#howard respects chuck SO MUCH and chuck knows that and hes been using that to like | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

brbabcs · 6 months

Text

wolves and sheep: a jimmy/kim dynamic analysis, primarily centered around the masks they wear and the roles we see fluctuating between them. (please take this with a grain of salt, these are just my personal viewpoints and what i see as far as canon goes, as well as what i've been able to knit together into what i believe to be reasonable assumptions.)

"there is no greater love than the love the wolf feels for the lamb-it-doesn't-eat." ─── hélène cixous, stigmata: escaping texts.

jimmy and kim begin in the mailroom together: one settling for the simplicity of taking bets and delivering mail, and the other paying her dues to get where she wants to be. in the flashback we see to kim and jimmy in the mailroom, we are able to get a glimpse at the ways kim has always propelled jimmy forward throughout the years. jimmy seemingly has no want to leave the mailroom at this point in time, until he witnesses howard and chuck discussing how that will be kim soon. in this moment, we see the realization striking jimmy that she will be moving forward, moving on, and by extension, away from him. by the time we see this scene unfold, we already have an understanding that later in the timeline, jimmy pursues a law degree and passes the bar. one part in want to appease and impress his brother, but in my opinion, another because jimmy’s want for kim surpassed his want to simply settle and exist in the comfortable realm he’d previously been alright with.

we see very early on in the series that jimmy has no issue with settling: running “ slippin’ jimmy “ schemes to be able to simply breeze through life but not at a particularly extravagant rate. but as we progress through the series, where kim goes, jimmy follows: no matter where it ends up. the most prominent display of this is jimmy taking the job at davis & main. we know that jimmy has no real want to play by the rules, or to suit up and work in such a setting without ulterior motivation behind it. with hamlin hamlin and mcgill, jimmy’s motivation to want to work there was driven by his want to be accepted by his brother. yet, with davis & main, we see the same drive that set jimmy in motion toward his law degree: one part about his brother, the other primarily about kim. even when jimmy doctors the documents to sabotage chuck, it’s for kim – but i would argue that this isn’t as significant as his transition to davis & main, because it still aligns with who jimmy is as a person. he cuts corners, wins by any means, and in contrast, davis & main was the opposite of who jimmy was, yet still was pursued because of his love and respect for kim.

this love and respect extends even more so when “ giselle “ and “ viktor “ come into play. these alternate versions of self that they use to con people allow jimmy’s old dream ( to work with chuck / be accepted and established as a refined lawyer ) to die, and a new one to blossom. he now sees this world of possibilities with kim, and whilst he knows that she wouldn’t ever pursue a life of conning full time with him, it’s something that he respects even more. jimmy can’t con his way in or out of anything with kim in the way he does the rest of his life, ( although at points he does try ) and it makes her all the more desirable when they con together. as these moments of crime progress from simple bar schemes into much more, jimmy is blinded by his excitement of the moments and joy of having a partner in crime that he loves so much. even still, most things that kim does are for “ the greater good, “ and gives jimmy quite a bit to admire. but as things travel down more dangerous paths, reality begins to sink in: one little moment at a time.

as we transition through the timeline, kim and jimmy have held this mischievous relationship for a while now, but as things move on, what once were portrayed as small moments of excitement and fun begin to transform into much more serious crime. jimmy still goes the extra mile for kim at any cost, but now the price to pay is much higher as the cartel becomes involved. still, jimmy is too blinded to really see what is happening within kim. even when she begins to suggest the plot against howard, jimmy is unsure, yet still refuses to see. jimmy’s hesitance is clearly shown in these moments, not fully committing or jumping into things with kim as she may have expected. regardless, we see kim propel jimmy forward once more – however unintentional it may be.

much earlier on, way back in season two, chuck warns kim in front of jimmy. he even says that jimmy has “ ruined “ kim. these words circle back to jimmy as he sees kim put the wheels in motion for howard's destruction, and cause great hesitance and truly, concern. he even says to kim that “ this isn’t her, “ but is brushed off. we see this parallel here, reminiscent of something chuck says in earlier episodes: jimmy can’t help himself. even when jimmy hesitates when going to plant the coke on howard, and kim asks if he’s alright, it is enough to make him feel justified in some sense. because kim wants this too, right? he didn’t ruin her: he’s her partner, and she is his, in every sense of the word. this hesitation is a brief flicker of recognition, seeing something he's been avoiding looking towards or at, yet still choosing to dismiss it to further justify and extend the context of their relationship. was this always somewhere in kim? maybe, perhaps. would it have happened without jimmy? we’ll never truly know. but what we do know, is that without him, she may still be the law abiding, successful and renowned lawyer he admired so deeply. instead, in the framework of this scene, we see the deep desire and want and refusal to let go manifesting in visible damage and outward effects that can no longer be denied.

i believe the moment where jimmy’s eyes are truly opened, is in the interaction with the kettlemans. ( carrot and stick: season six / episode 2. ) we see jimmy offering money to the kettlemans, and when denied, kim steps in. she blackmails them clearly, confidently, and brutally. she gets what she wants, and then leaves: with jimmy still lingering behind, before eventually following. this is representative of jimmy’s life. jimmy leads, kim follows. kim leaves, jimmy follows. as we watch this scene with the kettlemans, we see jimmy fold inward. he doesn’t speak, or even make eye contact with anyone in the room. i believe it’s because jimmy is seeing, for the first time, the effects he’s had on her without any kind of buffer or filter to deny it. chuck’s words circle back around once more, and this time there is no justification or denial in the world that can help him.

when jimmy leaves and meets kim in the car, she mentions that he gave them the money that was originally offered, ( although, now not needed to incentivise the kettlemans to stay quiet. ) and jimmy doesn’t respond: instead saying “ wolves and sheep, “ calling back to a flashback scene ( in season two ) with jimmy and his father, where a con man ( who has just conned his father out of ten dollars ) explains that there are two kinds of people in the world. wolves, and sheep. in the beginning, when this scene is shown, we are still of the understanding that jimmy turns out to be a wolf, and kim is a sheep. here, with jimmy’s eyes to the ground and kim brutally blackmailing the kettlemans, the roles have reversed. jimmy parallels his father ( referred to as a sheep ) by giving the kettlemans the money, and a sense of doubt sparks that the wolf jimmy has portrayed himself as has ever existed. when we consider his father’s endless do-good outlook, and arguably, naivety, we also have to ask: did jimmy simply wear a wolf’s mask to survive despite inwardly, being a sheep himself?

earlier in season five, we are given another glimpse at this portrayal of kim as a wolf. when lalo shows up at their apartment and tries to intimidate jimmy into saying the truth of the story in the desert, jimmy is feeble and stutters his way through his story several times. in contrast, kim steps in, and similar to the way she defends jimmy in the confrontation with chuck about mesa verde, she defends him now. she challenges lalo, looks him in the eye and even whilst knowing he’s a cartel member, still argues against him. jimmy stands in the background, quiet, as she does so: the same way that he did as she ruthlessly defended him in the confrontation with chuck, ( and similarly how we see her behave in carrot and stick ) except now, the threat is twenty times what was in her argument with chuck. now, their lives are on the line.

still, kim is outwardly fearless, going toe to toe with lalo. this portrayal of kim is something we’ve seen before, but the stakes are much higher and incredibly more dangerous. and yet, as a wolf does, she grits her teeth and stands her ground. this conversation occurs right after jimmy tries to warn kim of going down a “ bad choice road “ as he has done, and as mike has discussed with him. jimmy is shown, almost directly after the conversation with kim, that those warnings are far too late now. there is no going back. kim has made choices, the same as jimmy, and whether or not he influenced them isn’t the point anymore: the reality is that the choices that led to lalo at their door were ones that only kim could prevent the consequences of. jimmy does not save them, kim does. again, and again, in these later seasons, we begin to see that jimmy wears the mask of saul: a wolf. but underneath it all is simply a sheep refusing to accept its own existence. over time, we see that kim is wearing the mask of a sheep, while underneath there is nothing but the wolf that jimmy aspires to be.

#jimmykim #jimmy mcgill #kim wexler #mine #this is old i might rework it but #heyyyyyyyyyy #yeah i am only using this blog to really just display my unwellness about bcs and brba i guess #analysis

5 notes · View notes

mysteriesofloves · 3 years

Note

Do you think Nate's character actually had a lot of potential on the show, or he was just a pretty bland character so it wasn't an easy person for the writers to come up stories for? What would your ideal Nate storyline have been if you ran GG instead?

i don’t think there’s such thing as a “bland character” that the writers “can’t come up with stories for” because he literally isn’t real. like you can just make stuff up. it’s all made up. i think anything about nate’s character that falls flat is due to the writers sidelining him. like i’ve said, i’m not as invested in nate as a character but he did have a lot of potential and every time i rewatch s1 i think about how much of it gets wasted afterwards in favour of random hookups i hardly remember (the same goes for serena). he’s got interesting morals to explore — he’s never sent in a tip to gossip girl because he’s against it but he cheated on his girlfriend and lied to her about it then blamed her for sleeping with someone else when they were broken up. he seems typically into “doing the right thing” justice wise re: giving his dad up to the cops, calling the cops on william but he’s been best friends with chuck his whole life. he’s kind and respectful even though nothing about his upbringing says he needs to be.

for me, s1 was undoubtedly the best he was ever written. 1.04 and 1.09 are my favourite episodes for him and that’s what i would want to explore — how anne talks about howard having everything handed to him (presumably by her family? i can’t remember) and never having to work, how nate feels like he doesn’t deserve any of what he has. i’d want to explore him grappling with that further. i would’ve liked to see him go the same route as carter, travelling and using his wealth and privilege to help people in need (i mean, i know carter is a scammer, but when we meet him he was apparently working with charities).

romantic arc wise his relationship with vanessa has SO much potential, i loved them together so much. i’d keep that in s1 but i’d have serenate get together the summer after s1 instead of the awful catherine storyline. instead of dan/vanessa in s3 and nate/whoever i literally don’t remember their names i would have nate/vanessa come back together. bringing carter back in s3 to be with serena would open up an opportunity for him to give nate different options. also if i was in charge of gg carter would replace chuck as nate’s morally skewed bad boy best friend (and just in general) (and they would hookup). if we’re talking ideal as in could actually happen with what we’re given i’d have nate start a charity and position himself as a political donor and be single. if we’re talking i’m-the-captain-now (no pun intended) i’d have a nate/vanessa endgame sailing around the world and helping third world countries

#this got longer than expected #nate archibald #asks #gg meta

14 notes · View notes

jimmymcgools · 3 years

Note

For the scene commentary, chapter 2 ACB, the first real conversation he has with Kim at the end of the day when he decides to bum a smoke from her.

don’t mind me waiting to answer this until i'm back at work! 🤡

coworker: you look focused over there me: oh i am

(here are my previous answers or ask for anything i haven’t covered yet )

i’m trying to remember what i was thinking about as i wrote this scene and it’s just a big white void. these early acb chapters are interesting because somewhere around chapter 5/6 i started trying to make them stand on their own a bit, and this one feels kinda empty in comparison.

i know i had some of chapter 2 written before i posted chapter 1 (first and only time this has ever happened), but after i hit post i shriveled up into my shell and didn’t check ao3 for days because i guess i assumed i was going to get a bunch of “boo, this isn’t how i pictured it!” comments right outta the gate. so i maybe had half of this scene done before i knew i’d be publishing it.

okay! thoughts are coming back!! i do remember toying with it taking longer for them to really talk -- but then i’d think of jimmy’s “gal singular, actually” after literally one week, and that didn’t seem like an option anymore

She sways a little on her feet and Jimmy frowns. She looks, suddenly, tired.

He can’t get a good read on her.

And then, as if she can hear his thoughts, Kim surprises him again by asking, “So how was your first day?”

always loved the thought of jimmy managing to suss out everyone in the mailroom/HHM except kim. especially thinking about where they end up i.e. the only people able to really read each other

and here’s kim feeling comfortable enough to relax in his presence after she’s seen a full day of mullet-wearing stamp-licking embellished-story-telling jimmying.

with these early interactions i was always trying to like, balance things. so like, this scene isn’t just jimmy badgering her. she starts up the convo again now. she’s curious. he’s new.

Jimmy nods. “Good. Printed a lot of things, licked a lot of stamps. My tongue’s already dying!”

“…Yes, that’s the worst,” Kim says, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye.

kim is NOT gonna tell him about the sponge, she wants to watch the himbo lick stamps. cheap entertainment

His voice echoes hollowly in the garage. “I thought you were a lawyer. This morning."

Kim nods. “That explains the ‘give them hell’.”

i used to have a super timeline breaking julia roberts joke in here, rip to it

A worse version of him would look at this woman working all day in a mailroom and somehow finding time to study for a law degree and think that she’s a sucker—that there must be some easier way to do it, some short cut, some cheat. But Jimmy can remember when Chuck was off at Georgetown, younger than all his peers but you wouldn’t know it to look at him, and already so busy he could barely make it home for family holidays.

He can’t imagine Chuck delivering mail or two-hole punching documents for hours on end.

He can’t imagine having that kind of drive.

this seemed like such an impossible challenge at the start of this fic. the idea that jimmy would respect someone doing something the really hard way, the really long way, LET ALONE that within a year or two he’d literally be doing it himself

it’s absolutely bonkers.

but i think there’s something to him seeing the difference between the kim way and the chuck way. the chuck way is just kinda like magic. of course chuck can do that. but seeing kim working day in and day out, being next to it, i dunno! i think there’s a weird thing that would make the much harder way actually seem more achievable to jimmy

“Something about the law being the most important invention in the history of civilization, I think,” Jimmy says. “Mankind’s greatest achievement.” He gives a short chuckle. “I don’t get it.”

chuck’s been delivering pieces of his chicanery breakdown for years

“You don’t?” Kim asks. “I thought you were here—” She catches herself and stops. “Sorry. Almost asked a personal question myself.”

thought you were howard 2.0, here to make name partner in a year

Kim snorts quietly. She drops her cigarette and stamps it with her heel. “It’s the new environmental policies they’re rolling out. No more flushing.”

Jimmy grins delightedly and finishes his own cigarette.

ah, bonding over toilet jokes

also of course giving jimmy one of his best ideas 💩💩💩

Kim nods in acknowledgement and then disappears into the darkness.

But Jimmy can hear her long after she vanishes, heels clicking metrically on the concrete floor.

i wish i’d had a better grip on mailroom kim and the thought that she probably wouldn’t wear heels, but i do really like how this scene ends. thesis statement for the whole show. gal singular, actually. even when she’s gone she’s never really gone.

#commentary ask meme #queenofnots #thank you for sustaining me with these pal 💖💖#the blank smile i plaster all over my mug as someone walks up to my desk when im halfway through a thought about mailroom kim wexler #🙂#mcwexler

13 notes · View notes

resonanteye · 3 years

Photo

via http://resonanteye.net/originals-will-be-for-sale-nov-15/

Originals will be for sale, Nov 15

Two are spoken for.

All the local galleries are full of artists that they were showing last year, my kickstarter to get full scale prints made did not get funded (really bad timing). I’ll eventually be releasing a small art book containing all of these, I hope. I had wanted to show them as a group but I do not think I’ll be able to do that. so,

here are the originals I’ll be selling. There will be a second post with purchase links on the day, and you’ll be able to message me to purchase as well. Full sized prints will eventually be available but I don’t have a date for that.

Paintings from Quarantine, a series, 2020

all are watercolor paintings. charging by size and scope…

12×16″ are 150$

18×24″ are 500$

22×30″ are 900$

36×50″ are 1500$

shipping to US/CAN included: all will be rolled for shipping, unframed. I’ll ship any country, but will have to calculate for anywhere but US/CAN. rush shipping on request at cost.

no. 1 – Milan (quarantine paintings, 2020) watercolor, oil, gesso on arches paper, 18×24″ dedicated for Dr. Marcelo Natali 1963-3/25/20 “We certainly weren’t prepared to face such a situation. Especially those of our generation, that of the post-antibiotic era, who grew up thinking that a pill against the disease was enough.”

no. 2 – Northwestern United States (quarantine paintings, 2020) watercolor, oil, gesso on arches paper, 18×24″ dedicated for Dr. Stephen M. Schwartz (January 1, 1942 – March 17, 2020) “There is no way to summarize a person as complex as Steve, but I’ll say this: I have never met a person with a finer mind, a greater passion for ideas, or who had a greater love for science,” Dr. Chuck Murry “This beer virus I call it — they call it a coronavirus, I call it a beer virus — how do you like that?” Rep. Don Young

no. 3 – Iran (quarantine paintings, 2020) watercolor, oil, gesso on arches paper, 18×24″ dedicated for Dr. Shirin Rouhani (unknown- 3/19/20) “She treated patients at Masih Daneshvari Hospital in Tehran while receiving IV therapy, because there were not enough doctors. Hospitals are faced with a lack of protective gear including medical gowns, N95 masks, gloves, and disinfectants.” -Javad Tavakoli ” Tell medècin sans frontiers that we do not need hospitals established by foreigners”. -Health Minister, Alireza Vahhabzadeh.

no. 17 (final) – New Orleans, LA, USA⁣ (quarantine paintings, 2020)⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ watercolor, oil, gesso on arches paper, 18×24″⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⁣ ⁣ dedicated for Ronald Lewis⁣ 7/17/1951-3/20/2020⁣ ⁣ “Right here in the Ninth Ward was where our people chased the American dream.”⁣ ~ Ronald Lewis⁣ ⁣ “The federal government rose to the challenge and this is a great success story and I think that that’s really what needs to be told.”⁣ ~Jared Kutchner

no. 4 – Rikers Island, New York (quarantine paintings, 2020) watercolor, oil, gesso on arches paper, 18×24″ dedicated to Michael Tyson, 53 “Incredible anxiety and fear. You cannot implement effective social distancing in a room that sleeps forty men. You cannot implement effective social distancing when those forty men are using two or three sinks and one of them may be broken. You cannot implement effective social distancing when the staff interacts with all of them and has to touch all of them in the course of a day. They know that better than I know that. So when I was talking to them, I was sort of feebly saying, “We want to try to encourage people to be even more diligent about hand-washing, etc., etc.” They were, like, “O.K., we don’t have our own cleaning supplies.” They can’t wipe down their own surfaces. They have to wait for someone to come in and do that for them.” “The largest category of people in city jails are those awaiting trial — people who have not been charged but not convicted. In the ordinary course of events, getting someone in this position out of jail requires an application made in court before a judge.” -Dr. Bedard New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Monday that the state had found a way to counteract price gouging on hand sanitizer amid the COVID-19 outbreak: by deploying cheap prison labor. Incarcerated people will be producing the disinfectant… “This is a superior product to products now on the market,” Cuomo said in a briefing, adding that the state’s sanitizer has a “very nice floral bouquet” that includes hints of lilac, tulip, and hydrangea.

no. 5 – Los Angeles, Mercy⁣ (quarantine paintings, 2020)⁣ ⁣ watercolor, oil, gesso on arches paper, 18×24″⁣ ⁣ dedicated for Francisco Garcia⁣ ⁣ “There’s a very limited supply, it’s a scary situation. Just going to work, driving to work, you’re worried you’re going to get something. It’s changing by the hour and by the day.” S. Beltran, ER nurse . ⁣ ⁣ ⁣ “This week the State Department has facilitated the transportation of nearly 17.8 tons of donated medical supplies to the Chinese people, including masks, gowns, gauze, respirators, and other vital materials.” -Mike Pompeo, Feb 7 2020

⁣no. 6 – Wuhan (quarantine paintings, 2020)⁣ watercolor, oil, gesso on arches paper, 18×24″⁣ ⁣ dedicated for Dr. Li Wenliang (1986-2/7/2020) “I think there should be more than one voice in a healthy society, and I don’t approve of using public power for excessive interference.” -Dr. Li Wenliang “Now, the Democrats are politicising the coronavirus… this is their new hoax.” -Donald Trump “Trump has botched the response to coronavirus pandemic…classifying deliberations makes it harder for health experts in government without security clearances to be in key meetings. This is unprecedented, unnecessary, and damages our ability to respond to the pandemic.” -Gregg Gonsalves, a Yale epidemiologist “You, Dr. Li Wenliang, have been making false comments on the Internet, and will sign a letter of admonishment.” -Police from the Wuhan Public Security Bureau, Jan 3 2020

no. 7 – Madrid (quarantine paintings, 2020)⁣ ⁣ watercolor, oil, gesso on arches paper, 18×24″⁣ ⁣ dedicated for Dr. Isabel Munoz ( 1961 -3/24/2020) “Her only obsession was not to infect anybody.” -Jesus Munoz “Even if we all get sick, I’d rather die than kill the country.” -Glenn Beck

⁣no. 8 – Johannesburg⁣ ⁣⁣ (quarantine paintings, 2020)⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣ watercolor, oil, gesso on arches paper, 18×24″⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣ dedicated for Simon⁣ (unknown)⁣⁣ ⁣ ⁣ “They put us here and now we are close to one another. This is why we will be vulnerable to catching Corona. Our government has failed us,” Simon, homeless man moved by police to stadium from the street.⁣ ⁣ “The lockdown has caused problems, but it is a necessary thing that South Africa had to do,” -Maider Mavi, Mozambique Health Ministry. “Anyone showing symptoms who goes to a state hospital will have their COVID-19 test for free.” ⁣ ⁣ ⁣ “The goal here is to keep Covid out of this community,” says Sasha Lalla, a leader at COSUP, a city-supported substance abuse program.⁣ ⁣ “I think then we will be seeing a situation where people with compromised immune systems are not just at risk of Covid-19, they are at risk of death. We have a responsibility to keep our most vulnerable safe,” he said. “One case here, it would be like wildfire.”

no. 9 – New York City⁣ ⁣⁣⁣ (quarantine paintings, 2020)⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣⁣ watercolor, oil, gesso on arches paper, 18×24″⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣⁣ dedicated for Father Antonio Checo⁣ May 6, 1952-April 1, 2020 ⁣ “Words cannot describe the sadness and hurt as well as the frustrations that this pandemic has brought about to our daily lives here and across the city…Effective today, all Episcopal churches have been ordered closed until May 17, 2020…we as your clergy are still accessible via phone as your pastors in these times. And since we cannot gather as a community until May, we want to begin to periodically send you the weekly bible readings as that you can use for private prayer worship.⁣ …take an hour each day to pray these prayers remembering those who have died because of this pandemic, as well as those who are sick and those “essential” workers on the frontlines who ensure we as citizens have access to life sustaining resources for day to day living. We ask for the blessing of peace and hope to you all, and that all are safe in this time of uncertainty and anxiety.”⁣ Rev. Antonio Checo and Rev. Jason Moskal, St. Mark’s Episcopal Church⁣ ⁣ ⁣ “We brought in 13 machines that basically kill every virus in the place, and uh, if somebody walks through the door it’s like, it kills everything on them. If they sneeze, it shoots it down at like 100 mph. It’ll neutralize it in split seconds. We have the most sterile building in, I don’t know, all of America.”⁣ -Rodney Howard-Browne, River Tampa Bay Megachurch

no. 10 – Tokyo ⁣⁣⁣ (quarantine paintings, 2020)⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣⁣ watercolor, oil, gesso on arches paper, 18×24″⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣⁣ dedicated for Ken Shimura (20 February 1950 – 29 March 2020) “I never feared getting an infection myself,” he said, because he knows “how infection control should be done.” But aboard the Diamond Princess, “I was so scared of getting COVID-19.” “The cruise ship was completely inadequate in terms of the infection control.” -Kentaro Iwata, who has dealt with infectious outbreaks, including Ebola, cholera and SARS, for more than 20 years. “I’m choosing not to do it.” -donald trump, on masks

no. 12 – Washington, DC⁣⁣ (quarantine paintings, 2020)⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣ watercolor, oil, gesso on arches paper, 18×24″⁣ ⁣ ⁣ dedicated for ⁣⁣ Rabbi Romi Cohn⁣⁣ Holocaust survivor⁣⁣ March 10, 1929-March 24, 2020⁣ ⁣ “The crisis caused by the coronavirus may be the time to consider a universal basic wage.”⁣⁣ -Pope Francis ⁣ ⁣ “God will shield us from all harm and sickness. We are not afraid. We are called by God to stand against the Antichrist creeping into America’s borders.”⁣⁣ -Tony Spell3

no. 15 – Paris⁣ (quarantine paintings, 2020)⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣⁣ watercolor, oil, gesso on arches paper, 18×24″⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣⁣ dedicated for⁣⁣⁣ Dr. John F. Murray⁣ pulmonologist⁣ June 8, 1927 – March 24, 2020⁣ ⁣ “In all his dealings in the ICU, John treated every person with respect and held them to high standards, whether it was the intern just starting in the ICU or the fellow who was a much more senior trainee, or the nurses or the therapists. Everybody had something to offer and was treated as a member of this team.”⁣ -Courtney Broaddus⁣ ⁣ “You have to do what’s best for your business.”⁣ -Wayne Hoffman

“Audience Participation, London” 22×30″, watercolor

Houston has its Time 22×30″, watercolor

Calling in the Forces, Sunflowers 22×30″ watercolor

Skating in New York City watercolor, 22×30″

The Observers (Germany) watercolor on arches, 12×16″

no. 13 – Atlanta⁣ (quarantine paintings, 2020)⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ watercolor, oil, gesso on arches paper, 18×24″⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ dedicated for⁣ Rushia Johnson Stephens⁣ music teacher⁣ 1954-2020⁣ ⁣ “Given our population density, high rate of asthma, and various underlying health conditions found within our city’s populations, I am issuing a Stay at Home Order for Atlantans.”⁣ -Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms⁣ ⁣ ⁣ “adding a public option to Obamacare is the best way to lower costs and cover everyone. 160 million people like their private insurance.”⁣ -Joe Biden

SOLD:

no. 11 – The Bronx⁣ (quarantine paintings, 2020)⁣ ⁣ watercolor, oil, gesso on arches paper, 18×24″⁣ ⁣ dedicated for⁣ Rakkhon Kim, a member of Branch 36 in New York City⁣ 1970-March 25,2020⁣ ⁣ “It is not an exaggeration to say that our men and women in the Postal Service, who were already performing one of the most important jobs in America, are now literally putting their own lives on the line to deliver the food, medicine, and essential supplies that hundreds of millions of Americans depend on every single day during this pandemic.”⁣ -Senator Bernard Sanders⁣ ⁣ “It’s been losing billions of dollars a year for many, many years… this is the new one, I’m now the demise of the Postal Service. I’ll tell you who’s the demise of the Postal Service, are these internet companies that give their stuff to the Postal Service…They drop everything in the post office and they say, ‘You deliver it.’ “⁣ -president Donald Trump

no. 14 – Lansing⁣ (quarantine paintings, 2020)⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣ watercolor, oil, gesso on arches paper, 18×24″⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣ dedicated for⁣⁣ Lisa Ewald⁣ nurse⁣ 1966-2020⁣⁣ ⁣ “COVID-19 has impacted the lives of so many citizens throughout the state of Michigan, and even more pronounced in the city of Detroit, as we are the fastest growing city nationally with casualties related to this deadly disease.”⁣ -Rep. Sherry Gay-Dagnogo⁣ ⁣ “LIBERATE MICHIGAN!”⁣ -Donald Trump⁣ ⁣⁣

1 note · View note

florencewellch · 4 years

Note

Is there any popular TV show, movie or book that everyone you know loves, but you hate? - I’m so curious to see what your take is on this!

Thanks for the ask, @lots-to-love !

Disclaimer: I'm not saying that any of these pieces of media are bad, I'm just saying that they're not my cup of tea. I'm not gonna judge or think less of anyone who likes the stuff I mention here.

Books:

1) Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) by George Orwell: I'm sure this is a great book, it's a classic after all, but it wasn't for me. I read it two years ago and every moment of it felt like torture. Probably because I'm not a fan of dystopian fiction and because I didn't like any of the characters.

2) The Goldfinch (2013) by Donna Tartt: It's a good book, it won the Pulitzer Prize, after all. It just wasn't for me, I gave up after 3 chapters.

3) Any Philippa Gregory novel (except“The Lady of the Rivers”): I have a problem with Philippa Gregory's writing and it's the fact that she takes rumors, created to vilify female historical figures during their own lifetimes, and makes them true in her novels, while claiming to take them with a pinch of salt, when in reality she isn't. Examples are Jacquetta and Elizabeth Woodville being witches, Margaret Beaufort being a child murderess, Elizabeth of York having an affair with her uncle, Katherine of Aragon lying about her virginity, Mary Boleyn having illegitimate children with Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn being guilty of adultery and incest and I'm sure there are more examples. This would have been fine if Gregory didn't claim to be historian, when she is actually a novelist and her degree is on 18th century literature, and if she stopped taking her own fictional account as facts.

4) Any Alison Weir book: I don't like most of her books (except her biography of Elizabeth I and her novel on Katherine of Aragon), because she doesn't cite her sources, she is quite biased and makes it quite clear when she dislikes a historical figure and usually relies on sources most historians have discredited. And she is pretty judgy and sexist, she vilifies Anne Boleyn, claims she was “an ambitious adventuress with a penchant for vengeance”, slut-shames Katherine Howard, while glorifying Katherine of Aragon.

TV shows:

1) OUAT: I used to love this show, but after the first half of S3, I started to dislike it and my dislike turned to hatred. My problems are the lazy writing, the retconning, the fact they had to adapt every fairy tale to the point it didn't fit organically with the overall plot. The poorly-written redemption arcs, the fact that almost every ship was toxic, and the lack of originality.

2) Riverdale: Do why I really need to go into why I dislike this show? Okay, my problems are the fact that Jughead's asexuality was erased and he was turned into Betty's edgy boyfriend, the fact that the show doesn't acknowledge that Betty is a terrible person, the sexualization of teens, the fact that Kevin and Chuck were reduced to homophobic and racist stereotypes, respectively. And the nonsensical plot.

3) Sherlock: The episodes don't hold up after watching it again, Sherlock is turned into an arrogant asshole and a high functioning sociopath, when his literary counterpart cared about his clients and wanted to do the right thing, Watson gets turned into a puppy who blindly follows Sherlock, Irene Adler goes from being the woman who outsmarted him to being a dominatrix, who gets outsmarted by him and falls in love with him, even though she is a lesbian on the show.

4) The Big Bang Theory: I don't like the show because of its misogynistic tone and I can't bring myself to like any of the characters.

5) Wolf Hall: All of my problems with Gregory's writing, but worse. All of the characters are one-dimensional caricatures of themselves, none of the characters are likable, the show is boring, all of the historical figures in this godforsaken show are done dirty.

Movies:

It Chapter Two: I think we all saw this coming. Okay, I liked Adult Bill much more than I did in the novel, I think they did a good job with Ben and Beverly as individuals and as a couple. But other than that, I hated the fact that Muschietti had Mike steal stuff from Native Americans, lie about the Ritual of Chüd being effective, I hated the “Mike's parents were rumored to be drug addicts” subplot, as one article states “Mike Hanlon has arguably gone from a victim of racism at the hands of Henry Bowers to a victim of racism at the hands of the filmmakers” and I also hated that Muschietti cut out his scenes. I hated that Eddie went from being a brave, empathetic, sensitive, kind kid to a cowardly asshole in the second film, who got most of his gay-coding given to Richie, who had his own arc and bi-coding ignored by Muschietti and I hated that Eddie's death was made all about Richie and not about Eddie himself, who chose to sacrifice himself to save friends in the novel, while in the second film, he recklessly turns his back against IT, giving Pennywise the opportunity to stab him. And I hated that they had Richie trying to abandon his friends every 5 seconds. And I hated that Richie got to kill Bowers, instead of Eddie. I hated the way that Richie and Eddie's dynamics was portrayed, they had no soft moments apart from the “you're braver than you think” which was at the cost of Eddie's bravery and it was 5 seconds after Richie made a fatphobic comment. I hated that Stan's suicide was framed as an act of heroism, because it sends the wrong message and because in the novel and miniseries, Stan's death weakened the Losers' power against IT. That was the whole point of the Lucky 7, It was actually afraid of them. I hated the “if we don't kill It now, we will die” subplot, it misses the point of the Losers coming back to Derry, the point was to honor their promise and make sure that the next generation of children living in Derry don't become future victims of IT. I hated the way the Ritual of Chüd was handled, because it portrays Native Americans in a stereotypical way and uses them as a plot device and it doesn't go anywhere, because the Ritual doesn't work, meaning we wasted an hour watching the Losers looking for tokens to use in an ineffective ritual. And the way the kill Pennywise is so stupid, the horror elements are weak and the plot is messy.

Basically It Chapter Two fails as a sequel, as a character-driven film and a horror one.

In conclusion, please don't kill me if you like any of the stuff I mentioned, it's just my opinion.

#asks #answered #lots to love

2 notes · View notes

vince-thrilligan · 4 years

Photo

Patrick Fabian: From Lord Vader to Fan Favorite

“After the finale, my social media filled up with people saying, ‘Watch your back, we’re rooting for you, Howard!’” Fabian shares. “I couldn’t help but chuckle because when the series premiered, Jimmy McGill called me Lord Vader and people immediately got on my case. Now, five seasons later, I’m almost getting sympathy.”

Awards Focus: When you’re in Albuquerque for months at a time, how does living with costars Bob Odenkirk and Rhea Seehorn affect the work on the series?

Patrick Fabian: It’s like we’re a college dormitory or a startup theatre troupe. When we go to work, we visit each other and support each other, and we’re watching and learning from our talented behind-the-scenes crew.

Then we come home and download what the day was like. I’m not gonna say we gossip, but perhaps we gossip a little bit. Then we plan for the rest of the week, even if you’re not directly involved. Oftentimes, I’m watching Rhea and Bob do their scenes.

When we do a scene, it’s more than just memorization. We talk about it, analyze it, take notes… often we’ll hit a question and then call Peter Gould or the writer of the episode to help us break it down. We’ll explore ideas before we get to set, so we’re ready to work with the director.

AF: That’s real dedication.

Fabian: To be fair, we’re home in hoodies and sweatpants reading lines over dinner or while we’re cleaning, there’s always ice cream at the end. Our living situation has worked out great and I think the proof is on the screen.

AF: Are there any scenes that particularly stand out as developing or changing as a result of your work at home?

Fabian: Well, the acting is always organic to some degree, when there’s so much drama for the actors to work with. Rhea is especially great at experimentation and reaction, so whatever you throw at her, she can throw right back. Our final scene together this season, when she tears Howard a new one, was a lot of fun. We worked that one out over the dining room table.

On the day of the shoot, I had one of those “Acting 101” moments where I just couldn’t find it. I was lost… and other actors can tell when it’s not happening for someone, we’re all sensitive to that. Rhea looked at me and said “Let’s do it again.”

I was in my head, but she encouraged me to go out on a limb. Then we did the next take and it was palpably different. She looked at me and said, “That was something,” and Peter Gould chimed in with his seal of approval. It reminded me that if we hadn’t put in the time at the dining room table, we wouldn’t have the chemistry and the trust to experiment like that.

AF: In episode seven, Jimmy flies into a rage while talking to Howard in the courthouse. What went into making that scene so intense?

Fabian: As soon as I read that script, it stuck out to me as a big moment. In the context of the scene, Jimmy is – well, Saul is – unhinged. Jimmy has just seen the survivors of the kid who was killed by Lalo. He’s feeling a mixture of very unpleasant emotions. And then Howard shows up, the last person on earth that Jimmy wants to see. On a practical level, it’s funny because Bob and I are great friends and have a great relationship. Obviously, Jimmy and Howard have not had a great relationship. Howard’s coming to Jimmy after the bowling ball and the hooker incident, with one last stab at saying, “Let me help you.”

And we get this rant from Jimmy that is just unhinged. As an actor, standing there watching it, it’s so powerful. If you think that stuff is good on screen, you should have a front row seat… which I do. Watching Bob project that fury is a wonderful thing, and it’s so great to be a part of it as Howard.

Howard is coming at it with a benevolence, maybe even love. But Saul just loses it on me and calls me a “little man” and all that stuff. Howard gets to make a decision – he’s gone through enough therapy that he doesn’t have to react in kind, so he removes himself from that situation.

How we did it? Well, Bob lights the flame and he burns while the camera goes. It takes a couple of passes to get the mechanics of it correct and meanwhile, Bob is searching for his stuff. This is not a situation where I chit-chatted with Bob. He’s in a space and you have to respect that space. There’s no point in us discussing dinner when we’re doing a scene like that.

Bob did it a zillion different ways, up and down the scale, but the one we went with at the end is so wonderful. He’s yelling at me to the back of my head and you’ve got a great image of the cameras in front of me.

I’m walking out stiffly and he’s just losing his mind on me. Then the camera flips back around and it’s a silhouette of Bob after I’ve left, and Saul is just like a puppet. Like his physicality is unhinged, like you’ve got strings on his hands or something like that. And then it cuts back around to his face, and it’s wonderful.

AF: As you pointed out, Howard’s gone through therapy since his low point in season four and now he’s got a lot of momentum, personally and professionally. Season four episode six also features a Jimmy rant, with the central point being “Get yourself together!” How did that moment push Howard towards self-improvement?

Fabian: The low point for Howard is when he runs into Jimmy in the bathroom at the courthouse. Howard’s tie is disheveled – that’s how you know Howard is completely lost and adrift. But to his credit, he’s out in the world. And to his credit, he says to Jimmy, “Here’s a number that I’ve been working with. I’ve been going to therapy, this works.”

So Howard is willing to be seen like that. But later Jimmy comes into the office and tells him, “Get your shit together, Howard,” and Howard says, “Fuck you!”

By the way, AMC gets two major swears each season and they gave one to me so I felt very blessed. But back to the point, that was the turning point because Howard at that point thinks, “Wait a second, you’re right. I’m being the victim. I don’t need to be the victim.” And he works himself through it. In no small part, Jimmy’s speech boosted Howard.

AF: So a newly put-together Howard offers Jimmy a job at Hamlin Hamlin McGill. What does that represent for their relationship, from Howard’s perspective?

Fabian: Howard’s become serious about putting everything with Chuck in the past. He’s willing to admit he was wrong. And now he’s saying, “I’m hiring you not out of pity, not out of woulda-coulda-shoulda, I’m hiring you because I need you. I recognize your talents. Let’s do this.” That’s why Howard’s conscience is clean as far as I’m concerned. He’s reached out, been benevolent, and tried the best he can.

As far as hiring Jimmy, Howard knows what he’s getting, he’s not dumb. I think he’s realized that Chuck, although a very valuable asset in HHM, was not HHM itself. And so he recognizes that he has his own talents. One thing he doesn’t have is street smarts. He says as much to Jimmy – “You’re Charlie Hustle, you’re creative, you think fast.” Howard is smart enough to know that that’s not his game. Howard is good at getting business. We still haven’t seen Howard actually practice law in the entire time we’ve been with Better Call Saul. So we don’t know what kind of lawyer he is. But he knows what kind of lawyer he is. And he knows he needs a tool like Jimmy, a weapon like that in his holster if HHM is going to go places, which Howard says it is.

AF: Chuck’s influence still looms over the show. How does Howard see the relationship between Chuck and Jimmy in retrospect?

Fabian: I think Howard has been tethered to Chuck’s will from the beginning of the series. And so he tries hard to cut off Jimmy from Chuck. After it all happened, the great scene that Michael McKean and I do in his house. We have scotch and there’s an air of congratulations, because Jimmy’s gone. Howard’s telling Chuck that he doesn’t need Jimmy. And that’s also Howard in the clear, because he no longer has to play this role of being a jerk to Jimmy. Which Howard felt some resentment for, because Chuck forced him to take the heat of not hiring Jimmy. That contributed to Howard’s bold move, to pay off Chuck out of his own pocket.

Chuck is seeping into season five’s finale because ultimately, I’m trying to appeal to Kim Wexler’s better angels. I’m trying to save her from herself and save her from Jimmy because Howard knows that Chuck’s fate was tied to Jimmy’s behavior as well. We know Jimmy is directly involved in the events that make Chuck go crazy.

So that final scene where Kim was laughing at Howard, he pulls out the only arrow left in his quiver. He washed his hands of Jimmy earlier in the season, when Howard walked away from him. So when Howard says that Chuck was right about Jimmy, it’s the meanest thing that he can say. But it also happens to be the truth. It’s like an epiphany for Howard. It’s like, “Oh, I’m done. Guess what? Good old Chuck was totally right. And I’m so done dealing with this.” I’m just a guy trying to run a law firm and all these other people are acting batshit, I just don’t get it (laughs).

AF: Jimmy accuses Howard of killing his brother. What does that line represent for Jimmy’s character arc?

Fabian: Our writers give the audience so much great stuff. So when Jimmy says to Howard, “You killed my brother,” we, as an audience, know that that’s not true. And by witnessing him saying that, we again get that pang in our heart that goes, “Ah… he’s really not going to go back to being Jimmy McGill, is he?”

We’re watching a slow motion car crash where we keep waiting for the off ramp for Jimmy and Kim. We just want them to move to Atlanta and get a house and have kids and raise horses. And yet, we know that’s not where it all goes. We don’t know exactly what happens but we know when they get to Breaking Bad, he’s full Saul Goodman.

Saul Goodman says “Kill Badger.” That’s the man he has become. So every time there’s a chance to see him not take that turn, the audience is hopeful. So when he says, “You killed my brother.” We know that’s a lie and so we don’t hurt for Howard at that point, because we also know Howard knows that’s a lie. We hurt for Jimmy and we hurt for ourselves because he’s just now embracing Saul.

AF: In the season finale, it’s not Jimmy, but Kim who seems to be heading down the dark path. What was your reaction when you learned that Kim was scheming to destroy Howard’s career?

Fabian: Of course, I’ve read all the scripts, but as an actor I’m concentrating on what Howard is doing. So I read those scenes, the dialogue that Kim and Jimmy had, back in September when we were shooting. And then the show aired in four or five months, and I watched it on Monday nights just like everyone else.

I’d forgotten exactly what that scene was and who was driving it. I think I conflated it in my brain and thought it was Jimmy coming up with another plot. So when I saw that it was Kim, it was jaw-dropping to me. Hats off to Rhea Seehorn. Because she doesn’t twist her mustache or act villainous – it’s just a slow degradation of who we thought Kim Wexler was, and maybe possibly always was.

It’s an exact flip of the ending of Season Four with Jimmy walking away saying “Saul Goodman!” And she’s standing there, and we’re left with her reaction. Now in season five, the last time we see those characters, she’s walking to the bathroom and going “Pew pew,” and we’re left on his face going, what? Even if you don’t pick up on the parallel immediately, it’s there. You saw this thing before, it was just reversed. It’s just jaw dropping.

AF: What are Kim’s motivations in that scene?

Fabian: Honestly, I don’t know. I don’t think the audience knows. Had she always hated playing second fiddle in HHM? Did she always resent Howard? Or is her moral compass just askew in general? It’s funny, after the episode, my timeline and social media filled up with people saying, “Watch your back, don’t get in the shower, be careful of your hair!” And I couldn’t help but chuckle because when the series premiere aired, Jimmy McGill called me Lord Vader, and people immediately got on my case. And now, five seasons later, I’m almost getting sympathy with messages like “Watch your back. We’re rooting for you, Howard!”

Well, that’s just the genius of the creative team. Peter Gould, Vince Gilligan, and the entire writing staff created a character who could have been one dimensional and nixed off in season two. That said, it looks like there’s something coming down the pipe for Howard. I have no idea what it’s going to be though.

AF: What about Jimmy’s motivations there? Does his hesitation emerge from guilt regarding his treatment of Howard, or to preserve Kim’s moral sensibilities?

Fabian: Oh, I think his sense of responsibility for what Kim has become is strong. Jimmy’s mentioned that several times, saying, “This is bad for you,” and “I don’t want you to do this.” And she’s always talked him into it. I mean, even the marriage thing is her idea, right?

Let’s face it, Jimmy’s sense of being able to take responsibility for his own actions has been wanting for a while. So he has a sneaking suspicion that he’s probably not good for Kim. But she disabuses him of that notion. And in the end, doesn’t Clyde want Bonnie, ultimately, to be Bonnie?

It’s a back and forth banter, and they’re viewing it in different ways. For him it’s a sort of criminal foreplay (laughs). And it is playful for her too. But those finger guns! It’s so playful, but it’s also dead serious. So we’ll see next season if they both get onboard the same train.

AF: Better Call Saul is about the masks people wear, and we’ve discussed that theme with regards to Jimmy and Kim. Is there a difference between Howard’s public persona and who he truly is?

Fabian: I like to think of Howard as somebody who is earnest and sincere. He’s certainly not a criminal, and I think his taxes would be squeaky clean. He means what he says and he’s serious about who he is. And consequently, I think it drives him. Like when he wants to help Jimmy, hereally wants to help Jimmy.

I don’t think he’s the kind of person that everybody likes. A lot of the presumptions get foisted upon him, because he’s been successful, because his father had a law firm. He’s the rich kid, the Golden Boy, and always has been. But that doesn’t mean he’s not a hard worker, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t adhere to the ideas of truth and justice. He’s shown that with his willingness to try and help Jimmy and Kim. Successfully or not, he’s worked to better both of their lives. The case can certainly be made for the things that Howard has done right in this world, only to be rewarded with being yelled at by Jimmy and laughed at by Kim.

I don’t have any indication that Howard has something hidden or a deep driving force. I don’t think of him as a dual person. Howard sleeps soundly at night with who he is.

Part of AwardsFocus.com’s BCS interviews [x]

#patrick fabian #bcs season 5 #howard hamlin #awardsfocus

1 note · View note

hollenius · 5 years

Text

Assorted Better Call Saul thoughts while I sit around waiting for season 5

-waiting between seasons for new episodes gives me sympathy for Jimmy having to wait out his 12 month suspension

-...honestly, I am having increasing difficulty sympathizing with Jimmy about much of anything else. I rewatched all of season 1 in December and started rewatching season 2 last week, and I’m so annoyed at him squandering Kim and Howard’s faith in him. People who blame Chuck for everything that ever went wrong in Jimmy’s life ignore how much of it Jimmy put wrong himself, when people kept giving him second, third, fourth chances over and over again.

- Jimmy McGill/Saul Goodman really should NOT be a lawyer, because I still never get a sense that there is any reason he wanted to be one, other than to impress Chuck and Kim, to try and make himself worthy of each of them in their own respective ways. The s4 finale hammered this home pretty hard, but it was always there anyway. The problem is that Chuck was never going to trust him (the fandom hates him for it, but HE WAS RIGHT), and that Kim, unfortunately, was always going to trust him. Her faith in him will probably be coming to an end, but it frustrates me that it took her so long to realize that she deserves better.

-I used to think Kim would have her career destroyed as collateral damage for something Jimmy did, but I really think now that it’ll be something she’s done that will do her in. I don’t think she will die, but I think she’s in for a serious blow of some sort, more than just the car crash. I think her prolonged close association with Jimmy has morally compromised her in subtle ways that she’s unwilling to even admit to herself. Season 2 marked the course of her gradually slipping standards, but the Huell scam went far beyond what Jimmy did back then in just making a video of a man sitting in a pie. I think part of the cause of Kim’s scamming and acting out in s4 might be her way of processing her guilt in the Chuck debacle--she felt bad about it even when Chuck was still alive. Her whole practice and the subsequent rise of her career was based around Mesa Verde, which she only got back from HHM after Jimmy committed a felony, gaslit his brother about it, and then got into trouble trying to cover it up, which snowballed into bigger problems from there.The guilt weighs heavy on her even though she did the least to precipitate any of the events that led up to it.

-I still love that Howard is literally in mourning dress for all of season 4. No knitted ties and Hamlindigo blue, just drab colors. Even in the s4 finale, he’s still very sartorially subdued compared to his attire before Chuck’s death. I know it’s not the Howard show, but I almost wish we saw a little more of him that season, because I was shocked at what an emotional wreck he turned into.

-I want to know what song Kim sang at karaoke at Jimmy’s bar-passing party. (It wasn’t Bohemian Rhapsody, but I still want to know!)

-the closer the timeline pulls to Breaking Bad, the more irritated I get by the Breaking Bad-esque parts of the show. Idk. The cartel stuff bores me to tears. I feel like Gus has been used really poorly so far (silly me, holding out for more backstory), and I was frustrated by how Gale just felt like fanservice. I love Gale, I loved seeing him again, but I don’t think seeing him served any purpose other than making fans happy, and that upsets me.

-I love that they made Gale sing again, though. And Tom Lehrer, at that! (But not as much as I love them finding an excuse to have Chuck sing ABBA. Now I want to know how/why Chuck is familiar with cheesy European pop...he doesn’t seem the sort. He contains multitudes...)

-I’m still bugged at how the birthdates & graduation dates & stuff given for Chuck in s4 messed up all my preexisting headcanons about McGill family dynamics. If Chuck’s birthdate gets pushed all the way back to 1944, but his high school graduation gets pushed up to when he was 14 in 1958, when would he & Jimmy have even been around together growing up? When did the whole business with Jimmy stealing from the till get discovered? How old was Jimmy when his dad died? The flashback with Jimmy in the store with his dad is from 1973, going by the magazines. We don’t know how old Jimmy is supposed to be there.(Chuck’s “Chicanery” rant suggests Jimmy’s theft from the till started at age 9, but if Jimmy is 9 in ‘73 then that would put the age gap between him and Chuck at around 20 years, which is INSANE; it’s more like a father-son age gap than two brothers. I’m choosing to believe Jimmy’s supposed to be older than that in that scene.) In 1973, Chuck would be 29, but IIRC when he was talking to KIm he described helping out with the books for the family shop when he was home from college, but that would’ve been when Jimmy was literally a baby, so basically everything has been torpedoed all to hell and the important thing is that I can’t write the pre-canon fanfic I want to write because of the confusion

#better call saul #bcs s4 spoilers #jimmy mcgill #kim wexler #chuck mcgill #howard hamlin #gus fring #gale boetticher #(my god i cannot spell gale's last name for the life of me)#i think i become less sympathetic towards jimmy and more sympathetic towards chuck the more i rewatch any of the earlier seasons #this seems to be the opposite reaction from most people online #tv

13 notes · View notes

enbouton · 6 years

Text

Better Call Saul Rewatch, Part 3/30: Reasonable Doubt Type Stuff

Nacho (Season 1, Episode 3)

Written by Thomas Schnauz / Directed by Terry McDonough

A metal container hinges open; someone tosses in two sets of keys, a pen, and then an enormous brick-type cellphone, signalling that this is the show’s first flashback. There’s a distinctive cool blue tint to this scene that’s consistent through all but a couple of the other flashbacks, and the lighting is even more polarised than usual. (Writing this, I just remembered the one time Breaking Bad used this specific flavour of colour and lighting: the early flashback to young Walt and Gretchen.)

It’s the early nineties. Chuck wears a three-piece suit (of course he does) and Jimmy, ostensibly about 28 or 29 here, sports jailhouse scrubs and an awful shag mullet. Credit to Bob Odenkirk for animating Jimmy in such a way that he does come across as much younger; he fidgets on the edge of his seat like a restless teenager, his emotions spilling everywhere.

Chuck informs us that Jimmy is not only facing property damage and assault charges but a potential place on the sex offender registry. (They did a good job holding back the payoff— what Jimmy actually did— until the end of the season.) Jimmy admits to being in “a bit of a pickle”, but insists that the charges are trumped up. It’s telling that while Jimmy clearly does admire and respect Chuck for his standing as a lawyer, he talks of the law solely in terms of “tricks”, “loopholes”, “technicalities”— as if all he needs to get out of trouble is for Chuck to apply the right cheat code.

As Jimmy squirms, Chuck mentions that it’s been five years since they last saw each other. According to Chuck, their mom called him after Jimmy called her from jail, crying and begging for help (Jimmy strenuously denies that last part). “I know I’m a lousy brother,” Jimmy says. “I’m a lousy brother, I’m a big screw-up... and if I was just a better person, I would not only stop letting you down, you know what? I’d stop letting me down. And it’s about time that I start to make both of us proud. Am I right?”

Looking at Chuck’s face here, you get the sense that it barely matters what Jimmy does from this point on; even if Chuck did once have the capacity to feel proud of him, that ship has sailed.

Back in the present, Jimmy, not actively suffering for a change, helps himself to some cucumber water, which is both pleasing to look at and makes nice underwater sounds.

He wears white in this scene, maybe indicating his attempt to make a fresh start and do the right thing. Credit where it’s due: Jimmy’s desire to warn the Kettlemans is genuinely altruistic, and he doesn’t stand to benefit from it at all.

Jimmy considers calling Nacho, then calls Kim, whose first instinct is to ask him if Chuck’s all right:

Jimmy: Yeah, Chuck... Chuck is Chuck. All right? Everything’s all right. I just wanted to call you. So, uh... hey. Whatcha doing?

Kim: Jimmy... no. I’m not talking dirty to you.

I love them and I love this conversation. This is how you establish intimacy! Jimmy promises nothing but “quality PG phone conversation, PG-13 at worst” and then steers the talk towards the Kettlemans; he gets all “gee, it sure would be bad if something were to happen to them!” with her, laying it on just thick enough to weird her out but not to make her concerned for their immediate safety. Plan A having failed, Jimmy tries Plan B, section I, “Warn The Kettlemans While Disguising My Voice”, then section II, “Just Tell Them They’re In Danger Then Hang Up Very Fast”, and in the end they get the message (it helps that Nacho’s van is indeed lurking outside their house).

(Aside: the Kettlemans’ awful voicemail message is amazing. You just know they dress up in matching outfits for the annual family Christmas card.)

Next morning, Kim calls: the Kettlemans have gone missing, and Jimmy has neither the cash nor the stickers to leave the courthouse parking lot. Mike won’t budge, so Jimmy reaches into the booth, raises the boom himself, and drives off yelling “screw you, geezer!”; ah, the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

At the Kettleman home, Kim implores Jimmy to tell her why he said what he did; he looks torn, but tells her that he doesn’t know what happened. He drives to a payphone and leaves several breathless, desperate messages for Nacho, framed effectively in a mixture of tight close-ups and expansive wide shots (they make good use of that big blank wall behind him). There’s such a good long beat after Jimmy takes the hang-up call: high angle, city noise.

It turns out that the cops were already tracking Nacho, whose license plate was reported by one of the Kettlemans’ neighbours, so the scene culminates in Jimmy getting chased down an alley and arrested. Nacho assumes that Jimmy set him up (this episode is just rife with misunderstandings) and orders him to get him out, “or you’re a dead man”. Kim, Jimmy and the detectives head back to the Kettlemans’ house, where Kim pointedly tells Jimmy the names and ages of Craig and Betsy’s kids. Jimmy infers from the missing doll that Jojo wasn’t kidnapped, but the show doesn’t present the detectives as incompetent— they already noted that the doll was missing, and they’ve verified that the Kettlemans haven’t travelled. “If you run, everyone knows you’re guilty,” Jimmy insists, foreshadowing what will happen to him seven or eight years down the line.

Jimmy finally admits that he gave the Kettlemans an ��anonymous” warning call, whereupon Kim delivers the deathless line, “Oh God, you didn’t… you didn’t do the sex robot voice, did you?” There is, as they say, a lot to unpack there, but the Kettlemans are still missing, so the conversation quickly moves on. Jimmy speeds back to the courthouse and gets arrested again after assaulting Mike, who has decided he doesn’t want his parking business any more.

There’s a glint of interest in Mike’s eye as Jimmy insists that the Kettlemans “took themselves”. He may not like Jimmy very much at this point, but he sees something in him worth paying attention to. Declining to press charges, he tells Jimmy a story about a man back home who disappeared and was found hiding two doors down from where he lived. “Nobody wants to leave home,” Mike says. Yet he’s very far from home; so is Jimmy; so is Kim. (So is Gus, more so than any other character.) The multiple meanings of home, and what it means to be alienated from a place you are tied to in the past or the present, are some of the most interesting themes explored in BrBa and BCS.

Jimmy goes back to the Kettleman home, deduces that they’ve gone camping, and plunges into the Sandia foothills to track them down. The shots in this montage do well to establish just how far he’s hiking and how sweaty and miserable he is in his suit and loafers.

Around nightfall, his efforts are rewarded: the family are right where he guessed they’d be, and so is their loot. Jimmy and Betsy tussle over the bag, a seam splits, and hundreds of stacks of cash come tumbling out. For a moment, it looks like Craig and Betsy will be forced to reckon with reality.

Misc.

Jimmy corners DDA Oakley in the men’s room and browbeats him into accepting a deal for a client who “assaulted a cashier with a bottle of Kahlua”.

The “JPi” tag on the payphone also appears in Jesse’s house.

“I refuse to believe [you let me off because] you have something resembling a heart inside your body,” Jimmy tells Mike. “You’re not gonna have a heart inside your body in about five seconds,” Mike counters.

Anyone else get a very strong True Detective season 1 energy from these shots of Jimmy’s hike?

Timeframe: a single day in the first week of June, 2002. The flashback most likely takes place in the spring or summer of 1993 (in season 3, Howard says he’s known Jimmy almost ten years).

Music

“Find Out What’s Happening” by Bobby Bare (1968), as Jimmy tracks down the Kettlemans

References

“I knew I shoulda taken that left turn at Albuquerque” is an old Bugs Bunny catchphrase.

The Donner Party was a group of frontier travellers who set off for California from Wyoming in 1846 and got stranded in the Sierra Nevada after an ill-advised shortcut. Over half of the travellers died en route; some resorted to cannibalism to survive.

Jimmy compares the detectives to Cagney and Lacey, the titular characters in the 1980s police procedural.

Mike talks about a Philadelphia bookie disappearing after the Super Bowl (Dallas Cowboys v. Pittsburgh Steelers). The Steelers won against the Cowboys in 1976 and 1979; the Cowboys won against the Steelers in 1996.

“Here’s Johnny!” is from Jack Nicholson’s character in The Shining (1980).

< PREVIOUS EPISODE: MIJO

> NEXT EPISODE: HERO

#bcs rewatch #better call saul

7 notes · View notes

phillipcole · 4 years

Text

Post-AGT Appearance 1099: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert October 20

Impossible, improbable, unlikely but True would drop to 84 and Forever’s getting closer every Day would drop to 63 this week, but with new life as Rush Limbaugh and Jeff Bridges would use the theme with their respective health updates. Time of our Lives would rise to 86.

My efforts to promote the Libertarian Party would have tripled the membership by now, however the membership would have slipped slightly early this year as some became Democrats or Republicans to vote in the primaries and forgot to change back. The majority of those would have voted in the Republican primaries, giving William Weld a lot more delegates but not close to a victory. Among the Democrats the most popular choice would have been Bernie Sanders, but some would vote for others, especially for outsiders like Yang and Steyer. The change in totals would have resulted in Biden winning 3 fewer primaries and Sanders still within striking distance when he dropped out, scared of Covid 19 (over which I would have no influence until the Shaco masks started saving lives this summer.) So the same candidates would be nominated and Libertarian Jo Jorgenson, with poll numbers about 5% when her name is mentioned in polls, would not be allowed to debate and only a few more interviews.

By tonight I would have been heavily dosed with cough syrup, making me dopey for the interview with Stephen Colbert. He too would show the clip of my scene before the break to give one uninterrupted interview late in the show.

Colbert: Welcome back. Before the break I showed a clip of our next guest Phil Cole in his upcoming feature Attack of the Lysol Rabbit, direct to video October 29. We’ve got a lot to talk about so let’s get to it. Are you there Phil?

PBC: Yes I am.

Colbert: And where are you

PBC: Somewhere on a beach in California.

Colbert: Is everyone alright?

PBC: We’re better now, but...uh...we all had breathing trouble for a while from the wild fires.

Colbert: By everyone you mean...

PBC: Myself and the Variety Team, wife, son, stepdaughter, and a lot of the staff (cough).

Colbert: Not fully well yet, I see. We’ve got a lot to talk about and only one segment. As we talk...we played a clip from the movie before the break-your scene-now we’re going to play another clip with the sound down. It’s the 2 leading ladies,Katie Cassidy and Haley Pine, talking about the leading man. We’ll play it with no sound as we speak and see if the audience notices anything. Play close attention. Start the clip. So Phil, you wrote the script, helped direct, produced and acted in this movie. That’s most of the Orson Welles treatment. How does it feel to be compared to Orson Welles?

PBC: As long as it’s not for weight or...pompousness, I guess.

Colbert: And the Lysol Rabbit, I notice the title character is absent from all the clips you’re sharing.

PBC: That’s right, Steve. I want to...emphasize the...uh...the talents of the actors and crew. This is almost an art house movie really. There is a stage version which was supposed to start performing in little theaters all over the world this month, but Covid sunk those plans.

Colbert: Was the Lysol Rabbit your idea?

PBC: Yes and I think it’s fantastic that I got the company to agree to the product placement.

Colbert: Ha ha ha I got the pun. You are just gushing with cleverness. So now we are approaching the end of that little clip of the 2 ladies and maybe you can tell me, was the camera angle your idea?

PBC: Yes it was.

Colbert: If you didn’t notice folks, for...someone timed it at 68 seconds the camera was pointed straight at the 2 young ladies’ legs. This is highly unusual, even in porn movies I think.

PBC: We spent enough time on their faces in the film too. You didn’t play the sound but that scene and another spent a long time talking about fashions. It’s set in the 60s and it had to be for other reasons.

Colbert: Very good. So your family is feeling better. How is Phillip?

PBC: Still in a coma.

Colbert: Do you think that might change soon?

PBC: Well, there might be some news in a couple weeks that could help.

Colbert: Does that mean you’re voting for Joe?

PBC: Yes, Jo Jorgenson, Libertarian candidate for President. Our party represents the best ideal of Republicans: low taxes, and the reason many people are Democrats: no limits on personal liberty.

Colbert: That’s enough! Every time you come on our show you have to eliminate one suspect from the last name on Phillip’s sick list. Here’s the list of people you eliminated in past visits, and here’s the list of present suspects. In first place is Hillary Clinton, followed by Jane Fonda, Nancy Pelosi, Rush Limbaugh. Chuck Shumer rounds out the top 5. Looking further down the list we have Ruth Bader Ginsburg at 11 even though she’s already dead...

PBC: The person is alive folks. We’ll let you know if that changes.

Colbert: Woody Allen is 15th even though you eliminated him on this show. o. J. Simpson is 21st even though he’s already on the list, as is Howard Stern at 26th. Last week you were on the Drew Barrymore Show. Does that mean she’s not a suspect?

PBC: That changes nothing.

Colbert: She’s at number 31 and look at number 34. That’s me! So who are you eliminating today?

PBC: Shirley Maclaine.

Colbert: Let’s see. Is she on this list? Yes, there she is at number 23. You’re not making this too much easier for the bookies of the world?

PBC: I hope no one is spending too much money on this.

Colbert: Normally each member of your team, even Phillip when he was able, told why you don’t like the person. I know that’s not possible but give some reasons.

PBC: Mostly we object, not just to her belief in reincarnation, but the idea that she was some type of big shot in each past life. Folks, if reincarnation happens to be true most lives were spent as a peasant farmer, because there are more peasant farmers than anything else.

Colbert: So Shirley Maclaine joins the list of people who are not on the list of possible last names on Phillip’s sick list. Thank you Phil, we’ll see you again with the next development.

PBC: You’ll be the first to know.

Colbert: We’ll be right back.

#stephen colbert #shirley maclaine #katie cassidy

0 notes

wetrumpfeed · 5 years

Text

Afternoon MAGAthread: YOUR WEEKLY PRESIDENTIAL RECAP!

HAPPY SATURDAY PATRIOTS!

This is u/Ivaginaryfriend here and I'm back with all things spicy and dank from the past week! For those that missed any past recaps you can check those out here!

Sunday, January 27th:

🔥🔥TRUMP TWEETS🔥🔥:

58,000 non-citizens voted in Texas, with 95,000 non-citizens registered to vote. These numbers are just the tip of the iceberg. All over the country, especially in California, voter fraud is rampant. Must be stopped. Strong voter ID! @foxandfriends

We are not even into February and the cost of illegal immigration so far this year is $18,959,495,168. Cost Friday was $603,331,392. There are at least 25,772,342 illegal aliens, not the 11,000,000 that have been reported for years, in our Country. So ridiculous! DHS

Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary General, just stated that because of me NATO has been able to raise far more money than ever before from its members after many years of decline. It’s called burden sharing. Also, more united. Dems & Fake News like to portray the opposite!

(Retweeting ChatByCC) Strong people stand up for themselves—but stronger people stand up for others. Thank you President @realDonaldTrump for standing up for America.

Thank you to Brit. This is a very big deal in Europe. Fake News is the Enemy of the People!

(Retweeting Ken Paxton) VOTER FRAUD ALERT: The @TXsecofstate discovered approx 95,000 individuals identified by DPS as non-U.S. citizens have a matching voter registration record in TX, approx 58,000 of whom have voted in TX elections. Any illegal vote deprives Americans of their voice.

(Retweeting The GOP) “300 people are dying from heroin overdoses a week in this country, 90% of it is coming over the southern border… We’ve got to stop it.”—@KellyannePolls

#HolocaustMemorialDay

BUILD A WALL & CRIME WILL FALL!

Never thought I’d say this but I think @johnrobertsFox and @GillianHTurner @FoxNews have even less understanding of the Wall negotiations than the folks at FAKE NEWS CNN & NBC! Look to final results! Don’t know how my poll numbers are so good, especially up 19% with Hispanics?

After all that I have done for the Military, our great Veterans, Judges (99), Justices (2), Tax & Regulation Cuts, the Economy, Energy, Trade & MUCH MORE, does anybody really think I won’t build the WALL? Done more in first two years than any President! MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

SIGNIFICANT TWEETS AND NEWS:

Aaaaahaha, Wikileaks putting NYT in their place.

r/politics is propaganda. Their target is us.

Kamala Harris literally prostituted her body to obtain positions of power within the United States government. Then she joined the #MeToo movement and accused Kavanaugh of being a rapist. Now she’s running for President

This is an actual tweet by an actual congressman.... Mark Dice throwing a little shade

🐸 TOP SPICE OF THE DAY 🐸:

In Their Heads. 24/7. Rent Free.

Leftist Are Trash.

Interesting

saw this on the pole of a stoplight down the street from my house, right in front of the elementary school

Monday, January 28th:

TODAY'S ACTION:

Executive Order on Taking Additional Steps to Address the National Emergency with Respect to Venezuela

🔥🔥TRUMP TWEETS🔥🔥:

Tariffs on the “dumping” of Steel in the United States have totally revived our Steel Industry. New and expanded plants are happening all over the U.S. We have not only saved this important industry, but created many jobs. Also, billions paid to our treasury. A BIG WIN FOR U.S.

Numerous states introducing Bible Literacy classes, giving students the option of studying the Bible. Starting to make a turn back? Great!

Howard Schultz doesn’t have the “guts” to run for President! Watched him on @60Minutes last night and I agree with him that he is not the “smartest person.” Besides, America already has that! I only hope that Starbucks is still paying me their rent in Trump Tower!

“In the Media’s effort to destroy the President, they are actually destroying themselves. Given all of the tremendous headwinds this President has faced, it’s amazing he has accomplished so much.” DEROY MURDOCK @foxandfriends I agree!

In the beautiful Midwest, windchill temperatures are reaching minus 60 degrees, the coldest ever recorded. In coming days, expected to get even colder. People can’t last outside even for minutes. What the hell is going on with Global Waming? Please come back fast, we need you!

How does Da Nang Dick (Blumenthal) serve on the Senate Judiciary Committee when he defrauded the American people about his so called War Hero status in Vietnam, only to later admit, with tears pouring down his face, that he was never in Vietnam. An embarrassment to our Country!

SIGNIFICANT TWEETS AND NEWS:

'We don't want open borders': Hispanic pastors back President Trump on immigration

NATO increases spending by $100B due to Trump calling them delinquents

'They Treated Me Like El Chapo': Roger Stone Recounts 'Over-the-Top' Arrest | This arrest is such an outrage... Mueller must go!!!

BOOM!!!!! Federal Panel Of Judges Dismisses All 83 Ethics Complaints Against Brett Kavanaugh!

State of the Union address rescheduled for February 5

Border Patrol Wife Invites Speaker Pelosi to See Why Walls Are Needed

PRESS BRIEFINGS, INTERVIEWS, RALLIES:

Press Beating

🐸 TOP SPICE OF THE DAY 🐸:

Just a reminder that Reddit intentionally silences the political speech of 700,000 supporters of the President of the United States

Has anyone seen Ruth?

Accurate as hell

This is why I like a small federal government.

Tuesday, January 29th:

🔥🔥TRUMP TWEETS🔥🔥:

A low level staffer that I hardly knew named Cliff Sims wrote yet another boring book based on made up stories and fiction. He pretended to be an insider when in fact he was nothing more than a gofer. He signed a non-disclosure agreement. He is a mess!

“Our economy, right now, is the Gold Standard throughout the World.” @IngrahamAngle So true, and not even close!

SIGNIFICANT TWEETS AND NEWS:

GOOSEBUMPS

Soon to be Fired Johns Hopkins Distinguished Service Professor of Psychiatry: Transgenderism is a “mental disorder”, that sex change is “biologically impossible,” and that people who promote sexual reassignment surgery are collaborating with and promoting a mental disorder.

Tucker Carlson: Roger Stone raid shows that CNN is no longer covering Robert Mueller. They're working with him

Twitter Says Advising Fired Journalists to 'Learn to Code' Is Hate Speech. But when reporters were mocking out of work coal miners and manufacturing workers the same way it was okay

LMAO - Nancy and Cryin' Chuck's choice for the Dems' SOTU response is a tax delinquent with nearly $200k in unpaid college debt.

🐸 TOP SPICE OF THE DAY 🐸:

Al Gore's 10 year Climate Change Challenge

WHERE'S RUTH?

Total disaster

Yikes

Where in the World, is Ruth Bader Ginsberg?

Wednesday, January 30th:

TODAY'S ACTION:

Two Nominations Sent to the Senate

President Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Nominate Judicial Nominees

🔥🔥TRUMP TWEETS🔥🔥:

Maduro willing to negotiate with opposition in Venezuela following U.S. sanctions and the cutting off of oil revenues. Guaido is being targeted by Venezuelan Supreme Court. Massive protest expected today. Americans should not travel to Venezuela until further notice.

When I became President, ISIS was out of control in Syria & running rampant. Since then tremendous progress made, especially over last 5 weeks. Caliphate will soon be destroyed, unthinkable two years ago. Negotiating are proceeding well in Afghanistan after 18 years of fighting.. ... ....Fighting continues but the people of Afghanistan want peace in this never ending war. We will soon see if talks will be successful? North Korea relationship is best it has ever been with U.S. No testing, getting remains, hostages returned. Decent chance of Denuclearization... ... ...Time will tell what will happen with North Korea, but at the end of the previous administration, relationship was horrendous and very bad things were about to happen. Now a whole different story. I look forward to seeing Kim Jong Un shortly. Progress being made-big difference!

If the committee of Republicans and Democrats now meeting on Border Security is not discussing or contemplating a Wall or Physical Barrier, they are Wasting their time!

“Three separate caravans marching to our Border. The numbers are tremendous.” @foxandfriends

The Intelligence people seem to be extremely passive and naive when it comes to the dangers of Iran. They are wrong! When I became President Iran was making trouble all over the Middle East, and beyond. Since ending the terrible Iran Nuclear Deal, they are MUCH different, but.... ... ....a source of potential danger and conflict. They are testing Rockets (last week) and more, and are coming very close to the edge. There economy is now crashing, which is the only thing holding them back. Be careful of Iran. Perhaps Intelligence should go back to school!

Dow just broke 25,000. Tremendous news!

Spoke today with Venezuelan Interim President Juan Guaido to congratulate him on his historic assumption of the presidency and reinforced strong United States support for Venezuela’s fight to regain its democracy.... ... ....Large protests all across Venezuela today against Maduro. The fight for freedom has begun!

SIGNIFICANT TWEETS AND NEWS:

JUST IN: Woman who sexually assaulted Infowars reporter has been arrested.

Brad Parscale on Twitter: "Where it counts @realDonaldTrump is stronger than 2016. The fake news establishment media is not fooling these voters."

NO SHIT SHERLOCK ...

This is insanity. Seems like advocating for Post Term Abortion AKA MURDER by any standard I’m aware of. The only thing worse than what the Democrat Governor of VA said was the fact that there’s zero pushback from the host.

Trump slams Virginia Democrats over 'terrible' abortion stance

🐸 TOP SPICE OF THE DAY 🐸:

Book burnings don't always look like this...

Lion King (NY Progressive Remaster, 2019)

I'm afraid that 2019 is the year that the Supreme Court is going to be RUTHLESS

Judge Orders Release Of Sealed Records From BuzzFeed’s Dossier Lawsuit

Anytime some media company tries to run some sensational headline about MAGA being violent..new rule..always wait 3 days to get the real story.

Thursday, January 31st:

TODAY'S ACTION:

President Donald J. Trump Announces Appointments for the Executive Office of the President

Executive Order on Strengthening Buy-American Preferences for Infrastructure Projects

President Trump's Message on Securing our Border

President Trump Meets with American Manufacturers and Signs an Executive Order

President Trump Meets with the Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China

🔥🔥TRUMP TWEETS🔥🔥:

So great to watch & listen to all these people who write books & talk about my presidential campaign and so many others things related to winning, and how I should be doing “IT.” As I take it all in, I then sit back, look around, & say “gee, I’m in the White House, & they’re not!

Large sections of WALL have already been built with much more either under construction or ready to go. Renovation of existing WALLS is also a very big part of the plan to finally, after many decades, properly Secure Our Border. The Wall is getting done one way or the other!

Lets just call them WALLS from now on and stop playing political games! A WALL is a WALL!

With Murders up 33% in Mexico, a record, why wouldn’t any sane person want to build a Wall! Construction has started and will not stop until it is finished. @LouDobbs @foxandfriends

China’s top trade negotiators are in the U.S. meeting with our representatives. Meetings are going well with good intent and spirit on both sides. China does not want an increase in Tariffs and feels they will do much better if they make a deal. They are correct. I will be...... ... ....meeting with their top leaders and representatives today in the Oval Office. No final deal will be made until my friend President Xi, and I, meet in the near future to discuss and agree on some of the long standing and more difficult points. Very comprehensive transaction.... ... ....China’s representatives and I are trying to do a complete deal, leaving NOTHING unresolved on the table. All of the many problems are being discussed and will be hopefully resolved. Tariffs on China increase to 25% on March 1st, so all working hard to complete by that date!

Republicans on the Homeland Security Committee are wasting their time. Democrats, despite all of the evidence, proof and Caravans coming, are not going to give money to build the DESPERATELY needed WALL. I’ve got you covered. Wall is already being built, I don’t expect much help!

Democrats are becoming the Party of late term abortion, high taxes, Open Borders and Crime!

More troops being sent to the Southern Border to stop the attempted Invasion of Illegals, through large Caravans, into our Country. We have stopped the previous Caravans, and we will stop these also. With a Wall it would be soooo much easier and less expensive. Being Built!

Looking for China to open their Markets not only to Financial Services, which they are now doing, but also to our Manufacturing, Farmers and other U.S. businesses and industries. Without this a deal would be unacceptable!

Schumer and the Democrats are big fans of being weak and passive with Iran. They have no clue as to the danger they would be inflicting on our Country. Iran is in financial chaos now because of the sanctions and Iran Deal termination. Dems put us in a bad place - but now good!

Very sadly, Murder cases in Mexico in 2018 rose 33% from 2017, to 33,341. This is a big contributor to the Humanitarian Crisis taking place on our Southern Border and then spreading throughout our Country. Worse even than Afghanistan. Much caused by DRUGS. Wall is being built!

(Video)

Just concluded a great meeting with my Intel team in the Oval Office who told me that what they said on Tuesday at the Senate Hearing was mischaracterized by the media - and we are very much in agreement on Iran, ISIS, North Korea, etc. Their testimony was distorted press.... ... ....I would suggest you read the COMPLETE testimony from Tuesday. A false narrative is so bad for our Country. I value our intelligence community. Happily, we had a very good meeting, and we are all on the same page!

Our great U.S. Border Patrol Agents made the biggest Fentanyl bust in our Country’s history. Thanks, as always, for a job well done!

Just out: The big deal, very mysterious Don jr telephone calls, after the innocent Trump Tower meeting, that the media & Dems said were made to his father (me), were just conclusively found NOT to be made to me. They were made to friends & business associates of Don. Really sad!

Nellie Ohr, the wife of DOJ official Bruce Ohr, was long ago investigating for pay (GPS Fusion) members of my family, feeding it to her husband who was then giving it to the FBI, even though it was created by ousted & discredited Christopher Steele. Illegal! WITCH HUNT

This Witch Hunt must end!

SIGNIFICANT TWEETS AND NEWS:

President Trump warned us 2 years ago that the Democrat party would push for late term abortion.. watch Clinton accuse him of using "scare tactics"

"nO vOters, wE wOuLD NEVER dO tHAT" - 2 YEARS LATER ...

And they wonder why we call them NPC. Behold, the womanoid robot.

House Dems Reject GOP Proposal to Block Raises for Federal Employees Guilty of Sexual Misconduct. Vote was chaired by Democrat Tony Cardenas, who is accused of drugging teenage girl

Graham: We’re Getting Trump’s Ninth Circuit Nominees Confirmed

🐸 TOP SPICE OF THE DAY 🐸:

Press that button!! You know you want to!

Roger Stone Explains How to Dress for Court

Ohio Passes Heartbeat Bill Which Bans Abortions After 6 Weeks

White people in Chicago at 2AM...

Friday, February 1st:

TODAY'S ACTION:

President Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Nominate Personnel to Key Administration Posts

President Trump Meets to Discuss Fighting Human Trafficking on the Southern Border

🔥🔥TRUMP TWEETS🔥🔥:

I inherited a total mess in Syria and Afghanistan, the “Endless Wars” of unlimited spending and death. During my campaign I said, very strongly, that these wars must finally end. We spend $50 Billion a year in Afghanistan and have hit them so hard that we are now talking peace... ... ....after 18 long years. Syria was loaded with ISIS until I came along. We will soon have destroyed 100% of the Caliphate, but will be watching them closely. It is now time to start coming home and, after many years, spending our money wisely. Certain people must get smart!

Best January for the DOW in over 30 years. We have, by far, the strongest economy in the world!

JOBS, JOBS, JOBS!

Great news on Foxconn in Wisconsin after my conversation with Terry Gou!

(Retweeting The White House) "We added 304,000 jobs, which was a shocker to a lot of people. It wasn't a shocker to me."

Thank you to Senator Rob Portman and Senator Cory Gardner for the early and warm endorsement. We will ALL WIN in 2020 together!

National African American History Month is an occasion to rediscover the enduring stories of African Americans and the gifts of freedom, purpose, and opportunity they have bestowed on future generations..

SIGNIFICANT TWEETS AND NEWS:

Governor Who Endorsed Infanticide Received $2 Million From Planned Parenthood

EMBARRASSING - Elizabeth Warren apologizes to Cherokee Nation over taking DNA test to prove Native American roots

Virginia Governor on Blast!!! @GovernorVA Are you the one in blackface or the one in the KKK hood?

Very Fake News CNN falsely labels Northam a Republican.

REMINDER: Cory Booker Groped Someone In High School and Wrote an Op-Ed About It. Then Tried to Destroy Kavanaugh's Life. Fuck Him.

🐸 TOP SPICE OF THE DAY 🐸:

If Fake News Journalists need help coding, I know a guy.

YUGE difference between President Trump and Ralph Northam!

u/Daniel_Wat posted this in r/dankmemes

Northamsgone

New Planned Parenthood Ad Campaign is looking lit 🔥👽

Saturday, February 2nd:

SIGNIFICANT TWEETS AND NEWS:

(D)Ralph Northam now claims he is neither the blackface or KKK person in his yearbook photo...ok...so why was his nickname “Coonman”?

Planned Parenthood receives about $500,000,000 a year in taxpayer funds. In the most recent election, Planned Parenthood helped contribute $30,000,000 to Democrat’s campaigns. Democrat politicians are buying campaign contributions with your hard-earned money. It’s a corrupt money laundering cycle.

The greatest jobs President America has ever seen! MAGAnomics – January Jobs Report, Massive Wage Growth, Manufacturing Report and Overall Economic Numbers Stun Financial Media…

Don Jr. is a certified spice dealer

🐸 TOP SPICE OF THE DAY 🐸:

The two parties in a nutshell.

Quick Shills are up early. Post pics that make them realize they have no charisma or class

“And I would’ve gotten away with it if it weren’t for you meddling Republicans!”

Definitely not the most convincing apology I have ever seen.

WHAT A SPICY WEEK!

Of course no recap is complete without some tunes for your jamming pleasures:

I'll Keep You Safe

World On Fire

One Dance

It's Strange

Right To It

Imagine

MAGA ON PATRIOTS!

submitted by /u/Ivaginaryfriend [link] [comments]

0 notes

ulyssessklein · 6 years

Text

Jose’ Feliciano At the Top of His Game Talks About His Musical Journey

By: Rick Landers

Images: Courtesy of Susan Feliciano

Jose’ Feliciano – image courtesy S. Feliciano.

In the world of guitar there are a handful of legendary players with the skill, the talent, the discipline and the magic to move mountains in all styles of music. Jose’ Feliciano runs with that pack, and on any given day he just might be the leader. He can vamp Hendrix, lay down Atkins riffs, intrigue us with Segovia classical moves, play flamenco with a velvet crush, light our fires and adorn our Christmas spirits with seasonal hipness and universal love.

Feliciano is unbound when it comes to music. He explores and devises with his expansive musical curiosity and his inventiveness that shape shifts others songs into ones with his own melodic stamp.

Take his thoughtful release of The Doors mega-hit, “Light My Fire”, a track that that few would even attempt to match, let alone change its mood to something dreamlike and soulful. He stretches the vocals and reaches deep to draw out emotional riches, extracting a treasure trove of sound that makes the song his own. And, then a few years later, he released the the universally uplifting “Feliz Navidad”, a bouncy 1970 track that’s become the most played Christmas song in the world. And then there was the controversial day when he shook America a bit when he honored the country with his non-traditional, yet inspiring version of “The Star Spangled Banner” at the 1968 World Series.

Blind from birth, José Monserrate Feliciano García moved in his own world, discovering the intrinsic beauty of music at a young age. In 1962, he and his The Modern Sound Trio comprised of Bobby Grogen (drums), Bliss Rodriquez (pianist) and Jose’ (guitar) made it to television’s The Amateur Hour, and he would later find himself with some other gifted players to form a tight knit group with Ted Arnold (bass) and Paulinho Magalhaes (drums/percussion). The three musicians formed a brotherhood of sound, casting their sonic net around the songs of The Beatles, Gerry and The Pacemakers, The Mamas and Papas, as well as songs by Feliciano, and none far from a hint of flamenco.

At three Jose’ was thumping a cracker tin, then later would learn to play accordion. But, guitar would steal his heart away and the world would soon be grateful for this new bond. After a few years making records, such as his “Everybody Do The Click” RCA recording from 1965 and not making a big dent, his hard work and determination hit pay dirt when he released the single, “Light My Fire” that earned him a gold record and a couple of Grammy awards (Best New Artist of the Year and Best Pop Song of the Year). He would also tend to his Hispanic roots and would have two huge hit singles in Spanish, “Poquita Fe” and “Sin Fe” (“Little Faith” and “Without Faith”, respectively). More awards and international accolades followed, as he would receive scores of honors, including one it’s said he most covets, his 2004 Helen Keller Personal Achievement Award.

In the business for over half a century, Mr. Feliciano continues to churn out music for the world. Most recently, he’s released five (!) new albums that can be found HERE, along with a few song samples to whet our musical appetites. And you’ll want to see if he’s showing up near your town soon while he’s on tour HERE.

******

Jose’ Feliciano – Image courtesy of S. Feliciano.

Rick Landers: A short while ago you went to the National Museum of American History and where you welcomed 20 new American citizens to our country, from I believe 17 countries. Now how do you prepare yourself for what must have been, I would assume an emotional experience? What did you want to convey?

Jose’ Feliciano: Well, I wanted them to know that being made citizens of this country was a great thing, that this is a great opportunity for them, that this was or is the freest nation in the world and that they had to learn to speak English, very important. If you’re gonna migrate to a country, learn the language and that was very important and, of course, a lot of them sort of spoke English.

But, I told them about me, that I was an immigrant, of course migration for me was a lot easier than for these people because Puerto Rico is part of the United States. So, when I migrated to America in 1950, then it was very important to me because where I came from I couldn’t get let’s say the education that I got coming to New York and living in New York.

Rick: Sure. You lived in The Bronx?

Jose’ Feliciano: I lived in The Bronx, but I lived more on 103rd Street on Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues. I lived on 103rd Street and I lived in a small apartment that my aunt donated to my parents and myself. We were five of us, my parents and three brothers.

Rick: Wow, I would think that would have been a fairly tough situation for your parents, to do the migration with five kids, but lucky that you had your aunt.

Jose’ Feliciano: Well, my aunt had already been in this country for a little while and she was a seamstress. That’s how she made her living. She was a seamstress and she also made clothes for men. She built a small empire!

Rick: Good for her, and good that she loved your family so much that she was willing to support you in your move.

Jose’ Feliciano: I will always be grateful that she did that.

Rick: Yeah, that’s sweet. I went through your autobiography and a lot of different things, and went through a lot of music, so this is gonna be a little spotty in places and there’s no way to get — your whole background unless there’s a book out.

Now, you really brought soul to The Doors’ “Light My Fire” and I swear whenever I sing it now it’s your version I sing. I bet it’s pretty much the same with most people who know both versions. Did you ever talk to The Doors about it and what did they think about it?

Jose’ Feliciano: Well, from what I hear because I’ve never talked to them in person, but I think they liked that I did it different, I wasn’t trying to be The Doors and I took it out of wherever it was and I played it the way I would perform it in coffee houses and around people. My producer, he liked the way I did it and suggested that I record it. Our single that I came out with from that album was “California Dreamin’”, “Light My Fire” was on the other side.

youtube

Rick: Yeah, I remembered you doing “California Dreamin’”. Now working through anything like this interview, I begin with a structure then more often than not it tends to unravel into a conversation much like playing an improvisational tune and sometimes sometimes it’s better to find the structure again and go back to the questions, but then sometimes you go off on tangents and it takes on a kind of a new world of its own and most of the time I think it’s better and you get better moments, like in music. Do you find that to be the case or have you ever gotten lost in the moment when playing improvisationally and did you find you needed or wanted to steer back to the fret board for grounding or your modes or whatever?

Jose’ Feliciano: I was always a good improviser. I could always improvise my way out of anything, you know, when it came, it came.

Rick: I know you learned guitar when you were young, but I think you first started off on the accordion, right?

Jose’ Feliciano at age six – Image: courtesy of S. Feliciano.

Jose’ Feliciano: I played the accordion from the age of seven until I was 14. I got into the guitar when I was nine and goodbye accordion!

Rick: So, who were you listening to when you were nine years old?

Jose’ Feliciano: When I was nine years old I was listening to people like Chuck Berry or rock ‘n’ roll, because that’s what I was into and then I would listen to people like Barney Kessel and Elias Barreiro.

Rick: Yeah jazz, yeah.

Jose’ Feliciano: I was into jazz and Howard Roberts, great guitarist and Charlie Byrd of course, he was great.

Rick: Yeah, Wes Montgomery?

Jose’ Feliciano: Wes Montgomery, definitely. All those great guitar players, Johnny Smith, who was a great guitarist. So, I had a good education, a lot of my friends were black, so they were the ones that turned me on to jazz really and rock ‘n’ roll, because a lot of the rock ‘n’ roll groups were black.

Rick: Oh! Yeah. It was like Louis Jordan and Chuck Berry, Little Richard.

Jose’ Feliciano: Yeah, you’ve got it and then later I listened to Keith Richards as I got older, with the Rolling Stones, he did some very good things.

Rick: He’s mostly thought of as I think a guy who uses his chords, but he’s got some pretty good licks in there, as well.

Jose’ Feliciano: Well sure, I mean, the intro of the “Satisfaction”, for example, will always be something that people will know.

Rick: It’s real simple and he used that fuzz tone, so it was pretty cool. Tell us a little bit about your uncle who gave you your first guitar and what was he like and did he continue to inspire you?

Jose’ Feliciano: Well, this wasn’t my uncle. My uncle played a Puerto Rican instrument called the Cuatro which has ten strings. The guitar was given to me by a friend of my aunt. He saw my interest in music and he came by one night, I think it was during the day, he came by and he brought a guitar that he had gotten me. It was a ten dollar Stella and he got it from a Jewish pawnshop.

Rick: They tended to have really high strings.

Jose’ Feliciano: Well, yes. Mine was okay, but I knew I needed a better guitar later. Later I acquired a Harmony and that wasn’t bad actually, going to school and putzing around. That was a good guitar, the Harmony. And then after the Harmony I started making a little more money and I got myself a requinto which is for playing Spanish music and stuff like that, which was made by BM Ronda, he made great guitars!

Rick: There a few, was that in New York?

Jose’ Feliciano: That was in New York, all of that was in New York and then in 1967 I moved to California.

Jose’ in his teens – Image: courtesy of S. Feliciano.

Rick: When you were talking about New York, I had a guitar made by a guy named LoPrinzi, Augustino LoPrinzi. Have you ever heard of him?

Jose’ Feliciano: No, was it a classical guitar?

Rick: Mine was a dreadnaught, but he and his daughter, Donna, are making classical guitars now down at Florida. Apparently they’re expensive, but they’re brilliant guitars. When he was in New Jersey he was working out of a chicken coop and I think later a barber shop when he started, but I had one of his guitars. What are you playing now as far as in the studio? What do you noodle around with at home?

Jose’ Feliciano: I play a Laguna guitar and I also play a Candelas guitar, a guitar that I love the most, because Mr. Flores (Candelario Delgado-Flores: 1910-1983) made I think by far some of the best classical guitars out there.

Rick: And you just gave yours to the museum, right?

Jose’ Feliciano: I did. I gave them the guitar that I used to record “Light My Fire” and the guitar that I used to play “The Star Spangled Banner”.

Rick: Was it hard to give up?

Jose’ Feliciano: Yes.

Rick: I bet. When I talked to Steve Cropper a few weeks ago, I think he gave The Smithsonian one of his Telecaster’s that he used on “Green Onions” years ago, so it must have been tough.

Jose’ Feliciano: Steve Cropper is one of the great guitarists I did two albums with, no I did, let’s see, my first album with him was an album called the Memphis Menu, my second album with him was Compartments where I played with Leon Russell, Seals and Crofts, Loggins and Messina, I think that was it. Oh, and Leon Russell. Well, Leon just played piano. We had Leon and we had Bill Withers.

Rick: Wow, all those people are brilliant.Well, it’s interesting and I know that a lot of the stuff that you’ve done has been really under the radar and nobody’s really heard about it, like you playing on a John Lennon’s album. I think Steve Cropper played on it as well, right? On his Rock ‘n’ Roll album?

Jose’ Feliciano: Sure, so did Jessie Ed Davis, played guitar on it.

Rick: I think Leon Russell was on that too, wasn’t he?

Jose’ Feliciano: Well, he also might have been on it, yeah, but John Lennon was really drunk in the album.

Rick: Was he?

Jose’ Feliciano: Yeah.

Rick: That was his low period. I think he was probably not with Yoko at the time?

Jose’ Feliciano: Alright, I don’t think he was, I think he was with May Pang.

Rick: Yeah, and with Harry Nillson.

Jose’ Feliciano: Harry Nillson, wrong person to be with. Harry was a nice guy, I knew him and I never got to really hang out with him, but I liked him because he’s super talented and he wrote some damn good songs.

Rick: Yeah. Now you were also in a Joni Mitchell album, right, Court and Spark?

Jose’ Feliciano: I was. I played on “Free Man in Paris”.

Rick: Yeah, okay great song, I just listened to it and what I found interesting is that was an Asylum record she was on, but weren’t you with RCA?

Jose’ Feliciano: I was with RCA, but I thought I was going to do a lot more on the John Lennon album, but it turned out that I didn’t. I heard the music going next door and I said, “Let’s go over there for a moment.”, and there was Joni Mitchell open tuning in a hall, and so I was worked with Larry Carlton, whom I also like very much, so I got to be on that album.

Rick: Wow, so what studio was that?

Jose’ Feliciano: I think it was Studio B.

Rick: In L.A?

Jose’ Feliciano: In L.A.

Interviewer: Was it in an Asylum studio or…?

Jose’ Feliciano: No, it was RCA, I feel it was on a RCA, it was with Henry Lewy, was the producer.

Rick: Nobody’s ever heard of that.

Jose’ Feliciano: I played in all of that. I kind of feel like I was part of a certain group.

Rick: Well you were, especially with Steve Cropper, you know, the Stax guy.

Jose’ Feliciano: Yes. Well, you know Steve also at the time was in love with a lady by the name of Brooks Hunnicutt. She sang with Roy Orbison. She sang with a whole lot of people, very nice girl, very nice. I think she was in her forties, when she was hanging with Steve.

The masterful artist, Jose’ Feliciano – Image: courtesy of S. Feliciano.

Rick: You’re not known just for your music, but you’re also known for your quick wittedness and good humor. I hope that it has prevailed in tough times. How has it best served you?

Jose’ Feliciano: Well, all I can say is, I don’t know, it served me in the sense that my humor keeps me level. People don’t understand my humor, but it keeps me level. It really does.

Rick: Yeah, it keeps you centered?

Jose’ Feliciano: Yeah. It is like sometimes if I bump into someone, you know, and they say what’s the matter are you blind or something I’d say, yeah, what’s your excuse?

Rick: There you go, you’re being Jose’. Talking about centeredness and being grounded, there’s something that I read about and actually I watched the video and while you’re introducing your instrumental “Affirmation”, you mentioned a book The Autobiography of a Yogi. How did that or does that still inspire you?

Jose’ Feliciano: Definitely. I’ve always been very curious about the Hindu religion. I like some of the aspects of it. I like transcendental meditation, I enjoy that. I enjoy that you have to spend time with your mind and free it from other things, and that has always interested me.

Rick: Have you heard of a book called Optimal Flow?

Jose’ Feliciano: No, I haven’t.

Rick: Optimal Flow was written some time ago by a Czechoslovakian guy and it’s all about the beauty and how you come into a balance when you do something, like when you’re turning a wrench and you know you’re right at the right spot and it just feels right, and when you hit the right note, but it’s about the science that’s very Zen-like.

Jose’ Feliciano: Sounds good.

Rick: With respect to The Autobiography of a Yogi, I was reading that Steve Jobs of Apple read it every year to be inspired. Do you still recommend it to people?

Jose’ Feliciano: I do, I do. It’s like the Bible, in a sense. You know how the Bible, you can read it and read it and it never gets old?

Rick: Sure.

Jose Feliciano: You always find something inspirational and it’s the same with Autobiography of a Yogi. It always inspires me that there could be people on this earth like this man, I wish I could have met him. When I’m in California I go to the self-realization citizenship place that he built in California.

Rick: I’ll pick up that book about that Yogi, I’ve heard about it before and I’d seen the cover of it, But I never opened it up to read it, but I’ll do that now.

Jose’ Feliciano: Yep, you’ll enjoy it.

Jose’ Feliciano – Image courtesy of S. Feliciano.

Rick: Okay, thank you. You met Jimi Hendrix at one point at The Speak (Speakeasy Club, U.K.), what happened there?

Jose’ Feliciano: I met Jimi and he heard me play on my acoustic, because I didn’t play electric then, though I could and so I met him and he met me and he said he thought that I was really good on the guitar and that was it. I never thought anything of it. I liked Jimi when I met him, he was a big guy, he was a tough guy, but a nice guy. I wasn’t surprised by the success that he obtained, I mean all you had to do was listen to that guy play and listen to how he would invent his own electronic sound, such as his delay he did with two machines going at the same time, I think. He was an innovator.

Rick: Yeah, he was pretty fascinating, innovative, an inventive guitar player and I was talking to Dave Mason and I don’t know if you know that Dave Mason actually did the opening chords to “All Along the Watchtower”, the 12-string acoustic on that is Dave Mason.

Jose’ Feliciano: Oh! No, I didn’t.

Rick: Yeah, so it is like, oh really, yeah it’s pretty cool.

Jose’ Feliciano: And he played it in C-minor.

Rick: Well, you would know. Let’s get into something a little bit more serious. Puerto Rico has suffered some serious devastating consequences and a friend of mine goes down there probably every four or five months to help out a friend in the aftermath of the hurricane. Have you been able to reach out to those Americans who need our help down there or have you thought about that?

Jose’ Feliciano: Well, I did a concert in Puerto Rico in May of this year (2018).

Rick: Oh! Did you, okay.

Jose’ Feliciano: Yeah, and I tried to in my own way, help them out. How can I not, it’s my country, you know, how could I not help? I try and help it so, I hope this year will be more merciful to them.

Rick: Yeah, me too, and I hope we do more from the State-side as well, so I think we need to do more.

Jose’ Feliciano: You know that one thing people don’t know just like I’m under the radar with what I do sometimes?

Rick: Yes sir, what’s that?

Jose’ Feliciano: That’s when Puerto Rico needed help, Donald Trump gave 20 million dollars out of his own pocket, not, you know.

Rick: Really?

Jose’ Feliciano: Yep, and people are very quick to not speak well of Donald Trump. So, the good that he does gets hidden out there over the other things, but I think and I’m not ashamed to say this that Donald Trump has done good for the country. The economy is better, people are putting more money into their pockets, you know and that’s all I can say and I think people should give him a fair chance, wait until his term runs out and then on election time if you didn’t like what he did, complain then.

Rick: I had to laugh, I was watching a scene of Fargo where you’re performing and Steve Buscemi I think, his character is complimenting you and talking to this girl and then he blurts out really loud, asking for a drink and it was like, majestically, ironically crass, It always makes me laugh. So what did you think when you saw that scene? You’re playing and then he comes over with this, “Give me a drink!” [Laughs]

Jose’ Feliciano: Yeah, and he says,”Well you know you’re in good company when the artist is Jose’ Feliciano.” [Laughs]

Rick: Let’s talk a bit about patriotism. It can be an awe inspiring feeling, but it can also be very complex and when you played your what I felt was a soulful personal version of the “Star Spangled Banner” in ’68 in Detroit, were you prepared for the controversy it unleashed? And how did you kind of steal yourself to hold true to the song and to your own feelings and to your own patriotism?

youtube

Jose’ Feliciano: Well, I wasn’t prepared for what happened because that wasn’t my intention. My intention was I was invited and I wanted to do something new with the anthem, because I too was kind of tired of people singing it and the anthem wasn’t even finished and people were already clapping. They wanted it to be over.

Rick: Yeah, true.

Jose’ Feliciano: And I didn’t. I wanted to give the anthem respect and after all this was my country and I was grateful for everything this country has done for me and I feel that today, I love America. There’s some mistakes that I don’t like about America, but it shows that we’re human, it’s not like a Russian scene taking the will out of people, and so when this happened you know, I was shocked that I made something like this happen. Veterans were throwing their shoes at the TV and that kind of thing and that shocked me!

Rick: Well crazy, yeah.

Jose’ Feliciano: Sure.

Rick: And once you did it, I thought it was great. I recall you also did a song, it was like (sings) “Listen to the falling rain, listen to it rain.”

Jose’ Feliciano: That one I wrote. I wrote that one in 1969.

youtube

Rick: I was listening to another song of yours and it was about your pup named Trudy and it’s called “No Dogs Allowed”.

Jose’ Feliciano: Sure, yeah, that was back in the Sixties. When did I write that? I think I wrote it in 67’, but I recorded it in 69’ on my London Palladium album.

Rick: What happened there in the U.K.?

Jose’ and his beloved pup, Trudy – Image courtesy of Sl Feliciano

Jose’ Feliciano: Well, my dog was not allowed in the country, I had to quarantine her and she was alright, but I know she missed me. One good thing about it is that England, because of my song I feel changed the laws in England, so that blind people could travel with their dogs in and out of the country.

Rick: That’s terrific. It’s nice to have that impact on society.

Jose’ Feliciano: It may not have done it for me, but I was glad for other people.

Rick: Well you certainly surfaced the issue and wasn’t that like a number three hit in the Netherlands? So it was being heard and you were also on Pirate Radio, I think, right?

Jose’ Feliciano: I was, yes I was. Oh boy, I got on radio with Alan Black.

Rick: Was that BBC?

Jose’ Feliciano: No, no, it was Laissez Faire, it was Laissez Faire my wife says. I don’t remember, but I had fun because the kids, that was the way kids revelling people because they didn’t like the BBC, the BBC was so strict and so whatever, you know.

Rick: Yeah. So did they ban your song?

Jose’ Feliciano: No, I don’t think so.

Rick: I see your wife, Susan, is from the Detroit area.

Jose’ Feliciano: She’s a Michigander.

Rick: Yeah, me too. So how did you meet and were you immediately smitten by what I would call the Midwest charm of Michiganders?

Jose’ Feliciano: I was. When I met her in 1971 I found her quite attractive and we began talking and then from talking we saw that we liked each other and we’ve been living together since 1973, I would say. I married her in 1982.

Rick: So you had a long courtship. I had seven years, yours is like eleven, right?

Jose’ Feliciano: Yeah. Well, I had to make sure, you know?

Rick: Yeah, me too. You beat me on that one. Okay, but didn’t Ernie Harwell, didn’t he introduce you too?

Jose’ Feliciano: He did. Ernie Harwell was the culprit. I love Ernie Harwell. I would like to think that’s he’s in the broadcaster’s Hall of Fame because he was a voice of the Detroit Tigers. He really was.

Rick: Yeah, I think he actually is in that and I remember him saying, “That one’s long gone!”

Jose’ Feliciano: He was wonderful. He really was. I knew him well. And he’s always with me in spirit.

Rick: That’s good, that’s nice. So, when you write a song how often do you get it right the first time, like sort of out of the box or do you keep scratching at it, editing, playing, until you feel it’s fully baked.

Jose’ Feliciano: Well, in the old days, what I would do is I’d go into the studio and I recorded a track because that’s what would come to me first. The rhythm track and where it went. Once I did that then I’d add bass to it and percussion and see how it came out. If it came out good, then I’d work on the lyrics later.

Rick: When I write songs I sort of noodle around and then I just throw in garbage lyrics. So, I’m just trying to get some words in there and not necessarily the words that end up in the final song. Do you do that sometimes?

Jose’ Feliciano: No, I usually know where I want to go. Well in the old days, what I would do is I’d go into the studio and I recorded a track because that’s what would come to me first. The rhythm track and where it went. Once I did that then I’d add bass to it and percussion and see how it came out, if it came out good then I’d work on the lyrics later.

Rick: Okay, well it’s different. People do it different, they come at different angles and sometimes people use more than one angle coming in how they write songs. Have you ever written a song just on the spot, it just came to you and it was done?

Jose’ Feliciano’: Yes. For example, “Feliz Navidad” only took really 30 seconds of time.

Rick: Really?

Jose’ Feliciano: Yep.

youtube

0 notes