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skiesofthesketchy · 4 years

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Stood Up {1}

Pairing: JJ Maybank x reader

Summary: You have a date with your friend that you’ve liked forever, but he never shows up.

Note: Heyyyyy Please read the warnings before proceeding. This is one of the darker things I’ve ever written, and it might trigger some people so please be careful. I’m usually a fluff writer but I’ve been feeling... ya know, down lately so this is what I made. I’m working on the second part to Unsend still, but haven’t been in the mood lately so sorry it’s taking so long!

Let me know what you think! :)

Word Count: 6.5k

Stood Up: {Part 2} / { Part 3}

WARNINGS: Violence and abuse! sexual violence! trauma! swearing, angst

WARNINGS: Violence and abuse! sexual violence! trauma! swearing, angst

***

Y/N’s P.O.V.

10:00 PM

I pulled my sweater tighter against me when I felt a small burst of wind, the chill making goosebumps surface on my bare legs. I looked left and right down the black street, but nobody was around. It was quiet, almost silent besides dried leaves scraping against the pavement, and the only light was the orange glow from the street lamps and the red neon sign above my head casting onto the empty street. It was a nice night, even with the cool breeze, but I could feel my nerves kicking in.

I tried to remain optimistic though. Maybe he’s just running late... I pulled out my phone again to see if JJ had texted me back, but he hadn’t.

On my way! See in you 20 :)

I sighed, looking at the last text I sent him. I only sent it hoping to remind him that we had plans tonight in case he forgot. He always forgets.

‘He’s just a forgetful person,’ I tell myself for what feels like the thousandth time. It’s usually that phrase that makes me feel better, or ‘He’s got a lot going on.’ I never make it a big deal when he misses our plans, even though it feels like a small piece of my heart breaks off and dies every time it happens.

‘This time is different though,’ I told myself. It was just yesterday that I mentioned the movie theater was showing a bunch of Quentin Tarantino films this week. I tried to act like it wasn’t a big deal, just a fun thing me and my friends could all do together, but I was truly very excited about it and really hoped they’d be down.

“Are they showing Kill Bill?” JJ asked with a smile. The other pogues didn’t seem interested but I was happy that JJ was.

“Yeah. Tomorrow night actually,” I shrugged.

“We should go.”

I smiled softly at him. “Sure, if you want to.”

He chuckled, blue eyes lighting up as he poked my cheek. I knew he could see right past my nonchalant demeanor. “That’s your favorite movie ever. Of course I want to go see it with you! My treat.”

I ignored the fluttering in my belly, but couldn’t hide my smile. He remembers my favorite movie and wants to watch it with me. “You don’t have to pay for me,” I shook my head with a laugh. I didn’t expect him to, but the fact that he offered made my chest warm. JJ doesn’t have much money to begin with, and with what he does have, he usually spends on weed and beer, necessities in his daily life.

“No, no,” he tsked, bringing me into a hug. My giddy grin was thankfully hidden in his chest. Being this close to him always makes me feel lighter than air, warmer than the summer breeze. “You’re my girl. Let me take you out,” he finished, chuckling into my hair.

I felt heat rise to my cheeks, like I always did when he called me his girl. I nodded in agreement once I pulled away from his embrace. “Ten o’clock tomorrow, okay?”

“I’ll be there,” he replied, saluting me with a wink before turning to join the conversation the rest of the pogues were engaged in, leaving me to internally gush about going on a date with the boy I’ve liked since forever.

Maybe it wasn’t a date, or maybe it was. I didn’t really know, but I didn’t care as long as I got to spend time with JJ. It really did feel like this time was different. My thoughts swirled, wondering if he likes me back. Wanting to take me to a movie makes it sound like he likes me, right?

Date or not, I wanted to look nice, so I spent more time getting ready than I normally did. I experimented with some light makeup, trying to make it subtle but still pretty. I left my hair down after making it look somewhat decent, something I hardly ever do because my go-to is always putting it up. I even picked out a dress to wear but made sure to choose one that JJ had seen me in plenty of times. I didn’t want to look like I was trying too hard, but still hoped he would notice my appearance and think I looked pretty.

10:10 PM

The movie started ten minutes ago, and still no word from JJ. I glanced down at my shoes and hugged myself tighter. ‘Maybe he did forget... again.’ I didn’t want to believe it, giving JJ the benefit of the doubt like I always did. But he still wasn’t here.

Yo are you coming? I sent another text.

I was really excited about tonight, not just because I’d be seeing one of my favorite movies in the theaters as if it was premiering for the first time. Now I just feel... heavy. Like I’m carrying the weight of the reality I should’ve realized a long time ago. If I was important to him, he would remember our plans.

My frown deepened. That’s what it comes down to, right? If he actually cared about me, he would be here, or at least tell me he’s not going to make it. Constantly forgetting our plans is a huge sign that he doesn’t like me the way I like him, that I don’t matter to him enough to follow through. It’s a sign I’ve been ignoring even though it’s been there the whole time, blaringly obvious and all too painful.

No. JJ does care about me, even if it’s just as a friend. He’ll be here. He told me he would be.

10:20 PM

Spinning around and looking at the movie theater entrance, I thought about going inside and watching the movie anyway, but I suddenly wasn’t up for it anymore. This sick feeling in my gut was all I could think about.

Of course JJ doesn’t like me. Why did I get my hopes up so high when all he’s ever done is not show up? It hurts. It feels like something crawled up inside of me and slashed its claws at my dumb, naive heart. Its terrifying and hoarse voice whispering in my ear, “What did you expect?”

Perhaps this is my fault; letting myself fall for someone that doesn’t feel the same. JJ Maybank: one of my closest friends, the biggest player on the whole damn island, and the most emotionally unavailable boy I’ve ever met. Of course I had to fall for him. I’m a fucking idiot.

I slumped my shoulders, feeling defeated and tired. It’s like I was tossed to the side without a second thought, much like the trash lining the curb. My throat tightened with the emotions threatening to pour out in sobs, but I held them back. It’s not his fault. I’m the one with these stupid feelings, waiting around for him to feel them too, but he doesn’t.

10:30 PM

I checked my phone one last time, still nothing. With a deep sigh, I started walking towards the direction of my house. I focused my attention on my sandals hitting the sidewalk, each step feeling like another crack in my heart.

‘You’re fine,’ I told myself. ‘Don’t cry. You’re fine.’

But I wasn’t, and I felt the stubborn tears brim my eyes. I turned the corner and this street was much darker, the street lights dim and far apart. The sound of someone else’s footsteps pricked my ears, and I kept my head down to hide my frustration and the sadness running down my cheeks. I wanted the footsteps to belong to JJ, finally showing up but just a bit late. I knew better though, and didn’t bother looking up.

“Well, look who it is. A little pougie.” I halted in my tracks, my eyes flicking up to find his cold ones, and I shot him a glare. As if I needed something to make my night even worse. Fucking Rafe.

“Not even gonna say hello?” he asked. I kept my posture stiff and my stare hard, trying to act tough even though I was most certainly in a vulnerable state.

“What are you doing here, Rafe?” Rafe was predictable in the way that he lived to torture me and my friends. That’s the only reason he’d ever be caught dead in The Cut.

He stopped right in front of me, his tall frame dark and intimidating. Even under the blanket of night I could see his eyes were bloodshot and a sickening smirk lined his lips. He ignored my question as his eyes dragged up and down my body, making my stomach twist and skin crawl. “Where’s the rest of your dirty crew?” he spat.

“You’re lucky they’re not here.” I kept my tone steady, but I could feel my hands start to shake and an uneasy feeling settled inside of me. I need to get out of here.

With hands stuffed in his pockets, he leisurely walked around me, eyes still glued to my bare legs. “You look pretty,” he whispered. “Were you on a date?”

“No.”

“Then why are you all dressed up, darlin’?” His gaze met mine again when I spun around to face him, and with the way his features slightly softened, he probably noticed that I had been crying. “Oh. You were stood up, huh?”

Is it that obvious? “No,” I snapped.

He chuckled darkly, stepping even closer to me, and I took a step back. “His loss.” Then he just stood there staring at me while I was lost in a sea of confusion. Is he trying to be nice?

“Well. It’s been not so nice talking to you. I’m going home now.” I turned around to escape this unpleasant conversation, but I was spun back around with the man’s grip on my arm.

“Don’t leave. I’m not done talking to you.” I felt fear creep under my skin as I looked up at his face again, hardly able to make out anything but his eyes. He wasn’t asking, he was demanding.

“Leave me alone.” I tried to snatch my arm out of his grasp, but he pushed me into the brick wall of the building we were in front of.

The sudden movement caused me to stumble and twist my ankle. “Ow! Rafe, what the fuck!” I felt the pain shoot up my leg, but couldn’t focus on it for long. Rafe’s menacing features had panic surging through my veins as he came closer.

I pressed my back into the hard wall trying to separate myself as much as I could from the man towering over me. “You’ve had a rough night. Let me make you feel better,” he said. He stepped into me, his chest pressing against mine as he looked down at me.

“Get the fuck off of me,” I choked out.

His wicked laugh fanned over my face and I felt angry tears fall. “Come on, little poguie. At least I actually want you.” His words seemed to drive a knife into my chest. JJ doesn’t want me, but I don’t have time to think about that right now. I can hardly think of anything right now.

My palms rose to his chest, but he caught my wrists in his hands, keeping me from shoving him off. He laughed again, and the realization that Rafe isn’t sober washed over me like a tidal wave. What have I gotten myself into? “Let me go!” I screamed.

He shut me up by forcing his mouth onto mine. I screamed against his lips but he pressed into me harder. I started thrashing my body under the weight of his, but his hold became tighter. He brutally clutched both of my wrists into one of his large hands while the other came up to slap over my mouth, cutting off my cries.

“Just let it happen, darlin. Enjoy it,” he whispered into my ear. Hot tears ran down my face as I felt his lips on my neck. He sucked harshly on my skin as I squirmed, trying desperately to escape, but I couldn’t. Even if I couldn’t, I would die trying.

His mouth attacked my throat while I struggled between him and the wall. With the adrenaline pumping through my body, I used all of my strength and pushed him as hard as I possibly could. With the few inches I created between us, I picked my leg up and stomped my heel into his foot.

I prepared to bolt with the time I had bought myself, but a second later he was landing a ruthless slap to my face. I registered the burning pain as he pinned me to the wall with his body again. “Oh, now you’re really gonna get it, pogue.” His sudden anger shook me to my core, his sick laugh echoing in my ears like a fire alarm.

His hand landed on my thigh and dragged along my skin, pushing my dress up higher and higher as I felt the screams get caught in my throat. I dug my nails into his arms but he wasn’t bothered. He kissed me again and I took his bottom lip between my teeth, biting down hard until I tasted blood.

He yanked his head back, face twisting in rage. Even with his violating hands still searing into my skin, I brought my knee up into his crotch, and he yelled in pain. I didn’t waste any time and took off running, but I was yanked back by my hair.

“Fucking bitch!” My head throbbed as I crashed to the ground, feeling my elbows scrape the pavement. I was seeing stars as I felt Rafe’s weight drop on top of me, his form straddling me. I threw my fists wildly into his stomach and chest, desperately trying anything to escape him, but I knew my efforts were becoming futile. His ring-clad fist connected with my cheekbone and a sob crawled its way up my throat.

“Stop!” I screamed. His hand suddenly grabbed my throat, cutting off my cries once again. I clawed at his skin to get him to stop, but he only increased the pressure on my esophagus until I couldn’t breathe, and I squeezed my eyes shut. My world was spinning and my terror didn’t let me register the pain anymore, only the horrendous realization of what’s happening to me taking over my thoughts.

After what felt like minutes but was only a few seconds, I felt his breath fan over my face from where he hovered over me. “You’re not fucking worth the trouble.” He released my neck and I felt him get off of me, but I dared not open my eyes. I was too scared of what might happen. It surely became known when I felt a sharp kick to my stomach. I whimpered, then he landed another kick to my side. “Nobody wants you now! Nobody will ever want you! You’re just a dirty little pogue,” he seethed.

“Fucking bitch,” he spat again, and I heard his heavy footsteps as he stormed off, leaving me on the ground in pieces.

11:00 PM

I finally sat up, finding the strength to put myself together again, but was pulled into a coughing fit, my throat burning. I wish I could say I was numb, but I was brutally aware of the torment my body has been through, of the emotional trauma I’d have to live with.

I carefully stood to my feet but folded in half with arms wrapped around my stomach, clutching myself in pain. Everything hurts. I forced myself to straighten, holding back the tears. I felt broken in every way possible, but I willed myself to figure out how to get help.

I picked up my bag that had been tossed to the ground and rummaged through it for my cell phone. With a heavy heart, I called the one person that I needed more than anyone.

But of course, he didn’t answer. More tears were shed, even though it felt like I couldn’t possibly cry anymore. “Answer, goddammit,” I sobbed. I called again. “Please, JJ. Please. I need you.” Again, the call went to voicemail.

I let out a wail of anguish. Even with nasty bruises already forming on my skin, the loud shatter of my heart is what hurt the most. He’s never here. Even when I need him.

I didn’t even want to call anyone else. My ankle, my face, my stomach, my throat. Even though I was shaking in pain, I wanted to wallow in my heartbreak alone, so I slowly started walking again, and limped all the way home.

***

JJ’s P.O.V.

“How was the movie last night?”

I stretched my arms over my head with a yawn, barely registering what John B. asked. “Huh?”

He chuckled and sat next to me on the pullout couch in the living room where I slept. “You got back pretty late last night. I’m guessing you and Y/N had a good time?” Now I’m thinking it’s not just my sleep induced brain that’s making me so confused.

“What do you mean? I wasn’t with Y/N,” I groaned while rubbing my eyes, the sunlight seeping through the windows too bright and annoying.

“What do you mean, dude?” His eyebrows furrowed and his eyes suddenly flashed with anger. “You were supposed to take her to a movie last night.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” I grumbled, getting even more annoyed. He doesn’t have a right to be pissed at me, not when I have no idea what he’s even pissed about. It’s too fucking early for this shit.

John B. stood up with a sharp laugh. “I can’t believe you forgot again, man. Seriously?”

I sat up, my anger matching his now. “You wanna tell me what this is about?” He shook his head before looking at me again, baffled.

“Y/N? Kill Bill? You guys had a date planned.”

I glared at him before realization finally hit me. I slapped my hand to my forehead. “Fuck. Was that supposed to be last night?”

He shook his head again. “You’re unbelievable, really.” I sighed. It was an honest mistake. At least I know she’ll forgive me. She always forgives me.

“I’ll fix it. I’m sure she won’t be mad.” John B. rolled his eyes. “And it wasn’t a date, by the way.”

“Yeah? Did you tell her that?”

“Stop talking in riddles, man. What the hell do you mean? Of course she knows.” He hit me on the back of the head, reminding me of my headache, the dreaded hangover starting to take effect. “Hey! What was that for?”

“She likes you, idiot! No idea why, considering you’re just a dick that doesn’t bother to show up to the plans you guys make.”

“Is this why you’re yelling at me? She doesn’t like me, dude. Not like that,” I rolled my eyes. I could punch him for getting on my case over nothing. Y/N doesn’t like me, and missing plans has never been a big deal. I just want to deal with my hangover in peace.

“You don’t deserve her. And she doesn’t deserve your shit,” he said, walking away into the kitchen.

“You’re getting mad over nothing. Fuck off,” I grunted, head in my hands. I need coffee and advil. His yelling is making my headache worse.

He sauntered back into the living room, throwing a bottle of painkillers at me, too forcefully if you ask me. “Just tell me, if you weren’t with Y/N, what did you do last night?”

I smirked, remembering the events that took place. “A hot blonde that I met at the boneyard,” my smirk widened. I expected some sort of congratulations from my best friend like usual, but I was met with a scoff and a water bottle being thrown at me.

“You’re a prick. You know that?”

“And you’re an asshole. What do you want from me?”

“Whatever, dude. Let’s just hope Y/N forgives you this time,” he snapped, walking away and finally leaving me in much needed silence.

“She will!” I yelled after him, hearing his bedroom door slam shut.

I sighed before gulping down the painkillers for my headache. I grabbed my discarded shorts from yesterday on the floor and grabbed my phone out of the pocket. I had forgotten that I put it on Do Not Disturb mode after the hot blonde and I left the party. Girls like it when you give them all of your attention, and aren’t distracted by calls and texts.

I sighed again when I saw the text’s from Y/N.

9:36 PM: On my way! See you in 20 :)

10:10 PM: Yo are you coming?

I sure feel like an asshole now. I hoped that she would’ve watched the movie without me anyway, but considering she called me twice at 11:00, she probably didn’t. I feel even worse now that I can see she waited over an hour for me. I typed out a text to her, but I wasn’t sure how to word this apology.

Hey, sorry I missed out last night. Got held up :)

I opted for keeping it nonchalant, not wanting to make this a big deal. I’ll make sure she knows how sorry I am the next time I see her. I’m not worried though. She’s the only one out of the pouges that doesn’t get mad at me when I do stupid shit, and she always forgives me. This time won’t be any different.

I laid back down with my arm covering my eyes, and I thought about what John B. said. Y/N doesn’t like me. She’d be stupid to like a fuck up like me. No, no, we’re just friends, and have been for years. I laughed at the thought.

John B. was right about one thing, though. I definitely don’t deserve her. She’s way too good for me, especially when I’m not good to her.

***

Y/N’s P.O.V.

I stood in front of the mirror and peered at my naked body in the reflection, tears spilling down my cheeks for what felt like the millionth time.

My eye was swollen and bruised, a cut on my cheek from Rafe’s ring. Large spots of sickly green and deep violet stained my torso. Dark rings around my wrists from his tight grip. A lighter purple ring wrapped around my neck from where Rafe’s hands had cut off my breathing.

My hot tears dripped from my face and landed on my collarbone, bringing my attention to the hickeys littering the side of my neck too. I wanted to vomit. I could take the physical assault, but that’s not all this was. He violated me. Kissed me. Sucked on my neck while his hands traveled under my dress.

Going to the police was a thought that bounced through my mind, but I couldn’t, not yet at least. I was much too unstable. I needed support if I was going to report it, but I still hadn’t told anyone what happened. I spent all of yesterday locked in my room, letting myself wallow in the pain.

JJ had texted me yesterday morning, apologizing for not showing up. A simple text wasn’t enough this time. He texted me again that afternoon.

I’m really sorry, Y/N. I’ll make it up to you. Please don’t be mad at me :(

I wasn’t mad. I was heartbroken, and didn’t bother responding to that text either. If he had shown up, I wouldn’t have been assaulted by Rafe. If he was there, we would have been happily watching my favorite movie, eating snacks and probably laughing at the gore displayed on the screen. If he was there, I wouldn’t have been crying in the dark streets alone, trying to wrap my head around the fact that I could have been raped. That I was almost raped.

The other pogues were trying to get a hold of me yesterday too, inviting me to their plans, but I never responded to anyone. I didn’t want to face them, or anyone for that matter. I didn’t even think I wanted to tell them what happened. It was all too much, and I didn’t want to relive it by telling anyone what Rafe had done to me. Not to mention it would add even more ammunition to the war between us and the kooks.

I don’t feel any different today, still just wanting to curl up in bed and be alone for probably forever, but I don’t have that luxury today. My mom had left for work this morning before I even woke up, but she sent me a text asking me to run some errands. When I protested, she gave me the whole lecture on how I only ever spend time with the pogues and never help out. I didn’t have a choice.

With one last glance in the mirror, I wiped the tears off my face and started getting dressed. I had to cover the bruises somehow, but makeup was not going to do the trick. Despite the hot temperature outside, I threw on a large sweatshirt over my sports bra. If I put the hood on, nobody would notice the disgusting marks lining my neck. I found a pair of my mom’s oversized sunglasses and they covered enough of my face to hide the cut on my cheek along with the black eye. I put on shorts and shoes and grabbed my bag before looking in the mirror one last time. Nobody would notice.

***

JJ’s P.O.V.

“Have you guys heard from Y/N?” Pope asked the group. “She hasn’t responded to any of my texts for like two days.” I frowned. At least I wasn’t the only one she was ignoring. I thought that she was probably still mad at me for bailing on our plans, but since she isn’t responding to Pope either, maybe she’s just busy with other things.

“No, I haven’t,” Kie answered. “Pretty weird, right?”

“Yeah, I wonder what’s up.” Pope’s face looked concerned suddenly, and I found my own expression matching his.

“Why don’t you ask JJ here,” John B. said, tone sharp with annoyance. Kie and Pope both whipped their heads towards me, eyebrows raised in question. I just scoffed, turning my attention back to waxing my board.

“What the hell did you do?” Pope asked. His accusing words pissed me off. Who said this was my fault?

“Nothing, okay? I just forgot we had plans, and--” I was cut off by John B.

“No surprise there,” he mumbled under his breath.

Kiara sighed, her disappointed eyes casting down on me. “Seriously, JJ?”

“What? You guys can’t pin the blame on me! I got distracted, it wasn’t my fault.”

John B. scoffed and I wanted to punch him, much like yesterday morning. “Yeah, what was her name again? The distraction, I mean.” I rolled my eyes.

“Come on, dude. Not cool,” Pope added with a shake of his head. With all three of them staring at me in dismay, it felt like my friends were attacking me. It’s also like they knew something I didn’t. Why is everything always my fault?

“Stop turning it into a big deal. I just forgot, okay? I already apologized, so it’s fine.”

“So she forgave you?” JB asked, eyes narrowed like he already knew the answer.

“Well, no...” I let my head drop, looking down at the golden sand with all of our beach gear. “She never responded. But come on, this is Y/N we’re talking about! She never stays mad for long.” The words were meant to get my friends off my back, but I found myself taking comfort in them too. I had never really seen Y/N mad before, but if she actually was mad at me, I hoped she’d let me make it up to her and forgive me. I let myself believe that everything would be fine.

Nobody had anything else to say, only sighing and turning their gazes away from me. I felt the anger sitting in the pit of my stomach, but at least they dropped the subject. I’m more upset that this might actually be my fault. ‘Y/N isn’t the type to get mad easily,’ I reminded myself again. But she’s also not the type to ignore her friends. My mind drifted, wondering if she’s okay.

“Eat up, boys,” Kie said, taking a stack of sandwiches out of the cooler she brought. We all sat down on our towels and started eating, but I couldn’t shake the thought of Y/N from my mind. Maybe I should text her again.

Hey. We’re all at the beach having lunch if you wanna join us. Even if you don’t, that’s ok. Just let me know you got this. We’re all worried about you. I’m worried about you...

I typed it out, but couldn’t bring myself to send it. If she really is ignoring us, I’m sure it’s for a good reason. Maybe it’s best to just give her space. She’ll reach out when she wants to. Whatever the reason, though, I really hope it’s not because of me. She’s the one person I can always count on to be on my side, and I don’t know what I’d do if I was the cause of her distancing from us.

“Oh, no way. It’s Y/N!” Pope interrupted my thoughts. My head turned to see where he was looking, and sure enough, it was my girl, passing through the boardwalk.

Pope was up on his feet and ran to her, calling over his shoulder that he’ll bring her over to us.

***

Y/N’s P.O.V.

“Y/N! Hey!” I stopped in my tracks when I heard my name being shouted, and I noticed Pope running up from behind me.

“Oh, hey Pope,” I said, trying to swallow down my nerves. I didn’t plan on running into my friends here. I didn’t need them finding out about what happened the other night, so I put on a half-hearted smile, trying to act normal, trying to act okay.

“Where the hell have you been?” he asked with a laugh, pulling me into a bear hug. I held back my wince from where he grabbed my sides, the bruises there shooting pain through my body.

“Oh, ya know,” I gulped. “Just busy with my family.” I was glad that my sunglasses were dark enough so that he couldn’t see my eyes. If he could, he’d know I was lying within seconds. “Sorry I’ve been M.I.A.”

“It’s alright. Come on. We’re having lunch right now.” He grabbed my hand and started pulling me towards the beach, and the other pogues sitting together on the beach came into my focus.

My eyes widened. “Uh, no, Pope. Sorry, but I have to go.” He stopped and gave me a weird look. “I... I’m running errands for my mom,” I shrugged, hoping he would let me go so that I don’t have to talk to the others, talk to JJ.

“Just come say hi then. Everyone missed you!” He tugged my hand again, but I didn’t budge from where I planted my feet in the sand.

“No, Pope. Really, I have to get going.” I didn’t have any other excuses up my sleeve, and I could feel my resolve coming undone. He gave me another weird look, probably wondering what the hell is going on with me. I wanted to tell him. I did, really. But I was not ready to talk about it. I didn’t need him or the others seeing what I looked like under this sweatshirt, or the black eye I was sporting under my glasses. I knew it would only cause more problems, more rage, and I couldn’t handle that right now. If anything, I just needed a hug.

“Is everything okay?” I looked down at my feet and sighed, trying to muster up the strength to lie to one of my best friends. When I looked back up to him, he had sent a look towards the pogues, and they all got up and started making their way over.

“Yes, Pope. I’m fine,” I breathed out a laugh, trying to cover up my panic. “I gotta go, now. Really.” I turned around to run away, but I was too late. The pogues had already crossed the beach and were surrounding me.

“Y/N! Hey, we missed you!” Kie smiled, pulling me into a hug. Again, I had to hide my grimace from the pain that engulfed me so that my friends couldn’t see. I knew I couldn’t keep up this act for long, and I felt my heart sinking further into my chest.

“Yeah, I’m glad we ran into you,” John B. smiled with a nod in my direction. His expression was soft and kind, and it strangely made me feel like he understood that I wasn’t all the way okay.

“There’s my girl,” JJ’s voice rang through my ears. He looked relieved, and pulled me into his chest, squeezing me tight. This time, I wasn’t able to hold in the small noise that escaped past my lips. When he pulled away, he looked down at me with concern. “You okay?”

I pushed him away. “Yeah, I’m fine.” I couldn’t put on a half-assed smile this time. He’s the one causing my pain. The one that bailed on me. The one that wasn’t there when I needed him, leaving me alone and in broken pieces on that horrible night.

“Why are you wearing a sweatshirt?” Kie laughed. “It’s like one hundred degrees out here.” I just shrugged my shoulders, even though I was dying under the heavy material and the heat of the sun. I looked over my shoulder down the boardwalk, trying to avoid their worried glances, especially JJ’s. I could feel his eyes burning into me, and I couldn’t bear the weight of it for much longer.

“Yeah, what the hell? It’s burning hot out here,” Pope added, and pulled my hood off my head.

“Pope, don’t,” I said. “I have to go.” I turned away after putting my hood back on and started walking, not even caring that they definitely know something’s wrong now. I just need to get away before I break down.

JJ was the one to catch up to me, leaving the pogues behind us and sharing worried looks. “Y/N, wait.” He grabbed my wrist, and I winced at the contact. “I just wanted to say that I’m so sorry for missing our plans. I got held up with a touron, and you know how it is. She was so hot, how could I not go home with her?” he laughed. Looking up at him, I felt my heart shatter all over again. Of course. He wasn’t with me because he was hooking up with some girl. This fucking hurts more than the punch Rafe landed to my face, and I felt anger swell inside of me.

“Come on, you’re not mad at me, are you?” He smiled, bringing his hands up to cradle my face. He was being his charming self like usual, which is precisely the reason I even fell for him in the first place. But his cute dimples and bright eyes aren’t going to fix anything this time. If anything, they’re just another stab to my chest.

He could sense I wasn’t giving into him. “I’ll make it up to you. Promise,” he pouted. My lips parted to speak, but no words tumbled out. He suddenly ripped my sunglasses from my face.

“JJ, don’t!” His face dropped at the sight of my bruised eye. The glasses fell to the sand when he stepped closer to me, eyes scanning my face. I pushed him back, but he swatted my hands away.

“Y/N?” His features quickly turned from worried to angry. “What the fuck happened?” I felt tears pricking my eyes, but I held them back as I tried to push him away again. He yanked my hood off my head and I knew he was piecing it all together now.

He reached for the bottom of my sweatshirt, and my hands grabbed at his to try and stop him. “Leave me alone,” I yelled, but he didn’t. Despite my attempts to stop him, he had grabbed the bottom of my sweatshirt and started pulling it up over my head. “JJ, stop!” I yelled again, but I couldn’t fight him back anymore because it hurt too much. He had taken it all the way off, leaving me just in my sports bra, my beaten body on full display.

A series of gasps surrounded me as the other pogues gathered around us again, shocked and bewildered expressions on their faces. I watched JJ scan my body. His eyes lingered on the bruises on my belly before flicking to my face again, and then my neck. With the way his eyebrows furrowed and he clenched his jaw, I could tell he was examining the hickeys on my skin. Tears ran freely down my cheeks, and the silence was deafening.

“Oh, Y/N...” Kie whispered, eyes becoming glossy.

“What the fuck happened?!” JJ burst. His face was twisted in rage as his hands reached for me. I stepped away, but he grabbed my arms. “Who the fuck did this to you?!” I shook my head, trying to swallow the sob that was making its way up my throat. “Y/N, who the fuck was it?!”

“JJ! Lay off!” John B. spoke up. Kie had wrapped her arms around me, wanting to shield me from our angry friend. They could tell JJ wasn’t helping.

John B. and Pope pulled at JJ’s arms to get him to step back, but he exploded even more. “YN! Tell me who did this to you!” Seeing his reddened face and furious eyes made my own burning anger swim to the surface.

“Stop yelling at her!” Pope told JJ, him and JB still holding the blonde away from me.

“No! I swear to god I’m going to kill ‘em. What the FUCK happened??”

“It wouldn’t have happened if you had bothered to SHOW UP!” I flared, my voice slicing through the chaos among the group. My heated gaze met JJ’s, and his entire face fell at my words, the rage washing away from his pools of blue and replaced with sadness.

Everything seemed to still at my outburst, even my tears. I watched as JJ crumbled beneath the weight of my words. As angry and heartbroken and hurt as I was, I wanted to see him this way. I wanted him to feel guilty.

“I should’ve known you wouldn’t show up. I should've known you wouldn’t answer when I called you for help. Because you never do.” With every word I spat, I could see the effect they had on him. I kept my ruthless stare fixed on him. “Congrats on fucking some touron, though.”

Everyone stayed silent as I picked up my sweatshirt and sunglasses from the sand. I glanced at JJ one last time before putting my glasses back on and turning around, leaving everyone behind me without another word.

***

Read: Stood Up - Part 2

Masterlist

***

#outer banks #outer banks fic #obx #jj maybank #jj maybank x reader #angst #jj maybank fic #jj x reader #rudy pankow #skiesofthesketchy #bricksatans #stood up

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newyorktheater · 5 years

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It was a good week to test your view of New York — the 1990s Bohemia presented in Rent Live on Fox (which was largely Rent Recorded), or the grittier view expressed by the city’s teenagers in “Generation NYZ,” part of Ping Chong’s Undesirable Elements series at LaMaMa? How about by the African-American playwrights of the Fire this Time Festival? The truth is, in some ways, all of these share the sardonic and romantic view of the city by Rodgers and Hart in the 1920s, as presented by Santino Fontana as part of the Lyrics and Lyricists series at the 92nd Street Y? (It’s very fancy on old Delancey Street, you know/The subway charms us so.)

Week in New York Theater Reviews and Previews

Generation NYZ

To the seven young performers who tell the stories of their lives in “Generation NYZ,” New York means subways and pizza and opportunity, but also cops and catcalling and homelessness.

They are all New Yorkers, but — as they recount for us over the course of 70 increasingly engaging minutes — either they or their parents or grandparents came from somewhere else. They tell, in other words, the story of New York, and of America.

.@BrandonVDixon, national treasure.#RentLive pic.twitter.com/RFzZ8ROjeq

— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) January 28, 2019

Rent Live

I had worried that, in Rent Live, Fox television would ruin Jonathan Larson’s musical about bohemian life in the East Village of the 1980s by bowdlerizing it. I felt it worth watching anyway because its cast of celebrated young screen stars and recording artists would make the most of the catchy tunes.

As it turns out, it wasn’t the redacted content but rather a bad break and a series of poor choices that made “Rent” disappointing. And though the cast was clearly full of talent, only a few standouts brought it home in any memorable way. Brandon Victor Dixon, the one performer with the most live theater experience, floored us as Tom Collins,

We’ll Have Manhattan: Rodgers and Hart in New York

When at the age of 17 composer Richard Rodgers met 24-year-old lyricist Lorenz Hart in 1919, he instantly acquired “a career, a partner, a best friend and a source of permanent irritation.”

So Rodgers wrote, in one of the many tidbits Santino Fontana tells us in “We’ll Have Manhattan: Rodgers and Hart in New York,” Fontana’s celebration, as part of the 92ndStreet Y’s Lyrics & Lyricists series, of the hundredth anniversary of Rodgers and Hart’s partnership

God Said This

Leah Nanako Winkler was sitting on the couch in her mother’s hospital room in Kentucky while her mother was undergoing chemotherapy for a form of cancer called carcinosarcoma, when the playwright started writing what became God Said This. “It just came out.”

The play, now on stage at the Cherry Lane Theater through February 15, revolves around Masako, a Japanese-born mother who is undergoing chemotherapy for carcinosarcoma, and explores the effect of her illness on her family.

The Fire This Time Festival

Over the past decade, the annual festival, created to showcase early-career playwrights of African and African-American descent, has presented some of the first New York plays of such now-celebrated writers as Katori Hall (known for such later works as The Mountaintop and Our Lady of Kibeho), Dominique Morisseau (Pipeline, Skeleton Crew and the book for the forthcoming Broadway musical “Ain’t Too Proud”), and Jocelyn Bioh (School Girls or the African Mean Girls Play) .

This year’s offerings are not particularly political, although they do touch (often obliquely) on issues as varied as gentrification, immigration, protest, feminism, homophobia, and affirmative action.

Ruthie Ann Miles as Immigration Judge Craig Zerbe

The Courtroom

Elizabeth Keathley moved to the United State from the Philippines, married an American, and three years later registered to vote, even though she was not yet a citizen. As a result, the government ordered her deported.

“The Courtroom”is a re-enactment by Waterwell theater company of her deportation proceedings, using the transcript as edited by Arian Moayed, directed by Waterwell’s artistic director Lee Sunday Evans, with Ruthie Ann Miles as Immigration Judge Craig Zerbe, and Kathleen Chalfant as Chief Judge Frank H. Easterbrook for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. The play is being presented for free through February 1 in a series of court-like settings

Red State Blue State

Near the end of Colin Quinn’s stand-up comedy, which promises to “lay bare the absurdities…on both sides of the political divide,” the Saturday Night Live alumnus manages to insult every single state of the union…It’s a baffling routine, almost tedious and even tacky…emblematic of Quinn’s enterprise….hit or miss and a missed opportunity.

Week in New York Theater News

Alanis Morissette

Anais Mitchell

Melissa Etheridge

Michael Jackson

“Jagged Little Pill” is coming to Broadway. The musical by Alanis Morissette @based on her 1995 album, put together after she was robbed at gunpoint. will open sometime in Fall, 2019, directed by Diane Paulus, who directed it for the American Repertory Theater last year. Cast, dates and specific theater to be determined.

When it opens on Broadway April 17, @Hadestown will feature the same cast that just appeared in London’s @NationalTheatre: left to r: @pagepatrick, #AmberGray, @Andre_DeShields, @EvaNoblezada @reevecarney pic.twitter.com/NgMmBsG3X4

— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) January 28, 2019

.@metheridge will provide the score to a musical based on the 1988 movie Mystic Pizza, the first time we noticed Julia Roberts! MT They are writing the script now and I am looking forward to getting to work on it pic.twitter.com/3xMQCAfJwa

— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) January 22, 2019

The Michael Jackson musical, @dontstoponbway (Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough) premieres Oct 29 – Dec at the James M. Nederlander Theatre (@broadwaychicago) before a 2020 Broadway run. Book by @Lynnbrooklyn ! Music by the King of Pop pic.twitter.com/jShiAsLdnk

— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) January 23, 2019

.@AudraEqualityMc & Michael Shannon will star in a revival of Terrence McNally’s Frankie and Johnny in the Clare de Lune @fandjbway . Starts in May, 2019 for 16 weeks at a Shubert theater on Broadway. Details to come pic.twitter.com/2gHdflj3SG

— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) January 23, 2019

Thanks @USPS for this new postage stamp of Broadway’s own Gregory Hines, Tony winner for “Jelly’s Last Jam.” He died in 2003 of cancer at age 57 pic.twitter.com/nbFRnATWel

— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) January 28, 2019

Finalists for the 2019 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, honoring women playwrights

Jackie Sibblies Drury

Ella Dickson

Lily Padilla

Martyna Majok

Nina Raine

Ella Road

Heidi Schreck

Lauren Yee

Hilary Bettis (U.S.)- 72 miles to go…

Jackie Sibblies Drury (U.S.)- Fairview

debbie tucker green (U.K.)- ear for eye

Ella Hickson (U.K.)- The Writer

Martyna Majok (U.S.)- Sanctuary City

Lily Padilla (U.S.)- How to Defend Yourself

Nina Raine (U.K.)- Stories

Ella Road (U.K.)-The Phlebotomist

Heidi Schreck (U.S.)- What the Constitution Means to Me

Lauren Yee (U.S.)- Cambodian Rock Band

.@magicmikebway, a musical that’s touted as a prequel to the Magic Mike movies, Nov 30, 2019- Jan 5, 2020 @EmColonial in Boston prior to an expected Broadway run. Music by the Next to Normal team pic.twitter.com/JfC6gyXU3e

— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) January 24, 2019

the third annual WOW – Women of the World Festival. March 12-17@ApolloTheater “Performances, conversation, activism.”https://t.co/3x7F0eP5yM pic.twitter.com/1y10Y8S7I2

— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) January 24, 2019

House Seats, a series that’s part of @ThirteenWNET‘s forthcoming streaming service @AllArtsTV, will launch Feb 3 w/ screening of @TheaterofWar‘s #AntigoneinFerguson. I saw the play in a playground in Brownsville in 2017, & wrote about it for @HowlRound:https://t.co/iDapHiXSxP pic.twitter.com/fYEnCiOYCp

— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) January 24, 2019

Applications to compete in the 2019 @RogerReesAwards for Excellence in Student Performance are being accepted until Feb 4 at https://t.co/gAN1zmqZBa pic.twitter.com/t6dFM5X7gv

— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) January 24, 2019

What Should We Do About Scandalous Artists? Accusations of misconduct against beloved creators are changing the way we think about genius

today as in the past, one of the most visible ways that our culture negotiates changing ideas about morality is by thinking about art and artists. Is an artist’s work tainted by his personal wrongdoing? Should we give honor and respect to people who excel in their art but are deficient in what we consider ordinary morality? These questions have been at the heart of modern thinking about art since the 19th century; but since the advent of the #MeToo movement, they have begun to receive new kinds of answers.

if Oscar Wilde’s case were being tried today, he might once again be widely scorned—not because the prostitutes he patronized were male, but because they were young, poor and powerless. The hostile gossip that surrounded him at the time, English critic Kate Hext writes, “would be nothing compared to the long lenses and comments section of Daily Mail Online, or the verdicts of social media.”

REST IN PEACE

RIP Kaye Ballard, 93, Broadway veteran (The Golden Apple, Carnival, The Pirates of Penzance), familiar face on TV, funny lady. She was impersonating Maurice Chevalier at age 5)https://t.co/6cMmnOm1ji pic.twitter.com/yfSs5MZk1L

— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) January 22, 2019

RIP JoJo Smith, 80, Broadway veteran, dancer and choreographer. @msdebbieallen‘s teacher, #JohnTravolta‘s dance consultant on #saturdaynightfever pic.twitter.com/URzdmuj9D2

— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater)

RIP JoJo Smith, 80, Broadway veteran, dancer and choreographer. @msdebbieallen‘s teacher, #JohnTravolta‘s dance consultant on #saturdaynightfever pic.twitter.com/URzdmuj9D2

— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) January 28, 2019

Rockers on Broadway: Alanis, Anaïs, Melissa and Michael Jackson. New York on Stage: Rent, Generation NYZ, Rodgers and Hart. #Stageworthy News of the Week It was a good week to test your view of New York -- the 1990s Bohemia presented in Rent Live on Fox (which was largely Rent Recorded), or the grittier view expressed by the city's teenagers in "Generation NYZ," part of Ping Chong's Undesirable Elements series at LaMaMa?

#Alanis Morisette&039;s Jagged Little Pill coming to Broadway #Magic Mike coming to Broadway #Michael Jackson musical coming to Broadway #scandalous artists #Susan Smith Blackburn finalists #Women of the Wolrd Festival

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phanarchy-blog · 6 years

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My II M&G Experience

Hello all! So it’s been a hot minute since I attended Interactive Introverts in Schenectady. By a hot minute I mean over a week and I’m only now getting to this post, RIP. I’ll get right started then.

So my show was approximately 2.5 hours from home and I drove with a friend into Schenectady. We started super early and checked into the hotel around 12, though the m&g didn’t start until 4. Naturally we had to find something to do and decided to go to a mall nearby. I made a joke in this mall that maybe Dan and Phil also went to the mall and we would bump into them there. By this time it was about 1:30 and my friend pointed out that it may be cutting it very close to the start time for them to be anywhere but the theater. I disagreed. This is relevant later.

We went back to the hotel breifly and got ready while I showed her some videos that I thought may be important. She liked Dan and Phil, but had only had time to watch a few videos of theirs. The hotel was only a few minutes walk away from the venue, so we began walking at about 3:15. We were in line by 3:30. There was already a line queueing when we arrived and as we stood it filled in behind us. At a point, Sarah (who works closely with Dan and Phil and modeled for Dan’s merchandise) walked by and someone in line in front of me shouted and cheered her name. I explained to my friend as we walked by who she was. It was at this point that it first began getting surreal, as Sarah was the first person I recognized from their work with Dan and Phil.

A few minutes after 4, the line started moving and people began funneling in. They checked our tickets to see that they had VIP access, they did not check IDs. We were led to a table where we were given a wristband and then ushered towards doors across the merchandise area. This was where I had my second surreal moment of the night, as I couldn’t quite be sure that I was going the right direction and looked up to see Marianne standing nearby. I gestured to the doors and nodded as if to ask “this way, right?” And she very sweetly told me yes and pointed me inside.

Now I don’t know if it’s just me, but she has a very thick English accent. I assumed that I’d consumed so much British media that the accents just kinda faded away into the background for me, but I was taken aback by hers. It was beautiful.

So anyway, inside we were lined up and put in our seats very orderly. Marianne wandered in and out but mostly it was directed by theater staff. The screen was up and facing the opposite direction from the seats. They had a playlist going in the back ground, the only song of which I caught was Party Tattoos by dodie, which I thought was a very sweet choice, not only for them to support dodie like that but also the meaning of the song was very poignant for this event. If you don’t know it I highly recommend.

There was also a door on the opposite side of the room from where we entered and the crowd kept their eyes studied on it. It was partially covered by a screen and it had the vibe that Dan and Phil would enter from that direction. Security kept walking in and we would all gasp and collectively sigh. Poor guys.

As the room was filled and we were all waiting, Marianne stood at the front and gathered our attention. This is when she said that the guys were “on their way”. Remember earlier I said my friend thought 1:30 would be cutting it close to not be in the theater? Yeah it was 4:35 and they still weren’t there. Lol. Marianne also explained how it would work. There was a table we could put our bags on if we didn’t want them in our photos. We would go around and meet them, get our hugs, get one item signed, and Dan would take the selfie “because he’s got the long arms and he knows what he’s doing”. A couple people raised their hands and Marianne pointed out that it was like a lecture hall and she was the teacher and we laughed. They asked about going up in pairs and filming the experience. Marianne said that way fine, but they could not record video messages for friends as that would prevent everyone else in the room from getting their fair share of time.

I’d like to point out now that the person sitting to my left was having them sign a box of Mac and Cheese, and she is my hero. The crowd chatted a bit and finally, Dan and Phil entered through the doors we all thought they would! Finally, a huge cheer from the crowd! Now this was the first moment I realized how large they really are. Now I know we’re not meant to I tell them to their faces, so of course I didn’t, but here in the privacy of Tumblr I’ll say that I think part of it is honestly their presence. I think they feel so tall because they mean so much to us. It’s an overall larger than life experience, and I think that translates to our perception of them because yes, they’re objectively tall, but my friend also kept going “Yeah but my husband is 6’5” so I’m used to it” and let me tell you, these boys felt so much larger than her husband.

Back to Dan and Phil! They looked super cheery and laughed a bit at how we were all just sat quietly and orderly in the seats waiting patiently. There was a giant screen in the room like a movie theater and Dan made a joke about all watching a movie together instead. And like, you cowards, we should have. We had the time. Alas, they said their piece and walked behind the screen. Again in a very orderly way, the front rows began and lined up in order to meet them. I noticed their shadows visible behind the screen and ‘awww’d” as I saw them crouch for a little one. The person then rounded the corner and was a full grown teenager. They are very tall.

I was the 34th person to meet them! When it was our turn, Marianne took the items we wanted signed and asked if we were ready. I directed my friend to film my meeting. I rounded the corner and was affronted by Phil, already looking directly at me and arms spread wide open, so of course I hugged him quickly. It didn’t last very long though, as I immediately saw Dan opening his arms as well as it felt like rejecting him to wait any longer. We said hellos and thank yous as we hugged. As if by magic my copy of DAPGO appeared (thanks Marianne) and they asked to sign it, which I agreed to of course. It all happened very very fast and I forgot to look at whether they crossed arms or not. I was very busy looking at them. Dan quickly asked if I’d like a picture and we all leaned in. He took 3 in rapid succession and I could tell in the moment that I didn’t like the lighting for me, but I was not about to stop him at all.

After I took my phone back, I addressed Dan and told him I’m a mental health counselor and so I wanted to thank him for everything he’s done to normalize that. I probably should have left it at that where I would have sounded coherent, but of course I somehow managed to both ramble on and trail off the rest of what I’d said. I mean, I can’t blame me. Dan was looking at me. Like, directly into my eyes, and nodding and really listening to what I had to say. I don’t know that I’ve ever been listened to that well. When I finally shut up, as I didn’t wanna waste much more of their time, Dan nodded again and.. said something. Haha, it was something to the effect of “Thank you for doing that as well” or “and it’s great that you do that as well”. Dan validated my career to my face and suddenly the measly $27k salary seems worth it. I thanked him for probably the fifth time and decided this was a good time to wave in my friend.

I gestured to her and said “and this is my friend, she’s seen like 5 videos but she’s a really good sport.” They both chuckled and said it was okay, and asked if she’d like a selfie as well. I looked on as they took it, and I couldn’t hear much of their exchange. We said final goodbyes and shoo’d ourselves it really quick.

Around the screen again was a team member who cut off our wristbands and dropped them in an outstretched bag, then handed me my own VIP bag. I took it, grabbed my own purse from the other table, and booked it out of the room high on adrenaline. My hands were shaking.

I confirmed with a member of theater staff that I could leave the venue and come back for the show, which we did. It was about this moment that I had totally forgotten to address Phil like I planned. When I had my speech in my mind about normalizing mental health care, I wanted to point out that his light-hearted videos did great things for that as well. I regret that for a bit because I’d focused so much on Dan and left Phil out. About a day or two later I realized that Phil is probably not hurt that he didn’t get the chance to talk to me. Again, sue me, I got lost in Dan’s eyes. I’m sure Phil would understand.

Believe it or not, the meet and greet is not the part of my experience that makes me tear up looking back on that night. It was the actual show that does that to me. Perhaps I will write out about that bit too. But until I do, let me just say here that Dan and Phil are two beautiful, kind, and genuine guys that care about us very much. I am so so grateful for that night.

#long post #im on mobile and lap top is dead else i would do a read more tag #soz

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altobrandy31-blog · 5 years

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There Were Zero Things Better This Week Than That Absurdly Historic Klay Game

Welcome to Good Stuff, HuffPost’s weekly recommendation series devoted to the least bad things on and off the internet.

Monday night, I found myself in the very top row of the United Center in Chicago, where I bore witness to an absurd bit of history, and what is quite possibly the most entertaining version of basketball ever invented: A Klay Game.

The game itself wasn’t that good, by normal standards. By the end of the first quarter, the Golden State Warriors had run up a 20-point lead on the hapless and injured Chicago Bulls. By halftime, the Dubs had 92 points and were winning by 40. It was pointless. Except for Klay.

Except for Klay. Thompson, that is, the Warriors’ gunner of two-guard who, up to that point in the season, had been trash. Thompson entered the evening having made just five of his first 36 three-point attempts of the season ― a 14 percent clip that was nearly 30 points below his career average from distance. But on Monday, he reverted to his old, dumb self, which unlike Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant ― his superstar teammates whose dominant nights always feel like reminders that they have absolutely broken basketball ― tends to feel more normal. Klay is the old dude at the gym who uses screens the right way, finds himself in the corner, and pummels you with an endless barrage of buckets ... if that old dude was also 6′6″ and one of the greatest shooters of all time.

He hit his first three less than 90 seconds into the game. By the end of the first quarter, he’d made five more. At halftime, he had 10, and at one point, he had made nine out of 11 threes. He finished the game with 14, setting a single-game NBA record in just 27 minutes on the floor. He had 52 points.

The amazing thing about it, though, wasn’t that he broke the record, but how. A Klay Game is a special phenomenon: on the occasions where Klay isn’t just hot but reaches thermonuclear status, the Warriors’ other superstars cease to even consider themselves a part of the game, and instead funnel the ball to him with a relentless, single-minded focus. So each time a Bulls shot clanked off the rim and landed in the hands of a Golden State player, they looked for Klay. In the corner. At the top of the key. Barely across half-court. It didn’t matter. Curry and Durant were passing up open shots to find him. Draymond Green, on one possession, set five screens in an effort to free Thompson from his defenders. They still got theirs, but the night was Klay’s, and they knew it.

So did the crowd. By the start of the second half, no one was paying attention to the score, or the Bulls. Not even their fans. Each time Klay touched the ball, the crowd urged him to shoot. Each time he did, the air burped with the anticipation that he was about to hit another one. And more often than not, it went in. The Warriors are dumb, and even though its cool in some circles to hate them now, I can’t. Not when they play basketball like this. And not when they can decide, on any given night, to let Klay be Klay, and remind us that there are still endless wonders in an NBA season, even when its ultimate outcome already feels certain. ― Travis Waldron

Kurt Russell As Cool Santa

I don’t really know how to explain the new trailer for “The Christmas Chronicles.” There’s Kurt Russell as cool Santa Claus throwing concerts in prison and bemoaning images on cola cans for making his butt look big. There are very CGI elves who don’t totally look like gremlins, but I wouldn’t want to feed them after midnight. The Netflix movie’s premise seems to revolve ― maybe? ― around the potential death of Christmas, which won’t be saved unless some kids travel around the world with Chris Pratt’s evil dad, who seems more worried about breaking out “Star Wars” references and dunking presents down chimneys. Hmm.

It feels like a Christmas miracle this is happening at all, so I for one will be counting down the days until it arrives in my queue. ― Bill Bradley

WHY IS LIZZO PERFECT?

A Very Good Paperback

Simon & Schuster

I know. I know! This book came out in February. But I missed it then, and this week I finally circled back to the book I’d heard glowing things about for months. If you haven’t read Halliday’s masterfully engineered debut yet, you should do the same thing.

The novel opens on the blossoming romance between Alice, a young editor at a publishing house in New York, and Ezra Blazer, an elderly acclaimed novelist who bears an unmistakeable resemblance to Philip Roth. Also an aspiring writer, Alice soaks up Ezra’s attention and guidance, as he showers her with blackout cookies, rolls of cash to spend at upscale department stores, and sacks of edifying books to read. Rather than fully flipping a narrative so often told from the older male perspective on its head, Halliday relates it from a remove that hovers between clinical and whimsical, as if their relationship is a case file put into the language of a fairy tale.

Then, just as Alice realizes she must choose between her own future as a writer or a real partnership with the ailing Ezra, Halliday throws us into another story. Amar Jaafari, an Iraqi-American economist, has been detained in Heathrow en route to see his brother in Kurdistan. In between dealing with the crushing bureaucracy ― repeated interrogations that cycle through the same questions, vague and inexplicable explanations for his detention ― he reflects on his life, the two countries that have been home to his family, and the violence that has surrounded his brother and other loved ones.

The novel ends with an eerily convincing transcript of a “Desert Island Discs” interview in which Ezra, some ten years on from the start of his relationship with Alice, recommends his all-time favorite songs, reminisces, and flirts with the interviewer.

A dazzling puzzle box of a book, Asymmetry melds ambition and restraint in its exploration of power, artistic imagination, empathy, geopolitics, and love. It’s recently out in paperback, so there’s absolutely no reason not to read it immediately. ― Claire Fallon

A Night of Short Horror Films (By Mostly Women!)

Nitehawk

"Cat Calls" (directed by Kate Dolan)

Every year, Nitehawk Cinema in Brooklyn hosts a short film festival. And every year, Caryn Coleman, director of programming and special projects at the theater, co-curates a midnight showing dedicated to mini horror flicks, the kinds that only require eight to 19 minutes to rattle your already fragile existence and catapult your adrenaline levels in glorious micro waves of fear.

This year’s showing will take place on Thursday, Nov. 8 at 9:30 p.m. And its lineup is like a pleasant middle finger to Jason Blum, a man blithely unaware of the many female directors working in horror today.

“When I read the Jason Blum article I had watched two brand new horror films directed by women in the previous 24 hours,” Coleman told HuffPost. “Genre films by women is nothing new to me or to the many people clued into what’s happening in horror. Therefore, what he said is a prime example of how out of touch certain parts of the film industry establishment are; they are completely unaware of a reality that is right in front of their face simply because they don’t care enough to look.”

Coleman and her co-programmer Sam Zimmerman have paid particular attention to women’s voices at her festival over the years. “This year we’re thrilled that our program not only features 70 percent female directors,” she said, “but that nearly all address the real horror of what it’s like to be a woman in the world.”

Three films to watch at the Shorts Festival’s “Midnite” screening this year are “Rape Card,” “Pumpkin Movie” (“I saw it the night of the Blasey-Ford testimony and it was utterly prescient, couldn’t get it out of my head,” Coleman said), and “Cat Calls.” Tickets are on sale here. ― Katherine Brooks

Rosé In October

Nestled halfway into Quavo’s new album, “Quavo Huncho,” is a track that dares to bring rosé out of the summer slums and into the autumn breeze. Understanding the pink-tinted bubbly should be a year-round affair, “Champagne Rosé” had the rapper “poppin’ bottles” in — gasp! — October. More significantly, he did so with the help of two incredible collaborators. One of them (Cardi B) comes as no surprise; the other (Madonna) is a left-field swerve that proves to be one of the record’s highlights.

Dominating the song with a high-pitched autotune, Madonna’s is the first voice we hear. She stretches “champagne” to three syllables and turns wine into sex the way only she can (“Please drink me up”). Her presence is the yin to Quavo’s full-throated yang, perfectly accentuated by a flute that graces the intoxicating beat. And then, before the four-minute bop ends, Madonna nails a verse that again lets her bend and elongate words with a crisp, clarion cadence: “Let me entertain you / Get inside your vein, too / Intoxicate your brain, ooh / Crazy, what I’ll make you.” It’s a frothy morsel, likely to remain an under-appreciated footnote in all three artists’ repertoires. But listen to it and try not to hit the repeat button a dozen times. You can’t do it. ― Matthew Jacobs

Witch Hunting

Halloween may be over, but witches rule all year long. If you haven’t yet checked out two spooooky witchy reboots ― The CW’s “Charmed” and Netflix’s “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” ― the time is now. Both series take beloved ’90s shows and turn them into something darker, more complex and more overtly feminist. Neither show is perfect, but they both have done something interesting and timely ― and, dare we say ... magical? Plus, with all the talk of “witch hunting” powerful white men, it’s about damn time we saw some real witchy women get their due. ― Emma Gray

Martha Rosler Forever

In the 1975 video “Semiotics of the Kitchen,” one of multidisciplinary artist Martha Rosler’s most famed works, Rosler stands at a makeshift kitchen station in front of a refrigerator and stove. It looks like a cross between a Rachael Ray cooking demo and a Francesca Woodman photograph.

“Apron,” she says, as she pulls one over her head. “Bowl,” displaying a bowl to the world while pantomiming stirring. “Chopper,” plunging it into the bowl violently. “Egg beater ... fork ... grater,” she continues, rubbing the fork up and down the grater, emitting a jarring racket. She continues down the alphabet, naming different kitchen appliances and simulating their use for the viewer like an alien mimicking domestic rituals. When she picks up the nutcracker, Rosler glares at the viewer while spreading and shutting the tool’s legs with vigor. The video, critiquing the oppressive, domestic roles women are often forced to embody, becomes a jagged dance to the tune of a grating metallic symphony.

This is Rosler’s most well-known piece, but far from the only one worth knowing. A retrospective at the Jewish Museum spans Rosler’s five-decade career. Featuring installations, photographic series, sculpture, and video, the exhibit probes far beyond “Semiotics of the Kitchen” to show us one of the most witty and dogged feminist artists of our time. In one photo collage, blond women snap selfies in a mod mansion as flames blaze outside the windows. In an installation, various women’s lingerie and sleepwear congregate around a white mattress. The cluster of thongs and spanx and granny panties alludes to the stories clothes tell about the women who wear them. Or perhaps just the stories we buy into.

The show opens on Friday, Nov. 2 and is up until March. All feminists, Jews and bad chefs are encouraged to attend. ― Priscilla Frank

The Drawing of Lines

Screenshot

We’re all blessed to have lived long enough to discover that the Gateway Pundit apparently does have a line, and that line’s name is Jacob Wohl. ― Ashley Feinberg

Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/there-were-zero-things-better-this-week-than-that-absurdly-historic-klay-game_us_5bdccf96e4b09d43e31efd6c

#read more #see more #check it out #interesting #learn more

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andrea-odown · 7 years

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Lessons in Love - Chapter 30

A Sing (2016)-fanfic. Sequel to my story “Keep on Singing”.

Read it on FF.Net and AO3.

Description: After their kiss on stage there’s still so much to figure out for Johnny and Cia. None of them has been in a relationship before, after all.

Chapter 30: Cia

Cia is really looking forward to spending the evening with Johnny. It’s the first time in ages that he has an evening off and they can spend a few hours and just relax, watch a movie or something. And then do other things.

It’d be nice not having to check his level of tiredness, even exhaustion, before pondering what they’d do or if they’d do anything at all. And if she’d just to force him to get some rest.

No, tonight is going to be different. And Cia can’t wait!

But before that, she and Mr. Moon have one of their meetings where they go over some scenes and try to figure out how to make them even better, think about some plot twists, and brainstorm about what their next show is going to be. And she’s looking forward to that, too. She loves talking about writing, and she loves writing. So these meetings are always great fun.

Ms. Crawly pokes her head in once, telling Mr. Moon that she’s leaving work for the day if he doesn’t need her any longer, and of course, the koala is fine with it. Cia is glad to see that Ms. Crawly doesn’t need her walking stick any longer and seems to do so much better. Really, a sprained ankle can be a pain in the butt. She knows that from experience. Not to mention that crutches and walking sticks are just, well, ugh!

And it must have been even worse for Ms. Crawly because it took her so much longer to heal. Which probably is no wonder at her age. Although, now that she’s thinking of it, Cia has no idea how old Ms. Crawly actually is. The thing is, sprained ankles are terrible, especially when you’ve just recently rediscovered your passion for dancing, like Ms. Crawly has.

Cia can only hope that Ms. Crawly is going to be more careful in the future. And if she isn’t, well, Cia is always going to be around to help out with office work.

Mr. Moon and she go back to business right after the door closes behind Ms. Crawly, and when they are finally pleased with how the new scene turned out, Cia is almost shocked to see how much time has passed.

“Okay, maybe we should call it a day, too,” Mr. Moon says. “I am pretty sure you have plans for the evening.”

He winks at her, and Cia replies to that with a smile.

“That, I do,” she says. “I’ll work on the next scene tomorrow and send it to you as soon as I can, okay?”

“Take your time, Cia,” Mr. Moon replies. “We are way ahead with this new show. Now off with you! Spend a nice evening with your boyfriend!”

“Thank you, Mr. Moon!” Cia calls out as she grabs her messenger bag and simply flies out of the office.

When she passes the rehearsal rooms she runs into Meena. The elephant is just leaving her rehearsal room.

“Oh, hi Meena!” Cia greets her. “On your way home?”

“Yes!” she replies. “You too?”

“Yeah. Wanna go together? I think we’re heading in the same direction?”

“Sure! Oh, Ash left ten minutes ago. Maybe we can catch up with her.”

Cia grins. “Then we better hurry!”

And with that, they dart to the foyer.

However, they catch up with Ash sooner than they would have expected. They find the porcupine at the front doors, her guitar case strapped to some sort of a trolley, and said trolley is somehow stuck in the door. Ash kicks the door open again, but she can only pull the trolley a bit before the door falls shut again, jamming the trolley once more.

Ash lets out a frustrated groan, a very loud frustrated groan before she kicks the door open with a little more force, pulls on her trolley, it slips her hand, and trolley along with the guitar case rumble down the front stairs, heading towards the street.

The sound that leaves Ash’s mouth now is a shocked shriek. Luckily, though, the guitar case-trolley never reaches the street because it slams into a lamp post before that.

Now Ash sighs in relief before that sigh turns into another frustrated groan.

“Stupid thing!” she calls out as she stomps down the stairs.

Meena and Cia share a look before they run after her.

Ash is picking up her trolley, controlling the straps on her guitar case when they reach her.

“Hi Ash!” Meena greets her, and Cia asks, “What’s this about?”

Ash looks at them for a second before she rolls her eyes.

“Lance insisted,” she explains. “Obviously, I am in no condition to carry a guitar case around the usual way, thus the trolley. The other option Lance brought was buying another guitar and leave one at the theater and one at home, so I don’t have to carry one around, but no. I can’t just replace my guitar.” She gently strokes the guitar case. “We’ve been through so much together!”

“I see,” Cia says.

“Hey, Ash,” Meena speaks up, “Cia and I are heading home, wanna join us? We can add a little stroll through the park!”

“Sounds nice!” Ash says. “But I know for sure that Cia lives in the other direction. Although she isn’t so sure about that when she’s had a few beers.” Ash winks at her, and the smirk on her face is very, very broad.

Now it’s Cia’s turn to roll her eyes. “I’m heading to Johnny’s,” she explains.

“Oh,” Meena says, putting her ears over her face. “It’s fine if you’re in a hurry. You don’t have to join us for a stroll in the park.”

“Are you kidding me?” Cia calls out. “Spending some time with my girls? Count me in!”

And with that she links arms with Meena and pulls her into the direction of the park. Meena smiles and grabs Ash’s guitar case-trolley with her trunk, pulling it along.

Ash makes something that sounds like a mixture of a hiss and blowing a raspberry.

“Really, you guys,” she says as she catches up with them and starts walking next to Meena, “you have to stop treating me like this. I’m pregnant, not sick!”

“Oh, sor…,” Meena begins, but Cia cuts in.

“We’re just trying to help,” she says.

“I get that!” Ash says. “But really, you’re all tiptoeing around me and take things out of my hands, it’s just hard to deal with. Next thing I know I am not allowed to sing and play the guitar anymore or what?”

“No, really, Ash, that’s not it, we’re just…”

But Ash doesn’t let her finish.

“I mean, Johnny didn’t let me work at the garage, Lance insists I use this stupid trolley, and every time he sees me carrying something, even if it’s just a cup of tea, he takes it out of my hand! Not to mention that I want to keep this pregnancy a secret until it’s starting to show. I’ll let my fans know when I have to, not before! This is going to be awkward enough anyway and I am not going to do this picture-thing where I post a picture of my growing belly every few days. Nah-ah, not me!”

They enter the park now.

“Which means I had to come up with a logical explanation why I need this… this…” - she points at the trolley - “this when a fan asked me on facebook why I have a trolley now. And you know what I told them? That I’m suffering from backpain! Which isn’t even a lie, I am suffering from backpain, but not because I’ve been carrying around my guitar case! No, it’s because I’m pregnant, which I don’t want to tell my fans yet, but they’re getting suspicious because Lance insisted that I have to use this trolley! And now I have to lie to my fans and drag around this stupid thing, and it’s all so … stupid … and I don’t know … how to handle … this. … It is just … just …”

Ash’s become slower and slower, her breath coming in pants, until she finally stops.

Cia looks from Ash to Meena, then back to Ash.

“Ash, you okay?”

Ash opens her mouth to say something, but no words come out.

“Do you need something? Water, maybe?”

Ash nods.

“Meena, see if you can get a bottle of water somewhere!” Cia says to Meena, and the teenage elephant nods, lets go of the trolley and runs off.

Cia takes Ash by the hand, putting a hand on her shoulder and guides her over to a park bench. Carefully, she helps her up. Ash is still panting for air.

Again, she wants to say something, but when no words leave her mouth, she just points in the direction of her guitar case-trolley.

“Oh right!” Cia calls out, runs over and pulls the trolley to the park bench.

Then Meena arrives with a bottle of water, handing it to Ash who drowns half the bottle greedily.

“Better?” Meena asks when Ash finally puts down the bottle. The porcupine just nods.

A few more moments pass and then Ash speaks up. “I just forgot how easily I exhaust these days,” she says. “Doctor said it’s normal.”

Cia feels how relief washes over her. She’s really been worried.

“Well,” she says with a smirk, “seems like you actually do need our help every now and then.”

Ash twists her mouth. “Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

“No,” Cia replies with a little laugh as she places a hand on Ash’s shoulder. “Just that you have to accept it.”

“Ugh,” Ash makes before she brings the bottle to her lips again and drinks the rest of it in long gulps.

---

When Cia arrives at Johnny’s apartment building that evening, she’s in high spirits. Meena, Ash and her stayed at the park a bit longer, chatting and talking about the youth center and Ash’s next album, and it was so much fun that she just can’t dampen down the grin on her face. She doesn’t even want to.

One of Johnny’s neighbors is just leaving the apartment and holds the door open for her, so she doesn’t have to ring. She reaches the door of Johnny’s apartment and knocks.

Okay, she’s showing up later than planned, but Johnny didn’t call or send her a text, so he must be fine with it. However, when he doesn’t answer the door, it seems a little off.

Maybe he’s mad that she didn’t show up earlier? Maybe he went out without her when she didn’t show up in time?

She knocks again. No reply.

Now she’s definitely starting to get worried. He really must be mad. But on the other hand, Johnny would never just leave without her, and it’s definitely not like Johnny to give her the cold shoulder like that.

She moves her hand to the doorknob and carefully twists it. The door opens.

Okay, that’s even less like Johnny to leave his apartment without locking the door. Cia steps inside, and then she hears it. Music. So this means Johnny is at home.

She releases the breath she’s been holding in a long sigh. Obviously, Johnny’s just practising on his keyboard and just didn’t hear her knock.

She closes the door behind her and walks over to the living room.

Something seems a little off, though. Johnny isn’t playing a song, he’s just playing a few scores. Then he stops and starts all over again with the same few scores. This is weird.

Johnny can’t see her. His keyboard faces the window, so he’s showing her his back. She crosses the living room, making sure to make a little noise, but Johnny doesn’t turn around.

Okay, maybe he is mad after all. Cia moves a little closer.

“Johnny?” she asks, carefully, but he doesn’t react.

“Johnny?” she asks again, placing a hand on his shoulder, and as soon as her hand touches him, Johnny jumps with a yelp.

“Cia!?” he calls out. “What are you doing here?”

Cia frowns at that. “Well, we wanted to meet tonight. Sorry I’m late.”

“Tonight? What time…” He checks his clock. “Oh.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine, totally fine, really!”

The way he’s saying these words, a little too quickly and a little pressed, makes her doubt that.

“You sure?”

“Yes!”

Again, he replied too quickly and a little too loudly.

Cia looks at him, but he’s avoiding her eyes. Another sign that something’s off.

Cia searches his face before she looks over to the music stand. Her frown deepens when she realizes that the paper looks very familiar.

“Are those my lyrics for your new song?” she asks.

Johnny’s eyes widen and he looks from the paper to her.

“...Yes.”

“The song you want to play at the opening of the youth center?”

“Yes.”

“Haven’t you finished that song already?”

Johnny lowers his eyes. “...No.”

“What?”

“I-I forgot about it. There was so much work to do! I just … forgot. But I can still do it. There’s plenty of time!”

“The opening is in three days,” Cia states.

“Which is plenty of time! No worries!” he gets to his feet. “Now, what do you want to do? Grab a pizza, watch a movie, cuddle on the couch? I am leaning towards the third option.”

Cia sighs, shaking her head a little.

“I want you to finish your song,” she says.

Okay, to be honest, she’s leaning towards the third option, too, but she knows how important it is to Johnny to play a new song at the opening.

“But-”

She places a kiss on his lips to make him shut up.

“The way I see it,” she says when she pulls away again, “you only have three days to write a new song. And no matter what you say that’s not a lot of time. Especially when you take into consideration that there’s still a bunch of work to do before the actual opening. So you better get back to composing right now. I’ll just be there on the couch and read.”

“But Cia, really, we can … I mean, we wanted to … I can work on the song later, I swear!”

Cia raises a brow before she pulls him into another kiss. She pulls away rather quickly, though, or else she can’t guarantee she’d let get Johnny back to writing his song.

“Get to work, Johnny!” she says.

Johnny looks at her, his eyes wide. And then it’s him who pulls her into a kiss, a passionate, hot, very hot kiss! And when he lets go of her, Cia really needs to muster up all the self-control she has to not drag him to the bedroom right now.

So she just smiles at him.

“Thank you, Cia!” he says, placing one quick kiss on her lips, and Cia has to fight down the urge to drag him to the bedroom even more.

“No problem,” she replies.

Johnny sits down again and goes back to playing the scores from before, adding a bit more to it.

Then she finally turns around and walks over to the couch. Her knees are still a bit wobbly from that kiss from before, but she can handle that. She takes out a book from the messenger bag and slumps down on the couch. She tries to read, she really does, but somehow, she can’t concentrate. Which probably has something to do with the racing heart in her chest. So she goes over the same sentences over and over and over again. Turning on the TV is no option, though. It’d distract Johnny too much.

So Cia just stares at a page in the book, hoping her pulse is going to reach a normal level soon.

#sing 2016 #sing fanfiction #sing movie #johnny #cia #lessons in love #and's fanfictions

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aion-rsa · 4 years

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Tenet’s Release Date Forgets the Lessons of Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar

https://ift.tt/3g95TGR

It seems fairly certain now that Tenet will be released in theaters at the end of the summer. Warner Bros. confirmed as much Monday when the studio announced Christopher Nolan’s latest epic is set to open in 70 countries, including the UK, on Aug. 26. It will then make the jump stateside to vaguely determined “select U.S. cities” on Sept. 2, just in time for Labor Day weekend. While plans can change—they have before—there is almost a weary resignation about this announcement. We’re opening this in theaters in 2020, come hell or high water.

Yet one of the many bitter ironies about this choice is that it ignores a central theme of another Christopher Nolan odyssey, the star-gazing Interstellar. Every bit as ambitious and grandiose as Nolan’s other IMAX spectacles post-The Dark Knight, Interstellar grappled with cerebral concepts, including Einstein’s theory of relativity, intergalactic wormhole space travel, and the existential threat of depleted resources on Earth. The movie also, much more bluntly, dramatized the danger of anti-intellectualism and a willful rejection of scientific facts, especially the danger of beleaguered resignation.

The scene that most crystallizes this occurs during the climactic moments of the movie’s second act. Literally worlds away from where the movie’s hero Joseph “Coop” Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) struggles with the pitiful Dr. Mann (Matt Damon), Coop’s children back on Earth also face a reckoning. Now both adults who took radically different lessons from their father’s NASA legacy, Murph (Jessica Chastain) is a scientist who followed Dad into the space program, and Tom (Casey Affleck) is the estranged brother who’s happy to keep his eyes squarely focused on the ground. There is nothing wrong with farming, of course, but for Tom it’s as much a form of self-denial as it is a profession.

When the confrontation comes, Murph and friend Getty (Topher Grace) have come to the farmhouse where Murph and Tom grew up with their grandfather, and where Tom now lives with his own wife and son. In actuality Tom had two children, but one of them, Jesse, died of a lung disease caused by “blight;” a new type of dust and ecological menace that’s spread around the globe and is now coating every crop Tom owns. On this fateful day, Tom’s living wife and son are also showing symptoms of disease, and Murph wants Tom to make the tough choice: Face the reality of the situation and leave his family home.

One look at Affleck’s glower when his character enters the house announces this isn’t going to happen.

“Let me make something abundantly clear, you have a responsibility—” begins Getty before Tom punches him in the face. Murph then more succinctly cuts to the chase, “Dad didn’t raise you to be this dumb, Tom.”

And here in this moment, like many a story before it, Nolan’s Interstellar has distills the age-old conflict between science and commerce, hard truths and comforting delusions. When boiled down to its fundamentals, the scene isn’t that different from Chief Brody trying to explain to the mayor of Amity Island they need to close the beaches in Jaws, or Cassandra warning the Trojan court of a doom to come.

And yet, what’s intriguing about the Interstellar variation is that it sympathizes with Tom and his position. Unlike Murph, he wasn’t Daddy’s favorite; the educational system likewise didn’t see much promise in him. In high school a single test prevented him from going to college. Instead he was left behind, conscripted to do what society viewed as a less financially important task while his little sister excelled at university. In a handful of minutes, the implication that Tom grew bitter about both his lot and their father’s absence is self-evident. As is their connection since Cooper disappeared trying to mitigate an existential threat which has come all the same in Tom’s adulthood.

But as that grown-up, what once seemed like an abstract idea is now tragically obvious. The danger of the blight is visible in the small Cooper family cemetery outback, and it’s there on his sister’s face as she stands in his kitchen, calling him dumb. But then it’s uncomfortable looking reality in the eye like this—or being asked to forsake the only thing Dad ever left him, which was this farm.

“Dad didn’t raise me. Grandpa did,” Tom snarls. “And he’s buried out back with Mom and Jesse.” Interstellar empathizes with Tom’s plight and desire to ultimately do nothing—just keep going on and pretending everything is normal—even though the movie knows it’s a deadly delusion. After all, the film crosscuts this scene with Coop calling Dr. Mann “a fucking coward.”

What Tom is doing is cowardly. But it’s also tragic, because he refuses to accept the scientific facts of a worldwide disaster, even as they come from his own sister. So Tom refuses to uproot his remaining family, to live with Murph and what’s left of the United States’ science community, waiting for a proverbial cure that hasn’t been invented yet. He’d rather just do what makes him happy until it kills him. And not only him. “You’re going to wait for your next kid to die,” Murph apprises of the situation.

The scene is obviously a work of fiction in which there is a fantastic agricultural blight so deadly it’ll kill off all organic life on Earth in several generations—and it exists in a world where the U.S. government is still even-headed enough to launch a program to save its citizens and species. With that said, the echoes of the conflict between data-minded experts versus the wishful thinking of those who just want to keep on keepin’ on, even if it kills them and everyone they love, obviously speaks to our moment. You can see Tom in each American, maybe some of whom have legitimate reason to feel “left behind,” now refusing to wear a mask during the coronavirus pandemic.

Hence the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases currently increasing in 30 out of the 50 states. As of the time of writing, more than 4.3 million cases have been confirmed in the U.S. alone, and the death toll is about to cross the morbid threshold of 150,000 Americans. There is no sign of things getting better in North America. In fact, things are expected to get much worse, particularly as the White House attempts to force public schools throughout the country to reopen at full capacity.

As WB pointed out in a press statement, more than 30 states currently have given movie theaters the go-ahead to reopen at reduced capacity. However, there is undoubted crossover among the states where indoor theaters can reopen and those with rising infection rates. Similarly, studios and theater owners are aware of a certain risk level of opening Tenet during a pandemic, even in areas where infection rates are down. According to a report in Variety, multiple studios are likely considering releasing movies in Europe this summer “in case more theaters in Spain shutter” due to a second wave of infection.

This is not to say Warner Bros. is making the choice to release Tenet out of cynicism. Indeed, we can only speculate as to what the private conversations are behind closed doors between studio executives, filmmakers, and exhibitors. But we know Nolan is desperate to protect his love for theatrical moviegoing, which he vocalized in The Washington Post in March by correctly saying cinema is a vital part of our collective social life. It’s about as democratic a form of art as can be imagined, with all economic classes able to afford and share an experience of going to the movies.

Movies

Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar: A Secular End Times Myth

By David Crow

Movies

Inception Ending: Why the Spinner Stopped

By David Crow

Horrifyingly, movie theaters are facing an existential threat at the moment. The CEO of the National Association of Theatre Owners warned last week if Hollywood keeps delaying their movies until there is a vaccine “we won’t be there in a year.” So it appears likely Nolan is trying to turn Tenet into a kind of economic refuge, or at least respite, for movie theaters to weather a storm that is likely to last well into 2021.

But like Tom trying to will away the threat of blight to his family, or ignoring the protestations of his sister, Nolan and Warner Bros. are playing a risky game. Even in areas where infection rates are down, people who go see Tenet in September will be gathering in indoor theaters for hours at a time, with more than a few lowering their masks every so often to enjoy a snack or drink. On some level, I want to be one of them. I’ve savored every Christopher Nolan movie to date, and find a kind of sacrosanct comfort each time I go to a movie theater. But as with Tom and Murph’s childhood home, one needs to face the risks hidden in that comfort as the world changes.

A month ago, epidemiologist and infectious diseases expert Dr. Carlos Del Rio told CNBC, “I would honestly say I’m not comfortable going to the movies right now. I want to see the numbers come down, want to see the cases go down. Right now, the only place I am comfortable going to the movies is my living room.” In the same report, Dr. Ravina Kullar, a Los Angeles-based infectious disease specialist said, “What we are seeing now is that wave one is still going on… there has not been a decline or a plateau and that is a concern. I don’t see any change in a positive direction.”

Since then, the daily increase of new reported COVID cases has risen from around 30,000 new cases a day to between 50,000 and 73,000 cases a day. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, predicts we could likely soon see 100,000 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infection a day.For me, going to a movie theater is like going to church, or like working the same field as your father and grandfather is to Tom in Interstellar. It’s home. But until there is a solution to the problem, it is better to listen to the Murphs and Faucis of the world than wait around for another kid to die.

The post Tenet’s Release Date Forgets the Lessons of Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/2X2OJDC

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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digestinol · 4 years

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Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and planning for Valentines Day

Valentine's Day is around the corner and for the many people who suffer from Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), it’s just another day in which is they have to battle with this disease, leaving little excitement to celebrate it.

If you have a special someone in your life, don't let Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) ruin such sweet day. Remember that love is like a plant that needs to be nurtured and with this awesome date plan we have for you below, including 10+ great tips, there's absolutely no reason why you should skip a romantic date and just stay home to watch TV.

TODAY

• Make plans with your Valentine to celebrate it on Sunday, Feb. 16th at lunch time, instead of the 14th.

Why? Because the majority of people will be celebrating Friday eve, all day Saturday and Sunday eve for dinner time.

Celebrating it another day/time besides those, will help you avoid long lines, extra time waiting to be served, and even lost time trying to find a parking space.

• Make sure you have a Valentine's Day card and a gift/roses for your Sweetheart, packed beautifully.

TOMORROW

• Pick a nice restaurant that offers delicious food options that you both can enjoy.

• Make a reservation for noon, so as soon as you arrive, you can be seated.

• If it's a small restaurant, feel free to ask how many restrooms are available for guests to use. You will probably feel more comfortable knowing there are at least 2.

• Check out their dessert menu online. If they don't have anything you can eat, buy or prepare a dessert (we posted many delicious ideas these past days) so you can enjoy it when you return back home from your date.

• Get movie tickets for 2-3pm...Yes, you can go to the movies, friend! Just pick aisle seats, so you can have easy access to the restroom if needed. Even if it’s the last row at the movie theater, you will have a great view.

• Go get some yummy snacks for when its movie time, that you can eat and take them the day of.

ON SUNDAY

• 8:30 am:

Have a very light breakfast, since you'll be having lunch with your Valentine soon after.

Google a nice park/beach near by or on the way to the restaurant with access to restrooms and print out a map.

• 9:30 am

Get ready with your Sunday's best outfit and don't forget the card, gift, park's map and your healthy snack for the movies.

•10:30 am

Stop by the beautiful park/beach, so that you can enjoy a romantic walk, hand in hand with your Valentine. Don't leave the map inside the car.

Take some nice photos of you guys together.

•11:20 am

Get ready to leave the park and go to the restaurant. Arrive a few minutes ahead.

•12:00 pm

Enjoy a lovely Valentine's Day Lunch with your Sweetheart. Enjoy a small portion of your meal half or so would be best and you can always take the rest to go.

Also, don't forget to spot the nearest bathroom in case you need it.

• 1.30 pm

Depending on your movie tickets time, start getting ready to go so you can arrive early to the movies.

• 2 pm

Arrive at the movie theater and spot the nearest 2 bathrooms in case you need them.

Offer to get some snacks for your Valentine to enjoy, while you enjoy yours.

• 4pm

Go home and relax, enjoying the rest of your Valentine's Day together.

Don't forget to light up some candles to enhance the romantic vibe and if you were not able to enjoy dessert at the restaurant, be sure to enjoy it at home.

Hope this gives you some great ideas for you to spend a romantic day together!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Note: Depending on how you are feeling, you can still celebrate on the 14th following our tips above or just choose to spend a relaxing day together at home.

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deladane · 6 years

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Whirlwind Weekend in the Windy City ~ 05.27.18

Sunday, May 27, 2018

After a decent night’s sleep, we awoke this morning feeling recharged and ready for another exciting day of exploring Chicago! Our first mission of the day was to get to the ticket booth for the architecture river tour as early as possible. This boat tour was one of our must-do activities, but since we wanted it to be one of the attractions on our City Pass, we could not buy tickets in advance. Instead, we had to wait for the day of the tour and redeem the City Pass voucher for a specific tour time based on availability. This tour is very popular and we saw many boat tours on Friday and Saturday with so many people crammed onto the boat that they must have been sold out. My original plan was to take the tour mid day so the sun would be shining straight down and I would be able to take good photos of the buildings from every direction. Given the extreme heat this weekend, I adjusted my plans and hoped to take the earliest tour possible because there is no shade on these boats and we didn’t want to bake in the sun for 75 minutes at the hottest part of the day!

After DH made some coffee in a to-go cup from the fancy machine in the hotel lounge, we left the hotel around 8am to make the one mile walk to the Riverwalk. The boat tour has 2 ticket offices. One is at Navy Pier, but since that is such a hub of tourism, it tends to be more crowded and tickets sell out faster. The other location is at Michigan Avenue down on the level of the Riverwalk, and not only is this the location that the company recommends people use because it is less crowded, but it is also about a half mile closer to our hotel so it was our preferred location anyway! On the way there, we walked passed this building, which I thought looked exactly like the Grace Building in Manhattan, but according to Wikipedia, there is no connection.

When we got to the river, it took a few minutes to find the ticket office for Shoreline tours. It was located on the north side of the river, just passed the new Apple store. They don’t open until 9am, but when we arrived at 8:30, there were already 3 or 4 couples online ahead of us. Perhaps because it was a holiday weekend, or just because they felt like being nice, the employees opened the ticket window early and we only had to wait a few minutes after arriving. The lady scanned our City Passes and gave us tickets for the 10am River boat tour, which was their first tour of the day.

We had over an hour of spare time, so we walked back up to Michigan Avenue and over to the Corner Bakery Café for breakfast. This was a great find, and we were really happy that they were opened today because it is in the lobby of an office building and all of the restaurants like this near our hotel are closed on the weekends. DH ordered huevos rancheros and I got the egg and cheese breakfast sandwich. Both were very tasty and it was nice to have a warm, filling breakfast seated indoors with air conditioning.

When we were done eating, it was only 9:30 but we had nothing better to do so we went back to the Shoreline ticket booth to get in line for our tour. One of the employees directed us to where a line was already forming for our boat tour, so it’s a good thing we arrived somewhat early! It was a little bit chaotic at first because there was also a line for the 9:45am tour, but that tour is in Spanish. This was the boat they used for the Spanish tour, so you can see it is smaller than the boat we will use for the tour in English.

After they boarded the 9:45am tour, this boat pulled up to the dock, and this was the boat for our tour.

As you can see, there is hardly any shade on the boat. The idea is that you can look up at the buildings and see what the guide is describing as the boat sails down the river. The big white structure at the back of the boat is the bathrooms and the bar area. We immediately eyed the seats in the last 2 rows and noted that they were in the shade from the bar. Of course, once the boat turns around and goes in a different direction, that shade will disappear, but we wanted to get a seat back there so at least we could have a few minutes of shade.

The boarding process takes a few minutes because they try to take photos of each party to sell as a souvenir after the tour. When we finally got down the stairs and onto the boat, there were 2 seats left in the back row on the left side, so we quickly walked over and sat down before someone else got there first! Yay! While it was only 10am, it was already very hot and humid, so any little bit of shade was appreciated!! It took about 20 minutes for everyone to get on the boat and find a seat. Each of these benches holds 6 people and the tour was sold out, so we really had to squeeze to let everyone find a spot.

All of those people up on the sidewalk are waiting to board the boat.

The tour started a few minutes after 10am, and there was a guide narrating over a microphone at the front of the boat. Because there are so many buildings very close together at this section of the river, he had to speak quite fast and it was hard to keep up. We had already learned about several of these buildings on our walking tour on Friday night, so at least it wasn’t our first time hearing the information, but it was still a little hard to understand him at first. Luckily, the tour got better as the buildings spread out more, further down the river.

Here is just a sampling of the photos that I took on the tour…

These 2 buildings are the Marina Towers. When they were first built, it was meant to be a place where you could live and find all of your necessities close by. It had a supermarket, a shopping mall, a movie theater, and a bowling alley, all on the same property as the towers. Often called the Corn Cob building for its unique shape, the bottom 10 stories of each tower are the parking garage, and then the upper floors are all condominiums.

The parking garage spirals all the way down and they require mandatory valet parking so that no one gets into an accident! Notice how all of the cars are perfectly backed into their spots, and there are just 3 thin wires as protection against the cars falling over the edge? I can only imaging how nervous those valet parking attendants must be on their first day of work!!

Looking up through the grates of one of the bridges

This gigantic building is Merchandise Mart. When it was opened in 1930, it was the largest building in the world, with 4 million square feet of floor space. The building originally housed Chicago’s architectural and interior design vendors, but later expanded to other industries as well. Merchandise Mart is so large that, until 2008, it had its own zip code!

I really liked how so many of the skyscrapers had mirrored glass windows to reflect the city skyline.

This building is 150 North Riverside Plaza, and it was built to look upside down, but it also accomplished something very functional. Notice how narrow the building is at its base? As required by the city of Chicago for any new building, the developer was required to set aside part of the lot size for public park space. The building’s footprint encompasses just 25 percent of the lot, and the remaining 75 percent of the project site is reserved for a public park, amphitheater, and the Riverwalk. The site is built with air rights over tracks that carry Metra and Amtrak trains into Chicago Union Station.

The boat turned right to head up the north fork of the river, but because this is a residential area, the guide was not permitted to talk on the microphone at that time. We only went a short distance though, and then made a U-turn to head down towards the south fork of the river, which eventually feeds into the Mississippi River.

More beautiful reflections off the Nuveen building

This building figured out a clever way to provide more “corner” offices. This zig-zag structure to the outer corners of the building allows for 4 highly-desired corner offices where there would normally be just one.

This building features a map of the Chicago River, and the red rectangle shows where the building is located.

Making a U-Turn again to head back towards the main branch of the river. From here, we had a nice view of the Willis Tower.

This interesting building is often known as the Morse Code building

A better view of the Willis Tower (formerly known as the Sears Tower)

I am always drawn to geometric shapes and buildings, so this perfect grid with bright white walls against the black mirrors caught my eye

A better view of Merchandise Mart as we turned back up the main branch of the Chicago River

Tribune Tower, former home to the Chicago Tribune but it was recently sold to be converted into condos.

The Tribune Tower is known for it’s gothic-inspired architecture

A daytime shot of the NBC Tower (I had another photo of it during our walking tour on Friday night)

Remember how our walking tour on Friday ended at the Centennial Fountain where we saw the water shooting across the river? Well we saw it again today, but this time we were on one of the boats who had to wait until the water stopped so we could finish our tour!

A daytime photo of Lake Point Tower, aka: The Giant Fidget Spinner!

View of Navy Pier from the water

The boat had to make one final U-turn here or we would end up out in Lake Michigan. As we turned around, we were treated to a beautiful panoramic view of the whole city skyline, which made for a wonderful way to end the tour!

The triangle-shaped building on the left was designed to maximize how many condos had views of the Chicago River. Behind that is Aqua, a condo building where Lady Gaga once lived, which features wave-like balconies that are shaped differently on each floor.

The architecture boat tour ended about 10 minutes late at 11:25, likely due to the delay with getting everyone on the boat at the start of the tour. We had nothing specific on the agenda for the rest of the day, aside from wanting to get Chicago-style hot dogs for lunch. Aram, our guide from the walking tour on Friday, had mentioned that there is a bar Trump Tower which offers great views of the river. It is located on the rooftop of the lowest tier of the building on the 16th floor, so it’s not at the very top of the building or anything crazy like that! Since our boat tour ended just a few blocks from Trump Tower, we decided to walk over and check it out. We didn’t really plan to buy drinks there considering it wasn’t even 12 noon yet, but we wanted to go upstairs to see the views, and then discretely get back in the elevators to leave.

Walking into the main lobby of Trump Tower, there were signs directing us to the elevator for the 16th floor, but when we pushed the button, nothing happened! It turns out that they open at noon, so the elevator access is shut off until they are officially opened each day. That was fine with us though, and we enjoyed the opportunity to relax on a couch in the lobby and soak up all of the air conditioning we could! When the bar finally opened at noon, we went upstairs and were treated to beautiful views, as promised!

Looks like the next boat tour is loaded up and ready to go!

A better view of the details on the roof of the Wrigley Building and Tribune Tower

The outdoor space wraps around the building so you can see the views in nearly every direction

We were starting to get hungry, so we left Trump Tower in search of lunch. Like I mentioned, we wanted Chicago-style hot dogs for lunch today. Portillo’s is one of the top-rated places for that, and it was about a mile walk from where the river tour ended, so we decided to walk over there for lunch. The building is really old and you can tell there is a lot of history here.

Inside, it was extremely chaotic! You order at one counter and wait at a different counter for them to call your order number when your food is ready. Sounds simple enough, right? Not quite, because there were hundreds of people who also wanted a hot dog for lunch today!!

This photo was actually taken after we finished eating and the line had died down a bit. When we first arrived, we entered through the front door which is on the far left side below the giant clock and the line went nearly to the door. We had no idea what the process was, but the employee in the white shirt with a black hat was very helpful and explained how things worked. I waited on line to order our food while DH went to scout out a table. There were actually 3 lines because each register had its own line, but it still moved very slowly. When I finally got to the front of the line, I ordered DH a jumbo hot dog with everything on it, including mustard, relish, onion, tomato, pickles, celery salt, and sport peppers. I guess I am too picky because the only topping I wanted was pickles (which I planned to remove and eat separately lol), and I also got an order of cheese fries for us to share.

After that, I waited about 15 minutes at the other counter for our order to be called. You know how most places like this just call the number of a loud speaker? Well things are a bit more fun here as the guy calling the numbers would make a rhyme for every order. “Number 5, look alive!” “Number 22, this food’s for you!” While it was clever and gave the restaurant a lot of personality, it made it really hard to hear your number called because you had to listen for the number between all those words, which isn’t easy to do in a room this loud!

When he finally called for our order, I grabbed the food and went over to the condiments station for ketchup. Notice how they don’t serve ketchup as an option on the hot dogs? You have to get it for yourself because they don’t usually put ketchup on hot dogs in Chicago. I totally forgot to take a photo of DH’s hot dog because we were both so flustered from this whole experience that I didn’t think to take out my camera until we were nearly done eating. The hot dogs were really good though, and the cheese for our fries was in a container on the side so I could also spread some on my hot dog to make it into a cheese dog! Overall, we enjoyed our experience at Portillo’s, but I think we would have liked it more if it wasn’t so hectic and crowded!

By the time we finished lunch, it was nearly 2pm so we walked the one mile walk back to our hotel. It’s a good thing that Chicago is such a flat city because we really did a lot of walking while we were here! On the way, we passed an interested sculpture which we later learned was designed by Pablo Picasso.

Back at the hotel, we quickly took showers and got changed for the evening. Tonight was the night when we had tickets to the Cubs game, and we wanted to get there early to have time to check out the neighborhood around Wrigley Field, and to enter the stadium when it opened at around 5pm so have time to walk around and buy dinner before the game started.

Wrigley Field is conveniently located one block from the red line on the L train, so we left our hotel and walked 2 blocks to our nearest red line stop. Even though it was before 4pm and the game didn’t start until 7pm, there were already lots of people on the train wearing Cubs gear and who were going up to the stadium early. Luckily, we got on the train pretty early in the route so we were able to get the last 2 seats in our train car, but not long after that, it was extremely crowded with no spade for anyone else to squeeze in our car. The ride took about 20 minutes, and when we pulled into the Addison station, we could see Wrigley Field right there. We followed the flow of traffic out of the station and towards Clark Street to where all the bars are located.

We made it to Wrigley Field!

The first bar we walked into was Cubby Bear, but it was very loud in there and felt more like a nighttime club than a place for an afternoon drink. Next door, we found Vines on Clark which was more our speed. They had a nice bar inside, but what really attracted us was the large outdoor patio with lots of tables and umbrellas for shade. Although it was crowded, it was a relaxed vibe and not too loud, and we were able to find a table in the shade.

We each ordered a beer and enjoyed the atmosphere for about half an hour until it was time to go to the game. Walking back towards the stadium, I asked a lady to take our photo, and this is what I got…

Geez, you’d think she could have waited 3 seconds for the big police truck to get out of the way. And maybe she could put a tiny bit of effort in to centering the stadium behind us? Some people just have zero common sense! The stadium opened 2 hours before first pitch, so that’s when we arrived, but it was already extremely crowded with hundreds of people crammed on the sidewalk waiting to go through security. While we waited, we noticed that not only do they hang up the flag of the opposing team, but also the flag for that team’s home state.

The security lines moved quickly and soon enough, we were walking into the stadium. They had a free give away at the game today so we picked up our free reusable shopping bag with the Cubs logo printed on it, then we walked around the stadium and watched batting practice. I don’t know what the problem was tonight, but we just couldn’t get a decent photo. This was the best of the photos we took inside Wrigley Field before the game.

We made a full loop around the outer concourse of the stadium to check out all of our food options. I thought it was fun that they had a mural depicting how the mascot has changed over the years.

I wanted another taste of that delicious Giordano’s pizza, and DH wanted another Chicago-style hot dog, so we found a vendor who sold both of those items and bought food for dinner to eat back at our seats while we watched the game.

Amazingly, this ballpark version of deep dish pizza was just as good as what we had at the restaurant last night!

You can barely see the hot dog under all those toppings!

Our flight home tomorrow leaves at 7:50pm, which meant we needed to remember to check in during the game. I set multiple alarms on my cell phone to make sure we didn’t forget, and we had our phones ready to go the second the clock changed to 7:50 and our check in window was opened. Despite all of that work, I got B-25 and DH got something similar. It used to be that if you were diligent and checked in right away, you could get an A boarding zone, but we got B’s for both legs of our flight. What a bummer!

This was one of the highest scoring games I’ve ever watched, so it was a lot of fun to see this game live. While part of me was rooting for the SF Giants because we live in the Bay Area, I couldn’t help but get excited for the home team as they were playing really well tonight. The downside to them scoring so many runs was that this game seemed to drag on forever. I think they were only in the 6th inning at the 3-hour mark! On top of that, it was extremely hot with temps over 80 degrees for the entire game and very little wind inside the stadium. At one point, I got really overheated and needed to find a fan or something to cool me down. Downstairs under the bleachers section, they have misters blowing cool water so I sat down near there to cool off, and felt better after a few minutes. In the end, the Cubs won with a score of 8 to 3.

After the game, DH wanted to check out one of the bars near the stadium for the post-game celebrations. We picked Sluggers Bar, which was located next to the bar we went to before the game. Sluggers Bar is 2 stories. Downstairs looks like a typical bar with a big open space for a dance floor and a DJ playing loud music. Upstairs, the space is divided into 2 sections for a piano bar and a batting cage! This was unlike any bar we’ve ever seen and it was a lot of fun. DH was excited to try the batting cages so he bought a token which is good for 10 pitches. There were already a lot of people on line so he picked the cage with the shortest line which was for “slow pitch” even though he would have preferred the faster pitches. Luckily, the line moved quickly and after about 10 minutes, it was his turn to play.

After that, we went over to the section with the dueling piano bar. They have this every Friday and Saturday night, and also after every home game, but they only have a cover charge on Saturdays so we lucked out that we were here on a Sunday night. We have been to dueling piano bars in San Diego and Las Vegas, and we always have a great time. This bar was no different and the piano players were a lot of fun, taking requests from the audience and singing great sing-along songs. I was so exhausted and overheated from the game that I only anticipated staying for a few minutes, but I think we ended up staying here for close to an hour. The other benefit to that, aside from enjoying the bar a little longer, was that it gave time for the crowds to thin out for our trip back to the hotel on the L train. It was still fairly crowded and there were no seats available on our train car so we had to stand for the whole ride, but at least we weren’t packed in like sardines! When we got back to the hotel, we set an alarm for 8am and went straight to sleep after another fun day in the Windy City!

Step Tracker Daily Total: 17,219 steps; 7.1 miles

#Chicago for MDW 2018 #chicago #windycity

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newyorktheater · 4 years

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#Stageworthy News.

Every year for the past decade, I’ve written a preview guide to the dozen or so annual summer theater festivals in New York. Most have been canceled this year, at least one (New York Musical Festival) permanently. But several have been reimagined. The She NYC Arts festival begins Wednesday, New Ohio Theater’s Ice Factory Festival is offering a full “digital lineup” that begins Friday. Dixon Place’s Hot Festival continues online through August 1. The River to River Festival, created in the aftermath of 9/11 and normally a raft of outdoor performances in the Financial District, is this year reimagined as Four Voices — basically four art installations. The Corkscrew Festival, while postponing its live shows until next summer, announced “Corkscrew 4.0, a curated collection of virtual experiences,” although it’s not clear when these begin.

And — silver lining? — some of the summer theater festivals that would have ended their runs by now are still available online, including Theater for the New City’s Lower East Side Festival of the Arts. Last week, the Public Theater’s Free Shakespeare in the Park offered “Richard II” as a four-episode radio drama; it’s now available as a podcast on its website.

It’s worth noting that New York is not alone. The Edinburgh Fringe Festival,the granddaddy of all modern summer theater festivals, is going online

The Week in Reviews The Week in News

The Week in Reviews

Amadeus

Historically, “Amadeus” is baloney. Theatrically, it’s a feast. Musically, the National Theatre’s 2016 production of Peter Shaffer’s 1979 play — a recording of which is being streamed online through July 23 — arguably shares something of the same fate as Mozart’s supposed rival Salieri. This “Amadeus” suffers from comparison with the 1984 film directed by Milos Forman, which won eight Academy Awards, including for Best Picture and Best Sound. Perhaps most to the point, the soundtrack of the film Amadeus won the Grammy Award for best classical album in 1985…. Still, under the direction of Michael Longhurst, this “Amadeus” has much to recommend it…

Well that was astonishing. Thank you @Play_PerView, @willarbery, @DanyaTaymor @JebKreager Julia McDermott Michele Pawk, Zoë Winters, John Zdrojeski for#HeroesoftheFourthTurning pic.twitter.com/WMglUsLYxH

— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) July 19, 2020

We Are Freestyle Love Supreme

So there is Lin-Manuel Miranda, ten years before “Hamilton,” three years before even “In The Heights,” galloping across the street to join his fellow members of Freestyle Love Supreme, a hip-hop improv group, who have just frightened a little girl in a purple coat by spontaneously rapping about her at a bus stop in Greenwich Village….Two observations about that first scene, filmed way back in 2005, of “We Are Freestyle Love Supreme,” a new 80-minute documentary that’s now on Hulu: First, there is something frightening about the talent of this group, who make up rhymes in a rap rhythm on the spot…What this documentary offers is the opportunity to revisit something familiar.

Good As New

In “Good As New,” a funny and pointed 25-minute play that MCC streamed live online, Julianne Moore as Jan is arguing with her daughter Maggie (Kaitlyn Dever) on Maggie’s 16th birthday, while the teenager drives her mother home after plastic surgery. Maggie is “disgusted” at what her mother has done to her face.

“I have no respect for any woman that would allow….”

“Who’s left for you to respect?” Jan interrupts, “This knocks out…” and she lists famous women who have had plastic surgery – Betty Ford, Mary Tyler Moore, Elizabeth Taylor.

Tommy Dorfman

Judith Light

Cherry Jones

Homebound Project 4 Review: Promises with Tommy Dorfman, Cherry Jones, Judith Light, Marquise Vilson…

Tommy Dorfman, in sexy black corset and purple wig, exclaims “I’m a Queen…I’m hot,” does an interpretive dance on the bed, puts on lipstick as if host of a makeup show, plays a tambourine, and curses out someone named Tim – perhaps a jilting lover? Then the telephone rings – it’s Tim, his boss. He takes off his purple wig and changes to his on-the-job voice.

“Assets,” a six–minute play by Diana Oh directed by Lena Dunham, is the funniest of the 11 new monologues in the fourth starry edition of Homebound Project, an online anthology series of original work, whose aim is to raise money for No Kid Hungry, and whose theme for the fourth edition is “promise.” The plays interpret this in various ways.

Book Review: Broadway in the Box: Television’s Lasting Love Affair with the Musical

Before it even opened on Broadway in 1954, the producers of the musical “Peter Pan” had struck a deal with NBC to present it live on television, after its Broadway run, with its cast intact, including the star Mary Martin. It was such a success – 65 million people watched it; one critic marveled at the merging of “the advantages of live theater and live television” – that it was repeated live the following year.

Some six decades later, NBC presented a new “Peter Pan Live!,” created just for broadcast, this time marketed on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, where viewers commented in real time during the broadcast, largely with snark, helping to coin the term “hate-watching.” The show was viewed (hatefully or not) by 9.2 million viewers. The lead, Allison Williams, has never performed on Broadway.

But the comparison is not meant as nostalgia for the good old days. “Peter Pan Live!” may have gotten fewer viewers, but it was broadcast in the same decade as a rash of popular television series like “Glee” that were labeled TV musicals. In “Broadway in the Box: Television’s Lasting Love Affair with the Musical” (Oxford University Press, 336 pages), author Kelly Kessler, a professor at DePaul University, attempts to chronicle these two eras and everything in-between

Thanks @NYPL_Theatre‘s @DougReside for presiding over the library’s first virtual theater book club just now. We discussed James Shapiro’s Shakespeare in a Divided America (@penguinpress) For those who missed it, my review of this fascinating book: https://t.co/QYFI3aeju3

— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) July 17, 2020

The Week in Theater News

New York City reaches Phase 4 in reopening today — “there are no more phases,” Governor Andrew Cuomo said. “We are all in the final phase of reopening. And that’s great.” — but that doesn’t include theaters….or movie theaters, museums, indoor dining, gyms, or malls. (New York City’s Phase 4, Explained)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art did announce it will reopen August 29, masks required and six-foot distancing

Interesting contrast with the 1918 pandemic ‘Gotham Refuses to Get Scared’: In 1918, NYC Theaters Stayed Open

Instead of closing theaters, health commission Royal Copeland staggered their curtain times, assigning each to a group. The Hippodrome, for example, started at 8 p.m., the Winter Garden at 8:15, the Lyric at 8:30, the Booth at 8:45 and the Belasco at 9.

Camille A Brown

Edmund Donovan

Vinie Burrows

A Strange Loop creative team and ensemble

Obie Awards 2020 Winners

Broadway Barks 2020

Andrew Lloyd Webber has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign over using his song, “Memory,” at political rallies — an action that Betty Buckley had been urging for a while.

Excellent news!! Thanks to you guys!! Hippetyhaw!! : )Andrew Lloyd Webber Sends Cease-and-Desist to Trump Campaign For Using ‘Memory’ at Rallies https://t.co/OXYslqTPcM

— Betty Buckley (@BettyBuckley) July 13, 2020

Black Theater United will hold a Virtual Town Hall, “Our Voices. Our Votes. Our Time.” with Stacey Abrams, Dr. Jeanine Abrams Mclean, moderated by Viola Davis, July 24 at 7 p.m.

Hamilton Star Mandy Gonzalez has written a YA novel, to be published in 2021, which features the ghost of Ethel Merman “Fearless” follows a group of teen performers who must confront the spirit of the Broadway legend.

Playwrights Horizons 2021 season, which will be the company’s 50th and Adam Greenfield’s first as artistic director, includes: Aleshea Harris’s “What to Send Up When It Goes Down,” a ritual-as-play that honors Black lives lost to racialized violence Sylvia Khoury’s “Selling Kabul,” an Afghanistan-set thriller that examines the human cost of immigration policy Dave Harris’s “Tambo & Bones,” described as a “hip-hop triptych” about two characters trapped in a minstrel show and Sanaz Toossi’s dramatic comedy “Wish You Were Here,” which follows best friends who grapple with cultural upheaval amid the Iranian Revolution.

New York Theatre Workshop’s Un-Season

In place of what most theatergoers have come to regard as a “season,” the New York Theatre Workshop — the birthplace of “Rent,” among other landmarks — is offering what you might call a 2020-21 un-season. A programmatic embodiment of the possible, fueled by the percolating brains of more than two dozen playwrights, directors, actors and performance artists. These artistic “instigators” have each been given an initial $2,500 by the Workshop to develop a project over the coming months — and many of the artists will allow audiences to follow along as they build them. For $10 to $125 a month, members gain entree to the instigators’ evolving work, with no guarantee that anything resembling a full stage production will result.

An unforgettable moment, one year ago this evening. Broadway Blackout! Can you imagine the party we’re going to have when we’re back at the Walter Kerr? #BroadwayWillBeBack #SpringWillComeAgain https://t.co/i2PR04GH9X

— Hadestown (@hadestown) July 14, 2020

(What does it say that we’re nostalgic for a blackout?)

Rest in Peace

Phyllis Somerville, 76, Broadway veteran who was last on Broadway in “To Kill A Mockingbird.”

David Rosenberg, 90, director and theater critic

Bill Timms, 62, talent agent

RIP, John Lewis, 80, civil rights leader, Congressman.

55 years after he led famous march in Selma, he found “very moving” the many marchers for #BlackLivesMatter who took to the streets “to speak up, to speak out, to get into what I call ‘good trouble'”https://t.co/GzecOgTYyt pic.twitter.com/X7aCH6ZbqU

— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) July 18, 2020

This is the man that taught us all how to get into some #GoodTrouble. One of my heroes. A true legend. Thank you for teaching us how to fight for liberty & justice for all mankind. This photo was taken at the @HRC Dinner in DC 2016 right before the world blew up. RIP #JohnLewis pic.twitter.com/8BPFqCb5eA

— Billy Porter (@theebillyporter) July 18, 2020

If you’re not registered to vote, do so today in honor of John Lewis. #goodtrouble https://t.co/qNv955p6ZL

— Wanda Sykes (@iamwandasykes) July 18, 2020

NYC’s Summer Theater Festivals Reimagined. NYC “reopens” #Stageworthy News. Every year for the past decade, I’ve written a preview guide to the dozen or so annual summer theater festivals in New York.

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againjack · 7 years

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I didn’t respond back to Colby’s text. I didn’t feel there was anything to say. I did ask him at one point his thoughts on dinner before or after the show, he decided after. I let him know when I was on my way. I knew he was distracted with the dog. I knew at some point his ex was there to say goodbye to the dog. I didn’t want to intrude nor did I feel that he could do more for or with me.

I got to his place and couldn’t tell if he was in or out, so I got the hidey key and let myself in. He called down hello to me as soon as I opened the door. :\ We basically had to go shortly after I got there.

On the way in we talked a bit. I shared my story. He said he was concerned about me. He was the one to notice I was gone for a while and sent the hostess to check on me - he knew I was menstruating and was worried it was something related to that. Once the hostess told him I was ok and staying, he was worried about my meds but the hostess told him to go home. I honestly wasn’t in a presence of mind to think of meds or anything beyond throwing up, laying down, and cleaning up the mess I made.

It was nice that for once he seemed dependent upon me for directions, how to get from one place to another, and knowing the building well. He seemed unsure but trusted me. Granted I didn’t give him much room to do otherwise unless he wanted to get left behind. :P He was very impressed with the seats I got. He was very excited and couldn’t help share on facebook right away.

The show was phenomenal. I enjoyed that it felt like a bonding moment for us. That we were finally building something that we can have inside jokes and special memories about. Not that things we have done previously didn’t do this too, but this packed a bunch of emotions. I was very sensitive to when the actress reading Indigo killed the count and how Colby might feel regarding his own dad being near the end. (A la “I want my father back you son of a bitch.” )

I was glad that I was able to provide several things that he enjoyed. I rubbed it in a bit that if he sticks with me he’ll have lots of fun and interesting things. He alluded to getting a theater subscription. He keeps on the “poor me” about how he used to do things with his friends, then they all got married and he had no one to do these things with. I...don’t get that. :P But then I enjoy going to movies, art museums, opera, ballet, etc by myself. I am comfortable in who I am and don’t worry (too much) about how others will perceive me if I am alone. Sure some things are more enjoyable by sharing the experience, but it is an added benefit, not mandatory.

We went out to a place he frequents regularly; I enjoyed it. He was somewhat concerned about how I’ve been feeling crappy and eating crappy. He makes a good Jewish mom. :P (He has made that joke about himself a few times before.)

We came back and he putzed around: laundry, HOA stuff, etc. He joked about how when my phone died I immediately picked up a book. Duh. What else would I do? And why not? Reading is fun and awesome!

Around 1am he told me that he appreciates and knows I try to stay up for him, but I can crash if I needed to. And I did need to so I went to bed for my normal wind down process. He came to bed as I was on the cusp of sleep. I could have said something, rolled over to cuddle up to him.... and then been awake and had trouble falling back asleep for over an hour. Instead I just stayed in that twilight space, didn’t move, and just eased into sleep. I half wonder what, if anything, he thought seeing me (nearly) asleep and not reacting to him.

In the morning he took an hour of hitting snooze. He would let the alarm go off for two or more minutes before (I said his name and) getting up to snooze it. I didn’t crawl out of bed until after he actually was clearly up and getting ready. I didn’t try to cuddle with him, but at one point he was on his stomach with a hand reaching in my direction so I reached out to brush it, but he pulled back so I let it go.

It took me longer than normal to get ready - about 35 minutes. lol I was able to take care of the dog and prep Colby (made him coffee, put his electronics and some pastries in his laptop bag). By then it was 9 and since I normally start work around 9:30 (with meetings starting at 10 and about a half hour drive home) so I went to his closed bathroom door and called to him. I personally feel it is (not rude, but uncultured?) odd to speak to someone through a closed door. I told him the time and that I had to go. He asked me to wait a minute, then came out, wrapped in a towel *fans self* and kissed me good bye and wished me a good day and to feel better.

Yesterday I told him that a friend invited us over for dinner and smores on Friday night. In our sporadic chatting today he said that Friday his brothers getting together to celebrate birthdays and I was welcome to join. No pressure and I didn’t have to go, but he needed to know for reservation purposes. First of all, holy cow planning something more than two days in advance? Second, dude, I already had plans and now you are guilting me and telling me that you AGAIN don’t want to meet or spend time with my friends. At least he is including, and wanting to spend time with, me. But it makes me wonder if he’ll ever meet my friends and family, if he even wants/cares to.

I somehow stumbled down a rabbit hole of articles about relationship advice and found several articles that resonated for me - most not in a good way, validating that this is not good. But as I told a work friend, at this point I’m stuck. I can’t/won’t be that asshole who dumps him in his time of need (dog, father) or during the holiday cycle. I don’t think he feels there is much wrong, though I know he knows I’m not happy. He has admittedly gotten better since that ‘come to Jesus’ talk in early September, even if it took him over a month to do so. But there is still some way to go. I read the negative article first, and was really sad; checking off 40% of the items listed. Then I read the positive article, it made sense why I’m so torn because I checked off 40% of that, too.

Tomorrow afternoon it will be time to say good bye to the dog. It’s been so hard these past few days. Today I found myself crying off and on at work over losing him. He is such a great dog, so loving, caring, full of character... An amazing and wonderful dog. I’m so sad to see him go, but, I think it will be better than watching his quality of life decline so far, so fast. I am really going to miss him a lot. I know it’s only been 6.5 months, but he’s become my (fur) baby too. I’m crying now typing this out.

I don’t know what Colby will decide about taking the dog to the vet or having the vet come to his house. I don’t know how much he will need me - or push me away like he did Saturday night. Tomorrow is going to suck for everyone.

#dating Colby #fur baby #bonding moments #stick with me kid and you'll never be bored #heart wrenching #comme ci comme ca

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catalinachamber · 7 years

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catalina wine mixer

Catalina catalina express Island is a captivating island within the Pacific simply off the coast of Southern California. The island is residence to quite a lot of species of birds, sea life and land mammals as nicely climbing trails, tenting grounds and fishing/snorkeling alternatives. Catalina Island is also a luxurious vacation spot for vacationers trying to be pampered at a spa in its city center of Avalon or stay at its many accommodations and inns. Catalina is a 45 minute boat journey from Long Beach, Los Angeles and Orange County catalina express groupon areas.

The most well-liked arrival methodology into Catalina Island is by way of boat from the mainland within the city of Avalon. Avalon is taken into account the central level of the island where guests can get info on all points of CatalinaIslandChamberof Commerce the Catalina experience from lodging to climbing. Situated on the japanese coast of the island, Avalon is home of most of the motels, buying and dinning alternatives on Catalina. Small little streets and strolling paths criss cross through Avalon. At the middle of Avalon's shores is its harbor, home to dozens of personal yachts and sail boats.

Avalon is home to over 30 eating places, inns and inns. The accommodations of Avalon range from small mattress and breakfasts to larger accommodations. Exterior of Avalon, Catalina is named a haven for campers and offers a wide range of tenting alternatives.

In the surrounding space around the town of Avalon are charming lanes and hiking trails that department out from the city center to destinations all over the island. For those not inclined to stroll, there are many options including golf cart leases and shuttle bus aervices that take guests from either end of the island. The hiking trails on Catalina are expansive, but lovely as on many points they afford hikers 360 views of the ocean. Lots of the trails are perfect for extra experienced hikers with correct gear.

One of the extra unique attractions for those in search of an out of doors and nature experience are Catalina's many free roaming buffalo. Originally launched to the island within the Nineteen Twenties, the buffalo were used in many old western go to this blog Hollywood shoots. Today the buffalo population is over 250. The island provides a safari like tour the place visitors sit in again of giant jeeps and are taken via the realm where the buffalo's roam very like a tour you'd see in Africa.

Catalina offers many opportunities for engaging with the ocean life that surround the ialand. The island provides some of the widespread snorkeling and dive spots in all of California. Catalina's water temperatures differ seasonally, from a low within the fifties to a high within the low seventies. As well as providing glorious visibility, Catalina Island's underwater gardens and spectacular kelp forests present a stupendous back drop for the varied variety of marine life and native fish. In addition there are various hidden coves, underwater reefs and cliffs, as well as dolphins, sea lions, harbor seals and aquatic birds which might be each residents and frequent visitors alongside the coast of Catalina.

Getting to Catalina Island may be very simple. Nearly all of transportation choices depart from the Los Angeles, Lengthy Seashore and Orange County areas. The most popular is the Catalina Express. The Catalina Specific is a boat that departs from each Long Seaside and Orange County and is a forty five minute journey to Avalon. In addition, Catalina is home to an airport where visitors can take both scheduled and constitution air service from the primary land. Scheduled air service departs from the Long Beach airport.

How many occasions have you thought about escaping the mainland altogether and spending some time enjoying life on a paradise island? What would you say if I could present you how to do it a lot nearer, and very less expensive than you thought it might be?

Santa Catalina Island, positioned 22 Miles west of Los Angeles, is America's greatest island retreat, and greatest stored trip secret.

Catalina is wonderfully distinctive in that it is the excellent distance away from the mainland. It is close sufficient which you can get there by a one-hour ferry journey, but also far enough away to feel totally separated from the mainland altogether, giving you the total expertise of a tropical resort isolated in the midst of the Pacific.

There is one main resort city, the City of Avalon, where you will arrive by any business water route. As soon as there, the Island has 76 sq. miles of adventure in every kind ready for you, from mountaineering to scuba diving, all inside easy attain of your luxury accommodations.

Avalon is a city that was actually created for the lone objective of being an exotic tourist vacation spot. Even now, over 100 years later, the gorgeous metropolis still excels at this vision. There are not any workplace buildings there; no authorities buildings, no people employed for any motive other than the tourism trade, and the supporting industries (like groceries and utilities) which can be wanted to assist the town. This makes the complete island an ideal paradise retreat for escaping the issues we face in our modern world.

So, what is there to do on the Catalina Islands, CA?

What ISN'T there to do? Not just the town of Avalon, however your complete Island is open to your exploration, with many alternative parks (full with park rangers) of various settings. It even has a unique golf course that winds by way of the 'suburb' of Avalon metropolis.

The attention-grabbing and diverse wildlife on Catalina Island, and even the minor surrounding catalina island islands, is extremely rich. On the north shore there's a complete seashore that is full of

Seals virtually year-spherical, while on the excessive plains, near the airport in the inside of the Island, you can normally catch a glimpse of the herd of Buffalo which have made Catalina

There's a tour, either by boat or by bus, sometimes each, for all the things you can see on Catalina. In the summertime probably the most well-known tour is their world-famous 'flying fish tour,' the place your boat pulls up alongside a swarm of flying fish feeding at evening! Nevertheless, those who visit for brief journeys all the time go house and share their footage from the submarine journey, which takes you six ft beneath water into a kelp mattress where you may be surrounded by thousands of gorgeous fish in every direction... It's truly a novel experience for all ages.

In the event you're into the purchasing scene, you may be pleasantly stunned by Avalon's shopping district. I won't exaggerate here and lead you to believe that it rivals the most effective procuring values found on Earth, but the location and surrounding elaborations are to not be missed. -And they simply can't be duplicated elsewhere! Think about a hundred or so small, cozy retailers all nestled among your lodge and favorite restaurants in a multi-tiered, labyrinthine fashion with cobblestones underneath, fascinating architecture in every single place, palm bushes above, all surrounded by the most aromatic smells from each route, and all right by the beach and your room. The best way they match so many quality shops, restaurants, and resorts in so tight, but nonetheless giving you enough room to not really feel crowded is nothing wanting magical.

Since you don't need every other transportation that your personal feet in tiny Avalon, you may literally maintain all your bags in the lodge room and just walk between them catalina wine mixer tickets all, in less time than you'd expect. The ideal setup of the principle strip along the Avalon Seashore is one of the leading reasons that Catalina is such a paradise.

The enormous, artwork-deco On line casino building, proper on the seashore, was constructed within the roaring 20s as a dance hall & movie theater. ("Casino" didn't imply playing yet after they named it.)

Simply within walking distance of your hotel, this giant, spherical constructing that sits up on the north finish of the Avalon strip is the most obvious landmark in Avalon. It offers movies, excursions, and there is even a museum in the basement, detailing the whole fascinating history of Catalina Island.

Subsequent time you California residents get the urge to go to an unique, far-off destination, save your self a variety of money and time: Visit Catalina Island instead.

Simply 26 miles off the Mainland, Catalina could as properly be in Spain or the Greek Isles as a result of the attraction is obvious from the moment your boat glides into Avalon Bay, a panorama of luxurious yachts typically catalinachamber.com/ populated by younger, stunning folks, surrounded by the dramatic hills of the harbor where houses and villas are perched nearly on one another, almost every single one commanding a spectacular view of the bay.

This can be a image postcard scene that by no means has a bad day. It is always dripping with the colours of a tropical paradise, an inspiring things to do in catalina island in december combination of earth, sea and architecture that can instantly raise your spirits and show you how to neglect your everyday life at dwelling.

On our most up-to-date journey to the island, we boarded the Catalina Express in Dana Level, the easiest way for San Diego County residents to get to Catalina. In addition they supply convenient connections from Los Angeles area docks at Long Seashore and San Pedro. Catalina Specific runs several various kinds of boats to the island however our 97-foot mono-hull proved to be a comfortable journey even in larger-than-common swells. It isn't uncommon on these trips to see porpoises and seals - as we did - and the fresh salt air is invigorating in the event you enterprise outside the primary cabin.

Earlier than we left Dana Level, we had been informed by the Catalina Express office that there was an opportunity the journey residence in two days could possibly be delayed resulting from expected high winds. If the winds came, our selection could be to return house a day early or a day late. We selected to go anyway - worst case scenario was a quick in a single day hop to Catalina, which we didn't assume was a lot of a down facet.

One motive we wished to go was to pattern the newly remodeled Pavilion Hotel, a longtime island favourite (formerly often called the Pavilion Lodge) that has been transformed into an upscale hideaway right downtown on Crescent Avenue, Avalon's "important street." The first thing we seen was the lush tropical vegetation all through the internal courtyard with each indoor and outside seating for a wine-and-cheese bar that additionally doubles as a breakfast bar in the morning. Pathways lead via the courtyard to the person models which have a bungalow really feel even though they're all a part of the identical constructing. Every unit has its own lanai.

Opening the French doors to our room we immediately seen the eye to detail and what should have been a whole upgrade from the earlier d?cor.

New wicker chairs, high-quality adornments on the beds, large-display excessive-definition television, upscale bathtub equipment and simply an total coziness made our room at the Pavilion really feel catalina island flyer birthday just as particular as our island getaway itself. Attentive, cheerful staff added to the general impression that the homeowners undoubtedly want to make this lodging stand out for its quality.

This was a couples getaway for us - our daughter was staying with mates again residence - so we asked for recommendations on a very good place to have dinner. Locals prompt Steve's Steakhouse so we took a brief stroll down Crescent Avenue to this common restaurant.

When you go to Steve's Steakhouse, our suggestion can be to dine there when it isn't so busy. Our Friday night time visit on the peak of the dinner hour coincided with a big wedding celebration additionally being held at the restaurant in essentially the identical room, though back a bit from the diners who had been positioned up close to the view windows. We had no reservations so we were placed at a table that probably should not even be there - it's situated adjacent to the kitchen, proper subsequent to the path all the waiters take when putting or delivering orders, and in addition subsequent to the party space.

Whereas we had no complaints concerning the meals, the decibel stage was as loud as any we have ever skilled Catalina Island Chamber of Commerce santa in a restaurant and was in all probability the one negative experience we have ever had on Catalina Island.

The optimistic experiences on Catalina Island are many, indeed. The Santa Catalina Company - which owns and operates a good number of companies on the island catalina express groupon - has assembled a powerful record of adventures and excursions all designed to show off the island's surroundings, historical past and water sports.

The latest and biggest addition to the excursions is the Zip Line Eco Tour, certainly one of just a few zip strains in California and, on this case, one of the vital scenic. In the event you've watched reality shows like the Amazing Catalina Island Chamber of Commerce Social Network Race, it looks as if a zip line is thrown in someplace along the route each season. That is as a result of riding a zipper line is large on thrills, however considered secure because of the in depth security measures in-built.

A zip line is basically an inclined cable strung between two factors, with the harnessed rider attaching himself to the cable with a pulley-like device that permits him to ride the road downward with the pressure of gravity. On Catalina, riders attain speeds of up to 40 miles an hour on a collection of 5 zip lines that take riders throughout read more on wikipedia here Descanso Canyon greater than 300 ft above the canyon ground. Riders additionally be taught something in regards to the unique flora, fauna and historical past of the island by reading interpretive indicators alongside the best way. By all accounts, the Catalina zip line - which opened spring 2010 - is a resounding success.

Also on the record of attainable Catalina actions are such experiences as Snuba diving the place you'll be able to dive and breathe underwater with out heavy diving tools - and without any prior diving expertise. In case you'd fairly keep out of the water, the Undersea Tour takes you in a semi-submersible where the windows are below the floor of the ocean and you're able to view sea life much like you would when you have been diving.

There are several tours into the island's interior and you'll travel Home Page in off-street 4-wheel-drive vehicles or in vintage buses.

We didn't see a lot of the island on our most recent trip, nonetheless. That warning we obtained in Dana Point turned out to be prophetic and high winds made it probably we might not be capable of cross back to the Mainland on our scheduled day. As a result of we had airline tickets booked for departure virtually instantly upon our return, we had to leave Catalina early so as to insure we were house in time.

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