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#feat. my horrible Scottish
Part 1 of this trip draws to an end…
October 1, 2023 - Happy 97th Birthday to my Mom!!!
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We are back in Michigan and once again we have super Internet, so I will be posting things I wrote over the last week. We have had an amazing month of travel and learning. Again, I will say that travel is the best education a person can get. Get out there and experience the lives of people you don't know. It may feel uncomfortable - but that feeling only means you are growing. You will be much richer for it. Here is where I left off....
Sept 23, 2023
Today we started our day with a city tour of Oviedo.  This place was hopping last night well into the morning.  We have a beautiful corner room with two window balconies.  This time our windows overlooked the city and all its activities. 
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 We heard rock and roll and a drum choir but the most surprising sounds were the bagpipers.
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We learned that anywhere the Celts were - and let’s face it they were in a LOT of places, bagpiping exists today. 
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These pipers do not play Amazing Grace nor any other Scottish associated tune.  The play Spanish music and these pipers in particular play Asturais Spanish music.  I HAD NO IDEA.  Again - with my motto - You don’t know what you don’t know.
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The first part of the tour was on the bus.  We saw different parts of this very active city and we learned that the Crown Prince - or in the current case - the Crown Princess is given the total of Princess of Asturias.  It follows the same kind of thing as the Prince or Princess of Wales - will someday rule Great Britain.
We saw another major work of the very famous architect Santigo Calatrava. (and according to our trip leader Fran, “a horrible human being”)  
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It might be the ugliest building I have ever seen - BUT it is one you will not forget and it is certainly recognizable from the sky or from a very high vista - which takes me to our next event.  
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A bus ride to the top of Mount Naranco  high above Oviedo with the bonus gift - another statue of Jesus, Rio de Janeiro style. “Monument al Sagrado Corazón de Jesus”. 
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What stunning views!!!  From there we visited two additional building ruins, the first San Miguel de Lillo built in the 9th century, and this is what is left of that very large church.
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 The brick work surrounding the ruin is the footprint of the original building. 
We walked down  the road to discover this:   
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Built by Ramiro I (842–50), Alfonso II’s successor – is an exquisite example of Asturias’ unique pre-Romanesque architecture. It marks an advance in Asturian art: an outstanding decorative feature iimitating rope used in its columns.  Very cool!
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We returned to Oviedo and did a city walk.  It is very hopping city - especially the Saturday after St. Matthew’s Fiesta.  But we meandered this way and that way from one square to another.  In each square was a statue marking something that happened here and would be important to the citizens of the area.  I liked this one.
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Since she was a girl until she died in her mid-90s this woman brought her milk to market.
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Mark liked this one - so much that he let this guy who owned a shop on this square of more than 75 years - use his headphones.  Mark’s a nice guy!
In the square closest to us and home to the giant-ass party is the home of The Cathedral of San Salvador of Oviedo.
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It displays an array of architectural styles, from Pre-Romanesque to Baroque  including Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance parts.  There is a reason for this  and it is called REMODELING.  Built first in 780 CE the first remodel and enlargement was in 810 CE.  Then in the 1100s - much was torn down and changed.The Cloisters were added in the 1200s and the bell town in the 1300s.  But the bell tower didn’t look good with the front now - so in the 1400s the entrance was “improved”. You get the picture.  Frankly I couldn’t NOT keep up.
BUT - and here is why it was so important to keep this place looking great - it is the home to some of the most sacred relics of Christendom.  The chief feature of the cathedral is the "Camara Santa", with its venerable relics. A Bishop in the 12th century wrote that the Agate Box, was a coffer made by the disciples of the Apostles  and containing the most precious relics of the Holy City, was taken from Jerusalem to Africa, and after residing in several locations was finally placed at Oviedo by Alfonso II. In the 16th century, Bishop Cristóbal de Sandoval y Rojas wished to open it, but could not, being overcome with religious fear. Yah-yah...
BUT the real big deal is this: The Sudarium of Oviedo, or Shroud of Oviedo, is a bloodstained piece of cloth measuring c. 84 x 53 cm (33 x 21 inches) The Sudarium ( Latin for sweat cloth) is thought to be the cloth that was wrapped around the head of Jesus Christ after he died as described in the Bible.
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This is believed by many to be the actual thing and as such people make a pilgrimage to see this box.
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On 14 March 1075, King Alfonso VI, his sister and Rodrigo Diaz Vivar (El Cid) opened the chest after days of fasting. The event was recorded on a document preserved in the Capitular Archives at the Cathedral of San Salvador in Oviedo. The king had the oak chest covered in silver with an inscription which reads, "The Sacred Sudarium of Our Lord Jesus Christ.”
We had our farewell lunch with food that just kept coming.  All traditional Asturias foods.
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The afternoon was ours to do as we wished and Mark and headed to the Museum of Fine Arts of Asturias.  The place is huge and is actually 5 buildings converted into one.  Each building is different and marks a new time period.  The truth is that I know a few Spanish artists but not many.  The usual suspects, Goya, El Greco, Velazquez, Dali, Murillo, Picasso and Miro - to name a few - but OMG - the talent was incredible and of course not all the artists were Spanish..  There were so many artists there that I could identify the period - but had never heard of the name.  I took some photos of my favorites and I will try to watch for other works by the same talented people.
I loved this by Carl Firthjof Smith
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But this was my all time favorite by Juan Martinez Abades 
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Mark and I met up with Joe and had a drink on the square before headed to our room to pack.  Tomorrow we will end this tour and head to Bretagne, France with our friends for a week.  Our pace will be different but I expect to learn plenty.
We have been so lucky with the weather and with no days left, I just going to say it.  We have had rain periodically but it delayed nothing and kept us from doing not one thing.  On the day we drove to the top of Mount Naraco the sun was shining and everything was bright and clear.  Had this been scheduled for yesterday we could have seen nothing.  I’m not sure if it the rabbit’s foot I wear around my neck or the four leaf clover I keep in my wallet or my voodoo chants before bed - but who cares.  Something is working….  (Of course none of my “charming��� story is true - but it is true that we have had amazing weather.)
I has been a real pleasure to travel with this group of friends.  How lucky are we to have a chance to see the world with like-minded people.  Then you put in two amazing trip leaders that this trip gets and A+ from me.
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I have had a request to pass on the website I used to learn a little more about our fabulous Basque guide, so here you go:
Stay tuned for our Bretagne adventures.
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gufettogrigio · 3 years
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Of tiny Scotts, illegible menus and Graham's patience
When you shove together a mismatch of larger-than-life-personalities, all with their odd quirks and idiosyncrasies and often running more on adrenaline than rationality...well, things are bound to go horribly wrong from time to time.
The concerning part is that things don’t usually go wrong between Jim and Jackie.
“See if A help ye wi choosin yer clothes again.” - Jackie is screaming by the time Graham is summoned to the scene - “Ye can gae oot nakit for aw A care!”
Jim looks mortally offended. Or as mortally offended as someone who seems to be trying to disappear under the table can look. “It was once! It's not my fault you canae read.”
“It's no ma fault ye canae make a decision tae save yerself.”
Graham winches. “Have you people tried to stop them?”
Jochen nods. “Tried, yes. We gave up when the only words we could understand were ‘fucking wank-stain’.”
"Please tell me that was Jackie."
Piers, Jochen and Jacky look panickedly at each other. Then at the floor. Jacky shakes his head.
Oh, well - Graham thinks as he plasters his best Mr Monaco smile on his face. They could always get the restaurant staff to call the police. For murder or attempted murder...mostly depending on how fast he can get the menu out of Jackie's hands.
Tiny Scotts are vicious creatures. But they are tiny. And fairly sturdy. So Graham plucks the menu away from Jackie and shoulders him unceremoniously into the booth. The element of surprise is on his side - so he has about thirty seconds before Jackie realizes that he is the closest to the complementary water and Jim that Graham is not tall enough for his feet to reach all the way across the booth so he could, theoretically, still kick Jackie in a shin.
“Can I get in on whatever this is?” - Graham asks, pleasantly. There’s an exchange of glares then Jackie flips open the menu while Jim finishes merging with the booth’s upholstery.
Jackie points to the menu. “Is this a p or a b?”
“I think it’s a q.” - Graham says, squinting at the menu. He is starting to see the problem.
He flip the page. Then he flips the following one. Then the one after that. He squints again at the third page - the double, flowery cursive on the page is positively giving him a headache. The red and light orange palette on marbled creamy background isn’t helping. Nor is it the fact that by page five of the bloody thing Graham has yet to reach the desserts. Who needs this much choice in their life? Not him.
He snaps the menu close, flagging down a waitress.
“Can we get the three least ordered items on the menu, please?” - he asks, smiling warmly at the terrified woman. The two squirming Scotts freeze.
“Graham…” - Jim whimpers - “Please no.”
Jackie nods, frantically. “Last time ye did that the cheese was alive.”
Graham grins, handing the menus back to the waitress. “You make your bed, you lie in it. What can be worse than a poor sheep’s stomach filled with its own entrails, after all?”
What he doesn't say as two murderous stares train on him, it's that he doesn't exactly plan to stick around long enought to find out, though.
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The Road Ahead | Adam Milligan x Reader
Words: 2279
Warning: None, except some typos and Adam not being in this one as much.
A/N: How does writing work again? What do you mean I have to type it out? I’m thinking of a series name for this to organize these continuous oneshots. No promises of regular updates. It’s only when I can.
Continuation of [True Winchester Fashion] and [Night at the Museum].
-
The museum director hummed softly to herself as her heels echoed through the empty halls of the building. The exhibit was coming along nicely and her contact had come through and found an actual grimoire. Finally, her years of searching were finally over. If only she had brushed up on her Latin, then she would have had no problem translating it herself. Her senior curator had fallen sick after a week of trying to translate the ancient book, which left the college student rookie to translate. She had kept an eye on you for some time now. She had seen the potential in you, the potential of witchcraft. It takes practice and intelligence to master it and she had only wished the matrilineal side of her family had kept on the tradition of passing down the defunct coven’s knowledge. No matter. Blood of the coven is thicker than water of the womb, as they say. You make your own family.
With each passing week of you translating the grimoire, more incidents had been occurring around town. She wanted to approach you about it, to help you control the power of the book, but it would mean revealing her intentions too soon. She had watched you run in fear when the growing number of creatures had reached the museum. Then, those damn FBI agents had to get involved. They stopped by the museum after you had reported the bodies of the security guards that night and she had to pretend to be a clueless director that had limited knowledge about the objects in the museum and the history they hold.
It would be a matter of time before the grimoire gets out of control.
Exiting the museum, she felt a cold presence behind her. She spun around and saw a woman with the reddest hair, palest skin, and radiating the most powerful energy she had ever felt. The woman’s red lips split into a smile, a chill running down the director’s back telling her that it wasn’t a friendly one.
“Who are you?” she asked, taking a step back.
“Oh, dear. Oh, sweet dearie. You dare mess with magic and not know who I am?” The woman chuckled, taking a step forward. “I’m Rowena, the most powerful witch that ever graced this horrible planet and… the current Queen of Hell.”
“Queen of Hell. You must be joking.”
Rowena stared her down and the director suddenly felt her knees giving out. “I have been told that I have a grim sense of humor, but I do not joke about this. And you, missy, must think that witchcraft is a joke. What was it? Some kind of soul searching, finding out who you are from your family tree? Think you could feel close to them if you get a fancy old book and a cauldron?” she said mockingly. “What’s your name, sweetheart.”
“Joana Faith,” she gasped as the weight on her shoulders lifted.
Rowena hummed. “You. You need to fix this mess. As much as I love chaos, I love organized chaos and I’m not going to let some amature run around with a powerful grimoire like she’s in Harry Potter. You watch yourself, because I will also be watching you, Joana Faith.”
“Alright, alright.” Joana slowly picked herself off the ground. “And what about those FBI agents that have been snooping around? How is all of this going to be explained?”
Rowena rolled her eyes, a mix of irritable fondness in one gesture. “Those boys. They probably already know by now. As long as you set things right, you don’t have to worry about them. You do know how to stabilize that grimoire, right?”
“Well…”
Rowena rolled her eyes again.
-
Adam felt Michael’s presence in the back of his mind, asking to take over. “I can help,” the archangel said. Adam nodded, taking a step back and allowing Michael to take control.
“I don’t know what to do,” you moaned, clutching your head between your hands as eerie figures began to crowd around the windows of your apartment.
Your eyes landed on the grimoire, the leathery surface and crispy pages drawing you in like a magnet. Heat radiated off of the old padlock as your hand drifted closer. There were ancient powers in that book, power to change things, to manipulate them, and to end things. And the grimoire chose you.
You could hear Adam’s voice, but it sounded like you were under water. You couldn’t catch what it was, but you felt your heart pick up in panic. This wasn’t right. This was something that you don’t know about… but maybe you can learn to.
Firm hands gripped your shoulders as you were yanked away from the grimoire. Adam’s hazel eyes were looking down at you, but it didn’t feel like Adam. You still couldn’t understand what he was saying. He frowned, pressing two fingers onto your forehead. Heat spread through your head, brightness filling your vision as if you were pulled out of the ocean.
“Sam and Dean will be coming to deal with the monsters outside, but I need you to focus.” He paused, watching as your eyes still drifted down to the grimoire. “That thing doesn’t call to just anyone, you know.”
As you calmed yourself, so did the noises outside, the dark shadows disappearing from view. Your eyes snapped back to him. “What does that mean?”
“It means, my dear, that you have a gift and a curse,” came a Scottish woman’s voice.
You spun a head around and saw a red haired woman and Joana who looked haggard. The red haired woman rolled her eyes at her.
“Oh, please, you want to be a witch and you can’t even handle teleportation,” she chided. She looked over at you and Adam and smiled. “Hello, Michael. Fancy seeing you here. Playing college student, I see.”
“Rowena,” ‘Adam’ said with a curt nod, “You’re here for the book.”
“Of course I am. Even if the Winchesters deal with those monsters outside, there’ll be more coming if we don’t get that book under control. You,” Rowena sauntered over to you, “How much of the book you’ve read already?”
“Almost all of it,” you said sheepishly.
She hummed, looking almost impressed. A grimoire would be difficult for a beginner, but for someone who had no experience to make it that far into the book is a feat in itself. Maybe you’d be useful to her in the future, or maybe become a potential apprentice.
“Well, you two are glad that I’m here. Listen up, I’m about to give you a Witchcraft crash course and I expect you to pay attention. You wouldn’t want me to visit you when I’m upset. Michael, help those boys outside while I sort this out, would you?”
Adam stood up and gave her a look of warning. “Make sure (Y/n) is safe-”
“Or else what, dearie?” she smirked. There wasn’t much use arguing with the Queen of Hell, especially if it was Rowena Macleod.
He glowered before turning to you. “It’s going to be okay,” he assured you.
You watched him disappear with a small gust, strands of your hair flying out of your face and loose paper flying off the table. “What do you mean by Michael?” you asked Rowena.
“Oh, he didn’t tell you? Your boyfriend Adam is the vessel of the archangel Michael,” she said nonchalantly, “but we’ll unpack that later. We’ve got work to do.”
-
There was an energy that coursed through your veins that you never knew was possible. It was invigorating, like you could fly or punch through a wall. Rowena warned you about becoming too power hungry.
“Ambition is good, but too much can kill you,” she said, then added with a smirk, “Unless you find a way to cheat death, I suggest you know your limits first.”
After the incident with the grimoire, everything seemed to go back to normal. Your friend, who the Winchesters had saved from the vampire den also had no recollection, convinced that she was drugged and kidnapped while your other friend was not so lucky in getting out. The two of you mourned all the same, but only you knew how she really died. No one in town even remembered what happened with the disappearances and the killings, except for you and Joana. You now see her in a different light, knowing what her main goal was in creating the Salem witch exhibit. Her talk with Rowena seemed to humble her and she regarded you with a little more respect than she used to. The exhibit was still ongoing, but this time, no dangerous objects for display. No, that grimoire stayed with you after Rowena helped the two of you contain it. It was now imprinted with you and under your care. You didn’t know where to start.
Adam had disappeared that night and no one remembered him, either. It was as if he had vanished along with everything that was unnatural, like some weird fever dream. Rowena had said that he was a vessel to an angel, the archangel Michael of all things. In any other circumstances, you would have had a hard time believing it, but with the grimoire and the monsters and witches that came with it, it was just another piece to the universal puzzle found. Now you know the truth. The things in stories like the werewolves, the vampires, the witches, and even angels and demons, were all real, and there were people that dealt with them within the shadows. They come and go and only a few even notice them. They save lives without any recognition or reward. Hunters, they were called. The Winchesters.
After graduating college, you weren’t sure what you wanted to do. There was the museum library, but it was no longer what you wanted to do. Now that you have discovered witchcraft, you wanted to know what you could do. Maybe you could help people, too, like Adam and his brothers.
You cleared up your desk at the museum as you snacked on the brownies that a senior curator had brought in for your last day. They were sad to see you go, but you told them that you had applied to a museum in the city and wanted to see where you went from there.
“You are always welcomed back here,” one of them said as they hugged you.
Your last stop was the cemetery where your friend had already left flowers. She didn’t talk to you all that much, saying she needed more time with her family and had sought professional help to cope with your mutual loss. Maybe it was for the best. You still blamed yourself for your mutual friend’s death after all.
You turned to leave and was immediately faced with Joana. She had dropped her perky and enthusiastic mask that she had kept up around others and offered a sympathetic smile instead.
“I’m sorry about your friend,” she said, “I didn’t realize that an old leathery book would cause this much trouble. I’m sorry.” She looked around, eyes squinting as the summer sun beamed down on the two of you. “I heard you were leaving town. Good for you. I… there’s another thing I should apologize for.”
It was then you realized that she had a small book tucked under her arm. She pulled it out and handed it over to you. It was worn from constant use, scribbles and rough sketches on every page. Flipping through them, words like wendigo, werewolves, and revenant, stood out.
“It had been left on your desk that night when… the whole thing with the grimoire had been put to rest. I got curious and… I might have borrowed it. I realized it must have been left by those hunters that had helped us,” Joana explained.
“Possibly by Adam,” you muttered, closing the journal.
“Adam. Rowena said that he was a vessel of an angel. Is that true? Did you know?”
You shook your head. “Not sure how much from the Queen of Hell is true but I wouldn’t be too surprised anymore if it was. There is a lot out there that people don’t know about. What about you? What are you going to do now?”
She shrugged. “I could dabble here and there. I think I want to use it to protect this town, though. After everything that happened, I realized the impact of one thing could have on a whole community, especially when it involves things that people don’t believe existed. If those hunters hadn’t come here, hell, even if Adam hadn’t decided to go to school here, who knows what would have happened.”
“Yeah. Makes you think about those that weren’t so lucky. I’m going to try to learn more about this… this whole business with supernatural things. If I have a gift, I should use it, right?”
Joana nodded before stepping back. “Well, good luck. Come back whenever and tell me about what you’ve found. I’m curious, but I don’t think I’m cut out for venturing.”
“I’ll be sure to do that.”
As you walked towards your car, there was the bittersweet ache in your chest. You had never lived away from home before, the town was practically all you knew. Yet, there was something inside of you that felt that you had the potential to do more and be more than what you were now, and it wasn’t going to change unless you stepped away into something new.
The road ahead was dangerous, but it was better than staying in one spot forever. Maybe one day, you would even run into Adam again.
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mariposalass · 4 years
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Long Woolen Tripping Hazard (Scarf)
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Summary: While raiding through the TARDIS closet to keep herself warm, Mari encounters a ridiculously long scarf of many colors, which gives the Doctor some deja vu from an incarnation years ago and he is trying to talk her out of bringing it with her outside.
Notes: Day 11 of @silentlyfangirlingselfshipper​’s A Very Shippy Christmas event has arrived, and scarves are the main theme. I decided to make a short story regarding about the time Mari raided through the TARDIS closet to find a scarf that could keep her warmer than her usual scarf. Also, tons of fluff and looking back at The Doctor’s past fashion choices. I will agree with Ryan Sinclair from the Whittaker era that the scarf could be a tripping hazard.
Tags: A Very Shippy Christmas, Space Grumps, fluff overload, tons of Doctor Who throwbacks and references, grandfather figure and granddaughter relationship, fashion talk, ‘what was my previous incarnation thinking!?!’
Hmm… Which one should I get from this closet? Mari pondered on the thought as she scanned across the enormous closet inside the TARDIS, looking for a warm cozy scarf to wear in a cold day which happened to be the day she was looking for one: the weather outside hasn’t been lightened up a bit with heavy snowfall. She knew that she needed to find a suitable scarf for her to wear or be freezing outside before coming across a section filled with scarves of different lengths, colors, materials, and styles. As she was going through the scarves, she noticed that there is one scarf that wasn’t like the other: while it’s made of wool like most of the scarves, this is long, maybe too long for any person to wear. The colors were dull but visible in red, green, chestnut brown, purple, and slate gray: it could easily be an eye sore to look for some people.
Taking it out from its resting spot, she could feel the soft texture the scarf gives off, but before she could anything with it, a familiar grouchy Scottish voice called out to her, “Now, now, young lady. I wouldn’t carry that scarf with me out in the woods these days if I were you.”
Shocked and surprised by the sudden arrival, Mari let out a soft yip as she turned around to see the Doctor right behind her, giving off quirky smirk look in the face. He noticed that she was holding onto the long scarf and began to wonder why would a girl who now fills the void left by Susan so many years ago tries to take that blasted thing with her out in the public.
“Oh, hey Doctor! Look, I didn’t mean to steal this thing...” Mari was mumbling between her words as she tried to explain herself and offered back the scarf to him as if she didn’t want to upset him.
The Doctor didn’t have anything much to say when he gently took the scarf from her and took a long look at it, it’s been years since he had worn it several incarnations back, before he got to talk to her again, “Well, what do we have here? I haven’t seen this scarf in such a long time. Why did you did decided to...”
“Borrow it for the day?” she could guess what he was about to tell, “Well, I thought about getting a different scarf than my usual one for a while, so I just went inside the TARDIS to find a good scarf to keep me warm.”
“Oh no no, that scarf is a bit of… a hazard unless you’re asking my fourth incarnation about it!” The Doctor tried to begged her otherwise, “Yes, quite warm and fuzzy, handy in finding your way back to the console room, stalling and outwitting villains, and hiding items for future use on the go, but not so much in avoiding tripping.”
“Huh, what are you talking about, Doctor?” Mari began to look more puzzled than the very first day they have met when he was in his 10th/11th self unintentionally dropping by at her elementary school’s playground.
“That scarf is way longer than I first remembered in my fourth incarnation,” he explained to her, “I’m aware you weren’t alive when I was a bumbling bohemian Time Lord, a bumbling bohemian with a poor sense of style and tombstone teeth, I’m afraid. Back then, I had made some very rubbish fashion choices.”
Mari was still confused by what the Doctor was talking as she asked him, “But I thought that your previous forms had made more fashionable choices as well, and you yourself as well.”
“Yes, Mari, it is true, but there are times wherein I do made some stupid decisions,” the Doctor added, “Such as why did I thought that a having a crazy explosion of colours was a good idea in my sixth iteration? Or what was I thinking with wearing a horribly fitted suit with sandshoes when I first met you? Quite rubbish choices I might add. Also, that bloody scarf. The length could trip you up if you’re not looking. Tripped on it a few times for a couple of times then. A tripping hazard regardless of what species you are, unless you’re a fish or a bird.”
“Geez, you’re really getting me scared!” she quivered in feat.
“I didn’t mean to scare you, dear,” he argued, “What I’m trying to say to you is that sometimes whatever fashion choices we made back when we were younger don’t always mean a fashion success. But then again this is coming from someone with the aforementioned perennial fashion problem. Be glad that your sparkly scarf is of the proper length to be worn outside. By the way, do you still have that scarf on hand?”
“Yes, I do, Doctor,” she replied back as she pulled a bright red scarf with silverly strands interwoven with the regular fabric, “You know what? You’re definitely right on one thing: You really HAVE a problem of finding the perfect style for yourself in the past incarnations and maybe in the future incarnations.”
“So, are you going to still borrow that THING?” The Doctor asked her again if she was still interested in borrowing his old long trip hazard of a scarf.
“Err… No thanks, Doctor! Besides, I didn’t want to trip on it as I’m walking and fall onto the ground with my face,” she finally changed her mind.
“Good decision, Mari dear,” he smiled back, “Glad that I’ve talked you out of it before something bad happens.”
“That’s definitely true,” she smiled in response, “And I also didn’t want people to trip on that scarf as well.”
“Oh yes, that one too,” he also noted.
The End
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kittysorceress · 5 years
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Classical Music for the Greater Good [Fanmix + Program Notes]
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Presenting a musical aesthetic for Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald, from their meeting to their romance, their falling out to their ultimate duel, their lonely years apart and their deaths.
This work is a series of 'program notes' about each musical piece and the headcanons about Albus and Gellert which accompany them.
The Spotify playlist is available at this link.
Program notes are available on AO3 or below the cut.
Part 1: The Summer of 1899
1. Symphony No. 4 in E Minor, 1 – Allegro non troppo, Johannes Brahms
Composed by Brahms in Austria in 1884 and performed in Germany in 1885, a critic described the call-and-response motif of this movement feeling like ‘being given a beating by two incredibly intelligent people’ and said that ‘there is not another modern piece so productive as a subject for study. It is like a dark well; the longer we look into it, the more brightly the stars shine back’. In my mind, it is a perfect piece to set up Albus and Gellert’s meeting.
Imagine through the start of the piece, Albus is represented by the strings. He is lonely and wasted in Godric’s Hollow, growing more angry and frustrated until Gellert, the woodwind and horns, arrives. He is the equal Albus has sought his whole life until now (1:28). They exchange words like sparring, their debate firing each other into excited frenzy (1:29 – 2:20) and then towards a burgeoning romance, underscored by their mutual passion for knowledge (2:20 – 2.55). Then at last, as the whole orchestra blends together, Albus and Gellert, each bolstered by the other, begin their quest for the Hallows and to rule the Wizarding World together (2.55 – 3.44). And so begins a summer of push and pull, of lunge and parry, the two of them moving in perfect symmetry.
2. Carmina Burana, No. V – Primo vere: Ecce gratum, Carl Orff
The fifth movement of In Spring from Orff’s Camina Burana (composed and  first performed in the late 1930s), the lyrics are from a poem in the medieval Latin poetry collection of the same name, and the final part of the second stanza is of particular interest for our aesthetic:
illi mens est misera, qui nec vivit, nec lascivit sub Estatis dextera. [he is of a wretched mind who does not live nor lust under the hand of Summer]
This movement calls forth the giddiness and joy of spring and summer, the levity brought by young love, and represents the brightest and the most free of Albus and Gellert’s days together.
3. Carnival of the Animals: Aquarium, Camille Saint-Saens
Possibly one of the most recognisable parts of Saint-Saens’ Carnival of the Animals, composed in 1886, this piece is strongly evocative of the mystery and wonder of an aquarium… or, perhaps, of magic.
The cascading melody speaks of awe and astonishment, and when I hear this piece I see Albus and Gellert sitting on the roof, under the stairs, amazing each other with feats of their magic into the early hours of the morning.
4. Ekstasis, Andrew Schultz
Possibly one of the most confronting pieces in this collection, Ekstasis (the Ancient Greek word from which we get ‘ecstasy’) is a musical representation of sensuality and sexuality written by Australian composer Schultz in 1990. The lyrics are based on the Song of Solomon and describe love and pain, obsessive lust and spiritual transcendence:
Set me like a seal on your heart, Like a seal on your arm. For love is strong as death, Jealousy relentless as pain. The flash of it is a flash of fire, a flame of life itself. Love no flood can drench no torrents drown. Set me like a scar on your soul, Like a brand on your body. For love is strong as death, Time certain as pain.
Albus and Gellert’s relationship has of course, somewhat controversially, been labelled by JK Rowling as ‘intense’. Passionate, intense, a love relationship.
The intensity of feeling wrought through this piece, both through the use of Song of Solomon (which was also an inspiration for my interpretation of the blood pact scene in ‘rummaging for answers in the pages’) and through the use of contrasting dynamics and vocal patterns, is precisely what I think of when I consider this relationship.
5. The Heart Asks Pleasure First/The Promise, Michael Nyman
Written for the soundtrack to the 1993 movie The Piano, this piece is named for Emily Dickinson’s poem (below) and is based on a traditional Scottish melody Gloomy Winter’s Noo Awa:
The heart asks pleasure first, And then, excuse from pain; And then, those little anodynes That deaden suffering;
And then, to go to sleep; And then, if it should be The will of its Inquisitor, The liberty to die.
In making their blood pact, Albus and Gellert swore their allegiance and made a promise that they would never stand against the other. In this way, they placed each other – their relationship, their pleasure, their hearts’ desires – above all else. But theirs was an allegiance that was soon tested in the most terrible of ways, through Ariana’s death, despite their own quest to be masters over such a human certainty.
6. Requiem in D Minor: Lacrimosa, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Mozart’s Requiem was unfinished at the time of his death in 1791 and was completed by Austrian composer and conductor Franz Xaver Süssmayr in 1792. The work is music for a requiem mass, a Catholic service for the dead, and the Lacrimosa (Latin for ‘weeping’) is part of the Dies Irae (Day of Wrath) sequence:
Lacrimosa dies illa Qua resurget ex favilla Judicandus homo reus. Huic ergo parce, Deus.
[Tearful [will be] that day, on which from the glowing embers will arise the guilty man who is to be judged. Then spare him, O God.]
The tragedy and weeping evoked in this song set the scene for the immediate aftermath of the three-way duel, and the immense loss felt by Albus both through Ariana’s death and Gellert’s betrayal and departure.
And these lyrics make me think of how, after Ariana’s death, Albus avoided Gellert for years lest he find out the truth of which of them had caused her death – that the day they are destined to meet again will be his judgement day.
Part 2: The War
7. The Hebrides, ‘Fingal’s Cave’, Felix Mendelssohn
This concert overture was composed in 1830, following Mendelssohn’s visit to the Scottish Hebrides, specifically the island of Staffa. This uninhabited island is known for its beautiful and unusual geology of basalt columns, and its sea cave – Fingal’s Cave, named after the hero in James Macpherson’s 1790 epic poetry cycle Ossian.
For me, this beautiful piece of music represents Albus’ early years of teaching at Hogwarts: starting his life over again after that dramatic summer, finding a new purpose in teaching. During those years, he slowly builds his reputation and grows his network, little by little, knowing in the back of his mind that one day Gellert is sure to return, to put into motion those horrible things they once had planned. And so he bides his time.
8. Sonata No. 23 ‘Appassionata’, Ludwig van Beethoven
This sonata, composed between 1804 and 1806, was not given its moniker of ‘passionate’ until a publication in 1836. It is one of Beethoven’s more emotional and tempestuous sonatas, and this first movement is recognisable for its sudden changes in tone and volume (dynamics) and its ominous theme.
As the last piece represents Albus during the lead-up to their legendary duel, so this piece represents Gellert - quiet poise interspersed with wild passion. While Albus teaches, Gellert builds his empire in the ballrooms of the European magical elite, in their parlours, and sometimes even their bedrooms. But below his veneer of respectability, his darkness simmers, moving ever closer to boiling point, until at last he can wait in the shadows no longer… and so he travels to the United States of America to assume the identity of Percival Graves and track down the obscurial he is determined to have by his side at the final battle.
9. Scythian Suite (Ala and Lolly), No. 2 – The Evil God and the Dance of the Pagan Monsters, Sergei Prokofiev
Originally written in 1915 for a ballet, this orchestral suite premiered in 1916. This movement is the second of four and musically depicts the Scythians making a sacrifice to Ala, the daughter of the Slavic god of the earth, waters, and the underworld, Veles, while The Evil God and his monsters dance.
This dramatic piece symbolises the build-up to a great battle in its original story, and so too I believe it creates a vivid soundscape for the final clash in 1945 between Grindelwald’s Acolytes and Dumbledore’s proto-Order of the Phoenix.
10. The Rite of Spring, Part 2: The Sacrifice, No. 1 – Introduction, Igor Stravinksy
When The Rite of Spring premiered in 1913 during the Paris season of the Ballet Russes, the reaction from the audience was described as a ‘riot’ due to the shock at how avant-garde the music was. It is now considered one of the most influential pieces of the 20th Century. Part 2, the Sacrifice, portrays a pagan ritual in which a young girl is selected and dances herself to death.
When I think of how the final duel between Albus and Gellert must have happened, I imagine the two of them meeting in a ruined landscape far from the main battleground, Grindelwald’s Acolytes having been defeated. Each of them has come from their camp, a martyr for their cause, their duel is a symbol of a resolution that, one way or another, the battle will end with a sacrifice.
11. Nox aurumque, Eric Whitacre
This choral piece was composed in 2009 as Whitacre’s seventh collaboration with poet Charles Anthony Silvestri. Silvestri describes the process of writing these lyrics: “[Whitacre] communicated impressionistic images of an angel, the emotions of that angel, and other evocative images, darker than usual for him. My text had to speak to those images in a meaningful way, consistent with Eric’s intentions for the piece.  It has a distinctly different sound than earlier works, and I wanted my text to be darker, and as different.”
Aurum, Infuscatum et obscurum, Canens noctis, Canens mortis, Acquiescens canendo…
Et angelum somnit aurorarum et bellorum, Saeculorum aurorum fundit lacrimas, Lacrimas rerum bellorum. O arma! O lamina aurata! Gestu graves nimium, Graves nimium volatu.
Aurum, Infuscatum et torpidum Suscita! Dilabere ex armis in alam! Volemus iterum, Alte supra murum; Angeli renascentes et exultantes as alas Aurorarum, Aurorum, Somniorum.
Aurum, Canens alarum, Canens umbrarum.
[Gold, Tarnished and dark, Singing of night, Singing of death, Singing itself to sleep. And an angel dreams of sunrise, And war.
Tears of the ages. O shield! O gilded blade! You are too heavy to carry, Too heavy for flight.
Gold, Tarnished and weary, Awaken! Melt from weapon to wing! Let us soar again, High above this wall; Angels reborn and rejoicing with wings made Of dawn, Of gold, Of dream.
Gold, Singing of wings, Singing of shadows.]
Imagine, at last, Albus and Gellert face each other for the first time in nearly forty years. Albus is struck by how angelic Gellert looks – golden, albeit tarnished around the edges – against the devastated landscape.
But defeating him brings none of the catharsis which Albus sought. Instead, as he brings Gellert to heel and takes the Elder Wand into his possession, Albus feels even more hollow and broken than he had at Ariana’s death, at their first parting… because this is truly the end of Gellert Grindelwald’s pursuit of the Greater Good.
Now, Albus must take up the mantle in his own way, for the rise of a new evil is just around the corner.
Part 3: The Aftermath
12. Sleep, Ivor Gurney
Based on a poem of the same name by Elizabethan poet John Fletcher, Sleep was composed by Gurney in 1913-14.
Come, Sleep, and with thy sweet deceiving        Lock me in delight awhile;        Let some pleasing dreams beguile        All my fancies; that from thence        I may feel an influence All my powers of care bereaving!
Though but a shadow, but a sliding,        Let me know some little joy!        We that suffer long annoy        Are contented with a thought        Through an idle fancy wrought: O let my joys have some abiding!
The insomnia and sorrow wrought through the lyrics call to mind for me the years Gellert spends locked in the tower of Nurmengard, tormented by the thoughts of the terrors and atrocities he had wrought during the war.
13. Invocation, Op. 19, No. 2, Gustav Holst
Hauntingly beautiful, this piece for cello and orchestra composed in 1911 is mediative and measured in its melody, with a romantic style which is unlike his later and more famous compositions. It was composed while Holst was working at St Paul’s Girls School in London, where he taught until his death in 1934.
Imagine, through this work, Albus learning his new roles at Hogwarts – as headmaster and war hero, and then as leader of another movement against dark forces all too soon. Despite how busy he had become, sometimes, in moments of quiet and introspection, he lets his mind stray to that high tower in Austria and wonders what has become of the man he triumphed over.
14. Chacony in G Minor, Henry Purcell (Transcribed by Benjamin Britten)
Purcell was one of the best known British composers of the 17th Century. It is unclear when this chacony was composed exactly, possibly around 1680, and whether it was intended as incidental music for a play or as a concert piece in its own right, but it gained new popularity in the mid 20thcentury after being transcribed by Britten in the late 1940s and published in 1965.
I love the tragedy imbued in this piece and I think it a perfect setting for the year before Albus’ death, as he is setting into motion the pieces of the puzzle for Harry to decipher and defeat Voldemort. Steady, assured, clever, but altogether heart-breaking.
15. My Love Dwelt in a Northern Land, Op. 18, No. 3, Edward Elgar
This a cappella choral piece was written in 1889, based on a poem by Andrew Lang and adapted by Elgar’s wife Caroline. The lyrics have a popular theme of poetry of that time - youthful love, often unfulfilled or brought to an end by premature death.
My love dwelt in a Northern land: A dim tower in a forest green Was his and far away the sand And gray wash of the waves were seen The woven forest boughs between:
And through the Northern summer night The sunset slowly died away, And herds of strange deer, silverwhite, Came gleaming through the forest gray, And fled like ghosts before the day.
And oft that month we watched the moon Wax great and white o'er wood and lawn And wane, with waning of the June, Till, like a brand for battle drawn, She fell, and flamed in a wild dawn.
I know not if the forest green Still girdles round that castle gray. I know not if, the boughs between, The white deer vanish ere the day: The grass above my love is green, His heart is colder than the clay.
I think that in those last few months before his death, before Voldemort came seeking the Elder Wand, Gellert found himself thinking of the summer he and Albus had shared together. He thought of how Albus had described Hogwarts, its lake and its forest, and now wished for a life he had missed an opportunity for – one where he had stayed with Albus, where they had taught at Hogwarts together, where no one had duelled, no one had died, no sides had been taken, and love had reigned supreme.
It was this fantasy that he thought fondly of as he breathed his last, protecting his erstwhile lover’s secret.
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canadianabroadvery · 5 years
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Democracy and the Corrupt Seven (Eight)   19 Feb, 2019  UPDATE
 So now it is eight. If you want to understand that the UK truly is not a functioning democracy, consider this. Joan Ryan is all over the MSM this morning as being the eighth defector to the Independent Group. Yet astonishingly, while she is universally reported as citing anti-semitism as the reason she is leaving, it appears not one MSM journalist has asked her about her receipt of US$1 million from the Israeli Embassy for spreading Israeli influence. Not one. Nor has any mainstream media outlet cited the fact in its reporting today. Most, of course, never even mentioned it at the time.
ORIGINAL
I have heard it argued again and again on television this last 48 hours that it is deeply undemocratic for the electorate to be offered a choice that is any more complicated than between Red Tories and Blue Tories. It is apparently unthinkable and deeply wrong that Corbyn’s standard German style social democracy – which is routinely labeled “hard left” and “communist” – should be proffered to voters for them to support, or not.
The overwhelmingly Blairite MPs have put this case again and again to Labour Party members in repeated leadership elections, and have been roundly and repeatedly defeated. But now, according to no less a person than Tom Watson, Deputy Leader of the party, the losers’ policies must be embraced by the Party and adopted by its leadership, as to do otherwise is an affront to democracy. I confess I find this argument impossible to follow.
Corbyn has compromised already to a huge extent, even accepting that a Labour government will retain massive WMDs, in deference both to the imperialist pretensions of the Blairites and the personal greed of the demented Strangeloves who comprise the membership of the GMB Union. Labour’s pro-Trident stance will persist, until such time as enough Blairites join this forced march, or rather chauffeur driven drive, across their personal caviar and champagne strewn desert to their promised land of media contracts, massively remunerated charity executive jobs, and non-executive directorships.
Democracy is a strange thing. This episode has revealed that it is apparently a democratic necessity that we have another referendum on Brexit, while being a democratic necessity not to have another referendum on Scottish Independence, while the notion that the MPs, who now have abandoned the party and manifesto on which they stood, might face their electorates again, is so disregarded that none of the fawning MSM journalists are asking about it. In rejecting this option, the Corrupt Seven are managing the incredible feat of being less honorable than Tory MPs defecting to UKIP, who did have the basic decency to resign and fight again on their new prospectus.
Dick Taverne is a more directly relevant precedent, particularly as he was deselected as sitting Labour MP precisely because of his support for the EU. Taverne resigned, and fought and won his seat in a by-election in 1973, before losing it in the second 1974 election. There are also precedents for crossing the floor and not resigning and fighting under your new banner, but then there are also precedents for mugging old ladies. It is deeply dishonorable.
Luciana Berger is a one trick pony and it is worth noting that her complaints about anti-Semitism in the Labour Party date back to at least 2005, while Tony Blair was still Prime Minister. Berger had already by April 2005 spotted anti-Semitism in the National Union of Students, in the Labour Party and in her student union newspaper, those being merely the examples cited in this single Daily Telegraph article. I am extremely sorry and somewhat shocked to hear of the swamp of anti-semitism in which we were all already mired in 2005, but I do find it rather difficult to understand why the fault is therefore that of Jeremy Corbyn. And given that Tony Blair was at that time Prime Minister for eight years, I cannot understand why it is all Corbyn’s fault and responsibility now, but it was not Blair’s fault then.
On the contrary, the Telegraph puff piece states that Berger had met Blair several times and was Euan Blair’s girlfriend. This was of course before the privately educated Londoner was foisted on the unfortunate people of Liverpool Wavetree, doubtless completely unfacilitated by her relationship with Euan Blair.
The kind of abuse Berger has evidently been attracting since at least 2005 is of course a crime. Two people have quite rightly been convicted of it. Joshua Bonehill-Paine and John Nimmo sent a series of truly disgusting tweets and both were jailed. Both are committed long term neo-nazis. Yet I have repeatedly heard media references to the convictions squarely in the context of Labour Party anti-semitism. I have never heard on broadcast media it explained that neither had anything to do with the Labour Party. Like the left wing anti-semitism Berger has been reporting since at least 2005, this Nazi abuse too is all somehow Jeremy Corbyn’s fault.
It is further worth noting that in that 2005 article Berger claims a 47% increase in attacks on Jews, which is highly reminiscent of recent claims from community groups, such as the 44% increase claimed 2015 to 2017 or the 78% increase in violent crimes against Jews in the UK in 2017 alone claimed by the government of Israel.
One antisemitic attack is too many and all anti-semitism is to be deplored and rooted out. But if all these claims repeated again and again over decades of 30, 40, 50, 60 or 70% increases in attacks per year were true, then we would be now talking of at least 12,000 violent attacks on Jews per year, if we take Ms Berger’s 2005 claim as the baseline.
Yet we are not seeing that. The average number of convictions per year for violent, racially motivated attacks on Jewish people in the UK is less than one.
If we add in non-violent crimes, the number of people convicted per year for anti-semitic hate crime still remains under 20. And I am not aware of a single such conviction related in any way to the Labour Party.
Let me be perfectly plain. I want everybody convicted and imprisoned who is involved in anti-semitic hate crime. But the facts given above would cause any honest journalist to treat with more scepticism than they do, the repeated old chestnut claims of huge year on year increases in anti-semitic incidents.
There really are in logic only two choices; either anti-semitism is, contrary to all the hype, thankfully rare, or the entire British police, prosecutorial and judicial system must be systematically protecting the anti-semites. And I hardly see how they could blame Jeremy Corbyn for that.
None of this will stop the relentless promotion of the “Corbyn anti-semitism” theme, as the idea of a leader not completely behind the slow extirpation of the Palestinian people is unthinkable to the mainstream media class. The Corbyn anti-semitism meme is possibly the most remarkable example of evidence free journalism I have ever encountered.
Still more fascinating is the way the broadcasters are going to devote an astonishing amount of time to these political puppets. Of one thing I can assure you – these seven MPs will get more airtime than the 35 MPs of the SNP, with at least twice as many Question Time and Today programme appearances.
At some stage they will have to form a new party, in order to get airtime in elections. At what stage Blair declares for them is an interesting question. It is also a crucial test of just how horribly degraded the Lib Dems have now become. My old friend Charlie Kennedy will be spinning in his grave at an alliance with the Blairite warmonger faction, but the modern party appears bereft of any of the old Liberal values, cleared away by Clegg and his fellow orange Tories. If the party members do not revolt at association with Mike Gapes and Angela Smith, it really is time to wind the party up.
That the Corrupt Seven are some of the most unpleasant people in British politics is not entirely relevant, nor is the question of which interest groups are funding them. They are just an emission of pus, a symptom of the rottenness of the British body politic. They have nothing interesting to say and are feeble tools of the wealthy, thrown out as protection for a crumbling political system. The end of the UK is not pretty, and this is one of its uglier moments. It really is beyond time to crack on with Scottish Independence and the reunification of Ireland.
Unlike our adversaries including the Integrity Initiative, the 77th Brigade, Bellingcat, the Atlantic Council and hundreds of other warmongering propaganda operations, this blog has no source of state, corporate or institutional finance whatsoever. It runs entirely on voluntary subscriptions from its readers – many of whom do not necessarily agree with the articles, but welcome the alternative voice, insider information and debate.
Craig Murray is an author, broadcaster and human rights activist. He was British Ambassador to Uzbekistan from August 2002 to October 2004 and Rector of the University of Dundee from 2007 to 2010.
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk
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scriptmedic · 7 years
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Injury Analysis: How to Train Your Dragon
This post is an excerpt from Maim Your Characters: How Injuries Work in Fiction. It’s one of nine injury analyses that appear in the book, but this one is near and dear to my heart, especially because you all helped pick it. I asked a couple of months ago for injuries to analyze in fiction, and this one was suggested above all others. I hope it doesn’t disappoint! 
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(Image courtesy of Dreamworks) 
Format: Feature Film (animated) Genre: Action-Adventure / Kids ealism: Fantasy (high fantasy)
 It’s funny. When I put out a call to my readers asking what injuries I should take a look at for this book, I got this kid’s movie as an overwhelmingly popular arc to take a look at. It’s a great representation of disability!
It’s just that everyone suggested specifically the back half of the movie, where a human gets injured.
But I say let’s start from the front and look at both of the arcs in this movie, shall we?
I think everyone forgot the first injury because it happened to a dragon.
 How To Train Your Dragon is a Dreamworks movie about a Viking named Hiccup, a chief’s son who’s very… “un-Viking.” As in, he doesn’t want to kill dragons.
Dragons are initially presented as “pests,” but it turns out they’re more than that, they’re a menace: the town of Brunk gets raided, set on fire, all the time.
So here’s an interesting start: the beginning of the movie finds Hiccup working for a disabled blacksmith, who has interchangeable prostheses for his left hand and a peg leg for his right leg. His hand can become anything: a hammer, tongs, even a saw or a battle-axe. Yet his prosthetic leg is just that: a leg, something for him to stand on.
As the blacksmith’s protégé, Hiccup is shown to be a very handy inventor. He makes a mean catapult, and the opening of the movie has him trying to take out a special kind of dragon called a Night Fury. Scary!
To the excitement of all, Hiccup shoots one down! His homemade catapult launches a set of stone balls on a cord, which brings down a Night Fury — a feat no one’s ever accomplished before.
Of course, no one sees him do it, so no one believes him.
But when he goes over to check on the dragon he shot down, it turns out the Night Fury isn’t so tough after all. The beast is tied up in the cords from the weapon Hiccup launched.
In a moment Blake Snyder’s kickass book on storytelling (Save the Cat!) would approve of… Hiccup sets him free!
…and almost gets eaten for his troubles.
But the dragon doesn’t kill him, which is perplexing to Hiccup. After his relief washes away, the ever-curious Hiccup keeps coming back to find out why the dragon hasn’t killed him.
It turns out the dragon — who’s later dubbed Toothless — has an Inciting Injury: one of his tail fins has been ripped off by the accident.
Hiccup has already given him his only Immediate Treatment: he’s cut the ropes that are holding him captive.
But that doesn’t solve Toothless’s flying problems. Toothless is pretty miserable. He has fallen into a ravine he can’t get out of, because his flight trajectories are all messed up by his damaged tail.
The two form a friendship, over fish, over drawings, and Hiccup decides to build him a prosthesis to fix his tail.
This is the first analysis we’ve looked at where the protagonist gives the Definitive Treatment to another character. It’s unconventional, and it’s a risky move on Hiccup’s part, but it gets Toothless back in the air.
Cue the training montage! Hiccup builds a saddle to ride Toothless, and their training forms a Rocky Road to Recovery as they learn to fly together. They train, and Hiccup works through various incarnations of the dragon tail and harness system. They crash, they fly, they crash again, until they get it right.
Their New Normal is a great partnership! With Hiccup at the controls of Toothless’s prosthesis, they can fly together. The lessons Toothless teaches Hiccup about the way dragons work make Hiccup a celebrity in his town.
So Toothless’s arc is pretty straightforward…
 Toothless’s Injury Arc
 Inciting Injury: Tail fin amputated when he’s shot down by Hiccup.
Immediate Treatment: Freed from the projectile, which had tied him down. (A few days later, but hey, he’s a dragon.)
Definitive Treatment: Prosthetic tail fin made by his human handler.
Rocks on the Rocky Road: Toothless and Hiccup almost fall from the sky a few times during the acclimation process, but the wound itself isn’t the issue that needs discussing.
The Big Test: None. By the time we need Toothless to fight, they’ve already reached the last stage.
And the New Normal? A lasting friendship and partnership, where the two can fly — but only together.
 This isn’t the only injury arc the movie has in store for us, however. Later in the plot it’s Hiccup’s turn to be maimed.
In the story’s global climax, Toothless and Hiccup are taking out the mother dragon that’s made all the other dragons behave so badly. Their plan has worked — the other dragon’s gone down and exploded!
But up shoots a wall of fire, Toothless’s prosthesis has been burnt away, and Hiccup falls —
And Toothless, ever the faithful dragon, follows him down.
When they hit the ground, there’s a horrifying moment when we think Toothless has been horribly hurt and Hiccup has been consumed by the flames, until Toothless reveals he’s had Hiccup nested inside his wings.
  Hiccup has had an Inciting Injury, though we don’t know what it is until the next scene.
He wakes up at home to Toothless’s cheery face snuffling him like a puppy, and we discover when he tries to stand that his injury has been twofold: a head injury (which explains the time lapse) and a lower leg amputation. He’s got a steel prosthetic foot, a Definitive Treatment for an injury we didn’t know he had. (His Immediate Treatment for the burns and concussion was injury prevention: Toothless wrapped him in his wings so he wouldn’t burn to a crisp on the way down.)
Hiccup gets an absurdly short Rocky Road to Recovery as he tries to walk outside and stumbles — but Toothless lets himself be used as a crutch, and helps his friend learn to walk on his new leg.
However, the two get back to their New Normal pretty quickly. Turns out Hiccup’s blacksmith boss — owner of the peg leg and the prosthetic multitool hand — has built a special harness that will allow Hiccup’s new metal foot to lock in to Toothless’s saddle. They can fly again!
(All of this happens in the span of about two minutes of screen time, which is pretty impressive for a fully-told injury arc! However, this arc is abrupt even for a fantasy movie; the character goes from unconscious and unable to walk to flying a dragon in less time than it takes to brew coffee.)
Hiccup’s injury mirrors Toothless’s…
  Hiccup’s Injury Arc
 Inciting Injury: Falls through some fire. It’s never explained how, exactly, he comes by his leg amputation or his significant head injury which causes him to wake up at home probably weeks later.
Immediate Treatment: Injury prevention, by Toothless swaddling him as the two plummeted together.
Definitive Treatment: While he was unconscious, his blacksmith boss built him a prosthetic leg. His head injury is completely ignored here; it’s implied that he’s been allowed to rest.
Rocky Road to Recovery: Hiccup has some difficulty walking, but it quickly goes away — the magic of filmmaking! He literally stumbles twice.
(To be fair, we’re talking about a movie with Vikings riding dragons and talking with Scottish accents. Realism isn’t exactly their forte.)
The Big Test: None.
New Normal: Hiccup is back to total functional ability. Because his needs have been fully met, he can continue to walk, fly his dragon, and has no apparent significant changes to his life. This can technically be regarded as Total Disability for the foot, since the foot itself was lost, but as he shows no signs of problems walking or performing his activities, it’s almost a meaningless amputation. Functionally, this is No Disability.
  What Can We Learn?
Well, first of all, the injury arc doesn’t have to be about the hero to be a meaningful arc for the audience.
The injured character doesn’t even have to be human.
Second of all… notice a theme?
The blacksmith (the only one in the village who truly believes that Hiccup can become a great Viking, by the way) is disabled. His disability is played almost for laughs; he’s got an interchangeable hand (sometimes tongs, sometimes an axe), but his leg prosthesis is just a piece of wood.
Then Toothless gets hurt — by Hiccup’s hand, an emotional element that’s never fully explored. Should Hiccup feel guilty about shooting down what turns out to be a gentle, playful, kind creature?
But Toothless has an injury that’s a parallel to a leg amputation: one of his tail fins is missing, making his usual form of locomotion impossible.
While Toothless is canonically a dragon, he’s modeled very much like a dog in his actions and behaviors: his loyalty, his curiosity, his initial standoffishness that becomes a fierce friendship. Hiccup, seeing this metaphorical dog metaphorically limping, helps.
It’s through his kindness to his companion that Hiccup learns how to save his people — and does just that in the end. Seeing Hiccup’s example of kindness and understanding toward the once-feared creatures causes a realization in his people: that humans and dragons can coexist peacefully, that each can benefit the other. Hiccup and the Vikings help rid the dragons of an evil overlord, and the dragons stop raiding the village and stealing the sheep.
Hiccup is himself injured near the end as a parallel injury. Thus, the blacksmith, Toothless, and Hiccup all find themselves depending on their prosthetics to move through the world as they once did. The parallelism is phenomenal!
There’s even a moment of kindness repaid: It’s Hiccup who’s taught Toothless to fly again, and it’s Toothless who helps Hiccup walk again.
Now, how can we all learn to incorporate that kind of parallelism into our stories?
It’s also a great example of the Big Battle having consequences — Hiccup’s wound isn’t timed so that his Big Event will coincide with the climax, but so that the climax will be his Inciting Injury.
 My one criticism of the film (from an injury arc perspective) is the way in which Hiccup’s arc is shortened.
He remains unconscious for what must have been weeks of sailing home and fitting him for his prosthesis — his smithy mentor has even designed and built a wholly new flight apparatus for Toothless so they can fly again right away.
In terms of time, it takes weeks for a stump to heal enough to accept a prosthetic, and weeks again for the amputee to learn to walk, instead of literally seconds of film time. However, since this is in the denoument of the film, it’s much less irritating than it would be if, say, it had happened before the Big Battle and Hiccup had been on his feet again for the fight.
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This post is an excerpt from Maim Your Characters, out THIS WEEK from Even Keel Press. If you'd like to read a 100-page sample of the book, [click here]. If you’d like to order a print copy, it’s available [via Amazon.com], and digital copies are available from [a slew of retailers].
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With three extra injury analyses like this and the official ScriptMedic Character Injury Worksheet, plus a copy to keep of the 5 Biggest Mistakes Writers Make Approaching Injuries. Just email a copy of your receipt for the book to AuntScripty{at}gmail{dot}com and I’ll be happy to send your bonus content right along! 
xoxo, Aunt Scripty
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celticnoise · 7 years
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THE TOMMY GEMMELL CSC celebrated its 20th Anniversary last April in Stirling. CQN was there and invited along 3 Lisbon Lions as honoured guests and to participate in a question and answer session which was compered by Brogan Rogan Trevino & Hogan from CQN. The following morning BRTH reflected on the events of the night before. This turned out to be Tommy Gemmell’s last night out with the Celtic supporters. Appropriately enough it was with his own club from his adopted town of Dunblane. Here’s what BRTH write about the night…
  TOMMY GEMMELL CSC DINNER 
The old man walks on spindly and unsteady legs. He is clearly frail and far from being in the best of health. However, no matter how fragile the body might be, he is about to reveal that the spirit inside that body is fit, is alive, well and as sharp as a Stanley Knife.
“Which was your favourite game for Celtic?” I ask.
A room full of fans sit in silence but I am certain they all know the answer…….. or at least think they know the answer.
A seated Tommy Gemmell takes the microphone and surprises everyone with his answer.
“My favourite game? That would be my first game wearing the hoops — a 4-0 win against Rangers reserves at Ibrox!”
The surprised crowd cheers the answer.
“Did you score Tommy?” I ask into the mic
The frail oul fella leans forward into the microphone to deliver his answer:
“Yea! ……….. Later on that night after the match!”
The assembled crowd erupt into peels of laughter as the old man’s eyes glint with bedevilment.
Sitting next to him to his right, a much stronger John Hughes buries his head in his hands at the answer, and when the head comes out of those hands, he simply looks at his former team mate and shakes his head.
Soon enough it will be the turn of a forthright and blunt Yogi to have his say:
“What do I think of this current Celtic team and Celtic’s policy of selling their best players?” he repeats into the microphone ” Their rubbish. The worst Celtic team I have ever seen. Whose going to pay top dollar for any of that lot?” he asks ” Baillieston Juniors?”
Again the crowd fall about.
Further on from Yogi sits a spritlely Charlie Gallagher. As I am asking questions first of Tommy, then of Yogi and finally of Charlie, there are a couple of occasions when Charlie simply says ” The boys have already answered that” before continuing to add just a little more.
On this occasion the question is about the forthcoming Scottish Cup Semi final against the team from Ibrox.
“I agree with Tommy and Yogi” says Charlie ” They are a horrible arrogant football club. The worst imaginable. I don’t care if they are the new Rangers, the old Rangers or any other kind of Rangers I want any Celtic team to beat them off the park. Give them a drubbing – a real doing.”
Charlie describes how he considers himself an Irishman and how he was proud to be the first Scots born player to be capped for the Republic of Ireland and how he was booed by the Ibrox fans first for being a Celtic player and even more so for being an international representative of the Republic.
“Made no difference to me” he says ” I was proud to play for the Republic and I couldn’t care less what they think. I have no time for those people. Never had – Never will.”
Between them, these three elderly men pulled on the hooped jersey well over a thousand times during a period when Celtic were at their zenith. All three provided exactly the same answer when asked what was the greatest disappointment in their Footballing career.
” Leaving Celtic” – those exact two words fell from each of their lips and each one then proceeded to “give it staright” to their former manager.
” Why did I leave?” asks Tommy with mock indignation ” I can sum that up in one word: Stein!”
There was no references to Big Jock or Mr Stein or the boss. Throughout the night the legendary Celtic manager is referred to repeatedly as “Stein.”
“Stein sacked me” says Charlie ” I wasn’t consulted by him or anyone else about a transfer I was just told. I was once “sent” and I mean “sent” with my wife down to England on a train – I wan’t even told which club I was meant to be going to and just told what station to get off at and that I would be met by someone in a car. I was taken to the ground and sat in an office for two hours then I left again. When I walked back into Celtic park Stein asked me ” Did you sign?” — I said to him “You never told me to sign — anyway I don’t want to go to England so, no, I didn’t sign!” — I am not too sure he ever spoke to me again and I went to Dumbarton and that was that. I was 29 years old. Hardly too old to be playing football!”
Tommy Gemmel was 28 years old when he was sold to Nottingham Forrest, exactly the same age as Hughes was when he was shipped out to Crystal Palace. Both are quite clear that they never wanted to leave Celtic Park and that they both had a lot left to give the club.
“Stein wanted to break up the team” says Gemmell ” He sold all of us quite deliberately and after that Celtic were not just quite the force we were. Jimmy went to Sheffield United way too early. Bobby Murdoch to Middlesborough. Bertie to Hibs. Cairney to Motherwell. Willie and Yogi to Crystal Palace. Had we stayed on and played longer with the younger players — could we have equalled the feats of Ajax and Bayern Munich and won more European Cups? Who knows? All we will ever know is that we didn’t …….. and Stein didn’t want to give us the chance after Feyenoord.”
All three are unanimous that Wee Jimmy was the best player they played with – George Best gets the shout as the most skillful they played against.
All three make it plain they loved playing for Celtic — really loved it and were proud to do it. All three hated leaving, the way they left and, to be honest, the man who made them leave for reasons that none of them agreed with and in a manner which they find disgraceful and offensive.
They are blunt and brutal in assessing the current squad, but bristle at the very notion of discussing any idea of a replacement of the current manager, though they hardly hide their contempt for the style of football on offer under his stewardship.
” I was a fan of the forward pass” says Charlie ” Ronny wouldn’t have played me and that is a fact” — a powerful running Yogi and a right footed left back who had a tendency to come in from the side of the pitch and shoot ( he scored 12 goals from 54 European appearances ) are not certain to feature in the current system either.
These men are not full of their own importance and what comes over is their belief in football and a love of the club they once played for, though they are scathing in terms of certain aspects of that club’s management both then and now.
Their own footballing abilities and reputations, who they played with and against, when they played and who they played under entitles them to give free reign to their footballing opinions, and they are opinions which will not necessarily suit everyone at Celtic park.
The three played with and against the best in the game at the time. They themselves were amongst the best that Europe had to offer at the time and were part of a group of players who changed football completely. They are funny, very funny at times, and completely confident in where each of them stand in the pantheon of Celtic players and of their place in Celtic’s history.
The atmosphere in the room is full of fun as they, along with Tosh McKinlay sitting at the side, crack their funnies and tell their stories. Tosh says he wanted to become a footballer, and achieved his dream, because of the three men seated near the stage. He describes how his father talked in awe about the left peg of Charlie Gallagher, the running of Yogi and the cannonball shot of the one and only “Big Shot”.
Tosh is very funny when it comes to talking about the money he could have earned had he gone to England:
” I made enough money in football to last me a lifetime………. provided I die next Tuesday” and warns the audience “For so long as you guys keep paying for Sky, English Football will pay ridiculous wages and Celtic will struggle in comparison.”
He too just wanted to play for Celtic. That was the height of his career, the summit of his dreams.
As I drive home at one in the morning I think of the answers and comments provided by the three Lisbon Lions. They are old men now. Their youth is gone, but all three showed a sharpness of mind which showed that within the ageing bodies there lies a fierce pride in what they achieved and an equally fierce disappointment in what they were denied achieving.
Similarly, there is an unhidden disappointment in the quality of football currently on offer and in the current state of football in general and Celtic Football Club in particular.
For whatever reason, as I sit in the car the words of Dylan Thomas come to mind:
Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rage at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right, Because their words had forked no lightning they Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
There is no chance of those three going gentle into that good night.
Once I am in bed I turn my radio on to Radio 5 Live.
Dutton Adebayo is discussing European Football with Tim Vickery and some others and the topic of discussion is Alfredo Di Stefano.
Inevitably with Vickery the chat switches to Celtic and Lisbon 67 and this prompts a call from Frank who is a Celtic supporter of many years and who takes the time to call in at 3:00am to stress how great the Lisbon Lions were and how they changed football for the better, how they brought back the beautiful game full of attacking football, how the Celtic fans invaded Lisbon with a smile, how Celtic are a club of the people and for the people – full of love and charity and things that are worthwhile in life as well a on the football pitch.
Frank ends with the story of when Barcelona FC paraded the Champions League trophy through the streets of ther native City after defeating Juventus 3-1 in the 2015 final, their open topped bus had to drive by a huge banner which read:
“Barcelona FC 2015 – we are now the true successors to the Lisbon Lions of Glasgow Celtic: Lisbon 1967″
In the 2015 final Barcelona successfully completed 505 passes of the football out of 570 attempted, enjoyed 61% possession and had 18 attempts on goal.
In Lisbon, Celtic completed 310 passes out of 365 attempts, had 45 shots on goal (Inter had 3), made 40 crosses into the Inter box, had 64% of possession (mostly in the Inter half) and had 10 corners to Inter’s zero.
I lie in the dark and hear Charlie Gallagher, who didn’t make the team in Lisbon, but whose cross for big Billy to head home against Vojvodina meant that Lisbon was possible.
“I was a fan of the forward pass”
Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rage at close of day;
Rage……….Rage………….against the dying of the light.
Written by BRTH in April 2016 for CQN.
*The Tommy Gemmell Dunblane CSC will by at the front of Celtic park at 11.30am to leave our tribute band pay our respects to Tommy, a great friend of many of the folk on the bus today.
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celticnoise · 7 years
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HERE is the full transcript of the exclusive Willie Wallace interview for CQN earlier this week…
LISBON LION Willie Wallace admits it is impossible to compare Brendan Rodgers’ team with Jock Stein’s all-conquering heroes.
The former striker, who has been based in Australia since the early eighties, watched his old team live for the first time this season as they overcame Inverness Caley Thistle 6-0 in the Scottish Cup at Parkhead at the weekend.
Wallace, the only player legendary manager Stein bought for his European Cup-winning line-up in 1967, was in Lisbon last week as a guest of the Hoops as they revisited the location of the club’s greatest triumph.
Before flying back to Queensland, the ex-Celt took the opportunity to have a first-hand look at the Rodgers Revolution.
Now 76, the sprightly Wallace observed: “Of course, I watch a lot of Celtic on the TV back in Oz.
“We get everything Down Under, but I always make sure I tune into my old team when they are being shown.
“And, yes, I am often asked by the Celtic supporters – they get everywhere, don’t they? – about how such-and-such a team would fare against the one I played in that won everything in season 1966/67.
“I’ve had it with Martin O’Neill’s team in the past and I’m now getting it with the present side.
“The truth is I believe it is not fair or possible to compare teams from different eras. It can’t be done.
“Same goes for players. Literally, it’s a different ball game.
“I’ve got a copy of a DVD that shows highlights of a Celtic game against Raith Rovers from the sixties.
“I recall it was a filthy Saturday afternoon in March and the rain had been bucketing down throughout the previous evening and all that morning.
“It was a league game at Parkhead and there was hardly a blade of grass visible on the pitch.
“The surface was simply engulfed in a sea of mud.
“There’s no doubt the game would be called off today. There’s no way players would be asked to perform on such a quagmire.
“For a start, it just wouldn’t be safe.
“But Jock Stein’s players didn’t give the conditions a second thought. There was a game to be won and we had to go out a do the business, irrespective of the underfoot mess.
“I remember that match well for a couple of reasons – the atrocious conditions and the fact we won 5-0 and I scored a hat-trick.
“That’s the way it was in those days. The present-day players would never have to encounter pitches like that, but, back then, during the winter months, they were the norm.
“As I said, I have a copy of the highlights of that particular game – and a lot of others, too – and I have replayed it a couple of hundred times to fans who have visited me at home.
“Every single one of them have been amazed at the horrible pitch. They actually laugh at me. Where I live these days, they don’t know what mud is!
“Seriously, the climate is so exceptional that it is unusual to even see someone wearing a jumper.
“My wife Olive and I have got hardly any heavy clothing in our wardrobe. It’s all light stuff and, of course, it’s vastly different from what we were used to in Scotland.
“If we want to have a barbecue here, we don’t have to check the weather report. You just take it as read the sun will be out and that’s what you’ll be doing tomorrow.
“There’s no risk if you plan for a picnic. We get rain, of course, but it doesn’t last too long and once it’s gone the sun comes out again and you wouldn’t know it had been wet at all.
“That’s why a lot of my Aussie friends are fascinated by some of my old DVDs. The Raith Rovers game is one that easily comes to mind because the diligent groundstaff always attempted to take good care of the surface at Celtic Park.
“All bets were off, though, when October and November loomed into view.”
Wallace, who was the club’s record signing at £30,000 when he arrived from Hearts in December 1966, admitted he had been impressed by Rodgers’ team against the Highlanders.
He said: “I noticed they play an entirely different system to the one Jock used during my time.
“Now Celtic have two lines between defenders and midfielders and the front players. We weren’t quite so rigid.
“However, they played well although, to be honest, I expected a bit more resistance from Caley Thistle.
“I had noted they were the only Scottish club to take a point off Celtic after that 2-2 draw in Inverness last year.
“However, when the first goal went in, there was only going to be one winner.
“Moussa Dembele scored three good goals and he looks the type of front player who will get plenty during the course of a season.
“Certainly, his team-mates were eager to set them up for him and he duly obliged by sticking away the chances that came his way.
“I also liked the look of the lad Scott Sinclair. He’s a clever player who times his runs really well, is bright and inventive on the ball and he’s another who will chip in with goals.
“Big Jock always impressed upon us the importance of spreading the goals around the team.
“Certainly, he might have been spoiled for choice up front with the likes of myself, Stevie Chalmers, Bobby Lennox and John Hughes.
“In fact, Stevie, Bobby and Big Yogi are among the club’s all-time top 10 scorers.
“Wee Jinky Johnstone could knock in a few over the course of a season, too.
“But look at the contribution from left-back Tommy Gemmell. He claimed more goals in a year than some forwards.
“Big TG took the penalty-kicks, of course, but he could score with some spectacular long-range strikes, also.
“Need I mention a certain effort against Inter Milan in Lisbon on May 25, 1967?
“And it was the same with Bobby Murdoch. He was a midfielder who could give the ball a fair old dunt and he hit some extra-special efforts from outside the box.
“So, you don’t see as much shooting from distance these days as you did back in the sixties.
“Speaking of left-backs, I liked what I saw of Kieran Tierney.
“That’s the first time I’ve seen him in the flesh and I can see why everyone is raving about the lad.
“He’s only 19, but what a smashing player to have in your team and there is no doubt he has a marvellous future ahead of him.
“And I thought Erik Sviatchenko did exceptionally well in defence. Again, it’s best to see these players live because there is just so much you can capture on a TV screen. I was impressed with him, too.
“He tackled well, moved the ball out of the back with some neat passing, was steady throughout and always looked eager to get forward to
support the midfield.
“Goalkeeper Craig Gordon wasn’t asked to do too much – I don’t think the opposition had a direct attempt on goal all day – but he, too, looked composed.
“I read in the Aussie press that Chelsea wanted to pay around £3million for him last month.
“I’m delighted he remained at Parkhead. Quite simply, he is far too good to be a deputy to anyone.
“He is 34 and has a lot ahead of him. Goalkeepers are supposed to be crazy, but they can play on until they are about 40 while a lot of outfield players have long since hung up their boots.
“Aye, crazy like a fox!
“I know Brendan Rodgers has likened him to the former Manchester United keeper Edwin van der Sar and I can see why he would make that comparison.
“I believe the Dutchman is still the oldest player in the Premier League when he carried on after his 40th birthday.
“And look at Petr Cech at Arsenal. He’s still only 34, but has played at the highest of levels for well over a decade.
“He joined Chelsea in 2004 and still looks as though he can go on for another six years or so.
“I’m not surprised Brendan wants to get Gordon on a long-term contract. It’s crucial for the team to have a safe goalie, a last line of defence you can trust.
“We had Ronnie Simpson, of course, and he played on until a persistent shoulder injury forced him to retire at 40.
“He actually arrived at Celtic from Hibs at the same age Gordon is now and look at the career he had in his latter years.
“Ronnie even made his Scotland international debut at the age of 36 in the 3-2 win over the-then world champions England at Wembley in 1967.
“We made our own history back then and it’s great to see Brendan Rodgers and the lads creating new records.
“They’ve passed the Lions’ feat of going 26 domestic games without defeat and I applaud them for that.
“As far as I’m concerned, all records are there to be broken, so well done to the present-day players. Carry on winning, lads.
“But, please, just don’t ask me to compare Brendan’s team with Big Jock’s side!”
Willie Wallace has signed a batch of copies of That Season in Paradise – Ten Months of Celtic Heaven for CQN. Get your copy while stocks last from www.cqnbookstore.com
http://ift.tt/2l0GxAQ
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