There’s something to that.

I love seeing this level of ambition and weirdness from a major AAA release. 

2.  Disco Elysium

He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man.

I thought of Dr Gonzo of Hunter S Thompson fame early and often while playing Disco Elysium. It’s an easy connection to make; you wake up face down on the floor of a demolished hotel room. You have a wicked hangover, wearing nothing but your undies. Your necktie whirls around the ceiling, attached to the ceiling fan.

I got sloppily dressed and staggered out my door, where I was confronted by an attractive woman in the hall. Some primal part of my character thinks it’s a good idea to ask her to fuck; you crudely do so, and it goes the way you might expect. I was fresh off of playing The Outer Worlds, so I was used to any dialogue prompt associated with a skill being automatically a positive thing. As it turns out, your character gets all sorts of a impulses that aren’t always in your best interests. This first interaction put me off a little bit, I don’t want to play a game that’s trying to be cool and edgy. As it turns out, this isn’t really that.

In Disco Elysium, you play as a cop sent to sort out a murder where a body was found hanging in a tree behind this hotel. Seems that, after 3 days, you’ve managed to run up a hotel bill that you can’t pay for, frighten the patrons by threatening to shoot yourself in the head in the hotel before you lose your badge and your gun. Another cop is sent to assist you since you’ve accomplished exactly nil after 3 days. He’s from another precinct and doesn’t know you, so you haven’t burned up all of your goodwill with him yet (unlike everyone else in your life).

At a glance, it’s a Baldur’s Gate-style isometric RPG with a modern setting. In practice, it’s a lot more than that. First off, the game has no combat. Or rather, no conventional combat. Any physical encounters (which were exceedingly rare in my play) are handled through dialogue choices determined by how you’ve built out your skills. And the way the game manifests your skills is smart and feels organic, not forced.

The skills aren’t the usual RPG fare. There are 24 of them, consisting of stuff like Visual Calculus, volition, Pain Threshold, and Shivers. As you might have guessed, 24 skills in a game with no conventional combat means there is a LOT of writing in this game and just as much variance from one play to the other. My detective was a highly emotionally sensitive guy, able to pick up on what folks may be hiding, very in-tune with the cosmos, and deeply introspective (upsettingly so?).

It’s a detective RPG with a healthy dose of political intrigue, class warfare, and nihilism. Disco Elysium feels like an actual adult game, and not in the “look at all this violence and titties” sense. The best comparison I have is Planescape Torment.

1. Resident Evil 2

- What a complete game. This was my first Resident Evil game and I am in love with it. The game drops you into a hostile environment that slowly transitions from a horror show with danger around every corner to feeling like a space that was very much mine. Creeping around an unfamiliar environment in the dark with a flashlight and limited ammunition, as it turns out, is fun as hell. 

The combat is slow and deliberate in a way that made the action feel satisfying and not cheap; when I did encounter enemies that moved quickly and suddenly, it got my heart rate going. And my arc with Mr X from pure terror to minor annoyance to acceptance as part of this undead infested police station I call home felt pretty special. 

He is an indestructible character that follows you endlessly like the Terminator. You’re faster, but he is relentless. Hearing his heavy footsteps somewhere in the vicinity was a nice atmospheric touch. I had a couple of instances where I was running from something, turned a corner and collided with this 8 foot tall beast.

Resident Evil 2 is just the ideal dose of scariness, and gets all the dumb videogame-y parts exactly right. It feels like a Metroidvania, a world filled with locks and keys where the secrets are drip-fed to the player. Creeping through an unfamiliar area with only 2 shotgun shells and 5 pistol rounds left was a deliciously tense experience, one that other games rarely give me.

The game’s second playthrough felt a lot more different from the first than I’d feared. I’ve never really played another Resident Evil game, and I’ve never had any interest in horror games. And now here I am anxiously awaiting next year’s RE3 remake. 

*Black Eagles, baby!

[bethsteury]

“Come to Maine next fall,” urged my “new” brother Alan as his visit to Indiana wound down, in September of 2017.

He had traveled a thousand plus miles to meet us, the half-sister and family DNA had linked to his paternal side, and now he was inviting us to visit him and his family, and become acquainted with the area where my birthfather and siblings grew up.

We loved the idea from the first mention and so began the murmurings and repeated references to “Maine next October”.

But first we’d journey to Hawaii to meet my birthfather and sister, and if the opportunity arose, Alan implored us to mention the plans for our trip east in 2018. And while we were at it, why not convince bio dad to join the fun? It arose, we mentioned, he showed interest.

All year we talked about “Maine in October”, hoping our entire immediate family couldmake the trip. The thought of meeting more biological relatives and the chance to introduce my kids and grandson to their biological grandfather / great-grandfather, had my mind whirling. Of course, we’d have to finagle around the work schedule of six adults on our end and one in Maine and encourage retired bio dad to get on board.

With a fair amount of ease on our side, the pieces fell into place and the hoped-for trip shifted to a reality with confirmed vacation time for the working adults. And then came an affirmative nod from birthfather/grandpa/great-grandpa.

So many firsts to look forward to . . . None of us had been to Maine which we’d heard to be simply gorgeous in the fall. Our immediate family hadn’t vacationed together since a weekend excursion when six-year-old grandson Dylan was still housed snuggly in his mommy’s tummy. And the chance to meet more bio family in the form of nephews, first cousins, second cousins, and a grandpa.

My organizational planning genes rallied and shifted into overdrive as a thousand details begged for attention. The “fixer” part of my personality, aided by my tendency to worry and my leanings toward perfectionism, all yearned for this second, once-in-a-lifetime trip, (Hawaii being the first) to be awesomely amazing in every way for all seven of us. After months of late-night planning, the day of our departure finally arrived.

Our flights, although exciting for the first-time fliers among us, were thankfully uneventful in air-travel terms. Having left a 95% green landscape in Indiana, the fall foliage that greeted us, even from the air, was stunning. “Gram, it’s all orange!” exclaimed Dylan, peering out the window as we descended toward our final destination.

With only one mishap involving a lost jacket and wallet, we arrived—two from Colorado and five from Indiana—in time to meet for dinner. Or supper, depending on your term of preference for the evening meal.

A lot of taking it all in took place around the table that first night after the initial introductions. As I watched my daughter and son interact with our newly discovered relatives, I was sooooo grateful that my husband and I had already met those in attendance that night. It would have been far too overwhelming for all of us to meet the new kin for the first time, at the same time.

“You look like my mother,” announced bio dad, pointing at me from the other end of the table. An observation that had been made time and again over the past eighteen months about my Grammy, as my siblings referred to her, who’d been gone for thirty years.

With the promise of more family introductions and time together tomorrow, we retreated to our Airbnb lake house, with a bountiful supply of groceries. I breathed a huge sigh of . . . something much more than relief. Spirits remained high despite a long day of travel, the lake house was beautiful and would suit our needs well, the radio had declared the fall foliage at “peak” this weekend, and my children, their significant others, and grandson had been welcomed by my biological family.

  For the next three full days, we took in the sights of this new-to-us breath-taking part of the country and made up for lost time with family as eager to spend time with us as we were to be with them. Alan hosted our gang, his family, and our bio dad accompanied by our Thai sister, for a total of twenty, at his house for a feast of steamed lobsters and clams. We were all about indulging in the local cuisine. When in Maine, you know.

We pored over old pictures accompanied by tales of times long ago. Remarked on likenesses that I honestly will never grow tired of discovering, like how young Alan’s pictures bare a striking resemblance to our son. And might Dylan and Alan’s granddaughter, Eliza, look a bit alike as well? The siblings chatted, first cousins mingled, the second cousins raced around as youngin’s do. And as Alan had once suggested, we didn’t think about the relationships in terms of “halves”.

The next day found us gathered for Sunday brunch, the traditional family-together-time bio dad hosted when he journeyed back to his old stompin’ grounds. We tucked the second cousins in a booth with crayons and such next to the long table of hungry, talkative adults. Our end of the table was quieter. Not so much because this was our first family Sunday brunch, but because this was it. The last time we’d all be together as a group, a family, on this trip. By now familiar with and learning to be accepting of how this new-to-us family was not the get-together-often type, did not stop the unspoken wonderings and the questioning glances shared between us. Would we see them again? If so, when and how and where? Very similar contemplations to those that had weighed heavily on me when leaving Hawaii.

But the more important concern of the moment, a group photo to capture the special occasion. Many candid shots had been snapped at the family bash/lobster fest the previous evening by our son’s girlfriend who happens to be an accomplished artist and photographer. But the group pics had been saved for last. So, we transitioned outside to a spot bio dad had scoped out, despite his well-known camera-shy status. Sunshine warmed the fall air as our personal photographer shuffled us about, offering bright-sun-don’t-squint tips. Oh, one of the siblings together? Of course. How about great-grandpa with the little ones? Absolutely.

And then too soon, it was time for goodbyes. I beckoned my kids not to miss the final moments with their grandpa. “This is goodbye,” I said, motioning them toward him as the group spread out across the parking lot as if we’d reserved the space. “Not goodbye, so long,” he insisted as hugs and parting comments were exchanged. Lots of hugging all around, more moments captured on film by our attentive photographer. Then, with a sweeping wave to his offspring, bio dad excused himself. The photo session continued as the rest of us lingered, soaking up the togetherness, making memories, and being silly. A last, final round of goodbyes sent us on our separate ways.

I felt sort of numb as we drove away, pushing back against the acceptance of how normal family functioned for these folks. But no tears, choosing instead to drink in the autumn beauty and focus on the remaining time together for the seven of us. Besides, another adventure awaited us that afternoon.

At Boothbay Harbor, we buttoned up for an hour plus boat tour of the nearby islands under clear, bright blue skies. Some of us huddled together against the chilly wind at the bow for the best view of the shoreline, the lighthouse, the seals, while others took in the sights from the heated quarters below deck. Later, we dined at the water’s edge, indulging in more of Maine’s fresh seafood, entertained by Gus, the restaurant’s seagull mascot.

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The next day, Alan joined us for a two-mile hike in a gorgeous woods that set our cameras to clicking.  We shared a fun, delicious burrito lunch at a local establishment, one we vowed would make our list of regular haunts if we lived in the area. As the younger five of our party would be flying home in the morning, it was time for them to bid “so long” to Uncle Alan. The sentiments all around filled with sincere promises to meet up again. Goodbyes are no fun, you know? Even the “so long” kind.

grandson Dylan

A last evening of lounging together at the lake house brought our totally awesome, did-not-disappoint, whole family vacation to an end. After dropping the fam at the airport the next morning, we settled into a hotel for three more days of soaking up all things Maine. On the agenda? More local cuisine with Alan, a jaunt to Acadia National Park, and of course, a cemetery field trip, as what would a vacation to a genealogically significant locale be without a trip to a cemetery or three?

But first “There’s something I want to show you . . . ” Alan beckoned us to his car for a mystery excursion. He pointed out landmarks, “We went to high school here,” and other interesting trivia as we cruised about the nearby tiny town where he and my siblings had spent most of their growing up years. And then, he whipped out the file folder containing the pictures that he’d brought to Indiana from Maine, that had traveled with us to Hawaii before journeying back to their home in Maine. He held up a photo of my three smiling half-siblings as children, sitting on an outside staircase. “This was taken right here.” He pointed out my car window at that very staircase. My mouth agape, I held the photo to the window. It was a truly wow, goose bump moment. A minute later, we stopped at another exact past-picture location and then a third. For those brief minutes, I felt totally immersed in my siblings younger lives.

Then it was on to the gravestones of our grandparents and great grandparents as well as various aunts, uncles, and cousins. Folks I knew from studying their vital statistics on the family tree. Inspired by Dylan’s attention to the family markers back in Indiana, Alan had spent time tending the plots and stones a few months earlier.

  We drank in the stunning beauty of Acadia National Park. We indulged in more local eats and took in every possible local sight, right up to the moment of rushing to the airport to catch our flight home. By week’s end, we’d compiled at least a hundred reasons for coming back to Maine, including the extended family reunion the next July for our grandmother’s branch of the family tree.

Alan had indeed accomplished his goal: that we would have such a great time we’d want to come back to Maine, often.

So long, Maine. Until next time . . .

Alan, me, husband Mike 

      Meeting the Bio Family: Chapter 9 — “Maine in October” “Come to Maine next fall,” urged my “new” brother Alan as his visit to Indiana wound down, in September of 2017.

[woodworkingpastor]

Living Generously 2 Corinthians 8:1-15 September 2, 2018

Call to Worship

© 2018 Thom Shuman. www.lectionaryliturgies.com

To abide in you; to find strength in you; to worship you in these moments,

we gather, O God.

To challenge the evil around us; to bring healing to the hurt; to offer hope to the vulnerable,

we follow, Jesus our Brother.

To learn how to live; to put away our old gods; to stick with God in every moment,

we listen, Holy Spirit.

2 Corinthians has been an interesting and challenging letter, in part because it deals with some very difficult topics with a congregation experiencing significant conflict, and in part because it deals with these topics directly.  It’s one thing to say “love your neighbor as yourself” in a general way. It’s when you start naming specific neighbors and the various things they do that make your life difficult that the conversation becomes tricky.

The church has a long tradition of engaging in spiritual practices to help us increase our awareness of the Spirit of God around us as we encounter things like difficult neighbors and angry social media posts and too much month at the end of our money and a whole host of other challenges.  The church believes that the living of our faith is strengthened by regular things like prayer, study, fellowship, and footwashing.

At breakfast this morning you had the opportunity to name one or two spiritual disciplines you have found important. Here’s what you said:  List on Power Point.

Because 2 Corinthians has been so challenging at times, it seems good that in this last look we’ll take it easy, and just talk about money. What could be the harm in that?!?!  Giving is a spiritual discipline that we practice every week. Its regularity is both a strength and a weakness: we have the routine of thinking about how Jesus is Lord of our wallet each week in worship, but the danger in doing anything in a regular fashion is that it becomes routine. The idea that we would make offerings to God is a dominant part of the Scripture from all the way back in Genesis 3. We allow it to become routine at the peril of our soul.

How does sharing our money with others strengthen us in our walk with Christ?

One of the fascinating tidbits of the New Testament is that tucked in amongst all the theological discussion, historical reflection, controversial debates, and the waiting for Jesus to return, is mention of an offering Paul is collecting on behalf of the poor in Jerusalem. It is mentioned here in 2 Corinthians 8 and perhaps in three or four other places.

The offering has its origins in the Jerusalem Conference of Acts 15.  There we read about the significant theological controversy of the New Testament era concerning who could be Christian and what you had to do to become a Christian. That’s more than we want to get into today; the point that I want to raise is that as the church leaders who gathered in Jerusalem to settle that issue wrote their report, they sent Paul and Barnabas on their way to meet people and share the grace of Jesus Christ, and plant churches, and call leadership to serve those churches, they also gave them the instruction to “remember the poor.”  It’s not that difficult a thing to wrap our minds around; the significance is that hardwired into the fundamental DNA of any local congregation is the instruction to care for the poor folks in our midst.  It’s simply part of Gospel ministry.

Think about what this looked like: as Paul went throughout Asia and Macedonia planting churches, not only was he instructing them to care for the poor who might be members of their own congregations, he was also introducing them to some Christians back in Jerusalem, persons with whom they shared a spiritual connection, because Paul’s conversion came from their experience.  He is essentially doing one of those ancestry.com family trees—helping them understand that their faith doesn’t just appear out of thin air; we are all connected to one another.

So you have people coming to faith in Christ, leaving their old ways behind, and also learning that Jesus was Lord of their income as well.  Those of you who are new to the church have a somewhat similar experience; we talk about some of this in the new members class; being part of a church isn’t just about a private experience between you and Jesus; there are other relationships that our congregation deeply values and is informed by.

Paul has already spoken to them about this at the end of 1 Corinthians: they were to set aside a bit each week when they gathered for worship; the next time he was by, he’d see that it got to Jerusalem.

Unfortunately, however, their enthusiasm waned as the controversy with Paul heated up. Like we so often see today; the Corinthians had been withholding their giving in this one area in an attempt to win a theological argument in another area.  As much as we wish it weren’t so, theological controversy does detract from mission. It leaves Paul with a problem: He’s been bragging about their generosity, and representatives from the Macedonian congregation are probably sending a delegation to Jerusalem, that will pass through Corinth.

To help get the Corinthians back on track with this important part of congregational ministry, Paul appeals in verse 7 to a traditional list of spiritual disciplines: he tells them how they excel in everything: in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness.  Paul had lived with his congregation for a year and a half and had exchanged numerous letters with them over the next years. He knows that they are a congregation of overachievers: they want to be the best in everything.  Sometimes this had led them to places of great faithfulness, as they demonstrate spiritual gifts and growth in so many areas. Other times this had helped them get off track, and the Corinthians have excelled in missing the point.

But this offering matters. Obviously, it matters to those who will receive it; this is normally how we make an appeal for a financial offering: “There is this need that you can meet.  Don’t you want to be part of that?”  But this isn’t quite the point Paul is making. Paul’s point is that this offering matters for those who will give it. The Corinthians are missing out on the spiritual benefit available to the giver by not being in the regular habit of setting aside some small sum of money to be sent to their sisters and brothers in Jerusalem.  The fact that these Christians lived almost 2,000 years ago really doesn’t change the fact that for human beings, being financially invested in something engages other parts of our loyalty and commitment than simply hearing about it from time to time.  Other parts of our faith become real in some significant ways that we would otherwise miss.

Paul talks about these, too. He holds up the Macedonian Christians as one example. If you want to excel in your faith, then take a look at these Christians. It might seem that this is a backhanded way of doing this, something like “Why can’t you be like your older brother?” Paul is not above laying it on pretty thick when he thinks something is important; he notes that the Macedonian churches have made a significant contribution to this offering, even in the midst of a “severe ordeal of affliction” and “their extreme poverty.”  The Macedonians “begged…for the privilege of sharing in this ministry.”  You almost hear Paul saying to the Corinthians, “So what in the world is your problem?”

For those who won’t be motivated by guilt, Paul then appeals to Jesus. Jesus was as rich as you could get with his Father in heaven. But Jesus chose to become poor, leaving everything behind so that we might become rich in Christ.  What need is there for us to worry about lacking things when we have Jesus on our side? Our sharing with others comes as an overflow of the grace that we have received and becomes a measure of our faith, something that we can do voluntarily and with great joy.

Finally, Paul points them to themselves. They had made this promise earlier, now is time to follow through on what they’ve already agreed to do.  

Instead, Paul writes that the acceptability of the gift is based on what they have, not what they do not have. Paul is interested that they live out their faith by the abundance of some being used to meet the needs of others.

This offering is an important part of their spiritual lives, based on the commitments they made to one another at their baptism.

Mennonite historian Alan Kreider shares a story of the sacrificial giving Christians in his book, The Patient Ferment of the Early Church.

He tells the story of a “notable conversion in the Egyptian city of Thebes. Early in Emperor Constantine’s reign, gangs of troops carrying out forced military conscription abducted peasants in upper Egypt to serve in the Roman legions and shipped them down the Nile. A vessel carrying these unwilling recruits docked in the city of Thebes, where the military authorities clapped them in prison to prevent them from escaping before being transported farther. Christians in Thebes heard about the prisoners’ distress and responded by bringing them the food and drink that were unavailable in prison. One of the prisoners, Pachomius, asked a local person who the people were who were bringing them help. It was the “Christians, he was told, who ‘were merciful to everyone, including strangers.’ Pachomius pressed further, asking what a Christian was. His informant replied: ‘They are people who bear the name of Christ, the only begotten Son of God, and they do good to everyone, putting their hope in Him who made heaven and earth and us people.’ At this, according to the account, Pachomius’s heart was ‘set on fire.’ In the fear of God he prayed and committed himself henceforth to serve God; and, in the tradition of the Christians who had helped him, he promised to ‘love all people and be their servant according to God’s command.’” (Kreider, 116-7).

One way the church has historically been distinctive from the world around it is in our care for others, even when it means doing without.  How is your faith reflected in your giving?