#top 10 hotels in the world 2017

[harry-on-broadway]

The Last Line: Part One

Part One 

Word Count: 9.4K || Series Masterlist || Rating: M

A/N: I didn’t think I’d be writing another series so soon after TYTM but...this little idea of an enemies-to-friends-to-lovers story that I’ve been thinking about for a long time just wouldn’t go away. Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I’m enjoying writing it. Would love to hear what everyone thinks! 

***

May 12, 2017

Review: Harry Styles Heads In A New Direction

By Penny Sanders

If you know someone, most likely a young woman, between the ages of 13 and 30, chances are you’ve heard of Harry Styles.

Or at least his former band, One Direction.

Styles is one of the five young men that were thrown together by the infamous Simon Cowell to create the best selling boy band of all-time. Over their brief career, One Direction’s discography cast a wide net, attracting fans of all ages. Young tweens and their millennial counterparts were drawn in by the clean-cut look of the lads clad in blazers and bowties and lyrics that felt like they were pulled from a self-insert fanfiction. However, as the years progressed the band added a bit of an edge – tattoos, rumors of an attempted threesome, and lyrics about a loaded gun (read: erect penis). But with 1D in the midst of an indefinite hiatus, all eyes are on Harry, Niall, Liam, and Louis (and Zayn too) to see what comes next.

Styles has answered that question with a 10-song debut that is worlds away from the five albums he put out with his former band. Gone are the bubblegum beats, replaced by alternatively somber and bombastic instrumentals. And forget cheeky “wink-wink nod-nod” lyrics to – gasp! sex! Styles readily admits getting himself off in a hotel room in the album’s closer, “From the Dining Table.”

It’s not a poor offering, but frankly, it’s not great either. While he pushes himself to redefine the sound that has been associated with him for more than five years, the result is a generic LP that will likely be forgotten as soon as one of the industry’s legitimate superstars releases a new single. And, to head off the question I’ve already received from many of Styles’ supporters on Twitter, I can guarantee that you won’t be seeing this album or any of its tracks, mentioned at this year’s Grammy Awards.

One of the bright spots on the album, the lead single “Sign Of The Times,” feels like a grand moment, but it also feels misplaced, almost as if it was a song that should have come a decade into his solo career. Despite poignant lyrics (the song is purportedly about a mother dying in childbirth), Styles’ falsetto needs strengthening and at times he sounds like a young boy trying to imitate his elders. He has talent and shows promise, but isn’t able to pull off a ballad of that caliber yet. Other songs, like “Sweet Creature” and “Two Ghosts” are instantly forgettable, though “Kiwi,” while memorable, is just plain painful to listen to.

Styles is obviously popular, and that alone will be enough to propel him to years of sold-out shows and chart-topping albums. But he needs something else – a secret ingredient if you will –  to launch him to further stardom and cement his name alongside his idols Nicks, Bowie, and Jagger. Otherwise, he’ll be nothing but a midnight memory.

***

September 21, 2017

Review: Harry Styles Rocks The Greek Theatre

By Penny Sanders

Months after the release of his self-titled debut album, Harry Styles found himself at the Greek Theatre, ready to play to a sold out crowd that had likely been waiting for this moment since One Direction’s final performance.

And let me just say, attending a Harry Styles concert is an experience like no other.

The intimate venue was a nice change of pace for Styles who was selling out stadiums in the latter half of One Direction’s tour. He was always seen as the charming one, and the small stage makes that even more apparent, giving him more than enough time to banter with the audience, introduce songs, and connect with his audience. I’m sure many of those in the front of the crowd will tell stories for years to come of the night they made eye contact with the heartthrob.

With just 10 songs of his own, he relied on some One Direction hits and other covers to fill out the setlist. With the exception of “The Chain,” most of the covers sounded nothing like the original version, leading anyone unfamiliar with Styles’ career so far to assume the guitar heavy, rocking versions of the songs – notably “What Makes You Beautiful” and “Story of My Life” – are the standard.

Styles has a charisma like no other, and even though it’s clear it takes him a while to warm up to the crowd, perhaps a symptom of never being alone onstage in his career so far, he’s a born performer who belongs on the stage. But for me, he wasn’t the standout. It was his fans.

The crowd was ready for fun, dressed to the nines, with nearly everyone carrying overflowing bags of merch. They sang along to the songs word perfect and clung to Styles every word, cheering louder than I’ve ever heard when he entered the stage. It was a joyous occasion and had an energy I haven’t seen in any of the concerts I’ve recently attended.

I spoke to a number of women in attendance last night, asking them what drew them to the show. Some cited their One Direction fandom, while others spoke of the sounds of his music, and how it reminded them of other classic songs they love. But for many, Styles himself was the primary reason for being there.

“He makes things really personal,” said Ally, a college student who came from Minneapolis to see the show – her third time seeing Styles this year. “A lot of the other concerts I go to, the artists don’t say anything other than a generic thank you. But Harry makes every show feel special.”

“He feels like a friend,” said Katrina, a local high-schooler. “School’s not always easy and I sometimes struggle with things, but when I listen to his music or go to one of his shows, it feels comforting. Like I’m in a safe place.”

These statements perfectly summarize why Styles’ concerts are so unique.

If he stays true to what his fans want and lets his personality shine on stage, that, in addition to strengthening his songwriting, could be enough to land him alongside his musical icons, and 50 years from now, we’ll see him headlining stadiums on his own, playing a career’s worth of hits as the crowd – full more than just women – sings along.

Longtime readers will remember that I was less than effusive in my review of Styles’s debut, but after seeing him live, I must eat my words and say he’s going places.

***

Transcript from the “Track After Track” podcast, Episode 147: July 21, 2018

Ethan: Speaking of concerts, Penny, you just saw Harry Styles at the Forum, right?

Penny: Yeah, I was there a week ago. Eight days? No a week ago. Sorry it all blends together.

Ethan: I mean, you are at a concert every night, pretty much, so I’ll give you a pass.

Penny: [laughs] You’re so kind. But yes, I was at his show.

Tyler: How was that? I never know what to make of these boy band guys. For every Timberlake, there’s 10 Chris Kirkpatricks.

Penny: It wasn’t terrible. He puts on a good show.

Ethan: Was this your first time seeing him?

Penny: No. I saw him twice when he was in One Direction. And when he was at the Greek.

Tyler: And?

Penny: Like I said, he’s not terrible. It’s clear that his music and personality has resonated with a lot of people, so his shows are filled with fans and have a great energy. Listening to the album on its own is kind of meh…there weren’t a lot of tracks that stuck out as memorable…but live it can be kind of fun. You can tell he loves performing and really feeds off the crowd.

Ethan: Confession: I actually haven’t listened to the album yet.

Penny: That doesn’t surprise me based on the number of EDM CDs in your car.

Ethan: [laughs] Yeah, the genre definitely isn’t my cup of tea, but I think Harry is someone the industry really needs to watch. He’s going to do big things. Well, even bigger since he’s already pretty massive. Tyler, have you listened?

Tyler: Yeah, but I just can’t bring myself to get into it. Like, you just mention his name and you can hear the teen girls screaming off in the distance. I just think it’s a red flag when your fanbase is that narrow. Like if teen girls are your driver, how are you going to succeed? What happens when they’re not 13 and hormonal anymore. You’re not seeing a lot of geriatric boy band fans.

Penny: Wow! Ageism and sexism all in one statement! That has to be a first for you! It’s fine to say you don’t like his music, but to discount it purely on the basis that younger women like it…that’s just plain ignorant.

Tyler: Let’s evaluate this in five years and see where he is.

Penny: Fine, in five years have me back on this podcast and we’ll discuss his Grammy win.

Tyler: You’re out of your goddamn mind if you think Harry Styles will win a Grammy. You need to start thinking with your head and not your – (inaudible)

Penny: Seriously?

Ethan: OK, let’s talk charts…

***

Talking Biz News  

November 8, 2018

Penny Sanders to join media start-up The Moment as Music Reporter

***

Present Day, 2019

“She needs to go back to copyediting and stop fucking up my stories,” Chloe barked, stabbing lettuce onto her fork to match her anger. “She knows nothing about film but is constantly trying to make corrections and I’m just like ‘No?!? That’s not how the fucking industry works.’” She looked across the table at Penny. “Am I crazy?”

“No, you’re not crazy,” Penny said, trying to soothe her friend. “I have the same issue with Darren. He came in thinking he was hot shit because he had been at Rolling Stone and started trying to explain how the charts work as if I haven’t been covering this for years. I can’t tell you how much time I spend undoing his edits before the piece goes to Skylar.”

“Why can’t this newsroom hire a competent editor?” Chloe asked. “It’s not that hard.”

“Probably because no editor wants to work here?”

“Good point!”

Penny and Chloe were eating a late lunch in the courtyard of the complex that housed The Moment, the entertainment publication they both worked for. They’d met three years ago during a summer internship at Variety and forged an alliance after realizing they were the only two women in the program. Penny had wanted to cover music and Chloe was determined to become a film reporter, and they’d been thrilled to finally end up at The Moment together after several years of freelancing and fighting for staff writer roles. Now, they were unstoppable, filing stories daily and dodging pointless notes from their first editors.

“Wait, Penny…didn’t you file your piece on ‘Old Town Road’ today?”

“Yes, and I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Why? It’s such an interesting story,” Chloe whined. “And I haven’t seen anyone covering it yet.”

“That always makes me nervous.” Penny swirled her spoon through her bowl of soup.

“It shouldn’t. It means you’re ahead of the curve.”

“Or I’ve completely misjudged the story. Maybe it’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing. Give it a month and everyone will be talking about it.” Chloe paused. “Is Darren taking firsts?”

“Yes.”

“Oh fuck.”

“Yeah, it’s not looking good for me, Chlo.”

The Moment’s typical reporting and editing process involved a reporter filing a story to one editor, who would do an intensive first edit, fixing the structure of the story, making notes on sections that needed to be added or get cut, and getting the piece 99% ready for publication. The second round of edits was largely focused on fixing grammar and spelling, as well as fact-checking, ahead of publication. Penny typically preferred Skylar, the publication’s editor-in-chief, to take on first edits. While she could be tough, she was smart and kind, and Penny’s stories were always much better after Skylar got her hands on them. When other editors, like Darren, took first edits, Penny knew to prepare herself for days of tears, stress, and questioning her life choices.

“What about you?” Penny asked, wanting to shift the conversation away from her anxiety over her story. “Have things calmed down post-Oscars?”

“Yes. Thankfully.”

Penny knew Chloe loved her job but from late August to early March, she was running from festival to festival, covering awards season. In addition to writing her articles, she, like Penny, found herself taking on media hits as an added responsibility, appearing on morning shows, podcasts, and radio programs to break down entertainment topics for everyday consumers. It was fun and super fulfilling, but it was also exhausting.

“When is Cannes again?”

“May!” Chloe said brightly. “Easily my favorite festival.”

“I have no idea why,” Penny said with a sly grin. “Two weeks on a French beach surrounded by celebrities, eating the most delicious food. It sounds horrid.”

“Oh my God, Penny? What are you doing here?”

Penny and Chloe turned in synchronicity to look at the man who had shouted at them from a table across the path.

“Do we know him?” Chloe asked, mumbling the question through the tentative grin she had plastered on her face.

“I can’t actually see his face,” Penny admitted, squinting trying to gain a better view.

“This is why you need to wear your glasses,” Chloe hissed.

“Of all the food courts in Los Angeles,” the man continued as he walked over to them.

“Wait…Tom? Is that you?”

“It is! How have you been?” He opened his arms and pulled Penny into him. She wrapped her own arms around him.

“So good. I didn’t realize you were out here.”

“I’ve actually been here for a few years now.”

“Shit. Really. I feel so bad that I didn’t reach out,” Penny said apologetically. “And I’m also surprised that my mom didn’t mention you.”

“Eh, it’s not a problem,” he shrugged.

“Care to introduce me?” Chloe asked.

“Ah, yes,” Penny said, composing herself. “Chloe, this is Tom Skoglund. He’s a longtime family friend, although I’m sure that title is being called into question since I didn’t even know he was living here. Tom, this is Chloe. She’s a friend of mine who also works at The Moment.” Penny stepped back to allow Chloe and Tom to shake hands and exchange pleasantries. “Do you want to sit with us?” she asked when they were finished, noting Tom’s sandwich and chips.

“If you don’t mind,” he said. “I’d love to catch up.”

Penny and Chloe sat back down as Tom pulled up a third chair and set his food down. “So you’re still doing the reporter thing?” he asked with a grin. He turned to Chloe. “Penny used to write a newsletter for everyone in the neighborhood. It had news items and opinion pieces all written by her. I seem to remember a glowing review for the second High School Musical soundtrack.”

“It’s full of bangers and you know it,” Penny said with a grin.

Tom turned to Chloe. “Do you also cover music?”

Chloe shook her head. “I’m a film girl.”

“Thoughts on the Oscars?” he asked as he took a bite.

“Anyone who actually pays attention to previous stats knew that Green Book would pull out a win so I wasn’t surprised. I will be curious to see what Netflix does next though. I personally thought The Favourite should have won, but that’s why I’m not a voter.”

“I literally only saw Black Panther and A Star Is Born so I feel like I don’t have room to say anything,” Tom said with a grimace.

“You sound like Penny,” Chloe said with a laugh. “She can tell you the exact week a song hit number one on the Billboard charts, but is frighteningly unaware of the latest movies.”

“I only have so much room for useless facts,” Penny said, earning a kick under the table from Chloe. She turned her attention back to Tom. “What are you doing here? Last I heard my mom said you were working in finance? Is that still the case?”

“God no,” he said lightly. “I had enough of that soul crushing job and decided to head out here to hack it in music. Got an assistant gig and worked my way up to manager.”

“Tom, that’s incredible,” Penny said with genuine excitement. “Who are you with?”

“Full Stop. With Jeff Azoff”

“Wow,” Penny said as Chloe let out a slow whistle. She turned to look at her friend.

“Yes, I know who the Azoffs are,” Chloe said. “And that’s impressive. Congrats, Tom.” Her phone chirped and she looked down at the screen. “Fuck. One of my sources wants to chat. I’ve got to take this.” She looked up at Penny and Tom. “It was so nice to meet you, Tom. Penny, I’ll see you at drinks later?”

Penny nodded and waved as Chloe disappeared across the grass, depositing her empty salad container in the trash. “So Full Stop,” she said, turning back to Tom. “You all have quite the roster.”

“Before you ask, no comment,” Tom said with a grin.

“Tom, I’m disappointed that you’d think I would stoop that low. I have a firm stance on not using friends for work stuff.”

“Well good, because you’d get nothing out of me.” He took a sip of his drink. “Remind me, are you still doing breaking news?” He grimaced. “I know I see your byline frequently, but I don’t always remember which article it comes in front of.”

“No. I moved on from that.” Penny didn’t miss the days of covering the desk at night, ready to pounce on any stories that came across the wire. “I mostly do reviews for concerts and albums now. I’m working my way up to business features, profiles, those types of things.”

“What should I go back and get caught up on?”

“I reviewed Maggie Rogers’ album a couple of weeks ago and wrote a review of Elton John’s show last week.”

“God, doesn’t he put on a great show.”

“One of the best. And I’m working on a feature about TikTok and ‘Old Town Road’ right now.”

“That sounds so interesting. Is it up yet?”

“No. I just filed it to my editor so there is a very good chance that it will never see the light of day. But if it does, I will send it your way.”

“Please. Let me give you my number.”

Penny pulled out her phone and handed it to her old friend. It was a strange feeling knowing that in the heyday of their friendship, they hadn’t needed each other's number, knowing they could always find the other in the cul-de-sac or the school hallways.

“Done.” Tom said, saving his contact information and passing the phone back to Penny, who quickly dashed off a text so he would have her information as well.

“I should probably head back into the office now,” Penny said. “But it was great to see you.”

“You too,” Tom said, standing to hug her. “Actually, I was wondering if you’d want to come to a little party slash happy hour thing I’m having on Friday. It’s super casual, basically just drinks and fancy snacks with a bunch of people from the office. I think they’d all love to meet you and talk music. Off the record,” he added quickly.

“That sounds like a lot of fun,” Penny replied. “I should be free Friday.”

“Great. I’ll text you my address and we can take it from there.”

“Thanks, Tom,” Penny said, collecting her trash. “I’m really looking forward to seeing more of you.”

“Same. I’ll see you on Friday.”

Penny waved as she threw her trash away and headed back to her building. She smiled to herself. It would be nice to have another friendly face around. They were too rare in her line of work.

***

Penny promptly shut her laptop at 5pm, stowing it in her tote bag and pushing her chair underneath her desk.

“Have a nice weekend!” she called out to the few staffers that were remaining in the newsroom, before heading to her car. She plugged Tom’s address into her GPS app, hit play on her Spotify playlist, and pulled out of the parking lot. She was about 45 minutes away, thanks to the heavy traffic that was a near constant presence in the city, but made it to Tom’s house before her 80s synth mix was finished playing, which she counted as a win.

She grabbed her bag and fished around in the backseat for the bottle of wine she’d purchased earlier that day. She wasn’t sure if this was that type of gathering, but she felt weird showing up empty handed. Hopefully Tom wouldn’t say no to some Trader Joe’s wine. She locked her car and walked up the path and heard some shouts coming from the backyard. She rang the bell and just a few moments later, Tom appeared with a smile on his face.

“Penny! Come on in!” he said, opening the door for her. “How was the drive over?”

“Not as bad as it could have been,” she replied, shrugging off her cardigan and tote bag.

“I can take those,” Tom offered, reaching for her belongings, and placing them in a nearby closet.

“Thanks,” Penny said. “And this is for you,” she added, offering him the bottle of wine.

“You didn’t have to bring anything.”

“It’s from Trader Joe’s, Tom. It is quite literally the least I could do.”

He laughed. “Well, thank you. I’ll put it out now. It’s an open bar, so help yourself. Once you get a drink, I’ll take you around and introduce you to everyone.”

Penny poured herself a rum and Coke, and followed Tom out to the patio, drink in hand.

“Penny, I’d like you to meet Tommy Bruce,” he said. “Tommy, this is my friend, Penny. We reconnected the other day.”

“Pleasure, Penny,” Tommy said, shaking her hand. “Do you also work in the industry?”

“Sort of. I’m a critic and reporter at The Moment. I cover music.”

“That’s sick. Do you go to a lot of shows?”

“Yes. I was at Elton John’s show the other day and I’m planning to see Post Animal in a couple of weeks.”

“I was at Elton too! I wonder if we ran into each other?”

“We probably did,” Penny said with a laugh.

“Are you planning to go to Leon Bridges?”

“I’m not sure yet. I have to get everything approved by my editor so it’s up to her.”

“I hope you can. He’s so good. Hey, Jeff!”

Tom and Tommy turned their attention to another man that had approached their small group.

“Penny, this is the man, the myth, the legend, Jeffrey Azoff,” Tom said.

“They exaggerate,” Jeff said. “Nice to meet you Penny.”

“Nice to meet you too,” Penny said, moving her drink to her other hand so she could shake Jeff’s. “I’m an old friend of Tom’s from growing up. I work as a music journalist now.”

“Yeah, you’re at The Moment, right?” Jeff said.

“Yes…” Penny said slowly.

“OK,” Tommy said, affably rolling his eyes. “He’s such a show off.”

“I try to keep up with those who cover our clients, that’s all,” Jeff said. “And if it makes me look like a show-off, so be it,” he added, as Tommy playfully punched his shoulder.

As the men continued to banter, Penny surveyed the room, making the silent calculation she faced nearly everyday. Including herself, there were four women total at the gathering, which felt like a huge accomplishment. Working in her industry, she was used to being one of the only women in the room, a blessing and a curse.

The blessing was that whenever she found another woman at an event or meeting, they instantly gravitated toward each other, which meant she’d made a lot of friends in just a few years. The curse was obvious: men.

The men that surrounded her weren’t the worst offenders – they kept their hands and other body parts to themselves and were generally very kind – but being the lone woman was noticeable. Men would casually throw out that someone was a “bitch” or offer Penny an explanation that they didn’t give to a male reporter two years her junior. Penny usually just took it with a grain of salt, sighing internally, complaining to Chloe, and then proving her worth by being the smartest one in the room. Keeping an eye on two women chatting in the corner, she started to move towards them to introduce herself when she caught sight of another person across the way.

Harry Styles.

Or was it? Was that actually him? Chloe was right, she needed to wear her glasses more often. But Harry Styles being here didn’t make any sense. What would he be doing at a random house party?

She felt a hand on her shoulder and stepped over to the side to allow the person to pass and collect her thoughts. The more she thought about it, Harry Styles being at this party made sense. She knew from stories she’d worked on that he was repped by Full Stop, so it wasn’t totally out of the realm of possibility that he would hang out with Tom and the other agents outside of work, but it was still jarring to see him out in the wild.

Whenever she told people she was a music journalist, their first instinct was to assume that she was close to many of the artists she reported on daily, but that wasn’t the case. When she was attending an event, it was a professional engagement. She was there to gather the facts, tell a story, and move on. Socializing with those in the industry outside of that professional setting made her uncomfortable. Especially when she was working on a review or piece of criticism. It was one thing to write those things and send them off into the vacuum of the internet, but when she thought about the subjects of the reviews reading her writing, she started to feel…guilty. She never intended to be mean – she knew how she felt when she received harsh notes from an editor – but the point of her reviews was to offer commentary and opinions. And if she thought too much about the people behind the work, her objectivity disappeared. So, she’d made a concerted effort to keep a firm boundary to ensure her writing was as good as it could be.

The few times she did meet musicians outside of work events, she could feel her brain going a mile a minute to remember if she’d ever written something slightly negative about them for fear they’d call her out on it, as despite what every musician claimed, they always read the reviews. And her brain started working overtime to perform these mental calculations as she saw Harry stop in front of her.

“Haven’t seen you here before. I’m Harry,” he drawled slowly, reaching out his hand.

Penny momentarily froze, but quickly recovered. “I’m Penny,” she said, shaking his hand.

“Do you work at Full Stop?” he asked, eyes glancing over her as if he was trying to figure out where she should be placed.

“No.”

“At one of the labels?”

“No.”

“OK, well I’m stumped as to where you fit it,” he said with a light laugh. “Care to enlighten me?”

“I’m a writer,” Penny replied, hoping the vague nature of her answer was enough to satisfy him.

“Have you written anything I’ve read?”

“Maybe.”

“Care to give me any other clues?” he asked, sipping from the plastic cup in his hand and leaning in closer to hear her response. Penny couldn’t tell what it was, but from the smell wafting over to her, it was something strong.

“I’m a journalist.”

“What do you cover?” Another sip, his eyes intensely focused on her.

“Entertainment,” Penny said simply, praying this game of 20 questions would be over soon.

“That’s kind of vague,” Harry replied quickly.

“That’s kind of the point.”

“Oh! A woman with an air of mystery. That’s…” he paused. “Enticing.”

“Enticing?” Penny quirked a brow and shot him a bemused grin.

“Yeah, it’s like a challenge. You’re making me work for it.”

“For what?”

“I don’t know, maybe a drink?” Harry asked hopefully.

“Wow. Subtle.”

“I try.” The corners of his lips ticked up. “Maybe I should try a little harder though.”  

Penny was thinking up a witty comeback, somewhat amused by the situation she’d found herself in and very pleased that she’d have a new story to share with Chloe at lunch on Monday, when Tom interrupted their conversation.

“There you two are! I was hoping to introduce you all tonight.” He looked at Harry, gesturing to Penny. “This is Penny. She’s a friend from back home who’s a big time writer for The Moment. She writes reviews for concerts and albums.”

Penny snuck a look at Harry and thought she saw a flicker of…something…in his eyes. It was so subtle and so brief that she didn’t have time to think about what it could mean before she felt Tom’s arm on her back.

“And Penny, you of course know Harry.”

“I do. I think one of my friends had a toothbrush with your face on it.”

“Hmmm,” Harry murmured. “Those were a hot item for sure.”

Tom’s eyes darted between the two, evidently waiting for them to continue the conversation he had interrupted. Seeing that that wasn’t going to happen, he excused himself and moved onto another group of people.

“So, music is the kind of entertainment you cover.” The banter was back but it had a harder edge this time.

“It is.”

“Have you ever written about me?”

Penny mulled her potential responses, trying to find one that could cause the path of least resistance. “No,” she said simply.

“Really?” Harry said. The challenge in his voice was evident. “You weren’t the one who said I sound like ‘a young boy trying to imitate his elders?’”

Fuck. Penny felt her face grow hot. “That might have been me.”

“I thought so.”

“How long did you know?”

“Once Tom said the name of where you work. There aren’t that many critics named Penny that wrote a scathing review of my album.”

“It wasn’t scathing,” Penny said, suddenly feeling defensive of her work. “It was critical, sure, but that’s what my job is. I’m a critic. And besides, don't musicians get off on bragging about how they don’t pay attention to the reviews?”

“Hate to break it to you but that’s a load of bullshit. We are all very sensitive creatures.”

“Well, that’s clear based on how you’re acting now.”

“How I'm acting? You’re the one that’s yelling in the middle of a party.”

“I’m not yelling!” Penny said, lowering her voice by a couple of decibels. “You’re the one that came over here trying to score and then decided to pick a fight because you can’t forget about one review from like two years ago.”

“I’m sorry–” Harry laughed in disbelief. “You thought I was trying to get lucky? What made you think that?”

“‘Ah! A mysterious woman! So enticing! I like a challenge. You’re making me bloody work for it. Let’s get a drink!’” Penny shot back in a poor imitation of his slow, deep voice.

“I did not say that.”

“Yes you did!” Penny yelped. “You totally did.”

“Whatever,” Harry mumbled, taking another sip of his drink while Penny just looked at him.

“That’s all you have to say?”

Harry looked at her blankly. “Yes?”

“Oh, I thought you might offer up a sorry.”

“What for?”

“For attacking my work.”

“I hate to break it to you, Penny, but I think you attacked my work first.”

“Because it’s my fucking job!”

“Everything alright over here?”  Jeff asked, stepping into the conversation. The look of caution on his face told Penny that her conversation with Harry had been overheard by the others at the party.

“We’re fine,” Penny said evenly.

“Yeah, peachy keen,” Harry added, earning a glare from Penny.

“I should actually be going,” Penny said.

“Oh, can’t you stay a little longer?” Jeff asked as Harry muttered “Bye, then.” Jeff cut his eyes over to Harry, who avoided his glance. “Alright then,” he said slowly. “It was nice to meet you, Penny. Hope to see you around.”

“You, too,” Penny said before swiftly leaving the group.

“What was that about?” Jeff asked, attention turned back to Harry.

“I don’t know what you’re referring to.”

“You were a bit, shall we say…dickish…back there?”

“No, I wasn’t.”

“If you say so,” Jeff said. He paused. “Have you read any of her work?”

“I’ve read enough of it.”

“You should honestly read some more. The Moment in general is a really up-and-coming publication. They’ve poached some stellar writers and editors from Billboard and Rolling Stone. And Penny…she’s smart. I think you all would have a lot to talk about.”

Harry glared at Jeff. “What makes you say that?”

“She’s got an interesting perspective. Her reviews always leave me thinking about things in a different way and I can’t say that about many critics.”

“Oh really,” Harry shot back, suddenly combative. “Did you start to reconsider my album after reading her review?”

“Calm down, H,” Jeff said gently. “Your album is a fantastic accomplishment and you know it. And she doesn’t just write criticism, she does cultural pieces as well. Check them out. She was on a podcast last year that you might find interesting.” Jeff pulled out his phone, typing quickly. “Here’s a link. Give it a listen and let me know what you think.”

Harry shot Jeff another glare and drained his cup. “Thanks,” he said dryly. “I’ll move it to the top of the list. See you later,” he called, pushing past his manager.

He tossed his cup into a nearby trash can and combed the room for Tom, offering a wave as he walked out the door. Harry walked slowly down the driveway, feeling the cool night air blow through his hair, relishing the peace. He’d felt a little off all day, but couldn’t put a finger on why, and his encounter with Penny had thrown him even more off balance. He’d been feeling like this a lot recently. Like he didn’t quite fit in alongside the other pieces of his life. He reached his car and unlocked it, sliding inside.

He plugged in his phone and stared out the windshield. Penny. He hadn’t known who she was when he approached her that night. Only that she looked pretty and that the smile she’d worn when he saw her talking to Jeff and Tommy made him want to know more about her. But as the pieces fell into place, it was impossible to look past what she’d done to him two years ago.

He didn’t know why her review had struck such a nerve with him. It wasn’t like his debut had been released to unanimous raves, and after two years of looking back on it, while he was proud of what he’d accomplished, he could see the weak spots in his work and was hoping to improve upon them with his second album. The hurt that lingered was just one of those implacable feelings.

Rolling his neck and feeling it crack, he pulled on his seatbelt and scrolled through his music library looking for something to listen to on the ride home. But after cycling through the entire library twice to no avail, he opened the text Jeffrey had sent him earlier, pressing play on the podcast episode that had been shared with him before turning the key in the ignition. His drive home was long but while he usually grew antsy watching the clock change as he sat bumper to bumper with other drivers, tonight his mind was occupied listening to the discussion echoing through his speakers.

It was an episode from one of Variety’s podcasts last year, shortly after his Forum concerts. Penny was a guest, chatting with the two guys who served as hosts. One of them sounded cool, and the other sounded like someone that he’d like to punch in the face if they ever crossed paths in real life. The episode was about his tour, specifically his shows in Los Angeles. It was weird listening to people talk about him like he was a commodity for consumption, and not like a human, a blatant reminder of why he typically abstained from engaging with anything like this.

Much to his surprise, Penny played the role of his supporter throughout the podcast, jumping to his defense when the Asshole, or whatever his name was, levied harsh words at Harry and his fans. He wouldn’t have expected that based on what she’d previously written. On the track, they shifted topics and Harry’s mind drifted off as the episode played on, ending moments before he arrived at his home. He turned off the car but made no effort to head inside. Instead, he picked up his phone and opened Instagram where he typed in Penny’s name.

Her account popped up right away. He scrolled over her page, unsurprised by what he found. Lots of pictures of concerts, sunsets on the beach, and admittedly delicious looking food. There weren’t many pictures of her but he found one that was relatively recent, posted last Christmas. She was smiling alongside some other women, probably friends based on the caption, and once again he felt something tugging inside of him when he looked at her. Next, he redownloaded the Twitter app, something he swore he would never do, and typed in Penny’s name, skimming through her Tweets. Jeff was right. She was frustratingly and irritatingly smart.

Closing out of Twitter, he navigated back to Instagram, finger hovering over the follow button. He hesitated, but after a minute his finger came down on the icon and it changed from blue to gray.

As he put his phone in his pocket and locked his car, across town Penny’s phone lit up with a notification. She missed the initial alert as she washed her face and pulled on the old college t-shirt she wore to bed most nights, but she finally noticed it when she went to set her alarm: Harry Styles followed you.

What the fuck was he trying to do? After laying into her the way he did at Tom’s house, completely unprovoked, the last thing she wanted to do was interact with him in the virtual world. She deleted the notification, plugged in her phone, and went to sleep.

When Harry woke up the next morning, the first thing he did was check his Instagram notifications. He scrolled past most of them – comments and following alerts from random fans and bots – but among all of the familiar amalgamations of usernames, Penny’s was nowhere to be found.

He laid his phone on his chest and stared at the ceiling. What game was she trying to play with him? And why did he feel so upset? The silence that surrounded him as he laid motionless was so loud.

When he finally found the motivation to get out of bed, he pulled on some jogging shorts and a tank and laced up his sneakers, grabbing headphones on his way out the door. He was hoping that a run might clear his head, but thoughts of Penny from the night before echoed alongside the sound of his feet on the pavement. Clarity hadn’t been found when he reached the five mile point, so he begrudgingly turned around to head home and shower. His mind was still swirling as he got cleaned up, and by the time he was dressed for the day and brewing coffee, he had a plan.

He pulled up his contacts and scrolled until he found the name he was looking for, pacing nervously while the phone rang.

“Hey,” the voice on the other line said. “Is everything OK?”

“Yeah, Tom. Sorry for the early morning call,” Harry said, twisting his fringe around his finger as he continued to do laps around the island. “Are you heading into the office today?”

“Seeing as it’s Saturday, I wasn’t planning on it.”

“Oh, shit,” Harry said, cringing when he took note of the early weekend hour. “I guess I lost track of time.”

“Not a problem,” Tom replied, stifling what seemed to be a yawn. “I’ll be there bright and early on Monday.

“Oh, nice. Would you maybe want to catch up and grab lunch?”

“That would be great, seeing as it’ll have been close to 48 hours since we last caught up,” Tom said a bit facetiously.

Harry said nothing trying to extract his fingers from the knot he’d twisted his fringe into. “Oh, yeah,” he mumbled after a moment.

“H, I’m kidding,” Tom said with a light laugh. “You can always swing by. Would you want to go to the bistro?”

“No, why don’t we pick somewhere more convenient to you. How about Loqui?” Harry suggested naming one of the restaurants that was in the campus that housed both the Full Stop and The Moment offices.

“Uh, yeah that’s fine. I’ll see you then. Have a good weekend, H.”

“You too, Tom.”

Harry hung up the phone and tried to figure out how he’d distract himself until Monday.

***

As Penny sat in her editor’s office Monday morning, she was trying to calculate when her next dental appointment was scheduled for and whether or not she’d be able to add on some x-rays to survey the damage done to her jaw after clenching it as hard as she had that morning.

Darren had finished reviewing her piece over the weekend, and had suggested they review his edits first thing, which wasn't the way she wanted to start the week.

“I think the biggest problem you have here is that this isn’t a story,” he said, scrolling through the copy on his laptop. “You only have one example of this phenomenon if we want to call it that and I honestly don’t think that TikTok is that important to the success of the song. In my professional career, we’ve seen plenty of songs do this. It’s nothing unusual.”

“But you’re missing the point,” Penny said, pushing back. “The whole idea is yes, this hasn’t happened before, but it’s the way forward. This is going to be the new version of Justin Bieber getting discovered on YouTube or Shawn Mendes on Vine.” She could feel herself getting angry and took a breath to calm herself. “You’re always telling us to be ahead of the story and that’s what I’m doing.”

“But this isn’t a story.”

Penny bit the inside of her cheek as she struggled to keep her cool. “OK, then, what do you suggest I do?”

Darren sighed. “Write it up like a regular chart recap and include a couple of lines about how it’s getting close to a record.”

“Because of TikTok?”

“No mention of TikTok. We don’t want to look like we don’t know what we’re talking about.”

“We have a chance to scoop Rolling Stone and Billboard and you’re just ignoring it.”

“Because it’s not a story. End of discussion. I’ve got a meeting to go to.”

Darren stood up and exited the office, leaving Penny stunned and furious. When she’d collected herself, she moved back to her desk in the newsroom. She spun around in her chair, any motivation to work gone.

Editors, specifically Skylar, were constantly telling them to push boundaries and find the stories no one was writing on yet. Unfortunately, they weren’t always on the same page, which led to a great deal of frustration when it came time to file a story. Penny could submit a story thinking it was Pullitzer-worthy, but be left questioning her entire life path after a single round of edits. Almost as if she could sense the tension brewing, Chloe poked her head over top of the divider that separated their desks.

“I think you need coffee. Or a pastry. Or lunch. Basically you just need to not be in this office right now, so we’re going for a walk.”

Penny begrudgingly grabbed her purse and ID and headed towards the exit, close behind Chloe, who was listing off restaurant options.

“Loqui,” Penny eventually said, stopping the list. “I’m in the mood for some spice.”

After walking a few blocks they found themselves at the restaurant, scanning the menu above the cash register. They ordered – a beef plate for Chloe and chicken plate for Penny – and had stood off to the side waiting for their respective numbers to be called, when they were interrupted.

“So we go years without seeing each other and then all of a sudden it’s three times in one week?” Tom called from behind a partition.

“Oh my God,” Penny said, laughing with actual mirth for the first time all day. “What are the odds?”

“Nice to see you again,” Chloe added.

“Are you all dining in?” Tom asked, eyes shifting between the two women.

“Yeah,” Chloe chimed in. “Needed to get out of the office for a little while.”

“I feel that,” Tom replied. “You’re welcome to join us.”

Penny looked at Chloe, who nodded her agreement. Neither woman asked who “us” was.

Their numbers were called and when they’d collected their food they slid into the booth, leaving space around the plate of veggie tacos that had been placed in front of an empty chair.

“How’s your week shaping up?” Chloe asked Tom.

He shrugged. “Mondays are always rough, but it’s all downhill from here.”

“What is management like? Do you have a routine?” Chloe continued. “Like with reporting, there’s a certain cadence with different deadlines and interviews. Is there a similar thing for you all?”

“Sort of. If we’re on tour a lot of people have a routine they like to stick to. When we’re in the office, it’s a little less structured. Depends on what each client is working on.”

Penny kept her eyes on her plate, her thoughts still focused on her earlier conversation with Darren. Eyes on the floor, she saw the white loafers and yellow socks before the face of the man they belonged to.

“You’re out to lunch with Tom?” Penny asked in disbelief when her eyes met Harry’s.

“Yeah. I didn’t think there’d be a problem with that,” he mumbled as he sat in front of the plate.

“I’m Chloe. I don’t think we’ve met,” Chloe interjected helpfully.

“Harry,” Harry returned, extending his hand.

Penny stared daggers at him, but Harry refused to look at her. Penny knew he was observing her though, feeling his eyes burning into her whenever she looked away. Neither of them spoke, leaving Tom and Chloe to fill the silence with banal conversation.

As they chattered on, Penny continued to feel the heat of Harry’s glare on her.

“Can I help you?” she finally snapped.

“What?” he shot back.

“If you have something to say, just fucking say it.”

“I’ve got nothing to say,” he said, spooning some mushrooms and peppers into his mouth.

“Really? Because it looks like you’ve got something on your mind.”

“OK, then,” Harry shot back, putting his spoon down next to his plate. “Why’d you give my album such a shit review?”

“Why do you care?”

“Because I do!”

“That’s a great argument,” Penny said, rolling her eyes.

“Well how about this,” Harry said, turning to face her. “I’m trying to figure out how someone who supposedly loves music and everything it stands for can be such a hater.”

“A hater?” Penny could feel the prickly sensation behind her eyes that meant tears were just moments away. “I’m sorry. The 90s called and they want their slang back.”

“Yeah, all of your reviews are just so…mean. It’s like you forget there’s someone behind that album.”

“Almost like forgetting there’s a person behind the review?”

“Don’t twist my words like that.”

“I’m not. I’m just saying it’s a two way street.”

“All you are is a second-rate journalist who isn’t good enough to work for a legitimate publication, so instead of saying things that actually matter, you just share your shitty takes to try to get Twitter clout.”

Penny could feel her lips tremble, but she was determined to not give Harry the satisfaction of seeing her cry. “You know, it’s generally frowned upon to harass a journalist in a public setting just because you don’t care for what they have to say.” She sniffed and much to her chagrin, she could feel her eyes getting wet. “But now you’ve got me crying in a restaurant so I hope you’re satisfied.” She grabbed her purse, leaving her food nearly untouched on the table. “I’ll see you back at the office, Chloe.”

Chloe and Tom’s eyes followed her as she walked out of the restaurant. Harry kept his eyes locked on his plate.

“I should probably check on her,” Chloe said after a moment.

“That might be for the best,” Tom said. “Let me grab a box. You can take her her food.”

Chloe picked up her own bag and leftovers, balancing them alongside Penny’s. “Wish this could have been longer but…” she trailed off as Tom nodded. She looked at Harry. “I’m not entirely sure what this is about but I’ve never met anyone who loves music more than Penny, so whatever assumptions you have about her, she’s not a ‘hater.’ She’s also not second-rate. She’s fucking brilliant, but maybe you’re just too dumb to see that.” She turned on her heel and walked out of the restaurant.

Harry picked up his spoon and started pushing the remaining vegetables and bits of tortilla around on his plate. The air was heavy with the unspoken questions on Tom’s tongue. “Go ahead and say it,” Harry said after a moment.

“Is there something going on with you?” Tom asked, point blank. “You’ve been kind of moody lately and I’m here if you want to talk.”

Harry looked up at him. “That wasn’t what I was expecting you to say.”

“Oh don’t get me wrong, I’m pissed that you yelled at my friend like that, but whatever issues you all have it’s not my business and I don’t want to get in the middle of it.”

“Sorry,” Harry said, a little more firmly. “I just – I haven’t been feeling great and I’m sure this is just a byproduct of whatever that is.”

“Studio stress?”

“Yeah, that,” Harry said, taking the out he was handed.

“Well, you can always talk to me, man. Just gotta let me know that something’s going on.”

Harry nodded and focused on finishing his lunch.

***

Back in the newsroom, Penny picked at the remnants of her lunch that Chloe had deposited on her desk, refreshing the feeds in her RSS reader while she waited on Darren’s edits. When he Slacked her that he was through, she opened the Google Doc to find that he had completely rewritten it. Ordinarily, she would have fought back, challenging him on everything down to the placement of commas, but she felt too drained after her earlier bout with him and the subsequent battle with Harry.

She signed off on the two rounds of edits as quickly as she could and returned to refreshing her browser.

“Are you ready to talk?” Chloe asked, poking her head over the frosted glass between them.

Penny shrugged. “Not much to discuss. I suck at doing my job. Darren agrees! Harry agrees! So does Walt from who the hell knows! I should just quit while I’m ahead.”

“I’m sorry,” Chloe said. “Who is Walt and how does he factor into this equation?”

“Just some jerk on Twitter who also thinks I can’t write for shit.”

“Fifteen minutes,” Chloe said. “That’s how much time you have left to wallow. After that, you have to get up, look in the mirror, and realize that you are a bad bitch who deserves this job more than anyone.”

“I deserve twenty minutes,” Penny shot back. “But thank you for the words of encouragement. I know I just need to move on, but it’s hard to do that when it feels like this happens every fucking day just because Darren thinks I’m an idiot.”

“I know, Pen, but you just have to hang in there.” Chloe looked around before leaning in closer. “I heard a rumor that Darren’s days are numbered so things may be looking up for you.”

“Seriously?” The long running joke of the newsroom was that Darren had witnessed the CEO of the company hit someone with his car and that’s how he managed to land the job and stay gainfully employed for as long as he had.

“You didn’t hear it from me,” Chloe said, sinking back into her desk chair.

On slow days like this one, Penny typically filled her afternoon with source calls and research for future stories but with her motivation subzero, she made her way to the parking garage at 5pm on the dot, ready for a night of wine, takeout, and Friends reruns.

When she reached her car, she was surprised to find Tom there.

“Hey…” she said slowly.

“Hey, I didn’t want to miss you.”

“Should I be worried?” she asked jokingly. “I run into you after years of silence and a week later you’re waiting for me at my car?”

“I promise I’m not following you,” Tom said with a laugh. “I just had to tell you…I know this means nothing coming from me, but Harry isn’t usually like that.”

Penny sighed. “I don’t care, Tom. It’s been a day and I’d rather just move on to prepare for tomorrow’s battles.”

“I know, but it’s important to me that you know the truth.”

“Trying to make sure I don’t start a nasty rumor about your client?”

“No, just trying to make sure you don’t have the wrong idea about a great guy.”

“Great guy?” Penny’s mouth hung open in disbelief. “Are you trying to set me up with him now? Because I’m not interested.”

“No,” Tom huffed, rolling his eyes. “Although there could be something there…”

“Nope, not happening,” Penny said.

“Seriously,” Tom said, the earnestness returning to his eyes. “Harry’s a good guy and I think under the right circumstances you all would actually get along.”

“Tom, even if we were the last people on Earth tasked with repopulating the planet, I’d rather let the human race go extinct than willingly spend time with Harry Styles.”

“Wow, that’s uh, harsh and vivid,” Tom said, scratching the back of his neck. “You just need to understand that he’s under a lot of pressure with the new album.”

“New album?” That caught Penny’s attention.

“Shit!” Tom exclaimed, realizing the magnitude of what he’d shared. “That’s entirely off the record. I’m serious, Pen!”

“Woodward and Bernstein had Deep Throat telling them government secrets in a garage, and I have Tom Skoglund blabbing album releases next to my decrepit Toyota…does this mean my Pulitzer is on the way.”

“I mean it, Penny. I could get in a lot of trouble.”

“It’s fine, Tom. I’m not going to tell anyone. I’ll see you later.”

Tom nodded and headed back to the Full Stop office as Penny climbed into her car and pulled out of the garage.

Later that night after two glasses of wine and about 10 episodes of Friends, Penny decided to sign into her work email. She told herself that she wouldn’t check work emails off the clock, but she always gave into the temptation. She scrolled past the usual news alerts and reader feedback until one subject line stopped her cold.

“An Apology.”

She opened it before she realized what she was doing.

Hi Penny, the email began

It’s Harry. I’d like to apologize for the way I acted at Tom’s party the other night, as well as what I said in the restaurant earlier today. You’re right – it was entirely inappropriate for me to behave that way, and I’m sincerely sorry for any hurt or hard feelings that may have come about on your end as a result.

I just wanted to get this off my chest and conscience.

Hope your evening is treating you well.

All the best,

Harry

Penny was speechless, staring at her phone as Ross Geller’s cries of “We were on a break!” and the subsequent laugh track echoed in her empty apartment.

Harry had apologized.

When she recovered, her first instinct was to text Tom, attaching a screenshot of the email.

Did you put him up to this? she asked.

No, came Tom’s swift reply. See what I mean though? Not a bad guy.

Penny reread the email once, twice, three times, taking in the way he’d introduced himself, but left off his last name. The way his writing was devoid of exclamation points. The effort finding her address and sending the email entailed.

She doubted he’d got it from Tom, seeing as Tom had no clue about the message, which meant he’d either pulled it from The Moment’s website or her Twitter bio. Either option meant he’d taken the time to look her up, typing her name into the search bar to find her profile. Knowing that Harry had searched for her specifically made her feel some type of way. She wasn’t sure what.

She didn’t like Harry Styles, but maybe he wasn’t as horrible as she thought.

***

talk to me! || join the taglist || story inspo 

taglist: @harrysfolklore​ @platinumbarbie143​ @majasophieanna​ @lukesaprince​ @styles217​ @andwhenshesays​ @be-with-me-so-happily​ 

[apureniallsource]

Ahead of new album, The Show, Niall Horan on how he 'lives' for touring, his desire to connect with fans through his songs, and the challenge of going out for chips in his Irish hometown

It’s almost a cliché to call Niall Horan a “super-nice guy”, but really, there’s no getting away from it. He may have named his new album The Show, but Horan feels no need to put one on for a journalist. In fact, the Irish singer-songwriter is so laid-back and likeable when we meet at a smart London hotel – fresh flowers everywhere, bottled water waiting on the table – that I ask how he’s stayed so well-adjusted. “It’s probably a combination of the upbringing I had and the fact I already had enough character at 16 [to deal with it],” he says. “It might have been a different story if I’d started doing this when I was 10.”

Now 29, he has been scarily famous for almost half his life. After auditioning for The X Factor in 2010 as a solo artist, 16-year-old Horan was eliminated at the boot camp stage, then given a spectacular second chance as one fifth of a hastily assembled group called One Direction. He and his new bandmates – Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson – didn’t win that year’s show, but still used it as a springboard to become a chart-topping global phenomenon. By the time One Direction announced an indefinite hiatus in January 2016, they had sold 70 million records and debuted at number one in the US with their first four albums – something not even The Beatles achieved. When asked what he would say to his pre-1D, 16-year-old self, Horan replies: “Get ready. Your life’s about to change on a level that most of the world can’t even quantify.”

Horan says he still speaks to “the lads” on a regular basis, but like all of them, he has worked hard to carve out an identity as a solo artist. If Horan’s individual achievements still feel slightly underrated, that’s probably only because his flashier bandmate Styles is now a stadium-filling superstar. Released in 2017, Horan’s debut album Flicker was a deft blend of soft rock, folk and country that debuted at number one in the US and Ireland. His 2020 follow-up Heartbreak Weather added a dash of swagger to the mix – particularly on the Brit-poppy single ‘Nice to Meet Ya’ – and became his first UK chart-topper. Because it dropped in March 2020, just as Covid-19 was taking hold, Horan never got to take the album on the road. “I haven’t toured since 2018 – that’s wild,” he says. “I love live music and I love touring – I live for it. So, it’s sad that I haven’t done that.”

Happily, a few weeks after this interview, Horan announced The Show: Live on Tour, a 50-date trek across Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand that will keep him busy from February to July of next year. When Horan last toured five years ago, he mainly played large theatres, but now he is aiming to pack out arenas from Birmingham to Brisbane. During our conversation, he hinted that he was ready for the step up. “In my eyes, the bigger the venue, the better, because I fucking love looking out at an ocean of people,” he says. “For me, it feels like the bigger the venue, the better the show is gonna be.”

Horan also makes no bones about wanting The Show to become another UK number one after it drops on 9 June. “There’s nothing better than getting that little statue sent to your house,” he says with an impish grin. At the time of writing, he seems well on course for another express delivery from the Official Charts Company. The album’s breezy lead single ‘Heaven’ cracked the UK Top 20 in February, and its sprightly follow-up ‘Meltdown’ is now climbing the charts. A few hours before this interview, I watch him perform both songs in the Radio 1 Live Lounge. Horan is just as relaxed with his band during rehearsals, but when he spots that his vocals are getting buried in the mix, he quickly and calmly gets it corrected.

Horan began working on ‘The Show’ while holed up at home during the summer of 2020. The album title had come to him earlier in the year, but he “didn’t really know what it meant until the pandemic”. When he sat down at the piano that August, the lyrics that came out seemed to capture the confusion of the Covid era: “If everything was easy, nothing ever broke / If everything was simple, how would we know? / How to fix your tears? How to fake a show?” At this point, Horan says he realised ‘The Show’ was both “a metaphor for life” and an overarching concept he could run with. “When there’s no heartbreak [to write about], you have to come up with a different concept,” he says. “I realised quite quickly that what I wanted to talk about was the ups and downs and good and bad of life. That’s ‘The Show’.”

Having “no heartbreak” is about as much as Horan will say about his personal life. “Keeping that stuff quiet”, he believes, is one reason he remains so grounded. Since 2020, he has been dating Amelia Woolley, a designer shoe buyer who never appears on his work-focused Instagram. But when we discuss ‘You Could Start a Cult’, an idiosyncratic folk ballad from the album, Horan does offer a teasing glimpse into their home life. He says the song’s eye-catching title was inspired by the true-crime series they like watching. “I always try and write weird stuff like that, then see if I can flip it on its head and make the song [itself] not as dark as the title,” he says. In this case, Horan flipped it into a “love song, effectively”, albeit an intense one. “It’s about… not the desperation feeling, but the ‘I think you’re the best fucking thing in the world’ feeling,” he explains. “And if you started a cult, I’d follow you into the fire. You know, that kind of angst, though I don’t know if ‘angst’ is the word I’m looking for!”

Horan spends a lot of time in LA because his record label and producers are based there. His main collaborators on The Show were Joel Little, who he brought in because he liked his work with Taylor Swift, indie artist Noah Kahan, and long-time co-writer John Ryan, a veteran of four One Direction albums. “I think it’s really important first of all to be loyal,” he says of his enduring partnership with Ryan. “And you know, if it’s not broke, don’t fix it.” Still, working with Little felt just as comfortable, partly because they could pick things up at a moment’s notice. “If I get the green light at the top of my street [in LA], I can be at Joel’s house in less than a minute,” Horan says. “It’s a fucking dream!”

But during the pandemic, Horan was grounded at his main base in southwest London. “I’ve never been fitter in my life because I was cycling 80 or 90 miles around Richmond Park every week – it’s gorgeous out there,” he recalls. Like many of us, Horan has conflicting feelings about the way Covid placed our lives on hold. “I don’t want to say I enjoyed it because I didn’t – it was such a horrible time,” he says. “But I got to a point about two or three months in, where I was like: ‘This is the longest I’ve ever had off.’ He particularly appreciated having to stay in one place for a sustained period of time. “Normally, I’m packing a suitcase every three or four days,” he says. “At Heathrow Airport, the guards at the [security] desk just laugh when they see me coming. They’re like, ‘How do you do this?’”

Having lived in London since he was 16, Horan says “it’s definitely the best city on the planet”. But at the same time, he still regards Mullingar, the Irish market town where he was born and raised, as home. His debut solo single ‘This Town’, a UK top 10 hit in 2016, was incredibly charming because it harnessed his ineffable longing for the place. Horan reckons he returns to Mullingar “seven or eight times a year”, although walking down the high street is pretty tricky. “I can’t just pull up outside the chip shop, run in and get the chips, then run back to the car,” he says. “Everything has to be thought through. Like, where am I going to park? How many streets am I going to have to cross? What am I going to wear?” Horan says all this with no hint of frustration: by now, he knows what is expected of a homecoming hero.

Horan knew he wanted to be a musician from a young age and says he “tried to make this as clear as possible” to his parents. They were “supportive up to a point”, but because the family didn’t have much money and Mullingar wasn’t a creative hub like Dublin, his mother urged him to “get some sort of qualification”. “I still don’t have any,” Horan says with a laugh, “I didn’t do GCSEs or anything like that because I didn’t finish school.” At 16, Horan made the 50-mile journey to Dublin to audition for The X Factor and grabbed hold of the One Direction rocket with both hands.

Did his parents come up with any ideas for a Plan B? “We didn’t get that far. Honestly, I just packed my bag and never came back – that’s the way they look at it,” says Horan. “My father worked in Tesco for 35 years and my mother worked at a pewter genesis company making little bits and pieces – clocks and things like that. They both had very regular jobs.” Horan notes astutely that some kids from a working-class background “like to spread their wings and leave the nest” – as he did, quite spectacularly – whereas others “like to stay in their hometown, or maybe can’t get out”. Horan pauses for a second, perhaps to ponder what might have been. “I don’t know what they would have wanted me to do, but I’m sure it would have been a good life,” he continues. “Like, my parents are having a good time.”

Thirteen years after he left to become a pop star, Horan’s own ambition remains undimmed. “I’ve achieved a lot in my young life, but I’m still fired up to do as much as I can,” he says. “My career has felt so good because it reminds me of everything I thought the music industry would be when I was a kid. I got the good end of the stick [in terms of] travelling the world and playing to millions. And I still want more of that.”

For this reason, the audience is always at the forefront of his mind. “When I’m writing, I ask myself, ‘Have I gone too specific to the point where it only makes sense to me?’” he says. “And then I try and broaden the thought to make it as relatable as possible.” ‘Never Grow Up’ from Horan’s new album was partly inspired by his girlfriend’s parents, who are “still madly in love”, but its lyrics will chime with One Direction fans who, like him, are close to turning 30. “Hope we still drink like we’re back in the pub,” Horan sings. “Hope we grow old, but we never grow up.”

In Horan’s eyes, the songs that fully stand the test of time – from Simon and Garfunkel to Whitney Houston and Adele – are “the ones that really mean a lot to the people”. It’s this kind of universal connection that he is always striving for. “These are the things that go on in my head when I’m writing,” he says. “I don’t want to alienate anyone, and I don’t want to be introspective to the point where I ruin it for everyone. So, if they can connect to it too, then we all get what we want out of this.”

[jasminebutintaiwansojiemin]

July 31st, 2024 星期三 - Show and tell, hot pot again, stationary haul, moving bridge, 高雄市立圖書館, night market, etc.

Today we had class time at 10:30am, so I went to breakfast and bought a red bull before heading down to the conference room. I immediately locked in on my iPad before having a brief pause to present my picture from one of our activities to the class.

After class time, we were dismissed for about two hours for lunch. I went with one of my classmates to eat at the hot pot restaurant in the hotel. Once we finally found the entrance, we got help from one of the workers to figure out the menu. After ordering and paying, we sat down at our table. While we were paying, the other ladies working were gushing over my capybara keychain and I told them he’s my kid. I eventually asked the male worker why they liked capybaras so much and he said that even though it may not technically be a Japanese animal, in the Taiwanese mind it is related to Japan and they like Japanese stuff a lot. I told him I thought it was interesting because where my dad is from, they eat capybaras and he was surprised haha. After lunch, we went to the stationary store from last night and I did some DAMAGE to my bank account. BUT it was worth it. We hurried back to the hotel to put our stuff down before heading back down to the hotel lobby to meet for class.

Our first stop was to watch the nearby pier bridge turn vertically. We originally thought we could physically be on the bridge, but that was not the case so after making it ¾ of the way to the top, we had to turn back. After standing in both the heat and the rain, we finally saw the bridge turn and then headed to the bus. Our first stop was a giant library that had nine floors. We explored for a bit and I bought gummy bear hair pins from the (rather small) gift shop hehe. There were a lot of students studying at the various study spots and I even found a designated quite room. The library also had movie viewing areas with large curved tvs, couches, and headsets. The roof had a bookstore and a rock climbing area as well. Something random about this library was that the elevator only took you to every three floors—for example, 3,6,8,Roof.

After the library we headed to a train station that had very pretty stained glass art inside. There was coincidentally also a mini Mikan store there so I bought a folding fan. After taking some pictures, and losing a classmate, we headed to the nearby night market to walk around and get dinner.

At the night market, I bought white guava and one of those fried potatoes in a spiral on a stick (I’ve always wanted to try it). The market wasn’t super big compared to the other ones we’ve been to but apparently it was specially a tourist night market, so many that had something to do with it. After staying there for about an hour and half, we took the bus back to the hotel, where I knocked out quickly.

Academic Reflection

I decided to do some research on the gigantic library we visited today. The full name is Kaohsiung Public Main library, and it is located in Cianjhen District. It is the main library of the Kaohsiung public library system and was opened in November of 2014. The building contains eight floors and a heavily utilized rooftop area that even included a rock climbing wall and a bookstore. Regarded in 2017 as one of the top 10 landmarks of Taiwan, this building is considered the world’s first column-suspended green building—meaning it is environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout the building’s life cycle.

Before the current library, there was the old main library of Kaohsiung, then called the Kaohsiung Public Education Center, was originally located at the foot of Mt. Shoushan. However, during World War 2, much of its collections were burned to ashes after several series of air raids. The library reopened in 1945 and relocated with a very minuscule collection of Japanese books. The library would then move three more times before settling on Minsheng road in 1981.

The 2014 opening of the Kaohsiung Public Main Library started a wave of local counties and cities opening their own main libraries, therefore expanding educational resources across Kaohsiung.

[max--phillips]

Okay, I feel like you'll understand so. Apologies for this rant.

It genuinely surprises me how much people don't read fucking signs. Signs that are right on the front door they had to walk through, in plain sight. A giant ass WE ARE CLOSED UNTIL (THIS DATE) sign on top of our regular closed sign means nothing? Like what???

Or do they just ignore them because they can see 2 people are inside the place of business, like that automatically makes us open?

Even on regular days we get people coming in before we're open, again with a closed sign front and center, while we are cleaning. Like, I'm mopping floors here, can you wait until we actually open please?

I was literally just talking to my coworker about this earlier today. That’s the one huge thing I learned working retail and food service and general customer service (which I guess I’m technically still in but to less of an extent) is that you can make a sign as big and hard to miss as you possibly can, and people will still either miss it or just refuse to read it.

When I worked in a hotel kitchen in early 2017 we had a big ol plaque on the wall that told people what our breakfast buffet hours were and I would still get people coming up to me as I was tearing down the buffet asking me what time we closed. And that was 10 minutes ago, bud. If you read the signs or listened to the front desk staff you would know this. Same with the hours thing. The number of times I had people knocking on the doors when I worked at FedEx while I was up and doing opening tasks was incredible. We open! At 8!!!!!! I will unlock the doors at 8!!!! Fuck outta here!

Thankfully I don’t have to deal with that now although if people would read the legally binding contracts they were signing with us that would be amazing. “Why do I have to pay for this over the summer? My kid isn’t in school and isn’t using the instrument.” Well you see, the contract you signed is for 36 continuous months, not just while school is in session. It’s not my fault you didn’t read the damn thing before signing the agreement.

On a similar note I once had a lady get mad we didn’t get in contact with her sooner when she was past due and we finally sent her the final notices that we were ending the agreement and requesting the property back, and I explained to her we had sent letters, emails, and left voicemails and she goes, like it was the most obvious thing in the world, “I don’t listen to voicemails.” And I said, “well, that’s the primary way we communicate, followed by physical letters and then email.” I was like ???????? Hello?

[denimbex1986]

'OPPENHEIMER (2023) 94% #1 Critics Consensus: Oppenheimer marks another engrossing achievement from Christopher Nolan that benefits from Murphy's tour-de-force performance and stunning visuals. Synopsis: During World War II, Lt. Gen. Leslie Groves Jr. appoints physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer to work on the top-secret Manhattan... Starring: Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr. Directed By: Christopher Nolan

A QUIET PLACE PART II (2021) 91% #2 Critics Consensus: A nerve-wracking continuation of its predecessor, A Quiet Place Part II expands the terrifying world of the franchise without losing track of its heart. Synopsis: Following the deadly events at home, the Abbott family must now face the terrors of the outside world... Starring: Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe Directed By: John Krasinski

THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY (2006) 90% #3 Critics Consensus: Bleak and uncompromising, but director Ken Loach brightens his film with gorgeous cinematography and tight pacing, and features a fine performance from Cillian Murphy. Synopsis: In 1920s Ireland young doctor Damien O'Donovan (Cillian Murphy) prepares to depart for a new job in a London hospital.... Starring: Cillian Murphy, Padraic Delaney, Liam Cunningham, Orla Fitzgerald Directed By: Ken Loach

INCEPTION (2010) 87% #4 Critics Consensus: Smart, innovative, and thrilling, Inception is that rare summer blockbuster that succeeds viscerally as well as intellectually. Synopsis: Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a thief with the rare ability to enter people's dreams and steal their secrets from... Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Elliot Page, Tom Hardy Directed By: Christopher Nolan

28 DAYS LATER (2002) 87% #5 Critics Consensus: Kinetically directed by Danny Boyle, 28 Days Later is both a terrifying zombie movie and a sharp political allegory. Synopsis: A group of misguided animal rights activists free a caged chimp infected with the "Rage" virus from a medical research... Starring: Cillian Murphy, Noah Huntley, Naomie Harris, Brendan Gleeson Directed By: Danny Boyle

BATMAN BEGINS (2005) 84% #6 Critics Consensus: Brooding and dark, but also exciting and smart, Batman Begins is a film that understands the essence of one of the definitive superheroes. Synopsis: A young Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) travels to the Far East, where he's trained in the martial arts... Starring: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes Directed By: Christopher Nolan

THE PARTY (2017) 82% #7 Critics Consensus: Old-fashioned charm meets sharp wit and modern social satire in The Party, a biting comedy carried by a shining performance from Patricia Clarkson. Synopsis: A comedy of tragic proportions.... Starring: Patricia Clarkson, Bruno Ganz, Cherry Jones, Emily Mortimer Directed By: Sally Potter

RED EYE (2005) 79% #8 Critics Consensus: With solid performances and tight direction from Wes Craven, Red Eye is a brisk, economic thriller. Synopsis: In the wake of her grandmother's funeral, hotel manager Lisa Reisert (Rachel McAdams) is waiting to fly back home when... Starring: Rachel McAdams, Cillian Murphy, Brian Cox, Jayma Mays Directed By: Wes Craven

SUNSHINE (2007) 76% #9 Critics Consensus: Danny Boyle continues his descent into mind-twisting sci-fi madness, taking us along for the ride. Sunshine fulfills the dual requisite necessary to become classic sci-fi: dazzling visuals with intelligent action. Synopsis: In the not-too-distant future, Earth's dying sun spells the end for humanity. In a last-ditch effort to save the planet... Starring: Cillian Murphy, Chris Evans, Rose Byrne, Michelle Yeoh Directed By: Danny Boyle

PEAKY BLINDERS (2013) 93% #10 Synopsis: Britain is a mixture of despair and hedonism in 1919 in the aftermath of the Great War. Returning soldiers... Starring: Cillian Murphy, Natasha O'Keeffe, Paul Anderson, Sophie Rundle Directed By: Otto Bathurst, Anthony Byrne

INTERMISSION (2003) 74% #11 Critics Consensus: An edgy and energetic ensemble story. Synopsis: After Dublin resident John (Cillian Murphy) attempts a "trial" breakup with his girlfriend (Kelly Macdonald), she starts dating a middle-aged... Starring: Colin Farrell, Shirley Henderson, Kelly Macdonald, Colm Meaney Directed By: John Crowley

GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING (2003) 73% #12 Critics Consensus: Visually arresting, but the story could be told with a bit more energy. Synopsis: When her father goes blind, Griet (Scarlett Johansson) must go to work as a maid for painter Johannes Vermeer... Starring: Colin Firth, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Wilkinson, Judy Parfitt Directed By: Peter Webber

FREE FIRE (2016) 70% #13 Critics Consensus: Free Fire aims squarely for genre thrills, and hits its target repeatedly and with great gusto -- albeit with something less than pure cinematic grace. Synopsis: When a black-market arms deal goes outrageously wrong, Justine finds herself caught in the crossfire, forced to navigate through... Starring: Sharlto Copley, Armie Hammer, Brie Larson, Cillian Murphy Directed By: Ben Wheatley

THE DELINQUENT SEASON (2017) 67% #14 Critics Consensus: No consensus yet. Synopsis: Two couples in suburban Dublin appear to live in marital bliss until an altercation between one of the couples occurs,... Starring: Cillian Murphy, Andrew Scott, Eva Birthistle, Catherine Walker Directed By: Mark O'Rowe

ON THE EDGE (2001) 67% #15 Critics Consensus: No consensus yet. Synopsis: When a young man suffering from depression after the death of his father is committed to a mental institution... Starring: Cillian Murphy, Tricia Vessey, Jonathan Jackson, Stephen Rea Directed By: John Carney

ANTHROPOID (2016) 67% #16 Critics Consensus: Anthropoid completes its mission rather unevenly but delivers a historically illuminating story with great performances to back it up. Synopsis: In December 1941, two Czech soldiers (Cillian Murphy, Jamie Dornan) parachute into their occupied homeland to assassinate Nazi officer Reinhard... Starring: Cillian Murphy, Jamie Dornan, Charlotte Le Bon, Anna Geislerová Directed By: Sean Ellis

BROKEN (2012) 63% #17 Critics Consensus: No consensus yet. Synopsis: A girl witnesses a violent attack committed by a neighbor in one of three interconnected stories in a British housing... Starring: Tim Roth, Eloise Laurence, Cillian Murphy, Rory Kinnear Directed By: Rufus Norris

RETREAT (2011) 62% #18 Critics Consensus: No consensus yet. Synopsis: On an isolated island, a couple's attempt to recover from a personal tragedy is shattered when a stranger washes ashore... Starring: Cillian Murphy, Jamie Bell, Thandiwe Newton, Jimmy Yuill Directed By: Carl Tibbetts

BREAKFAST ON PLUTO (2005) 57% #19 Critics Consensus: Well-acted if monotonous drama about a transvestite prostitute in London during the 1970s. Synopsis: As a baby, Patrick (Cillian Murphy) is left by his mother on the steps of the rectory in their small... Starring: Cillian Murphy, Liam Neeson, Stephen Rea, Brendan Gleeson Directed By: Neil Jordan

WAVERIDERS (2008) 56% #20 Critics Consensus: No consensus yet. Synopsis: The untold story of Irish big wave surfing.... Starring: Cillian Murphy Directed By: Joel Conroy

PERRIER'S BOUNTY (2009) 55% #21 Critics Consensus: It has interesting characters and a strong cast, but Perrier's Bounty ultimately fails to do anything original with them. Synopsis: A petty crook (Cillian Murphy), his ailing father (Jim Broadbent) and a pretty neighbor go on the run from an... Starring: Cillian Murphy, Brendan Gleeson, Jim Broadbent, Jodie Whittaker Directed By: Ian Fitzgibbon

TRON: LEGACY (2010) 51% #22 Critics Consensus: Tron Legacy boasts dazzling visuals, but its human characters and story get lost amidst its state-of-the-art production design. Synopsis: Sam (Garrett Hedlund), the son of famous video-game developer Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), has been haunted for a long time... Starring: Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, Bruce Boxleitner Directed By: Joseph Kosinski

IN THE HEART OF THE SEA (2015) 42% #23 Critics Consensus: The admirably old-fashioned In the Heart of the Sea boasts thoughtful storytelling to match its visual panache, even if it can't claim the depth or epic sweep to which it so clearly aspires. Synopsis: In 1820, crewmen (Chris Hemsworth, Benjamin Walker, Cillian Murphy) aboard the New England vessel Essex face a harrowing battle for... Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Benjamin Walker, Cillian Murphy, Brendan Gleeson Directed By: Ron Howard

IN TIME (2011) 37% #24 Critics Consensus: In Time's intriguing premise and appealing cast are easily overpowered by the blunt, heavy-handed storytelling. Synopsis: In a future where time is money and the wealthy can live forever, Will Salas (Justin Timberlake) is a poor... Starring: Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried, Cillian Murphy, Vincent Kartheiser Directed By: Andrew Niccol

THE EDGE OF LOVE (2008) 37% #25 Critics Consensus: Despite effective performances from Knightley and Miller, The Edge of Love lacks a coherent narrative. Synopsis: Two women (Keira Knightley, Sienna Miller) are best friends and rivals for the love of poet Dylan Thomas.... Starring: Keira Knightley, Sienna Miller, Cillian Murphy, Matthew Rhys Directed By: John Maybury

ANNA (2019) 33% #26 Critics Consensus: Anna finds writer-director Luc Besson squarely in his wheelhouse, but fans of this variety of stylized action have seen it all done before -- and better. Synopsis: Beneath a woman's striking beauty lies a secret that will unleash her indelible strength and skill to become one of... Starring: Sasha Luss, Luke Evans, Cillian Murphy, Helen Mirren Directed By: Luc Besson

RED LIGHTS (2012) 30% #27 Critics Consensus: Wasting the talents of an impressive cast on a predictable mystery, Red Lights lacks the clairvoyance to know what audiences want. Synopsis: Professional skeptics (Cillian Murphy, Sigourney Weaver) try to prove that a famous psychic (Robert De Niro) is lying about his... Starring: Cillian Murphy, Sigourney Weaver, Robert De Niro, Toby Jones Directed By: Rodrigo Cortés

DISCO PIGS (2001) 20% #28 Critics Consensus: No consensus yet. Synopsis: Pig (Cillian Murphy) and Runt (Elaine Cassidy) born on the same day, in the same hospital, moments apart. Twins... Starring: Elaine Cassidy, Cillian Murphy, Geraldine O'Rawe, Eleanor Methven Directed By: Kirsten Sheridan

TRANSCENDENCE (2014) 19% #29 Critics Consensus: In his directorial debut, ace cinematographer Wally Pfister remains a distinctive visual stylist, but Transcendence's thought-provoking themes exceed the movie's narrative grasp. Synopsis: Dr. Will Caster (Johnny Depp), the world's foremost authority on artificial intelligence, is conducting highly controversial experiments to create... Starring: Johnny Depp, Rebecca Hall, Paul Bettany, Cillian Murphy Directed By: Wally Pfister

ALOFT (2014) 17% #30 Critics Consensus: Glacially paced and ineptly plotted, Aloft crushes the game efforts of a talented cast under a dreary viewing experience whose title proves sadly ironic. Synopsis: Accompanied by a documentary filmmaker, a falconer (Cillian Murphy) sets out across a frozen landscape to find his mother... Starring: Jennifer Connelly, Cillian Murphy, Mélanie Laurent, Oona Chaplin Directed By: Claudia Llosa'

[mostlysignssomeportents]

This day in history

I’m coming to the HowTheLightGetsIn festival in HAY-ON-WYE with my novel Red Team Blues:

Tomorrow (May 28), 1130AM: The AI Enigma

Monday (May 29), 12PM: Danger and Desire at the Frontier

I’m at OXFORD’s Blackwell’s on Monday (May 29) at 7:30PM with Tim Harford.

Then it’s Nottingham, Manchester, London, Edinburgh, and Berlin!

#10yrsago Bank of Canada kills editorial cartoon, calls it “counterfeiting” https://www.timescolonist.com/local-news/jack-knox-the-90000-duffy-buck-stops-here-bank-of-canada-decides-4592661

#10yrsago Toronto mayoral car-crash: homicide detectives search mayor’s office after tip on crack-smoking video; top staffers quit https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/two-senior-members-of-toronto-mayor-rob-fords-staff-resign/article12168106/

#10yrsago UK Ministry of Justice denies that the court system is to be sold to hedge funds https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/may/28/moj-denies-privatisation-courts-service

#10yrsago Shambling Guide to New York City https://memex.craphound.com/2013/05/28/shambling-guide-to-new-york-city/

#10yrsago Canada’s business groups wants to hack your computer even more than the creeps at the Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property https://www.thestar.com/business/2013/02/08/business_thinks_antispam_law_should_protect_them_not_consumers_geist.html

#10yrsago Disaster porn and elite panic: the militarized lie of savage disaster aftermath https://web.archive.org/web/20130609055535/http://www.ochbergsociety.org/magazine/2013/05/in-haiti-and-beyond-learning-to-look-for-resilience/

#10yrsago Toronto cops hospitalize hotel guest who recorded them arresting another guest https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/05/26/exclusive_toronto_police_arrest_man_take_phone_after_attempt_to_film_takedown_at_sheraton.html

#5yrsago The first cyberattack took place nearly 200 years ago in France https://www.economist.com/1843/2017/10/05/the-crooked-timber-of-humanity

#5yrsago Germany’s scientific texts were made free during and after WWII; analyzing them today shows the negative effect of paywalls on science https://cepr.org/voxeu/columns/effects-copyrights-science

#5yrsago 8 years of austerity have turned the UK into a bleak Victorian dystopia, where pensioners without electricity die from fires ignited by their candles https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/28/world/europe/uk-austerity-poverty.html

#5yrsago Canadian Conservative parliamentarian accuses black rival of “thinking the world revolves around her skin colour” https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/bernier-cesar-chavannes-tweet-1.4680467

#5yrsago RIP Gardner Dozois, pioneering, genre-defining science fiction editor who helped launch my career https://memex.craphound.com/2018/05/28/rip-gardner-dozois-pioneering-genre-defining-science-fiction-editor-who-helped-launch-my-career/

#5yrsago Futuristic designs for products the EU’s stupid new copyright law would kill https://web.archive.org/web/20180615000000*/https://futurenotmade.eu/

Catch me on tour with Red Team Blues in Hay-on-Wye, Oxford, Manchester, Nottingham, London, and Berlin!

[greekmuller]

Thank you for the tag @ashalsdream , I too graduated film

Rules: post 10 of your favorite movies and tag 10 people (goodness i hope i have 10 friends)

1. A silent voice (2016)

2. Star trek: first contact (1999)

3. Revenge of the sith (2005)

4.marley and me (2008)

5. Cowboy bebop the movie (2001)

6. LOTR: Return of the king (2003)

7. Paddington 2 (2017)

8. Sonic the hedgehog (2020)

9.Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

10. Your name (2016)

Id tried to stick to one film per franchise otherwise I think the entire star trek film list would be here.

I would like to see the top ten of

@fellis-world @akurathereaper @captainfinebuns @adorableactress

[giresearchstory]

Dynamic QR Code Solutions Market Size, Share & Forecast 2024-2030

On 2024-9-18 Global Info Research released【Global Dynamic QR Code Solutions Market 2024 by Manufacturers, Regions, Type and Application, Forecast to 2030】. This report includes an overview of the development of the Dynamic QR Code Solutions industry chain, the market status of Consumer Electronics (Nickel-Zinc Ferrite Core, Mn-Zn Ferrite Core), Household Appliances (Nickel-Zinc Ferrite Core, Mn-Zn Ferrite Core), and key enterprises in developed and developing market, and analysed the cutting-edge technology, patent, hot applications and market trends of Dynamic QR Code Solutions. Dynamic QR code solutions refer to software platforms or services that enable the creation, management, and tracking of QR codes that can be modified or updated in real-time. Unlike static QR codes, which contain fixed information and cannot be changed once generated, dynamic QR codes allow for flexibility and customization, making them suitable for a wide range of applications in marketing, advertising, customer engagement, inventory management, and more.

According to our (Global Info Research) latest study, the global Dynamic QR Code Solutions market size was valued at US$ million in 2023 and is forecast to a readjusted size of USD million by 2030 with a CAGR of %during review period.

This report is a detailed and comprehensive analysis for global Dynamic QR Code Solutions market. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses are presented by company, by region & country, by Type and by Application. As the market is constantly changing, this report explores the competition, supply and demand trends, as well as key factors that contribute to its changing demands across many markets. Company profiles and product examples of selected competitors, along with market share estimates of some of the selected leaders for the year 2024, are provided.

Market segment by Type： URL、File、vCard、Other Market segment by Application：Retail、Restaurant、Hotels、Logistics、Other Major players covered： Bitly、QR TIGER、DENSO WAVE、Flowcode、Adobe、oneIDentity+、Uniqode、Chetu、QR Code Chimp、BL.INK、DocHipo、Tlinky、Scantrust、QR.io、Scanova、Unitag、QRStuff

Market segment by region, regional analysis covers: North America (United States, Canada and Mexico), Europe (Germany, France, United Kingdom, Russia, Italy, and Rest of Europe), Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India, Southeast Asia, and Australia),South America (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, and Rest of South America),Middle East & Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, South Africa, and Rest of Middle East & Africa). The content of the study subjects, includes a total of 15 chapters: Chapter 1, to describe Dynamic QR Code Solutions product scope, market overview, market estimation caveats and base year. Chapter 2, to profile the top manufacturers of Dynamic QR Code Solutions, with price, sales, revenue and global market share of Dynamic QR Code Solutions from 2019 to 2024. Chapter 3, the Dynamic QR Code Solutions competitive situation, sales quantity, revenue and global market share of top manufacturers are analyzed emphatically by landscape contrast. Chapter 4, the Dynamic QR Code Solutions breakdown data are shown at the regional level, to show the sales quantity, consumption value and growth by regions, from 2019 to 2030. Chapter 5 and 6, to segment the sales by Type and application, with sales market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2019 to 2030. Chapter 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11, to break the sales data at the country level, with sales quantity, consumption value and market share for key countries in the world, from 2017 to 2023.and Dynamic QR Code Solutions market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2025 to 2030. Chapter 12, market dynamics, drivers, restraints, trends and Porters Five Forces analysis. Chapter 13, the key raw materials and key suppliers, and industry chain of Dynamic QR Code Solutions. Chapter 14 and 15, to describe Dynamic QR Code Solutions sales channel, distributors, customers, research findings and conclusion.

Data Sources:

Via authorized organizations:customs statistics, industrial associations, relevant international societies, and academic publications etc.

Via trusted Internet sources.Such as industry news, publications on this industry, annual reports of public companies, Bloomberg Business, Wind Info, Hoovers, Factiva (Dow Jones & Company), Trading Economics, News Network, Statista, Federal Reserve Economic Data, BIS Statistics, ICIS, Companies House Documentsm, investor presentations, SEC filings of companies, etc.

Via interviews. Our interviewees includes manufacturers, related companies, industry experts, distributors, business (sales) staff, directors, CEO, marketing executives, executives from related industries/organizations, customers and raw material suppliers to obtain the latest information on the primary market;

Via data exchange. We have been consulting in this industry for 16 years and have collaborations with the players in this field. Thus, we get access to (part of) their unpublished data, by exchanging with them the data we have.

From our partners.We have information agencies as partners and they are located worldwide, thus we get (or purchase) the latest data from them.

Via our long-term tracking and gathering of data from this industry.We have a database that contains history data regarding the market.

Global Info Research is a company that digs deep into global industry information to support enterprises with market strategies and in-depth market development analysis reports. We provides market information consulting services in the global region to support enterprise strategic planning and official information reporting, and focuses on customized research, management consulting, IPO consulting, industry chain research, database and top industry services. At the same time, Global Info Research is also a report publisher, a customer and an interest-based suppliers, and is trusted by more than 30,000 companies around the world. We will always carry out all aspects of our business with excellent expertise and experience.

[afashionz]

Top Ten Richest Person of Pakistan – 2024

Are you curious about the richest individuals in Pakistan for 2024 and how they have accumulated their wealth? Here’s a look at the top ten wealthiest people in Pakistan, notable for their significant business accomplishments and political influence. These prominent figures have made substantial contributions to various sectors and have become well-known public personalities.

Richest People in Pakistan for 2024

10. Malik Riaz Hussain Malik Riaz Hussain is a prominent Pakistani businessman and investor, known for founding Bahria Town, the largest privately-owned real estate development company in Asia. Born on February 8, 1954, in Rawalpindi, he is currently the seventh richest person in Pakistan with an estimated net worth of 3,000 billion Rupees. His wealth primarily stems from property investments.

9. Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif is a well-known Pakistani businessman and politician who has served as Prime Minister of Pakistan three times and as Chief Minister of Punjab twice. Born on December 25, 1949, in Lahore, he is a significant political figure with substantial wealth, accumulated through his business ventures and political career.

8. Asif Ali Zardari Asif Ali Zardari, a former President of Pakistan (2008-2013) and former chairperson of the Pakistan People’s Party, was born on July 26, 1955, in Karachi. His wealth comes from various business interests and his influential role in politics. He has been a member of the National Assembly since August 2018.

7. Mian Muhammad Mansha Mian Muhammad Mansha is a leading Pakistani business magnate and billionaire, known for founding and leading the Nishat Group, a major international conglomerate based in Lahore. Born on December 1, 1947, in Lahore, he is also recognized for being one of the highest tax payers in Pakistan. His name appeared in the Paradise Papers in 2017 due to links with offshore companies.

6. Muhammad Anwar Pervez Muhammad Anwar Pervez, a British-Pakistani businessman, is the founder and chairman of Bestway. According to the Sunday Times Rich List UK, his net worth was £3.09 billion in 2018, making him one of the wealthiest individuals of Pakistani origin. Born in Rawalpindi in March 1935, he moved to the UK at 21.

5. Sadruddin Hashwani Sadruddin Hashwani is a prominent Pakistani billionaire and writer, known for founding the Hashoo Group, which operates the Pearl-Continental Hotels & Resorts. Born on February 19, 1940, in Karachi, he is one of the wealthiest people in Pakistan with an estimated net worth of $8 billion.

4. Shahid Khan Shahid Khan, a Pakistani-American billionaire, is renowned for owning the Jacksonville Jaguars of the NFL and Fulham F.C. of the English Premier League. He is also the owner of Flex-N-Gate, an automobile parts manufacturer. Born on July 18, 1950, in Lahore, Khan's diverse investments have made him a prominent figure in both the business and sports worlds.

3. Abdul Razzak Yaqoob Abdul Razzak Yaqoob was a notable Pakistani gold bullion trader who founded ARY Gold and the ARY Media Group in the UAE. Born on May 7, 1944, in Karachi, he passed away on February 21, 2014. His legacy includes significant contributions to the gold industry and media.

2. Nasir Schon Nasir Schon, the owner and CEO of Schon Group, is a major business leader in Pakistan. With a net worth of $1 billion, Schon has made a mark in various business ventures. Born in Pakistan, he was one of the first in the country to own a Rolls-Royce luxury car, highlighting his significant wealth and success.

1. Jahangir Khan Tareen Jahangir Khan Tareen is currently the richest person in Pakistan. A politician and industrialist, he was born in Bangladesh in 1953 and later moved to Pakistan. Tareen holds an MBA from the USA and has been influential in both the business sector, with ownership of sugar mills and farmhouses, and in politics, serving as General Secretary of PTI and a member of the National Assembly. His recent position in the wealth rankings reflects his continued success and influence.

These individuals have played crucial roles in shaping Pakistan's business and political landscape, accumulating substantial wealth through their diverse ventures and influential positions

[dankusner]

Visions of Dallas

MUSIC

Bridges Crockett can’t burn

Singer’s been everywhere but blends Texas country and blues in ‘Visions of Dallas’

Name a city — any city — and Charley Crockett has probably been there.

Born near the southern tip of Texas, the singer spent his early childhood in a trailer park with his single mom near Brownsville.

In his late teens and 20s, he “hoboed” around the world, playing in subways and on street corners and crashing wherever he could in Spain, New Orleans, Copenhagen, New York City, Paris and Morocco.

He lived in Northern California, where he worked on a marijuana farm and got busted for selling the harvest.

Since 2017, he’s settled in Austin, although his roots there are still loose, since he’s on the road half the time.

But of all the places he’s been, perhaps the key spot in the picaresque story of Charley Crockett is Dallas, which is why he named his latest album after Big D.

The singer, 40, released Visions of Dallas on Monday, a companion album to his 3-month-old $10 Cowboy and featuring songs from the same recording sessions.

Visions of Dallas is classic Crockett, an uncompromising blend of Texas country and blues marked by the singer’s unique phrasing and smooth-as-scotch baritone.

“I’d be lying to you if I said it hadn’t been suggested to me before,” he says with a laugh, when asked about the Dallas title.

He’s speaking by phone before a show in Cleveland, where he’s about to do a VIP meet-and-greet — a long way from his days playing for spare change on the grimy streets of Deep Ellum.

He admits putting Dallas in the title was a repeated suggestion of his fiancée, Taylor Grace, a Houston-born singer-songwriter whom Crockett calls “the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Grace co-wrote the title track to Visions of Dallas .

“She really loves the city,” Crockett says. “She was staying at the Fairmont Hotel downtown, looking for wedding dresses with her mama and looking out on the Dallas skyline from her hotel room, and she just wrote a song off the top of her head, thinking about my life. [The rest of the song] just jumped out of my guitar when I heard it, and we came up with a melody together.”

Well the first time I left Texas, I promised not to return

But in spite of all of my efforts, there are some bridges you can’t burn

No I can’t shake that city, and all the good she’s done for me

Having visions of Dallas, late at night in Tennessee.

Visions of Dallas is an eclectic album, with six original songs mixed with covers by the late Fort Worth native Townes Van Zandt (“Loretta”), Bob Dylan (a retooled version of his 1973 outtake “Goodbye Holly”) and Hoyt Axton’s “Trouble and Misery,” a tune about escaping hard times in Laredo and moving to Dallas.

“I think all the songs on the record are tying back to Dallas,” Crockett says. “Dallas-Fort Worth is real important to me.”

And for good reason. Crockett lived in North Texas longer than in any other area.

Arriving in Irving with his mother when he was 9, he went to Irving public schools until he dropped out and hit the road with the pawnshop guitar his mom had bought for him.

After brushes with the law and an ill-fated contract with a New York music biz exec, he returned to Dallas in the early 2010s and re-launched his career out of Deep Ellum with a pair of self-released albums that earned rave reviews from Rolling Stone and NPR.

Seven years and an armload of albums later, he’s a star, though one who still flies under the radar of mainstream popularity.

His 2022 masterwork The Man From Waco finally earned him a spot on the Billboard 200 — but just barely, scratching the surface at 199. $10 Cowboy upped the ante by a few nickels, making it to 168.

Yet Crockett has emerged as a big deal among lovers of American roots music.

This summer, he’s headlining major venues such as the 9,000-seat Red Rocks Amphitheatre outside Denver and the Ryman Auditorium, the “mother church of country music,” in Nashville.

His last Dallas show, at the Longhorn Ballroom in May, sold out well in advance.

He sings about his former home in “Avoiding Mirrors,” a song from Visions of Dallas about being haunted by lost love and sinking deep into depression.

In the lyrics, Crockett tips his Stetson to Jimmie Dale Gilmore’s “Dallas,” Billy Bob’s in Fort Worth, the Trinity River, and Pegasus, the iconic flying red horse that’s been sitting atop the Magnolia Building since 1934.

You can find me on the levee, just praying for a flood

While running from a red horse, still flying up above.

The song is a follow-up of sorts to “Trinity River,” his 2015 tale of heartbreak where he dreams of his corpse floating downstream.

In this river city, nothin’ ever lasts

Beside the lonesome blues, steady starin’ back at you.

Like a lot of songwriters, Crockett refuses to analyze or over-explain his lyrics.

“It just kind of wrote itself,” he says of “Avoiding Mirrors,” adding that he often writes on a tour bus, late at night after a gig, “when I get low-down enough.”

Still, he admits that singing the blues on Visions of Dallas is his way of coming to grips with various memories — painful and otherwise — of his days spent in North Texas, just as past songs were about his poverty-filled childhood in South Texas.

“I don’t care who you are. You could travel this whole world over and you will never outrun it,” he says. “You’ll never get away from it. You just keep ending up there.”

[casino-usa]

5 Best Casinos In Southern California

When traveling to California there is always that breath of excitement you take before setting foot on the Golden State, the trill of running around free in the wild wild west. Southern California offers various pleasures to people from all walks of life, this sunshine sees no color and everyone gets love.

In Los Angeles and the surrounding cities,  you can certainly find something that gets your jollies going, no matter if you are a theme park enthusiast or a strip club connoisseur.

-We got it.

I have a couple friends who love to gamble at casinos across California, so I've asked them which are the top 5 best casinos to visit while in Southern California.

Here's the list of 5 best casinos for your 2017 travel

5. Hawaiian Gardens Casino

Located at 11871 Carson St, Hawaiian Gardens, CA.

Hawaiian Gardens Casino recently underwent a serious $90 million dollar renovation and expansion project and opened earlier this year. The old 59,500-square-foot casino has been remodeled with a modern and very appealing 200,000-square-foot gaming, dining, and entertainment complex.

For the serious poker players or even the amateurs who want to try cashing out on their beginners luck, the Gardens Casino offers a full spectrum of no-limit games, starting at $20 and $40 buy-in no-limit hold'em, ranging up to $500-$1,500. As of the moment, the casino also offers smaller buy-in daily tournaments and the occasional $100,000 and $150,000 guaranteed prize pool events. Worth checking out.

For more info visit their website thegardenscasino.com.

4. The Bicycle Hotel & Casino

Located at 888 Bicycle Casino Dr. Bell Gardens, CA 90201

The casino here is astonishingly bigger than you would expect, and if you specifically like card games this is the place you want to be in, seriously theres only card games but various types of games.

-Not a slot machine in sight

Also you get free food when you play at the $100-$200 buy in no-limit tables. Food prices at this location are very good either way. The Korean BBQ here is amazing and taste very authentic. There has been in noticeable change in the casino as it has went under recent upgrades in the interior. Overall a very nice spot to get your poker face on. Don't forget to swoop a drink from the brewery.

3. The Commerce Casino

Located at 6131 East Telegraph Rd, Commerce, CA 90040

The biggest card casino in the world isn't in Las Vegas. It's in Los Angeles.

This is by far one of the finest carding casino in the Los Angeles area. Not a bad place to get your experience on the poker tables and get your education up. Arena grills has savory food also.

No-limit tables are: $40 table- that's it, not 40-80, 40-140, etc, just $40 max buy in. $60 max rebuy after bust-out. $100 table - same as above $100 only, $150 max rebuy after bust-out. $200 table - same as above $200 only, $300 max rebuy after bust-out. $300-500 table then it goes from there. Minimum bets all around are $5 for blackjack and $10 for baccarat.

It's a clean casino excellent for a night out with friends. The food is delicious, outstanding service, and a huge parking lot. Lots of tables to play, many different games, the dealers are nice and welcoming. There are other perks that make this joint pretty interesting but the point is if you want to play cards you can never go wrong here at commerce.

2. San Manuel Indian Bingo & Casino

Located at 777 San Manuel Blvd Highland, CA 92346

One of my personal favorites, only because of the vast memories this place has provided. This casino is located in Highland, Ca, a small neighboring city to San Bernardino, CA about 45 minutes east of Los Angeles on the I10 freeway.

This casino is always very alive and vivid, Fridays and Saturdays it gets fairly crowded. I have a few friends employed here which makes every visit very welcoming so I can say San Manuel has friendly employees and no to mention the payout. My last time here I won $400 after I stuck a $100 dollar bill in a slot when I was walking out.

Valet parking is the way to go its only $3. If you're new to betting on slot machines remember to bet the minimum to avoid losing all your money to fast and maximize potential earning. If this is your first time here then you should sign up for a free players card since you get to spin a wheel which most likely you will get $20 free slot extra credit.

Good luck though finding an open slot machine that you like. There is no cellular signal or reception for your phone in this place but they offer free uncapped WIFI 24/7 for free you can connect to.

I enjoy coming to San Manuel and if you're in the SoCal area give it a try, you won't regret it.

1. Pechanga Resort & Casino

Located at 45000 Pechanga Pkwy Temecula, CA 92592

I just want to add a quick important fact: There's a few pokestops here. So if you're looking for Pokemon on Pokemon Go you're in luck. Not that I play that stuff or anything, wink-wink.

I love how classy the vibe is when you enter through the valet and how all the employees are so amicable, I feel as if this Resort is a second home. When you are here you are family. This is by far one the most immaculate casinos I've been to. Why even bother with Vegas when this hidden gem is so close to home. Only about another 45 minute from San Manuel on the 215 south towards San Diego. The food here is exquisite, there is a gorgeous tree surrounded by gorgeous waterfalls. If your not the gambling type their is a dope Spa&Saloon to check out. Everyone gets treated like VIP here. Lots and lots of slot machines. They have poker rooms, high stake limit slots, a live show theatre, buffet and food court.

If you have a chance to check it out on your 2017 travels or trips make sure you do and you will see what I am talking about. It's worth the 2 hour drive (depending on traffic) if you are coming from Los Angeles.

[graphaizesmm]

Electoral Bond Data Visualised: Transparency & Reports

In 2018, India introduced electoral bonds to enhance transparency in political funding. However, between March 2018 and March 2021, over ₹7,000 crores were funneled through these bonds, with the identities of donors and recipients largely hidden from public scrutiny. This opacity has sparked widespread debate: are electoral bonds truly a step towards transparency, or do they cloak the financial roots of political power? As the largest democracy grapples with this issue, it’s crucial to examine the data behind electoral bond data, understand their impact on democratic integrity, and explore potential reforms. Join us as we delve into the complex world of electoral bond data transparency, uncovering the facts that shape our electoral landscape.

Origin or Electoral Bond The idea of electoral bonds was introduced in India’s 2017 Union Budget by then-Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to reform the opaque nature of political funding. Launched in March 2018, these bonds aimed to curb black money in elections and enhance transparency. Individuals and corporate entities can purchase these bonds from authorized banks and donate them to political parties anonymously. Between March 2018 and March 2021, over ₹7,000 crore worth of electoral bonds were sold, significantly changing India’s political funding landscape. The bonds, available in denominations from ₹1,000 to ₹1 crore, can be bought during specific government-notified periods.

The government contends that electoral bonds bring clean money into the political system, with donors using legal banking channels to ensure accountability and tax compliance. Political parties can only encash these bonds through their official bank accounts, creating an ostensible paper trail. However, critics argue that the anonymity feature undermines transparency, raising questions about the bonds’ effectiveness. The ongoing debate highlights concerns about balancing donor privacy with the need for transparency in political funding, questioning the true impact of electoral bonds on India’s democratic process.

Data transparency and SBI reports Since the electoral bond scheme’s inception in March 2018, the State Bank of India (SBI) has been the exclusive institution authorized to issue and redeem these bonds. Handling over ₹7,000 crore in transactions between March 2018 and March 2021, SBI’s electoral bond data is pivotal for assessing the transparency and impact of electoral bond funding. Electoral bonds come in denominations of ₹1,000, ₹10,000, ₹1 lakh, ₹10 lakh, and ₹1 crore, available during quarterly ten-day purchase windows. Donors buy these bonds and anonymously donate them to political parties.

A five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court unanimously struck down the Centre’s electoral bond scheme which facilitates anonymous political donations for being unconstitutional. It underscored that the scheme violates the right to information under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.

Who were the top 20 Electoral bond donors? According to SBI data, lottery king Sebastian Martin’s firm Future Gaming and Hotel Services was the top donor to the scheme, purchasing bonds worth Rs 1,365 crore. Second-ranked Megha Engineering & Infrastructures donated Rs 966 crore, and Reliance-linked Qwik Supply Chain purchased bonds worth Rs 410 crore.

Since the electoral bond scheme’s launch in March 2018, a significant portion of donations has come from a small group of high-value contributors. State Bank of India (SBI) data shows that between March 2018 and March 2021, over ₹7,000 crore in bonds were transacted, with a majority of funds stemming from high-denomination bonds, particularly those valued at ₹1 crore. This indicates that large corporate entities and wealthy individuals are the primary users of electoral bonds, raising concerns about the potential influence of big money in politics.

While the anonymity of electoral bonds was designed to protect donor privacy, it has led to questions about the disproportionate influence of wealthy donors. Despite the government’s claims that these bonds promote clean and transparent political funding, the dominance of large donors suggests a need for closer scrutiny.

FUTURE GAMING AND HOTEL SERVICES PR

₹12,08,00,00,000

MEGHA ENGINEERING AND INFRASTRUCTURES LIMITED

₹8,21,00,00,000

QWIK SUPPLY CHAIN PRIVATE LIMITED

₹4,10,00,00,000

HALDIA ENERGY LIMITED

₹3,77,00,00,000

VEDANTA LIMITED

₹3,75,65,00,000

ESSEL MINING AND INDS LTD

₹2,24,50,00,000

WESTERN UP POWER TRANSMISSION COMPANY LIMITED

₹2,20,00,00,000

KEVENTER FOODPARK INFRA LIMITED

₹1,95,00,00,000

MADANLAL LTD

₹1,85,50,00,000

BHARTI AIRTEL LIMITED

₹1,83,00,00,000

YASHODA SUPER SPECIALITY HOSPITAL

₹1,62,00,00,000

UTKAL ALUMINA INTERNATIONAL LIMITED

₹1,35,30,00,000

DLF COMMERCIAL DEVELOPERS LIMITED

₹1,30,00,00,000

MKJ ENTERPRISES LIMITED

₹1,28,35,00,000

JINDAL STEEL AND POWER LIMITED

₹1,23,00,00,000

B G SHIRKE CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGY PVT LTD

₹1,17,00,00,000

DHARIWAL INFRASTRUCTURE LIMITED

₹1,15,00,00,000

BIRLA CARBON INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED

₹1,05,00,00,000

CHENNAI GREEN WOODS PRIVATE LIMITED

₹1,05,00,00,000

RUNGTA SONS P LTD

₹1,00,00,00,000

electoral bond data Electoral Bond Data Which political parties received the most? The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was the biggest beneficiary of the electoral bonds scheme, with donations worth over Rs 6,000 crore in the last four years. Hyderabad-based infrastructure company Megha Engineering (MEIL) was the biggest donor to the BJP, with bonds purchased worth Rs 519 crore. Qwik Supply, an unlisted private company, donated Rs 375 crore, followed by Vedanta with Rs 226.7 crore and Bharti Airtel worth Rs 183 crore.

Since the electoral bond scheme’s inception in March 2018, there’s been a marked disparity in fund distribution among political parties. Data from the State Bank of India (SBI) reveals that over ₹7,000 crore worth of bonds were sold between March 2018 and March 2021. A significant portion of these funds has gone to a few major political parties, primarily benefiting the ruling party and several key opposition parties. This concentration of funds raises concerns about the scheme’s impact on political competition and fairness.

The dominance of a few parties in receiving electoral bond donations suggests that smaller and regional parties may need help to compete financially. This disparity potentially skews political competition, favoring well-established parties and undermining democratic equity. While the scheme aims to promote clean political funding, the uneven distribution underscores the need for greater transparency. Understanding which parties benefit most is crucial for assessing the scheme’s impact and ensuring a fair political landscape. The ongoing debate highlights the necessity for reforms to address these disparities and enhance transparency in political funding in India.

BHARTIYA JANTA PARTY

₹ 60,60,51,11,000

ALL INDIA TRINAMOOL CONGRESS

₹ 16,09,53,14,000

ALL INDIA CONGRESS COMMITTEE

₹ 14,21,86,55,000

BHARAT RASHTRA SAMITHI

₹ 12,14,70,99,000

BIJU JANATA DAL

₹ 7,75,50,00,000

DMK PARTY IN PARLIAMENT

₹ 6,39,00,00,000

YSR CONGRESS PARTY

₹ 3,37,00,00,000

TELUGU DESAM PARTY

₹ 2,18,88,00,000

SHIVSENA (POLITICAL PARTY)

₹ 1,58,38,14,000

RASTRIYA JANTA DAL

₹ 72,50,00,000

AAM AADMI PARTY

₹ 65,45,00,000

JANATA DAL (SECULAR)

₹ 43,50,00,000

SIKKIM KRANTIKARI MORCHA

₹ 36,50,00,000

NATIONALIST CONGRESS PARTY PARLIAMENT OF India

₹ 30,50,00,000

JANASENA PARTY

₹ 21,00,00,000

ADYAKSHA SAMAJVADI PARTY

₹ 14,05,00,000

BIHAR PRADESH JANTA DAL(UNITED)

₹ 14,00,00,000

JHARKHAND MUKTI MORCHA

₹ 13,50,00,000

SHIROMANI AKALI DAL

₹ 7,26,00,000

ALL INDIA ANNA DRAVIDA MUNNETRA KAZHAGAM

₹ 6,05,00,000

SIKKIM DEMOCRATIC FRONT

₹ 5,50,00,000

RASHTRIYA JANTA DAL

₹ 1,00,00,000

SHIVSENA

₹ 1,00,00,000

MAHARASHTRAWADI GOMNTAK PARTY

₹ 55,00,000

JAMMU AND KASHMIR NATIONAL CONFERENCE

₹ 50,00,000

NATIONALIST CONGRESS PARTY MAHARASHTRA PRADESH

₹ 50,00,000

GOA FORWARD PARTY

₹ 35,00,000

The analysis of electoral bond data offers crucial insights into the financial landscape of political funding in India. The significant contributions received by major political parties underscore the importance of corporate influence in politics and highlight the need for greater transparency and accountability. To maintain public trust, it’s essential to strike a balance between protecting donor privacy and ensuring transparency. Advocating for stronger regulatory frameworks, such as mandatory disclosure of donor identities and limits on contributions, and leveraging technology like blockchain for transparent records, can enhance accountability.

Understanding who receives the most funds through electoral bonds allows us to work towards a more transparent and equitable democratic process. For further insights and detailed analysis of electoral bond data, stay tuned to our blog and engage with our latest posts.

[trendingreportz]

Intelligent Emergency Response Systems & Infrastructure Market - Forecast (2024-2030)

The report predicts the Intelligent Emergency Response System market to grow with a CAGR of 10.14 % over the period of 2017 - 2023. The global market for Intelligent Emergency Response System at $103.1 billion in 2017 is anticipated to grow in 2023.  Video Surveillance System displays the highest market share contributing to about $1.1bn in 2017 and growing at a CAGR of about 4.3%. The global market was highest for Americas followed by Europe and APAC. The market for America was forecasted to at $48.767 Billion with a CAGR of 8.95%. The growth of this market can be highly attributed to the growing awareness, as well as increased penetration in high hazard industries and personal security market.

Request Sample

What is Intelligent Emergency Response System? 

Intelligent emergency response system is a technology based automated infrastructure which responds through various medium in case of natural and manmade situational crisis, such as floods, earth quakes, and terrorist attacks, for which these responders give an immediate alert to the government and nearby medical provisions. These responders are capable to alert a large number of populations in a particular region any form of content and in any direction.

What are the major applications of Intelligent Emergency Response System?

  The major application of the system is automatic messaging of any natural or man-made accidents to wide range of geographical and population in any form such as voice or text, e-mails to any available or integrated medium such as pagers, smartphones and alarms. The system has the capability to contact the respective decision maker or the immediate actioner such ambulance services in case of medical emergence, and police station in case of other unfavorable situational emergencies. 

Inquiry Before Buying

Market Research and Market Trends of Intelligent Emergency Response System.

A Seamless System for Mass Notification and Emergency Messaging 

The difference between minor and major emergency crisis made by direct communications with different levels of audiences. This Instant Alert and Instant Alert Plus are adaptable, cloud-based emergency and mass alert system that provides smooth and flexible solution. The system gives information that the emergency situation have to be handled direct interruption or by just a control message. The user can give a different form of control messages such as text, voice and email messages.

Honeywell Launches Amazon Alexa Voice-ready Thermostat For Hotels

This new launch from Honeywell is a next generation of thermostat for hotel industry. This e7 thermostat is the first solution for managing environmental control and energy for enterprises, which is integrated with Amazon Alexa voice control for notifying room temperature, drapery, lighting and amenities services. This e7 thermostat is the first innovative in guest room control with voice-ready integrated solution for enterprise level.

When a work emergency strikes, this tool will get you out of bed

Pager Duty is a techno-alert tool that has its wide range of application in companies working on application programming platform. Application programs are vulnerable to any kind of malware attacks. This tool will alert the authorized programmer whenever any malware issue or program crash occurs. This emergency response system has been welcomed by Top techie and non-techie players such IBM, Gap Inc., World Bank and other more than 10,000 companies. PagerDuty wants to provide always-on-call to all levels of employees including both technical and functional and those in executive roles.

Schedule a Call

Who are the Major Players in market?

The key players operating in the Intelligent Emergency Response System are Honeywell International., TOA Corporation., Cobalt., Eaton Corporation PLC., Axis Communications., Micron Technologies.,  Denyo Co Ltd.,  UNI-PEX  Co Ltd. and other 10 more companies. 

 What is our report scope?

The report incorporates in-depth assessment of the competitive landscape, product market sizing, product benchmarking, market trends, product developments, financial analysis, strategic analysis and so on to gauge the impact forces and potential opportunities of the market. Apart from this the report also includes a study of major developments in the market such as product launches, agreements, acquisitions, collaborations, mergers and so on to comprehend the prevailing market dynamics at present and its impact during the forecast period 2017-2023.

All our reports are customizable to your company needs to a certain extent, we do provide 20 free consulting hours along with purchase of each report, and this will allow you to request any additional data to customize the report to your needs.

Buy Now

Key Takeaways from this Report

Evaluate market potential through analyzing growth rates (CAGR %), Volume (Units) and Value ($M) data given at country level – for product types, end use applications and by different industry verticals.

Understand the different dynamics influencing the market – key driving factors, challenges and hidden opportunities.

Get in-depth insights on your competitor performance – market shares, strategies, financial benchmarking, product benchmarking, SWOT and more.

Analyze the sales and distribution channels across key geographies to improve top-line revenues.

Understand the industry supply chain with a deep-dive on the value augmentation at each step, in order to optimize value and bring efficiencies in your processes. 

Get a quick outlook on the market entropy – M&A’s, deals, partnerships, product launches of all key players for the past 4 years. 

Evaluate the supply-demand gaps, import-export statistics and regulatory landscape for more than top 20 countries globally for the market. 

[lalsingh228-blog]

Alcoholic Ready-To-Drink Market: Strong Momentum and Growth Seen Ahead

Latest business intelligence report released on Global Alcoholic Ready-To-Drink Market, covers different industry elements and growth inclinations that helps in predicting market forecast. The report allows complete assessment of current and future scenario scaling top to bottom investigation about the market size, % share of key and emerging segment, major development, and technological advancements. Also, the statistical survey elaborates detailed commentary on changing market dynamics that includes market growth drivers, roadblocks and challenges, future opportunities, and influencing trends to better understand Alcoholic Ready-To-Drink market outlook. List of Key Players Profiled in the study includes market overview, business strategies, financials, Development activities, Market Share and SWOT analysis: Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (Belgium), The Brown–Forman Corporation (United States), Distell Group Limited (South Africa), Bacardi Limited (Bermuda), Boston Beer Company (United States), Halewood International (United Kingdom), Diageo plc (United Kingdom), Suntory Spirits Ltd. (United States), B.C distillery (Canada), Radico Khaitan Ltd., (India). Download Free Sample PDF Brochure (Including Full TOC, Table & Figures) @ https://www.advancemarketanalytics.com/sample-report/25418-global-alcoholic-ready-to-drink-market Brief Overview on Alcoholic Ready-To-Drink: Alcoholic ready-to-drinks are packed beverages with alcohol content in it which can be directly consumed, it includes spirit-based RTDs, wine-based RTDs, malt-based RTDs, high strength premix RTD, etc. These dinks are basically the hybridization of non-alcoholic and alcoholic drinks together and packed for direct consumption. These ready-to-drink alcoholic beverages are largely demanded by young adults across the world and can be availed in supermarkets, online stores, liquor stores, etc. Key Market Trends: Increasing Consumption of Spirit-based Ready-To-Drink Alcohol

Rising Demand for Alcoholic Ready-To-Drink Among Young Adults Opportunities: Growing Standard of Living People in Developing Countries will Boost the Alcoholic Ready-To-Drink Market Market Growth Drivers: Growing Demand for Alcoholic Beverages

Demand for Ready to Drink Beverages Among People Challenges: Regulatory Guidelines and Standards on the Production, Packaging, and Labeling of Alcoholic Ready-To-Drink Segmentation of the Global Alcoholic Ready-To-Drink Market: by Type (Spirit-based RTDs, Wine-based RTDs, Malt-based RTDs, High-Strength Premixes), Application (Household, Restaurant/Bars, Hotels), Distribution Channel (Supermarket & Hypermarket, Liquor Specialist Store, Online Retailing, Duty-Free Stores, Others), Alcohol (Ethyl, Isopropyl, Denatured Alcohol) Purchase this Report now by availing up to 10% Discount on various License Type along with free consultation. Limited period offer. Share your budget and Get Exclusive Discount @: https://www.advancemarketanalytics.com/request-discount/25418-global-alcoholic-ready-to-drink-market Geographically, the following regions together with the listed national/local markets are fully investigated: • APAC (Japan, China, South Korea, Australia, India, and Rest of APAC; Rest of APAC is further segmented into Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, New Zealand, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka) • Europe (Germany, UK, France, Spain, Italy, Russia, Rest of Europe; Rest of Europe is further segmented into Belgium, Denmark, Austria, Norway, Sweden, The Netherlands, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania) • North America (U.S., Canada, and Mexico) • South America (Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Rest of South America) • MEA (Saudi Arabia, UAE, South Africa)Furthermore, the years considered for the study are as follows: Historical data – 2017-2022 The base year for estimation – 2022 Estimated Year – 2023 Forecast period** – 2023 to 2028 [** unless otherwise stated] Browse Full in-depth TOC @: https://www.advancemarketanalytics.com/reports/25418-global-alcoholic-ready-to-drink-market

Summarized Extracts from TOC of Global Alcoholic Ready-To-Drink Market Study Chapter 1: Exclusive Summary of the Alcoholic Ready-To-Drink market Chapter 2: Objective of Study and Research Scope the Alcoholic Ready-To-Drink market Chapter 3: Porters Five Forces, Supply/Value Chain, PESTEL analysis, Market Entropy, Patent/Trademark Analysis Chapter 4: Market Segmentation by Type, End User and Region/Country 2016-2027 Chapter 5: Decision Framework Chapter 6: Market Dynamics- Drivers, Trends and Challenges Chapter 7: Competitive Landscape, Peer Group Analysis, BCG Matrix & Company Profile Chapter 8: Appendix, Methodology and Data Source Buy Full Copy Alcoholic Ready-To-DrinkMarket – 2021 Edition @ https://www.advancemarketanalytics.com/buy-now?format=1&report=25418 Contact US : Craig Francis (PR & Marketing Manager) AMA Research & Media LLP Unit No. 429, Parsonage Road Edison, NJ New Jersey USA – 08837 Phone: +1 201 565 3262, +44 161 818 8166 sales@advancemarketanalytics.com

[avalkorn]

MOVIE & TV SHOW

1. Гром. Трудное детство / 2023

2. Мульти-пульти / 2023

3. Obi-Wan Kenobi / S1 / 2022

4. Treasure Planet / 2002

5. American Psycho / 2000

6. Incendies / 2010

7. Operation Fortune: Ruse de guerre / 2023

8. The Fabelmans / 2022

9. Minions: The Rise of Gru / 2022

10. Andor / S1 / 2022

11. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story / 2016

12. The Office / S5 / 2009

13. Babylon / 2022

14. Нулевой пациент / S1 / 2022

15. The Pale Blue Eye / 2022

16. M3gan / 2023

17. Ms. Marvel / S1 / 2022

18. Titanic / 1997

19. Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania / 2023

20. She-Hulk: Attorney at Law / S1 / 2022

21. Russian Doll / S1 / 2019

22. Escape from New York / 1981

23. Cocaine Bear / 2023

24. The Legend of Vox Machina / S1 / 2022

25. Top Gun: Maverick / 2022

26. Scream VI / 2023

27. All Quiet on the Western Front / 2022

28. Russian Doll / S2 / 2022

29. 65 / 2023

30. Shazam! Fury of the Gods / 2023

31. The Legend of Vox Machina / S2 / 2023

32. The Office / S6 / 2010

33. Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves / 2023

34. The Dark Knight / 2008

35. John Wick: Chapter 4 / 2023

36. Peaky Blinders / S4 / 2017

37. The Super Mario Bros. Movie / 2023

38. Renfield / 2023

39. Air / 2023

40. The Mandolorian / S3 / 2023

41. Dead Poets Society / 1989

42. To Catch a Killer / 2023

43. Guardian of the Galaxy. Volume 3 / 2023

44. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent / 2023

45. Tetris / 2023

46. Morbius / 2022

47. Triple Frontier / 2019

48. Dead Man / 1995

49. Euphoria / S1 / 2019

50. Fast X / 2023

51. Ghosted / 2023

52. The Office / S7 / 2011

53. The Little Mermaid / 2023

54. Euphoria / S2 / 2022

55. The Covenant / 2022

56. Hypnotic / 2023

57. The Flash / 2023

58. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of Black Pearl / 2003

59. Locke / 2013

60. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness / 2022

61. Blade Runner 2049 / 2017

62. Arrival / 2016

63. Красный состав / S1 / 2022

64. Barbie / 2023

65. Nimona / 2023

66. Moonrise Kingdom / 2012

67. Blue Beetle / 2023

68. Hercules / 1997

69. After Yang / 2022

70. Heart of Stone / 2023

71. Equilibrium / 2002

72. Under the Silver Lake / 2017

73. Hotel Artemis / 2018

74. Gunpowder Milkshake / 2021

75. Wild Target / 2009

76. Oppenheimer / 2023

77. Ночной дозор / 2004

78. Shrek / 2001

79. Sunshine / 2007

80. Дневной дозор / 2005

81. Interstellar / 2014

82. La Dolce Vita / 1960

83. Сергий против нечисти / S1 / 2021

84. Сергий против нечисти / S2 / 2023

85. Dumb Money / 2023

86. Molly’s Game / 2017

87. BlackBerry / 2023

88. Dracula / 1931

89. Decision to Leave / 2022

90. Logan Lucky / 2017

91. The Hummingbird Project / 2018

92. Papillon / 2017

93. Star Trek Into Darkness / 2013

94. The Hunger Games / 2012

95. The Killer / 2023

96. The Misfits / 2020

97. Napoleon / 2023

98. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire / 2013

99. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 / 2014

100. Nandor Fodor and the Talking Mongoose / 2023

101. Слово пацана. Кровь на асфальте / S1 / 2023

BOOK

1. Dune / 1965

2. Supergods: Our World in The Age of the Superhero / 2011

3. Generation П / 1999

4. The Hobbit / 1937

5. The Theory of Everything / 2002

6. Elantris / 2005

7. The Nolan Variations: The Movies, Mysteries, and Marvels of Christopher Nolan / 2020

GAME

1. Baldurs Gate III / 2023

2. Cyberpunk 2077 / 2020

3. Spider-Man. Miles Morales / 2021

4. Hogwarts. Legacy / 2023

5. Diablo 4 / 2023

[myfrenzi]

Middle Eastern Film Treasures

Middle Eastern Film Treasures: What to Watch on OTT

In the realm of cinema, the Middle East has woven tales that are as diverse as its landscapes and cultures. From gripping dramas to heartwarming stories of family and friendship, Middle Eastern cinema has a treasure trove of cinematic gems. With the advent of Over-the-Top (OTT) platforms, these films have found a global audience. In this blog, we’ll take you on a journey through some of the best Middle Eastern movies available on OTT, showcasing the emotional richness and cultural tapestry of the region.

1. “Theeb” (2014)

This Jordanian coming-of-age drama is set against the backdrop of the Arabian Desert during World War I. It follows the young Bedouin boy Theeb, who embarks on a perilous journey with a British soldier. The film beautifully captures the vastness and harsh beauty of the desert while exploring themes of survival and brotherhood.

2. “Caramel” (2007)

From Lebanon comes this heartwarming and bittersweet tale of five women who work in a beauty salon in Beirut. Each woman has her unique struggles and dreams, and the film delicately weaves together their stories. “Caramel” offers a glimpse into the lives of these women, their friendships, and the challenges they face in a rapidly changing city.

3. “A Separation” (2011)

This Iranian masterpiece directed by Asghar Farhadi delves into the complexities of a deteriorating marriage. When a husband and wife seek a divorce, a series of events unfolds that not only tests their relationship but also explores themes of truth, ethics, and societal pressures. “A Separation” is a deeply moving and thought-provoking drama.

4. “The Insult” (2017)

From Lebanon, “The Insult” is a courtroom drama that explores the consequences of a minor dispute that escalates into a nationwide controversy. The film tackles issues of identity, prejudice, and the power of words. It’s a gripping narrative that reflects the tensions and divisions within Lebanese society.

5. “Wadjda” (2012)

Directed by Haifaa Al-Mansour, “Wadjda” is a groundbreaking film from Saudi Arabia. It tells the story of a young girl named Wadjda who dreams of owning a bicycle, even though it’s considered taboo for girls in her culture. The film offers a charming and poignant look at gender norms and the determination of a spirited young girl.

6. “The Salesman” (2016)

Another gem from Asghar Farhadi, this Iranian drama revolves around a couple whose life takes an unexpected turn when they move into a new apartment. The film masterfully explores themes of trauma, revenge, and forgiveness while keeping viewers on the edge of their seats.

7. “Omar” (2013)

From Palestine, “Omar” is a gripping thriller that follows the life of a young baker who becomes embroiled in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The film skillfully navigates the moral dilemmas faced by its characters, making it a powerful commentary on the enduring conflict.

8. “Barakah Meets Barakah” (2016)

This Saudi romantic comedy offers a delightful exploration of love in a society bound by tradition and protocol. It follows the budding romance between a young couple from different social backgrounds, offering a humorous take on the challenges they face.

9. “Capernaum” (2018)

This Lebanese drama tells the story of Zain, a young boy who sues his parents for giving him life in a world of poverty and hardship. “Capernaum” is a raw and emotionally charged film that sheds light on the plight of marginalized children in Lebanon.

10. “The Nile Hilton Incident” (2017)

Set in Cairo, Egypt, this crime thriller follows a detective as he investigates the murder of a singer in a luxury hotel. The film provides a gritty portrayal of corruption and political turmoil in Egypt while delivering a suspenseful narrative.

Conclusion

The Middle East has gifted the world with a rich tapestry of films that offer diverse perspectives and emotional depth. These Middle Eastern movie treasures, available on various OTT platforms, provide viewers with a window into the culture, history, and human experiences of the region. So, the next time you’re wondering “what to watch on OTT,” consider exploring these cinematic gems from the Middle East for a truly enriching experience.

5 Unique FAQs After The Conclusion

Can I watch these Middle Eastern films with subtitles? Yes, many OTT platforms offer subtitles, making these films accessible to a global audience.

Are there other notable Middle Eastern films not mentioned in the blog? Absolutely! The Middle East has a vast cinematic landscape with many more exceptional films to discover.

Do Middle Eastern films only focus on serious topics? No, Middle Eastern cinema covers a wide range of genres, from drama to comedy and romance.

What cultural insights can I gain from watching these films? These films offer insights into Middle Eastern culture, traditions, and societal issues.

Are Middle Eastern films suitable for family viewing? Some films are family-friendly, while others may contain mature themes. It’s advisable to check the film’s rating and content before viewing with family.