#tim in scandinavia

[weedle-testaburger]

i was tragically not allowed to take the remaining snusk juice on the plane

[colorful-white-ideas]

Is Bill Skarsgård only in remakes ?

This will be long. Really long.

After the relase of The crow 2024 , a lot of comments have surfaced saying that Bill only do remakes and nothing else. That he is where he is because of nepotism and that he only plays dark characters.

How about we review his trayectory according to his imdb page ? Lets see his eldest credit, how long it took him to position himself in america ( his big break) how many remakes has he done and what genres he explored.

If we go all the way down we will see that his career started in Sweden. His first credit come from the 2000's movie Järngänget where he worked with his brother Alex. Bill was 9 years old aprox. Since then he worked ocationally until his teenage years ,when he took the job more seriously , in consecuense he started to gain fame for himself in scandinavia, even nominations for some roles. Like with simple simon (I rymden finns inga känslor)

In The crown jewels ( Kronjuvelna) we have Alicia Vikander and Bill skarsgard sharing the screen, both are swedish, and later both participated in the 2012 american adaptation of Anna Karenina (Leon tolstoi novel) sadly for Bill ,being Stellan Skarsgård son did not help his small role from being cut out of the movie. Alicia is the one who gets her big break from this by playing Kitty.

Role: Captain Makhotin

But things don't end there, he may have not done it in american movies yet but he did land the role of the vampire / upir Roman Godfrey in Hemlock Grove (series), another adaptation from a book with the same name, on netflix ( small streaming plataform in the early 2010's) he did a total of 3 seasons.

In 2016 he gets another small role but in the Divergent series , in 2017 Atomic blond ( as Merkel). Now it's in 2017 at 27 years old when his first remake and big break comes: IT (pennywise) . But first lest define briefly what is a remake?

wikipedia says: A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film".A remake tells the same story as the original but uses a different set of casts, and may use actors from the original, alter the theme, or change the flow and setting of the story. A similar but not synonymous term is reimagining, which indicates a greater discrepancy between, for example, a movie and the movie it is based on

It is a novel by stephen king ,the first adaptation was for tv miniseries of 2 episodes in 1990 with Tim curry as Pennywise. In 2017 another adaptation is released and here is where we open the main debate: The 2017 movie was a remake or another adaptation? I guess is matter of perspective, while is true that the first popular reference we have about the subject is the 90'series , the new production based his storyline and character design in the book... So if you are more familiar with the book you'll call it an adaptation but if you have never read it then it'll be a remake "with differences".

The contrast beetween both vertions of IT is too big to consider the latter ( 2017) a re-do/ remake of the miniseries. You can notice that just by the approach Bill and Tim took on Pennywise. Tim's version was more human, a psycopath like in John Wayne Gacy-esque type. Bill's was a monster, not one trace of humanity in his character, it was out of this world and enjoyed playin/ torturing its meals cause it tasted better basically.

My own take is that IT CHAPTER 1 AND 2 are not remakes of It (1990). But due to pop culture they are considered as such.

Between the IT- MANIA he was in the following productions: Battlecreek , deadpool 2 ( short role), Villians, Assasination nation and Castle rock ( series). He also participated in shortfilms like: A stone Appears, Alteration and Do you like the taste of beer?

Is in castle rock where he plays another creepy role as the kid .For battle creek he is an artistic vulnerable depressed dude. In assassination he plays a misogynistic teen asshole. And with Villains we see him explore his comic side.

This is what I would like to call the transition period, besides Deadpool and castle rock, all the projects previously mentioned are in some way small projects , that he for some reason decided to take on ,maybe for scheduling reasons cause by the end of 2019 IT CHAPTER 2 was premiering.

2020- 2022

The pandemic hit and changed things, he losses momentum. The whole industry was shaken actually. Movies that were supposed to be released in cinemas went to streaming, projects were cancelled and others got delayed.

For example Bill was set to work in The northman with his brother Alex again , he was already in Eggers radar, but due covid he had to drop out: Here

He left that project because something else was scheduled: Clark. (netflix nordic) a series he helped to produce too.

From this time we got Nine Days, The devil all the time (one of his best works and one of his most underrated film. He plays Willard a traumatized ww2 veteran), Soulmates (a series - one ep. He plays a uptight gay man who finds love while vacationing in Mexico), Naked Singularity ( he's an lawyer with adhd and a weird obsesion with ears) , Eternals ( KRO) ,Barbarian (horror movie where he is just a good guy who's in the wrong place at the wrong time )

By this time he was still under the shadow of " pennywise" but he had built a reputation for himself, he was a good actor before the critic and public that followed his work. Not as popular as Alex ,for example , but he was known by now.

2023 -24

After the pandemic we enter the period I woud like to call : COMEBACK.

The projects we find here are more "commercial" because these are action films, which is not bad , it was about time, most of his films usually dont get too much of exposure or are small projects. If someone said Bill Skarsgård automatically people thought in the clown 🤡 and not in Kro, mickey, willard or Clark for example. So we see here some sort of rebrandig he's now a killing machine, a cartoonish villain and anti hero.

John wick 4.

This offer came to him thanks to a previous work he did in Atomic blonde. Chad stahlesky let him choose what character play ( here) , and he went for the bad guy. A cartonish kinda old school villain , with funny accent and great suits: The marquis de Gramont.

Now, a very common observation people do is that roles are offered to him and his just takes them. That he is like a passive actor who only plays what he's tell to play, but since Pennywise he has always talked about how much he gets involved in the making of a character. The marquis was not the exception. That annoying accent was , for example, his idea. here more about it

This participation was a breath of fresh air, and brought new eyes to him. New fans arrived, people saw more of his work and he stepped a bit away from the IT shadow. Later was confirmmed that his next project would be BOY KILLS WORLD a pure gory action film with some comedic touch for which Bill prepared hard.

Moritz Mohr: Bill is a terrific actor. The only thing we weren't sure at that point was, "Can he deliver on the action?" He basically just promised, "No, I'm gonna put in the work, I'm gonna get ripped, I'm gonna train, and I'm going to learn the choreography." Which is a huge commitment, because it's just months and months of training and rehearsing, and I'm so glad that he did it. He overdelivered sometimes, he was really committed to it, and I'm very lucky that he was, because I think the results are just phenomenal.

In BKW we see Bill has good comedic timing, as if that wasn't clear with previous projects like Villains , but here he delivers comedy without talking. Conclusion : he can also be funny.

So far we are very into 2024 and NO MORE REMAKES in sight for him besides IT and we have talked about how many movies- series ? Almost 20 since his first big job in America (Hemlock G.)

The recent fame of " remake actor " comes from the next two jobs he landed. The crow 🐦‍⬛ and Nosferatu. 🦇

The crow 🐦‍⬛: How Bill got the script on his hands? it was given to him because he is known for remakes, because of his lastname , because no one else wanted to do it ? Luckily for us , Empire magazine tell us the following:

The project was conceived to be a separate work from the 1994 movie the crow, the source of inspiration was THE CROW graphic novel of J.O Barr. Again, by this and more interviews around we see Bill as an actor who played and active part in bringing a unique version of eric. From the physique ( something he kept from filming BKW) to the aura he's nothing like Brandon lee's Eric Draven.

The big differences between the 2024 and 1994 version, are confirmmed now after its release with heavy critics of people claiming it to be a "bad remake cause it looks nothing like the original " Here I ask rethorically , so is Bill a remakes actor or not?

Remakes are in full force lately, examples are whatever Disney has been doing lately, the ghostbusters, robocop , etc. Movies that go frame by frame , super close to their media source.

The same way Dune 2022 is not considered a remake of the 80's movie , The crow 2024 shouldn't be considered one either. Not even IT. Because, primarily, the source material is not the previous movie or series, but a book or a novel. So the best term to use is , I believe, adaptation or reimagining.

But what about Nosferatu?

I'm glad you asked random tumblr reader. I'm almost finishing and this is where I want to suggest that this upcoming film is actually the first remake Bill Skarsgård has done.

Robert Eggers ( director of this new remake ) shares with anOther magazine, that he planned to film Nosferatu after The witch , that's how he met Bill , who was 25 by then ( at 25-26 he was also auditioning for IT) . Eggers recalls Bill's audition being excellent for Hutter . Unfortunatelly the project fell but they stayed in contact and planned to one day work together , Bill was later set to work in the northman , we already know how that played out.

As we see here Bill was the one trying to get the opportunity to work with the director, having another role in mind ,until Eggers proposses to him the opportunity to be Count Orlok thanks to the work he did as Bob Gray in IT chapter 2.

Eggers knew about his capacities as an actor to embody darkness while having a youthful and pretty exterior that's why he tought of him as the right choice for the project.

Once again we read an interview that highlights the joint work of the director and Bill on the character, from the psyque to the make up. He was very proactive, long conversations, audio tapes, isolation, voice coach , etc. All of which finally paid off

Bill Skarsgård has proven his desire to become a versatile actor, just by reading his imdb page we see a variety of works forming his resumee , but he has a particular preference for dark, scary , creepy roles. In this review since the Hemlock grove days he has played a total of 7 obscure characters ( from antagonist to conflicted ones). This alone is not bad, and they aren't that many either. Every actor have a genre they prefer , characters they feell more pulled to work with. Bill is a goth king and I respect that.

His career itself also proves to be the result of organic growth, although he was lucky to be part of one of the most successful and respected acting families in sweden , that alone couldn't have granted him is current success. He started in America with a small show that most people haven't heard of till this day, and was in his late 20's when he got his first big opportunity. He sent emails, he sent tapes, he auditioned, he gave his word promising to deliver a good job. He works his ass off for what he wants. He doesn't seem to be the classic textbook nepobaby.

That's why I think that considering him just a remake actor is unfair and narrow minded. Said statement reduces a still growing career full of exploration to just opportunistics cashagrab roles ... and this guy is far from being that. Also because not everything that shares a tittle or character's names is a remake. It dependes on what the creators are having in mind for the new work.

That's so , after reading the most recent AnOther magazine interview , that I came to the conclusionI expressed before: Nosferatu is his first remake . Both Bill and Robert Eggers have always in mind the 1922 movie as source of reference and they worked Count Orlok and the story around that.

He's still a rising star, and has a lot more ahead, im confident the general public will see what directors and fans have seen in him: A good mfucking actor who wants to leave a mark but in his own terms. Taking risks , exploring, chosing roles that may not look right for him but always improving himself to expand his potential and keep taking on new and more promising challenges.

Its intersting how everything connects , IT oppened the door of Nosferatu. After all the issues that came to him at the right time , and I can bet my left arm he will deliver !

*Im sorry if this was too long it took me 2 days finishing it ,i'll go to sleep now .

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

New Rule: Whoa, Canada | Real Time with Bill Maher

And finally, New Rule. If we want to save our country, we should follow the advice good liberals have given for decades and learn from other countries.

Especially those beacons of progressivism like Canada, England, and Scandinavia, and I agree we should, as long as we're honest about the lessons we're learning. And as long as we're up to date on the current data. Such as, the unemployment rate in the US is 3.8 percent. And in Canada, it's 6.1. And of the 15 North American cities with the worst air pollution, 14 are in Canada.

I'm not citing these stats because I have it out for Canada. I love Canada, and its people, and always have, but I hate zombie lies. Zombie lies. That's when things change but what people say about them doesn't. Yes, for decades, places like Vancouver, and Amsterdam, and Stockholm seemed idyllic, because everything was free and all the energy we needed was produced by riding a bike to your job at the windmill. Canada was where all the treasured goals of liberalism worked perfectly. It was like NPR come to life but with poutine.

Canada was the Statue of Liberty with a low-maintenance haircut and cross-country skis. A giant idealized blue state with single-payer health care, gun control, and abortion on polite demand. Canada was where every woke White college kid, wearing pajama pants outdoors who'd had it up to here with America's racist patriarchy, dreamt of living someday. I mean, besides Gaza.

There's only one problem with thinking everything's better in Canada. It's not. Not anymore anyway. Last year, Canada added 1.3 million people, which is a lot in one year. The equivalent of the US adding 11 million migrants in one year. And now, they are experiencing a housing crisis even worse than ours. And we're sleeping in tents. The median price of a home here is 346 grand, in Canada, converted to US dollars, it's 487. If Barbie moved to Winnipeg, she wouldn't be able to afford her dream house and Ken would be working at Tim Hortons. And because of mortgage debt, Canada has the highest debt to GDP ratio of any G7 nation. I don't know what that means, but it sounds bad.

So does their vaunted health care system, which ranks dead last among high income countries in access to primary health care and ability to see a doctor in a day or two. And it's not for lack of spending. Of the 30 countries with universal coverage, Canada spends over 13 percent of its economy on it, which is a lot of money for free health care.

Look, I'm not saying Canada still isn't a great country. It is, but those aren't paradise numbers. If Canada was an apartment, the lead feature might be "America adjacent." And if America was a rental car, Canada would be "America or similar."

And again, honestly, Canada, I'm not saying any of this 'cause I enjoy it. I don't, 'cause I've always enjoyed you. But I need to cite you as a cautionary tale to help my country. And the moral of that tale is, "Yes, you can move too far left." And when you do, you wind up pushing the people in the middle to the right. At its worst, Canada is what American voters think happens when there's no one putting a check on extreme wokeness.

Like the saga of Canadian shop teacher, Kayla Lemieux, whose pronouns are she/her and those. Kayla is now back to being a guy named Kerry, but two years ago when "they" showed up to teach children, the progressive high school "they" taught at said that they-- They, the school, not the person. Really? You couldn't have found another word? We were using that one. Anyway, okay. They were committed to a safe environment for gender expression. Safe for who? What about the children? What about the equipment in that shop class?

You know, there was once a weirdo D-list movie producer in the '60s named Russ Meyer who made low-budget B movies like Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! And Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. Always featuring women who look like this. His movies played in porn houses and were featured in Hustler and Playboy. Okay, fine, but who says, "No, when it comes to huge, ridiculous tits, let's save that for the kids."

And this is why people vote for Trump. They say in politics, liberals are the gas pedal and conservatives are the brakes, and I'm generally with the gas pedal, but not if we're driving off a cliff.

On the trans issue, America is no ands, ifs, or buts about it, absolutely alone in the world now. An outlier country. Last month, England's National Health Service announced that there's "not enough evidence to support the safety or clinical effectiveness" of puberty blockers for third graders, and that they were going to stop fumbling around with children's privates, because that's Prince Andrew's job.

So too with all the other good place countries in direct opposition to America's choice to affirm children's wishes on switching gender, no matter the age or psychiatric history. The Far Left, which always like to use, "Well, Europe does it." Yeah, no, that doesn't work on this one anymore.

Or on immigration. Sweden opened its borders to over a million and a half immigrants since 2010. And now 20 percent of its citizens are foreign-born and its education system is tanking, and it has Europe's highest rate of gangland killings. And one result is that the far-right parties are in the government now there for the first time.

To which liberals say, "Blaming immigrants for the rising crime rate is racist." Yeah, but is it true? Of course, it's true. It's not a coincidence. The quality of life went down after the Somali gangs started a drug turf war using hand grenades.

Calling it "racist" doesn't solve the problem. It hands future elections to someone who will solve the problem, and who, I promise, you're not going to like.

==

For the record, I've said literally all of this, including making the comparison of flying off a cliff if you rely entirely on the gas pedal. Just saying.

When Trump takes office again, and he will, people will act stunned and ask, "how could this have ever happened?"

[fipindustries]

you know what? i really miss deviant art.

i miss the energy it used to have, i miss the feeling of being surrounded by horny slightly deranged teenagers. i miss the manic, faux anime energy that everything had, i miss the epic llamas, and the bases, and the memes where you would answer questions about a given fandom or about your art process, i miss the rainbow colored OC's and the YA fiction fanart, i miss how it truly felt like there were a thousand universes to explore, each with a thousand characters to love and how 80% of those characters were creepy middle aged men. i miss the sketches and the wips and all the concept art made for webcomics that were never even started. god i miss the awkward clumsy fetish porn, i miss the fandom experience of the time, i miss the tournament contests, the collabs. i miss how everything was a hyperstimulus to my mind, i miss how everyone was copying the same five artists, how everyone was shamelessly ripping off neil gaiman and tim burton. i miss the gothic lolita aesthetic, and the scene kids, and how everyone abused the fuck out of steampunk. i miss the stickers and the tags and the badges. i miss the guy who kept making weird fanart of goebbles, i miss hetalia and scandinavia and friends and polandball. i miss the harry potter fanart and the hunger games fanart and the twilight fanart and oh god all the fucking homestuck fanart, i miss ponysonas. i miss when everyhting was epic for the win, and i miss how much fun i used to have pretending that i hated all of it and found it cringe.

[vanalex]

Favorites - get to know your mutuals

Fill out and tag a few of your mutuals

music ? 💚 Type O Negative 💚

singer ? 💚 Peter Steele 💚

animal ? Cat 🐈

piece of clothing ? I love dresses, but don't wear them as often as I would like to due to practical reasons.

day of the week ? Friday!!

movie ? Too many to mention.... uhm... Bram Stoker's Dracula, Labyrinth, The lost boys, interview with the vampire, ... to name a few.

actor ? Christian Bale, to name 1 of my faves

director ? 80s and 90s Tim Burton

food ? Italian / steak and French fries

drink ? Mocktail blueberry virgin / lazy red lips

color ? Black (and also blue, red and purple)

TV series ? Dexter, Monk, Dark, ... I can't pick just one

vacation destination ? Of all the places where I've already been to: Italy, Scandinavia and New Orleans. I would love to explore more of North America. Also Scotland and Japan are on my bucket list.

Anyone who wants to play can copy the text on their blog 🖤

@onetiredwitch

@lunaprincipessa

@angellquero

[spookyprime]

Technically, according to google there is a masculine version of Cassandra, it's just Cassander

but it only seems to be used in Scandinavia and the Netherlands

I could see Tim as the kind of person to give his kid a weird esoteric name no one uses

[sunburnacoustic]

Interview with Dominic Pride for Billboard, August 1999

Need more proof that the UK and the US are nations divided by two A&R; communities? Take a look at British three-piece rock band Muse, from the seaside English town of Teignmouth, Devon.

The act was hotly chased by several labels in the US, according to its management, and eventually pacted with Maverick for North America. Maverick will put out the debut album, 'Showbiz', on Sept. 28; elsewhere, Muse has deals with three other labels for key territories. The band's story underlines the divergence in approaches and tastes of the two different A&R; communities, which results in some UK-bred bands such as Bush, or more recently, Spacehog getting sales and attention in the US while keeping a low key following at home.

Despite garnering attention as a finalist in the best-unsigned-band competition at the UK's In The City convention last year, Muse was initially overlooked by British labels. Muse's management and production company, Taste Media, is a joint venture between Safta Jaffery at SJP Producer Management and Dennis Smith at Sawmills Studio in Cornwall, where part of the album was produced.

Jaffery, who also manages the album's producer, John Leckie, says, "This kind of act didn't get a good reception at the time here, as guitar music was not seen very favourably". An appearance at a US music industry convention in November aroused interest in the band, and Maverick was quickest off the mark, says singer/songwriter Matt Bellamy. 'They were able to do the deal there and then. All the others had to see people higher up.' Guy Oseary, head of A&R; and a partner at Maverick, says he was impressed by the quality of the demo, and when he discovered the band was in LA, he went to see them. "They were showcasing for another label, and after the second song I stopped them and said. 'You don't need to play any more,' he says. "It was extremely powerful and beautiful."

With a sound that brings to mind earlier Radiohead—with Bellamy's vocals evoking those of Jeff Buckley—Muse has already impressed live audiences in the US with a tour that included the Woodstock '99 festival in early August. Says Bellamy, "Our sound is very English, but our live show is American."

Outside the US, Taste Media retains the rights and has struck separate licensing deals for the album. So far, it has pacted with Naive in France; with Mushroom for the UK, Ireland and Australasia; and with Motor/Universal for Germany, Switzerland and Austria (GSA) and the Eastern Europe regions.

"We only sent one package to Germany, and that was to [Universal Music president] Tim Renner and [Motor Music managing director] Petra Husemann" says Jaffery. Husemann says, 'When I heard [the tracks] I thought, 'Wow that's even better than Radiohead—great, emotional, pathetic, teenage depression stuff... just great pop music like I want it to be, and the kind of thing that German youth can identify with.' But the label wanted to be sure that it had a 'real performing act'' adds Husemann. 'I was convinced after a showcase in Hamburg', and, says Husemann, 'We signed the deal that night, and we were just sad that we could only get the rights for the GSA and the Eastern Bloc region'.

Deals are under discussion for Scandinavia and Japan; outside of these markets, Taste Media is considering direct sales via the Internet. Maverick's Oseary says having the band signed to several different labels isn't a problem. 'We share the Prodigy around the world,' he says. 'We have Richard Russell [managing director of the Prodigy's signing label, XL] who keeps everything in check, and I think Safta will do the same.'

Mushroom Records UK managing director Korda Marshall says he had his eye on Bellamy from Muse and his previous bands for several years. Mushroom was among the labels that passed on the band the first time around, but, notes Marshall wryly '...A&R;'s a wonderful thing with 20/20 hindsight.' Marshall believes it is possible for Muse to 'avoid the Bush effect' and have a career running on the twin track of being successful in the US while also keeping other markets - especially the UK - interested. 'England is their home, and it's very important that they are successful here', Marshall says. 'It's important that they have the support among the grass-roots media and build a fan base here'.

The album comes out Sept 20 in Germany, Sept 6 in France and October 4 in the UK The first single in France, Germany and the US will be the towering 'Muscle Museum'; the UK will go with 'Cave' an edgy rhythmic track, on September 6.

Having separate deals rather than a single, worldwide deal benefits the band, says manager Jaffery. 'Each of these labels has worked on the act as if it was a domestic signing,' Jaffery says. Working with an American company rather than signing to the British arm of a major has also worked in the band's favour, Jaffery adds. 'If you look at the number of British bands who have done it that way around, very few have made it. [US labels] are not as impressed by the British acts anymore; there isn't the feeling of importance.' Adds bassist Dominic Howard [sic] 'We got a chance to tour the States and build up a following. For a lot of acts that do well here, it can be quite a knockback when they don't do well there.' Maverick's Oseary says he signed Muse with no baggage about their origins, and especially not about their being passed on by British labels.

'That's the least of my concerns,' he says. 'I didn't know that, and I don't care about it. They are just a really great band.' Having success in the US before getting noticed at home can often hamper an acts career, says Mushroom's Marshall. The small group [of media] need to feel they discovered it themselves.' He points, however, to acts such as Ash and Garbage that have managed to retain the credibility of their UK fan bases while selling albums in the US. Muse have British live commitments pending—including several gigs and an appearance at Reading Festival on Aug 27—which take the band to Sept 4. After that, Muse returns to the States for a 12-city tour.

[erebusvincent]

Does the "weird" line make any sense? Admittedly, it is a little weird for Vance and some of his fellow Republicans to express such blatant contempt for other people's life choices—particularly childless and single women, not their male counterparts who are surely also to blame (unless they're busy with the couches, in which case: ride on). But I wonder whether Democrats are taking a premature victory lap, claiming the schoolyard insult is effective, when they're not exactly the party of normal, well-adjusted people like Walz.

It's the Democrats who can claim Sam Brinton, the crossdressing, gender-fluid, lipstick-wearing Biden administration Energy Department official who kept stealing suitcases (containing clothes and makeup) from luggage conveyor belts at airports. It's the Democrats who currently have gentle-parenting Instagram lady experts using kindergarten-teacher talk to condescend to people worried about big-government regulatory policy. It's the Democrats who have spent a LOT of the last decade holding drag queen story hours at public libraries and expecting everyone to stay really calm about it, and who have promoted an awful lot of gender-doesn't-exist/gender-isn't-binary talk. It's the Democrats, in the form of teachers unions, who held protests with coffins to combat school-reopening plans during COVID-19, implying that they would die if expected to go to work (while schools stayed open in much of Scandinavia, to great effect). Don't even get me started on the fixation with white-lady tears, or the literal Hamas headbands detected on some college campuses this spring.

...

American politics is full of terribly weird, thoughtless, and impulsive people, reflecting exactly who we are as a nation. The Tim Walzes and the Sam Browns are actually the exceptions, not the rule. Former President Bill Clinton had sex with his intern, featuring a cigar as a sex toy. Former President George W. Bush declared "mission accomplished" when it just…wasn't. He flew over Katrina-devastated New Orleans on his way back from vacation instead of actually visiting. The Kennedys, that political dynasty that just won't go away, seem to have a hereditary philandering problem. Trump was just convicted of falsifying business records related to hush-money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels, with whom he had an affair. It's not just politicians, but the political periphery as well: January 6 saw the introduction of another wild character, the QAnon shaman, who after being sentenced for his role in the Capitol riot was granted a special organic food prison diet. Of course.

It's no wonder people want to tune out.

One last reason why the "weird" taunt might backfire: Though Vance is wrong to speak about childless people in such terms, his family…looks like a lot of American families nowadays. Three (biracial) young kids, two working parents, one of whom is a striver who came from a hardscrabble background. Just as thrice-married Trump, who pays lip service to the idea of the church but barely attends, is representative of the social values of a portion of the country, Vance appears to be representative of another chunk: Those who are upwardly mobile, who care about providing for their young families.

[scarletwelly-boots]

Books Read 2023

I read 33 books this year, which is 3 more than last year. I also read 22 graphic novels/comics that I did not factor into the challenge. Not counting those comics, I completed 66% of the challenge. This is my eighth year doing the Popsugar Reading Challenge. Let’s get into it under the cut.

The Famine Plot, by Tim Pat Coogan (a book you meant to read in 2022). I barely remember this book. This book was vindicating to read but it also pissed me off. It’s an Irish history book about the Great Hunger, basically highlighting the conscious failure on the part of the British to relieve the suffering of the Irish during this time and the lack of effort that essentially caused the crisis to become as devastating as it was. Coogan is a very good writer so the book is easy to get through even if you don’t know much about Irish history, but if you’re not really a big nonfiction reader, it might not be the book for you.

How to Be Ace, by Rebecca Burgess (a book you bought from an independent bookstore). This is a graphic novel memoir of the author growing up and discovering she is asexual. It was really interesting, as an ace person myself who also took a very long time to figure it out, to see how similar my experience was to hers. Definitely recommend if you’re ace, think you might be ace, or want to learn more about what it means to be ace.

The Celebrants, by Steven Rowley (a book about a vacation). This was okay. It was a book club book, and there were some things I liked about it, but for the most part I wasn’t impressed. A group of friends makes a pact in college to hold each other’s funerals while they’re still alive to help them appreciate life and the people who care about them while they still have the time to do so. I’m told Guncle was better. I haven’t read that book yet.

The Reckless Kind, by Carly Heath (a book by a first-time author). Really good. Queer and ace and queerplatonic. Three young adults who are sort of outcasted for more than just their sexuality (but that becomes part of it) become a sort of found family in nineteenth (?) century Scandinavia (the country is specific in the book but I don’t remember which it is). Definitely recommend.

Dear Mothman, by Robin Gow (a book with mythical creatures). This was so good! It’s a middle grade book told in verse and partially epistolary. A trans boy (I think he’s in sixth grade) takes to writing letters to Mothman to cope with the death of his friend, who was also trans. It was so good, but honestly I ended the book pissed off that (I’m pretty sure) Mothman isn’t real (irl, I will neither confirm nor deny whether Mothman is real in the book), so I’ll never get to meet him. Highly recommend.

Playing the Palace, by Paul Rudnik (a book about a forbidden romance) Terrible, stupid. Another Red White and Royal Blue wannabe and doesn’t even come close to the original. Just read the original, it’s so much better. He doesn’t even use the Oxford comma in this and it honestly makes me so mad. Do not recommend.

This Is How You Lose the Time War, by Amal el-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (a book with a color in the title). Oh my god. I love this book so fucking much, guys. This was amazing, and I did not expect it to be as good as it was. I had been meaning to read it for awhile, but after the end of the Loki show, I needed something queer and vaguely related (as in time travel; Loki is obviously not involved in this book). First, I botched this entry. As you can tell, there is not a color in the title, but the characters’ names are Blue and Red, and the cover (of my copy at least) had a bluebird and redbird on it, so I counted it. This book is so beautifully well written, I was not expecting it to be so lovely. It is the kind of flowing, descriptive writing I strive to do myself. I think I devoured this book in less than a week. It isn’t a very long book, but I’m an incredibly slow reader, so regardless of its length this is still quite the feat for me as an adult with responsibilities and more distractions than I had in school. It is partially epistolary and, as I previously mentioned, queer. It is also (by my interpretation) a fantastic demonstration of the difference between being able to shape-shift and identifying as genderfluid. Highly recommend.

The Daughters of Madurai, by Rajasree Variyar (a book published in spring 2023). Another book club book, but my pick this time. Really good. Dual timelines, following a mother and daughter as they deal with their very different experiences as women in different times and places, and how these experiences impact how they relate to and understand (or misunderstand) one another. Recommend.

Rose Daughter, by Robin McKinley (a modern retelling of a classic). This is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, and is McKinley’s second Beauty and the Beast retelling. In junior high, I loved Beauty and the Beast and devoured every retelling I could get my hands on. I read McKinley’s Beauty, which was published in the 70s, during junior high, though I don’t remember much of it. This one was very good but very archetypal. This one came out about 20 years after (which I was surprised to note upon double checking just now; I thought the first was in the 90s and this was like 2013). I meant to reread Beauty to compare, since this book also temporarily reawakened my Beauty and the Beast obsession, but I ended up sating that by just watching the animated and live action Disney films, and a very weird semi-stage performance on Disney+ that had been created for the 30th (?) anniversary of the animated film. Recommend (the book, not necessarily the production).

Gender Queer, by Maia Kobabe (a book that’s been banned or challenged by any state in 2022). This was so good. This is another graphic novel memoir, this time about discovering you’re genderqueer. Even though the author is genderqueer and I’m genderfluid, the experiences were very similar, and I spent so much of the book hollering, “Me too!” It was really fun and quick to read. Definitely recommend.

In Deeper Waters, by FT Lukens (a book that fulfills your favorite prompt from a past challenge). I don’t remember much of this. I think I liked it. It took me way too long to realize it was not just a fantasy book with mermaids but legit like a queer retelling of The Little Mermaid. The boys are very cute with each other and it was a fun read, what I can remember of it. Recommend if you like queer retellings of fairy tales that aren’t necessarily beat for beat retellings.

Erasure, by Percival Everett (a book becoming a TV series or movie in 2023). Book club read, didn’t like it. I felt like the themes were interesting and some of it resonated with me as a writer myself, since the protagonist is also a writer. But he was just so pretentious and unlikeable to me. I have to like the main character in order to get anywhere with a book, and I know that’s kind of looked down upon in the literary world, like just because a protagonist is unlikeable doesn’t mean the book is bad, but I’m here to say I personally think that’s bullshit. I need a buy-in to read your book, and if I fucking hate the guy I have to follow around the entire time, I’m not gonna like your book. Sorry about it. If you like books that make you feel like you’re too stupid to understand them, or you like pretending like you understood a book like that to get one over on people, go for it. The main character is an asshole, the premise says good things but the person who says them is unlikeable so it’s like that meme and I should have just read that meme whose exact wording I forget and moved on with my life.

This Time Tomorrow, by Emma Straub (a book set in the decade you were born). Another book club read, but this one I actually enjoyed. It’s time travel, which normally I don’t love, and a time loop, which I love even less. But it did a pretty good job of it and kind of rushing through the repetitive parts, which is the main bit I don’t like about this trope. The relationship between the main characters was really great, and I was also laughing uproariously because the main character’s dad is an author, and his first (and for the first run of time, only) novel got adapted into a tv show that is basically Supernatural but time travel. Like eerily similar, like Straub definitely watched at least a couple episodes of the show. Recommend (the Supernatural references are brief and honestly easy to miss).

Self-Made Boys, by Anna-Marie McLemore (a book with a queer lead). Ugh, so so so good oh my god. I think I included this in last year’s even though I wasn’t finished because I needed to talk about it so bad. This is a trans retelling of The Great Gatsby where Nick and Gatsby get together and it’s all I’ve wanted since I read this novel in high school. McLemore does this retelling soooo well.

The Universal Christ, by Richard Rohr (a book with just text on the cover). I had to read this for my class at church. I do not remember it very well. It was kind of about the difference between Jesus the Man and Christ the cosmic entity. Rohr needs an editor is the conclusion we came to. And there were some chapters I wished were longer and some I wished were shorter. If you like Christian books that should be shorter, knock yourself out. Otherwise, maybe avoid.

[Omitted for personal information] (the shortest book on your TBR list). Sorry guys. This book is about murals in my hometown, and I’m not disclosing the title or giving more information about the book.

Imogen, Obviously, by Becky Albertalli (a BookTok Buzzfeed recommendation). This book was so funny. It was like Albertalli followed me around my freshman year of college taking embarrassingly detailed notes and then wrote a novel about it. Imogen is convinced she’s straight as a line (despite years of hints to the contrary) until she meets one girl that completely upsets that assumption. And now you know how I figured out I was bi. Like this story is so scary accurate, down to both my and my ex’s names being included somewhere in the narrative (not as important characters, mostly just mentioned once, but it’s still eerie). I recommend, but I think a really huge reason why I liked this book is because I was cracking up every time Imogen said something I thought as an eighteen year old idiot.

The First Christmas, by Marcus Borg (a book you bought secondhand). Another church class read. This was really interesting. It compared the Christmas story in the gospels and how it ended up in the gospel with the Roman dogma of the time that the Christians were trying to disprove with the mythos of the Christ child. It was a little hard to read as a reformed Catholic, because even though I know the Nativity story isn’t wholly (or at all) accurate, I like pretending that it is and the residual Catholic guilt doesn’t like starting out the discussion with the understanding that the Christmas story is apocryphal. Again, recommend if you like Christian books, but otherwise probably not.

Loveless, by Alice Oseman (a book your friend recommended). This book was really good too. Another book of “I didn’t realize I was [blank], but I fucking should have.” There’s a literal line in it that says “There were signs. I had missed every one,” which I immediately screenshotted and sent to my friend with the caption ME. This time, it’s a college student figuring out she’s ace, which is earlier than I figured it out, but again, shouldn’t be. Same with Imogen, Obviously, I recommend, but it might just be because of how similar to my experience it was that it had me laughing multiple times.

Flight, by Lynn Steger Strong (a book about a family). Another book club book, with a million characters that almost all have at least one chapter from their perspective. It was a little hard to keep the characters straight, but because I have a large family, I think it was a little easier for me because I’m predisposed by experience to keep a bunch of people straight. While they all had somewhat distinct personalities, the way the women related to the men was all kind of the same dismissive, annoyed tendency about everything. I was left wondering for different reasons why the couples were even together. The story was interesting, though. Somewhat recommend?

Good Night, Irene, by Luis Alberto Urrea (a historical fiction book). This book was really good. It’s another book club book. It’s a historical fiction book about women in World War II who made donuts and coffee for the troops as a way to raise morale (it was a real organization apparently, a non-medical branch of the Red Cross). Much of the real-life records have been lost, so a lot of the research the author had to do for the book was through oral histories with women who actually volunteered, who knew his mother when she was part of the group or knew women who knew his mother. The main character is loosely based on his mother, but my favorite character was the other woman that Irene works with, because it’s implied that she is probably queer in some capacity (though she doesn’t really make that clear in the book and her only relationships are with men, but that means nothing). I thought it was really good, but it really doesn’t gloss over the grittier parts of war (which is a good thing, just hard to read at times). Recommend.

Loki: Agent of Asgard, by Al Ewing (a book you think your best friend would like). This is a reread, but I’m pretty sure I haven’t listed it on any Books Read Posts (I didn’t go back to check though). This is the second comic I ever read, and the first comic run I read straight through. It’s so good. It’s what made me really fall in love with Loki as a character and made me like comics. Al Ewing is far and away my favorite comic book writer because of this story, too. I love how he characterizes Loki. This is also the comic where we meet Verity Willis, perfect woman and love of my life and ace icon. This comic is my Loki fan bible. I love it and I don’t care if I’ve already put this on a top ten list, it’s going on the Top 10 this year. It’s been several years since I’ve reread it straight through.

The Prince and the Dressmaker, by Jen Wang (a book you should have read in high school). I reread this every year, so if you want more information about it, look at the posts from 2022, 2021, and 2020. I love this book so much. It’s a graphic novel about a genderfluid prince whose masc name is (sort of) my masc name. The category isn’t quite botched, as I do think if I’d read it in high school I might have been able to figure out I was genderfluid (but as mentioned above, I was/am an idiot, so maybe not). However, this book had not been published when I was in high school. Still highly recommend.

Norse Mythology, by Neil Gaiman (a book you wish you could read for the first time again). Another reread every year. I’m obsessed with this book. Not sure how many book posts I’ve included this one on, but it’s several. Gaiman is my favorite author, and this book is in part why. I love his retelling of the myths and his characterizations of Thor and Loki (and Freyja as well). The audiobook is the best way to read this book, I think, because it’s read by Gaiman. Still highly recommend.

Family Lore, by Elizabeth Acevedo (a book by an author with the same name as you). Another book club read. I liked this one. It’s magical realism (sort of), following a family where all the women have an ability. Each chapter changes perspective, and there are quite a few characters like Flight, but I liked this book better than that one. Recommend.

Disney’s Treasury of Children’s Classics, by C. Coombs (a book based on a popular movie). This is a very large book with a bunch of Disney films adapted for abridged text (they take out a lot of the film and leave only the main part of the story, so that they can tell the story in 3-4 pages with a lot of the page dedicated to the artwork of the films). The edition I have belonged to my mom, so while it’s been updated a couple times with more recent films over the decades, the edition I have is from 1978. I’ve never read it straight through, so mostly that was the goal with this entry. It’s fine, but it’s faster and more interesting to just watch the movies. I guess the only interesting thing is that since this edition was published in ‘78, one of the stories comes from Song of the South, which Disney will not let you view anymore. It’s a story from the movie rather than the live-action portion, which I think is where most of the racism problems come from (but I’ve never seen the movie, so I don’t know for sure), so the story itself seemed more like an adaptation of a folktale and less racist than those parts of the movie, but I don’t know if I’d necessarily advocate buying this book if you can find one nowadays, if you’re trying to avoid supporting that movie? I don’t know, the debate is complicated, and I’m neither equipped nor do I have the time to get into the nuances of it here. I’m not even sure if you can find this edition anywhere now.

Peter Darling, by Austin Chant (a book that was self-published). Another reread. I love this book. Again, you can find more information about this book in previous posts. This is simultaneously a sequel and retelling of Peter Pan. Peter is trans and gay, and some parts of the book follow Peter as a child to explain how he found himself in Neverland to begin with and why he returned as an adult, but most of the book takes place when he’s a young man, so the ENEMIES TO LOVERS ROMANTIC STORYLINE is a lot less problematic than it sounds when I explain this book incorrectly to people. You know which enemy, you do. Stop grimacing, you were here for the Onceler shit and you at least thought about it. I know you, veteran Tumblerite. Don’t @ me. This is hot, and we’ve both shipped worse things in our time (and probably ship worse things right now). Okay, I’m done being unnecessarily over-defensive about this pairing. Highly recommend.

Point Pleasant, by Jen Archer Wood (a book that started out as fan fiction). All right, veteran Tumblerite, strap in for this. This is a 2012 self-published (I think) Mothman-featured destiel AU. Yes, I read a published destiel fanfic in the Year of our Lord 2023. And I mostly loved it. Guys, it’s Mothman! Destiel! Dean knows he’s gay! Two Cas inserts! Cop Cas! Actually, no, that last one was the only thing I hated. ACAB, including, apparently, Please-Don’t-Sue-Me Cas. His “overprotectiveness” of Dean expresses itself in some really gross ways, to the point that there was a good several chapters where I didn’t want them to end up together. Overall it was pretty good, though. I read this right after Dear Mothman, and it was so fun for how different Mothman is portrayed in both books, like he’s kind of scary in this book. Recommend, if you ship destiel. Just be aware there’s some moments where Cas acts kinda horribly.

The Friend, by Sigrid Nunez (a book with a pet character). Another book club book. I read this in January, so I don’t fully remember this book. I think it was okay, but I was projecting a lot on these characters so it was kind of hard to get through. The main character ends up taking in her best friend’s massive dog when he dies suddenly (it happens I think before the book starts so not a spoiler). It was fine.

Dark Rise, by CS Pacat (the longest book on your TBR list). This was a reread, because I read it when it came out two years ago and then the sequel came out in November and I couldn’t remember much of what happened. This is another of my favorite authors, and I love this book, though I’m really looking forward to the sequel because I’m hoping the boys are going to get closer to getting together this time. She does a lot of enemies to lovers, and this is a trilogy so my guess is they won’t get together-together until the last book, but they’re starting the sequel as a little less of enemies at least, so that’s a positive. This is a dark fantasy that takes place in the Victorian era. If you want more of a description, see the books post for 2021.

Last Summer on State Street, by Toya Wolfe (a book with alliteration in the title). Another book club book. I liked it, but I wasn’t as impressed with this as I was hoping I would be. It was interesting but I was expecting more. The majority of the book is about a middle school girl growing up in the projects in Chicago in the last few months that her building is open, as the entire neighborhood was torn down by the end of the nineties I believe. It’s a novel but I think the author also grew up in this area so she drew somewhat on her personal experience. Sort of recommend? It was okay.

The Hate Project, by Kris Ripper (a romance with a fat lead). I barely remember this one too, but it was okay what I remember. This is a companion to The Love Study, which I read a few years ago. It was another enemies to lovers, which I liked. I did not remember any of the other characters from the other book, so it was like I was reading them for the first time. I’m sorry, I don’t remember enough to give you a summary, but I liked it. Recommend.

Dark Heir, by CS Pacat (A book that comes out in the second half of 2023). I’m still reading this one, but I’ll be done by the end of the year (possibly by the time this goes up. I’m queuing it a few days before posting). This is the sequel to Dark Rise, and I’m loving it. The enemies-to-lovers are interacting more than they did in the first one, and the stakes feel higher because of what was revealed at the very end of the first book. Definitely recommend.

Comics (Not counted in challenge)

Animal Crossing, by Kokonasu Rumba

Marvel Voices: Pride (2022), by Charlie Jane Anders, Andrew Wheeler, Christopher Cantwell, Danny Lore

The Defenders, by Al Ewing

4-7. Loki: The Liar #1-4, by Dan Watters

8. Fence: Redemption #1, by CS Pacat

9. What If…Dark Loki, by Walt Simonson

10-14. The Immortal Thor #1-5, by Al Ewing

15. Guardians of the Galaxy, by Al Ewing

16. Alligator Loki #1, by Alyssa Wong

17. Scarlet Witch #8, by Steve Orlando

18. Loki: The God Who Fell to Earth, by Daniel Kibblesmith

19. Thor and Loki: Double Trouble, by Mariko Tamaki

20. The Mighty Thor #359 (1984), by Walt Simonson

21. The Mighty Thor #353 (1984), by Walt Simonson

22. The Defenders: Beyond, by Al Ewing

My top ten new reads of 2023 will be coming in another post.

[weedle-testaburger]

I see nothing that could possibly go wrong with this arrangement

[tnd-vnnoithat]

ghế Muuto

Hãy cùng TND-VN khám phá không gian sống động, tinh tế và sang trọng với ghế Muuto - một biểu tượng của sự đơn giản và sáng tạo trong thiết kế nội thất. Với tầm nhìn tiên phong và phong cách tinh tế của Scandinavia, Muuto đã chinh phục trái tim của những người yêu thích sự tinh tế và độc đáo.

----> Xem thêm tại: https://tnd-vn.com/ghe-muuto/

Hastag: #TNDVNNộiThất#tndvnnoithat

[brookston]

Holidays 7.21

Holidays

Blessing of the Waters & Whitstable Oyster Festival begins (Kent, England) [ends 7.31]

Coldest Day Ever Day (Lowest Recorded Temperature Day)

First Day of the World (Egypt)

International Drug Users Remembrance Day

International Waluigi Day

International Zine Library Day

Invite An Alien To Live With You Day

Kazanskaya (Russia)

Lake Superior Day

Leo zodiac sign begins

Liberation Day (Guam)

Mary Wilson Day (Detroit, Michigan)

Melon Day (French Republic)

Monkey Appreciation Day

National Be Someone Day

National Craft for Your Local Shelters Day

National Edward/Eduardo Day

National Law Day (Argentina)

National Little Black Dress Day

National Meow Day

National No Makeup Day

National Pyjama Day (Australia)

National Race Photos Day

National Tug-of-War Day

No Pet Store Puppies Day

Racial Harmony Day (Singapore)

Sapporo Summer Festival begins (Japan) [Until 8.20]

Schoelcher Day (French West Indies, Martinique)

Summer Kazanskaya (Russia)

Take a Monkey to Lunch Day

Tim Duncan Day (Texas)

Twin-O-Rama

Uterine Fibroid Awareness Day

Veterans Administration Day

World Body Painting Festival begins (Austria) [Thru 7.23]

World Day of the Dog

Zero HIV Stigma Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Belgian Fries Day

California Craft Beer Week begins

Legal Drinking Age Day

Make Your Own Pop Tart Day

National Crème Brûlée Day (also 7.27)

National Junk Food Day

National Lamington Cake Day (Australia)

Third Friday in July

Big Sky Games begin (Montana) [3rd Friday]

Gentse Feesten begins (Ghent, Belgium) [Friday before 3rd Sunday]

Lindenfest (Rhineland, Germany) [Begins 3rd Friday]

National Park & Recreation Professionals Day [3rd Friday]

National Property Managers Day (Australia) [3rd Friday]

Pflasterspektakel Linz (Street Musician Festival; Germany) [3rd Friday thru Sunday]

Sherwood Robin Hood Festival begins (Oregon) [3rd Friday; ends Sunday]

Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival begins (Dorset, UK) [3rd Friday; ends Sunday]

Wrong Days in Wright (Wright, Montana) [3rd Friday & Saturday]

Independence Days

Belgium (from the United Netherlands, 1831)

Feast Days

Alan Moore Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Albert John Luthuli (Episcopal Church)

Arbogast (Christian; Saint)

Barhadbesciabas (Christian; Saint)

Carista (Day of Peace in the Family; Pagan)

Carlos of Brazil (Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church)

Carlos Schwabe (Artology)

Daniel (Catholic Church)

De Foe (Positivist; Saint)

Drukpa Tsheshi (Buddhism; Sikkim, India)

Feast of Damo (Daughter of the Greek sage Pythagoras, keeper of the secrets of philosophy)

First Sermon of Lord Buddha (Buddhist; Bhutan)

Lawrence of Brindisi (Christian; Saint)

Lovis Corinth (Artology)

The Lucaria (Festival of the Grove to Sucellus, Gaulish God of Alcohol); Ancient Rome) [also 2.1 & 7.19]

Praxedes (Christian; Saint)

Primavera Sauce Day (Pastafarian)

Scotty McSock (Muppetism)

Shabbat Chazon (Black Sabbath; Judaism) [4 Av]

Victor of Marseilles (Christian; Saint)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Sakimake (先負 Japan) [Bad luck in the morning, good luck in the afternoon.]

Tycho Brahe Unlucky Day (Scandinavia) [27 of 37]

Umu Limnu (Evil Day; Babylonian Calendar; 34 of 60)

Unglückstage (Unlucky Day; Pennsylvania Dutch) [20 of 30]

Very Unlucky Day (Grafton’s Manual of 1565) [34 of 60]

Premieres

Appetite for Destruction, by Guns N’ Roses (Album; 1987)

Bad Case of Loving You, by Robert Palmer (Song; 1979)

Barbary-Coast Bunny (WB LT Cartoon; 1956)

Barbie (Film; 2023)

Blind Faith, by Blind Faith (Album; 1969)

Clerks II (Film; 2006)

Clueless (Film; 1995)

Come Together, by The Beatles recorded (Song; 1969)

The Daily Show (Late Night TV Series; 1996)

Dirty, by Sonic Youth (Album; 1992)

Do the Right Thing (Film; 1989)

Dunkirk (Film; 2017)

Fleabag (TV Series; 2016)

The Girl Without Hands (Animated Film; 2017)

Landing on Water, by Neil Young (Album; 1986)

The Lord of the Rings (Novel; 1954)

Monster House (Animated Film; 2006)

Oppenheimer (Film; 2023)

Ozark (TV Series; 2017)

The Princess Diaries (Film; 2001)

Rescue Me (TV Series; 2004)

Scooby-Doo! And Kiss: Rock and Roll Mystery (WB Animated Film; 2015)

Shag (Film: 1989)

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Film; 1978)

The Shootist (Film; 1976)

The Slick Chick (WB LT Cartoon; 1962)

The Soft Parade, by The Doors (Album; 1969)

Stormy Weather (Film; 1943)

The Story of Doctor Dolittle, by Hugh Lofting (Novel; 1920)

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, by B. Traven (Novel; 1927)

UHF (Film; 1989)

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (Film; 2017)

What Lies Beneath (Film; 2000)

Today’s Name Days

Daniel, Daniela, Julia, Laurentius (Austria)

Danica, Danijel, Lovro (Croatia)

Vítězslav (Czech Republic)

Evenus (Denmark)

Tambet, Tulev (Estonia)

Hanna, Hanne, Hannele, Jenna, Jenni, Joanna, Johanna, Jonna (Finland)

Rodolphe, Térence, Victor (France)

Daniel (Germany)

Dániel, Daniella (Hungary)

Cesira, Lorenzo, Vittore (Italy)

Dabris, Daniels, Meldra, Melisa (Latvia)

Danielius, Lionginas, Rimvydas, Rimvydė (Lithuania)

Jane, Janne, Johanne (Norway)

Andrzej, Benedykt, Daniel, Paulina, Prakseda, Prokop, Stojsław, Wiktor, Wiktoriusz (Poland)

Daniel (Slovakia)

Daniel, Lorenzo, Práxedes (Spain)

Johanna (Sweden)

Ernesto, Vic, Vick, Victor, Vik, Viktor, Vittorio (Universal)

Alma, Erna, Ernest, Ernestina, Ernesto, Ernie, Wesley, West, Westin, Westley, Weston (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 202 of 2024; 163 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 5 of week 29 of 2023

Celtic Tree Calendar: Tinne (Holly) [Day 12 of 28]

Chinese: Month 6 (Ji-Wei), Day 4 (Geng-Chen)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 3 Av 5783

Islamic: 3 Muharram 1445

J Cal: 22 Lux; Oneday [22 of 30]

Julian: 8 July 2023

Moon: 13%: Waxing Crescent

Positivist: 6 Dante (8th Month) [De Foe]

Runic Half Month: Ur (Primal Strength) [Day 8 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 31 of 94)

Zodiac: Cancer (Day 31 of 31)

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 7.21

Holidays

Blessing of the Waters & Whitstable Oyster Festival begins (Kent, England) [ends 7.31]

Coldest Day Ever Day (Lowest Recorded Temperature Day)

First Day of the World (Egypt)

International Drug Users Remembrance Day

International Waluigi Day

International Zine Library Day

Invite An Alien To Live With You Day

Kazanskaya (Russia)

Lake Superior Day

Leo zodiac sign begins

Liberation Day (Guam)

Mary Wilson Day (Detroit, Michigan)

Melon Day (French Republic)

Monkey Appreciation Day

National Be Someone Day

National Craft for Your Local Shelters Day

National Edward/Eduardo Day

National Law Day (Argentina)

National Little Black Dress Day

National Meow Day

National No Makeup Day

National Pyjama Day (Australia)

National Race Photos Day

National Tug-of-War Day

No Pet Store Puppies Day

Racial Harmony Day (Singapore)

Sapporo Summer Festival begins (Japan) [Until 8.20]

Schoelcher Day (French West Indies, Martinique)

Summer Kazanskaya (Russia)

Take a Monkey to Lunch Day

Tim Duncan Day (Texas)

Twin-O-Rama

Uterine Fibroid Awareness Day

Veterans Administration Day

World Body Painting Festival begins (Austria) [Thru 7.23]

World Day of the Dog

Zero HIV Stigma Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Belgian Fries Day

California Craft Beer Week begins

Legal Drinking Age Day

Make Your Own Pop Tart Day

National Crème Brûlée Day (also 7.27)

National Junk Food Day

National Lamington Cake Day (Australia)

Third Friday in July

Big Sky Games begin (Montana) [3rd Friday]

Gentse Feesten begins (Ghent, Belgium) [Friday before 3rd Sunday]

Lindenfest (Rhineland, Germany) [Begins 3rd Friday]

National Park & Recreation Professionals Day [3rd Friday]

National Property Managers Day (Australia) [3rd Friday]

Pflasterspektakel Linz (Street Musician Festival; Germany) [3rd Friday thru Sunday]

Sherwood Robin Hood Festival begins (Oregon) [3rd Friday; ends Sunday]

Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival begins (Dorset, UK) [3rd Friday; ends Sunday]

Wrong Days in Wright (Wright, Montana) [3rd Friday & Saturday]

Independence Days

Belgium (from the United Netherlands, 1831)

Feast Days

Alan Moore Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Albert John Luthuli (Episcopal Church)

Arbogast (Christian; Saint)

Barhadbesciabas (Christian; Saint)

Carista (Day of Peace in the Family; Pagan)

Carlos of Brazil (Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church)

Carlos Schwabe (Artology)

Daniel (Catholic Church)

De Foe (Positivist; Saint)

Drukpa Tsheshi (Buddhism; Sikkim, India)

Feast of Damo (Daughter of the Greek sage Pythagoras, keeper of the secrets of philosophy)

First Sermon of Lord Buddha (Buddhist; Bhutan)

Lawrence of Brindisi (Christian; Saint)

Lovis Corinth (Artology)

The Lucaria (Festival of the Grove to Sucellus, Gaulish God of Alcohol); Ancient Rome) [also 2.1 & 7.19]

Praxedes (Christian; Saint)

Primavera Sauce Day (Pastafarian)

Scotty McSock (Muppetism)

Shabbat Chazon (Black Sabbath; Judaism) [4 Av]

Victor of Marseilles (Christian; Saint)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Sakimake (先負 Japan) [Bad luck in the morning, good luck in the afternoon.]

Tycho Brahe Unlucky Day (Scandinavia) [27 of 37]

Umu Limnu (Evil Day; Babylonian Calendar; 34 of 60)

Unglückstage (Unlucky Day; Pennsylvania Dutch) [20 of 30]

Very Unlucky Day (Grafton’s Manual of 1565) [34 of 60]

Premieres

Appetite for Destruction, by Guns N’ Roses (Album; 1987)

Bad Case of Loving You, by Robert Palmer (Song; 1979)

Barbary-Coast Bunny (WB LT Cartoon; 1956)

Barbie (Film; 2023)

Blind Faith, by Blind Faith (Album; 1969)

Clerks II (Film; 2006)

Clueless (Film; 1995)

Come Together, by The Beatles recorded (Song; 1969)

The Daily Show (Late Night TV Series; 1996)

Dirty, by Sonic Youth (Album; 1992)

Do the Right Thing (Film; 1989)

Dunkirk (Film; 2017)

Fleabag (TV Series; 2016)

The Girl Without Hands (Animated Film; 2017)

Landing on Water, by Neil Young (Album; 1986)

The Lord of the Rings (Novel; 1954)

Monster House (Animated Film; 2006)

Oppenheimer (Film; 2023)

Ozark (TV Series; 2017)

The Princess Diaries (Film; 2001)

Rescue Me (TV Series; 2004)

Scooby-Doo! And Kiss: Rock and Roll Mystery (WB Animated Film; 2015)

Shag (Film: 1989)

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Film; 1978)

The Shootist (Film; 1976)

The Slick Chick (WB LT Cartoon; 1962)

The Soft Parade, by The Doors (Album; 1969)

Stormy Weather (Film; 1943)

The Story of Doctor Dolittle, by Hugh Lofting (Novel; 1920)

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, by B. Traven (Novel; 1927)

UHF (Film; 1989)

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (Film; 2017)

What Lies Beneath (Film; 2000)

Today’s Name Days

Daniel, Daniela, Julia, Laurentius (Austria)

Danica, Danijel, Lovro (Croatia)

Vítězslav (Czech Republic)

Evenus (Denmark)

Tambet, Tulev (Estonia)

Hanna, Hanne, Hannele, Jenna, Jenni, Joanna, Johanna, Jonna (Finland)

Rodolphe, Térence, Victor (France)

Daniel (Germany)

Dániel, Daniella (Hungary)

Cesira, Lorenzo, Vittore (Italy)

Dabris, Daniels, Meldra, Melisa (Latvia)

Danielius, Lionginas, Rimvydas, Rimvydė (Lithuania)

Jane, Janne, Johanne (Norway)

Andrzej, Benedykt, Daniel, Paulina, Prakseda, Prokop, Stojsław, Wiktor, Wiktoriusz (Poland)

Daniel (Slovakia)

Daniel, Lorenzo, Práxedes (Spain)

Johanna (Sweden)

Ernesto, Vic, Vick, Victor, Vik, Viktor, Vittorio (Universal)

Alma, Erna, Ernest, Ernestina, Ernesto, Ernie, Wesley, West, Westin, Westley, Weston (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 202 of 2024; 163 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 5 of week 29 of 2023

Celtic Tree Calendar: Tinne (Holly) [Day 12 of 28]

Chinese: Month 6 (Ji-Wei), Day 4 (Geng-Chen)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 3 Av 5783

Islamic: 3 Muharram 1445

J Cal: 22 Lux; Oneday [22 of 30]

Julian: 8 July 2023

Moon: 13%: Waxing Crescent

Positivist: 6 Dante (8th Month) [De Foe]

Runic Half Month: Ur (Primal Strength) [Day 8 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 31 of 94)

Zodiac: Cancer (Day 31 of 31)

[safereturndoubtful]

The wind grows heavy on the borderline

Thursday 13th July

The border in question is the strait between Mainland and Yell which I crossed on Wednesday evening, after a calm in some squally weather.

A rainy morning had led to little physical activity other than a journey on foot up to the renovated house that I had admired for two days. No one was there, and no sign of any recent activity. It’s not in as advanced a state as I thought, though the roof has been repaired. It is a superb place to live. To get to it, it is necessary to drive along the beach initially, so at low tide.

On leaving the North Roe peninsula I pulled in at North Collafirth marina to fill up with water. From my experience in Scandinavia last autumn marinas offer useful services, not only for boats, but for campervans as well. Up there, it was necessary to pay to use their facilities on an app, GoMarina, but here it is all done through an honesty box.

There was a shower, and also laundry facilities. Though I didn’t need the latter just yet, with the rain falling, such an opportunity couldn’t be missed. I spent a couple of hours cleaning the interior of the van, and after two hours, emerged refreshed.

Then it was via the Co-Op in Brae to the ferry terminal at Toft for the 20 minute crossing to Yell. Two boats service the crossing, and at this time of year, high season, there’s one every half hour. There’s a charge on the outward journey only, £16 for me, judged as less than 5.5 metres in length, by the crew’s trained eye. I am actually 5.9 metres, and the cost should be £23.

My destination was only 20 minutes from the terminal on Yell, West Sandwick beach, and its carpark, just a few metres from the beach.

We stayed here for two nights, and on the Thursday hiked around the peninsula to the south, the Ness of West Sandwick. This was a 3 hour, 5.5 mile excursion that began on the rugged ocean coast, climbed to the high point of 50 metres, then returned on the leeward side, passing this imposing house that puts me in mind of one of my favourite books, Elspeth Barker’s O Caledonia, in which young Janet suffers a miserable childhood in a strict Scottish Presbyterian household. (In the photo below)

Though I was the only campervan at the parking for two days, a few walkers visited during the days. When I arrived, in heavy rain and wind, there was a couple camped in a tent on the beach. They were from Durham, and in day 27 of a 700 mile hike around Shetland’s coastline. They agreed with me about how much a pain crossing the fences were, but said they had spoken to a few farmers, who had said that it was no problem to cross them, which surprised me. There is access to all of the coastline, but it’s just not very easy walking in a few places.

A couple of very friendly Shetland ponies just next to the beach and my park-up..

A guy originally from Carlisle lived with his terrier in a small house at the top of the road, and was down a few times to chat over the couple of days. There’s a real mix of nationalities amongst the population here, and they are very welcoming. The international feel is enhanced by tourists also; there aren’t very many, but they are from a huge variety of places.

It made this poem even more poignant.. I try not to get political here, but just occasionally something grates..

Paint over Mickey Mouse 
Burn Where the Wild Things Are
Pulverise the lego 
Set fire to the Christmas tree star. 
Seize all the teddies 
Bury every skipping rope
Paint the walls dark brown 
Abolish all hope.

(Michael Rosen)

During one of the periods of rain I read a piece with various recommendations of podcasts, and decided that instead of listening to just whatever next happens to come on the radio, I would try some of these.. at least between test matches.

Here’s a few that I thought looked of interest..

Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford (his More or Less show for Radio 4 is very good)

Second Captains (sport)

The Evolution of Horror

70 mm - on movies

Local Anaesthetic - weird and funny news

Blank Check - movies

Chart Music - deconstruction on individual Top of the Pops episodes

The History of Rock in 500 Songs

Song Exploder

The Alexei Sayle Podcast

The Rest is Politics - with Rory Stewart and Alastair Campbell (latest episode with Fergal Sharkey instead Stewart)

The News Agents

Mystery Show

Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell

Backlisted - giving new life to old books

Ask Any Buddy

Classic Ghost Stories - the story, followed by a deconstruction of it

Slow News

Welcome to Night Vale - a fiction podcast which is a sort of dark humour with a good music soundtrack, I’ve listened to the first three episodes (there are currently about 270) and it’s reeling me in.

Desert Island Dicks - the worst people and the worst things to be stranded on and island with

[montysworld]

ENTROPY from Films.Dance on Vimeo.

The traces we leave behind.

Filmed in London, UK

Director: Joshua Stocker Featuring: Chien-Ming Chang, Rachel P. Fallon, Evelyn Hart, Natalia Gabrielczyk Choreographer: Ochai Ogaba Co-choreographer: Lauren Bridle Producer: Tano Noblia Dance Producer: Rachel P. Fallon Production: NineReasons Cinematographer: Hamish Anderson Steadicam: Tommy McMahon 1st AC: Sinan Yilmaz 2nd AC: Aevzat Altinisik 1st AD: Pedro Rilho Gaffer: Owain Morgan Camera Technician: Matthew Clavey Editors: Gary Coogan, Joshua Stocker Colourist: Tim Smith Set Designer: Zuzanna Skurtys Art Assists: Ruth Parker, Billy River Tourle Stylist: Lara Elizabeth Aerial Rigging: Aaron Marshall Rain: Snowboy Systems Runner & BTS: Dom Compton Runners: Tilly GW, Flurina Music: Bendik Giske Bendik Giske is published by Smalltown Supersound / Sony / ATV Music Publishing (Scandinavia) KB With support from FLIR. No8

PRODUCED BY: Jacob Jonas The Company Executive Producer/Creative Director: Jacob Jonas Producers: Jill Wilson, Emma Rosenzweig-Bock Associate Producers: Joy Isabella Brown, Francisco Cruz, Steve Hackman, Emily Kikta, Rubberlegz, Anibal Sandoval, Mike Tyus, Peter Walker Fashion Director: Christian Stroble

CO-PRESENTED BY: BAM, The Harris, The Soraya, Stanford Live, Stanford Global Studies

[lonesomedreamereccentriclover]

Renate Reinsve (and Joachim Trier)