#we have a high power business woman who makes two (poor) decisions in the film

[morcantinon]

so sad having only enough week to get sleepy but not silly :(

[renatedagmarmilada]

Shy mice and jumpy lice

crawls up the circles, the spins with all their sins I have seen and noted and at times, even laughed at, ironically

THE NATION

as sitting by the window teaching mathematics to a young pupil a muslim born over here by the way perusing the mosque built onto the methodist church over the way across from the massive, empty C. of E.

three cars sped by this is the call sign of the lab St Barths Research

they put over this message The nation will never be told what we have done the nation has been told what we have done but has not realised that they have been told and you and those like you, the nation does not listen to

who made the decision about the Princess and the machine at the lab of extremes Anna, lab bossess herself

so all has been said in films and plays in newspaper reports and ads and stuff all around us till I cut off from seeing it all and my heart aches for the human race it is on self destruct now, at high speed when it could have been so great.....

each crime will have fifty variations written sponsored by the lab put onto the media so that no one will ever know anything.

THE LIVING AND THE DEAD

how did they have enough firing power they raped our children

unusual, they don't generally rape just a few of the apes you always get the shooting of the children was a difficulty the communists used children to carry messages what to do let them get through or stop them

and my own father who deserted the german army had served there had two lady friends mother and daugher got caught behind the russian lines in bed with them they dressed him as a woman and led him through

no, but seriously I had two fathers on the eastern front and a whole pile of uncles so heard their stories too

then I began making good friends with russians and began hearing their stories too

then we began to go back home

here is a monument to our heroes it said our poor dead

hey look, there is my dad's name and there is Uncle Stefan and......

all living well with their second families over in the West and we've come to visit the first families

actually I applaud the communist party as I so often do though I am a refugee from there and born into a business family and I mean that from my heart

how could those women carry on living their men gone labelled as deserters and that is not counting those who deserted recently Afghanistan through Italy how could their children go to school and be branded

I have read much of the communist times and we would do well to learn much from them

their corruption was not much more or less than ours just a bit different and more open we, whose are a more secretive bunch of top men and I definately found their society less secretive less scared than ours by far they all talk of all things as general conversation I was shocked into science and visibly paled at what they discussed, quite openly over breakfast coffee

as one fine communist said and I am with this whole heartedly

'we thought of the people to keep them working and living not of the buildings it is the buildings people see not the people and the buildings people judge'

except now everywhere I hear the jobless moaning I was at an Eastern German Uni when communism fell shouted  as they moaned and groaned at me ' what did you think capitalism would be?

communism with freedom to travel well mate, it is not, you claw up the pile in capitalism and if your claws break you get the dole which enables you to eat and buy second hand clothes and bits and pieces of which the country is swimming in..... as we import useless goods to keep good promises made by politicians to keep systems going which are also useless

my advice let mathematicians play maths games not politicians when they do ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS disbelieve anything a politician tells you or anyone or even the media Politician is another term for fibber, liar sometimes, story teller, extended imagination politician person

THREE MILLION FORGOTTEN

no, I am not a denyer but I would like the truth told

american friends keep sending me pictures yes, I believe them concentration camp dead

infact, my own mum shouted in an Austrian butchers one day in forty three: so where are all the jews?

all around shushed her: sh, you'll be next on the trains however the assumption is they were all jewish

now we all know that Hitler sent to mental homes

unwanted aliens (just as here indeed) and three million of the six million in the camps were germans

we know what sort of germans which is why society has tried to change

homosexuals, communists, priests (german ones) the list is endless in death we cannot see nationalities

will someone please start teaching the truth I learnt from a jewish professor from Springfield

to my great pride, former hungarian jews he was the most gorgeous male on the campus and ofcourse one of my lot making me pleased as punch

I had to do a year at Leipzig Uni for languages he taught in the lecture hall

infront of hundreds of german students three million of germans he wrote on the board three million jews about and some slavs

I, being certain I thought, of my facts having had lectures at Roman Road Synagogue in Leeds

Stuck my hand up crossly but nervously (daft yanks!) Sir quoth I outraged, you are wrong it is six million jews, forgetting the Rabbi's anger at praying nuns

no, my dear, he answered, you are wrong and further explained to us all

so why are Americans not being told the truth? since then I have made it my business to know and studied lots putting heart and emotions aside

I am not one of Wagners lot of abstract ideas my lot prefer the comforts of the stomach

nice garments and loving home families to notions or bravery I discovered, which echoed with what my parents had said actual war dead in the Soviet were about five million

actual war dead in China were about three to four million (so said research after they researched and checked properly)

My dad had said if you didn't like someone during the war you had them killed, then shouted it was the germans not counting bullets as some have not having that sort of mind

and as others have before me I went by experiences and words and my mum, now tormented here  by jewish lab workers

missed Theresien stadt by a hair's whisker not once through national loyalties by a Rumanian S.A. man nor will I deny it was a happening

as our beautiful Europe was destroyed to the core nor am I against Americans, even now-

but what is going on when american jewish professors are teaching german kids at german Uni one thing

then their own nation is taught something else? shall we start to draw flags onto the dead?

or would it be better to stop showing the morbid stuff I for one refused to go for a day out to Auschwitz with the others you all know of one Mayor and all the Corporation of whom I told

who got five years hard labour, there were plenty more in the East. (Incidentally, Sir

I still have your book on 'The Blood Libel' but I lost your address. The book is treasured. and some of those german students

a Pole I think she was, played some nasty tricks to stop me reading my Gender thesis and other

as I had got a standing ovation in language from the students. I forgive the Pole as I was rather scathing about the model of the Virgin Mary for Europeans _microsoundit is staying-jewish dead I presume- until the end of the

[midas-or-khaos]

The Ones Above Us, Chapter 2

Date:- November 5th, 2008, 37 days after initial discovery.

Time:- 18:42pm

Location:- London, Victoria And Albert Museum

“It’s nearly 7, Fatima. Can we please call it a night?”

“Siobhan, you were the one that explicitly said you wanted to stay longer so you’d be ahead for tomorrow when the coroner visits. If you wanna gawk at the celebration of some medieval king-“

“-Jacobean-“ Siobhan interrupted.

“-Jacobean king not dying, then be my guest. I have stuff to do.”

Thank god for the Cast Courts room. Yes, the air was so musty you could taste the varnish eroding from the planked floor, and yes the room was cold enough to freeze your nipples off, but it was huge AND tall. The undertaking it must’ve been to remove some 200 plaster statues ranging from simple busts to replicas of temple columns must’ve triggered at least a couple of premature deaths. Or at least a heart attack at the mere prospect. What probably finished off the rest of the crew and budget manager for the museum along with the mayor of London was the fact that a whole wall had to come down. 

A whole wall.

This building has 5 separate floors and is well over 100 years old, and somehow the manager (Mrs Stevens, lovely woman) leading our excavation had managed to convince who knows how many people to tear apart one of the most historic buildings in all of England. Maybe the world. Just for me and the autopsy team to have easier access to research facilities for this behemoth. 

Worth every penny and hurdle.

Currently the body was in a ninety degree sitting position, back to the fire exits and feet to the pillared entrance across the ballroom floor. Scaffolding was up to the head, high enough you could touch the textured ceiling with your own hands, and went round in a full three-sixty degrees. Parts that weren’t being worked on were covered by opaque, plastic sheets (mostly for the visitors tomorrow, though I suspect the cleaning staff were much appreciative of them too). Fatima and Siobhan were by the right eye, pinned open by clamps, taking photos through the keyhole pupil under beams of awful white, overhead lighting. After this visit tomorrow she was going to sit down the staff running this museum and ask them what made them think an overhead beam was a great idea in any situation, and if any of them had ever held a camera before.

Siobhan huffed, water vapour steaming the air. As an add on, maybe asking for some heating would do some good as well, old buildings really weren’t designed with insulation in mind. 

“Well, weren’t you the one who said to me this was all a hoax? You change your mind that quick? I get that I’m not actually in the autopsy department like your high and mightiness,  but even I can see that’s some piss poor work you’re doing here if you can’t make a definite decision on what that thing actually is. Take a break otherwise you’ll be scraping the bottom of the barrel tomorrow.”

“I’ll be fine for tomorrow, that’s not your problem.”

Siobhan didn’t forget that Fatima wasn’t challenging her former accusation, just avoiding it poorly. The older historian wanted to say something, but their relationship was still on the cusp of blooming from colleagues to friends. Any form of open defiance at this stage would kill it at the roots. Electing a less powerful show of disappointment, the ginger instead leaned back on her leg and crossed her arms. The universal judgment pose.

“Do what you want, Fatima, but you need to make up your mind if this thing is legitimate or not by tomorrow, ‘cause they’re gonna be unimpressed if you can’t give a definitive answer. And not to rain on your parade of hyperfixiation, cause from here it looks shit, but some of us want to see our family.” And with that Mike drop, the ample woman took her leave.

 Fatima didn’t look up from the back aching crouch she was in, too focused on her subject as kitten heels clinked against metal metal steps, and a nasty mutter about wearing ‘the wrong fucking shoes to work’ whispered out into the cavernous room.

“Whatever.” She muttered to herself.

Standing up straight, the sharp stab of wincing aches creaking along her spine. Note to self, don’t lean over unsupported for more that twenty seconds. The shots from this angle must’ve at least revealed something: the two lenses (one for blocking reflective uv light, the other a microscope) were the best in the business. But what was she looking for inside the pupil you may ask?

“Now THAT’S interesting.”

The retina, exposed to light, came alive under the camera. Cone cells, rod cells, pigment epithelium. But what were those? Bolts of neon blue, flashing like those firefly squid from that Attenborough episode last week. Veins? No too reflective for that, they’d blind you at the right angle. A specialised system for night vision? Sure it wasn’t human by ratio and lacking organs, but the body held all the cells necessary for coloured vision as we know it, meaning that it probably lacked good night vision naturally, and these unusual veins were a cure for that. No. That can’t be, even under the microscope there was no signs indicating that the structure was made of any kind of cells. Was this thing a huge cell? 

“Maybe we should see if we can cut one end so that it’s still attached to the body and try to put it under a much stronger microscope tomorrow.”  

RRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

RRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

RRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Shite. What’s it this time?

Pulling her Nokia out her back pocket, flipping over the top, a resounding “FATIMA!” Called out. Crap. Family.

“Hello Mum-”

“WHERE ARE YOU?! IT’S LATE, YOU SHOULD BE HERE WITH THE FAMILY! DO YOU NOT LOVE US?!”

Why could she say that? “Of course I love you, I just have so much work-“

“NO! NO MORE WORK! COME HOME NOW, YOU NEED REST!” That’s the final straw that will break the camel’s back. Even an utterance more will turn the fine balance into madness.

“... I’ll pack up now.”

“GOOD, SEE YOU SOON FATIMA!”

Click.

The process of packing up on a usual evening would stretch to around thirty minutes. Putting away equipment, locking up, turning off the lights and signing out. She did it in fifteen. You don’t argue with mum.

Walking with purpose to the fire exit corridor leading out, the last light overhead her work shone like a halo over that much more grim sight now that she had a chance to sit back and examine the scene. He looked like a prop from a Saw film set, eyes pinned wide and shocked, completely opposed to the frowning mouth and waxy skin. Even in the heat of rushing round, Fatima couldn’t help but be drawn back to her work. What would those cells look like in full darkness? The switch sat taunting to her left, just calling to her. Surely it wouldn’t hurt to see? 

Slowly reaching over, almost as if she felt she was being judged for her actions by some unknown force past or present, the raised edge stood stiff against her shaking fingertip. Why was she shaking, there’s no one here to judge her! If anything, the universe should be thankful for her contribution to the pursuit of scientific advancement and the first unveiling of a fact long dead. This was just one step closer to understanding.

CLICK

...Sigh.

“Stupid, getting excited over nothing.”

The back entrance slammed with a resounding slam onto a ratty backstreet lit by LED lampposts. Bloody waste of time.

Time 19:07pm. The doors would be reopened in precisely nine hours and fifty three minutes. Nothing should be moving from this point onwards.

All this fuss over something that she should’ve just taken as a hoax all along.

Time 21:30pm. The doors will be reopened in precisely Six hours and thirty minutes. Nothing should be moving at this point.

She’d told that arsey detective so herself, now look at her going back on her own words.

Time 23:47pm. The doors will be reopened in precisely Five hours and thirteen minutes. Night vision cameras 674 and 676 activated for one minute and five seconds on west wing on the outside building. Movement: minor. Decision: ignore. Nothing should be moving at this point. 

This thing was clearly not real, not in any way. The cube law theory explained that.

Time 01:08am. The doors will be reopened in precisely Three hours and fifty two minutes. Night vision cameras 43, 45, 41 and 40 activated for two minutes in Cast Courts Hall. Movement: minor. Decision: ignore. Nothing should be moving at this point. 

Nothing humanoid COULD get that big.

Time 01:59am. The doors will be reopened in precisely Three hours and one minute. Night vision cameras 43, 45, 41 and 40 activated for five minutes in Cast Courts Hall. Movement: major. Decision: call security. Something is moving at this point.

Looking out the windows of the family bungalow, cheering echoing outside at the neon lit sky, everything makes sense here. Everything can be explained by science. So this thing couldn’t have ever been alive.

Right?

ERROR: CAMERAS COMPROMISED.

[twentiethcenturymoviesandtv]

Frankenstein: The Story

Before Frankenstein even starts, the movie wants you to know that it isn’t messing around.  This isn’t a horror-comedy, or a mildly spooky drama.  This is a horror story, make no mistake.

The film opens up in a rather unconventional way.  Edward Van Sloan, who plays Dr. Waldman in the film, appears from behind a curtain in order to directly address the audience:

“How do you do? Mr. Carl Laemmle feels it would be a little unkind to present this picture without just a word of friendly warning. We’re about to unfold the story of Frankenstein, a man of science who sought to create a man after his own image without reckoning upon God. It is one of the strangest tales ever told. It deals with the two great mysteries of creation: life and death. I think it will thrill you. It may shock you. It might even horrify you. So if any of you feel that you do not care to subject your nerves to such a strain, now is your chance to, uh… Well, we’ve warned you.”

After this genial warning, Mr. Van Sloan steps back behind the curtain, and the music starts over the credits.  (This is the only time music will play during the film.)

The film opens proper this time, appropriately enough, in a graveyard.

The scene is a funeral, a sad occasion over which church bells are heard ringing.  Fittingly enough, the story of Frankenstein already is focused on death, and so is our possible main character.

Enter Dr. Henry Frankenstein. (Colin Clive) (Spoilers below)

Frankenstein waits outside the graveyard, alongside his hunchback assistant, Fritz (Dwight Frye), for the mourners to leave, and for the gravedigger to finish up.  As soon as the cemetery is deserted, the gruesome twosome move in, using their own tools to dig up the grave again, removing the coffin.  As they do, Frankenstein manically murmurs this:

“He’s just resting. Waiting for a new life to come.”

With that, the pair put the coffin on a wheelbarrow, and head off.  They stop at a gallows, where Frankenstein tells Fritz to clamber up and cut the body down.  Reluctantly, Fritz obeys.  The doctor examines the body, before proclaiming it useless.

“The neck’s broken. The brain is useless. We must find another brain.”

He’s 2 for 2 on the ominous foreshadowing, despite the fact that that’s not how neuroscience works.

Fritz, in a quest to find another brain, hides outside a medical college, where he listens to Dr. Waldman (Edward Van Sloan) teaching a seminar about brains.  He has two specimens: one, a perfect example of a model brain, and the other, the brain of a criminal.

After class is dismissed, Fritz sneaks into the classroom, intending to steal the well-adjusted brain.  At first, it looks like success, but a loud noise startles him, and he drops it.  Panicked, Fritz grabs the brain labeled: ‘Abnormal Brain’ and takes off.

Meanwhile, we are introduced to a few new characters: Elizabeth (Mae Clark), Henry’s fiancee, and Victor (John Boles), friend of Henry and Elizabeth.  Elizabeth has just received word from Henry for the first time in four months.  She reads the letter out loud to Victor, who explains that he is in the middle of an amazing discovery, and is working on his experiments in hiding in an abandoned watchtower, where they can remain secret.  

Elizabeth explains that she sent for Victor because she is worried about Henry, saying that he’s talking as though he’s crazy.  She also says that she’s heard him talk about these experiments before, and that when they were first engaged, Henry was happy to tell her about them, but now acts as though everything is a great mystery.  

Victor agrees that Henry’s acting strangely.  He tells Elizabeth that the last time he ran into Henry and asked to see the lab, Henry got very defensive.

So far, the movie really isn’t selling the audience on Henry.  Not many good traits for this guy if we’re being honest.

At this moment, Victor tells Elizabeth that he is in love with her, which doesn’t help the situation at all.  This is not the first time he has done this, but Elizabeth is already engaged to aforementioned mad-scientist.  

Victor also says that he will go track down Dr. Waldman (remember him?) who was Henry’s mentor, to see if he knows anything about Henry’s behavior.  Elizabeth runs after him, determined to go along, and the two set off.

The two arrive at Waldman’s office and begin discussing Henry and his odd behavior.  Waldman admits that Henry is brilliant, but he’s also erratic, possessing an “insane ambition to create life”.  Waldman also explains that Henry had wanted actual human corpses for his experiments

“You do not quite get what I mean. Herr Frankenstein was interested only in human life. First, to destroy it; then, recreate it. There you have his - mad dream.”

The university obviously wouldn’t allow the use of human corpses, and so Henry left, in order to pursue graverobbing for his experiments.  More worried than ever, Elizabeth convinces Waldman to accompany them to find Henry and bring him to his senses.

Henry, as it turns out, is inside his watchtower where a mighty storm is brewing.  It’s dark, there’s a thunder and lightning storm growing, and inside, Henry is busy about his laboratory, full of crackling electric gadgets and a table, on which lies a figure, with a cloth lying over it and bandages wrapped around its head, inside which is the brain that Fritz had stolen.

“The brain you stole, Fritz. Think of it. The brain of a dead man waiting to live again in a body I made with my own hands! With my own hands.”

As Henry prepares his experiment (powered by electricity, hence the storm), there is a knock at the door, interrupting him at his work.  Irritated, he sends Fritz down to send whoever is there away.  Upon realizing that Elizabeth is at the door, Henry changes his mind, and lets her, Victor, and Waldman in, albeit reluctantly.  He tries to persuade them to leave, but is stopped short when Victor accuses him of being crazy.

“Crazy, am I? We’ll see whether I’m crazy or not.”

Taking the accusation as a challenge, Henry brings his unexpected guests upstairs to the lab to witness his experiment.  He forces Victor and Elizabeth to sit, chases Waldman away from the hidden body, and describes his experiment.

In short, Henry has discovered a ray that is the foundation of life, and that he has created a body, stitched together from other corpses, super large, super strong.

Without further ado, Henry launches into the most famous scene of cinema history.  He starts up the equipment as the storm begins to rage, and the table holding Henry’s creation rises up the tower towards a skylight, where the thunder and lightning crash and flash.  Slowly, Henry brings the body back down, and the hand of his creation begins to move.

Say it with me:

“Look! It’s moving. It’s alive. It’s alive… It’s alive, it’s moving, it’s alive, it’s alive, it’s alive, it’s alive, IT’S ALIVE!”

In his euphoria, Henry compares himself to God, and in shock and horror, the others restrain him.

Weirdly enough, at this point, the movie decides to put itself on hold.

After an emotional, tension filled high point, one of the most famous scenes in movie history, the film decides that, rather than show you Frankenstein’s creation, to take you instead to the home of Baron Frankenstein, Henry’s father, and a conversation with Elizabeth and Victor.

The movie has been moving at a pretty good clip up to this point, albeit with rather sparse ‘monster’ action.  We don’t see Frankenstein putting his creature together, we only see the before and after, and now we don’t even get to see the after.  The sequence interrupting the ‘good stuff’ seems to come in, interrupting a continuous flow.

Henry’s father is also worried about him (it seems to be a pattern), but refuses to believe Elizabeth’s claims that he’s just tired.  The Baron believes there’s something legitimately wrong with him, and that he’s involved with another woman.  At this point, the Baron isn’t sure if there’s even going to be a wedding between his son and Elizabeth, which is unfortunate, since the whole town is preparing for it.

The Baron makes a decision: he’s going to go visit Henry now, too.

See, as it turns out, Henry hasn’t left the watchtower.  He’s still with his experiment, and so is Waldman.

Waldman, for his part, isn’t in the slightest happy about Henry’s experiment.  He explains that the ‘monster’ is dangerous, but Henry isn’t buying it.

“Dangerous? Poor old Waldman. Have you never wanted to do anything that was dangerous? Where should we be if no one tried to find out what lies beyond? Have you never wanted to look beyond the clouds and the stars, or to know what causes the trees to bud? And what changes the darkness into light? But if you talk like that, people call you crazy. Well, if I could discover just one of these things, what eternity is, for example, I wouldn’t care if they did think I was crazy.”

Waldman explains that the brain that Henry used was a criminal brain.  Henry looks disconcerted for a moment, but brushes it off, ignoring Waldman’s pleas to stop experimenting.

“I’ve got to experiment further. He’s only a few days old, remember. So far he’s been kept in complete darkness. Wait till I bring him into the light.”

As he finishes speaking, heavy footsteps are heard in the hallway.  Henry shuts off the light, casting the dark room into further shadow, as a towering figure steps, backwards, through the doorway.  It turns, slowly, facing the camera, with a dead, blank expression.

You already know what he looks like.

Henry tells the creature (Boris Karloff) to come in and sit down.  The creature, although mute, seems to understand him, obeying as Henry rolls back the skylight.

The monster stands, looking up, and raises his hands to the sky, trying to touch the light.  The expression comes to life, full of curiosity-

And Henry closes the light again.

The monster halts, looking dejected, as Henry gleefully brags about his creation.

Right here, we as an audience have been told a lot of information about a lot of people.

There’s Elizabeth, the loving fiancee, Victor, the concerned friend, Waldman, the dismayed mentor, and Baron Frankenstein, blustering father, but when you boil it right down, the audience’s concern lies with two characters: Henry and the monster.

We know that Henry is a raging egomaniac, who is determined to make his mark on scientific discovery.  He is proud of what he has done, to the point of hysteria, and has become so absorbed with his work that he has neglected family, friends, and his fiancee, to the point where he has driven them all to worry about him.  He’s obsessed with his creation, with his apparent success.

And the creature?

As famous and magnificent as the laboratory scene is, the scene where the monster first sees the light is almost as well-known, and with good reason.  Arguably just as important, this sequence gives the audience some very important information about the creature: he is not inherently a ‘monster’.  His expression is not that of a vicious beast, but a curious child.  His backwards lumber into the room and straining to touch the light stirs an emotion out of the audience: not fear, but pity.

Hold onto that, we’ll be coming back to that shortly.

After the monster sits back down, Fritz comes tearing into the room with a lighted torch, brandishing it at the creature.  The creature, naturally frightened, goes into a bit of a frenzy, barely restrained by Henry and Waldman.  The two scientists tie him up, and Waldman, more resolute than ever in his stance that the creature is dangerous, tells Frankenstein that he must destroy the monster.

The two scientists move the creature to the cellar, where Fritz continues to torment him, beating him with a whip and antagonizing him with the torch.

Upstairs, Henry and Waldman hear a bloodcurdling shriek, and rush downstairs, where they discover the monster, free, and Fritz, strangled.

The pair manage to get out of the cellar and close the door behind them, but it won’t hold for long.  The monster’s superior strength comes to bear as he struggles to smash down the door.

Henry, horrified at his own creation, reluctantly agrees with Waldman’s assertion that the monster must be destroyed, and allows Waldman to go up for a needle for a hypodermic injection.  After Waldman returns, the pair open the door, and as the creature attacks Henry, Waldman injects the monster in the back with the needle.  After a tense moment, the drug takes effect, and the monster slumps to the ground, unconscious.

Waldman and Frankenstein hide the body of the creature as they hear a banging on the door: Victor, warning Henry that Elizabeth and Henry’s father are on the way, right behind him.  Henry goes upstairs to clean the blood off of him.

When Elizabeth and Baron Frankenstein do arrive, they find Henry, collapsed from exhaustion in his lab, muttering mournfully about Fritz.  They decide to take him home, and Waldman promises Henry that he will preserve Henry’s research, and destroy the monster.

While Henry is taken home and helped to recover, Waldman sets about dissecting the creature.  Before he can get started, the sedative wears off, and the creature wakes up.  Seeing the doctor bending over him with sharp tools, the creature strangles Waldman, gets up, and wanders out of the watchtower, now loose across the countryside.

The story takes a little bit of a skip now.  Henry is recovered, and it is the day of his wedding to Elizabeth.  His father, the Baron, hands Henry and Victor orange blossoms, family tradition for weddings, and toasts the wedding, remarking about his hope for a future son of Frankenstein.

An interesting comment.  More on that later.

Meanwhile, the creature’s wanderings have taken him to a forest, relatively close to civilization.  There, he stumbles upon a girl named Maria, who is playing by the side of a lake.

Instead of being frightened at his appearance, the girl approaches the creature and invites him to play with her, bringing him down by the water as well.  She gives him a flower, which he reacts to with a look of genuine happiness.

Maria offers up an interesting look at how people approach the creature.  Up until this moment, he has been contained, tortured, and treated as an experiment at best, and a monster at worst.  This is the first time that anyone has treated him as anything close to ‘human’, and it’s a touching moment.

Unfortunately, this is a horror film, and we have to take a sharp left turn into disaster.  Or at least, tragedy.

See, Maria teaches the creature a game where they toss flowers into the water, demonstrating how they float.  Once the creature runs out of flowers, he tosses Maria in, not really understanding why that’s not acceptable.  As it turns out, Maria can’t swim.

Her floundering in the water frightens the creature, and, clearly upset, he runs away.

The scene switches once more to wedding preparations.  Elizabeth, already in her wedding gown, asks to speak to Henry privately, as she’s feeling rather uneasy.  As a matter of fact, she’s downright afraid.  She explains to Henry that she’s not sure why she’s afraid, but she is concerned for Waldman, and asks why he’s late.  She adds that she’s very afraid of losing Henry, but he reassures her that he’s not going anywhere.

The touching moment is interrupted by Victor, banging on the door, shouting about Waldman.  He’s been found, dead, in the watchtower where Henry had been working.  Henry locks Elizabeth in a room and rushes out, knowing that the monster must be loose.  He and Victor begin searching the house for the creature, all the while thinking that at least Elizabeth is somewhat safe.

Elizabeth is pacing the room, very nervous.  I can’t blame her.

As she paces, the monster comes through the window of the house, stalking her down.  Elizabeth screams, and tries to escape, but of course, Henry locked the door in his most brilliant move since reanimating the dead.  The monster gets out the way he came in, and Henry bursts in to find Elizabeth unhurt, but hysterical.

Henry proclaims that he cannot get married until his creation is destroyed, and leaves Elizabeth in Victor’s care while he leaves to track down the monster.

“I made him with these hands, and with these hands I will destroy him. I must find him.”

Meanwhile, interrupting the wedding festivities outside, a grief-stricken father carries the body of his little girl, Maria, into the town.  The townspeople, now subdued, follow him as the father approaches the Burgomaster, proclaiming that his daughter has been murdered.  (This is perhaps the one plot hole that I have the hardest time getting around, as if she’d been drowned, there’s no way the father could have figured she’d have been murdered.)

Still, it’s enough to get the townspeople in a riot.

The Burgomaster organizes the mob, splitting it into three groups and putting Henry in charge of one.  The mob storms off, armed with torches and pitchforks (what else?).

Henry’s group spots the monster, and stumbles upon an injured man who points them in the direction of the creature.  

Naturally, Henry gets separated from the rest of the group while up on a mountain, and, of course, runs into his creation.

Frankenstein tries to scare the creature with his torch, but the monster is well past the fear of fire by now.  He lunges at Henry, they struggle, and the monster knocks him unconscious, dragging him away.  

The creature takes Henry into a windmill, pursued by the mob of angry villagers.  As the monster lugs Henry up to the second story, the search party tries to break the door down.

Henry wakes up, and narrowly escapes another attack by the creature, hiding behind mill machinery before entering another losing grappling match with the creature.  After a brief struggle, Henry falls from the mill, unconscious.

Some of the search party stop to take Henry home, as the rest light the mill on fire.

The monster remains trapped in the flaming building, under a fallen beam, terrified and alone.

With the monster presumed dead, Henry begins recovering again, under the care of Elizabeth at his home.  His father, the Baron Frankenstein, breaks out the old wine for the wedding and makes another toast: a toast to the son of Frankenstein.

Cue closing credits.

The story of Frankenstein is not a long one, clocking in at just over an hour and ten minutes.  On a rewatch, it can seem like there isn’t even that much of the monster.  Instead, we spend a lot of time with the creator of the creature, watching him prepare for his wedding.  We even get a few scenes with Elizabeth and other supporting characters.  

At first, these scenes really seem to slow the story down.  The odd placement of a few scenes with Henry’s friends and family worrying about his sanity sprinkled in-between the monster’s creation sequences can seem to abruptly grind the movie to a halt as the audience is forced to sit back from the edge of their seats.  I mean, what is this story about, anyway?  Reanimating the dead or Henry’s wedding?

More specifically, who is this story supposed to be about?

That’s kind of the problem, isn’t it?  

The easy answer is to say that Frankenstein as a film is focused on Frankenstein as a man.  The scientist, bent on playing God, creating a monster and forced to destroy it.  Frankenstein, the son, the fiance, the student, the friend.

By the same token, it’s equally as simple to claim that the focus of the story is on the monster.

The mute creation of a madman, the childish brute who never asked to be made, who was never shown any kindness.  The lonely monster, tortured and brutalized for being ugly, condemned for the sins of his creator.  The monster, the son of Frankenstein.

Typically, finding the protagonist of a film isn’t that hard.  Luke Skywalker, Rocky Balboa, Dorothy Gale, are all easily presented as who the story is about, the person who pushes the action forward.  But unfortunately, protagonists aren’t as easy to spot in every case.

Protagonists, as it turns out, aren’t always at the center of the story.  In our study of Ladyhawke (nearly a year ago!), we discovered that sometimes, the protagonist and the character that the audience spends the most time with aren’t necessarily the same person.  In Running Scared, there are two protagonists, but only one major one.  In our analysis of Psycho, we discussed the fact that the protagonist doesn’t even have to be a hero.  

That’s certainly the case with Frankenstein.

Whichever way you slice it, there is no ‘hero’ in Frankenstein.  Neither monster nor man saves the day.  The climax, presented as a victory to the townspeople, is a tragedy: the creature, beaten and hated for his entire short life, is seemingly burnt alive, trapped, rejected by his creator.

This is not a happy ending.  But then again, it’s not a happy story.  It started with digging up corpses in a graveyard, remember?

It turns out, when you think back over the events of the film, it’s actually pretty easy to spot the protagonist.

When it comes to ‘spotting’ the protagonist in Frankenstein, it’s less an analysis of the actions taken by specific characters, and more the ‘blame game’.  Who’s fault is most of the story?  Is it the monster, for killing?  Is it Fritz, for antagonizing him unprovoked?  Waldman’s, for mentoring Henry in the first place?

Rather grimly, looking back over the course of events in the story and determining who is to blame gives us our protagonist.  It is, of course, Henry Frankenstein.

Henry Frankenstein is far from heroic, but he is responsible for nearly every action taken by every character in the story, from his friends checking up on him to his creation wreaking havoc.  It is his blind arrogance and refusal to take into account the consequences of his actions that lead to so much suffering, and, ironically, death.  Henry is bent on achieving the impossible, and in doing so, nearly dooms much of the main cast.  He digs up the graves.  He creates the monster.

Worst of all, he’s the one who won’t give the creature what he needs most: love.

For all intents and purposes, the creature is the son of Frankenstein, his creation.  Henry has been nothing but an active character up until the point where he creates the monster, and after that, he suddenly becomes passive.  His goal accomplished, he doesn’t treat the monster like a person, but a successful experiment.  He halfheartedly scolds Fritz for tormenting him, but doesn’t actively try to stop him.  Through his carelessness, he gives the monster none of the attention he needs, and as a result, the monster is treated terribly at worst, and with indifference or scientific curiosity at best.

Once people start dying, Henry wakes up a little bit.  His growth, his character arc, comes in the form of self-realization, of owning up and accepting blame for what he’s done.  After he realizes his guilt, he does something about it, going after the monster and trying to ‘right’ his wrong by destroying it.  

While still not exactly a heroic figure, at the very least, Henry does change by the end of the story.  And isn’t that what protagonists are supposed to do?

Yes, it is.

But there’s another character we’re leaving out of this equation.

The idea of the monster being a reflection, or another side, of Frankenstein is not a new one.  It’s an idea that’s frequently discussed and analyzed by plenty of experts.  Right now, though, we’re not looking at the monster as a reflection of Frankenstein.  We’re looking at him as a creation, as a son.

See, Henry isn’t the only person that changes throughout the story.  While Henry goes from mad monster to man, the creature has a reverse progression.

Throughout the first part of his existence, the creature is a passive character.  He is acted upon, created through no will of his own, and then tormented for no good reason.  He is a curious creature, a being that demonstrates a childlike joy at the world around him.

The creature doesn’t truly become a ‘monster’ until more than halfway through the film.  He kills Fritz, only because he tormented him.  He kills Waldman while the doctor is trying to dissect him.  In his early moments, the monster reacts to people trying to harm him, rather than lashing out, unprovoked.  His interaction with light, and people who aren’t cruel to him, demonstrate the monster’s potential true nature: a gentle giant.

When the monster breaks out of the tower and meets Maria, there is no hostility.  He is genuinely happy, enjoying interaction with the first person to show him genuine kindness.  Her death is an accident, the result of his misunderstanding, causing him great distress.

After that, a switch is flipped.  It is here that he goes after Elizabeth, (though not harming her) and attacks Henry after Henry pursues him.  At this point, it can be argued that the creature truly becomes the monster…but it’s hard to say that it’s his fault.

We as an audience don’t know what’s going on in the monster’s head at this point.  He can’t speak to tell us.  But it’s not a large leap of logic to wonder if the monster might be blaming his misery on Henry and the others in his life as well.  And in the end, he is seemingly killed, abandoned by his uncaring creator and shunned by a world who mistreated him without cause.

No matter who Frankenstein is about, it’s a sad story.  It’s also a good story.

Frankenstein learns his lesson, repents from playing God, and fixes his mistake.  The monster dies.  All of the human, ‘non monster’ characters live happily ever after.  (Until Bride of Frankenstein.)  Good…wins?

There’s no line drawn, no sides of ‘good or evil’ in Frankenstein.  The story is not good guy vs. bad guy, no good vs. evil, just a creator and his creation, the tragedy of a man too arrogant to realize the blasphemy of his actions, and the creature he made, turned into a monster due to mistreatment and misunderstanding.  

It’s sad, yes.  It’s also a satisfying ending.

It ties up loose ends.  It answers the questions.  It gives everyone an ending, happy or not.

While Frankenstein does have some plot holes, overall, it’s a tight story.  More importantly, it’s an emotional story, and a smart story.  It brings up questions of morality, of nature vs. nurture, and of what we perceive as monstrous.  It’s a gripping story with a great atmosphere, an iconic look, and immortal characters, setpieces, scenes and dialogue that have been remembered for almost ninety years for a reason.  It’s an iconic film, a memorable masterpiece of simple, but smart, storytelling, constantly driving at an emotional core that still holds up to this day.

A toast to the son of Frankenstein.

In the articles ahead, we’re going to be taking a look at some of the other important elements to the story of Frankenstein, so if you enjoyed this one, stick around and join us!  Don’t forget that my ask box is always open for questions, requests, comments, or just a conversation.  Thanks so much for reading, and I hope to see you in the next article.

[chiseler]

SWEET YOUNG INNOCENT

Coleen Gray and Sterling Hayden in The Killing

Long before Coleen Gray arrived in Hollywood, when she was still a teenager named Doris Bernice Jensen living in Staplehurst, Nebraska, doppelgängers playing the Coleen Gray role were already appearing on the big screen. In the 1940 RKO programmer The Ape, Maris Wrixon took a Coleen Gray turn as a sweet and innocent young woman with a spinal defect who becomes the focus of Boris Karloff’s affections. Unfortunately, being a mad doctor, Karloff’s efforts to find a cure for the poor girl drive him to kill a whole bunch of people. A year later in John Huston’s High Sierra, it was Joan Leslie in the Coleen Gray role, as the good hearted young woman with a club foot who very nearly convinces Bogart’s Roy Earle to change his criminal ways. Then she makes the mistake of telling him she’s engaged to someone else. And in an oddly prescient move, three years after Coleen Gray earned her first major role, Jean Hagen played Sterling Hayden’s lonely, desperate and long-suffering girlfriend in Huston’s Asphalt Jungle, some six years before Gray would at long last play the role herself in The Killing.

For all the doppelgängers who came along before and after—and there were plenty—none of them could top Gray herself as the embodiment of lovely, wide-eyed, corn-fed All American innocence—though an innocence, while incorruptible, that often wandered unknowingly into some shadowy territory and the company of some pretty rough characters.

After getting her BA in Dramatic Arts from Hamline University, Gray (still Doris Jensen at that point) set out to see more of the country, stopping first in La Jolla. She worked as a waitress for a few weeks before making the headlong plunge into Hollywood. She enrolled in an acting school, began appearing in some small theatrical productions around L.A., and, as the classic story goes, was spotted by a talent agent who offered her a contract with 20th Century Fox. In an early magazine interview, gray told the reporter of her girlhood dreams of being a movie star, particularly how she would decorate her dressing room and buy gifts for her staff—all the standard dreams of a typical Coleen Gray character. But as so often happened with her characters, after getting what she wanted she soon realized it wasn’t nearly as glamorous as the movie magazines would have us believe.

First came the name change, from Doris Jensen to Coleen Gray, the single “l” to make her unique, and the “Gray” to subconsciously remind people of Betty Grable.

After an uncredited role in 1945’s State Fair was followed by two other uncredited roles, in 1947, the year film noir really came into its own, the newcomer Gray established herself as a genre stalwart, nearly as inescapable as Ida Lupino, but with her own unique character and persona. In counterpoint to all those devious, dime-a-dozen femme fatales out there, and counter even to Lupino’s streetwise and world wary dames, Gray was redemption, a sign of hope within a dark and nihilistic world.

Her big break came as the narrator and co-star of Henry Hathaway’s seminal and groundbreaking Kiss of Death. Working opposite Victor Mature and a young Richard Widmark (making his unforgettable screen debut as sociopath Tommy Udo), it was Gray’s opening narration that established her screen persona for time immemorial.

Over shots of the snow falling on Midtown Manhattan, her gentle Midwestern voice explains:

“Nick Bianco hadn't worked for a year. He had a record - a prison record. They say it shouldn't count against you but when Nick tried to get a job the same thing always happened: ‘Very sorry. No prejudice, of course, but no job either.’ So this is how Nick went Christmas shopping for his kids.”

While most Noir Era opening narration tended to be stern and authoritarian, warning audiences about the scourge of crime, the dangers to be found in the shadows of the big city and what have you, Gray’s voice is empathetic and, yes, innocent, the voice of a young woman in love, and so willing to overlook a few of her beau’s minor character glitches. She understands nick’s circumstances and makes no moral judgment about his decision to rob a jewelry store in the Chrysler Building in order to buy Christmas presents for his family. What we don’t learn until later is that our narrator, Nettie, was actually the criminally young Bianco family babysitter when the events of the opening scene take place. 

Gray herself doesn’t appear onscreen until much later, when she shows up at the prison and breaks down, telling nick his wife has killed herself, his daughters have been put in an orphanage and, oh, yes, she’s been in love with him for years.

That seems A-OK with Nick, and through the narrative economy that so marked Hathaway’s film. The moment he’s sprung we jump months, even a couple years ahead to find Nick and Nettie married, settled down and living a deliriously happy suburban existence. Nick’s finally found work as a bricklayer, and Nettie has given her inner Midwestern girl free reign, keeping house and making dinner in a dress and apron. Even as things go to hell soon afterward, with Nick drawn back into the shadows to try and ensnare that cackling Tommy Udo, Netti’s perhaps naive optimism never falters.

It was a very good year for Gray, who also found herself co-starring opposite Tyrone Power in another, much darker noir touchstone. Her role in Edmund Golding’s Nightmare Alley (based on the William Gresham novel) would at first blush seem a radical departure from the sweet young innocence of Nettie, but you watch closely, and there’s still plenty of Nettie in Molly. Yes, Molly is a carny working a sideshow electric chair gag in a seedy traveling show , but for all the men lusting after her she remains sweet and virginal. Even when she takes up with the mercenary con man Stanton Carlisle (Power) and the two split the carnival to shoot for the big time with a mentalist act, her conscience comes with her. Once the act morphs from a simple nightclub routine into a spiritualist scam preying on the fragile emotions of the mourning and desperate, pretending to offer comforting contact with lost loved ones, that conscience rears up and Molly splits the show. She returns at film’s end, however, back at the sane carnival where Stanton himself lands after falling as hard and low as a man can manage. While all the other women Stanton has dealt with along the way proved themselves just as conniving and wicked as he is, Molly reappears as a singular symbol of possible redemption. Unlike the book, her presence offers that hope, however slim, Stan might pull himself together yet.

Five years later in Phil Karlson’s Kansas City Confidential (with Lee Van Cleef, Neville Brand, Jack Elam and John Payne), Gray doesn’t appear until late in the film, but works the same redemptive magic. Sweet and innocent as ever, she’s unaware that her retired cop father has turned criminal mastermind. She’s also wholly unaware her father’s about to settle a score with his three cronies while the patsy he framed for a million dollar armored car heist is closing in to settle a few scores of his own. She just decides to pay a visit, like any loving daughter, because she hadn’t seen her dad in awhile. Worse, during her unwittingly ill-timed visit, she falls for the patsy in question (Payne) even though she knows he’s already got a recored, because as ever she can see beyond such trifles.

The crowning jewel, and the perfect bookend to her role as noir’s ever-present symbol of goodness and light and hope within the darkness came in 1956 with Stanley Kubrick’s The Killing.

Losing the chewing gum and the cheap eyelashes, Gray essentially reprises Jean Hagen’s role in Asphalt Jungle, but with a certain melancholy purity that makes the role all her own.  Kubrick made it clear he signed Sterling Hayden specifically on account of his performance in Asphalt Jungle, and yes, Fay’s relationship with Johnny Clay (Hayden) echoes the relationship in the Huston film in many ways—the sad young woman yearning for little more out of life than a scrap of attention from her outlaw boyfriend. More interesting within the context of the film is how the relationship acts as a mirror image of that scheming Sherry (Marie Windsor) and her sap of a husband George (Elisha Cook) across town. Sherry endlessly belittles George, having not the slightest inkling he’s involved in planning a massive heist. Fay, meanwhile, is a simple kid who—like Nettie in Kiss of Death—knows full well what Johnny’s business is, and loves him anyway. Again, all she wants is a little attention in return, but knows she’ll have to wait to get it. Despite the company she keeps, she’s as wide-eyed and innocent as ever, and at film’s end, when everything goes to hell, she doesn’t run, doesn’t scream or panic. She offers a few gentle suggestions about possible escape, but when a clearly defeated Johnny shrugs off her suggestions, she waits again as he turns to face the cops, and you know she’ll keep waiting until he gets out of prison.

For noir nuts, that was the high water mark, though afterward gray was busier than ever, mostly on television and mostly in Westerns, where her midwestern beauty made her a natural. There were a few weirdies dropped in along the way, including her starring role in the 1960 low-budget drive-in hit The leech Woman. Essentially a knockoff of the previous year’s The Wasp Woman, and one of her very few villainous turns, Gray plays a middle aged woman who learns the secret to eternal youth lay in a formula that calls for the pineal gland of a male. Given the serum’s youth-restoring properties are only temporary, well, that means she’s going to have to start collecting a lot of pineal glands. In another less than wholesome turn in 1962’s The Phantom Planet, she plays the blond and manipulative daughter of a…well, to be honest it’s a bit too much and too mind boggling to get into here, but Gray does seem to be having fun playing against type.

In an era when such a thing wasn’t the kiss of death (so to speak), Gray was an outspoken political conservative and Christian, and as early as  1964 was lobbying Congress for a Constitutional amendment allowing prayer in public schools. She continued working steadily into the mid-Eighties, retiring from show business while only in her sixties. Along with her third husband Joseph Fritz Ziesier, she devoted the last three decades of her life to social work, from the Red Cross and Girl Scouts to an evangelical fellowship group aimed at prison inmates. Which is pretty much what you’d expect from a Coleen Gray character.

by Jim Knipfel

[megaphonemonday]

Please please please. Bawson prompt where Mike and Ginny have time off and decide to attend Comic Con. Lawson being a huge Star Wars nerd and perhaps Ginny dressing up as Princess Leia to surprise Mike. Eternally grateful.

i’ve never been to a con and only watched the original Star Wars trilogy after I saw ep 7, so i’m uniquely unqualified to write this? but when has that ever stopped me before?

a new hope | ao3

“You’re not gonna make me wear the bikini, are you?”

Mike adamantly did not choke on his tongue, but Jesus did he want to. Bad enough that they had to sit through this meeting at all, now Mike had to do it while pretending an image of Ginny in that iconic costume wasn’t occupying all his focus? 

What the hell had he done to make the universe hate him so goddamn much?

“No, no. Nothing like that,” Oscar assured her without batting an eye. He leaned his elbows on his desk and stared down the three Padres seated across from him. Blip, Ginny, and Mike stared back, largely unimpressed. 

Before their GM got a chance to press his case, though, Blip decided it was his turn to crack a joke. 

“Well, I’m not wearing it,” he drawled, wicked grin lighting up his face.

Mike allowed himself to react to that, leaping on the chance to fight back the wild tangent—Ginny and gold and miles and miles of smooth skin—his imagination so eagerly provided. This was not the time for that, no matter what his mind (and something a bit further south than his brain) might tell him. 

He snorted. Ginny did, too, though she tried to play it off as a cough. 

Oscar finally grimaced, looking vaguely pained. 

Well, if fucking with the front office was on the table, Mike could definitely get behind that. He shook his head (and with it the idea of Ginny in any kind of swimwear) before rubbing a contemplative hand against his chin and offering, “I’ll see about getting mine back from the dry cleaner.”

Ginny’s lips flickered in a quick smile, there and gone in a flash. Blip, though, didn’t bother reining in his amusement. He guffawed from her other side, reaching around the pitcher to offer Mike a fist bump. 

Oscar just heaved a sigh, entirely too put upon. 

“Are you done?” Their GM looked nowhere close to entertained. Not that it bothered the three ballplayers. 

Still, they all traded glances and, after a silent conference, nodded their agreement. 

Rather than risk them changing their minds, Oscar plowed forward. “The Publicity Office hasn’t settled on the final details, but I can assure you there will be no swim suits involved. Can we count you three in?”

Mike shot a glance first to Blip. The center fielder shrugged. It was no skin off his back to dance to the front office’s tune this time, as long as he also got his pot shots in. They were in agreement there, so both men turned to focus on the woman sitting between them.

Ginny gnawed on her lip uncertainly as she weighed her options. No one, aside from maybe Amelia, would blame her for sitting this one out. But even Amelia could probably agree that having her client’s face plastered across every Padres ad spot, every bit of promotional material, since she’d been called up last season was exposure enough. Nonetheless, it only took a moment for Ginny’s eyes to slide to Blip and then Mike, checking to see they were all in agreement. 

Mike did his best to show her, when she turned those luminous brown eyes on him, that he’d follow her call, no matter what. Thankfully, whatever she saw, it was enough to get Ginny to give him a shallow but decisive nod. 

That settled, her thoughtful frown faded and was replaced by her deep dimples, flanking the grin spreading across her face. Mike only got a quick glimpse of it before she turned back to the desk and the anxious GM sitting behind it.

“I’m in,” she declared, to Oscar’s clear relief. 

Mike personally thought that was a little premature given the mischievous spark kindling in Ginny’s eyes. Blip was clearly in agreement, settling back into his chair and folding his arms over his chest, delighted anticipation lighting up his face. 

And Ginny Baker did her best not to disappoint. 

Still grinning, and flanked by her two teammates, she laid her lone stipulation on a long-suffering Oscar: 

“But only if I get to hold the lightsaber.”

Mike wouldn’t say that his love of Star Wars is anything even approaching a secret. Sure, it wasn’t the coolest thing about him—hello, he was a major league ballplayer—but it wasn’t like he’s lied about liking it during his time in the majors.

Exhibit 1: Every season the graphics team made him re-answer the same Fun Fact! questionnaire for the Jumbotron and every season his favorite movie was Empire Strikes Back. It was probably on his Wikipedia page by now—it’d be one of the few true things on there. 

Exhibit 2: He’d actually bought the theme song and set it as his ringtone. Back when people actually had ringtones, at least. 

Exhibit 3: He’d named his dog Jedi for god’s sake, and proceeded to talk about that poor, dumb dog a lot, oftentimes to reporters who were far more interested in his OPS and the tweaks he was making to his batting stance. It was a matter of public record.

Nonetheless, Mike also wouldn’t say it was something that a lot of people actively knew about him. And that suited him just fine. After all, he had a reputation in his clubhouse to preserve. He couldn’t very well maintain order and lay down the law if his entire team thought he was no better than the geeks so many of them had spent their high school careers pantsing and shoving in lockers. 

But this might be the year when that hard-earned reputation as a hard ass went up in smoke. 

Because this year, Mike Lawson was going to Comic Con.

Okay, he was going to stand outside the San Diego Convention Center wearing a silly costume to film the ad spot for Petco Park’s annual Star Wars Night, but who cared? 

He was going to fucking Comic Con. 

He wasn’t sure who in the front office this bright idea belonged to, but he was seriously considering sending them a gift basket of some kind. At the very least, a thank you card.

In all the years Mike had played San Diego baseball, he’d never actually had a chance to attend. When he first started playing, it wasn’t nearly the three ring circus that it would one day become. Before his very eyes, he’d gotten to witness it evolve from a niche convention to the star-studded event of the summer. 

Well. Sort of. 

Mostly, he’d gotten to marvel over the proceedings and pandemonium from across the street for a few minutes each year before getting back to business. 

What sacrifices he made to live the dream, right? 

So now that Mike was finally getting a shot at coming within spitting distance of the convention hall, he wasn’t going to stop there. Despite having no passes to speak of, he was determined to get inside and see Hall H for himself. He did, after all, have a secret weapon on his side. 

Well, she would be once he’d convinced her.

“C’mon, Baker,” he urged, leaning against her door and flashing what he hoped was a winning grin. He was going to charm her into this, damn it. Not wheedle and whine. Still, his next words weren’t quite the pinnacle of persuasive power he’d hoped for. “It’ll be fun.” 

“I doubt that,” Ginny huffed, swiveling side to side in her rolling chair. She eyed him suspiciously. “This is the third time you’ve brought it up, though, so you really must think so.”

He shrugged, trying to play it off. 

The funny little smile on her face told him he wasn’t particularly successful. Rather than tease him, she drew a knee up to her chest and began unlacing her cleat. “Okay, say I were to concede that it could be fun,”—Mike perked up at this softening of her earlier blunt refusal, though of course that wasn’t the end of it—“I don’t see how I’m supposed to get us in. Don’t you need tickets or something?”

“Well, yeah, but you’re Ginny Baker.”

She started working on the other shoe, though how she managed when her eyes were rolling hard enough to fall out of her face was a mystery. She’d accused him last summer of doing it too much, but the way Mike saw it, Ginny was just the pot (Or was it the kettle? Something like that.) in this situation. 

“Yeah, ‘cause there’s a lot of overlap between the geeks at Comic Con and the clinically Ginn-sane.”

“You’ve got crossover appeal,” he tried, though it sounded weak to his ears for all the truth of it. God, he was off his game. “And who says geeks can’t have layers?”

“You talkin’ from experience there, Lawson?”

If Ginny’d just been teasing him the way she’d done all season—like relentless humor would erase any number of charged moments they couldn’t seem to keep from stumbling into—Mike could’ve replied the way he had all season, with a gruff reminder of who was captain here. 

(Which, honestly, was far more effective in reminding Mike why those moments should be avoided like the plague. He was her captain for Chrissake. Of course there couldn’t be any more than fleeting, godawful tempting, moments between them. No matter how appealing she looked, grinning up at him after landing a solid dig, or how much he wanted to know how long it would take for him to kiss that grin away.)

He would’ve done just that, except his mental facilities were otherwise occupied. 

Because Ginny had chosen that moment to stand up and start unbuttoning her jersey, casual as anything. Like it didn’t matter that he was standing right there as she shrugged it off and was left in just the clingy spandex of her undershirt. 

It probably didn’t matter. Mike had seen her dressed exactly like this at least a hundred times before. He’d almost gotten used to the fact that he could usually make out the outline of her sports bra—and sometimes, when the A/C was cranked all the way up, even more than that. 

Except, Mike had never been confronted with the direct prospect of Ginny Baker getting undressed before. 

(Not even at that goddamn photo shoot last season when he’d caught sight of her in that robe, fiddling with the tie before she looked up and saw him. 

And Mike’s had dreams about that day. Dreams where Ginny didn’t march over and twitch the curtains closed and where no one else was within even shouting distance of the studio. Which was a good thing because those dreams were not always quiet.)

Like she had no idea what was going through his mind—or, worse, did—Ginny’s hands fell to her belt buckle just as she looked up at him, an eyebrow arched in question. 

Mike’s brain shorted out. 

He muttered something, though God only knew what, and got the hell out of there. 

It was the only option. After all, there was no way he could focus on getting Ginny on his side of this Comic Con thing if half his brain—and some certain other body parts, if he was being honest—was more concerned with getting her somewhere else entirely.

In the end, Mike never broached the subject with Ginny again. It was probably better for all involved if he didn’t try and nudge her into doing something she was skeptical about. 

(Mike tried to tell himself he only meant Comic Con. 

He was at least partially successful.)

Instead, he tried to focus on the positives. He’d get to hang out near Comic Con for a few hours, and on Star Wars Day no less, which was better than he’d managed so far in his life. He’d get to see all the people in their costumes and chat with some fans and maybe even see about sweet talking his way inside for just a peek around.

It would be fun.

Thank God it actually was. 

He, Blip, and Ginny had a blast filming their bits for the promo. Mike couldn’t remember laughing so hard or so helplessly in a long time. Ginny got to hold the only lightsaber, as promised, and was like a kid in a candy store with it. The shoot director had her swing it like a baseball bat while Blip and Mike pitched plushy little Stormtrooper heads at her. More of them ended up hitting her than not, but she didn’t seem to mind much. Blip and Ginny got into a wookiee roar-off, though neither of them, in Mike’s unwanted opinion, were all that good at it. No one had to wear the gold bikini, though plenty of con attendees had made their own. Mike gamely put on the Leia wig and frowned forbiddingly at the camera for a few moments even though he just knew it’d end up in the final cut. 

It was worth it for the way Ginny’s cheeks pinked up as she howled with laughter, leaning heavily against Blip to keep her balance. 

All told, the whole process only took a few hours, most of which were spent goofing off and looking like incredible dorks. 

He’d certainly had worse days.

Still, Mike couldn’t help but look wistfully up at the massive edifice of the Convention Center when the ad director called a wrap. He shook it off quickly enough, shaking hands with the various crew and clapping Ginny and Blip on the back before heading towards the Park to pick up his car and go home. 

Maybe yelling at Attack of the Clones would cheer him up. 

“Lawson, where are you going?”

He turned around and came face to face with a puzzled Ginny Baker. Her brows were drawn together in confusion, a light sheen of sweat glimmering there, dark curls blown wild by the sea breeze. She was still the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. In a Padres blue shirt with the words “San Diego” stretched across her chest in the Star Wars font—a shirt which happened to match his—and one of her endless pairs of leggings, Ginny didn’t look all that different from usual.

Which, Mike supposed, was exactly the point.

“Home, Baker,” he said, well used to repressing any and all thoughts about Ginny. They were all dangerous at this point. “To have a beer and take advantage of the off day.”

“Oh, I thought—” Her lips pursed uncertainly before she swung her backpack to one shoulder so she could rifle through it. After a moment, she drew out two lanyards, each hung with a plastic card sporting a familiar logo. Mike stared at them for a beat before refocusing on Ginny’s face. She grinned a little, but it was fading fast. “I thought you wanted to go—”

“I did. I do,” he corrected fast, almost tripping over the words. “Definitely. I just didn’t think—”

Ginny relaxed almost immediately, her forehead smoothing out. “Well, who am I to deny the Padres’ number one Star Wars fan?”

Mike couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “Where’d you hear that one?”

“Sonny,” she replied promptly, bright grin returning. “Then Butch, Blip, and Bessner. Tommy texted me about it. Even Al said he hoped you’d get a kick out of seeing all the Star Trek stuff.” 

He ignored his skipper’s flub; Al refused to watch anything that wasn’t on A&E or the History Channel. Instead, Mike picked up one of the lanyards still dangling from Ginny’s fingers, examining the pass for a moment before letting it fall back to join the other. 

Gruff, but just so he wouldn’t tip his hand, he said, “Just because our teammates have big mouths doesn’t mean you had to do this.”

She shrugged, clearly a little uncomfortable. Mike raised a brow and she busied herself with righting her backpack, ducking her head so she wouldn’t have to look at him. Jesus, did he want to reach out and tip her chin up, give him a better view of those wide, brown eyes. Thankfully, for everyone involved, he kept his hands to himself and just waited her out. 

When she was done and it was clear Mike wasn’t going anywhere without an explanation, Ginny blew out a huff of slightly disgruntled air. 

“I know I didn’t. Just—” Here she paused, tongue poking out from the corner of her mouth as she weighed her words. Not that it seemed to do her much good since she let them all out in a rush, “I felt bad for calling you a geek.”

Mike rocked back a little on his heels. Was that what she thought happened? Well, he should probably be grateful she hadn’t assumed he couldn’t keep his perving under control, but, Christ. How fragile did she think he was?

“Baker, you told me to get my fat ass back behind the plate just last week. Geek’s where you think you crossed the line?”

Ginny at least seemed to see ridiculousness of the situation, a grin curling over her full lips. She flapped her hand at him anyway, saying, “It’s different on the field. Plus, you stopped asking about it when you’d really seemed so excited. It wasn’t that hard to get these.” Her fingers waggled at him and the plastic passes clacked together lightly.

Yeah, sure. Mike knew for a fact that Comic Con Badges sold out in the blink of an eye. 

Still, he couldn’t help but glance back to the Convention Center.

Sensing that she had him on the ropes, (And why was he resisting at all? A full day with Ginny, schooling her on all the wrong opinions she’d spouted during the commercial shoot, sounded like the fucking dream. Or one of them, anyway. Which, then again, was exactly why Mike should go straight home and forget all about this encounter.) Ginny pressed her case. 

“C’mon, Mike,” she cajoled, waving the lanyard in his face. “It’ll be fun.”

Hearing his own words echoed back at him, Mike folded like a house of cards. In one swift move, he liberated a pass from Ginny’s grip and had it hanging from his neck. “All right,” he agreed. “But I’m not gonna play body guard for you when everyone on the floor realizes exactly who’s in their midst.”

She laughed, shaking her head, but Mike didn’t care that she didn’t agree with him. Ginny Baker was smiling at him, a fond spark brightening her already twinkling eyes. As far as he was concerned, Ginny could call him a moron and a geek and an old man and whatever else she wanted just as long as she kept smiling at him like that.

But then it was gone as she turned on her heel and marched off towards the entrance. “I really think you’re overestimating how popular I am,” she tossed over her shoulder with a little smirk, leaving Mike to catch up. 

Well. What else was new?

In a way, they were both right. 

Ginny certainly got recognized and was stopped every so often for a selfie or an autograph. To be fair, Mike was, too, but Ginny bore the brunt of the attention. Given the relaxed set of her shoulders and the genuine grins she gave everyone who approached, Mike could tell this was hardly the worst she’d ever dealt with. 

Mostly, though, people’s eyes seemed to pass right over them. 

Ginny insisted that meant she was right: there wasn’t a big enough overlap between sports fans and con dwellers. Mike figured it had more to do with what they were wearing. Well, what they weren’t wearing. After all, it was easy to overlook two more people in street clothes when there were so many amazing, and frankly baffling, costumes on display. 

Even when one of those people was arguably the most famous woman in America. Certainly in San Diego every other weekend of the year. 

Mike, personally, couldn’t figure it out. He couldn’t conceive of any situation in which Ginny Baker simply faded into the crowd. No matter what, no matter the size of the room or the number of people, she’d always be the first and best thing he noticed.

Apparently, though, Mike’s feelings were not universal (and what a lucky son of a bitch he was for that small mercy). So, it was easy enough for them to slip through the crowd, largely unnoticed, and straight to the Star Wars booth. 

Booth was maybe—definitely—underselling what it really was. Even through the masses of people, it was impossible for Mike to miss, looming over the entire convention hall and making his poor, fanboy heart thunder in excitement. Once inside the huge pavilion, he couldn’t decide what needed to be inspected first. Well, he wasn’t about to waste time trying to figure it out, so he dove right in, only absently checking to make sure Ginny followed along. There was a model X-Wing taller than he was and just a little further on, that was a bank of costumes and props from the new movie. Dotted around the space was station upon station of merchandise, selling everything from replica lightsabers—far more realistic than the one Ginny’d swung around all afternoon—to licensed costumes to the tie in comic books and action figures. And plastered across every flat surface were giant Star Wars logos. Just in case anyone forgot exactly where they were. 

In short, it was a Star Wars fan’s Holy Grail. 

Mike could only marvel, and feel a little nostalgic, over what he’d been missing out on all these years. He would’ve killed to see something like this as a kid, though even if it’d been around, there was no way his mom could’ve taken him. 

Still, he got to see it now, and it really was amazing. Almost overwhelming, to be honest. But still ridiculously cool to finally experience. 

And it was all thanks to Ginny.

Now that the initial frenzy had faded enough that Mike could think clearly about something other than a galaxy far, far away, he sheepishly turned to make sure he hadn’t lost track of her. 

Well, he definitely had, but at least she’d kept an eye on him, making sure to stay in his orbit as he geeked out. He had vague recollections of letting his excitement spill over and gushing to her over every little detail that caught his interest. She’d always responded, suppressed amusement coating her words, not that Mike was really in the right frame of mind to appreciate how much she was indulging him.

He was now.

He chanced an embarrassed look at her, but she was already looking back, a fond smile on her face.

“Sorry,” he muttered, feeling the tips of his ears begin to burn, only about ten minutes too late. Jesus, this was not how to convince women he was worth their time and attention. Not that he was doing that with Ginny, but—

“For what?” she laughed, though it hardly stung. For all she was definitely laughing at him, it was too warm and sweet for him to mind. “I didn’t know there was room for anything other than batting stats and heat maps in that head of yours. It’s nice to know you’ve got range.”

He rolled his eyes, but still said, “For geeking out on you, I know you’re not—”

“I don’t know why you think I’m not into geeks, Lawson,” she interrupted, with some kind of significance in her tone. “If you haven’t noticed, they’re kind of my thing.” 

Thinking about it—which Mike really tried to avoid when it came to Ginny’s dating habits—he realized she wasn’t wrong. 

After her thing with video game guy fizzled in the off season, Ginny’d been out on more than a few well-publicized dates. Often with Bay Area tech guys. Mike had just figured she was getting as far away from ballplayer jock-types as she could. But maybe if a ballplayer jock-type also happened to—

“Your thing, huh?” was all he could bring himself to say.

Ginny rolled her eyes, and he couldn’t begin to figure out how she found it so annoying when he did it. On her, Mike couldn’t look away. “My type or whatever.”

“I see. So that means I should go give that guy your number?” He nodded to the beanpole of a kid who’d been staring not so subtly at Ginny’s ass for the last five minutes. If anyone fit the role of “geek,” it was that kid. 

(If Mike were interested in being fair, he’d acknowledge that the kid also happened to have excellent taste. Ginny’s ass in this—and every—pair of leggings was practically a work of art. 

Thank God Mike had no interest in being fair.)

Right on cue, she turned to look and the guy in question turned bright red and spun around to disappear into the crowd. 

Good.

“If you think your creaky knees can catch up with him, be my guest.”

That startled a laugh out of Mike. At this point, he wasn’t sure how she kept managing to surprise him, but Ginny Baker was never one to rest on her laurels. So, Mike laughed long and loud in the middle of the San Diego Convention Center, ignoring the confused looks being sent his way as he delighted in the woman standing before him. All that mattered was that Ginny was lit up with a proud, smug smirk, reveling in her latest accomplishment. And while that look would’ve rubbed Mike the wrong way on any other face, on her it was just another facet he was grateful to uncover. 

“God, I love you,” he sighed, his stomach aching from all the laughter. 

It was only when Ginny went still, eyes wide and lips parted in shock that Mike went back and catalogued his words. 

Shit. Oh, shit. 

His mouth worked without anything to show for it. He tried to form the words to reassure her that it wasn’t what she thought, that he didn’t mean it, that she should forget it— 

But he just couldn’t. 

Not when saying so would be a filthy fucking lie. 

Instead, Mike stared helplessly at Ginny, speechless for once in his life. His heart thudded against the his ribs, threatening to burst with each second of silence. It wasn’t helped by the sheer variety of emotions that flickered across Ginny’s face, surprise and worry and hope and far more, there and gone too quick for him to name.

Finally, though, after what felt like an eternity of silence, she took a tiny step towards him, her chest practically pressed against his. Her face tipped up towards his and her full lips stretched into a bright, blinding, brilliant grin.

They were surrounded by hundreds of thousands of people, but it didn’t even matter. Mike couldn’t look away from the one thing he’d walked in knowing like the back of his hand. 

And why should he? He’d never seen someone so beautiful. 

“I know,” Ginny said, simple and easy and just as devastating as it’d been the first time Mike heard Han Solo say it.

She didn’t pull it off with quite the same self-assurance as a young Harrison Ford, but what did Mike care about that? Ginny Baker, in any circumstance, was way better than Harrison Ford.

He couldn’t help but grin back, so close to ducking down to see how well their smiles lined up.

Like she could read his mind, Ginny tucked her chin down and Mike broke out of the daze exhilaration and her eyes had put him under. Immediately, he cleared his throat, trying to nudge his heart back into its rightful place in his chest. As he did, he was suddenly and unpleasantly all too aware of the swirl of people eddying around them. He glanced around, worried that they’d caught the attention of someone with a smart phone. 

Only when he felt warm, dry fingers twine through his did Mike abandon his search and turn back to Ginny. Looking up shyly through her lashes, she offered, “We’ll pick this up later, okay?”

She squeezed his hand and a flood of relief rushed through him. It was the easiest thing in the world to reply, “Whenever you’re ready, Ginny.”

Her smile this time was less blinding, but just as precious. Mike reveled in the way her eyes roamed over his face. His thumb stroked over the delicate skin of her wrist and Ginny’s dimples deepened in reply.

Mike would’ve been more than happy to live in that moment for the foreseeable future.

Eventually, though, the bubble had to burst. They couldn’t just go on ignoring the thousands of people milling around them, after all. 

So, Ginny gave him a decisive nod and something shifted in her body language. Her smile remained, but it wasn’t the private thing that’d been there a moment ago. It turned playful. Mischievous. 

Mike knew that look too well to expect anything good from it. 

“C’mon, Lawson. I see a guy in a Chewbacca costume and I wanna see if there’s more hair in it or your beard.”

“Ha fucking ha, Baker,” he groaned, even as he followed her willingly through the crowd.

Maybe, though, that was more to do with the fact that her hand remained firmly in his.

That, Mike thought even as he curled his fingers more securely around hers, was a pretty good consolation. He would take that. 

Well. 

He’d take it for now, at least.

[alltimebestbooks]

All Time Best Books

1. Attitude Is Everything: Change Your Attitude ... Change Your Life!

Do you dread going to work? Do you feel tired, unhappy, weighed down? Have you given up on your dreams? The road to a happier, more successful life starts with your attitude-and your attitude is within your control. Whether your outlook is negative, positive or somewhere in between, Jeff Keller, motivational speaker and coach, will show you how to take control and unleash your hidden potential through three powerful steps: -THINK! Success begins in the mind. The power of attitude can change your destiny. -SPEAK! Watch your words. How you speak can propel you towards your goals. -ACT! Don't sit back. Take active steps to turn your dreams into reality. Soon, you will be energized and see new possibilities. You will be able to counter adversities and develop talents unique to you. Your relationships will improve, both at work and in your personal life. All you need is this step-by-step programme to change your attitude and your life!

2. Life Is What You Make It

Life Is What You Make It is based on a love story that has been set in India in the 90s. It has been described by the readers as a book portraying how love, hope and determination can together win over even the destiny. It is a gripping tale of few significant years of the protagonist’s life.

The novel revolves around a woman in her 20s, Ankita, who has a past haunting her like a nightmare. As she grows up from adolescence to a woman in her mid-20s, she wades through different situations, engages in affairs with a couple of guys and is set-back by her parents’ refusal to accept her situation. As a result of non-stop upheavals in her life, Ankita develops bipolar disorder at one point in time.

The story revolves around Ankita’s struggles, determination, her decisions and her faith in self. The book beautifully describes how she gets acquainted with her bipolar disorder, how she decides to help her own self and how she battles these situations all by herself. The title of the book in a way describes the central theme of the book but the manner in which Preeti drove home the point through an interesting story, is delightful.

3. Wings of Fire: An Autobiography of Abdul Kalam

The book recollects many anecdotes and stories from childhood, his time at school and college. The time spent at the Langley Research Center, NASA and Wallops Flight Facility gets a lot of attention.

Personal tragedies have not been left out. The time when he lost his father and how he felt when conferred with many awards like the Padma Bhushan have been written in much detail.

The second half of the book deals with Dr Kalam, the scientist who made a significant contribution in developing the countries guided missile program, a pioneering effort for the security of the nation. It's not with reason that he was nicknamed as the 'Missile Man of India'. The book also contains 24 photographs at various stages of his life.

Authored by Dr APJ Abdul Kalam and Mr. Arun Tiwari, the 180 page book 'The Wings of Fire' was first published in the year 2000. Mr Tiwari is a well-known missile scientist who has worked with Dr. Kalam. Having become a bestseller, the book has even been translated into thirteen languages, which includes Chinese and French.

4. The Girl In Room 105 - Ek Unlove Story

Hi, I’m Keshav, and my life is screwed. I hate my job and my girlfriend left me. Ah, the beautiful Zara. Zara is from Kashmir. She is a Muslim. And did I tell you my family is a bit, well, traditional? Anyway, leave that.

Zara and I broke up four years ago. She moved on in life. I didn’t. I drank every night to forget her. I called, messaged, and stalked her on social media. She just ignored me.

However, that night, on the eve of her birthday, Zara messaged me. She called me over, like old times, to her hostel room 105. I shouldn’t have gone, but I did… and my life changed forever.

This is not a love story. It is an unlove story.

From the author of Five Point Someone and 2 States, comes a fast-paced, funny and unputdownable thriller about obsessive love and finding purpose in life against the backdrop of contemporary India.

5. Rich Dad Poor Dad : What The Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not! Mass Market Paperback –by Robert T. Kiyosaki

It has since become the #1 Personal Finance book of all time... translated into dozens of languages and sold around the world.

Rich Dad Poor Dad is Robert's story of growing up with two dads — his real father and the father of his best friend, his rich dad — and the ways in which both men shaped his thoughts about money and investing. The book explodes the myth that you need to earn a high income to be rich and explains the difference between working for money and having your money work for you.

6. Man's Search For Meaning: The classic tribute to hope from the Holocaust by Viktor E Frankl

Man's Search for Meaning was first published in 1946. Victor Frankl was a leading psychologist in Vienna when he was arrested for being a Jew during the Nazi regime. He survived holocaust and used his experiences to write this book. He propounded the theory that it is Man's constant search for meaning that allows him to survive even the most brutal, the most degrading situations in his life.

He said there are only two races in the world, the decent and indecent. They will maintain their innate beliefs, no matter which side they are on. The decent ones will try to help the fellow human beings and the indecent ones will be selfish and serve themselves at the cost to the others.

7. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Paulo Coelho's enchanting novel has inspired a devoted following around the world. This story, dazzling in its powerful simplicity and inspiring wisdom, is about an Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago who travels from his homeland in Spain to the Egyptian desert in search of a treasure buried in the Pyramids. Along the way he meets a Gypsy woman, a man who calls himself

8. Who Will Cry When You Die? by Robin Sharma

Do You Feel that life is slipping by so fast that you might never get the chance to live with the meaning, happiness and joy you know you deserve? If so, then this book will be the guiding light that leads you to a brilliant new way of living.

In this easy-to-read yet wisdom-rich manual, the author offers 101 simple solutions to life’s most complex problems, ranging from a little-known method for beating stress and worry to a powerful way to enjoy the journey while you create a legacy that lasts.

“When You Were Born, You Cried While The World Rejoiced. Live Your Life In Such A Way That When You Die, The World Cries While You Rejoice.” Ancient Sanskrit Saying

9. The Intelligent Investor

It is a widely acclaimed book by Benjamin Graham on value investing. Written by one of the greatest investment advisers of twentieth century, the book aims at preventing potential investors from substantial errors and also teaches them strategies to achieve long-term investment goals.

Over the years, investment market has been following teachings and strategies of Graham for growth and development. In the book, Graham has explained various principles and strategies for investing safely and successfully without taking bigger risks. Modern-day investors still continue to use his proven and well-executed techniques for value investment.

The current edition highlights some of the important concepts that are useful for latest financial orders and plans. Keeping Graham's unique text in original form, the book focuses on major principles that can be applied in day-to-day life. All the concepts and principles are explained with the help of examples for better clarity and understanding of the financial world.

Combination of original plan of Graham and the current financial situations are the reason behind this book’s preference today’s investors. It is a detailed version with several wisdom quotes that are likely to change one’s investing career and lead to the path of financial safety and security.

10. Elon Musk: How the Billionaire CEO of SpaceX and Tesla is Shaping our Future

The book captures the life and achievements of South African interpreter and innovator, Elon Musk, the brain behind series of successful enterprises such as PayPal, Tesla, SpaceX and Solarcity. The real-life inspiration of the Iron Man Series, Musk wants to be the saviour of the planet, send people into space and set up a colony on Mars.

Bullied in school and scolded tremendously by his father, Musk was actually a brilliant student and his life story is nothing less than a drama packed film. Ashlee Vance’s brilliant description of Musk's character, simple language and neat choice of words indeed makes this book a great read.

Considered by some as the innovation, entrepreneurial Steve Jobs of the present and future, Elon Musk became a billionaire early in life with his successful online ventures. One of the successful companies that he co-founded was the online payment gateway PayPal that was later acquired by e-Bay in 2002.

Getting sacked as the CEO, Musk did not cease to amaze friend and foes alike with his out of the box ideas, like investing in rockets! Needless to say, this deconstructed obsession with technology had his marital life go haywire.

The book 'Elon Musk: How the Billionaire CEO of SpaceX and TESLA is Shaping Our Future’ is a brilliant and intelligent account of this genius young 'iron man’ told in a gripping manner. Available in paperback from Penguin Random House publication, the book was published in 2015.

11. The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do, and How to Change

We can always change. In The Power of Habit, award-winning New York Times business reporter Charles Duhigg translates cutting-edge behavioural science into practical self-improvement action, distilling advanced neuroscience into fascinating narratives of transformation.

Why can some people and companies change overnight, and some stay stuck in their old ruts? The answer lies deep in the human brain, and The Power of Habits reveals the secret pressure points that can change a life. From Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps to Martin Luther King Jr., from the CEO of Starbucks to the locker rooms of the NFL, Duhigg explores the incredible results of keystone habits, and how they can make all the difference between billions and millions, failure and success – or even life and death.

The Power of Habit makes an exhilarating case: the key to almost any door in life is instilling the right habit. From exercise to weight loss, childrearing to productivity, market disruption to social revolution, and above all success, the right habits can change everything.

Habits aren't destiny. They’re science, one which can transform our businesses, our communities, and our lives.

12. How to Talk to Anyone: 92 Little Tricks for Big Success in Relationships

Perfect your people skills with his fun, witty and informative guide, containing 92 little tricks to create big success in personal and business relationships. In How to Talk to Anyone, bestselling relationships author and internationally renowned life coach Leil Lowndes reveals the secrets and psychology behind successful communication. These extremely usable and intelligent techniques include how to:

Work a party like a politician works a room

Be an insider in any crowd

Use key words and phrases to guide the conversation

Use body language to connect

This is the key to having successful conversations with anyone, any time.

13. The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari by Robin Sharma

In the book, the reader goes through a spiritual journey and into a very old culture that has gathered much wisdom over the millennia. The book advocates about how to live happily, think deep and rightly, value time and relationships, be more disciplined, follow the heart’s call and live every moment of the life.

Written in simple words, the book has turned out to be a bestseller and is more than just an endearing story. Through storytelling, Robin Sharma showcases the miracles and wonders of living a fulfilling life. In the process, the book introduces readers to enlightening yet simple principles that vouch to make life better, happier and more meaningful.

A bestselling novel, what readers all over the globe appreciate about this book is its deft amalgam of the philosophies from both western and eastern worlds. The book has been followed by important personalities around the world.

14. Becoming: Now a Major Netflix Documentary by Michelle obama

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • WATCH THE NETFLIX ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY • OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK • NAACP IMAGE AWARD WINNER

In a life filled with meaning and accomplishment, Michelle Obama has emerged as one of the most iconic and compelling women of our era. As First Lady of the United States of America—the first African American to serve in that role—she helped create the most welcoming and inclusive White House in history, while also establishing herself as a powerful advocate for women and girls in the U.S. and around the world, dramatically changing the ways that families pursue healthier and more active lives, and standing with her husband as he led America through some of its most harrowing moments. Along the way, she showed us a few dance moves, crushed Carpool Karaoke, and raised two down-to-earth daughters under an unforgiving media glare.

15. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change

“Every so often a book comes along that not only alters the lives of readers but leaves an imprint on the culture itself. The 7 Habits is one of those books.” —Daniel Pink, New York Times bestselling author of When and Drive

One of the most inspiring and impactful books ever written, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People has captivated readers for 25 years. It has transformed the lives of presidents and CEOs, educators and parents—in short, millions of people of all ages and occupations across the world. This twenty-fifth anniversary edition of Stephen Covey’s cherished classic commemorates his timeless wisdom, and encourages us to live a life of great and enduring purpose.

16. Warren Buffett: The Life Lessons & Rule For Success

He’s been consistently voted one of the wealthiest people in the world. Time Magazine also voted him as one of the most influential people in the world; widely considered to be the most successful investor of the entire 20th century.

In short, Warren Buffett is a boss.

The man knows a thing or two about success. With a net worth of $77.1 billion, the billionaire investor's fabled business acumen has inspired everything from investment books to college courses. He is known to favor long-term investment strategies, like dollar cost averaging, which encourages the regular purchase of the same investment over time. He also has long-standing holdings in the Coca-Cola Company, Apple, and American Express among others. His now infamous letters to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders help shed light into how the man they call the “Oracle of Omaha,” reads the tealeaves.

This book takes a look at Buffett’s life. From humble beginnings in Omaha, up to present day where the 86 year old is still going strong. We take a look at his first taste of business at the ripe old age of 6, following on with his major successes and failures along the way. The aim of this book is to be educational and inspirational with actionable principles you can incorporate into your own life straight from the great man himself.

17. The Power of Positive Thinking

An international bestseller with over five million copies in print, The Power of Positive Thinking has helped men and women around the world to achieve fulfillment in their lives through Dr. Norman Vincent Peale’s powerful message of faith and inspiration.

In this phenomenal bestseller, “written with the sole objective of helping the reader achieve a happy, satisfying, and worthwhile life,” Dr. Peale demonstrates the power of faith in action. With the practical techniques outlined in this book, you can energize your life—and give yourself the initiative needed to carry out your ambitions and hopes

18. How to Stop Worrying and Start Living

Stress is a lot like love - hard to define, but you know it when you feel it. In this classic work, 'How to Stop Worrying and Start Living', Carnegie offers a set of practical formulas that you can put to work today. It is a book packed with lessons that will last a lifetime and make that lifetime happier! This book will explore the nature of stress and how it infiltrates every level of your life, including the physical, emotional, cognitive, relational and even spiritual. Through techniques that get to the heart of your unique stress response, and an exploration of how stress can affect your relationships, you'll discover how to control stress instead of letting it control you. This book shows you how. Using the power of habit and several techniques for smoothing out the stressful wrinkles in our day-to-day lives, we'll move towards a real-world solution to living with less stress, more confidence and a deep spiritual resilience that will insulate you from the inevitable pressures of life. The target of the book is to help readers understand what suits their respective lives best to help them reframe it in a constructive manner, subtracting worry from it and how they could focus on living each day with joy and contentment. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Dale Carnegie (1888-1955) was an American writer and lecturer and the developer of famous courses in self-improvement, salesmanship, corporate training, public speaking and interpersonal skills. He was born in an impoverished family in Maryville, Missouri. Carnegie harboured a strong love and passion for public speaking from a very early age and was very proactive in debate in high school. During the early 1930's, he was renowned and very famous for his books and a radio program. 'When How to Win Friends and Influence People' was published in 1930, it became an instant success and subsequently became one of the biggest bestsellers of all time. Carnegie loved teaching others to climb the pillars of success. His valuable and tested advice was used in many domains and has been the inspiration of many famous people's success. One of the core ideas in his books is that it is possible to change other people's behavior by changing one's reaction to them.

19. The Atomic Habit by James Clear

No matter your goals, Atomic Habits offers a proven framework for improving - every day. James Clear, one of the world's leading experts on habit formation, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results.

If you're having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn't you. The problem is your system. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don't want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change. You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems. Here, you'll get a proven system that can take you to new heights.

Clear is known for his ability to distill complex topics into simple behaviors that can be easily applied to daily life and work. Here, he draws on the most proven ideas from biology, psychology, and neuroscience to create an easy-to-understand guide for making good habits inevitable and bad habits impossible. Along the way, listeners will be inspired and entertained with true stories from Olympic gold medalists, award-winning artists, business leaders, life-saving physicians, and star comedians who have used the science of small habits to master their craft and vault to the top of their field

20. Sapiens - A Brief History Of Humankind

From a renowned historian comes a groundbreaking narrative of humanity's creation and evolution - a number one international best seller - that explores the ways in which biology and history have defined us and enhanced our understanding of what it means to be "human".

One hundred thousand years ago, at least six different species of humans inhabited Earth. Yet today there is only one - Homo sapiens. What happened to the others? And what may happen to us?

Most books about the history of humanity pursue either a historical or a biological approach, but Dr. Yuval Noah Harari breaks the mold with this highly original book that begins about 70,000 years ago, with the appearance of modern cognition. From examining the role evolving humans have played in the global ecosystem to charting the rise of empires, Sapiens integrates history and science to reconsider accepted narratives, connect past developments with contemporary concerns, and examine specific events within the context of larger ideas.

Dr. Harari also compels us to look ahead, because, over the last few decades, humans have begun to bend laws of natural selection that have governed life for the past four billion years. We are acquiring the ability to design not only the world around us but also ourselves. Where is this leading us, and what do we want to become?

This provocative and insightful work is sure to spark debate and is essential for aficionados of Jared Diamond, James Gleick, Matt Ridley, Robert Wright, and Sharon Moalem.

[wilbertl925310-blog]

I Miscalculated.

The reality which none of us want to admit is actually that all people create mistakes. While some entertainers may state that this took them a life-time to achieve their interest of being actually a professional in this industry, a regular Joe may really locate this easier learning to play piano because of the tools provided today and along with the current technology. Instead of squandering your time thinking about who produced the mistake or even that is very most accountable, check out the situation overall and observe exactly how you can easily alter it for the better. When I miscalculate, I examine the mental as well as psychological condition that led up to the decision Sometimes, I discover that I decidinged away from fear. The math educator dealt with the student after college to identify where she was actually slipping up while aiming to resolve the equation. Yet, if you profit from your blunders and do not redo all of them, you are going to inevitably trust your own self again, as well as have the ability to give real dedication to the upcoming person. Your business from the Conservatives is to prevent the errors coming from being fixed. Okay, alright, that was actually uncalled for, but very seriously, the additional oversights you create, the extra you know. The most ideal innovators out there are the ones that created the most errors but picked up from all of them. You are able to always keep moving, certainly not allowing the oversights to shackle you to your past times, neither allowing worry to keep you off attempting. BLUNDER 6: Weak external hyperlink tactic- This is an additional mistake which frequently develops during the course of website growth. Nanny McPhee is a superb film along with a wonderful information for all kids to understand and also recognize. The greatest means to stay away from feeling like you created the incorrect choice or even overlooked a fantastic possibility is making sure you are entering the procedure along with a strict grasp what this implies to come to be a resident. One of the absolute most usual auto garage errors cars and truck owners create is cannot provide adequate info about the trouble. Currently you understand just what they were performing to your internet site if you have been actually dedicating any of the above discussed oversights and were clueless regarding their influence. Many of the picked ones made big oversights somewhere in the video game, were actually stabbed in the spine by an additional player, or even only simply played the game inappropriate. If you adored this article and you also would like to receive more info about yellow pages residential search uk - please click for source, nicely visit our own internet site. While today dangers have been actually considerably decreased and also fulfillment is high amongst patients, there have actually been actually numerous mistakes en route consisting of risky materials, questionable medical techniques, and poor judgment. . Then there are the exclusive errors that some folks bring all around for a lifetime; their filthy little tricks. Yet our team did not obtain what our company wanted, as well as serious oversights were created in attempting to accomplish this. Our team will definitely receive to the bottom of this, and also I will definitely have whatever action is called for A business owner are going to actually must work harder because of the lack from a company identification. By staying away from these usual oversights you are going to swiftly begin ending up being a strong communicator and folks will certainly begin appreciating and also appreciating you even more. Some could be challenged by either determining one's personal, or others, for mistakes, or even by not being able to take ownership of one's own oversights. Possibly it will certainly be a blunder that no one notices, perhaps it is going to be actually a blunder that only one or two individuals notification or possibly it are going to be one thing larger, like the blunder that J. C. Dime, ChapStick or even I made, that possesses the prospective to genuinely temper all your current clients and also prospects. I may also deliver some guidance coming from my own blunders in lifestyle to assist all of them off making the very same mistake once again. Making blunders is the benefit from the active-- of those which could repair their mistakes and also placed all of them straight. Lots of people image identification burglary as one thing that takes place when an individual search your garbage can trying to find credit card statements or what have you. Making use of words including visit this site" or discover more" in internal links is a large blunder due to the fact that the online search engine fail to know what the web page being actually linked is about. I have actually developed to feel that our team are actually all perfect just the technique our team are actually and that features our oversights. Sometimes oversights take place since our team simply don't possess all the relevant information, all the sources or tools necessary for an effective outcome. Some people try to stay away from errors through certainly not operating and also through not coping with folks, which is truly a significant error. They spend a bunch of time looking into their shoulders, afraid to have odds and also think additional responsibility for worry they will certainly make mistakes. One necessary credentials, nonetheless, is that this mistake from reality need to be truthful as well as realistic. Praise on your own wherefore you have learned from these mistakes and take ins. Thus allow me provide you a rundown of the 10 most typical oversights I observe fellas producing when they to begin with approach a woman - and also this really isn't only students - this puts on normal people I note when I head out. If your error has induced a person to drop rely on you, approach the individual and also deliver an honest apology. The Hynix courthouse details the variation between an error from rule ... where the realities are actually known but the legal consequences are certainly not, or are felt to become different compared to they really are ...," Century Importers, Inc These errors could extremely well impede your ability to earn a brand-new as well as strengthened you." to prevent your own self from developing these typical gown for satisfaction blunders, you'll want to proceed continuing reading. Just like noises that lead a motorist to believe that fixings remain in demand, there will definitely be questionable sounds helped make along with the put up from the wrong version year components. Okay, okay, that was uncalled for, yet truly, the even more oversights you create, the even more you learn. The most ideal leaders out there are actually the ones that made the absolute most oversights yet profited from all of them. You have the capacity to keep removaling, not making it possible for the errors to shackle you to your past times, nor enabling concern to keep you off attempting. BLUNDER 6: Weaker outside link tactic- This is another mistake which often takes place in the course of site progression. Nanny McPhee is actually a superb movie along with a terrific notification for all little ones to recognize and recognize. . V. United States, 66 C.C.P.A. 113, 118, C.A.D. 1231, 603 F. 2d 850, 853 (1979) (An oversight from fact is any oversight apart from an oversight from law." Id. at 855) Hynix, 414 F. Supp. Any type of military leader which is actually truthful along with herself, or even along with those he is actually talking to, are going to confess that he has made mistakes in the request of military electrical power. You as an individual being actually can't avoid making blunders provided that you handle and function with folks. Most of the opted for ones made major mistakes someplace in the activity, were plunged in the spine by an additional gamer, or merely merely played the game incorrect. While today threats have been significantly minimized and total satisfaction is actually higher one of individuals, there have actually been many mistakes along the way featuring harmful materials, suspicious operative techniques, as well as poor opinion. This simply commemorated its own eleventh wedding anniversary as well as made that via the latest slump along with very few missteps. When searching at unilateral oversight, one have to first identify between mechanical calculations and also service error. See - or even click on the adhering to link to obtain house owners insurance estimates from premier providers and find what does it cost? you can spare. Although we have all heard the horror tales from people acquiring made the most of through auto mechanics that have made suggestions for repairs or solutions that were actually certainly not needed, you don't intend to risk the possibility that your technician is actually being honest with you, just because you are actually being or even affordable.

[claystripemovieblog]

Box Office Report Card (10/2/17)

After a busy box office last week, this weekend dialed back in total numbers while remaining hyper-competitive, with the top three films all grossing within a million dollars of each other. It continues to show incredible endurance, Kingsman: The Golden Circle appears to be under-performing, American Made saw a respectable but hardly stunning American opening, and Flatliners *insert tired pun here*. For more in-depth analysis, predictions for next week, and a ranking of each studio’s general success, keep reading below! 

Studio Profit Ranking

1. Universal: +$2,816,012,081

1. Despicable Me 3: +863,043,645, 1,023,043,645-160,000,000 2. Fate of the Furious: +738,764,765, 1,238,764,765-500,000,000 3. Fifty Shades Darker: +268,827,494, 378,827,494-110,000,000

...

-3. The Book of Henry: -10,711,896, 4,288,104-15,000,000 -2. Zookeeper's Wife: -11,412,769, 18,587,231-30,000,000 -1. American Made: -18,388,327, 81,611,673-100,000,000

The folks at Universal distributed this week’s largest-grossing release, Tom Cruise and Doug Liman’s historical crime thriller American Made, which debuted at #3. Ironically (and perhaps appropriately given the film’s subject matter), the patriotically-titled picture reached the USA relatively late, having been progressively rolled out in most other international territories since mid-August. With two more major territories in Russia and Japan to go, it seems likely that Cruise and Liman will continue in the tradition of Edge of Tomorrow (+14M, 370M-356M); that is, they made another original, audience-pleasing, well-made movie with a budget perhaps higher than its high-concept entails that seems likely to just make its money back in the international market.

Universal was otherwise fairly quiet this week, though the expansion of Victoria and Abdul (+5M, 20M-15M) by Comcast’s Focus Features appears to have been a successful move.

2. Disney: +$1,779,697,436

1. Beauty and the Beast: +943,411,472, 1,263,411,472-320,000,000 2. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2: +463,554,682, 863,554,682-400,000,000 3. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales: +334,611,287, 794,611,287-460,000,000 4. Born in China: +19,918,96224,918,962-5,000,000 5. Cars 3: +18,201,033, 368,201,033-350,000,000

Disney remains quiet, with only small gains this week from a few international markets. 

3. Warner Bros: +$1,550,858,319

1. Wonder Woman: +522,765,643, 820,765,643-298,000,000 2. It: +485,575,232, 555,575,232-70,000,000 3. Annabelle: Creation: +267,278,510, 297,278,510-30,000,000

...

-3. The House: -45,815,496, 34,184,504-80,000,000 -2. The LEGO Ninjago Movie: -81,899,698, 58,100,302-140,000,000 -1. King Arthur: Legend of the Sword: -201,324,934, 148,675,066-350,000,000

The big story of WB continues to be the incredible performance of It, which passed a number of milestones this week. The Stephen King adaptation passed the half billion dollar mark internationally and became America’s highest grossing horror flick (unadjusted for inflation). The film’s per-theater average was also higher than the number one release, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, meaning It would have outgrossed it easily before it started to get pulled. Just months ago, very few predicted how wildly successful this mid-budget horror film would be. Here’s hoping we get many, many more.

It was not the only tale to tell of Warner this week, however. Unfortunately for them, The LEGO Ninjago Movie continues to underperform. Its take did not fall as drastically as some hastily predicted last week (children’s films do tend to have greater endurance than others), but that still leaves it far behind the gross of its predecessors. If Lego Movie 2 fails to measure up to its predecessor, that might spell the end for a once-promising franchise. Perhaps the year and a half between now and its scheduled release date in February 2019 will be enough to lower the saturation I believe hurt Ninjago so badly. We’ll have to see.

4. Sony: +$

1. Spider-Man: Homecoming: +525,110,742, 875,110,742-350,000,000 2. Resident Evil: The Final Chapter: +232,242,626, 312,242,626-80,000,000 3. Baby Driver: +156,732,835, 224,732,835-68,000,000

...

-3. Mark Felt: The Man Who Took Down the White House: -9,965,783, 34,217-10,000,000 -2. Life: -15,458,194, 100,541,806-116,000,000 -1. Flatliners: -28,325,674, 9,674,326-38,000,000

No skirting around this one: Sony released a dud this week. Flatliners, a remake of a Joel Schumacher psychological thriller from 1990 (+9M, 61M-52M) that is probably most notable for having a pretty great cast of young actors who all grew up to do better things and... pretty much nothing else. Poor critical reviews coupled with this lack of audience interest basically made this the anti-It.

Sony Classics also gave a very limited release to Mark Felt: The Man Who Took Down the White House, a (perhaps very topical) biopic of the Watergate leaker “Deep Throat” starring Liam Neeson and Diane Lane. No idea if this will get any expansion. We’ll see.

5. Fox: +$842,392,163

1.  Logan: +422,792,957, 616,792,957-194,000,000 2. The Boss Baby: +248,921,330, 498,921,330-250,000,000 3. War for the Planet of the Apes: +181,581,801, 481,581,801-300,000,000

...

-3.  Kingsman: The Golden Circle: -15,031,984, 192,968,016-208,000,000 -2. Snatched: -23,154,289, 60,845,711-84,000,000 -1. The Cure for Wellness: -53,440,443, 26,559,557-80,000,000

Despite just holding on to the #1 spot, Fox’s Kingsman sequel is so far failing to capitalize on the good-will generated by its predecessor (+252M, 414M-162M). Golden Circle is currently tracking behind Secret Service at the same point in its lifespan despite having a larger initial opening. That difference probably won’t be severe enough to prevent Golden Circle from being a generally successful venture for Fox and might be enough to ensure the series’ survival, but either Matthew Vaughn will have to really go back to the drawing board for Kingsman 3 or the studio might have to find a new director.

In other news, Fox Searchlight expanded Battle of the Sexes into over a thousand theaters. Despite claiming to its name two beloved and acclaimed stars, a superb ensemble cast, an on-paper swell crowd-pleasing story, and a host of mainly-positive reviews, the sports biopic is so far underperforming most industry expectations. I plan on getting more in-depth into that when I write a review of it this week, but suffice to say that I think Battle of the Sexes will suffer both from poor marketing and questionable creative decisions as it expands into wider release. Had the movie chosen to focus on Billie Jean King- and better capitalized on Emma Stone’s Oscar win in the process- I think Fox would have won a bigger gross- and we would have received a much better movie.

6. Paramount: +$162,206,601

1. xXx: The Return of Xander Cage: +176,147,658, 346,147,658-170,000,000 2. Transformers 5: The Last Knight: +171,425,157, 605,425,157-434,000,000 3. Baywatch: +39,856,751, 177,856,751-138,000,000

...

-3. mother!: -25,189,776, 34,810,224-60,000,000 -2. Ghost in the Shell: -50,198,079, 169,801,921-220,000,000 -1. Monster Trucks: -185,506,085, 64,493,915-250,000,000

Paramount also remains almost totally quiet. Mother! continues to peter off. No releases from them for a few weeks.

7. Lionsgate: +$109,181,681

1. The Hitman's Bodyguard: +102,098,639, 162,098,639-60,000,000 2. John Wick: Chapter Two: +91,539,887, 171,539,887-80,000,000 3. The Shack: +56,672,242, 96,672,242-40,000,000

...

-3. All Eyez On Me: -35,123,145, 54,876,855-90,000,000 -2. Power Rangers: -57,662,571, 142,337,429-200,000,000 -1. Rock Dog: -99,169,454, 20,830,546-120,000,000

Lionsgate also had no major releases this week. The biggest story from them is The Hitman’s Bodyguard, which is still doing quite well and, at least on paper, appears to have taken the mantle of the studio’s most profitable film of 2017 from John Wick: Chapter Two.

Predictions:

Next week’s going to be, in technical terms, a complete crapshoot. Between Lionsgate releasing a My Little Pony 2D-animated movie three years too late with practically no mass-appeal marketing and Fox pushing an Idris Elba/Kate Winslet survival romance movie that seems like a script that should have been made two decades ago, there’s a lot of uncertainty. But nothing is more of a mystery than Blade Runner.

I want Blade Runner 2049 to be the biggest movie in the world almost as much as I want it to be the best movie in the world, and it might have the IP recognition and critical support to enable such a turnout. But the film is being reported and reviewed as a artistic and naval-gazing science-fiction film like its predecessor, which famously was a major box office flop for 1982 (-23M, 33M-56M). If the production budget really was $185 million, as The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline have claimed, I honestly don’t see how it will make that money back, which is a bummer, because I desperately want studios to burn money making huge, ambitious movies like this. Still, the financials for this movie specifically are pretty much beside the point. If it’s a success, it’s just vindication for the original. If it’s not, it’s fitting for the franchise and will prevent them from making more in the future and besmirching the original’s name. It’s a miracle this movie got made at all, and we should all be happy for it.

Whatever the answers are, we’ll know them soon enough. And that’s good enough for me.

[clubofinfo]

Expert: People will believe a big lie sooner than a little one, and if you repeat it frequently enough, people will sooner or later believe it. ― Walter C. Langer, The Mind of Adolf Hitler: The Secret Wartime Report, 1972, Basic Books I write a lot about the punishment society, which is the hallmark of American capitalism, both conceptually and in practice. It bears repeating and repeating – ironically the punishers of late are also Zio-Cons, and we get ad nauseam the Jewish holocaust, the Jewish Reparations, the Single Moment in Eradication, but god forbid that we have common sense history about the destruction of native peoples here, the subjugation of Africans, the entire blasted world of moneyed interests slashing and burning entire swaths of mother earth and children of the earth. You listen to the Goldman Sachs thugs in Armani, Jewish or Christian, and listen to the arbiters of slave wages and precarious work, who have set up a false dichotomy of “all the money for millionaires and billionaires, or else the collapse of society, so buyer beware and don’t complain about social services/safety nets being cut, or yammer on about the public commons being yanked away by the almighty corporations, or push this fair wages, equity, and education-housing-healthcare for all agenda, or else — YOU all will see the collapse of any hope YOU all have in making it to even first-base in this competitive world.” This is the warfare carried out daily, for sure, the heavy economic carpet bombing by the chosen ones, by the few, elite, the hedges and Kochs and all the other captains of thievery. The uneven reality of the chosen few holding court over the universe, divvying up the crumbs of their engorgement to the masses, as in 99.99 percent of the world. This elitist mongering of the moneyed class, the all-powerful, those symbols of manhood in Capitalism – the barrel of a gun, the nuclear tip of the proverbial phallic, the supersonic waste of our militaries, or the blubbery sap of fawning over the mercenaries of the land, from SEAL to sweating Green Beret, it is hyper-unreal but hyper-deadly! In this large view, this wide angle take, we have microcosms tied to the belief systems of those underlings and swollen-lipped small-timers who push the punishment daily on the streets, in the stores, in the schools, at airports, on public transportation. It was one of those Skippy days on the Portland light rail, MAX, listening to two great examples of minor league punishment on the small-small little Eichmann scale – a man and a woman, in their forties, heading home after a hard journey into night: parking ticket enforcers. I understand the work and words of the working class, but these two just kept swapping stories of the stupid people (their words) trying to get out of tickets, that is, attempting to thwart the sting of the violations in this punishment society. This is the Eichmann of the Small-fry species, in a nutshell, but the way these two stalwarts of retrograde humanity were depicting violators is emblematic of this country’s “it will not take a village to raise a vibrant and safe village – so let the dog eat the dog world prevail be damned” ethos (sic). Something about the American mindset, in general, that has been raised on high fructose corn syrup and the most perverted TV-Film-Video Game-Live Event shit out there. The very manifestation of sociopathy, but these people believe their very prominence in the community is somehow the glue for our culture. The kicker, though, way beyond the mean-spiritedness of their depictions of poor people freaking out about a $44 ticket or multiple $100 violations, was how they demeaned the tourists and locals who dare ask these uniformed ticket cops for simple directions. These two idiots believe they bear no responsibility in assisting the city (where their salaries originate) with the tourists and locals attempting to find place in a cluttered high rise city. It’s the old adage of putting a badge and uniform on someone, and the little brown-shirt many times comes out, in all its glory of dehumanizing “the other” by believing their very existence in the gravity vortex is somehow very special. Making fun of people looking for directions to the museum or some cool well-known locality, well, that’s classlessness of the crass country we have morphed deeper into. This attitude is carried through to its very high-level and broad-reaching culmination in the hard and wicked rules-regs-fines-taxes-garnishments-limitations-checks-and-balances this pro-pro Capitalist society has built into the unfair system of corporations calling all the shots. We can see it in the blaring light and dank shadows as a parody of this un-Supreme Court follies, with this un-gentleman Utah judge whose goal in life is to protect the collective kleptomania of the corporations and taskmasters of hedge funds and the banksters getting the same-same faux grilling of all the other judges for the highest court of the land. One decision says it all, in life, for sure, and his decision to side with the trucking company that fired the trucker for leaving the trailer to save his own life and not putting other travelers at risk is proof of lack of judgment. But then to believe his own little cold blooded pissed out empathy Gorsuch spewed under the lights of the media — with Saturday Night Live comic-senator grilling him? — justifies his existence as a non-impartial judge. But then again, this addiction to the rule of law, over rule of humanity, well, that’s what we have handed over to this legal system where a Gorsuch can ramrod his interpretation of bloodless and emotionless legal crap, putting  every man/every woman at risk, and under the screws of the felonious corporations. Neil Gorsuch – hmmm. America is all in for the optics, the crudeness of these rotten guys, like Trump, or even some military punk, like Schwarzkopf; collectively we are into the military, into the bombs bursting in air. We are lovers of the men and women in blue, and lustful for the hardware – guns and tanks and civilian control devices and SWAT and Sniper gear. It’s what kiddos gravitate toward, and teens, even girls and women, and then the older infantiles, the men in big pick-up trucks or those in tricked-out Honda Accords. This is the punishment hoard, hoping for some cruising for a bruising war or skirmish or anything to make noise and flatten people – people of color, especially, and those boats of fleeing refugees, ka-boom, ordnance dropped smack on schools and strafing of lifeboats. This is not just the dominion of conservatives, or right-wing wackos. The average liberal hems and haws about just how big of a killer Obama was, and how deeply ingrained the Democratic Party is in the military industrial complex. Colleagues in the social services are actually legitimizing anything that demonizes Russia or Iran or North Korea. And this is a culture of armchair Eichmanns, for sure, just counting the fissures in their own countrymen/women, and waiting to swoop down and attack all social services, all things good and safe in the form of the human/humane welfare system. A picture is worth a thousand words, or in this case, a picture-perfect immigration ban for leading minds from Africa paints a perfect portrait of how fascist and insipid this country is, from election cycle to election cycle, from one rotten president to the next, one new law after another new law: The African Global Economic and Development Summit, a three-day conference at the University of Southern California (USC), typically brings delegations from across Africa to meet with business leaders in the US in an effort to foster partnerships. But this year, every single African citizen who requested a visa was rejected, according to organizer Mary Flowers. This is probably the biggest news of late, never broadcast on major networks, never mouthed by the pundits, and, quickly vanishes into the sludge that is mainstream thinking and journalism, but what does this mean, that 80 leaders from African nations were blocked from coming to the freest (sic) nation (sic) in the world because of this country’s proclivity to not want to know, to witness, or tangle with the real important ideas! The compelling part of all of this is the unknowing, the unholding, the lack of honor, the hold on the minds of the controllers – everyone is enemy, everyone is a set of biometrics to parse up and juggle inside the dungeons of digital prejudice. This is not the first example of bans, travel restrictions, of pushing truth and debate into a prison cell or isolation chamber. This country, UK, Canada, EU, Israel, and a thousand banana republics run by capitalism thugs spewing declarations of independence, they’ve all done bans, for decades, centuries, millennia. Applied not, 2017, in USA, well, no wonder there is confusion running amok in the liberal (sic) class (sic). This is the infatuation of America – how much can we throw up on Facebook, how much can the corporations capture, and how well can the government facilitate the collection services of the profilers? There are great chasms in America, and they are etched through the implosions of capital eating at mother earth, all those rivers of toxins cutting away at the epidermis of the world, exposing the villainy and corruption of the elites and outing the tag-along middlings who are in it for the chance at lottery fame, anything to touch the sagging skin of the Trumps and the Botox glow of their trophy wives! All of this observational tie-in is being unpacked through the wickedness of the world I work in – social worker, homeless advocate, recovery facilitator, and even though the systems I work under are non-profits, the devilish nature of my colleagues’ own version of punishment toward our clients is sometimes shocking. This is the systems of accounting for every fucking dollar spent on a struggling soul, while the interior designers and architects glower over their profits. I run into people in the government bureaucracies, and they are so tied to the fatalism that is fate-determined by their Judaeo-Christian belief systems – professing the work they are doing, the work I do, is predetermined by their master(s) god(s)/Jesus(-es)/all knowing (s). It’s messy, this pre-ordained belief system, as I work with some major cases of people trapped in that trauma no-one on any Breaking Bad set could dream up in their Hollywood nightmarish brains. Fate and angels and afterlife –whew! Americans believe there is an afterlife, heaven, with the all-knowing god all buttoned up and tailgate party ready for believers to continue the hallelujah all-you-can-eat buffet (puns intended), says poll after poll, year after year — 90 percent! And then, more than half of Americans polled (52%) believe in fate — out of our hands, out of our agency! We are talking about women in their forties, survivors of childhood horrors like being pimped out at 12 after six years of constant rape, violence, witnessing of more horrors, booze and pills and meth by the age of 11. Fodder for the punishers, the levelers, the judges, the pundits, the inquisitionists, for sure. Yet, the systems fed by broken safety nets, broken by the people in it for the I Do Not Know paycheck. Horror upon horror, and yet my colleagues sees this all as a great plan for their demon god(s). Plan of the great planner to seed youth at age six with syphilis, seed brains with violence only dreamed up in the corridors of the most wicked people on earth. Yet, our systems of social work only give these damaged one so much time before we turn our back on them, exit them, finish all services. Heroes, in the survivor sense, but outcasts by not only the elites, the Social Darwinist millionaire clubbers, but in many ways outcasts by the very people who should know, care, and advocate. I see the disempowerment of the “normal” barely standing straight a portion of the day facing all these disruptive industries-economies-education plans-ideologies-collective consumerism-on-steroids. I see it in their eyes, in the way they hold their hands; I hear it in their voices – defeated but gasping at the final attack on say, a Donald Trump, confused by the rapidity of the fall (sic). I want to give them the benefit of many a doubt, to be sure. My brethren want no anger, no radicalism, no revolutionary, no mano y mano. Praying for salvation in the other life, the after-pre-life. This is not the teachings of Martin Luther King, Jr., this passivity, this hoping for change in the leaders who control the armament of military-police-finance in their vigilantism of anything dealing with the public good-welfare-safety. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism and militarism are incapable of being conquered. — “Revolution of Values” speech 1967 This is death by a thousand bills, debts, fines, fees, deductions, de-fundings, delays, garnishments, and paying the ferryman for services unrendered. The insanity is not only the perversions of our capitalist world – graduates of the school of inflicting maximum pain. The insanity is in compliance, in our unwillingness to collectively rebel, stand up, walk off, strike, hack, reappropriate, and carry out a massive citizen’s arrest to lay claim to our futures and our great-great-great grandsons and granddaughters’ futures. The insanity is how much we are taking and subjugating our wills to; how far we allow the perpetrators to go into our own heads until we believe suicidal walking is an option; and how willing we are to move closer and closer to the edge of the cliff that capitalism has carved out from which the world to jump off. The insanity is the lack of rebellion, the lack of mouthing off to the controllers and the Little Eichmanns; the insanity is the de-education, the re-education by/for/through the controllers. The real madness is our lack of anger and our collective lack of will to take on the ignorance that is at the heart of consumer-predatory-extractive Capitalism. For those of us who do, we are lone actors, men and women lost of tribe, hitting the horizon at terminal velocity speed. It’s a dance with many devils, a tango with toxins, a self-encased dirge. We have lost tribal truths and human touch. We are wrapped in plastic and steel pushing air-water-land into a permanent fog of pollution, and the greatest of all pollutants — war. That’s one megaton bomb of guilt and awareness to place on one’s shoulders, but is there some other choice? http://clubof.info/

[alltimebestbooks]

All Time Best Books

1. Attitude Is Everything: Change Your Attitude ... Change Your Life!

Do you dread going to work? Do you feel tired, unhappy, weighed down? Have you given up on your dreams? The road to a happier, more successful life starts with your attitude-and your attitude is within your control. Whether your outlook is negative, positive or somewhere in between, Jeff Keller, motivational speaker and coach, will show you how to take control and unleash your hidden potential through three powerful steps: -THINK! Success begins in the mind. The power of attitude can change your destiny. -SPEAK! Watch your words. How you speak can propel you towards your goals. -ACT! Don't sit back. Take active steps to turn your dreams into reality. Soon, you will be energized and see new possibilities. You will be able to counter adversities and develop talents unique to you. Your relationships will improve, both at work and in your personal life. All you need is this step-by-step programme to change your attitude and your life!

2. Life Is What You Make It

Life Is What You Make It is based on a love story that has been set in India in the 90s. It has been described by the readers as a book portraying how love, hope and determination can together win over even the destiny. It is a gripping tale of few significant years of the protagonist’s life.

The novel revolves around a woman in her 20s, Ankita, who has a past haunting her like a nightmare. As she grows up from adolescence to a woman in her mid-20s, she wades through different situations, engages in affairs with a couple of guys and is set-back by her parents’ refusal to accept her situation. As a result of non-stop upheavals in her life, Ankita develops bipolar disorder at one point in time.

The story revolves around Ankita’s struggles, determination, her decisions and her faith in self. The book beautifully describes how she gets acquainted with her bipolar disorder, how she decides to help her own self and how she battles these situations all by herself. The title of the book in a way describes the central theme of the book but the manner in which Preeti drove home the point through an interesting story, is delightful.

3. Wings of Fire: An Autobiography of Abdul Kalam

The book recollects many anecdotes and stories from childhood, his time at school and college. The time spent at the Langley Research Center, NASA and Wallops Flight Facility gets a lot of attention.

Personal tragedies have not been left out. The time when he lost his father and how he felt when conferred with many awards like the Padma Bhushan have been written in much detail.

The second half of the book deals with Dr Kalam, the scientist who made a significant contribution in developing the countries guided missile program, a pioneering effort for the security of the nation. It's not with reason that he was nicknamed as the 'Missile Man of India'. The book also contains 24 photographs at various stages of his life.

Authored by Dr APJ Abdul Kalam and Mr. Arun Tiwari, the 180 page book 'The Wings of Fire' was first published in the year 2000. Mr Tiwari is a well-known missile scientist who has worked with Dr. Kalam. Having become a bestseller, the book has even been translated into thirteen languages, which includes Chinese and French.

4. The Girl In Room 105 - Ek Unlove Story

Hi, I’m Keshav, and my life is screwed. I hate my job and my girlfriend left me. Ah, the beautiful Zara. Zara is from Kashmir. She is a Muslim. And did I tell you my family is a bit, well, traditional? Anyway, leave that.

Zara and I broke up four years ago. She moved on in life. I didn’t. I drank every night to forget her. I called, messaged, and stalked her on social media. She just ignored me.

However, that night, on the eve of her birthday, Zara messaged me. She called me over, like old times, to her hostel room 105. I shouldn’t have gone, but I did… and my life changed forever.

This is not a love story. It is an unlove story.

From the author of Five Point Someone and 2 States, comes a fast-paced, funny and unputdownable thriller about obsessive love and finding purpose in life against the backdrop of contemporary India.

5. Rich Dad Poor Dad : What The Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not! Mass Market Paperback –by Robert T. Kiyosaki

It has since become the #1 Personal Finance book of all time... translated into dozens of languages and sold around the world.

Rich Dad Poor Dad is Robert's story of growing up with two dads — his real father and the father of his best friend, his rich dad — and the ways in which both men shaped his thoughts about money and investing. The book explodes the myth that you need to earn a high income to be rich and explains the difference between working for money and having your money work for you.

6. Man's Search For Meaning: The classic tribute to hope from the Holocaust by Viktor E Frankl

Man's Search for Meaning was first published in 1946. Victor Frankl was a leading psychologist in Vienna when he was arrested for being a Jew during the Nazi regime. He survived holocaust and used his experiences to write this book. He propounded the theory that it is Man's constant search for meaning that allows him to survive even the most brutal, the most degrading situations in his life.

He said there are only two races in the world, the decent and indecent. They will maintain their innate beliefs, no matter which side they are on. The decent ones will try to help the fellow human beings and the indecent ones will be selfish and serve themselves at the cost to the others.

7. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Paulo Coelho's enchanting novel has inspired a devoted following around the world. This story, dazzling in its powerful simplicity and inspiring wisdom, is about an Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago who travels from his homeland in Spain to the Egyptian desert in search of a treasure buried in the Pyramids. Along the way he meets a Gypsy woman, a man who calls himself

8. Who Will Cry When You Die? by Robin Sharma

Do You Feel that life is slipping by so fast that you might never get the chance to live with the meaning, happiness and joy you know you deserve? If so, then this book will be the guiding light that leads you to a brilliant new way of living.

In this easy-to-read yet wisdom-rich manual, the author offers 101 simple solutions to life’s most complex problems, ranging from a little-known method for beating stress and worry to a powerful way to enjoy the journey while you create a legacy that lasts.

“When You Were Born, You Cried While The World Rejoiced. Live Your Life In Such A Way That When You Die, The World Cries While You Rejoice.” Ancient Sanskrit Saying

9. The Intelligent Investor

It is a widely acclaimed book by Benjamin Graham on value investing. Written by one of the greatest investment advisers of twentieth century, the book aims at preventing potential investors from substantial errors and also teaches them strategies to achieve long-term investment goals.

Over the years, investment market has been following teachings and strategies of Graham for growth and development. In the book, Graham has explained various principles and strategies for investing safely and successfully without taking bigger risks. Modern-day investors still continue to use his proven and well-executed techniques for value investment.

The current edition highlights some of the important concepts that are useful for latest financial orders and plans. Keeping Graham's unique text in original form, the book focuses on major principles that can be applied in day-to-day life. All the concepts and principles are explained with the help of examples for better clarity and understanding of the financial world.

Combination of original plan of Graham and the current financial situations are the reason behind this book’s preference today’s investors. It is a detailed version with several wisdom quotes that are likely to change one’s investing career and lead to the path of financial safety and security.

10. Elon Musk: How the Billionaire CEO of SpaceX and Tesla is Shaping our Future

The book captures the life and achievements of South African interpreter and innovator, Elon Musk, the brain behind series of successful enterprises such as PayPal, Tesla, SpaceX and Solarcity. The real-life inspiration of the Iron Man Series, Musk wants to be the saviour of the planet, send people into space and set up a colony on Mars.

Bullied in school and scolded tremendously by his father, Musk was actually a brilliant student and his life story is nothing less than a drama packed film. Ashlee Vance’s brilliant description of Musk's character, simple language and neat choice of words indeed makes this book a great read.

Considered by some as the innovation, entrepreneurial Steve Jobs of the present and future, Elon Musk became a billionaire early in life with his successful online ventures. One of the successful companies that he co-founded was the online payment gateway PayPal that was later acquired by e-Bay in 2002.

Getting sacked as the CEO, Musk did not cease to amaze friend and foes alike with his out of the box ideas, like investing in rockets! Needless to say, this deconstructed obsession with technology had his marital life go haywire.

The book 'Elon Musk: How the Billionaire CEO of SpaceX and TESLA is Shaping Our Future’ is a brilliant and intelligent account of this genius young 'iron man’ told in a gripping manner. Available in paperback from Penguin Random House publication, the book was published in 2015.

11. The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do, and How to Change

We can always change. In The Power of Habit, award-winning New York Times business reporter Charles Duhigg translates cutting-edge behavioural science into practical self-improvement action, distilling advanced neuroscience into fascinating narratives of transformation.

Why can some people and companies change overnight, and some stay stuck in their old ruts? The answer lies deep in the human brain, and The Power of Habits reveals the secret pressure points that can change a life. From Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps to Martin Luther King Jr., from the CEO of Starbucks to the locker rooms of the NFL, Duhigg explores the incredible results of keystone habits, and how they can make all the difference between billions and millions, failure and success – or even life and death.

The Power of Habit makes an exhilarating case: the key to almost any door in life is instilling the right habit. From exercise to weight loss, childrearing to productivity, market disruption to social revolution, and above all success, the right habits can change everything.

Habits aren't destiny. They’re science, one which can transform our businesses, our communities, and our lives.

12. How to Talk to Anyone: 92 Little Tricks for Big Success in Relationships

Perfect your people skills with his fun, witty and informative guide, containing 92 little tricks to create big success in personal and business relationships. In How to Talk to Anyone, bestselling relationships author and internationally renowned life coach Leil Lowndes reveals the secrets and psychology behind successful communication. These extremely usable and intelligent techniques include how to:

Work a party like a politician works a room

Be an insider in any crowd

Use key words and phrases to guide the conversation

Use body language to connect

This is the key to having successful conversations with anyone, any time.

13. The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari by Robin Sharma

In the book, the reader goes through a spiritual journey and into a very old culture that has gathered much wisdom over the millennia. The book advocates about how to live happily, think deep and rightly, value time and relationships, be more disciplined, follow the heart’s call and live every moment of the life.

Written in simple words, the book has turned out to be a bestseller and is more than just an endearing story. Through storytelling, Robin Sharma showcases the miracles and wonders of living a fulfilling life. In the process, the book introduces readers to enlightening yet simple principles that vouch to make life better, happier and more meaningful.

A bestselling novel, what readers all over the globe appreciate about this book is its deft amalgam of the philosophies from both western and eastern worlds. The book has been followed by important personalities around the world.

14. Becoming: Now a Major Netflix Documentary by Michelle obama

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • WATCH THE NETFLIX ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY • OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK • NAACP IMAGE AWARD WINNER

In a life filled with meaning and accomplishment, Michelle Obama has emerged as one of the most iconic and compelling women of our era. As First Lady of the United States of America—the first African American to serve in that role—she helped create the most welcoming and inclusive White House in history, while also establishing herself as a powerful advocate for women and girls in the U.S. and around the world, dramatically changing the ways that families pursue healthier and more active lives, and standing with her husband as he led America through some of its most harrowing moments. Along the way, she showed us a few dance moves, crushed Carpool Karaoke, and raised two down-to-earth daughters under an unforgiving media glare.

15. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change

“Every so often a book comes along that not only alters the lives of readers but leaves an imprint on the culture itself. The 7 Habits is one of those books.” —Daniel Pink, New York Times bestselling author of When and Drive

One of the most inspiring and impactful books ever written, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People has captivated readers for 25 years. It has transformed the lives of presidents and CEOs, educators and parents—in short, millions of people of all ages and occupations across the world. This twenty-fifth anniversary edition of Stephen Covey’s cherished classic commemorates his timeless wisdom, and encourages us to live a life of great and enduring purpose.

16. Warren Buffett: The Life Lessons & Rule For Success

He’s been consistently voted one of the wealthiest people in the world. Time Magazine also voted him as one of the most influential people in the world; widely considered to be the most successful investor of the entire 20th century.

In short, Warren Buffett is a boss.

The man knows a thing or two about success. With a net worth of $77.1 billion, the billionaire investor's fabled business acumen has inspired everything from investment books to college courses. He is known to favor long-term investment strategies, like dollar cost averaging, which encourages the regular purchase of the same investment over time. He also has long-standing holdings in the Coca-Cola Company, Apple, and American Express among others. His now infamous letters to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders help shed light into how the man they call the “Oracle of Omaha,” reads the tealeaves.

This book takes a look at Buffett’s life. From humble beginnings in Omaha, up to present day where the 86 year old is still going strong. We take a look at his first taste of business at the ripe old age of 6, following on with his major successes and failures along the way. The aim of this book is to be educational and inspirational with actionable principles you can incorporate into your own life straight from the great man himself.

17. The Power of Positive Thinking

An international bestseller with over five million copies in print, The Power of Positive Thinking has helped men and women around the world to achieve fulfillment in their lives through Dr. Norman Vincent Peale’s powerful message of faith and inspiration.

In this phenomenal bestseller, “written with the sole objective of helping the reader achieve a happy, satisfying, and worthwhile life,” Dr. Peale demonstrates the power of faith in action. With the practical techniques outlined in this book, you can energize your life—and give yourself the initiative needed to carry out your ambitions and hopes

18. How to Stop Worrying and Start Living

Stress is a lot like love - hard to define, but you know it when you feel it. In this classic work, 'How to Stop Worrying and Start Living', Carnegie offers a set of practical formulas that you can put to work today. It is a book packed with lessons that will last a lifetime and make that lifetime happier! This book will explore the nature of stress and how it infiltrates every level of your life, including the physical, emotional, cognitive, relational and even spiritual. Through techniques that get to the heart of your unique stress response, and an exploration of how stress can affect your relationships, you'll discover how to control stress instead of letting it control you. This book shows you how. Using the power of habit and several techniques for smoothing out the stressful wrinkles in our day-to-day lives, we'll move towards a real-world solution to living with less stress, more confidence and a deep spiritual resilience that will insulate you from the inevitable pressures of life. The target of the book is to help readers understand what suits their respective lives best to help them reframe it in a constructive manner, subtracting worry from it and how they could focus on living each day with joy and contentment. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Dale Carnegie (1888-1955) was an American writer and lecturer and the developer of famous courses in self-improvement, salesmanship, corporate training, public speaking and interpersonal skills. He was born in an impoverished family in Maryville, Missouri. Carnegie harboured a strong love and passion for public speaking from a very early age and was very proactive in debate in high school. During the early 1930's, he was renowned and very famous for his books and a radio program. 'When How to Win Friends and Influence People' was published in 1930, it became an instant success and subsequently became one of the biggest bestsellers of all time. Carnegie loved teaching others to climb the pillars of success. His valuable and tested advice was used in many domains and has been the inspiration of many famous people's success. One of the core ideas in his books is that it is possible to change other people's behavior by changing one's reaction to them.

19. The Atomic Habit by James Clear

No matter your goals, Atomic Habits offers a proven framework for improving - every day. James Clear, one of the world's leading experts on habit formation, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results.

If you're having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn't you. The problem is your system. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don't want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change. You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems. Here, you'll get a proven system that can take you to new heights.

Clear is known for his ability to distill complex topics into simple behaviors that can be easily applied to daily life and work. Here, he draws on the most proven ideas from biology, psychology, and neuroscience to create an easy-to-understand guide for making good habits inevitable and bad habits impossible. Along the way, listeners will be inspired and entertained with true stories from Olympic gold medalists, award-winning artists, business leaders, life-saving physicians, and star comedians who have used the science of small habits to master their craft and vault to the top of their field

20. Sapiens - A Brief History Of Humankind

From a renowned historian comes a groundbreaking narrative of humanity's creation and evolution - a number one international best seller - that explores the ways in which biology and history have defined us and enhanced our understanding of what it means to be "human".

One hundred thousand years ago, at least six different species of humans inhabited Earth. Yet today there is only one - Homo sapiens. What happened to the others? And what may happen to us?

Most books about the history of humanity pursue either a historical or a biological approach, but Dr. Yuval Noah Harari breaks the mold with this highly original book that begins about 70,000 years ago, with the appearance of modern cognition. From examining the role evolving humans have played in the global ecosystem to charting the rise of empires, Sapiens integrates history and science to reconsider accepted narratives, connect past developments with contemporary concerns, and examine specific events within the context of larger ideas.

Dr. Harari also compels us to look ahead, because, over the last few decades, humans have begun to bend laws of natural selection that have governed life for the past four billion years. We are acquiring the ability to design not only the world around us but also ourselves. Where is this leading us, and what do we want to become?

This provocative and insightful work is sure to spark debate and is essential for aficionados of Jared Diamond, James Gleick, Matt Ridley, Robert Wright, and Sharon Moalem.