#beyond the usual symbolism you see in student short films

[marypickfords]

Thanatomorphose (Éric Falardeau, 2012)

#thanatomorphose #éric falardeau #horrorstills #horror #caps #i would really like to see a different take on the whole rotting thing #it's usually (well the 2 times i've seen) related to sex but i'd like to see women tackle this #beyond the usual symbolism you see in student short films

[emzymakesbelieve]

not to be fake deep but let's talk about all your old walt babies that you haven't mentioned (because i love the hainline's okay and you and all your kids and i miss you

Send me an old muse and I’ll gush about them.

oKAY SIT DOWN AND BUCKLE UP, KIDDOS.

(I love you, too, sweet pea.  *smooch*)

Frank Hainline

So Frank is a prick, to start off, but he’s my prick and you’re not allowed to trash talk him without my say so (which of course you have because he’s A PRICK).  He was the kind of kid who wore an anarchy symbol on his jacket but never actually did anything to represent or invoke anarchy.  He’s also a gigantic slut and can’t keep his pants zipped for longer than ten minutes.  Fidelity is not this man’s middle name (*CoUgH* illegitimate child he never knew about).  He definitely wasn’t ready to become a father when Victoria got pregnant (and more or less trapped him into marriage), but by the time baby Penelope came, he devoted every ounce of energy he could to making sure she had a good life, and the two of them actually grew very close.  He passed away from cancer when Penelope was about ten.

Norma Hainline

Penelope’s eldest.  The two most important things you need to know about Norma are that she’s a dancer and she’s gay as a maypole.  Her main focuses are tap and ballet.  She loves old Hollywood - she got her start watching Singin’ in the Rain and Fred & Ginger films - but definitely prefers to live in the here and now where she can express herself both as an artist and as a lesbian.  The dance world, much as she loves it, is a crusty old institution that needs to break some pointless rules and get over itself.  She is also Grade A Mom Friend Extraordinaire™.  Her love language is definitely acts of service, particularly making sure you’re eating and sleeping well and taking your medicine on time (though turns out she’s a terrible patient herself).  Much to her frustration, her two closet friends - Noah and Nick - are both more or less bent on self destruction and driving her completely bonkers, but she loves them just the same.

Francis Hainline

Francis, the third eldest, has no business being in this family with how shy he is, but nevertheless.  Definitely the black sheep of the family, but his siblings defend and support him with everything they have.  (Well, Kath usually does it with a lot of sarcasm, but you can tell she loves him.)  He’s a total hipster and has a special love for anything that was built before the year 2000.  His prize possession is an old camcorder that uses real VHS tapes, so naturally he becomes a film student.  I envision him growing up and working as a cinematographer and eventual director of poignant indie films and documentaries - stuff with lots of lingering, fly-on-the-wall shots.  Also, special shoutout to Seraphina, the love of his got dang life.  Those two gave me so many freaking cavities with their cuteness.

Kathleen Hainline

So Kath is a mess, but that’s just par for the course in this family, I suppose.  She’s the baby of the family and has always felt like she’s living in her sister Norma’s shadow.  She’s a bit of a wild child, but certainly not to the extent Victoria was.  It’s all just a cry for attention, trust me.  She wants to feel needed, she wants to feel wanted, she wants to feel special.  And anything that takes the attention of the people she loves off of her needs to die, plain and simple.  She’s best friends with Daisy and is technically endgame with Jonas (though we really didn’t get to write them that far), so here goes a prayer candle for my lovely Becca.

Dory Novak

As you can probably guess by the name, Dory is based on that delightful blue tang we know and love.  In the Walt universe, she developed her short term memory loss after an accident that killed her parents, and was adopted by Marlin.  She loves swimming and her family and especially anything combining the two.  She’s a freaking sweetheart who is actually pretty hard on herself, and it was so heartbreaking to play her in any kind of stressful situation because five minutes later she would still be freaked out by have no idea as to why (looking at you, Scream event).  Also, Scooby liked her a lot and I felt so freaking blessed???  She ends up becoming a social worker and helping kids in the foster system like her.

Charlie Harper & Jenny Harper née Parkington

I never got to properly play Dory’s parents, but here’s the fast and skinny on them.  Jenny was a shy bookworm who never thought boys would be interested in her and (for the most part) had made peace with that theory.  Charlie was a jock who was head over heels for Jenny but never knew how to communicate it without being a sleaze.  Eventually, he manages to ask her out, she says yes, and they pretty much become attached at the hip.  She comes to his basketball games and swim meets decked out in the school colors and cheering like a maniac.  My guess is Dory came a little earlier than they were expecting, but not so early that it would be considered scandalous - probably when they were almost finished with college or something.  Dory became their world and they spoiled that little girl beyond belief.  Unfortunately, both of them were killed in a car wreck when Dory was very little.

Marlene Novak

Dory’s first kid, adopted.  To sum it up nicely, Marlene’s a hot mess because she was never able to come to terms with the fact that her birth mother didn’t want her.  I tried to start this whole plot where she ran into her birth mother just out in the wild and that made her get even messier, but I think I was just throwing crap on the fire to see what blew up at that point.  She also has a…flirtatious arrangement, shall we say, with her friend Viv.

Lyle Novak

Dory’s second kid, also adopted.  *sigh*  Lyle, Lyle, Lyle…  He’s a cutie, don’t get me wrong, but I feel like I didn’t give his character enough punch?  He just seems kind of blah now that I look back at him.  I have a history of being super self conscious about my male characters if they don’t have like a Super Archetype personality for some freaking reason, and Lyle is definitely an example of that.  He’s a little shy, but not so shy that it’s endearing, and he’s also a little courageous, but not so courageous that he actually gets crap done.  He’s a little complacent, looking back on him, which is kind of the opposite of how I wanted to play him...?  I dunno.  Maybe I’m being too harsh on myself.  HE’S CUTE.  LIFE GOES ON.

Cinderella Tremaine

To the surprise of absolutely no one, I’ve actually played a Cinderella counterpart in a few different groups, but let’s just talk about how I portrayed her at Walt.  French transfer student in America (I changed her to straight up American after a point) who loves animals arguably more than life itself and tries her best not to cry over things she can’t control.  She’s also daydreamy as FRICK.  Loves to get lost in her own imagination.  If she’s not engaged in conversation or work of some kind, I can guarantee you her conscience isn’t even on this plane.  Also, can I just shriek about the superhero AU version of her where she was a counterpart to Zatanna and literally became her own fairy godmother?  Because I think about that far more than is probably healthy.

Emmett Tremaine & Johanna Tremaine née Cartier

Same thing as Dory’s parents, just gonna give you a quick lowdown.  Johanna came from a fairly well off family in France (distantly related to those guys, but far enough away that it doesn’t really count), but her parents thought she was an absolute embarrassment.  She was never afraid to speak her mind when it came to things like etiquette and politics, and she had a fabulously wild imagination.  She never stopped believing in fairies, ghosts, gremlins, things like that.  Emmett was that quiet nerd dreamer type, very much obsessed with travel and history.  And like I need to spell it out for you, but they were LUDICROUSLY in love with each other.  Like, nauseatingly so.

Robby Tremaine

Robby is Cindy’s son I whipped up real quick one next gen when I was going crazy and wanted to snatch Nick Robinson’s beautiful face.  He’s a hardcore farm boy who doesn’t mind a little mud behind his ears and super environmentally conscious.  Not just recycling and veganism and all that, but he will go off on you about sustainable farming and animal raising, and how the hydrogen fuel cell is the way of the future.

Taige Bailey

Based on Terk from Tarzan, Taige is a super jock, total butch lesbian, and altogether DUMBNUT.  Like, GOD she’s so stupid sometimes because she just barrels into crap with reckless abandon and doesn’t think things through.  Dear God, she will PUNCH you if you so much as look at her funny, just ‘cause she feels bored.  And she walks around like she’s God’s gift to creation, but she’s just a little twerp.  But she’s my twerp.  (Huh.  I’m just now realizing how similar Taige and Pen are.  In a weird way, Taige is like the tomboy version of Pen.)  Here, you can imagine me lighting a prayer candle because I never got to play her against her two best friends and I’m SAD.  Y’ALL NEVER GOT TO EXPERIENCE THE TOUR DE FORCE THAT IS T CUBED.  Also *cough* she and Vitani may have had a *coUGH* flirtationship.

I would also put Taige’s parents on this list, but they’re so hardly even developed that it’s not really worth mentioning them.  I only know their names: Lamarr and April.

Jared Bailey

Taige’s only child, Jared’s still trying to figure out what masculinity means to him, what with being raised by two women and all.  He can get a little “dudebro alpha male” sometimes, but he’s also that kid you definitely want to have your back when things get rough.  He’ll help you with your homework, teach you how to shoot a three-pointer, and walk you home when it’s dark like the gentleman he is.

#spidcypools #YOU SAID 'ALL' BY GOD #read mores are for wimps #have my children #[ q and a ] #[ muse: frank ] #[ muse: norma ] #[ muse: francis ] #[ muse: kathleen ] #[ muse: dory ] #[ muse: marlene ] #[ muse: lyle ] #[ muse: cinderella ] #[ muse: robby ] #[ muse: taige ] #[ muse: jared ]

[julesplanb-blog]

Don’t cross the themes!

The following note contains heavy spoilers about the plot of both 1984 & 2016 Ghostbusters movies, and a tiny one - a line of dialogue - from Ocean’s 8.

“Having only girls in the new Ghostbusters movie makes no sense and is as sexist as having only males, you -”

Ok so, this is where I’m gonna cut that quote from about 78 random dudes sharing their opinion on Paul Feig’s Ghostbusters with me (so much love I did not ask for <3), because this is usually where said opinion goes from PG to NC-17. I said in a previous note that arguing with people about movies was one of the greatest things in life... provided that people’s opinions were at least a tad respectful, and a tad built on something, ANYTHING, beyond basic casual hatred for women (oh hello, guys who want to remake The Last Jedi!). That being said, I’m going to be the bigger person here and still take time to answer those 78 gentlemen with a little piece on why, in my humble opinion, having women in the Ghostbusters reboot not only makes sense, but makes it a more functioning movie when it comes to characters and even themes. Ok, let’s do this.

First things first: while I’m interested in comparison, I don't think it's relevant to try and rank the 2 movies: I personally enjoy the 2016 more, but I can acknowledge its weaknesses. It’s just than what works in it is way more compelling to me as a viewer (and, yes, as a female viewer). On the other hand, I’ll admit the qualities of the original, mostly to be an effortless piece of good writing, but it’s weaker where the 2016 shines, and vice-versa. Ultimately, those are 2 different movies, actually telling two different stories. Yes, I know, both are about a team of semi-misfits chasing ghosts. But one story focus (1984) is around a philosophical idea, and the second is about human/women condition (2016). One is built around a (fun, entertaining and functioning) concept, i.e. busting ghosts, the other is about characters paths. To the point where I think there’s close to no character arc in the original Ghostbusters. I mean think about it: how did the characters changed between beginning and end? When the film starts, they already know each other’s, have a functioning relationship and it turns out all along that they were pretty much right on everything from the start. They’re not exactly challenged on their beliefs, way to see the world, behaviours or just plain personalities, not even Bill Murray’s Peter Venkman, when this character is actually both a jerk and a fraud. Sure, Sigourney Weaver’s Dana calls him a fraud at some point, but this is a Tchekov gun being flashed without being shot, since from there, Dana is possessed by Zuul and kind of written off the movie (which is a shame). Now, I won’t make this piece a full digression on why Peter Venkman is a jerk and how this fact could make us file the movie itself under “lovable but still a bit problematic”, yet this still deserves a couple lines because when you look closely: Peter Venkman is a jerk, borderline creepy (and the movie never gives us fuel to think otherwise, for real). Actually, Peter Venkman is pretty much what the bad guy of Ghostbusters 2016 (Rowan) could have become if he had any kind of power. We see Peter act just the way Rowan would if he had the upper hand on someone: he cheats on his own experiment, abuses a student as a faculty, make creepy innuendos to women who did not ask for this...  I make this point because as the 2016 bad guy, Rowan makes perfect sense. Meanwhile, there’s no actual human big bad in the 1984 version, because there’s no specific reason for the events to happen when they happen.

Exactly, why is New York infected by ghosts in the original Ghostbusters? Ok, I wasn’t alive back in 1984 and maybe there's something I miss, a reference to a historical “mood” if you’ll have it, maybe an “end of the world vibe” I don’t not know about. But between some obvious referencing to Exorcist and the general comedic tone of the film, I’ve always watched Ghostbusters as some kind of parody or reappropriation of a genre, and not a reflection of its time. And it’s okay. All of the above (well, maybe not Venkman never being called on his jerkiness): the lack of proper character arcs, human villain or symbolic reason for the infestation to happen. First, because, thanks to great dialogues & great acting by already beloved actors, we still care for those guys. But more important: because you can have great stories without it. Stories propulsed by something else than character development, such as... a theme. And 1984 Ghostbusters statement is a pretty damn interesting one: science beats superstition, well, science can explain supernatural, science beats ghosts, science beats freakin’ Gods, so man can beat god. Seriously, This is a great theme, and the script is nicely built around it, up to an ending where we see nerds vanquish a god with scientific tech. 1984 Ghosbusters makes writing choices and works, and as a movie about defeating incarnations of both childhood and adulthood fears (monsters and gods) it turns out to be a smart and timeless piece of pop culture. 

Now you can argue that if it’s timeless, did it really needed to be rebooted in the first place? But see, the beauty of this reboot is that it does not try to redo the same thing. Because the 2016 Ghostbusters makes completely different writing choices, revolves around something else entirely, and if its theme also features some universal / timeless aspects, its treatment makes it a very relevant piece to the time it came out. So let’s break it down: 

First, I believe its writing to be deeply entwined with characters’ flaws and development. What they want, what they lack, is the main propulsion for the story. And if we agree to say Kristen Wiig’s Erin Gilbert is our main character here, what she wants is consideration by her pairs. You can argue she has that at the beginning: teacher in a decent university, about to get tenure, but remember that to get this far, she had to leave behind her best friend and what she actually believed in. She had to fit. Meanwhile Abby is still working on what she wants but in a D-list school and only because the dean has no idea who she is. Both have to hide what matters to them to be included. And this theme as well as Erin’s relationship with Abby is one of the pivot point of the movie: the past and the complicated present of the characters weigh into the script, introduce conflict, propulsion and ultimately, resolution.

But this quest for being legit really works for the 4 of our characters: Abby & Jillian get their a** fired as soon as the dean actually remembers what they’re working on. Patty too: while she works un ungrateful job below the surface, she actually knows the city above ground better than any other character, not only places and localisation but historical perspective, arts... (It’s also interesting to note, if we want to compare the 2 movies that in 1984, Dana sees a ghost and become a client of the Ghostbusters (then a victim of said ghost). In 2016, the woman who sees a ghost, i.e. Patty, joins the team as a Ghostbuster herself. Women are no more plot devices here: they have they own agendas & needs, they’re the engine of the story.)

So you have this characters trying to be acknowledged as professionals, which works perfectly with the concept “scientists turning into ghosts hunters”. But what’s even better: it works perfectly with an all-female group of characters. Why? Well, because in real life, you can totally be denied the legitimacy you deserve just. for. being. a. woman.

It’s also completely in resonance with a movie about sorority and the way girls have to stick out for each other (Abby & Erin reconciliation). Sexism could actually be seen as the villain here. It’s a picture paint with small brushes (and that’s something to add to the film credit) but it’s there: the little jokes about online comments - an obvious yes short nod to the guys who managed to troll the movie notation before it even came out (isn’t it grand though? I mean those douchebags are so freaking predictable Paul Feig managed to write them in before they even manifest themselves) - the dean behaviour... Apart from that, 2016 Ghostbusters does not state out loud the fact those women are depreciated for being women, for it doesn’t need to. Because you know what? Women knows. And it's their freaking film.

Of course the clearest illustration of that idea has to be the bad guy. Rowan is indeed a misogynist jerk, but beyond that, is the perfect incarnation of those women antagonist in 2016. So in 1984 Ghostbusters, we don’t know exactly why the wall between the worlds is getting thinner right now: the guy behind it is a god and well, gods work in mysterious ways. But in 2016, the grand master is a human. Because that version is not about god vs men, it’s about men vs men. Because not all men / humans are equal. 

It makes perfect sense her to have the ghosts being summoned by a villain who happens to be a persona of entitled jerks feeling they’re not recognized for their true value (hey! theme again!). Except Rowan / those guys are not denied respect on an essentialist aspect of themselves (being a woman, black, gay...) but because they’re actually not as good as they thing they are.

It's a (lighter, more comedy-compatible) version of that awfully sad and way too real guy who randomly shoot at people because one girl turned down his advances one day, the guy blaming his lack of acknowledgement by the society on society being unfair to him, but deciding that the best course of action is to destroy said society instead of proving it wrong. While Abby, Erin, Jillian and Patty decide to take action and working their a** off on proving they ARE RIGHT (to extreme extend too, with Erin releasing the ghost to prove a point in her need for legitimacy), Rowan just wants to burn it all, to no one’s benefit but his own crave for power and destruction. Do you see why that guy nemesis needed to be a Erin Gilbert and not a Peter Venkman?

Having women serves the movie all the way, up till the end. And as a character-driven movie, its script does the best possible thing: giving characters, not what they wanted, but what they needed. For in the end, it’s not that much about acknowledgment (though the skyline scene is heartwarming <3) for the city still ask the theam to be super discreet, it’s about doing what you want regardless of people’s opinion, knowking yourself that you are good at what you’re doing, and doing it because you are good at it. Trust me boys, that speaks to every girl here.

In fact everything in the new Ghostbusters makes sense for the viewers of its time. Which is exactly what a good reboot should do. It’s all in the details, and mostly in the references to the previous one.

The Ghostbuster 2016 doesn't aim at telling the 1984 one is bad, but states that things have changed. The references are smart and symbolic but not too obvious that a new viewer would miss a plot point for not knowing it. It’s the perfect balance: taking what worked and was good and put it in a different time. And the times, they are a-changing, people. Sometimes for the better, such as Bill Murray being again a jerk but getting punished for it, sometimes for worse.

For instance : the brownstone that the guys get at the beginning of 1984 but the girls can’t afford before the end, stating, maybe, just maybe, that women or in this instance, that this new generation will have to work harder for stuff such as rent. And take the biggest symbol / reference to the original: the giant Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.

In this movie, he’s not being defeated by high tech, but by the Swiss army knife “every girl should have on her” (because, yes, being a girl is a source of danger just by itself). While the cast of the new movie is literally being smothered by the incarnation of the previous movie, by the “good old times”, the girl who finally came to believe in herself defeats it by "being a girl" If this not exhilarating metaphor, what is? This is both an homage and refusal to say "original is better because it's the first!" Nope, times change, women are here to claim their places in movies, in the real world, and that new Ghostbusters wasn't gender swapped for nothing, it was because it fits tis day and age, and it was because it fits the theme

Ghostbusters 2016 is grounded in its time, thus being not a useless reboot but a reappropriation of a great idea, playing it across a different era in terms of economy, society, women position...

It's not gratuitous. It's better this way.

Now, I’m aware this piece comes out a bit late to end it on “go see the new Ghostbusters ladies, it rocks and those trolls are just petty men realizing the world is not ENTIRELY them anymore”.  So I’m going to end it on “go see Ocean’s 8 ladies, it rocks and those trolls are just...” you get the point. Truth is: Ocean’s 8 is a decent summer movie, functioning, fun, witty and supported by a great cast.   

It also acknowledges, in *one line*, why the team is only women, in a very clever, resonant way: it’s smarter to make a heist with women, because women are ignored. That’s it. The movie doesn’t say more, doesn’t need to say more. Because women know that’s true, know they’re not as visible and considered as their male co-workers even when doing an equal or better job. Women will get it just hearing that line. And it’s their freaking movie. You know what’s the narrative justification for Ocean’s 11 (11!) or original Ghostbusters to be all male? Well, there isn’t any. Because that was just default setting. And boy am I glad to see this changing. Even if it’s just line by line.

#ghostbusters #jillian holtzmann #erin gilbert #Patty Jenkins #abby yates #paul feig #ivan reitman #sexism #movies #reboot #peter venkman #feminism #oceans 8 #writing #script #character driven

[swisscgny]

MEET LILI HINSTIN, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, LOCARNO FILM FESTIVAL

Image: Lili Hinstin © Locarno Film Festival

Founded in 1946, the Locarno Film Festival on the Piazza Grande has become so iconic that it was immortalized on the new twenty Swiss Franc bill. Cancelled for the first time in its 73 year history due to COVID-19, the festival responded promptly, reinventing itself as Locarno 2020 - For the Future of Films. This initiative fosters independent auteur filmmaking and cinemas through dedicated projects, offering special content to both industry professionals and the public on a range of platforms. We caught up with Artistic Director Lili Hinstin to discuss Locarno 2020, the impact of the pandemic as well as Locarno Film Festival's participation in We Are One, a global digital film festival from May 29 to June 7.

Founded in 1946, the Locarno Film Festival is one of the world’s longest-running film festivals. What are the consequences of this year’s cancellation, for the festival, the artists and the region of Ticino, which was so hard hit by COVID-19?

In Ticino, the COVID-19 had a great impact, leading many film productions to be put on hold and movie theatres to close their doors. We had been thinking about different scenarios, and we were already prepared when the Swiss federal authorities announced their guidelines regarding large public events during the ongoing health crisis. Of course, the cancellation of the physical edition in its usual form will be surely missed, both by the artists and the audience (local and international), especially the iconic Piazza Grande. It will also represent a shortfall for Ticino and the city of Locarno in particular. However, on May 27th the federal authorities announced the possibility of holding screenings in theatres with a capacity of less than 300 people. If this is still valid for the month of August, we will be able to have physical projections at the Rex Cinema and Palacinema in Locarno as well as at the Palavideo in Muralto.

Image: Piazza Grande © Locarno Film Festival

What does a summer, potentially beyond that, without film festivals mean for the industry as a whole? What are the biggest challenges the industry is now facing?

The filmmakers who have finished (or almost finished) their films - some of them shortlisted at Cannes - as well as their industry representatives are in a difficult position without any festivals to launch their work and introduce it to the audience and the press. The whole festival calendar is upside down, but since many sets and editing facilities were shut down, there won’t be as many films as usual next year. We will see how the whole industry finds its balance again, while many small film companies remain at risk due to the financial crisis.

What is “Locarno 2020 - For the Future of Films” and what are your goals with this initiative?

"Locarno 2020 - For the Future of Films" is a special initiative to continue fostering independent auteur filmmaking during these difficult times. It aims to take action against the film industry’s forced idleness by supporting filmmakers with special Leopard Awards and therefore contributing both to international and domestic productions that have been put on hold because of the global pandemic. Locarno 2020 centers around "The Films After Tomorrow”, a selection focusing on the films that came to a halt, and the filmmakers who had to let go of ideas, crews, cameras or editing rooms. 20 projects - 10 international, 10 Swiss - will compete for various prizes, including the two special Pardo Awards 2020 worth 70,000 Swiss Francs each, awarded by two juries, each composed of three filmmakers. These prizes will ensure that those films can be completed and reach their full potential. We will also ask the filmmakers participating in this competition to choose a film from all those presented during the whole existence of Locarno Film Festival and to introduce it to the audience in a unique “Journey through the Festival History". The Pardi di Domani competition, dedicated to short films, will be more alive than ever, celebrating its 30th anniversary and going online in order to reach a larger audience. The “Open Doors” section will also present an exciting selection of films from Southeast Asia and Mongolia. We will also launch a donation campaign in order to support independent movie theaters in Switzerland.

Locarno Film Festival was one of the first festivals to support the global  “We Are One” online film festival. Can you tell us more about your involvement? Why was it important to join?

We immediately decided to accept the invitation from the “We Are One: A Global Film Festival”. The initiative aims to create a collective momentum in which film festivals from all over the world get together in solidarity with the common goal of fighting against the health crisis. We will share two highlight moments from the past edition of the festival with the audiences of “We Are One”: the conversation between cult filmmaker John Waters, recipient of Pardo d’Onore, with director Albert Serra, and another conversation between the Parasite duo Song Kang-ho, who received the Excellency Award at the Festival last year, and director Bong Joon-ho, winner of Academy Award and Palme d’Or.

Image: Lili Hinstin with Song Kang-ho © Locarno Film Festival

You have been the Artistic Director of the Locarno Film Festival since 2018. What is your vision for the festival?

I see it as a paradoxical and exciting mission because I want to be in line with the festival’s heritage which is disruptive. The Locarno Film Festival must be a talent scout, introducing the most original and daring new talents of art house cinema and supporting the risks renowned filmmakers continue to take.

Image: Lili Hinstin with John Waters © Locarno Film Festival

You’re the second female director in the festival’s history. What are the key obstacles women, in particular filmmakers, are facing nowadays in the film industry to achieve gender parity, and what is the festival’s contribution to address these obstacles?

The film industry has to analyze why film schools have a parity of students, but short films are directed by 40% of female directors and feature films by 30%. It all has to do with the symbolic value of money, of course, and I guess that, when women will be paid as much as their male colleagues, we will be able to reach a better balance little by little.

What does the Locarno Film Festival embody for you? How would you describe its socio-political significance?

For me, Locarno might be the most exciting film festival I know: it combines the most daring and radical selection of films presented to a huge, curious and generous audience on very big screens - especially the iconic open air screen of the Piazza Grande - in the exquisite atmosphere of a summer festival in a small town between the lake and the mountains. It’s a decisive step for filmmakers, especially the youngest ones, a crucial stake for the local economy and a place of networking for both Swiss and international professionals.

Image: Piazza Grande © Locarno Film Festival

[iammariatsmith]

Step-by-Step Guide to Write a Short Essay

What is a short essay?

Writing short essays is a very common academic or academic task. They are part of the student curriculum in many different courses – literature, cultural studies, film studies, etc. So, writing a short essay is a very popular task. It is a typical type of essay that aims to provide brilliant descriptions of some object, phenomenon or event in detail. You can accomplish this by comparing things or by presenting certain associations with the object you are describing. Even though a 500 number sounds like a large number, it fits on approximately one single-spaced size 12 font print page.

It’s not too difficult to write a short essay on a single page, especially when you know how to do it the right way. Basically, you need to think of 5 paragraphs of about 100 words each. It’s about 6 or 7 sentences, depending on their length.

How long is a short essay?

However, often writing a short essay can be quite challenging not only because it is sometimes difficult to find time for it, but also because it is difficult to briefly share your thoughts in a limited amount of words. On the other hand, a short essay is not as bad as, for example, an example of a 250-word essay, where you really need to know how to enter everything you want to say in just 250 words. So how long should a short essay be? There are many accounts of any exact figure but it can vary from 500 to 800 words.

Almost any short essay topics you may find online or in guidelines suggest that this task is an art that can be mastered through much practice. Basically, all you have to do is describe the topic of your task in 500 words and this is exactly what a short essay length is all about. The good thing about this type of essay is that just like writing an opinion in sociology or some other subject, you don’t have to do a lot of in-depth research on the subject, which means that the subject you’re going to write about is not much deep by itself. For example, you cannot describe euthanasia or technological advances in 500 words. Therefore, the topic of these essays is often quick and easy, and you don’t have to plan a detailed structure for this task.

However, in case you have trouble writing your project, at our service you can find authors from whom you can order your essay. They can prepare many different educational tasks, as well as explain to you how to write a reaction article.

How to write a short essay?

So how do you write a good short essay? There are no steps to write an essay, since it is a literary genre and requires artistic expertise, documentation, and talent. Even so, as the essay has been closely linked to the educational apparatus of many countries, its writing could be simplified to the elaboration of a school essay, as follows:

Choice of subject: An essay should address a topic or an edge of a topic in a way that generates interest and, if possible, passion. In addition, it should not be such a broad topic, but as narrow as possible.

Documentation: Once we have chosen the subject, we must document ourselves, that is, read about it from different sources, to get a more complete idea about the subject.

Preparation: Before writing, it is convenient to make an outline of ideas that will serve as a script or essay skeleton, telling us in what order to approach each idea or argument.

Writing: We proceed to write according to the script, which means exposing the ideas as clearly as possible and in the most logical order possible, then rereading the entire text and correcting the writing, making sure that it says what it is intended to say.

Short essay format

Designing a small essay does not require much time. Complete planning is usually necessary when you are writing a short essay preparing a course. When you are planning the structure of a short essay, all you have to do is focus on a single point you want to address. It makes no sense to describe all ideas or opinions because you have no time or space for it. A good and comprehensive short essay focuses on an idea.

Usually, any short essay writing topics consist of the following parts:

Introduction. Must include the thesis statement for the topic. If you can choose the topic for your project yourself then you need to spend some time choosing the right one that will be easier for you to describe. If the topic was given to you, think of several ways to make it interesting. If your topic is broad, think about the subtopics and specify the thesis statement.

Main Part. In this part of your essay, you need to evoke the reader’s emotions and feelings for an original approach. Also, you need to share your thoughts on the subject, event, or phenomenon with a reader. Try to provide important images so that a reader can feel that they are participating in what you are experiencing.

Conclusion. Try to complete approximately 50 words. It should summarize and restate the most noteworthy ideas you described in the main part of your MLA essay format. Do not present any new or new points in the conclusion. Make sure the abstract is written differently from the introduction. The conclusion should be memorable as this is the last part that can affect your reader.

Important parts of the short essay

The structure of an essay is extremely free since it is a text that values ​​the course on the subject and whose main value is to argue and reflect freely, at the whim of the writer. However, in its systematic study, three forms of structure can be identified in broad strokes, which are:

Analyzer or deductive: First, he exposes the thesis or the topic he will address, and then develops the arguments related to the subject.

Synthesizing or inductive: Explore the arguments and data in the first instance, and then from them recompose the topic as a final conclusion.

Framed: The more school structure, begins with the presentation of the thesis or the subject, then discusses the arguments and positions, and finally re-elaborates the thesis taking into account what is found in the middle.

Things to remember while writing a short essay

When you are writing a short essay, try to put yourself in your reader’s shoes. Even though this type of essay is short and you don’t have to do much research, it is still useful to look for some facts to make your project interesting. The authenticity of the information you provide will make your essay stronger. If you cite or have references to some sources, please indicate this and refer to them. This will add more credibility and make your essay more interesting. When writing an essay definition or some other task, use the sources you are familiar with and you can rely on to make sure that the facts you are providing are genuine.

When you finish writing your short essay do the full review and see if it meets all the requirements of the task. Count the words and make sure your project consists of about 500 words. Normally, it is acceptable to pass a few words, but if the essay has to be short like this, try not to go beyond the specified value. Also, follow the special formatting rules that can be stated in the task. Perhaps the font has to be made in a certain size and style. Verify that the footer, header, and side margins conform to specifications. And remember to use those 500 words to their full advantage.

Short essay examples

Easter is the spiritual feast of liberation, symbolized by objects embodied in our lives such as the Easter egg, which is linked to an Egyptian ritual and, for commercial convenience, gained its place in the Easter Sunday festivities as well as other traditions that emerged from the popular yearning (the Judas workout on Hallelujah Saturday).

But the true Passover is narrated in Exodus and then the New Passover is described in the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the victory of the Son of Man. The first Passover of history was celebrated by the Hebrews in the 13th century BC so that everyone would remember that Moses, with the Lord’s help, saved his people from Pharaoh’s hands. Thus, the lamb was the covenant sign, and the angel could know who was with Yahweh or Jehovah.

And with the supper came unleavened bread and the bitter herbs eaten by the Hebrews with the lamb with the girdles girded about the kidneys, ready to depart from Egypt at dawn. Then we have the announcement of the Lamb of God by John the Baptist and the revelation of the Son of Man until His crucifixion and Resurrection. Only from this period do catacomb Christians begin to use the egg as a symbol of new life, and after the Lent and Holy Week fast was the food for the preparation of the feast, from March 22 to April 25, varying from year to year.

Therefore, a short essay should not be confused with a monograph or technical document (such as a thesis). The issues addressed by the essay are virtually endless: from politics, society, and knowledge, to sports, the arts or the imagination itself. You can also get help in your essay writing and thesis writing by visiting our website. Plus avail 50% OFF on your first order as well.

#online essay writing #write an essay for me #best essay writing service #custom essay writing service #thesis writing service #assignment writing service #write my essay for free

[delicatebluebirdruins]

Dream Alliance: Story from the Telegraph

Warning: Welsh words and a long post @sherlockvowsontheriverstyx (I’ve spent an hour crying over this bloody horse and his owners); @horsesarecreatures

A new documentary tells the incredible true story of Dream Alliance, a horse bought for £300 on an allotment in Caerphilly who went on to win £137,000 in prize money

Dream Alliance won £137,000 in prize money in his 30-race career, including victory in the 2009 Welsh Grand National Photo: Louise Osmond

It is late morning on a freezing day in Cefn Fforest, Caerphilly, a village in one of the poorest mining valleys in Wales. Brian Vokes, 67, unsteady on his legs and with far more tattoos than teeth, is making his way towards his allotment on a former slag heap. He has rented it from the council for the past 15 years, since the four coal mines surrounding the village were finally shut down and their tips flattened, bringing deprivation and the loss of livelihood to generations to come. Chickens and geese squawk noisily in their wire coops. Detritus – a bath here, bricks under flapping tarpaulin there – lies about the place. This is not the kind of allotment that produces elderberries and chard. Brian’s wife, Jan, 61, is there, still in her Asda uniform. She has been up since 4am, cleaning the tills with her daughter before the shop opens. Later, she will be going off to another cleaning job at a local school, where she will stay until 6pm.

Neither Brian nor Jan is interested in growing vegetables. Their allotment has served a completely different purpose. In 2000, As a child she had watched her father breed budgies. She had then bred pigeons and whippets herself. The first time she raced her pigeons, she won a national title. All of her whippets made it to Crufts. How hard could it be? Just because she was working class and living in the valleys and cleaned the tills at Asda, why should she settle for a hobby such as bingo or darts? Why couldn’t she breed a racehorse?

To say that Jan’s vision broke a racing stereotype is something of an understatement. Not only are racehorses usually pedigree (mainly thoroughbred), born with a reliable lineage, and schooled, trained and raced by the industry’s best, but their owners are typically privileged and rich. Breeding and owning a racehorse is an expensive hobby (£15,000 a year minimum to train), and only one per cent of racehorses ever actually win a race. While Brian bought a breeding mare – Rewbell, ‘probably the worst racehorse in Wales,’ he says, ‘so mental that by the end jockeys refused to get on her’ – from a young Welsh lad for a £300, and had her sired for a knockdown price too, many of the most promising racehorses cost hundreds of thousands to buy in the first place.

But Jan Vokes did exactly what she set out to do. Rewbell’s foal, Dream Alliance (known as Dream to his owners), bred and initially raised on the Vokeses’ slag-heap allotment, became famous in the racing world and, for a short time, the world beyond – not only for winning the Welsh Grand National in December 2009 (he won a total of £137,000 in prize money during his 30-race career), but also because of his extremely unlikely and humble beginnings combined with his extremely unlikely and humble owners.

The story of how Brian and Jan Vokes and their friend Howard Davies broke the mould of racehorse owners (with their 23-strong racing syndicate formed in the Cefn Fforest working men’s club – breed a horse to get on a course. £10 a week. see jan behind the bar, the initial sign read) is not a new one. And yet a documentary film, Dark Horse, released this month, proves its enduring appeal. The documentary has already won the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival.

Directed by Louise Osmond, the film shows how Dream Alliance’s success goes way beyond the relatively small world of horse racing. ‘It was moving, it was funny and it had this great narrative arc,’ Osmond says. ‘The film is not really about racing. It just happens to be in the racing world. What I saw as Jan’s defining quality was that she had no self-doubt, that she didn’t see obstacles like the expense or the snobbery of people thinking she had no right to be there. It is so refreshing. I’m sure she could be running some major corporation, but, in a funny way, she does her jobs to allow her to live this other life, this world with her animals where she feels completely herself.’

Perhaps, above all, the cinematic retelling of the story demonstrates that when human determination, self-belief and hard work are combined, anything is possible; class barriers collapse, be they for horse or human. ‘Dream and us, we were like kindred spirits,’ Jan explains. ‘No matter what people said, I never thought for one minute that Dream wouldn’t win. I researched it, I put a lot of thought into it. If I have a goal, then I am going to achieve it. Why should Dream’s background have made any difference? It would be just like saying the children of working-class people can’t achieve. If anybody tells me my grandson, a grade-A student, can’t go to Cambridge, they’ll have me to answer to.’

Jan Vokes had got the idea of breeding a racehorse after overhearing Howard Davies in the bar of the working men’s club where she worked, talking about once running a syndicate for another racehorse. That experience had cost him money and he had promised his wife, Angela, never to do it again. But Jan’s interest had been piqued, and she had gone home and said to Brian, ‘I want to breed a racehorse.’ ‘What do you want with a ruddy racehorse?’ Brian had replied, although he had always kept horses, having once been a rag-and-bone man. (He had been pulling a cart of manure when he first met Jan, when she was 15.)

‘Good luck with that!’ Howard, a tax adviser, had said with a laugh, when she told him of her plan. But the next time he saw her in the club she surprised him by saying she had bought a mare (Rewbell, the £300 ‘nightmare’), plus a Directory of the Turf to locate a stallion, and would he run a syndicate for them? Jan had thrown down the gauntlet and Howard, a lifelong racing fan, couldn’t resist.

At the time, Howard remembers working it out and thinking, ‘A tenner a week, 30 people, £300 a week, £15,000 a year’, with the understanding that Jan would keep the horse if it all went wrong. So they got going, recruiting locals such as pensioner Maureen Jones (‘I know nothing about horses! Nothing!’) and Tony Kerby (‘One helluva boy’, according to Brian). Tony is seen in the film, stripped to the waist, twirling his T-shirt above his head during a particularly exciting race. Nobody went into the venture to make money, but rather to buy into a collective vision.

Dream Alliance was born on March 23 2001, and stayed on the allotment for 12 months, before moving to stables in Hereford ‘to teach him his manners’, as Jan puts it. In April 2004, aged three, he was accepted by Philip Hobbs, one of Britain’s top racehorse trainers, into his yard: Sandhill Racing Stables near Minehead, set in 500 acres of land owned by the Crown Estate. ‘It’s like the Riviera down there!’ Jan exclaimed when she saw it. ‘Dream won’t know he’s born.’

• Dream Alliance: From slag heap allotment to Grand National Hopeful

Eighteen months earlier Jan and Brian had turned up at one of Philip Hobbs’s open days. Brian was on sticks, overweight and with no front teeth (‘I keep them in a jar but they’ve gone green’), adorned by his many tattoos and rings. He had got out of the car and asked a member of staff, ‘Is the governor about? I’m here for the trainee jockey’s job.’ This playful, self-mocking approach set the tone immediately.

As Louise Osmond explains, ‘They all have a really well developed sense of mischief, and something else too – this idea that they could try to do something that nobody else thought was possible. It was an escape for them all.’

Osmond discovered the story after she went racing one Christmas and was struck by the beauty of the animals and the amount of cash flying around in a time of recession. Her interest was piqued. She started looking into syndicates as a potential idea for a film, and then found the relatively few press cuttings about Dream back in the day, a story so much richer than her original idea. ‘I really couldn’t believe it,’ she remembers. ‘It had been in the papers but somehow it had stayed under the radar.’ Sick with nerves and worried the owners would all say no, she asked her producer to make the initial call. The general response was characteristically uncomplicated. ‘Why not? Let’s give it a go,’ they said.

Osmond says that as the story emerged, exposing layer upon layer of meaning, both emotional and symbolic, she could hardly believe her luck. ‘And then when we met them, they were just fantastically honest and able to express their feelings.’

Still, Johnson White, Hobbs’s assistant trainer, remembers assuming – rather snobbishly, he admits now – that they had just come for a nose round the yard while on holiday at nearby Butlins. ‘Let’s just say they don’t look like your usual racehorse owner,’ he says. Quite apart from the question of their allotment horse being up to scratch (‘If he had gone to the sales at that point, as a three-year-old, with his background and breeding, he’d have made no money at all,’ White states), there was the not insignificant issue of Hobbs’s fee: £315 plus VAT a week, £18,000 for 12 months. But in the summer of 2004 Brian, Jan and Howard were back at the yard, the syndicate having now saved enough to give Dream Alliance a proper start. ‘From the first time Jan looked at him, she’d said to me, “He’s going to win me a gold cup,” ’ Brian says.

Hobbs had agreed to look at Dream Alliance only because it was Sandhill’s quietest period of the year. He saw something in the horse that convinced him to take him on. White describes Dream Alliance’s arrival as being like ‘the snotty-nosed little comp boy turning up at Eton with his handkerchief hanging out of his pocket, not knowing anything about the world or what was going on around him. A lot of the horses he was with were worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, and here was this horse from an allotment.

‘But he had a fantastic attitude from the start,’ White continues, ‘and a very willing and straightforward nature to learn and to take on whatever we were asking of him. There was absolutely no way you could dislike him. He was so eager to please.’

But while Dream Alliance was willing, he wasn’t setting the world alight in terms of speed. Hobbs and his team decided they would give him a debut run at Newbury on November 10, to see how he fared. The syndicate drove to the racecourse in a hired minibus. Tony Kerby had his packed lunch and lagers in a Tesco bag because he didn’t want to be ripped off paying £6 for a burger. ‘If Dream had come 10th, we’d have been very happy,’ Jan remembers. He came fourth. They were over the moon.

Although Jan says in the documentary that part of the attraction of owning a racehorse was in trying to break into an exclusively upper-class sport, in reality, she, Brian and Howard are quick to point out that they have made many unlikely friends. One of Jan’s favourite new acquaintances, she tells me, owns 25 racehorses. The snobbery on that first race day at Newbury came from the staff on the gates, one of whom tried to take Tony’s lagers away from him until he realised he was an owner. Once in the owners’ and trainers’ enclosure, each with their owner badge pinned to their lapels, the syndicate members had a knees-up, the beers flowing. Brian remembers screaming at Dream Alliance during his race, and being told to shut up. ‘Shut up?’ he retorted. ‘That’s my bloody horse out there!’

Other successes followed for Dream Alliance: second at Cheltenham on his next outing; third at Newbury; then he won his fourth race, at Chepstow over hurdles in January 2006. ‘From the minute that horse started racing, he began making money,’ Brian says. ‘Although for us it was nothing to do with the money. It was the horse.’

‘But then he suddenly went into the wilderness,’ Johnson White remembers. ‘It was as if he didn’t want to try.’

Nobody knew what went wrong. There were murmurings of a bad back, although Jan now attributes it to Dream being ‘a valley boy, a jack-the-lad, not always to be trusted’. People in Cefn Fforest started taunting Brian. ‘When’s that donkey running next?’ they would shout. They nicknamed Dream ‘Sick Note’. People stopped betting on him.

But it was as if Dream himself heard it all, as if he knew the grief Brian, Howard and Jan were getting on his behalf. And he started winning again: the Perth Gold Cup in April 2007; a brilliant second in the Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury in December 2007 behind Denman (who went on to win the big one, the Cheltenham Gold Cup, the following year). He was suddenly a horse to contend with, his insurance value £180,000. ‘It is extraordinary,’ White says. ‘It is only when you sit down and think about where it all started, and put it into perspective…’

Philip Hobbs decided to run him at the Aintree Festival in 2008, in a handicap hurdle race before the Grand National. It was the only race in Dream Alliance’s career that the Vokeses missed – Rewbell had died while foaling the night before. They watched at home. Dark Horse replays the live tele­vision coverage: mid-race, suddenly staggering, Dream was pulled up. A helicopter circled above.

A screen was put round him. ‘They are going to shoot him,’ Brian told a sobbing Jan.

Dream’s legs had concertinaed, and a rear hoof had cut through the back of his front leg, slicing a tendon, an injury so severe that most horses would have been put down on the course. The quick thinking of his jockey that day, Richard Johnson, saved his life. By dismounting immediately and holding the horse upright and very still he prevented the tendon tearing completely and irreparably. Dream’s laidback nature and intelligence stopped him from resisting or panicking.

‘Don’t put the horse down,’ Howard Davies told the vets. ‘It’s more than a racehorse. It’s a pet.’

Dream was taken to the Royal Veterinary College in Liverpool. The syndicate was presented with an option: £20,000-worth of stem-cell surgery might help the leg recover. It was highly improbable that Dream would race again, let alone win, even with the operation.

While nobody cared about Dream Alliance racing again, the vote was unanimous. Dream had earned more than enough in prize money to pay for his own surgery and rehabilitation. ‘He was one of us,’ Maureen Jones explains. ‘Certainly a more commercial owner would have chosen a different route,’ White notes.

Recuperation started just at the time when Jan’s life became extremely difficult. Her father had died the month before and her mother was very ill, needing Jan’s care, on top of all her other cleaning jobs. Visiting Dream and watching him slowly improve week by week gave her some light in her life. ‘I felt like somebody else when I was with him,’ she says. ‘Not Jan the cleaner but Jan the racehorse owner. Everything else was forgotten.’

By July 2009, with 15 months of rehabilitation behind him, Dream was back on good form, once again astounding his trainers. Watching him on the gallops at Sandhill, Brian swore he saw the horse wink at him. By the end of the year, after only one race since his recovery, Philip Hobbs was confident enough to enter Dream for the Welsh Grand National at Chepstow in December. The odds were long: 60-1 at Coral. Just before the race, Hobbs said to Brian and Jan, ‘All I can say to you today is that your horse is going to make a real fist of this.’

Dream Alliance won. ‘He paid his owners’ faith back in one go!’ ran the television commentary. To this day, he remains one of only a few horses ever to win a race after stem-cell surgery. 'FROM NAGS TO RICHES' screamed the headlines. Sick Note was a winner. Brian was permanently at the allotment showing television crews the muddy patch where Dream’s racing life had started. People would applaud Jan as she walked through the aisles of Asda. ‘And it gives everybody hope,’ says White, who despite his early professional composure and emotional distance from Dream breaks down in the film remembering that win, ‘because it proves that you don’t have to spend £200,000 to have a racehorse, that you can do it at grass-roots level.’

Today Dream Alliance lives in Somerset with the stable girl from Hobbs’s yard who was chiefly responsible for his care. He still likes posing for the camera. He even has his own Facebook page. There is interest from Hollywood in a feature-length film.

Dream attempted the Grand National in April 2010 at Aintree, the scene of his earlier accident from which he recovered so spectacularly, but was pulled up seven fences out. It was later discovered that he suffered from a lung condition. He raced a few more times, but was never placed again, and in 2012 the syndicate voted to end his career. Of the £137,000 he won in prize money, after his surgery and training fees, the 23 syndicate members who stayed the course got back £1,430 each, none of them richer materially, but each one so much richer in a more profound way. ‘We actually went there and did it. It’s elating when you can do something when nobody gives you a chance,’ Howard says.

While Jan always thought Dream would return to the allotment where he started in utero, it was decided by the syndicate to send him to Somerset where he could be regularly ridden and hunted. She was heartbroken.

But now Jan and Brian and Howard are doing it again. As we walk around the allotment, Jan takes me to the stable where Dream first lived, and shows me another stable in a different field, ready for a new occupant. The mare I see today is nicknamed Hettie, and as you read this, she will be about to have her foal. This time, thanks to its lineage (Hettie is a much safer bet than the mad Rewbell, and Jan, of course, has picked her stallion carefully), the new foal will, to quote Jan, ‘be bred in the purple’. In other words, it will be a lot posher than Dream.

There is a new 20-person syndicate in place – £15 per week, which works out at £780 per person a year – run once again by Howard with the express aim of building up a good nest egg ready for when – or if – the training bills start rolling in. A few of the old syndicate members from Cfen Fforest are back again for a second shot, but this time there are also grander people, racing friends the Vokeses and Howard have made along the way.

It will be three years before Philip Hobbs will check out the new horse. But, as Jan says at the end of Dark Horse, ‘I will have a Gold Cup in my cupboard if it’s the last thing I do. This isn’t the end.’ No pressure then.

#dream alliance #wales #horses

[postcardmhals]

Oxford in 10 Instax Photos

I went to school in Oxford from 2011-2015, and got a chance to go back for a day this past summer when I was visiting London for a few weeks. I’d recently acquired an Instax Mini 8 (after coveting one for a few years…), and brought it with me with a full cartridge of film. That meant I could take 10 photos.

Being limited to a certain number of pictures is one of the most fun things about using a film camera, to me. If I’m using my phone or digital camera, I can take pictures of anything vaguely interesting, which means I spend less time thinking about what would actually capture a place in the best way. It was especially fun to do that in Oxford, where I’ve spent many hours walking around. I ended up taking pictures along a pretty typical day’s route for me, from where I lived, to my college, to the near the physics and philosophy departments, and back again. There are so many other important places to me in Oxford too, but maybe it works better not trying to show everything.

Let me tell you about all the places I took pictures of and drew on my maps!

The train from Reading - My partner for most of university didn’t live in Oxford, so I took the train a lot. The whole route feels so nostalgic, watching trains, fields, and towns go by.

Ship St. - I’d walk down this street all the time when I lived in Frewin Annexe. I loved the spire of Exeter College’s chapel.

The view from my Brasenose staircase - In my 3rd year I lived in Brasenose College up four flights of stairs. It was worth it to see the stained glass in Brasenose chapel lit up at night, and the Radcliffe Camera over the roofs of the college.

Radcliffe Square - With Brasenose on on the west side, All Souls on the east, St. Mary’s Cathedral to the south, the Bodleian Library to the north, and the Radcliffe Camera in the middle, Radcliffe Square is stupidly picturesque. This is evidenced by the tourists milling about all the time. Some Brasenose students found this annoying, but I liked it. It reminded me that I was lucky to live in such a beautiful place.

New College Ln. - There was almost never any reason for me to walk down the winding, cobbled, stone-walled route to the High St. But seeing the spires of All Souls College above the shallow canyon of old stone walls was so beautiful, I often walked there anyway.

Down Holywell St. - Walking from Radcliffe Square up to the Physics department, I’d always pass Holywell St. and the King’s Arms on the corner. It was just a part of my routine. I didn’t often have much cause to walk down it, but it’s a lovely road. One year I did have a friend living on Longwall St, so I would walk down it more then.

Broad St. - A major thoroughfare. I’d sometimes go in to my classes in Balliol from it, or be going to a shop along it, but it was mainly a way to get from here to there. But just like everywhere else in the center, it’s lovely.

Crossing South Parks Rd. - On the other side of South Parks Road is the Radcliffe Science Library, then the Natural History Museum, and then the Physics buildings. The walk sign here was only on for the bare minimum amount of time it took to cross the street.

Lamb and Flag Passage - To get from the Physics buildings to the Philosophy building, the most direct route was via Keble Road. It was slightly more roundabout to walk back down to the Lamb and Flag Passage and then back up St. Giles, but if I had the time I’d always try to walk that way. This giant tree and the little arch back out to the road is my favorite place in Oxford - it feels like a little secret world.

The Martyr’s Memorial on St. Giles - I almost never noticed this monument - if I was here, I was usually just hurrying back home or to the supermarkets on the other side of the street. Notice all the bikes. Everywhere in Oxford is full of bikes.

Notes on map features:

The Parks - If I were going on a walk with a friend, we’d almost always go to one of these three places (unless we didn’t have very much time or it was night, in which case we might loop around Merton Street and New College Lane. For a short walk, we’d do Christ Church Meadow, for a medium walk we’d do University Parks, and Port Meadow would usually be at least a two-hour commitment (it extends a ways beyond this map). Worth it if you had the time and the weather, though - it’s beautiful, and getting there walking past the canal boats on Castle Mill Stream was part of the fun.

The Rivers - The Thames down by Christ Church meadow is mainly for rowing (which I, thankfully, never got into). The Cherwell is mainly for punting, a strange activity similar (I think) to pushing a gondola. One person stands at the back of the punt and pushes it along the river with a long pole. (In Cambridge they stand at the front.) This is tricky if you’re short. Usually you will be with some friends eating snacks and drinking Pimms/some other summery drink.

The Buildings - I basically chose random buildings to draw in. I probably should have been more thoughtful about it. I’m new at map-making.

Important Places to Me - I studied physics and philosophy (hence the importance of those departments), and went to Brasenose College. Brasenose’s additional acommodation was Frewin, which was also remarkably central (we’re lucky ducks).

The Radcliffe Camera - The main tourist symbol of Oxford, most students probably don’t end up by the Radcliffe Camera all that much. But living on Radcliffe Square and having classes in Brasenose all the time, it’s a surprisingly good symbol of my time in Oxford as well. It’s also a convenient marker for the rough center of the city.

#oxford #england #UK #maps #instax #text post

[aliyahsblog]

Reflection #2

The evolution of tranditional to new media generation to generation that include how media is used during the pre-historic age, industrial age, information age, and electronic age.

Pre-history is the period of human activity between the use of the first stone tools, history is the study of the past using written records It is also the record itself.

The industrial age is a period of history the encompasiesbthe changes in economic and social organization that began around 1760 in great British and later in other countries, characterized chiefly by the replacement of hard tools with power-drive . And the electronic age to the invention of transition user in electronic age. People harnessed the power of transistor that led became more efficient.

Digital age or information age (1900s- 2000s) period in human history characterized by the shift from tranditional industry that industrial revolution brought through industrialization to an economy base on information computerization and their are used of micro electronics with the invention of personal computer, voice, images, sounds, and data are digitalized and we need to condition and give emphasize from pre historic age into a digital age because new innovation from the simplest going to complex invention.

Reflection #3

Information literacy is the ability to find, evaluate, organize, use, and communicate information in all its various formats, most notably in situations requiring decision making, problem solving, or the acquisition of knowledge. It is a combination of research skills, critical thinking skills, computer technology skills, and communication skills. Information literacy is essential for academic success, effective functioning in the workplace, and participations in society as knowledgeable citizens and the outcomes of information literacy is the goals of this requirement are to help you become a more sophisticated, discerning, and confident researcher, and to lay the foundation for independent lifelong learning. Upon successful completion of the information literacy requirement, you will be able to develop and execute an effective research strategy using a wide range of search tools, accurately interpret results, and find authoritative information pertinent to the topic.

Evaluate the relevance, quality, authoritativeness, and credibility of information retrieved.

Access and use information ethically and legally.

Reflection #4

Media is the term we use to refer to different types of media that provide us with important information and knowledge. Media has always been part of our society, even when people used paintings and writings to share information. As time passed, people came up with different modes to provide news to the public. Based on the type of medium, their role may be different, but they all exist to communicate to the audience and affect their perceptions their are types of different media print media this type of new media used to be the only way of delivering information to the public. For the generations of the 80s and 90s, print media was the only media of entertain. People relied on newspapers and magazines to learn everything, from recipes and entertainment news to important information about the country or the world. And print media includes newpaper, magazine, books, banners, billboards, flyers. And second is broadcasting media includes videos, audios, or written content that provides important or entertaining information by a different method: television, radio, movies. And the third is internet media nowadays, we are relying on the Internet to get the news a lot more often than the traditional news sources. Websites provide information in the form of video, text, and audio. We can even choose the way we want to receive the news. Types of Internet media include: Social networks or websites, Online forums, Podcast.

Reflection #5

Information can come from virtually anywhere media, blogs, personal experiences, books, journal and magazine articles, expert opinions, encyclopedias, and web pages . Their are the following sources information. Books cover virtually any topic, fact or fiction. For research purposes, you will probably be looking for books that synthesize all the information on one topic to support a particular argument or thesis.And to find summaries of research to support an argument.

And also encyclopedia are collections of short, factual entries often written by different contributors who are knowledgeable about the topic. looking for background information on a topic, when trying to find key ideas, important dates or concepts. And academic journal a journal is a collection of articles usually written by scholars in an academic or professional field.An editorial board reviews articles to decide whether they should be accepted. Articles in journals can cover very specific topics or narrow fields of research. And to find out what has been studied on your topic.

A database contains citations of articles in magazines, journals, and newspapers. They may also contain citations to podcasts, blogs, videos, and other media types. Some databases contain abstracts or brief summaries of the articles, while other databases contain complete, full-text articles. And also internet is the one resources of students that used to search many information about our study, interne allows you to access most types of information on the Internet through a browser. One of the main features of the Web is the ability to quickly link to other related information. The Web contains information beyond plain text, including sounds, images, and video.

The important thing to do when using information on the Internet is to know how to evaluate it!.

Reflection #6

Media and Information languages is evaluates everyday media and information with regard to with codes, convention, and messages; in regards with audience, producers, and other stakeholders. Their are two types categories of codes:

Technical Codes – refers to methods of how an equipment or device is used to tell the story. This includes how cameras work in a film, its framing, lighting, etc. For example basic camera shots, shot angles, camera movements.

Symbolic Codes- demonstrates or shows what lies below what the audience see. For instance,

an actor or a character’s actions depicts or describes how or what that character feels or thinks. For example setting, body language.

Written Codes –use of language style and textual layout (headlines, captions, speech bubbles,

language style, etc.)

Reflection #7

Legal,Ethical and Societal Issues in Media and Information.

their are the issue in media and information Copyright, Netiquette , Digital Divide , Addiction, and Cyberbullying

Copyright- is a federal law that gives creators of media the exclusive rights to copy,distribute,and mash up the things they create for a limited time.As you work on any assignment that includes digital Media (e.g. , images , video or music ) it is good practice to make sure you are abiding by copyright laws.

Digital Divide

-It is the gap between the people who a internet access and to the people who doesn’t have internet access.Mostly the affected people in this situation are the people who doesn’t have any internet access because they can’t afford to have an access to the internet .

Cyberbullying

– is to threaten ,harass ,sending mean messages , making fun of a person or to intimidate a person through the use of computers , social media and smartphones ; it is also the act of bullying through the use of internet and social networking sites with an anonymous person.

Reflection #8

Social media are now widely by our society.Empowerment of people through Media and Information Literacy (MIL) is an important prerequisite for fostering equitable access to information and knowledge and promoting free,independent and pluralistic and information systems. Having knowledge about media and information literacy can be a great opportunities to finding jobs.media information literacy creates ton's of opportunities in spreading new information and knowledge learn about the different ways for your organization to get involved. The challenges that affecting media information computer addiction, cyber, bullying etc. I suggest that to limit this challenges we have to be more discipline and ethically use media information.Media literacy education is currently at a point of transition.It is a point of opportunity,certainly but it is also one of risk and danger.It is a point at which we need to be very clear about our aims and priorities because if we are not clear about where we are going, we are very likely to lose our way.

Media and information is a powerful voice of the people to express there self,feeling,thoughts and to tell what there agenda.Media and information is also a powerful way to spread information and comments regarding to your concern in your community, work, government,and country.Be wise in using media and information because its is a powerful tool to affect change in society.

Reflection #9

Nowadays, people create new things out of their ideas and creative mind knowing that it will be popular and it will make a trend. Especially in today’s generation, a simple invention will lead to a bigger and popular one thanks to social media and technology, we can’t stop the trends because it will be widely spread on the internet.

Mobile- 36% of the journalists recognize mobile as the most important trend of the year.

Digital- Integration of social media in newsroom and reliance on videos and images ranked 2nd and 3rd among trends.

Native- 49% believe native advertising will be the top revenue source for their respective media outlets.

Native advertising- This is a form of online advertising that matches the form and function of the platform on which it appears.

[mmeaninglessnamee]

Best Things 2019 list

Welcome to my best of the year list, where you get ambushed by Anime at every turn because I refuse to make a separate anime-related category because all movies are films. [Pronounce this line very snobbily]

If you’ve never read one of my best-of-the-year lists, I don’t blame you, they are usually full of garbage except for this one which you should care deeply about. Anyway, this is the best things I first experienced on the past year, which often has a lot of things that didn’t come out this year, because I inevitably miss some things and there was a lot of good media from before I was born.

Anyway, on to the list! The one thing a year I actually use Tumblr to post!

Best Movies:

There’s only two movies that make this list entirely on their own merits this year. Last year I had a top ten, but I watched significantly more movies in 2018 than this year.

Angel’s Egg

Angel’s Egg is art-house anime at its peak. There’s not so much a story here as an uneasy feeling, symbolism, and probably 30 lines of dialogue total and an extremely limited color palette. You could interpret it as about becoming disillusioned with religion, or the complete opposite and see it as a lost, obsessed soul being redeemed. Or something completely different. It’s art for art’s sake.

I inevitably have anime on my best-of lists each year, and I try to not have it over-represent the scope of things I watched each year. But I’ve seen a lot less anime than other genres I like, so there’s a huge amount of really good anime I’ve never seen. I can watch 10 anime movies in a year and they can all be pretty good because there’s just a lot of good ones from a 50-year period that I haven’t seen, while I’ve seen most good sci-fi movies and a lot of the “classics” films and pretty much left with just watching new ones that have come out recently. And it’s not like I’m not watching western animated movies, there’s just not a lot that I would put on a best-of list. While last year had Isle of Dogs and Spiderverse, this year had some forgettable sequels. Anyway, that was a long aside to start this list, but I would love to get more good entries in my favorites every year. I can only hope Star Trek directed by Tarintino actually happens.

Synechdoche, New York

– ultimately will probably never make an all-time favorites list from me, but still a very good piece of filmmaking. It’s extremely dense with layered symbolism and tons of rewatchability. Yet, I don’t really feel the need to rewatch it. It’s very good, but not the kind of good that I feel the need to sing the praises of. If you like extremely well-planned, detailed filmmaking, there are many more-glowing reviews out there for it. This is a huge favorite among film critics, and I can respect why, but I am not a film critic. I don’t get burnt out watching bad movies because I don’t watch movies I don’t think I’ll like, unless they are into “so bad it’s good” territory.

Speaking of the act of watching movies: Best theater experience: Promare

Surprise, it’s Anime again! This movie wasn’t an all-time great, but it was big and stupid and exciting, and I got to see it in a packed theater with tons of Studio Trigger fans who cheered for every reference and visual nod. And the references were great, although they sometimes were a reminder that other similar plots were done better than they were in Promare. But Promare was definitely done gayer than any of the previous shows it took its style from.

That’s all for movies. I did not watch nearly as many that I loves as last year

Best short film:

There were no short films I loved this year. I saw some decent ones, and there’s always some interesting animation from short films, but there weren’t any that stuck out as much as anything last year.

A special mention goes to Age of Sail from John Kahrs with Chromosphere and Evil Eye pictures.( This was distributed by Google Spotlight Stories, so you can easily find it online.) This story had good enough characters that at the end I was left wanting more to their stories, and the visual style was memorable as well.

Best Shows:

The Good Place

I have a lot of things to say about The Good Place, but I really don’t want to spoil the show if you haven’t seen it, so I’ll try to be brief because most of the longwinded things I could say about it have to do with its reveals and plot progression.

What I will say is that one of the great things about The Good Place is that anything could happen, and suddenly, not just in a finale at the end of a season. But what initially got me to watch the show is its strong premise. Elenore wakes up to find out she is dead, but is in The Good Place. The only problem is that she was an awful person who doesn’t deserve to be there. So, she tries to learn to be a good person before she is found out so that she can stay. The show has a lot to say about ethics, morals, and what it means to be “good”, but it’s also primarily a comedy so it’s usually not very heavy-handed about anything.

The final season of The Good Place aired in 2019, but I’m not actually caught up on it yet so I don’t know what the ending is, just that it ended.

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumia

I like shows that are constantly surprising and unpredictable. I just said the same thing about The Good Place. Haruhi has a lot of faults, but makes up for them by being not just unpredictable but also very novel or sometimes just bizarre in its presentation. It has the same sense that anything could happen to suddenly change the story that The Good Place has, but in intentionally confusing ways. The two most interesting attributes of the show aren’t even its characters or premise, but two series of episodes: the first season episode order and the Endless Eight. The first 13 episodes of the show were initially broadcast completely out of order, and they are better that way. The first episode is entirely a bad student film that doesn’t even properly introduce any characters, and its backstory isn’t covered until the second season. But it’s an amazing introduction to the series. The series overall doesn’t have amazing visuals beyond some strange framing choices, but this episode also has lots of little details to sell that it’s a bad film, like camera shake and shots that aren’t entirely in focus.

The Endless Eight is the same episode eight times in a row. It’s was actually one of my favorite parts of the series, although I can see why people would loath it, especially if you were watching the show when it aired and had to wait a whole week to see the same thing happen again and again.

There’s also a silly dance with the ending theme. Every fad needs a stupid dance to go with it.

And then there’s the movie, the Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumia, which caps off the series, or at least the anime’s run, and is nearly 3 hours long. It’s actually the second-longest animated film ever made, trailing the extended cut of Final Yamato, a space opera from the 80’s, by one minute. The movie caps off the whole series, reincorporating many events that already happened in the series and showing some characters in a new light. Before the movie, I had no idea why there was an alternate-universe spinoff series about a normal version of one of the main characters, but now I completely understand it. Although the erratic pacing of the whole series may turn people off, and it is far from perfect and filled with enough cliché moments to fill a uh, something large, the moments where the story hits hard are extremely memorable.

Best web original programming:

“4K cab view - Geibi Line Hiroshima Station to Fukuen Line Fuchū Station, Japan”

Let me try to explain why a 4-hour video of railroad tracks is amazing.

1: I like trains 2: It’s really relaxing to just look at the scenery going by

3: I think that this specific video is good rather than just the large amount of transport cab-view videos in general because it’s long enough to be an experience, not just a video. That might sound corny, but you really go on a journey with this video, from city to countryside, and perhaps more strikingly from pre-dawn early morning to full daylight. I did not sit and watch this all at once, but I certainly could.

Best Music Videos:

OK Go Music Videos

Do you like cool ideas for music videos? OK Go has cool ideas for music videos, to the point that the videos are better than the music. You may remember their original hit which was a dance on treadmills. They have only got more elaborate since, with a rube Goldberg machine, a super-slow-mo video, hundreds of choreographed dancers, a car used as an instrument, and my favorite: a video shot in zero-g. To make things even better, most of their videos are in a single take which just makes them all the more impressive.

BEASTARS Opening

Opening themes to anime are basically just short music videos. Usually they aren’t too special, but I also think the vast majority of anime shows themselves are nothing special either, so that’s not saying much. However, sometime you get something really good like the Beastars OP, which in addition to having a jazzy song uses stop-motion animation for its visuals. Stop motion animation is always cool. I think it’s also thematically appropriate for a 3-D animated show to have an intro using the oldest form of 3-D animation.

And since we’re on Music Videos, let’s just go right into the next main section: Music.

Music:

Gregory and the Hawk

Gregory and the Hawk is an indie folk artist with a weird name. She sings sweet-sounding songs about troubled lives, and I like how her music sounds. It definitely won’t strike a chord with everyone though.

Not much to say about her, I just like it. Her best song is “Oats We Sow”.

Mariko Goto / Midori

This isn’t anime music. Mariko Goto didn’t appeal to me because she made music for some anime that I liked. I just feel like my best-of lists get heavy with anime-related things a lot for reasons I already discussed that back in the movies section. Anyway, Mariko Goto’s music is weird. This also includes the work of the band Midori, which she was a part of.

Midori was a jazz-punk-fusion band. That probably doesn’t bring any particular sound to your mind, but I can’t describe it well either. Mariko as a solo artist is also kind of the same genre, except sometimes. Many songs never quite find themselves coming to rest, either on a major key or sometimes even all on the same beat, while Mariko does a kind of overly-cutesy screech over the instrumentals. I would describe some of their music as sounding like a waking dream you would have while trying to rest with a fever.

I would say her best songs are “Swing”(with Midori), “Drone”, and “@HφU☆少女。。”(however you pronounce this mess) and best overall album is “299792458”

Angelique Kidjo – Remain in Light (Album cover)

A.K. is a Beninese music artist. She did a full cover album of Remain in Light, one of my favorite albums by one of my favorite bands. Talking Heads were one of the first mainstream rock bands to use (or depending on who you ask, steal) African polyrhythms extensively, and now Kidjo has taken them back. I have heard a lot of good covers from this album, most notably another entire-album cover by Phish, but this is the best one by far.

Her other, original work is okay too, but wouldn’t get on my best-of lists by themselves. Remain in Light was released in 2018, but I didn’t hear it until this year. Here’s some more music from 2018 that I didn’t hear until this year:

Revue Starlight soundtrack

Revue Starlight was a pretty good anime that aired last year. But wait, aren’t we past the audiovisual media section? Yeah, we are, because Starlight had some problems in my opinion. The soundtrack, both the original songs and the background score, were not one of the problems. The soundtrack was the best part of the show, which is why I’m putting it on my best music list. The genre is best described as modern classical. Most of the orchestration is a traditional string orchestra, but with different songs having distinct accents, like mechanical distortion, a heavy electric bass line, more traditional Japanese strings and woodwinds, or a screaming guitar solo. I think some of the songs are actually better absent of the show, because especially some of the revue songs were not used particularly well. My favorite song from the show, A Song or the Blooming of Flowers, especially got shafted in the anime by having characters talking over most of it and having a rather lackluster fight. The best pieces from the score however, Rondo Rondo Rondo and the transformation theme, were used well. But it baffles me that someone decided that songs with thematic lyrics should be spoken over with dialogue saying basically the same thing thematically as the lyrics.

The Protomen

The Protomen have a lot of musical talent and I really like how they sound…   on their second album. Their first album blows. Also all of their original music is based on made-up backstory to the MegaMan video game franchise. You gotta write about something I guess. Like I said, I really like some of their tracks, but I’m really not sure if I recommend they entirely.

Of Monsters and Men – all the tracks that didn’t get radio play

Of Monsters and Men is a pretty good band. I had already heard all their songs that were widely popular (so pretty much just Little Talks) so those don’t count for being something new I heard this year. But I also don’t really care for Wars, their new song that has got radio play this year. But I really like most of the rest of their tracks, and I also love the aesthetic of the visualizers for My Head is an Animal.

And here’s some individual songs where I didn’t like the artist’s whole catalogue but I liked certain songs.

God Knows – Aya Hirano

This is a rock song from The Meloncholy of Haruhi Suzumia. (oh no we’re back to anime) Haruhi is not a music show, but it nevertheless has a music episode out of nowhere. As in two of the characters perform this song in the show with no build up to it and with one of them never having shown any musical skill, so of course she can absolutely shred on guitar. This song basically got me to actually watch the show now on my favorites list even though I knew it was just a one-off in a single episode, so I think that’s a pretty solid statement for being one of the best songs I heard this year. Aya Hirano produced some other music as well, but I don’t like anything that I’ve heard as much, which might just be God Knows having the benefit of context. Since Haruhi, she’s performed with the stage theater company that inspired the anime Revue Starlight, the music from which was also just on this list. Everything’s connected!

Girls Dead Monster

Speaking of anime music, GirlDeMo is also anime-related music. GirlDeMo is the band in the anime Angel Beats, but they also produced some real albums with additional music, not just the songs used in Angel Beats. Unlike the Revue Starlight soundtrack, this isn’t a bright spot of an okay show, it’s on this list as a stand-alone because I really like female-lead rock music. Not every song is a masterpiece, but I like some of them enough to put them on this list. Best tracks: Crow Song (this was in the first ep. of Angel Beats) and Little Braver (was not in the show, but is coincidentally the only GirlDeMo song I’ve found a Clone Hero beatmap for, so someone else has good taste as well.) Also an honorable mention to the rock cover of the Angel Beats opening theme which is performed in-universe at the start of an episode.

I think that’s all the things related to anime on this list now. There’s a lot of anime with some very good high points, but yet very few that overall come all together to make a full package that’s good all the way through. Just having one aspect of something that people like a lot is better than nothing though, but that’s why it got spread all across this list instead of being confined to movies and shows, it spreads like a sickness across the land, creeping up and night and stifling life.

Speaking of creeping up at night and stifling life:

LEATHER TEETH – Carpenter Brut

This song is a piece of heavy horror electronica, and it slaps hard. Slashes hard? The music video is about a slasher-movie serial killer, but the track has plenty of atmosphere on its own. The rest of the album is also good, but does not reach the peak of the title track. They all have very high amount of violence and sex in their videos though, so beware who you watch them around. One of them has a YouTube-friendly version where all the gore is left intact but the nudity is censored with lots of guns.

Curses – The Crane Wives

This is a good song, but I don’t like most of The Crane Wives’ catalogue as much as this one song. That’s all I have to say about this one.

The chorus is really catchy, or maybe just the singer’s smoky delivery is inherently memorable.

I Am The Antichrist To You – Kishi Bashi

This is a surprisingly slow, melancholy song, from the title you would probably expect some heavy metal. This song is carried by the vocals.

Borodin – Polovstian Dances from Prince Igor (Choral version)

Here’s something not even remotely contemporary. Did you know that this piece was originally written to have lyrics? I didn’t. Did you know that this piece is AMAZING with vocals added to it? Now you do.

Arriving Somewhere But Not Here by Porcupine Tree

This was probably the best prog-rock song I heard all year. Yeah, that’s all for this one.

Dream Sweet in Sea Major

Joe Hawley, Allison Hanna and Bora Karaca are three people I have never heard of who make very strange alternative music that sounds like it belongs playing on a phonograph, except when it abruptly shifts to some other various genre. This song got the YouTube algorithm blessing, but the band the artists are a part of, Tally Hall, apparently has some amount of online following. I’d never heard of them. The side project that produced the album “Hawaii Part II” that this song is from has an entirely Japanese name for some reason. (None of the members are Japanese) I guess if you’re making a weird side project, make it as weird as you want.

Did you know Rob Cantor (who wrote Running for your life from Shia LeBeouf) is part of Tally Hall? Now you do. He didn’t work on this song, but looking up stuff about this song was a huge rabbit hole.

25 Color Twilight from City Connection from Voez

The rhythm game Voez has some good music. I put Night Keepers, the most-featured artist, on my list last year. This particular song is a reimagining of the main theme of City Connection, a NES game where you run away from the cops with a bunch of paint dripping out the back of your car. Why? Because. I’ve played it and didn’t think it was very fun, but anyway this song is great.

HM: Aqualung – Pressure Suit

HM: Heart of Glass - Blondie

HM: Locomotive Breath – Jethro Tull

These songs aren’t Honorable Mentions because I only kind-of like them, they are HMs because I had heard them before but only really listened to them a lot this year.

Locomotive Breath is just a good song that always leaves me wanting more at the end of it. So I listen to it again and again.

Heart of Glass is just really really catchy and I love how it draws attention to its own skipped beat in the chorus. There are lots of songs that skip a beat to smooth over a song transition, but this song skips a beat to become rougher.

Pressure Suit has a story to it. I first saw the song’s music video on an MTV-style channel on a TV at a college campus cafeteria. I was in middle school at the time. The video was very memorable to me, and the TV had subtitles on it so I remembered the chorus lyrics, but there was no audio. Amazingly, I remembered this and found the song much later, and even more surprisingly actually liked it.

 Games:

The Beatles Rock Band

Since we’re coming off music, it only makes sense to start with a music game. Remember Guitar Hero? The series is still going with Guitar Hero Live, but it really died out years ago. Despite that, it’s still great fun, and the popularity of Clone Hero shows that people still love the idea. Most of the Guitar Hero and Rock Band games really emphasized the aesthetic of grunge and heavy metal, and had some face-melting solos and heavily technical songs. The Beatles Rock Band has neither of those things, which is a lot of why I like it. I mean, I also like The Beatles, but that’s kind of assumed since I liked a game that’s entirely their music. Even on expert mode, this game is laid back and relaxed, with some of the songs have videos that travel from the studio to psychedelic landscapes. I never owned this game when it came out, but now I bought it for $3.

Celeste

The last section to write. I have so much to say about how good Celeste is.

Celeste is by far the best game I played this year. I have a hard time loving 2-D platformers because they so often feel slippery and imprecise but demand perfection from the player. Old Mario games are icons of the genre. Mario slides off everything and needs momentum to get anywhere off a jump. Meat Boy is a game with death everywhere for the slightest mistake, but by design you slide up walls while having to be very deliberate with your jumps to get the correct arc and height. Celeste improved the controls and feel of the game to the point that it feels perfectly precise, and mistakes you make are your own, not Madeline sliding a little bit too far or a jump having to have too exact an angle. Just a single linear dash in the air opens up so many possibilities for design, but the biggest aspect is wall climbing. You can just hold on a wall for a second or climb up over the top of a ledge instead of having to be constantly jumping, and this makes long sections without ground or with difficult timing feel much more manageable.

Also the game has a strong emotional story, which is now commonplace in well-received indie games but is still a rarity in platformers. Go rescue the damsel, the end. In Celeste, you’re only fighting against nature and yourself.

Also the soundtrack is beautiful, ranging from apprehensive to reflective and tense to triumphant. First Steps is a great, memorable introductory theme. Capping things off, Reach for the Summit drives you to have to finish the game. And the b-sides remixes are nice reinterpretations of the tracks to match the reinterpretations of the levels they accompany.

Also, I’m using “Also” to start another point too much, so let’s also talk about some other games.

Quiplash

It’s a great party game that you can play with people who aren’t gamers!

The Jackbox Party Packs overall are great party games, and Quiplash is the best for people for whom the hardest part of the game will be correctly operating their phone to connect to the Jackbox server. Take this to holiday gatherings and play with family.

Ultra Fight da! Kyanta 2

The only fighting game that came out this year that I actually like. It’s extreme kusoge. Technically it came out last year on itch.io and I did play it back then, but it came to Steam and got more popular and people ran tournaments for it starting this year.

You have teams of up to three characters, groove selection per character, parries, walk-through crossups, normals with free air movement , extremely high damage and ridiculous supers, roman cancels, and all sorts of other character-specific degeneracy like jumping lows or unblockable projectiles that hit both players, and that all adds up to a very fun game.

Oh yeah, and it looks like it was made in Microsoft Paint.

Tetris

Tetris has been around for decades, but there’s always new ways to reinvent the game and I want to talk about 3 different ones I got into this year.

First, Puyo Puyo Tetris. It’s three games in one, and pretty much the standard for competitive modern tetris. Or modern Puyo. Or Swap Mode, which forces you to play both games alternating every 30 seconds, which is where the game really shines.

Then, there’s tetris effect, which is the best single-player tetris game around, at least the best available to buy normally. The Tetris the Grandmaster series is also great but only on arcade boards. Tetris Effect is the only tetris game where the graphics and soundtrack actually matter, because it’s a visual masterpiece and great game experience. However, it has no direct multiplayer at all.

Finally, if you really want multiplayer tetris but beating up to three other people at once in Puyo Puyo Tetris isn’t enough, there’s Tetris 99, the tetris battle-royale game. Because there’s basically no downtime in matches and you can start a new match almost immediately, it’s easy to play one more match for hours in this game.

These three games together are just many facets of one great game: Tetris

I also played a Tetris The Grandmaster arcade board for the first time this year. That’s another good tetris game, but even better was its full name: Tetris The Grandmaster 3: Terror Instinct. And VideoGameDunkey did a video on Tetris this year, that was great too. Tetris.

HM: Defunct

This game is great. However, it’s an HM because it’s only about an hour long with not a huge amount of extra stuff to do. But the replay value is still very high, because mastering time attacks or just moving with style is very fun. I’ve considered doing speedruns of this game, but only actually did a full (20-minute) run once.

HM: Catherine Classic

This is an HM because I have played the game before on PS3. I’ve entered tournaments for Catherine. But I never played the story mode or actually owned the game until it came to PC. This is a very unique puzzle game that is worth your time, and a type of story about actual long-term relationships that games don’t tell often. Yes, the story has character portrayals that are problematic, but most of the time that’s the point; most of the characters are kind-of awful and are unable to move beyond their past relationship issues.

 Books and other writing:

The Hero with 1000 Faces (1949)

This book is all about heroic myth around the world, and more specifically about how many myths worldwide have significant similarities. If you want a really in-depth look at the Hero’s Journey, this is your book.

This book is very well-known among writers and very easy to use to compare different works. George Lucas said it influenced Star Wars, so that’s something.

Mimusubi (Blog)

This is a blog by and Englishman who lives in Japan and works for a national Shinto organization. It is all about Shinto as a religion and its place in modern Japanese society. It’s an interesting read, although it ended up being entirely useless related to the research I was doing when I found it initially. I don’t frequently read blogs, so this is a weird entry on my best-of-the-year list.

Best Theater:

‘Romeos and Juliets’ by the machine lifeforms in the amusement park from Nier Automata So, I didn’t actually go to any plays and only one concert this year so I don’t have much to say about live performances, but this bizarre identity crisis misinterpretation of Romeo and Juliet is certainly entertaining (although quite short). And like all good stories within stories, it just maybe has a lot more to do with the overall plot than you would think.

This is really just another alternate way of putting in an Honorable Mention for Nier Automata, which is a good game, but I just have a lot of problems with the gameplay part of it that keeps it off my best games list. The ending is extremely strong, but it took me 30 hours to get there and its hard to ignore that significant portion of the game, especially when the actual gameplay part was often the least-interesting aspect.

Sorry if anyone was actually watching this for theater recommendations. Since I like things that are about theater so much (see Revue Starlight also being on my best-of list), you think I would actually get to more live theater like I have previous years. The one thing I went to was a performance of Dvorak’s New World Symphony, but again, I have nothing to say about that, I’d heard the piece before so it can’t even go in “best music” since it wasn’t a mind-blowing performance. I don’t know, maybe I should have just removed this section. If you want recommendations, watch Avenue Q I guess.

Best Credits Sequence:

Here, I found an award to give Nier: Automata.

Best Memes:

SA2 Realtime Fandub by SnapCube

I’ve come to make an announcement: Here’s one final thing from this list that was from 2018 but I didn’t find until a year later, but this one didn’t really blow up until then. Eggman pissing on the moon is the single biggest highlight of this hour-long epic, but it’s hilarious the whole way through and endlessly rewatchable. Sonic Adventure 2 is a perfect source for parody for so many reasons, but the improvised character dynamics here really highlight how absurd so much of the story is. Why is NASA there? Why is the camera zooming in? This is a must-watch if you loved SA2’s corniness, as long as you don’t mind some characters swearing like wounded sailors.

Places I discovered I want to visit:

Museum Meiji-mura

Here’s a new section for this year’s list that I probably won’t repeat!

A long time ago, in a country far, far away, Frank Lloyd Wright designed a hotel. Unfortunately, the hotel was in Tokyo, Japan. It survived the 1923 Tokyo Earthquake and World War Two, but did not survive the economic realities of being a low-rise structure in downtown Tokyo, one of the densest cities on the planet. It was replaced by a much larger hotel in the 70’s.

But, the entrance building was saved and rebuilt in Museum Meiji-mura, near Nagoya, and I absolutely want to visit there if I ever go to Japan, because it’s a large collection of architecturally historic buildings from Japan, and as a student of Architecture, that would be really cool to go see.

 That’s all for my list this year. I’m planning on making a video version of the list this year, but that won’t be done for a while.

#best of 2019

[danithebookaholic-blog]

Top 10 to Run To

Top 10 to Run To

The following are my favorite books to listen to while running. The more detail there is to paint a picture for me and to keep my thoughts off of my burning lungs and aching hip flexors, the better! That's why Stephen King's IT is my number 1 choice. So much detail in that book, and if you're not paying attention to the detail, you're not going to understand what's happening.

Comedies are usually something that I don't listen to while running because I tend to lose control of my breathing when I'm laughing hysterically (I don't know if this is just me, or what?).  But Kevin Hart and Jim Gaffigan's books are perfect for those grey rainy days when you need a laugh just to get you through.

And then any time I can find a series that I enjoy running to, the more excited I am about running (I hate running, but I love it at the same time. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about!), and that's why I love The Warded Man (The Demon Cycle, Book 1). I'm anxiously waiting for book 5 to come out in October; perfect timing if you ask me!

The others on this list I love to run to just as much as the above mentioned for their own different reasons. Hopefully one of the following will be your perfect companion for that next run you have planned!

1) IT by Stephen King

Looking for a suspense-thriller? King's IT is the way to go! And just in time for the reboot that came out earlier this month.

To the children, the town was their whole world. To the adults, knowing better, Derry, Maine was just their home town: familiar, well-ordered for the most part. A good place to live. It was the children who saw - and felt - what made Derry so horribly different. In the storm drains, in the sewers, IT lurked, taking on the shape of every nightmare, each one's deepest dread. Sometimes IT reached up, seizing, tearing, killing . . . The adults, knowing better, knew nothing. Time passed and the children grew up, moved away. The horror of IT was deep-buried, wrapped in forgetfulness. Until they were called back, once more to confront IT as IT stirred and coiled in the sullen depths of their memories, reaching up again to make their past nightmares a terrible present reality. (source)

2) The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett

For the sci-fi fantasy lovers out there, this is the one for you! 

As darkness falls after sunset, the corelings rise—demons who possess supernatural powers and burn with a consuming hatred of humanity. For hundreds of years the demons have terrorized the night, slowly culling the human herd that shelters behind magical wards—symbols of power whose origins are lost in myth and whose protection is terrifyingly fragile. It was not always this way. Once, men and women battled the corelings on equal terms, but those days are gone. Night by night the demons grow stronger, while human numbers dwindle under their relentless assault. Now, with hope for the future fading, three young survivors of vicious demon attacks will dare the impossible, stepping beyond the crumbling safety of the wards to risk everything in a desperate quest to regain the secrets of the past. Together, they will stand against the night. (Source)

3) I Can't Make this Up: Life Lessons by Kevin Hart

 Hysterical memoir with a serious side. Kevin will have you laughing and thinking of your journey to success at the same time.

Superstar comedian and Hollywood box office star Kevin Hart turns his immense talent to the written word by writing some words. Some of those words include: the, a, for, above, and even even. Put them together and you have the funniest, most heartfelt, and most inspirational memoir on survival, success, and the importance of believing in yourself since Old Yeller. The question you’re probably asking yourself right now is: What does Kevin Hart have that a book also has? According to the three people who have seen Kevin Hart and a book in the same room, the answer is clear: A book is compact. Kevin Hart is compact. A book has a spine that holds it together. Kevin Hart has a spine that holds him together. A book has a beginning. Kevin Hart’s life uniquely qualifies him to write this book by also having a beginning. It begins in North Philadelphia. He was born an accident, unwanted by his parents. His father was a drug addict who was in and out of jail. His brother was a crack dealer and petty thief. And his mother was overwhelmingly strict, beating him with belts, frying pans, and his own toys. The odds, in short, were stacked against our young hero, just like the odds that are stacked against the release of a new book in this era of social media (where Hart has a following of over 100 million, by the way). But Kevin Hart, like Ernest Hemingway, JK Rowling, and Chocolate Droppa before him, was able to defy the odds and turn it around. In his literary debut, he takes the reader on a journey through what his life was, what it is today, and how he’s overcome each challenge to become the man he is today. And that man happens to be the biggest comedian in the world, with tours that sell out football stadiums and films that have collectively grossed over $3.5 billion. He achieved this not just through hard work, determination, and talent: It was through his unique way of looking at the world. Because just like a book has chapters, Hart sees life as a collection of chapters that each person gets to write for himself or herself. “Not only do you get to choose how you interpret each chapter, but your interpretation writes the next chapter,” he says. “So why not choose the interpretation that serves your life the best?” (source)

4) Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell

For the analytic and the student to life, Outliers will have you questioning what your parents should have done differently that would have helped you win the race.

In this stunning new book, Malcolm Gladwell takes us on an intellectual journey through the world of "outliers"--the best and the brightest, the most famous and the most successful. He asks the question: what makes high-achievers different? His answer is that we pay too much attention to what successful people are like, and too little attention to where they are from: that is, their culture, their family, their generation, and the idiosyncratic experiences of their upbringing. Along the way he explains the secrets of software billionaires, what it takes to be a great soccer player, why Asians are good at math, and what made the Beatles the greatest rock band. (source)

5) The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Beautiful imagery, well written story, the only thing that would make The Night Circus better would be to listen to it while running in the dark.

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night... But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway - a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love - a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.  True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus performers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead. (source)

6) See Me by Nicholas Sparks

Part romance, part thriller, See Me will satisfy a fan of either genre.

See me just as I see you . . . Colin Hancock is giving his second chance his best shot. With a history of violence and bad decisions behind him and the threat of prison dogging his every step, he's determined to walk a straight line. To Colin, that means applying himself single-mindedly toward his teaching degree and avoiding everything that proved destructive in his earlier life. Reminding himself daily of his hard-earned lessons, the last thing he is looking for is a serious relationship. Maria Sanchez, the hardworking daughter of Mexican immigrants, is the picture of conventional success. With a degree from Duke Law School and a job at a prestigious firm in Wilmington, she is a dark-haired beauty with a seemingly flawless professional track record. And yet Maria has a traumatic history of her own, one that compelled her to return to her hometown and left her questioning so much of what she once believed. A chance encounter on a rain-swept road will alter the course of both Colin and Maria's lives, challenging deeply held assumptions about each other and ultimately, themselves. As love unexpectedly takes hold between them, they dare to envision what a future together could possibly look like . . . until menacing reminders of events in Maria's past begin to surface. As a series of threatening incidents wreaks chaos in Maria's life, Maria and Colin will be tested in increasingly terrifying ways. Will demons from their past destroy the tenuous relationship they've begun to build, or will their love protect them, even in the darkest hour? (source)

7) Angels & Demons by Dan Brown

Start at the beginning of Robert Langdon's story in anticipation of the fifth (and final?) installment to his legend which is to hit shelves in early October.

An ancient secret brotherhood. A devastating new weapon of destruction. An unthinkable target...  When world-renowned Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned to a Swiss research facility to analyze a mysterious symbol -- seared into the chest of a murdered physicist -- he discovers evidence of the unimaginable: the resurgence of an ancient secret brotherhood known as the Illuminati... the most powerful underground organization ever to walk the earth. The Illuminati has surfaced from the shadows to carry out the final phase of its legendary vendetta against its most hated enemy... the Catholic Church.  Langdon's worst fears are confirmed on the eve of the Vatican's holy conclave, when a messenger of the Illuminati announces he has hidden an unstoppable time bomb at the very heart of Vatican City. With the countdown under way, Langdon jets to Rome to join forces with Vittoria Vetra, a beautiful and mysterious Italian scientist, to assist the Vatican in a desperate bid for survival.  Embarking on a frantic hunt through sealed crypts, dangerous catacombs, deserted cathedrals, and even to the heart of the most secretive vault on earth, Langdon and Vetra follow a 400-year old trail of ancient symbols that snakes across Rome toward the long-forgotten Illuminati lair... a secret location that contains the only hope for Vatican salvation.  An explosive international thriller, Angels & Demons careens from enlightening epiphanies to dark truths as the battle between science and religion turns to war. (source)

8) Dad is Fat by Jim Gaffigan

A great comedic laugh is always needed while on a long run. If you have young children in the house, then this is a double win for you!

In Dad is Fat, stand-up comedian Jim Gaffigan, who’s best known for his legendary riffs on Hot Pockets, bacon, manatees, and McDonald's, expresses all the joys and horrors of life with five young children—everything from cousins ("celebrities for little kids") to toddlers’ communication skills (“they always sound like they have traveled by horseback for hours to deliver important news”), to the eating habits of four year olds (“there is no difference between a four year old eating a taco and throwing a taco on the floor”). Reminiscent of Bill Cosby’s Fatherhood, Dad is Fat is sharply observed, explosively funny, and a cry for help from a man who has realized he and his wife are outnumbered in their own home. (source)

9) Finding Ultra by Rich Roll

What book list for runners would be complete without a book about physical limits and running itself?

Finding Ultra is Rich Roll’s incredible-but-true account of achieving one of the most awe-inspiring midlife physical transformations ever.   One cool evening in October 2006, the night before he was to turn forty, Rich experienced a chilling glimpse of his future. Nearly fifty pounds overweight at the time and unable to climb the stairs without stopping, he could see where his current sedentary lifestyle was taking him.   Most of us, when granted such a moment of clarity, look the other way—but not Rich.   Plunging into a new way of eating that made processed foods off-limits and that prioritized plant nutrition, and vowing to train daily, Rich morphed—in a matter of mere months—from out-of-shape midlifer to endurance machine. When one morning ninety days into his physical overhaul, Rich left the house to embark on a light jog and found himself running a near marathon, he knew he had to scale up his goals. How many of us take up a sport at age forty and compete for the title of the world’s best within two years? Finding Ultra recounts Rich’s remarkable journey to the starting line of the elite Ultraman competition, which pits the world’s fittest humans against each other in a 320-mile ordeal of swimming, biking, and running. And following that test, Rich conquered an even greater one: the Epic5—five Ironman-distance triathlons, each on a different Hawaiian island, all completed in less than a week.   But Finding Ultra is much more than an edge-of-the-seat look at a series of jaw-dropping athletic feats—and much more than a practical training manual for those who would attempt a similar transformation. Yes, Rich’s account rivets—and, yes, it instructs,providing information that will be invaluable to anyone who wants to change their physique. But this book is most notable as a powerful testament to human resiliency, for as we learn early on, Rich’s childhood posed numerous physical and social challenges, and his early adulthood featured a fierce battle with alcoholism.   Ultimately, Finding Ultra is a beautifully written portrait of what willpower can accomplish. It challenges all of us to rethink what we’re capable of and urges us, implicitly and explicitly, to “go for it.”(source)

10) Grey by E. L. James

With this add on to Fifty Shades, trust me, you're mind will be focus on the book, and not the task at hand! *This book is intended for mature audiences

Christian Grey exercises control in all things; his world is neat, disciplined, and utterly empty—until the day that Anastasia Steele falls into his office, in a tangle of shapely limbs and tumbling brown hair. He tries to forget her, but instead is swept up in a storm of emotion he cannot comprehend and cannot resist. Unlike any woman he has known before, shy, unworldly Ana seems to see right through him—past the business prodigy and the penthouse lifestyle to Christian’s cold, wounded heart.   Will being with Ana dispel the horrors of his childhood that haunt Christian every night? Or will his dark sexual desires, his compulsion to control, and the self-loathing that fills his soul drive this girl away and destroy the fragile hope she offers him? (source)

From one wine-loving bookaholic to another, I hope I've helped you find you next fix!     -Dani

#running #marathon #half marathon #stephen king #IT #the warded man #the painted man #peter v. brett #the demon cycle #i can't make this up #kevin hart #outliers #malcolm gladwell #the night circus #erin morgenstern #see me #nicholas sparks #angels & demons #dan brown #robert langdon #jim gaffigan #dad is fat #finding ultra #ultra marathon #rich roll #ultraman #epic5 #grey #e.l.james #fifty shades of grey

[tuthillscopes-blog]

Genius by numbers: why Hollywood maths movies don't add up

check it out @ https://tuthillscopes.com/genius-by-numbers-why-hollywood-maths-movies-dont-add-up/

Genius by numbers: why Hollywood maths movies don't add up

From The Beautiful Mind towards the Theory of all things anf the husband Who Understood Infinity, Hollywood loves a math wizzard. Why cant it get past the fevered prodigy scribbling equations on home windows?

In the Tina Fey sitcom Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, wealthy Manhattanite Jacqueline Vorhees wails to her assistant that they cant manage to get divorced. Despite the fact that shed get $1m for each year of her marriage.

I spend 100 grand per month. Ill be broke in ten years, she wails. No, thats wrong, counters Kimmy (Ellie Kemper), who scribbles some sums having a marker on Mrs Vorheess window. So $100,000 occasions 12 several weeks. Thats $1.2m annually. Divide that into $12m, you will find, youd be broke in ten years. However if you simply invest a lot of it, presuming a 7% rate of return, while using compound interest formula, your hard earned money would almost double.

Kimmy turns round triumphantly: Mrs Voorhees, I mathed, and you may get divorced! Mrs Vorhees eyes Kimmy narrowly. Individuals aren’t, she complains, erasable markers. What she doesnt mention is the fact that math isnt a verb. Not.

The scene is, amongst other things, Feys satire from the Hollywood cliche of genius squiggling on glass. In A Beautiful Mind (2001), for example, Russell Crowe, playing troubled maths star John Forbes Nash Jr, writes formulae on his dorm window. This scene is echoed in The Social Network (2010), where Andrew Garfield sets the equations for Facebooks business design on the Harvard window while Jesse Eisenbergs Mark Zuckerberg looks on. Within the opening scene of excellent Will Hunting (1997), janitor prodigy Matt Damon writes equations on the bathroom mirror.

So why do a lot of Hollywood maths whizzes forego paper? Stanford mathematician Keith Devlin explains. Depicting a math wizzard scribbling formulas on the piece of paper is much more accurate, however it certainly doesnt convey the look of the person amorously involved with mathematics, along with seeing someone write individuals formulas in steam on the mirror or perhaps in wax on the window, neither is it as being cinematographically dramatic.

Good point. Whenever we see a Beautiful Mind and appear with the window at our Russ, Hollywoods most built math wizzard (counterexamples on postcards, please show your workings), we pass beyond incomprehensive equations and convince ourselves were seeing Genius at the office. Even when, as some critics have complained uncharitably, Russs pi glyphs, greater-than and fewer-than symbols and the like dont seem sensible.

But theres one other way maths movies can confound the Monotony Equation, namely by departing a black hole in which the maths ought to be. The Man Who Knew Infinity, the brand new film starring Dev Patel and Jeremy Irons concerning the great Indian math wizzard Srinivasa Ramanujan, is intriguing in this way. Although we have seen Ramanujan doing maths, mostly the show has an interest in other activities how he falls deeply in love with his wife, the discomfort of separation as he travels from Madras to review at Cambridge, the racism he suffers in England and, most stirringly, the narrative arc from lowly clerk to globally recognised math wizzard.

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Hollywoods most built mathematician Russell Crowe in A Beautiful Mind. Photograph: Universal Studios

That said, the film has its charming moments. When Hardy visits Ramanujan in a nursing home, he complains about the boring number of the cab that brought him there. Ramanujan begs to differ: 1,729 is the smallest that is expressible as the sum of two cubes in two different ways. Today 1,729 is known as the Hardy-Ramanujan number. How does that work, you may be wondering? Like this: 1729 = 13 + 123 = 93 + 103.

Ramanujans mentor GH Hardy (Irons) is an atheist and rationalist, exasperated that this Indian prodigy cannot produce proofs for his work and, worse, is doubtful that proofs can explain the inexplicable. You wanted to know how I get my ideas, says Ramanujan. God speaks to me. But while the film may sketch two different mathematical philosophies, we leave the cinema with a warm glow that comes from anything but hard thinking.

If you want to learn some more about Ramanujans contribution to mathematics, rent High School Musical. Freeze-frame it at the moment brainy Gabriella Montez challenges her teacher. On the board are two of the equations of the inverse of the constant pi (1/) that Ramanujan offered in his first paper published in England. Shouldnt the second equation read 16 over pi? asks Gabriella. Of course it should.

Cinema often struggles with dramatising difficult ideas, particularly if they are abstract. One way of overcoming that problem is by metaphorical explanation. For instance, in Nicholas Roegs Insignificance (1985), a Marilyn Monroe-like character demonstrates relativity using toy trains and flashing lights. In The Theory of Everything, Jane Hawking uses a pea and a potato to explain the difference between quantum theory and general relativity, while her husbands friends explain Hawking Radiation with beers and crisps.

Movie explanations of difficult stuff, though, may obscure rather than enlighten. Whats more, some directors know this and have fun pointing out the shortcomings of their medium and those of their audiences. In Adam McKays The Big Short (2016), for example, Margot Robbie sits inside a tub sipping champagne and describing how sub-prime loans work. Her explanation is doubtless coherent, however when Im searching in a beautiful lady inside a bubble bath, I am not considering credit default swaps. So sue me. Later within the film, chef Anthony Bourdain chops fish in the kitchen while describing how collateralised debt obligations work. Finally, Selena Gomez plays roulette as one example of the thought of gambling on other bands gambles.

Each scene works as a parody of explanation. They are members of a movie that mocks you, you poor jerk, as well as your intellectual aspirations. You are not ever likely to know how difficult stuff works from watching movies, however much youd prefer to.

Sometimes, though, cinema can provide a genuine understanding of the intellectual process. In Agora (2009), Rachel Weisz as ancient philosopher Hypatia does a test on the shipped to test relative motion. If, she hypothesises, you drop huge sack in the mast as the ship is continuing to move forward, it’ll fall around the deck several ft behind the mast. The sack is dropped and falls much nearer to the mast than she predicted. Hypatia claps her hands in delight. However, you were wrong! states the ships captain. Yes, but it’s definitive proof! The sack behaves as though the boat were stationary.

What am i saying?

I do not know. However the identical principle could be relevant to our planet. It may be getting around the sun’s rays without us realising.

Hypatia, in other words, infers an innovative heliocentric cosmology from her falsified hypothesis. The show thus generously provides for us what we should are effectively denied in Good Will Hunting or perhaps a Beautiful Mind the news about how someone clever is considering an issue. Furthermore, its an antidote to Hollywoods vision of genius. It shows that getting stuff wrong reaches least as vital within the story of human intellectual progress to be right constantly.

Maths is frequently reduced to simply a MacGuffin. In Rushmore (1998), for example, Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman) is studying the newspaper while his teacher informs his class that around the blackboard may be the hardest geometry equation on the planet. What credits would anybody solving it get, asks one student. Well, thinking about Ive never witnessed anybody understand it properly, including my mentor Dr Leaky at Durch, I suppose if anybody here can solve this problem, Id ensure that none individuals have to spread out another math book again throughout your lives.

Thus enticed, Fischer folds his paper and would go to the blackboard, and squiggles his solution while nonchalantly sipping espresso. The show at this time is not to declare but Fischers genius. Will we really believe Jason Schwartzmann can compute the region of the ellipse? Sure. Whatever.

Genius squiggling can there be once more just to assist Hollywood tell the sentimental story it never tires of: namely the storyline of somebody usually borderline demented by definition insufficiently recognised sticking it towards the establishment.

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Genius squiggling Rushmore

None of this should suggest we cant learn maths from movies. In Tina Feys Mean Girls (2004), for example, Lindsay Lohan plays a finalist in the Illinois high school mathletes state championship. Will her Northern Coast High team place it to individuals prep school toffs opposite? Heres the initial question: Two times the bigger of two figures is three greater than five occasions the smaller sized, and the sum of the four occasions the bigger and three occasions the smaller sized is 71. Do you know the figures? First got it yet? 14 and 5. Within the finish, Lohans team end up being the new condition champs because she wins the sudden dying tie-break. Exactly what does the scene prove? That individuals individuals who thought She no longer can do maths should certainly talk to her.

Possibly probably the most resonant maths scene in Hollywood cinema, though, comes in an exceedingly old comedy. Within the Abbott and Costello movie Within the Navy (1941), Lou is really a ships prepare. Hes baked 28 doughnuts, which he reckons is just enough to give 13 to each of his seven officers. But seven adopts 28 four occasions, objects Lous straight man. Not too, states Lou, who procedes to prove it around the blackboard inside a masterclass of cheating and illusion. The scene demonstrates an over-all truth, namely that whenever Hollywood does maths, it doesnt always accumulate.

The Man Who Knew Infinity is released on 8 April.

Find out more: http://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/apr/06/mathematics-movies-the-man-who-knew-infinity

#Culture #Film #Mathematics #Rushmore #Russell Crowe #Science #The Big Short #The Man Who Knew Infinity #Tina Fey