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theatrediva1975 · 1 year

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Redemption | Chapter 2

SEE YOU IN MY NIGHTMARES

Victor Hesse.

She said Victor Hesse.

“Vic…Victor,” Sam murmured. “Victor. Victor Hesse. Hesse killed John. John. Oh my…” Jazz watched helplessly as Sam lost touch with her surroundings. Jazz was 3000 miles away and could do nothing but watch as Sam spiraled into an abyss of memories and terror.

The bile finally won out and Sam quickly grabbed the waste can under the desk. Jazz struggled to keep herself in her seat. Though physically impossible at the moment, she desperately wanted to just wrap her arms around her friend. Jazz feared Sam would rupture something, she was so violently ill. Sam lifted her head back up into Jazz’s line of vision but it wasn’t there for long. She got up and took the waste can out of view. Jazz could only sit and wait until Sam returned, which she hoped wouldn’t be too long. Jazz was legitimately scared for Sam’s mental and physical well being. She contemplated calling Matty but knew Sam would be furious with her. She kept herself busy trying to dig for more info as to what happened in Hawaii that day.

Several minutes later, Sam came back into the room, her eyes bloodshot from the pressure of the vomiting. She didn’t sit, couldn’t sit. Instead, Sam started pacing back and forth in the small space, muttering under her breath, running her hands through her hair. It took several more minutes for Jazz to realize what she was saying.

“It’s my fault. John’s dead. It’s my fault. He found me. John’s dead and it’s my fault. How did he find me? Mae. God, he came for Mae. He found me. Why didn’t he just come for me? John’s dead. It’s all my fault. I have to protect Mae.” Sam kept this up for several minutes until…

“Dammit, Sam, snap out of it!” Jazz yelled. And snap Sam did. She had forgotten Jazz was sitting there on her large monitor, witnessing the horror and pain searing through Sam’s soul. Sam turned to look at the screen and saw tears spilling out of Jazz’s big brown eyes. “Sorry, honey girl, but you’re scaring me.”

Sam nodded. She understood. Jazz was seeing the side of Sam she always kept buried. That’s what they were taught to do. Show no emotion. Learn to mask and hide the emotion. Time to bury it again. Put away the emotions. Compartmentalize. You’re here to play a part, a part that is not you.

Well, this is me, Sam thought. There was no getting past that. John McGarrett was dead. Just like Ben Kingston was dead. Both at the hands of Victor Hesse. Both because of Sam. This was all Sam’s fault. All she could do now was get to Hawaii, get Mae out and settled somewhere new. Then, she would finish what she started.

She would put a bullet in Victor’s brain. Just like he did to Ben.

“I need to get to Hawaii as soon as possible. I have to get Mae to a safe house. Hesse found out about me, found out I’m still alive. He’s doing this to torture me, that’s what it has to be, right? I still don’t quite understand why he didn’t just come after me instead. Was killing John just an opportunity that presented itself? He must know what he was to me, just like Mae. Maybe he was getting impatient or he couldn’t get to Mae, maybe that’s why he…” Sam tried to bite back on another wave of nausea.

“Sam, that’s not it,” Jazz began.

“It has to be, Jazz. What else could it be?”

“This wasn’t about you, Sam. This was about Steve,” Jazz winced. For that moment, Jazz was happy to be back in Maryland and nowhere near Sam. She wasn’t going to take this well.

“Steve? What the hell are you talking about?” Sam queried.

“While you were, um, cleaning up, I found out a few more details about this afternoon.”

“And? What does Steve have to do with any of this?”

“Steve and his SEAL team were in the middle of a prison transport in South Korea…”

“Who were they transporting, Jazz?”

“Anton Hesse.”

“Oh my God,” Sam gasped, an ice cold chill tap danced down her spine. The puzzle was starting to come together. “Victor used Steve to find Anton.” Jazz recognized that was a statement, not a question.

“It would appear. He was willing to ‘make a trade’: John for Anton.”

“Never would have happened,” Sam whispered. “Victor would have killed John without blinking an eye.”

“I know,” Jazz responded, just as quietly.

“Do you have the transcript of the conversation?”

“No. This has only happened within the past few hours, Sam. I’m surprised I have the information I have, not to mention the access to it. And Sam? There’s one more thing.”

“Yeah?”

“Anton Hesse is dead.”

“What?” Sam didn’t dare to hope at least one of the bastards had been wiped out.

“From what I have here, it appears there was an ambush on the transport by Hesse’s men and in the firefight, somehow, Anton was shot and killed.”

Instinctively, Sam asked, “Steve?” Jazz nodded. Steve had taken Anton out.

Sam nodded a sigh of relief. All of a sudden, the fatigue caused by the emotional roller coaster of the last hour hit her like a mack truck. All she wanted to do was curl up in a ball and hope when she opened her eyes, this was all a nightmare. “Jazz, I’ve got a lot to do. I’ve got to find a flight home, get a call in to Wickes to let him know I’m going on leave, I’ve got to get Red to the kennel. I’m going to go but if you come across anything else, can you let me know?”

Jazz sensed that Sam was trying to build up those famous walls, to keep everything at bay. She agreed, nonetheless, letting Sam sign off the transmission first. While Sam sat staring at the blank screen, on the other side of the country, Jazz really settled in to work. After begging off her date, her next call was one she knew Sam would be pissed about, but she did it anyway.

“Webber.”

“Matty, it’s Jazz. We need to talk about Sam.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sam managed to get a flight booked for early the next morning while she called Commander Glenn Wickes, her commanding officer at LAPD SWAT. She tried to keep the conversation vague, but she knew Wickes was smarter than the average bear. He knew the basics of her background before she joined the LAPD and also knew about her close friendship with John McGarrett. He was truly devastated for her.

“Sam, I am so sorry about all of this,” Wickes said. “From everything you ever told me about him, he seemed like a really great guy. You know we’re all here for you, right?”

“I do, Glenn, thanks,” she replied.

“Listen, why don’t you let me handle Red for you. Don’t put him in a kennel. I know he loves the staff over there but if you’re out of town for a week or more, it’s just going to put a lot of stress on him. Let me bring him here. He loves Bo & Duke and he’s great with the kids. I know Janie won’t mind at all. Please, let me do this for you.”

Wickes was such a good guy, an exemplary leader and a great friend. Sam found herself agreeing with his idea because he was right. As much as the kennel would be fine, being with Glenn’s family would actually be better for Red and Sam would definitely feel more at ease knowing he was getting the best care with them. Sam thanked him for not only volunteering to take Red in but also handling the paperwork necessary to get her leave started and telling the team she would be gone indefinitely.

With the most immediate needs addressed, Sam decided to shut down the SCIF for the night. She unlocked one of the grey filing cabinets and pulled out the dossiers on Victor and Anton Hesse. She grabbed one of her secure laptops and locked the SCIF down, heading to the living room to plop down on her favorite piece of furniture, a wide chaise lounge. Before she delved further into her files, she decided to call Mae, rather than text her.

“Sweetie?” Mae answered tentatively.

“Hey Mae.” She sounded so tired, Mae thought. “Got my flight info handled. Red’s going to stay with Wickes and his family while I’m there.”

“That’s good. He’ll be fine. I hate to ask, but did you find anything?”

“Yeah. I’ll fill you in when I get there. I don’t believe you’re in any danger but please stay with Jim & Paula tonight, ok? I’ll get you tomorrow as soon as I land and then we’ll go from there.”

“Ok, sweetie, please get some sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow. I love you.”

“Love you, too, Aunt Mae. Good night.” With that, Sam hung up the phone and turned to the shelf behind her, pouring herself a good, stiff drink. She nodded heavenward. “Here’s to you John. I swear I’ll make this right.” Sam swung her legs up on the chaise and got comfortable so she could go through everything she had on the Hesse brothers. After spending quite a bit of time studying the files, making new notes, trying to make sense of everything, Sam put her laptop down and pinched the bridge of her nose. It was nearing midnight and she still had a ton to do. She noticed a text from Wickes that he would swing by in the morning to pick up Red, so not to worry about him, though he knew she would definitely worry about ‘her guy’. Sam knew she needed to pack, get everything in order, but she was just exhausted. She leaned her head back and before she knew it, she had drifted off.

It came as it always did. Pieces. Snippets. Like a movie preview. Just small bits, no full scenes. At least, not until the end.

Munich, Germany - 2005

The restaurant. A small dining room off to the side. A warm, inviting fire burning in the fireplace.

The younger one was sitting at the table. A leer on his face.

Anton.

Ben squeezing her hand. The fire glinting off his silver wedding band.

Sam absently fingering her wedding band.

Ben’s smile.

The leer on Anton’s face lingering on her. She was uncomfortable.

Something was off.

The nearly imperceptible nod of his head. The sizzle of electricity on the back of her neck. The fall into an abyss of darkness and silence…

Then there was the hood, the duct tape. She couldn’t see anything.

Ben was grunting. Sam could sense him…and someone else. Wait, two of them.

They were beating him. She felt the restraints, tried to fight against them. She felt the needle prick into her arm. Again, into the abyss.

The hood was ripped off her head. She never was able to figure out how long she had been under.

Light. Too bright. She clinched her eyes shut against it. Someone grabbed a fistful of hair and yanked her head up.

Victor.

The sick smile. The backhand across the face. She opened her eyes.

Ben.

Bloody. Beaten. Practically broken.

Anton still hovering, still leering at them both.

The next few…hours…days…blurred. Constant pain. Very little detail. Mercifully.

Finally awake and alone, Sam kept fighting to get out of the restraints. Too little, too late, she thought. She could hear angry voices, getting louder by the moment.

Footsteps.

An explosion.

The door bursting open. Victor and Anton. They were arguing. The drugs and the beatings had taken a toll. Sam couldn’t understand what they were saying. Until…

“Cruz was supposed to keep them off the scent, for fuck’s sake,” Victor said.

Cruz? Their handler, Cruz?

“Just kill ‘em and get it over with. I’m bored. And they’ll be here in a matter of minutes. Let’s just go,” Anton replied lazily.

“No, we need more time with her,” Victor mumbled.

Her? Me? They were talking about Sam.

“Well, the gate’s blown, they’ll breach any minute. Let’s just cut our losses. We’ll get what he needs another way. This isn’t worth it.” Again, Anton sounded bored, put out.

Him? Cruz? What was going on?

Sam looked up. Saw the resignation in Victor’s eyes.

Then she saw the guns in their hands.

Close range.

No way out.

This was it.

Ben saw it all, too. He tried to lunge. Sam looked on in horror as he tried to throw himself in front of her, despite being restrained to the chair. She felt the blood before she felt the pain.

Sam tried to twist and lunge, like Ben. It helped. Very little.

Heat. Left shoulder.

Pain. Right thigh.

Graze. Right ear.

Then, her right side. That was it. That was the one that would overtake the other shots. She knew that was the one that would ultimately force her last breath.

She was on the floor, on her side. That’s when she heard the moan. The left. Look to the left, she thought.

Ben’s grey eyes. Such pain and sorrow.

Victor walked up between them. One last shot.

The last thing Sam saw was the bullet rip through Ben’s temple.

She didn’t remember screaming.

Because then, she didn’t. But she was now.

Red was up barking, fearing he missed something. He stood over her, protecting her.

Sam found herself on the floor, next to the chaise she had dozed off in. She was curled up into herself, tears flowing down her face as the nightmare of six years ago once again took hold.

How could it not?

Victor Hesse had once again taken one of the men she loved most in the world.

There was only one man left Victor could take from her. And Sam would die before she let anything happen to him. So, there was only one thing left to do.

Kill Victor Hesse.

#steve mcgarrett #steve mcgarrett x reader #danny williams #danny williams x reader #chin ho kelly #kono kalakaua #wo fat

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schumigrace · 6 months

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grace pls tell me what strictly come dancing and the discourse around it is 👀

hello akira welcome and do sit for I shall now tell you all about a classic british institution

Strictly Come Dancing (better known as 'Strictly') is a BBC dance contest similar to Dancing with the Stars (or Let's Dance is the German version I think?) Although Strictly was the original blueprint starting in 2004.

Basically, you've got 15 celebrities each paired with a professional Ballroom/Latin dancer, and every week they perform a routine to a Latin or Ballroom (or more recently, a 'couples choice' which can be either contemporary, theatre/jazz, or street/commercial). The public vote for their faves and the two with the least votes compete in a dance-off where the four judges (currently Craig Revel-Horwood, Shirley Ballas, Anton Du Beke, and Motsi Mabuse who is also a judge on Let's Dance I believe) save their favourite couple.

LOTS and lots of discourse over the years but the one I am referencing atm is that one of the celebrities this year is known terf Amanda Abbington, who has now pulled out for 'health reasons'. Obviously a lot of people wishing her well but the cynical part of me believes she's running away from the backlash she's been facing for being, well, a piece of shit

some other controversies include the notorious 'Strictly curse' where every year at least one celebrity will break up with their long term partner to start dating their dance partner instead. Some of these relationships end up lasting years but some fall apart before they even leave the show lmao

back in 2010(?) there was a lot of talk about ageism as one of the judges, Arlene Phillips, who was in her late 60s was replaced with 30 something year old Alesha Dixon but obvs the BBC deny that. I remember it received literally hundreds of complaints from viewers tho

Anton du beke also used a racial slur during rehearsals once which obvs got a lot of press attention but he's considered a national sweetheart so everyone forgot about that (!)

it also took them 16 years to allow same-sex couples to dance together and turned multiple celebrities down before 2020 for asking to dance with a same sex partner soooo

a classically problematic British reality show really. and one of the best to criticise because it is watched mainly by 60 year olds who can't cope with anyone pointing out its flaws, so it's a lot of fun to lurk in Facebook comments in particular

#i used to watch it religiously. now i just watch it when something juicy enough happens to fill the tabloids #strictly

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lassieposting · 3 years

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when i said 1/20 i meant all twenty options lassie, i'm like that disgusting human who holds up the entire subway while reading every single option on the menu

1) who can outdrink the other?

Ghastly can drink Skug under the table and they both know it. This has remained unchanged since age 16.

3) who has trouble sleeping alone?

Ghastly, after Ravel. He replays it in his head, over and over, and cries into the pillow until he's exhausted for Anton and Corrival and everyone else who should be here instead of him but isn't. It's easier with Skug, who can talk nonsense for hours and provide an inane hum of background noise.

5) who does more of the housework?

For like, the majority of their lives, it's Ghastly. As teenagers, Skug is a lazy entitled rich boy who hears the word "chores" and runs for the hills. As soldiers, Ghastly is Skug's #2, so he keeps the camp in order while Skug is in meetings plotting strategy with the other generals. As adults, Skug is neat and tidy but has Sherlock Brain, so cannot be relied upon to do housework in any semblance of an organised routine. He'll get a bug up his ass about a case, go three weeks without sleeping and eventually pass out on his paperwork at the kitchen table. So Ghastly handles domestic stuff.

After Ravel, when Ghastly is in a wheelchair most of the time, Skug steps up and takes over most things. Ghastly has to remind him when things need doing, especially if he's in Work Mode, but he'll do them.

6) who forgets their anniversary?

Ghastly. It's not intentional, dates just...slip his mind.

7) who steals the duvet in their sleep?

Neither. They're very cuddly, they sleep all tangled up together.

8) who keeps the other awake at night with their snoring?

Ghastly, whenever he lays on his back. Skug learns to turn him over at will like a partially-cooked hot dog by giving him a short sharp poke in the side.

10) who usually makes dinner?

Ghastly. Skug is the son of the god of the apocalypse, and when he's turned loose in a kitchen without supervision, you can tell. He can make cereal and sandwiches, but Ghastly has come home a few too many times to the fire alarm screaming and the kitchen thick with smoke and Skug standing in the middle of absolute carnage trying to serve up something that looks more charcoal than food. He does not let Skug at his cookware anymore.

11) who plays their music out loud?

They both do! Ghastly likes to have music on while he works, and Skug likes to have music on while he unwinds. They have similar taste in tunes, so it's usually slow jazz or blues at a nice background volume while Ghastly sews and Skug reads the newspaper like the pair of fuckin 1930s old men they are. Sometimes Skug sings along very quietly, without really realising he's doing it, and Ghastly loves that.

12) who hogs the bathroom?

Skug. As a young man, he was very concerned with his hair. Ghastly has not failed to share this information with Fletcher.

13) who gives the most compliments?

Ghastly. It comes more easily to him. That happens when you have parents who actually love you.

Skug is a shower rather than a sayer. If he thinks Ghastly looks especially attractive in a certain outfit, he helps him out of it.

15) who isn’t afraid to embarrass the other in public?

Skug. He wants All The Attention, All The Time and he doesn't much care what he has to do to get it.

16) who gives the other cringeworthy pet names?

Ghastly. He doesn't think "Skul" is particularly cringeworthy, but Skug hates having his name shortened, and especially after he dies, he's like, "Good God, must you?"

19) who clings to the other for comfort when they’re sad or scared?

They both have their moments. Skug dreams about being burned alive, Ghastly dreams about being stabbed in the neck. Skug hovers when he's upset, reluctant to let Ghastly out of his sight, startling at small noises. Ghastly will sometimes just grab him by the shirtfront and hold onto him because he's the only thing that feels solid.

#skulduggery pleasant #sp headcanons #ghasdug

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nlovendwar · 4 years

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( dacre montgomery, 32, male, he/him ) speaking of the bardet crime family, there goes antonello lucchese. i’ve heard that the heterosexual scorpio works underground as an advisor, but that’s all stuff of rumors. however, the fact that they’re notoriously diligent and imaginative as well as impulsive and perverted doesn’t bode well for their rep. sharpened cutlery sliding between perfectly white teeth, the stench of pomade and tom ford, billowing smoke from a peach flavored cigar. ( bobby, 23, cst, they/them )

**tw: **implied attempted murder, child abuse, abandonment; mental illness & torture mention

First name: Antonello

Middle name(s): Giuseppe

Surname: Lucchese

Age: Thirty-two

Date of birth: November 19th

Sexuality: Straight (?)

Relationship status: Divorced

Nationality: Italian American

| TRAITS OF VOICE |

Languages known: English, Italian, French, German

Style of speaking: Politically Incorrect

| PHYSICAL APPEARANCE |

Height: 5'11

Weight: 191 lbs

Eye color: Light blue

Hair color: Dark brown

Hairstyle: Typically short, feathered/layered

Distinguishing features: Physique/smile

Build of body: Muscular/stout

Tattoos: None

Piercings: Earlobe

Typical clothing: Business casual, button-downs/linen pants and vintage suits

Is seen by others as: Loud, intimidating, confrontational

| PERSONALITY |

Aesthetic: “ Did you guys come by? “

Likes: Winning, music, Friedrich Nietzsche, indulgence, working out, and reading

Dislikes: Birds, uncertainty, anything grape flavored, waiting, swimming in open water/the ocean

Education: High school degree

Fears: Heights, dying alone

Personal goals: To accept/love himself, to bring honor back to his family name

General attitude: Quiet, reserved, snarky

Religious values: Raised Roman Catholic but considers himself agnostic and a vitalist

General intelligence: Somewhat above average

General sociability: Average to below average

| HEALTH |

Illnesses (if any): Traumatized, most likely very depressed, bat shit crazy and probably a bit of a sociopath, but refuses to see a Dr./Therapist

Allergies (if any): Cats, amoxicillin/penicillin

Sleeping habits: Sleeps 3-4 hours normally, gets up early and stays up late, is sometimes up for days

Energy level: Moderate, to low

Eating habits: Eats more than three times a day, mostly pasta, bread, and sweets

Memory: Fair and remembers faces well but tends to repress quite a bit from his life/childhood, under certain circumstances it is poor

Any unhealthy habits: Overspending, binge eating, smoking, not getting enough rest, binge drinking, uses recreational drugs daily

| HISTORY |

Birth country: United States

Hometown: Crown Heights, Brooklyn

History of family: He doesn’t remember much from his childhood other than he never really had a mother and father, but figures he might have gotten luckier not having them around. Apparently, his mother worked numerous jobs to keep a roof over their heads for years, dealing with the constant absence of his father until it became too much to deal with. Then, at just the fragile age of three and four years old, Amy and Antonello Lucchese were carted off to Crown Heights, New York to permanently stay with a mixed family of uncles, cousins, and loving grandparents. Almost all the surviving members of the Lucchese crime family in a three-bedroom apartment.

Most of their wives had passed away or left them by the time they'd arrived, so it was a lot like growing up in a dingy old bar but, both children grew up and learned quickly, from their mistakes. Learned to use them to their advantage, but every once in a while there would be unnecessary punishments, overdramatic arguments, dinners missed and uneasy, awkward mornings, but. It was more than what anyone else could have given them, so they were grateful nonetheless.

Everything changed drastically for Antonello when he entered the fifth grade. Things became easier to deal with at home, but not exactly in the way anyone had expected. Especially not his grandmother. He’d always clung to her for guidance, support, and love but the moment the family exposed the young heart to their lifestyle, he broke away and heedlessly dove in.

But as the years passed, most relatives and himself included, were absolutely convinced that he was made for it, and it was made for him. It was in his blood after all, but a large number of them also knew it marked the end of his innocence, and the beginning of ruthless trek towards a twisted, egotistical version of manhood and success.

In the span of six years, he’d become the youngest in the family to rise through the ranks in a proud, composed fashion and landed a spot right beneath his grandfather. He was creative, intelligent and respectful in a way that the elders of the Italian mob began to appreciate more than the efforts of his own immediate family, so soon after Anton realized the long list of dead or incarcerated relatives were mostly rats, scumbags, and hypocrites, coincidentally, he was asked to leave.

Then while out at the local bowling alley, his cousins spotted one of his better friends groping his girlfriend. He didn’t even make it twenty-four hours after his grandmother had broken the news of the heartless eviction, and the younger boy spent almost two weeks in the hospital. Luckily, her grandson wasn’t around long enough to suffer any harsh consequences, or god forbid a life sentence. But one punishment that should have been totally unrelated, would slowly begin to ruin his life.

Out of pure fear of her older brother and grandparents, Amy decided to finish her high school career at home and cut all ties with him. Shortly after the devastating blow, a family friend was contacted and found a job and apartment available in Amiens, Louisiana.

Present: Antonello has worked for the Bardet family for fifteen years and was promoted to an advisory position in 2015. He’s recently divorced, lives alone and prefers a conventional lifestyle even though he loves what he does.

| RELATIONSHIPS |

Parents: Bill & Teresa Lucchese

Siblings: Amy Lucchese

Enemies: Tbd

Children: None (that he knows of)

Friends: Moved around too much as a child to have a stable set of friends, tbd

Best friend(s): Tbd

Important friends/relatives: Tbd

Love interest (if there is one): Tbd

| COMBAT |

Peaceful or violent: Unpredictable

Weapon (if applicable): Gun, golf club, curling iron, hands

| OTHERS |

Occupation: Advisor

Favorite types of food: Anything you put in front of him

Favorite types of drink: Water, wine and Ski soda

Hobbies/past times: Running, swimming, cooking, fencing, journaling, marksmanship, knife throwing, reading, avid glass collector and tobacco aficionado

Guilty pleasures: An old soul, loves red wine, Telenovelas, listening to Nina Simone, drag queens, and torture

Quirks: Has a really loud sneeze and goes into sneeze fits, likes to go on midnight shopping trips, gets too emotionally attached to people that shouldn’t matter, always carries a tiny notebook with him, has to move things around in a certain pattern before going to sleep, bruises super easily, writes and eats with his left hand but is right hand dominant, likes to memorize numbers instead of saving contacts in his phone, gets homesick very easily, brushes his teeth five times a day, likes to stay off social media, makes lists of random things, gets his heart broken too often, only writes in cursive, holds grudges like no other, and has the attitude and approach of a working-class sixty-year-old man that’s slowly losing his shit

Pet peeves: Being ignored, interrupted, knuckle cracking, people eating with their mouths open

Pets: A rottweiler named Jinn

Talents: Can play piano, coronet, drums, braid hair and relocate an entire family in less than 48 hours

Favorite colors: Black, earth and neutral tones

Favorite types of music: Classical/jazz/r&b

Strengths: Efficient, observant, protective, loyal, brave, affectionate, poised, fair, chivalrous, playful, honest

Weaknesses: Intolerant, negative, stubborn, short-tempered, impatient, arrogant, dominant, cold, hopeless romantic, aggressive, blunt, reclusive, paranoid

| WCS |

I’m up for anything, from vengeful family members ( either directed at the Bardet family or his, it doesn't matter. ) to crazy ex-girlfriends, a tiny group of faithful, likeminded friends, and whatever else.

#eclatantintro

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artistjojo1228 · 5 years

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Rock and Roll Storytime #9: The Decline and Early Death of Brian Jones (including details I’ve found through personal research)

It was a cool spring morning when, while I was goofing off in art class, I got the bright idea to try writing about the 27 Club for one of those YouTube documentaries. The plan was simple: I was going to talk about Robert Johnson, Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Mia Zapata, Kurt Cobain, Kristen Pfaff, Amy Winehouse, and Anton Yelchin, seven because of being the “Tragic Seven” and the other three because I found their stories interesting (I actually first heard of the club not long after Anton’s death).

And then, in about as much time as it took for me to come up with that idea, I went from being obsessed with Kurt Cobain to being obsessed with Brian Jones. Most likely, in my opinion, because of the mysterious circumstances surrounding his early death. I guess, in a way, all it took was me hearing that there were conspiracies saying he’d been murdered to convince me to look into his story. After all, very early on in my Nirvana obsession, I went through a regretful phase where I believed Kurt had been murdered. I didn’t want to make a similar assumption again.

What I’m trying to say, is that this will be about Brian’s ousting from the band he created, his death on the night of July 2, 1969, and the steps I took to figure out what the hell happened.

By mid-May, I’d already come up with my first theory: that Brian had an asthma attack and drowned as the result of that. Around this time, I learned that Brian: a, had a sister, Pamela, who’d died at the age of two from leukemia (he was just three), and b, within the next year, he suffered a severe bout of croup that left him with lifelong asthma. While I was researching in the usual way I do, I’d also heard that chlorine can trigger asthma attacks or allergic reactions, especially when there is organic material in the pool (e.g. sweat). However, it wasn’t until September that I stumbled upon Brian’s autopsy report, so until that point, I’d had little to no idea that the coroner ruled out an asthma attack. Even then, I’d already been hearing my fair share of complaints that the autopsy report was perfunctory, so I’d just made the assumption that the coroner had somehow missed that if it had happened that way.

I don’t know why my early perspective started changing. I just know that the one constant was that I refused to believe that Brian was murdered (sitting through Stoned on May 31, 2019, certainly didn’t help matters).

Throughout, I began to learn of Brian’s life story, and how he eventually found himself kicked out of the very band he brought to life.

In short, Brian used to play in jazz clubs, and it was on April 7, 1962, that Mick Jagger and Keith Richards saw the young blonde calling himself “Elmo Lewis” play slide guitar on stage for the first time (one of the first Britons to master it, through no small amount of effort). In May 1962, Brian placed an ad for musicians in a local newspaper, and was shortly thereafter joined by Ian Stewart, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Dick Taylor, and Tony Chapman. In December 1962, Taylor was replaced by Bill Wyman, and in January 1963, Charlie Watts replaced Tony Chapman. There’s also how the band got their name, but I’d prefer to save that for another storytime.

What I should probably talk about instead, is where the first cracks started to form in this partnership.

See, when the Rolling Stones were on tour in October 1963, it was revealed that Brian had an arrangement with the financial advisor, Eric Easton, which basically stated that Brian, as leader of the group, would receive five pounds more than everyone else (this equates to $137.30 today). Everyone else, who was under the impression that they were all earning the same amount of money from each gig, was kind of pissed about it, and maybe rightfully so. However, I don’t see why this should be enough for Mick and Keith to uphold a fifty-six-year-long grudge that includes what is essentially damnatio memoriae, but I guess that’s their business. But keep in mind, Bill Wyman has since stated that, at that time, they were earning 193 pounds per week at this point (roughly $1,963.75 in today’s money). That’s only seven percent of the band’s total income at that point. It still seems like a stupid reason to me for Mick and Keith to still be getting on Brian’s case for something like that fifty-six years later (and before anyone says anything, yes, I know there’s more to it than that, but it’s stupid that it all started with five pounds).

Going back to my personal search for answers for a moment or two, it was now June 2019, and I was also starting to look into the murder theory, if only for posterity. I remember vividly being on a trip to France and accidentally convincing one of the girls on the trip that Brian had been murdered when I was telling her about him.

Erm... whoops.

Even so, in that one brief moment, I allowed myself to entertain that possibility. After all, most of the sources I was reading at that point were all saying that Brian’s death had probably been manslaughter, if not murder, and what was definitely consistent was that the witness reports weren’t consistent, and it just seemed easier to believe that. After all, Brian’s death was suspicious enough, so why not?

Easier...

It only took a day or two for me to remind myself why I had refused to believe it for this long: because of my regrets in believing Kurt had been murdered, and because I no longer wanted to take the easy route.

If I was going to say Brian was murdered, without a shred of doubt, I had to do more research.

And now for part two of Brian’s Jones’ slow decline: his relationship with Anita Pallenberg and the subsequent fallout from it. Now, Brian and Anita met on September 14, 1965 (my grandmother’s seventh birthday) after a Rolling Stones concert in Munich. The two apparently found an instant connection, thanks to Brian’s ability to speak German (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5N-O8_eB34). However, the relationship afterwards was very much mutually abusive. Keith said in his autobiography that he would sometimes see Brian with a black eye, and in September 1966, Brian broke his wrist. The “official” story was that Brian broke his wrist in a climbing accident, but other stories suggested that he instead broke his hand during an argument with her when he hit his hand against a metal window frame (though in one more salacious telling I heard, he broke his hand on her face, which doesn’t sound entirely possible to me).

Meanwhile, he did write and perform the soundtrack for her movie, Mord Und Totschlag (A Degree of Murder), which gives us a rare glimpse into Brian’s extraordinary musical talent and genius. That was probably the only good thing that came out of all this.

youtube

Then of course, in 1967, Keith’s home, Redlands, was busted, and the Glimmer Twins were charged with various drug offenses. Their lawyers recommended they should get out of the country for a while, so Mick, Keith, Brian, and Anita traveled down to Morocco for a little while. However, in Toulouse, France, Brian became ill with pneumonia, and spent the next few days in the hospital.

Meanwhile, as Brian was celebrating his 25th birthday in the hospital, Anita and Keith went on ahead of him, and they began seeing each other behind Brian’s back. When Brian was finally able to join the group, he surely noticed the newfound chemistry between Keith and Anita, especially considering Keith wasn’t very confident around the ladies at this point in time. He knew he was losing Anita, and apparently, he welcomed the confrontation. In mid-March, 1967, he paid for the services of two “Berber whores,” and when Anita returned to the hotel room, he told her to join them in a foursome. Stories vary as to what happened next, what is typically a constant in this story is that she refused. According to Keith, Brian started throwing food at her (apparently, in a fight sometime around then, Anita had broken two of Brian’s ribs and one of his fingers), and she fled out of fear and humiliation. Bill, in his book Stone Alone, alleged that Brian beat her savagely, to the point where she was in fear of her own life. The abysmal movie Stoned just claimed he sexually assaulted her (which, yeah, I don’t believe happened). Whatever happened that night (lord knows, Brian can’t speak for himself), Anita fled to Keith’s room, where he convinced her to leave with him, basically giving her the “You deserve better” speech and saying that Brian might try to kill her if she stayed with him (which also doesn’t seem likely to me, even being fully aware of Brian’s violent streak).

In either case, the next day, Mick, Keith, and Anita all left Morocco, leaving Brian stranded there for the next two days. Several years after his death, his own father would claim that Anita was the one who broke Brian’s heart and sent him into a fatal downward spiral, but in Paul Trynka’s book, those who knew Brian like Linda Lawrence (mother of Brian’s fourth child) and Stanislaus “Stash” Klossowski (friend of the Stones’) were of the opinion that it had rather been Mick and Keith’s betrayal that had sent Brian into that deadly spiral.

Personally, I’d say it’s a toss-up

In either case, Brian’s drug and alcohol abuse worsened.

Meanwhile, some fifty-two years later, it was July 2019. The fiftieth anniversary of Brian’s death had come and gone, and as my first (emotionally abusive) relationship was reaching a long-overdue close, I decided to get Stone Alone in the mail. Naturally, I had a few reasons for being a bit skeptical, not the least of which included the fact that Bill had dated a thirteen-year-old when he was forty-seven (EW), but still, I had to know what he said about Brian, so I decided to get it anyway. As I was flipping through the pages once it’d arrived, I found the account of Brian’s second child, a daughter whom Bill called “Carol.”

I’d probably heard about how she’d been diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy once or twice in the past, but for some reason, I’d refused to consider it. Reading about it this night, something clicked. Thanks to the way Bill explained, it, it seemed plausible enough that, somehow, Brian had never been diagnosed with epilepsy. After all, it can be hereditary, and mental health wasn’t understood very well back then.

That brings me to major theory #2: Brian had a seizure in the pool the night he drowned, and given that he was alone when he died, this seemed the most likely explanation.

After all, Brian had punctate hemorrhages in his brain when he drowned. It made sense to me, as Brian must’ve been thrashing around quite a bit in his last few moments alive (punctate hemorrhages are typically found in shaken baby syndrome)

It seemed to me at that time that I finally had an explanation for what happened to Brian Jones, but naturally, I wasn’t done with the search yet.

Naturally, with everything I read, the search for answers continued on, even though I thought I’d had it all figured out.

I was trying to write about it for a post I made on Amino, and as I was trying to provide some facts, I remembered that I’d found Brian’s toxicology report not long before then. Looking at it now, I observed the fact that the coroner said that the 1720 micro gms of an amphetamine-like substance found in Brian’s body was likely because of prescription Mandrax.

Mandrax was the brand name for quaaludes.

This brings me into major reason #3 for Brian’s decline: his own drug arrests and convictions. I explained this more in another post (https://artistjojo1228.tumblr.com/post/188166689760/rock-and-roll-storytime-6-the-rolling-stones), but I’ll give the skivvy anyway. On May 10, 1967, just as Mick and Keith were being formally charged with drug possession, Brian’s home was raided by police. Although he’d cleaned the place up, police still managed to find a bit of cannabis, and Brian and Stash were arrested. On October 30, 1967, Brian was convicted of cannabis possession and allowing his home to be used for the smoking of cannabis, and was sentenced to a grand total of 12 months in prison and a fine. Apparently, during his night at Wormwood Scrubs, the guards taunted Brian, threatening to cut off his long, blonde locks, which left him quite shaken. He appealed his case, and on December 12, Brian’s sentence was reduced to three years’ probation.

However, not long after, on May 21, 1968, Brian’s home was raided again, and once more, police found drugs, even though some sources state that Brian was so paranoid about drugs by now, that he wouldn’t even allow friends over if they had so much as prescription pills on them. Brian was found guilty for the second time, but the judge took pity on him, and only fined him, also giving him a stern warning to not end up in court again.

Once again, in the year 2019, it was September now. I was just starting college, and trying to survive my first semester (not easy when you’re a chronic procrastinator), and one night, while I was browsing the internet, I found Brian’s autopsy report.

Morbid fact about me, this was far from my first time reading through death certificates and autopsy reports of celebrities. Also, I’d developed a sort of obsession with medicine after Anton Yelchin’s death (to the point where I was considering being a nurse for a while), so I was familiar with the medical jargon used by now.

So, here we are, major theory #3 and the most likely scenario in this case: Brian, trying to get clean, had relapsed on the sleeping pills he’d been prescribed, and had become incapacitated at some point during the night.

This wasn’t the catalyst for me believing this, but it most certainly reinforced my theories.

As I stated earlier, quaaludes were once sold under the brand name Mandrax, and had been prescribed for such things as insomnia and anxiety, both of which Brian likely would’ve had after facing the threat of prison twice. This was also before anyone realized just how addictive quaaludes can be, so there is no doubt that Brian probably relapsed, and took one or several too many sleeping pills that night.

And now, reason #4 for Brian’s firing from the Stones: his increasingly lacking contributions to their music.

As time passed, Brian stopped showing up to recording sessions, and when he did show up, he was usually intoxicated to the point where he was unable to contribute. In an interview years later, Mick said that one of Brian’s last major contributions to the Stones’ music was the slide guitar on “No Expectations” from Beggars’ Banquet. It got to the point where, on Let It Bleed, Brian only played on two songs: congas on “Midnight Rambler” and autoharp on “You’ve Got the Silver”.

On neither of those songs does he contain the enormous presence he once had over the Stones’ music.

I can’t really say why Brian stopped contributing.

What I can say is what the final nail in the coffin was: Brian’s inability to get a work visa in the United States.

See, by the summer of 1969, the Stones were planning on going on tour again, but as time passed, it became increasingly obvious that Brian would be unlikely to get a work visa in the United States due to his past drug convictions.

Even then, Brian just hadn’t been in the studio long enough or sober enough to learn any of the new songs.

At the suggestion of Ian Stewart (himself demoted unfairly from the Rolling Stones by Andrew Oldham in 1963), Mick and Keith decided they needed a new guitarist (Bill and Charlie had no part in the decision itself). By May 31, 1969, 20-year-old Mick Taylor, formerly of John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, was starting to record with the band. That just left it up to Mick and Keith to resolve the issue with Brian. On June 8, they went over to Brian’s home at Cotchford Farm in Hartfield, Sussex, and told him that he was being fired, bringing Charlie along in case a fight broke out.

According to some sources, Brian had been expecting this would happen, and agreed to leave the band in either a temporary or permanent split. Mick and Keith left the press statement up to Brian, and possibly to save face, he made it appear as if he’d left the band on his own terms.

I shared the statement in my post about the Altamont fiasco (https://artistjojo1228.tumblr.com/post/188181237510/rock-and-roll-storytime-8-motherfing-altamont), but I’ll write it out again for those of you who don’t want to go post-hunting: “I no longer see eye to eye with the others over the discs we are cutting. We no longer communicate musically. The Stones’ music is not to my taste any more. The work of Mick and Keith has progressed at a tangent, at least to my way of thinking. I have a desire to play my own brand of music rather than that of others, no matter how much I appreciate their musical concepts. We had a friendly meeting and agreed that an amicable termination, temporary or permanent, was the only answer. The only solution was to go our separate ways, but we shall still remain friends. I love those fellows.”

At the same time, Mick and Keith also released a press statement on the matter, also saying that Brian had left the band, not that he was fired.

There are so many questions in my mind surrounding what Brian was doing in the last month of his life. Would he really have started another band, or was he, according some who saw him at that time, musically spent? Did Mick and Keith really agree to give Brian a sort of retirement pension, or was that just to tide him over? (Sadly I wouldn’t put it past them). Was he taking a break from music or was he going into an early retirement?

And most important to me, was he really trying to kick the drugs, like so many have said?

So many questions that we’ll never have a proper answer for.

The only thing that is certain, is that at around midnight on July 3, 1969, Brian Jones was found motionless at the bottom of his swimming pool.

I guess I’d better back up a bit, and explain the chain of events leading up to that moment.

Wednesday, July 2, 1969, featured hot, humid air full of pollen, which affected Brian severely, given his asthma. Throughout the day, he was with Anna Wohlin, his Swedish girlfriend, Janet Lawson, a nurse, and Frank Thorogood, a builder who’d been doing work on Brian’s property. It is worth noting that there are many discrepancies between the witness accounts of what happened, up to and including whether or not the parties involved had been drinking (and if so, how much), whether or not the parties involved watched TV, and even who found Brian, lifeless in the pool, and who pulled him out. The most commonly agreed upon version of events was that Brian and Frank decided to go swimming. Anna was reluctant, but was somehow persuaded. Janet, meanwhile, decided to stay out of the pool. After a while, Anna left Brian and Frank there. When Janet last saw Brian, he asked her to grab one of his inhalers, as he was apparently having difficulty breathing. At some point, Frank also left the pool. When Janet returned some time later, she found him at the bottom of the pool, facedown and motionless. Apparently, she ran off to get help (despite being a registered nurse), and eventually, Anna, Frank, and Janet (or at least two of them) managed to pull Brian out of the pool and began resuscitative efforts. Anna later claimed that she felt Brian’s hand briefly grip hers, but to Janet and Frank, he was very clearly dead. Paramedics arrived soon after, and Brian was pronounced dead after midnight on July 3, 1969.

Based on the small amounts of drugs and alcohol found in Brian’s system at the time of his death, as well as the fact that his heart and liver had been enlarged by substance abuse, his death was ruled as misadventure.

Naturally, as it would seem whenever someone dies young, conspiracy theories also began to circulate not long after. To make this somewhat easier on myself, I’m just going to start listing some of the theories that have popped up in regards to Brian’s death (note: much of this will be taken from Brian Jones: The Making of the Rolling Stones).

The most popular of the conspiracy theories states that Brian (who was noted as having mistrusted Frank Thorogood) fired the builder at some point in the 48 hours preceding his death (though, if that were the case, why would he invite him back for a pool party?). After Janet ran off to get Brian’s inhaler, Frank, either in a purposeful act or a bout of horseplay gone wrong, drowned Brian. Not helping Frank’s case is that Tom Keylock alleged that he heard Frank confess to the murder on his deathbed (his daughter has since denied this). Frank’s daughter, Jan Bell, did also claim that her father witnessed an argument between Brian, Mick, and Keith over ownership of the name “Rolling Stones”, during which Keith pulled a knife on Brian (if this did happen, it was likely earlier in the year). Also not helping matters is that after Frank’s death in 1994, Janet and Anna also made their beliefs that Frank was responsible for Brian’s death known (though one of Anna’s friends has since stated that she didn’t start believing Brian had been murdered until later in life). In 2005, this version of events was turned into the movie Stoned, and for those of you who may not have seen my other posts on the subject, I found this movie quite abysmal (”So, I guess you could say this movie... DROWNED on arrival?”)

In 1983, the notion that Brian was murdered first became popularized with Nicholas Fitzgerald’s book Brian Jones: The Inside Story of the Original Rolling Stone. In it, Fitzgerald claimed that Brian had been intending on starting a band with the likes of John Lennon and Jimi Hendrix (those close to Jimi at the time have since dismissed this), and that he and another friend witnessed three men participating in Brian’s murder, and that he had been threatened by someone (likely Keylock) into silence. Most likely, these allegations were used to promote his book, because, you know, there was a real chance for a while that he could’ve been charged with being an accessory to murder after the fact.

A. E. Hotchner in his book Blown Away: The Rolling Stones and the Death of the Sixties claimed that another two witnesses had seen Brian murdered at a party. It is notable that this story claims that Linda Lawrence had been a witness, and that in the years since, one of the witnesses recanted his testimony as “nonsense.”

Another man, David Gibson, claimed that he had been fitting carpets at Cotchford Farm, and that on the day of the murder, Brian and Anna had been away for most of the day, and when they returned, Brian begged him not to leave. He alleged that Tom Keylock had Brian murdered, and that Princess Margaret had been at Cotchford Farm. Those who believe this will likely also believe that Gibson never came forward because of threats and murder attempts.

Laura Jackson’s book, Brian Jones, The Untold Life and Mysterious Death of a Rock Legend, also claimed that Brian had been murdered, and this time added the detail that Frank had drugged Brian with a mysterious substance that stumped even seasoned toxicologists, thereby allowing him to hold Brian’s head under the water with no visible signs of a struggle. I don’t know, if it weren’t for those last couple chapters, I’d probably have an easier time recommending this to Brian Jones fans, because I thought it was pretty enjoyable otherwise.

Geoffrey Giuliano’s book, Paint It Black, alleged that a random guy named “Joe” held Brian’s head underwater for shits and giggles. Last time I checked, that’s not really something people do for shits and giggles. Also, the book claimed that Frank had fled the scene shortly after Brian’s death, despite Frank being noted at the scene when police and paramedics arrived at the scene at 12:10 AM the morning of Brian’s death.

In 2009, Sam Cutler claimed that private detectives hired by Allen Klein found that Tom Keylock was responsible, citing his attempts to blame Frank, his theft of some of Brian’s belongings, and the fact that he apparently told Janet to conceal the fact that she was his girlfriend at the time. However, in 2013, he expressed doubts as to whether it existed. Seems safe for me to say that this was all a big hoax.

In general, several conspiracies center around Tom Keylock. The big problem with this though, is that Tom was in London at Olympic Studios on the night Brian died. Still, I think it is safe to say that he probably stole some of Brian’s belongings after he died, at the very least.

I guess it’s high time I explain one of the big reasons why I always stopped myself from going down that road of believing Brian was murdered (without proper evidence). If Brian was really murdered, and if people did, indeed, witness it, then why the hell didn’t anyone say anything before 1983? I know, I know, some of the theories outright say that the people involved were threatened into silence (Anna claims she was spirited back to Sweden soon after Brian’s death), but even so, I don’t think the people making such threats would’ve had enough sway or power to actually pull off this sort of conspiracy.

With that in mind, I believe that Brian had an overdose on sleeping pills the night he died, maybe suffering a seizure as well, either from his possible epilepsy and/or as a side-effect of taking Mandrax. Of course, unless Brian is exhumed and a second toxicology report is drawn up that can maybe confirm what was in his system on that fateful night (which is unlikely, due to both the length of time and lack of interest in the case beyond occasional murder theories), there is no way for me to confirm this theory for sure. Besides, either way, there is no way to prove whether he had epilepsy or not. Whilst it is what I believe happened, and does line up with the original verdict of misadventure, I have to keep in mind at the end of the day that this is just me speculating.

Even so, the story of Brian Jones is one that is fraught with betrayal, hubris, and a path filled with perfectly preventable errors. It’s haunting to think what might have happened if Mick and Keith had been nicer to Brian (or at the very least spoke a bit more praise about him after his death rather than just shit-talk him all the time), or if the effects of drugs had been better understood, or if Brian hadn’t stopped contributing to the Stones’ music, or if someone had been with Brian in the pool when he became incapacitated.

I’ll be honest, I think the reason I keep coming back to Brian’s story is because of how conflicting his life as a whole was. I’ve seen his life inspire equal parts idolization and vilification, even within myself.

Because even if Mick and Keith would rather forget, it is my honest belief that more people will continue to find out about Brian, and my hope that they actually take the time to learn about him.

Sources/Further Readings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tFfzTzOwQ8&t=4s https://asthma.net/living/swimming-pools-triggers/ Stone Alone by Bill Wyman Life by Keith Richards Brian Jones: The Making of the Rolling Stones by Paul Trynka Up and Down With the Rolling Stones by Tony Sanchez https://clearcomfort.com/why-asthma-allergy-sufferers-should-avoid-chlorine-pools/ http://timeisonourside.com/chron1967.html http://timeisonourside.com/chron1969.html Brian Jones, The Untold Life and Mysterious Death of a Rock Legend by Laura Jackson https://people.com/music/anita-pallenberg-rolling-stones-keith-richards-brian-jones-love-triangle/ https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-lists/the-27-club-a-brief-history-17853/ https://ultimateclassicrock.com/brian-jones-found-dead/ https://ultimateclassicrock.com/brian-jones-murdered/ https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/just-why-was-brian-jones-so-important-to-the-rolling-stones/ https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/obituary-brian-jones-189861/ https://www.denofgeek.com/us/culture/music/281978/the-rolling-stones-and-the-mystery-of-brian-jones-death https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/brian-jones-sympathy-for-the-devil-182761/ https://www.mojo4music.com/articles/15989/brian-jones-it-was-murder http://davidcomfort.org/brian-jones/

#brian jones #the rolling stones #mick jagger #keith richards #charlie watts #bill wyman #ian stewart #this got long #but i felt like getting this all out of my system

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sailorzakuro · 4 years

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SCD Grand Final Songs

I’M DOING IT THIS WEEK COS IT’S THE LAST TIME BUT NGL I’M A LITTLE SHOCKED AT SOME.

Emma and Anton:

Thoroughly Modern Millie from Thoroughly Modern Millie (Charleston - Judges Pick) - This one is a surprising one XD. Purely because she scored almost perfectly on it and it was SO recent, I thought they’d go for something like her American Smooth or Viennese Waltz where she would show improvement, idk how she can improve that much from a couple of weeks ago. At least she’ll definitely get a good score on it XD.

Let Yourself Go by Irving Berlin (Showdance) - I didn’t expect anything else from these 2 XD. Classic but fun, should be good XD.

Karim and Amy:

Mr Pinstripe Suit by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy (Quickstep - Judges Pick) - NOW THIS ONE WAS A SHOCK honestly out of all of Karim’s near perfect dances this was the most forgettable. I thought they’d maybe go for his Foxtrot or his Tango, but it should be interesting to see this again! Maybe without the tape measure this time.

A Million Dreams by P!nk (Showdance) - Another surprise from Karim, I reckon they might go down the direction of their contemporary so I HOPE it doesn’t flop like that did.

Kelvin and Oti:

Ain’t no Sunshine by Bill Withers (Rumba - Judges Pick) - OF COURSE THE JUDGES PICKED THIS horny gits what? Ngl I was expecting his Samba to show up here and I DOUBT he’s picked that as his favourite dance so rip we’ll never get to see it again COS THE JUDGES ARE SO HORNY.

Shout by The Isley Brothers (Showdance) - OH MY GOD THIS SONG ALWAYS REMINDS ME OF PHOENIX NIGHTS GREAT THANKS BBC I’M GONNA BE DISTRACTED AGAIN but I am really looking forward to this one!! You know I love a bit of 50s rock and roll XD.

Oo k now I’m gonna play psychic and guess what they’re gonna pick as their favourite dance XD.

Emma and Anton - Viennese Waltz, Theatre/Jazz, American Smooth Karim and Amy - Foxtrot, Charleston, Contemporary, Jive Kelvin and Oti - Charleston, Viennese Waltz, Jive, Street/Commercial

Also I am VERY interested to know what Chris and Karen’s dances would have been, cos I’m pretty sure they film those judges picks bits at the semis (I’m sure they did last year anyway). ALSO, I know I said I’d be backing Kelvin and Oti but then I started getting conflicted wanting Emma and Anton to win and I love all 3 of them, so instead I’m gonna give all of them a vote each and just let the public decide. I can’t choose so I will let everyone else, I’m happy with any of them winning XD.

#strictly come dancing #yes i watch strictly #strictly come dancing 2019

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jeaneybean · 5 years

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Storming castle werewolf

with a lot less storming and a lot more ‘how do I manipulate everyone and not get ourselves killed’

Entering town Wolf-Wolf paws at his nose and is unable to follow the scent anymore. While Nitahn takes Wolf Wolf around the marketplace to see if he can catch any scents while Vera and Oz find a room for the night and board the donkeys. After Nitahn doesn’t find anything he finds the inn, where Vera and Oz have found out that there’s been a lot of travelers in the area, and that there’s been a lot of activity at the castle. The group has dinner (Vera nearly losing her hand to offering Wolf Wolf some meat) and they head to bed.

The next morning they again get out around town, heading to the church for a bit. Nothing evil there, but they slightly interupt service when they bring in a wolf and a fucking horse (since Steve has again hidden his horn) into the building. After Nitahn makes sure there’s not a wedding ceremony happneing because oz has him so paranoid he just leaves. After a bit more searching the town and asking about Nitahn’s ‘brother’ they head up to the castle to try and get an audience. A man comes from the castle to ask them their business, to which Vera replies that they’re there to pay respect to the family on their way through the area, and that they have family business to discuss. After he leaves after promising to pass along the information Vera feins that she’s made a faux paus and didn’t ask for his name. He’s Hanz the younger, the younger sibling of the Schwarzesholz family. Vera introduces the party as the Isha group, earning herself ‘We ain’t never heard no Isha clan’ “Then I’m doing my job right.”.

They head to the inn for the night, and the next day Oz starts annotating the letter from Vera’s husband and realizes that he’s kind of written a reply. He asks her if he can write her husband and Vera says of course he can. Her husband is brilliant, but he doesn’t make friends easily and he’d enjoy someone to talk magic with. She starts trying to teach Wolf-Wolf to ‘take it nice’ when it comes to eating food, but doesn’t get much headway. After patting his ears she tells him his fur is weird, then remarks to Oz that she doesn’t really have much experience with animals. Her husband has a cat that’s 28 years old, though. Oz scores a good knowledge nature roll to know that’s unreasonably old for a cat. That, with the additional information from the letter that focused on Necromany questions and how Vera both fears undead and has an interest in anything creepy/vampire skeletons, Oz has a suspicious that her husband is a necromancer.

A letter comes for the party, and when Vera realizes it’s gibberish she hands it over to Nitahn, who can read it for traveler’s cant. It’s from Fyodora, and she says that there’s a back pathway into the castle and if they come after dark she’ll be able to meet with them, because she’s up in the keep. So the party gets ready, Nitahn taking a bath to make himself nice and Vera harassing him while he’s taking the bath. “Are we friends, Havilah?” “not right now we’re not!”

After asking Steve if he wants to come to the party sets out, going along a quiet cliffside path until they get to a dead end. Nitahn knocks a few times, and a footman opens the door. He leads them through the castle, Steve following after. The group passes by a corridor that smells heavily of death and decay. The Footman explains that’s where they keep the remains of those who don’t take the change. It gives a somber sort of feel as the group follows in the castle.

At a point the footman leaves them, giving direction on where to go from there. Vera asks him if he’ll be okay, and the footman says he’ll be fine if no one catches him. Vera advises him to go back to Steve if he’s in danger, as Steve had to hang back in a more narrow passage. They continue towards where they were told to go, Nitahn’s enlightened ring fading when they’re almost at the wall. So in pitch darkness they push forward, Nitahn knocking on the wall.

A hidden passage opened and there’s Vlad staring out at the group unimpressed. Vera leans to the side and gives him a shit eating grin at the sight of his eye, which while still there now has a scar over it. “Hey.” She says and Vlad grunts unhappily. After a moment though Fyodora is there and Nitahn squeezes past Vlad to check in on her. She’s fine, dressed well. Vlad’s also dressed a lot better.

Surprisngly blows don’t happen and the group is willing to listen to Vlad and Fyodora to learn what’s happened. Vlad had been sent to grab Fyodora and bring her south, because the head of the clan is trying to consolodate power and build up forces in the wake of rumors of Von Rothrine strength waning. Juno, previousy married into the Vodyvolk clan, sent her son Vlad north to find a specific halfblood. Bastard daughter to the pack leader of the Vodyvolk, a girl who’d been passed on after birth to a group of Travelers. Fyodora is Vlad’s half sister. Due to her high status and worth, Juno has yet to marry her off like she has several others. The ones that possesed the ability to slightly control their wolf form when they were infected were inducted into the family, and all that didn’t posses the ability to change are in the cellars.

Vlad pops an additional prerequesite to the plan: there are six others waiting for the full moon to be infected and face the change. He wants them all out, because traveling with Fyodora and getting to know her has helped him realize that this plan is a horrible plan. Vera asks if he’ll face reprecussions for this and he’s basically like ‘if I’m caught, yeah’ because being the son of the effective ruler of the pack doesn’t mean a lot if you betray the pack. Vera’s like ‘well, we’ll have to get you out too then’. They have some banter, with Vera being like ‘Hi, daddy issues. I’m also daddy issues.” which earns a laugh from Vlad.

They (and I mean Vera, Oz has started to harass Nitahn) as Vlad various questions about the family. What Juno’s goals are, what’s the proper terms of address, how to adress the family, what subjects to avoid. That kind of thing. And Vera starts getting a plan to cover up the old one that she can’t use anymore (She was going to blame Vlad for everything and point out what a security risk he was for kidnapping a girl from Von Rothrine territory, dragging her through the territory, getting into a fight in town, all that jazz. That won’t work.) because she’s wants to get some use out of Anton Bellek and his fuckery.

They say their goodbyes to Fyodora and Vlad and head back out the way they came. Once they get back to the catacombs however, when they pass the smelly hallway they all hear a noise. Vera doesn’t detect any evil, but they keep hearing a sort of wet meat smacking noise, like something’s moving. Instead of investigating that they get the fuck out of dodge and head back to the inn.

Fyodora sends a second letter that starts out readable by anyone as ‘I don’t want to see you again Havilah’ but he can read (after the initial shock) that she’s still safe and that an invite to the castle for dinner should come in the next few days. And, indeed, Hanz the younger comes himself to the inn to extend the invitation, asking for any dietary concerns like a proper polite host. They exchange plesantries and are told to dress nice if they’re able before Hanz leaves. The eldest barmaid is like ‘Well, that sounds interesting!’ and Vera’s like ‘oh, doesn’t it?”

Oz takes to the wagon to edit the dress Nitahn bought Vera to fit her and edit a set of armitage’s dress clothes to fit himself while Nitahn heads into town to buy something to cover up his smell on advice of Vlad. He buys two vials of perfume and after Wolf-Wolf leads him to a soap vendor and is like ‘hey i found that scent we were looking for!!!!’ Nitahn buys him a treat. The party gets ready and Oz i able to tell that the cologne Nitahn bought is based in fox urine. He doesn’t tell him and Nitahn douses himself liberally with it. Without their armor but with their silvered weapons the party heads to the castle after a last minute stop to buy a cask of whiskey to offer as a gift.

Vlad had warned them that there would likely be a large number of people in the hall for dinner as a show of force, because Juno has been making a lot of family members. Vera steps foward and adresses the family: first Deidric the clan head, then she adresses Juno as the countes of the vodyvolk wilds (which earns an eyebrow raise, thanks for the in Vlad) and when Hanz arrives a bit late she addresses him as proper. Juno looks to Vlad and he gives a sharp shake of his head; she’s asking if they’re the ones who nearly killed him a few days prevously. (He’s got a gnarly scar on his abdomen, Vera apologized for nearly bisecting him)

Plesantries are made and Vera explains that they’ve been in the country long enough that if you play meek and skirt under the lords of the land then you’re a target, so visiting the family to pay them duty due is only proper. She also alludes to having an interest in finding like minds against the Von Rothrines, citing the town of Hora that the group met in four months ago that was filled with kind people and then very abruptly wasn’t from the thirst. “Revenge, or justice?” “Justice, on a grand scale.”

Having piqued the interest of the countess they settle in to dinner. Nitahn sits by Deidric and gets talked to about hunting for a bit, and Juno calls in the wolves. Literally. Like 30 wolves come ito the room and start picking on the scraps. Questions start coming Nitahn’s way, like “So, where are you from?” “oh, all over, I’m a traveler.” “Traveler, huh? So, dragonport, dormond, rusk?” “All of the above!” “you’re pretty hairy.” “Yeah....” “That’s a nice wolf you got there. Few steps from wild, huh?” “Yeah, I found him, he’s a stray.” “You have a good connection with him? Like, almost understand him?” “Well, I’m working on it, he doesn’t understand me the best.” And he lets them down by not being a werewolf, but shortly after gains some points when someone else asks “So how’d he lose the ear?” and Nitahn awkwardly is like “He bit me. So i bit him back.” leading to anyone listening to burst into laughter and appreciaction. One asks him why he smells like fox piss, to which Nitahn looks betrayed at Oz. Oz doesn’t know why nitahn is looking at him but he smirks down the table.

Oz is across from an older woman who’s got her eyes set on a sweet little young thing and seductivley eats a chunk of meat. Oz politely smiles and makes small talk with Hanz.

Meanwhile Vera’s doing her best to deal with the beast herself. She explains they’ve traveled the north and when Juno asks about it’s status, she tells her about Anton Bellek and his silver mine ran by humans. Getting a steady supply of silver into the hands of humans aligned with them (or wolves in human form) could be useful. lAs well as having a vampire ally, one who killed his master. Vera expresses distaste and how she’s unable to work for him due to her code of ethics, and Juno remarks how there’s no good or evil. (Which sounds like something someone evil would say). Juno presses Vera to know what she’s after and Vera tries simpering away, to mixed sucess. Juno does allow her to back down, stating that it’s soemthing to go over at another time. She also makes a bit of small talk, asking her how far along she is. Here the mask slips when Vera does the math, and, oh fuck she’s six months along.

Juno has the cask of whiskey they brought brought out, and suggests that Wolf-Wolf take the first drink because they’re far less likely to have given him protection from poison. The poor boy doesn’t like whiskey, with Nitahn apologizing and explaing they’ve only given him beer before. Booze is offered to the two men, with none offered to Vera because Juno’s been pregnant, she’s not going to make a pregnant woman drink. She also extends an invitation to stay at the keep, which Vera says she’ll get her companion’s opinion on before accepting or denying the genrous gesture.

Deidric puts an arm around NItahn and invites him out to a hunt, with Vlad interjecting and being like ‘oh, uncle, he’s probably tired’ and getting him out of hunting what probalby would be humans. Vlad also compliments him on the fox piss cologne, they’ll be smelling it for weeks when it rains. Nitahn is less enthused about this entire thing. The three gather and talk for a quick moment, Nitahn vetoing that idea and being like ‘blame it on me, say I’m not used to being in places like this beccause I’m a traveler.’ They have a bit of banter, with Oz bringing up to Nitahn whas would happen to Vera if she’s bitten. She’s a paladin, but what about the baby? To which Vera immedently gets a sour face and is like ‘I don’t- no. You know what? You need to remind me to ask Nik what happens, becuase I’m not thinking about this. if he didn’t want to get these letters he wouldn’t have pulled me out of the canals as a child’ and explains to them that she’d been trying to swim to the tarrasque. Nitahn knows that it’s basically monster godzilla and is like ‘whyyyyy’.

They make polite exit and head back to the inn for the night, finding that Steve had gotten baked with the stable boy and probalby has punked him a few times with the horn. They go to bed, and Vera dreams. There’s a bear or maybe she’s the bear, she knows what her name used to mean. And she’s running, and there’s wolves, but is she running away from the wolves or are the wolves running from her? Then it changes and the bear is running to the wolves, rearing up on it’s hind feet and it stands tall and powerful above them.

She wakes up and is like ‘I blame you’ to her stomach before doing her usual prayers. And when she opens her eyes at the end there’s a bear there. She knows what it is and why it’s there, and all she can do is reach out and grab it’s nose and start crying.

oz hears the sound of her crying through the door and gets Nitahn, hwo opens the door to find Vera on her knees and sobbing, reaching up to cradle the bear’s head. He closes the door and asks oz ‘Was there a bear in there when you left?” to Oz’s stunned response of no. Nitahn opens the door again and is like ‘Vera, where’d that bear come from?’ and Vera responsd in high pitched sobbing.

Eventually she calms down enough to be understood, saying ‘He’s too big to fit through the door’ “Well, how’d he get through the door?” ‘he didn’t’ “...How did he get through the window?” ‘he didn’t?’ Nitahn looks at the intact walls, ceiling, and floor, before looking back at her. “How did he get in here?”

“He’s mine. I thought if I fell any night it’d be last night, but he’s here and he’s mine.” And with that Oz can make his knowledge religion check to guess that this is Vera’s paladin mount, a magic creature gifted to her by her goddess. And it’s a bear.

Vera is later displeased at the realiziation that the bear comes with a saddle and she’s expected to ride it.

#The idiots do a adventure

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johnnymundano · 5 years

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Hard to be a God (2013)

Directed by Aleksei German

Written by Aleksei German and Svetlana Karmalita

Based on the novel ‘Hard to be a God’ by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky

Music by Viktor Lebedev

Country: Russia, Czech Republic

Language: Russian

Running Time: 177 minutes

CAST

Leonid Yarmolnik as Don Rumata

Dmitri Vladimirov

Laura Pitskhelauri

Aleksandr Ilyin as Arata

Yuri Tsurilo as Don Pampa

Yevgeni Gerchakov as Budakh

Aleksandr Chutko as Don Reba

Oleg Botin as Bucher

At the risk of being excessively humdrum it is important to note that Hard to be a God rumbles on in surly, monochrome magnificence for nigh on 3 hours. If you choose to watch it it’s best to factor that in; Hard to be a God is best enjoyed when you can immerse yourself in its outlandish milieu of brutality and filth. Hard to be a God is science fiction, but be warned it isn’t a love story set on a spaceship or a billion dollar toy advert, so maybe factor that in too. Hard to be a God is a thoroughly truculent mind-trip which is wholly oblivious to your comfort or expectations. Hard to be a God is what’s happening in the arse end of the universe far, far away from where all the nice, happy science fiction movies happen. Hard to be a God is opaque, baffling, grotesque, deranged and wholly, insanely, magnificent.

Hard to be a God is the tale of one Don Rumata (Leonid Yarmolnik) who is introduced to us as a slob of slobs with a penchant for discordant jazz-flute, who dwells in a castle mired in filth and boiling with scrofulous wretches. It turns out that Don Rumata is in fact the very model of hygiene and cleanliness in comparison to the other fetid inhabitants of this repugnant unnamed planet. It is an earth-like planet, wherever it is, and the society infesting its surface is akin to the Middle Ages. It is not unlike the world of Terry Gilliam’s Jabberwocky (1977), but worse because it’s serious and they like it like that. Unfortunately it has been the Middle Ages for some several hundreds of years and is set to remain so for the foreseeable future, as at some point it was decided to murder all the clever-clogs. Apparently the nascent Renaissance put the willies up them all so much that a collective decision was reached to remain thick; to halt progress. This sounds ridiculous but only if you’ve never heard of Pol Pot. Even recently in the UK a politician (the odious schemer Michael Gove) claimed “This country has had enough of experts.” and was met with approbation instead of opprobrium. Hard to be a God is science fiction as a parable or allegory and as such it’s theme is timeless; the lure of ignorance isn’t going anywhere. But that’s not all, because unusually for a modern science fiction movie Hard to be a God is a movie of many ideas, rather being than a movie of one idea, or no ideas.

Meanwhile, back at the plot, things are not exactly as they seem; Don Rumata is actually Anton, one of a number of earthlings who have travelled to the planet to observe its retrograde ridiculousness. Apparently while it is the Middle Ages on the nameless planet, on earth it is centuries in the future. Exactly what the purpose of this exercise is beyond shameless Schadenfreude is unclear (a lot of things in Hard to be a God are unclear; I’ll swing back to that), particularly as Anton/Don Rumata is prohibited from direct intervention. Stuck in something which is not so much a society as a vortex of filth and degradation barely held in control by the venal rulers, the Don witnesses the various addled factions violently vying for control of what is essentially a planet sized toilet populated by cretins. Due to the fact that the Don is supposedly descended from a God (to explain his oddness; it’s not really clear) all the factions contest for his support, whether it be by force or the promise of change. All are found wanting and it’s clear that the populace is locked into a hopeless cycle of ignorance perpetuated by whoever claws their way to the top of the dung heap. Religion, politics and rebellion are all just mechanisms of, and the masks worn by oppression in the world of Hard to be a God (and our world; that bit is abundantly clear). As a God Don Rumata is condemned to watch, but as the atrocities exceed reason and the temptation to act grows, it becomes harder and harder for him to be a God.

This central dilemma may explain the oddity of the POV of the camera being acknowledged by the characters. At first you just pick up on the odd glance at the camera as someone disappears round a corner, but soon people are peering in/out right at you and you realise that in the background of scenes, beyond the narrative focus, there’s usually been some lollygagging halfwit eyeing you up. Precisely what this signifies is unclear. I reckon that it’s a device to put you in the same position as Don Rumata: you too are forced to witness the self-imposed degradation of a whole planet, but while you are unable to interfere he is only forbidden to do so. The obvious difference is the option to disobey is his, and by the time he (maybe) does so it should bring the viewer a form of empathetic climax. So maybe it’s a device playing into the movie’s concern with free will or maybe the actors are the most ill-disciplined bunch ever (“Stop looking in the camera, Yuri! It’s staying in! No, Oleg! No!”). I could be wrong, as I say it is unclear.

Yes, a lot of things in Hard to be a God are unclear. To be honest and in the interests of full disclosure, Hard to Be a God isn’t terribly concerned with delivering a coherent narrative; I wasn’t too sure what had actually happened within it after I had watched it, and had to piece it together in retrospect. So, you know, errors may have been made on my part. But it’s obviously a movie about the value of engaging your brain, so the fact it forces you to do so could well be built in. Yes, Hard to be a God is a gruelling, almost numbing experience made all the more gruelling and numbing due to its tenacious refusal to allow the plot to push entirely past the visual fiesta of faeces. But Hard to be a God is also a unique experience and that’s a pretty big achievement. Alas, Hard to be a God was also Aleksei German’s final achievement as he died the same year the movie premiered, 2013.

#Aleksei German #Movies #Science Fiction #Hard to be a God #Russia #Czech republic #2010s #2013

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thesunlounge · 6 years

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Reviews 107: Mårble

Anton Glebov is a fourth world wanderer who has been releasing music as Mårble for a few years now. He tends toward delirious tapestries comprised of field recordings, heady world music, far-out jazz, and the more esoteric strains of 90s ambient techno and house, a style that hit its high point earlier this year with Diego (on Not Not Fun). And now, Anton inaugurates Nummer’s new Natural Selections imprint with the spellbinding Elixir of Immortality. At over 50 minutes in length and including contributions from Slavik Ipatov on woodwinds and Mikhail Gavrilov on synths and guitar, this feels like the most realized and expansive Mårble outing yet…a feverish journey through rainforest rhythms, otherworldly flute and sax, exotic breakbeats, kosmische synthesizers, and layers and layers of morphing spectral ambiance.

Mårble - Elixir of Immortality (Natural Selections, 2018) In “Golden Bells,” shimmering pads sound as if some colossal machine is sucking all of the air of out existence and then slowly releasing it back…over and over and over. Textures like futuristic windchimes intertwine with skipping static fx, everything swirling together into a vortex of breathtaking cosmic atmosphere. As a meditative flute joins the spiritual flow and percolating arps fade into and out of the polychromatic mist, a massive bass sequence is introduced, all grooving subaqueous synth funk that begs for a loved up rhythm but must suffice with minimalist cymbal patterns instead. Metallic sequences swathed in reverb fade in as well, forming a sort of robotic space music as they intertwine with the strange disjointed arps and periodic blasts of rhythmic static. But eventually it all fades away as those huge walls of breathing vocal synthesis are reintroduced, bringing with them the flute and its dreamtime dance. This drone epic is followed by the surprising rhythmic force of “4.19,” wherein atonal rainforest hand drums and shadowy drones are joined by a huge angular breakbeat. It’s IDM classicism as blasted into the center of the sun…futuristic and alien, but with its toes still dipping into ravey waters. At some point the beats are filtered out of focus, leaving behind an epic section of magical Don Cherry mysticism, with tribal forest percussion and spritely wood flutes dancing. And once that addictive break smashes back in, its backdrop of haunted synth smears is now colored over top by woodwind psychedelia.

Our first taste of saxophone comes in “Archipelago” as skronking astral plane explorations sit above ceremonial drum work, expressive flute trills, and the sounds of extra-terrestrial cave liquids dripping from every surface. It brings to mind those wild Art Ensemble of Chicago albums on BYG Actuel and Mårble’s own “Para la Olimpiada”, with ritualistic saxophone fire surrounded by a panorama of exotic percussion. But “Archipelago” is a much freer trip overall, especially towards the end where blistering passages of jazz drum fury are stuffed between African leaning minimalism, percussion mimicking jungle frogs, and those delirious flutes flying into outerspace. “Schwarzenegger’s Cry” sees murky beats dropping into glowing pools of neon…echo smeared…reverbed into indistinction. Beautiful noir sax lines float freely alongside 50s sci-fi fx and pitched down vocal samples, while a shadow of a rhythm forms from stuttering bass drums and machine claps. It’s cinematic and vaguely sinister, like walking city streets late at night and deep within a bad trip, floating on air as amorphous forces and bodies of energy circle all around, with the heartbreaking saxophone streaks as the only guide back to earthly realms. And even these soon fly away into a dark and burning sky with moaning, wailing fury, accompanied by kick, claps, and the disturbing drip-drops of incandescent alien substances.

The B-side begins in the sunshine of “Tahiti.” A bright and balearic glide develops from hazy keyboard tones and island rhythms, with more pitch shifted voice samples drifting on the oceanic currents. Thumping bass notes work their way into a breezy walk alongside hypnotic shakers and clicks, though the waters become occasionally choppy as the rhythms take on an anxious energy and modulated flutes fly freely into the clouds. And then out of nowhere, Anton disrupts the trip entirely with several extreme tempo shifts across the whole mix…first speeding things up, then slowing them down for a leaned out and druggy coda. “Aquarium” is also soaked in daylight, with anthemic synth pads ascending into the realms of 90s ambient glory. But rather than drop into a massive beat, we shift instead into a tropical sway, with harsh cymbals keeping time while captivating and strange fx send the seaside guitars bouncing ear to ear. This lysergic backdrop supports vibrant six-string exotica, seeing soft tremolo picking surfing on waves of sunshine over the skittering hypno-rhythms. Elsewhere on the B-side sits “Vyāsa” and its Boards of Canada style collage work, with morphing analog fx that are as disturbing as they are wondrous. A subdued rhythm rises from the depths as ghostly chimes dance intoxicatingly, forming a sort of barely there funk flow out of scattering bass guitar notes. And overhead, orchestras smothered in broadcast static drift chaotically and unidentifiable percussion accents are refracted through interstellar fx.

“Seaside” is less peaceful than its name implies, with ominous bass clouds underlying a futuristic downtempo jazz beat and breathy, romantic, and seductive saxophone streaks referencing the slow motion horror jazz of Bohren & der Club of Gore. Dubwise echoes are adrift in the background ether and too loud tambourines flash into the mix to disturb the flow until once again, Anton drops a surprising and slamming beat, letting the rhythms and sax work together for a captivating ending. If this song recalls the seaside, it must be after the sun has gone down, with the terrifying yet beautiful image of billowing and flashing thunderheads on the horizon. Our swim in the Elixir of Immortaility ends at “Hanging Gardens,” featuring a hallucinatory rhythm of sumptuous percussive bass notes and rolling hand drums. Flutey effects sounding like outer-dimensional birds and noisey synths cascade through the mix, occasionally taking over and washing the percussion out completely. These moments leave us adrift on some river of fantasy, the sounds of never before discovered fauna intermixing with a beatific ambiance emanating from the water itself. But eventually the body moving bass flow returns, now under layers of dub fx and accompanied by shakers and hand drums as everything builds back to a playful forest dance.

(images from my personal copy)

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deadcactuswalking · 3 years

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REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 19/12/2020

Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You” spends a second week at #1. It’s #1 in the States as well. We’ve got a week of Christmas music and a Taylor Swift album bomb so... God, let’s just get this over with. Welcome back to REVIEWING THE CHARTS.

Rundown

So let’s start as always with the drop-outs from the UK Top 75, which we have a few of but not as notable as the last few weeks, as the less interesting 2020 hits that just can’t leave the chart are slowly dropping off. We have some of the bigger hits like “Looking for Me” by Diplo, Paul Woodford and Kareen Lomax (Good song, by the way), “WAP” by Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion, as well as some more recent and more moderate successes like “Princess Cuts” by Headie One featuring Young T & Bugsey, “i miss u” by Jax Jones and Au/Ra and “SO DONE” by The Kid LAROI. I can see this all rebounding after Christmas though, especially those last few. What I can’t see rebounding are the three Christmas songs that ironically dropped off from last week, particularly “Santa’s Coming for Us” by Sia which I do not remember being a top 20 hit. We do, of course, have some more fallers as well, like “34+35” by Ariana Grande at #14 and “Santa Tell Me” also by Ariana at #17 – not a good week for her, I suppose. I also find it funny that we have a couple Christmas songs that actually dropped places this week, not many of which are notable, but to give an example, due to three separate songs entering the top 10 this week, “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” by Michael Bublé dropped five spots to #12. On the course of fallers, we also have “Midnight Sky” by Miley Cyrus at #22, “Therefore I Am” by Billie Eilish at #28, “Holly Jolly Christmas” by Michael Bublé at #36, “Monster” by Shawn Mendes and Justin Bieber at #44, “Head & Heart” by Joel Corry and MNEK at #48, “Blinding Lights” by the Weeknd at #50, “Lemonade” by Internet Money and Gunna featuring Don Toliver and NAV at #51, “you broke me first” by TateMcRae at #57 (the biggest fall this week), “Golden” by Harry Styles at #58, “Lonely” by Justin Bieber and benny blanco at #60, “Wonder” by Shawn Mendes at #63, “What You Know Bout Love” by the late Pop Smoke at #65, “See Nobody” by Wes Nelson and Hardy Caprio at #69, “Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse)” by Post Malone and Swae Lee at #70 and “A Little Love” by Celeste at #74. Of course, we also have some notable returning entries and gains, those returning entries being “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” by the Jackson 5 at #75 and “Baby it’s Cold Outside” by Adele Dazeem and Michael Bublé at #61. The most notable gains aren’t as plentiful this week because I feel like most songs, Christmas or not, are relatively stable if they’re not falling dramatically off the chart, so I’m not going to separate it into festive and non-festive tracks this time. We start off with “No Time for Tears” – the biggest climber this week – by Nathan Dawe and Little Mix up to #64, “Christmas Lights” by Coldplay at #43, “Get Out My Head” by Shane Codd at #32, and whilst that’s it for notably large gains, we do see “Whoopty” by CJ and “This Christmas” by Jess Glynne enter the top 10 at #10 and #9 respectively. Delightful. Well, we’re already done with the rundown – oddly quickly – so let’s get on with these new arrivals.

NEW ARRIVALS

#72 – “The Business” – Tiesto

Produced by Anton Rundberg and Tiesto

I have no time for umlauts. They’re simply not productive. Dutch DJ Tiesto has been at it for a while now and “The Business” is his new house-pop track with vocals from James Bell, probably propped up the chart by a remix with English DJ 220 KID. The original song charted though, so we’ll talk about that one and I do like the cold, bizarrely eerie strings for a song like this, even if the pitched-down vocals make it more comical than anything. The deep house groove here is cool but mostly cheap, especially whatever the hell those claps are. The bridge is aimless and James Bell gives a performance really not worthy of note. At least this has some essence of personality and artistic intent, unlike 220 KID’s usual output, who actually improves on the song by giving it more of a 90s Eurodance tinge, in my opinion at least. The 220 KID remix is a remix of a song that already felt like a remix though, so everything about this is unnatural and awkward, even for EDM.

#71 – “Cuddle Up, Cozy Down Christmas” – Dolly Parton and Michael Bublé

Produced by Kent Wells

The only time country music charts on the UK Singles Chart is when it’s barely country or Dolly Parton. Whilst a lot of country music is rarely appreciated out of the States, I feel like Dolly Parton is one of those singers that’s just universally loved. Michael Bublé on the other hand I have no patience for and I was dreading the time I’d have to review his songs again. The man made a career of off offensively inoffensive Christmas standards and his original music is painfully bad, so honestly, I’ll take it, but the man is clearly not interesting and whilst I understand why Dolly had him on her A Holly Dolly Christmas TV special in the vein of Mariah Carey’s this same year, I’m not excited to hear it. I’m not excited to talk about it either, because this is only vaguely country and is mostly just a jazz-adjacent traditional pop standard, except this is an original song. Neither Parton and Bublé have any chemistry, there’s a lot of empty space, and Bublé’s awkward attempts to add personality to what is and will always be a dull, painful slog of a track are just cringe worthy if anything. This song is barely about Christmas either or anything warm and intimate about cuddling up with family as I expected. It’s just the image of Dolly Parton banging Michael Bublé by the fireplace, and it goes on for about three minutes and 39 seconds too long. Next.

#66 – “Baby it’s Cold Outside” – Brett Eldredge featuring Meghan Trainor

Produced by Ron Mousey and Jay Newland

“Baby it’s Cold Outside” spews controversy nowadays, and whilst I never found a reason to be mad at what is clearly a dated but to me pretty innocuous and satirical Christmas standard, I never found a reason to like the song. Even the classic Dean Martin version is pretty much a slog, but that doesn’t mean I can stomach John Legend’s “politically correct” version either, which is probably the worst rendition I’ve heard, although Bublé’s is close. I don’t mind Tom Jones’ attempt, I guess. Regardless, this version from 2016 is by another country singer, but it did just chart because Meghan Trainor’s here. These two might have even less chemistry than Dolly and Bublé; at least they tried, whilst here despite the song being a back-and-forth, they seem to be on completely different ideas on how to tackle the song. Admittedly, I like this flat, jazzy rendition of the track fine but if anything Trainor is an inconvenience to my enjoyment of this lounge track. She shows off her vocal strength a bit too much for it to work until that awkward burst of energy at the end. Also, Brett Eldredge exists. How unfortunate. It may also be insensitive in retrospect, and maybe ironic, that the song ends with Eldredge warning her she might catch pneumonia if she went outside. Huh.

#55 – “Forever Young” – Becky Hill

Produced by Charlie Hugall

“Forever Young” by Alphaville is one of those classic 1980s synth-pop tracks that sounds so obviously 1980s but is far from dated, with the lyrics being a take on contemporaneous political issues covered in optimistic calls for action and gorgeous strings that undercut Marian Gold’s longing, belting delivery and of course, that horn section at the end that sadly fades out instead of coming to a genuine climax but would be brilliant either way. The song has a legacy indeed, and is continuously topical, being covered by One Direction, Kim Wilde and Imagine Dragons, and being sampled or interpolated by Dorian Electra, JAY-Z, Maroon 5 and even Tangerine Dream. The song has had so many reimaginings that it’s hard to imagine what new can be done with a classic track that didn’t really need much reworking in the first place... so naturally, Becky Hill made an acoustic cover for a McDonald’s commercial. It’s just her singing it vaguely competently over an unimaginative piano rendition of the original, but it does offend me in how it strips everything out of the original song to replace it with a vague orchestral swell and exhaustingly boring delivery from Becky Hill. Sure, the original song sounds cheaper now but if anything, this sounds even cheaper, with mixing drenched in reverb that makes everything sound a lot uglier than it’s supposed to. JAY-Z screwed “Forever Young” up to hell and back on his track with Mr Hudson but at least he rapped over it and had a bit of a sample flip, instead of just reciting the lyrics and chord structure without realising what made the song so biting and anthemic in the first place. This isn’t REVIEWING THE ADVERTS though, even though most of the time it ends up being, so I won’t bore you much longer with this.

#37 – “Show Out” – Kid Cudi, Skepta and Pop Smoke

Produced by Dot da Genius, Plain Pat, Heavy Mellow and Gravez

I knew this would be the highest-charting track from the Cudi album as soon as I saw the feature credit, but I didn’t expect it to be the only one charting. Regardless, I should probably talk about the album because I have listened to Man on the Moon III: The Chosen, Cudi’s highly-anticipated follow-up to his last two Man on the Moon records, both of which are pretty damn great, and this one isn’t far from it either. I liked it a fair bit and even if its derivative first few tracks means it gets off to a slow start, there are absolutely moments on this album where we see a classic Cudi matured and aged, and able to talk about mental health in shallow detail as always but from a perspective where we see a Scott Mescudi that has settled down and is happy with life. While it’s far from a perfect album, I won’t lie and say it wasn’t heart-warming to hear Cudi like this considering how much he’s struggled in his decade-long career, and it’s backed by great, psychedelic production as always. “Show Out” is a complete abandonment of all of that, acting as a shallow turn-up drill track with a massive posthumous hook from the late Pop Smoke’s booming voice, accompanied by an Auto-Tuned Cudi mumbling over gorgeous string samples, which don’t feel like they’re watered-down by the overwhelming drill beat and instead accentuated, which I think is missing from a lot of UK drill. It helps that Skepta is here to slide effortlessly in his verse. He’s selling out shows and shooting guns “the same size as Kevin Hart”, and whilst the verse feels a little short, he absolutely steals the show when he’s there. That’s not to say Cudi doesn’t spit endlessly on his verse, which is also fire, before an atmospheric bridge where, in the midst of the gang violence and hedonism, he calls out to God to ask what the cost of it is. It’s the one part of the song that makes it make any lick of sense in the context of the album, but it’s also the one part I’m never so sure on. It sounds pretty jarring between Cudi’s verse and the hook, and it’s not cathartic when Pop Smoke comes back in so I think it could have been better used as an outro if anything. Other than that, the song is still really hard-hitting and one of my favourites from Man on the Moon III. Songs like “The Void” and “Rockstar Knights” with Trippie Redd blow it out of the water though.

#19 – “no body, no crime” – Taylor Swift featuring HAIM

Produced by Taylor Swift and Aaron Dessner

As you probably know, Taylor Swift dropped a new album last week called Evermore, which is basically a much weaker collection of B-sides from the Folklore sessions. I’ll discuss my gripes with the album more as we get onto “willow”, so I’ll give some short individual reviews here. This is one of my favourite tracks on the record, mostly because of how it takes Taylor back to her country roots but in sharp contrast to the original bubblegum country-pop style she had on her first few albums, she and HAIM of all people perform a pretty convincing true crime story about a missing persons case that might just end up being a murder. With a catchy chorus, oddly eerie and menacing delivery from Taylor Swift that sounds determined and honestly kind of badass with those electric guitars in the post-chorus, as well as some descending melodies in the verses I admittedly love, this is one of the best tracks on the album without hesitation for me. It’s one of the few tracks on Evermore that feels like Swift’s storytelling, knacks for infectious choruses, and the more serious, rootsy acoustic guitar-based instrumentation, are in perfect harmony, even if it is a bit short and much like the rest of the album, it falls victim to the meandering nature of these songs and their aimless bridges or outros. Either way, it’s good. Check it out if you haven’t already. It’s cool to see HAIM back on the chart too, by the way.

#15 – “champagne problems” – Taylor Swift

Produced by Taylor Swift and Aaron Dessner

When I was listening to Kid Cudi, Avalanches and Taylor last Friday all in one session, I was constantly engaged even through the duller parts of the second half of We Will Always Love You or the most rote, derivative Travis Scott rip-offs present on Man on the Moon III. I was only awake for about three and a half hours when I first went through Evermore, but you know that feeling you get in your eyes when you start feeling tired or exhausted? Maybe that’s just a me thing, but “champagne problems” is that feeling when your eyes start to sore a bit and you start blinking a bit more. The storytelling isn’t as engaging as it usually is on this track, and although I do like the main narrative, it takes a detour and doesn’t decide whether it wants to focus on that or a vaguer metaphor about mental illness and how it’s affected Taylor as a celebrity. I care about that on Reputation but I do not give a damn when it’s presented with this uninteresting chasm of piano melodies and a really awkward, pointless outro, once again, that’s out-of-place if anything. I wish anything on Evermore was as good as “seven” but that’s wishful thinking. Anyway, let’s start rambling, because it’s the big-boy debut time now.

#3 – “willow�� – Taylor Swift

Produced by Aaron Dessner

I have nothing to go off when judging Aaron Dessner’s production. He’s the frontman behind The National and he does contribute to the album vocally on one of the worst tracks but usually takes a backseat in production. On Folklore, although Dessner was still greatly involved, it felt a lot more varied and interesting from Taylor particularly, who went on unexpected songwriting angles and some melodies I genuinely love. I’m not a fan of the indie-folk direction for her – I think her style of writing and vocals actually fits better on pop tunes, which might be a hot take but I mean, my favourite album from her is Reputation so I’m full of those when it comes to Taylor. I can appreciate when it’s done well, though, and I like her storytelling abilities most of the time, unless of course the song itself is nothing to be interested in... and, I’m sorry, but half of Folklore was aggressively dull, particularly the back half, and I can barely make it through songs like “exile”. Maybe I just don’t “get” it, maybe I’m just not “listening hard enough”, or maybe, perhaps, I’m just not a fan of Taylor doing exactly what she usually doesn’t do on her albums, which is bore me. Say what you want about Red, 1989 or even Reputation, and ESPECIALLY Lover, but they take risks, intriguing ones at that and whether they’re successful or not is obviously up to listener’s interpretation, but regardless, it makes for a listen that is unpredictable and often fascinating. Lover is an absolute mess full of pretty mediocre attempts to do... well, anything, but it’s a better listen than Evermore out of sheer intrigue alone. It’s interesting to hear Taylor try all of these different musical ideas, whether it’s her trying obnoxious bubblegum-pop on “ME!”, ballads with the Dixie Chicks, 1980s-style synth-pop on “Getaway Car” and the majority of 1989, or even industrial-pop rapping on “...Ready for It?”. It’s not interesting to hear her make 16 quite similar songs and less than half of them have a unique flavour to them that makes the hour-long listen feel like you gained anything from it. It’s not just the album experience either that Folklore and Evermore lack, but it’s also the songs themselves, particularly in Evermore. Let’s look at “cardigan”, one of the best songs on Folklore, with Swift’s pretty low-key but emotive delivery, a noticeable and profound refrain, songwriting that evokes a pretty sweet metaphor and tells the start of a story that runs throughout the record in a way that can detach itself from the rest of the record, infectious choruses (even if they are cribbed somewhat from “Wildest Dreams”) and that subtle drum machine with pretty intricate percussion patterns covered by gorgeous string compositions, and a four-minute runtime that feels worth it, especially for that last chorus and verse, an effortless switch-up. Now let’s compare it to its equivalent lead single “willow”, a track with a checked-out Taylor singing pretty janky, awkward melodies over a cluttered mess of guitar strumming, with absolutely none of the very few ideas Taylor has musically actually succeeding. The song has to drop out entirely because Taylor and Dessner apparently can’t handle the three over-lapping ideas just in the first two verses and choruses, and whilst it still has that switch-up for the third verse/bridge, it does not feel worth it because there is another, over-long chorus with no lyrical adjustments to the hook that made the subtleties in “cardigan” so special. The song is 20 seconds or so shorter than “cardigan” but feels a lot longer because of how directionless the outro is, and none of it feels like anything other than a pretty folk-pop tune (which is barely qualifies as anyway because of how ugly these acoustics are, and how meandering Taylor’s cadence is throughout). She tries out the chorus with and without the falsetto for no reason other than to extend the song by the end and it makes effectively no change to how the chorus feels like it’s delivered. I’ll give “willow” credit that it’s listenable and a lot less boring than other tracks on Evermore but I can’t see this as anything more than a failed attempt that should be met with a “game over, try again” screen. I’d accept the musical chaos of misshapen ideas if I ever felt it was genuinely warranted. On Evermore, nothing Taylor does is what the audience deserves accompanying – or maybe even improving on – Folklore. Sorry.

Conclusion

Yeah, “no body, no crime” by Taylor Swift featuring HAIM takes the Best of the Week, but it was a toss-up between her and Kid Cudi, who gets the Honourable Mention for “Show Out” with Skepta and Pop Smoke. For the Worst of the Week, it’s really picking your poison between sickly Christmas duets, but I’ll ignore them and give it to Becky Hill for absolutely butchering “Forever Young”, with a Dishonourable Mention also going to Taylor Swift and “willow”. Here’s the top 10 for this week:

You can follow me on Twitter @cactusinthebank for more ramblings and Taylor Swift hot takes, if you’d want to see that. I won’t post another episode before the 25th so, if you’re reading this, merry Christmas, everyone, and I’ll see you on Boxing Day!

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heartbeetz · 8 days

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Jazz-core images from the last time I got to go to Hippo. His shop is shit like this. Plus plants.

#roz posts #fuck ok. I NEED a jazz tag. I'm pretty sure he's my only s/i without one #ughhhhg.....#jazz❤️🧱#<- that'll do for now #heartbeet + bricks...#also tempting to use ❤️🗝 instead...#bc I associate jazzton with old keys (jazz collects them and anton tries to bring him any he finds on demo sites)#I even have a necklace with two old keys on it that I consider my jazzton necklace #but it feels too ''key to my heart'' which is not the vibe I want #though it is very cute #so I may change his tag later. we'll see

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nettvnow-blog · 6 years

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All For One | Episodes 7-15

Episode 7: Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One

Characters: Dorothy (Gwenlyn Cumyn), Ariana (Xavier Lopez), Portia (Claire Gagnon-King), Alex (AJ Simmons)

Plot: In this episode Portia so happily welcomes everyone and by that she means everyone to this inclusive event for a good old fashioned, Girls Night*

It’s been a week of Dorothy being MIA with her friends, though she’s not necessarily missing out on any action with Miller (oops, my hand slipped). Alex being Alex throws down the third degree on wanting more deets on her friend’s boyfriend but Portia’s quick to put everyone back on track because she has an agenda for the night. Of course she does and Alex is OBVIOUSLY loving it...see below for loving it expression.

It’s a valiant effort from Portia to host a night to help show Dorothy that she doesn’t need a sorority to make her feel like she has sisters and truthfully, we have to agree with Portia! MST or not, she’s got these girls for life. Dorothy’s still a bit of a downer but she’s fully on track to recover from the Blanket Burrito incident of 2K16 and is ready to get this party started. We start off with a 90s karaoke event which Alex is quick to turn off the camera for (rude) but we pick back up just in time for truth or dare, where the Inseparables get to take a hold of the reins for a bit!

Ariana is the clear winner in the ‘Who Wishes They Were Anywhere but Here’ category as we’re met with one snarky comment after another and it finally gets under Alex’s skin when Ariana provokes her during her choice of picking truth, sparking some not so great memories from Alex’s past.

The night takes an awkward turn and in an attempt to salvage what’s left of the their night Alex slowly but sure begins to open up. There was a boy, they dated in high school and it ended badly, end of story. So why is this different than any other high school fling? Well, he was a runaway and Alex was supposed to help protect him but instead ended up hurting him and let him down, making him disappear. Guys, we’re gearing up for some really great character development, especially with Alex, so let her grow on you.

Portia, taking the reins once again transitions from this sad moment to a round of crank calling and just like that, we’re back on track!

*A gender inclusive sleepover event!

Episode Takeaway: Portia is too good for this earth, what did we ever do to deserve this cinnamon roll?

Best Inseparable Line: I like to feel the cool breeze between my toes because breton needs to give us more of a reason to think he’s weird.

First thought: Hi, hi, hi how do I get invited to one of these inclusive sleepovers also Portia, where can I get that onesie?

Final thought: I still don’t know where to get that onesie and Dorothy, I promise you, no one wants to hear what you and Miller might get up to over the phone. Gross.

Episode 8: A Revelation or Two

Characters: Dorothy, Ariana, Portia, Alex, Connie (Linnea Currie-Roberts)

Plot: So things are about to get heavy and not hot and heavy in the way that we’d hope (Dornie!) but something’s going down in Connie’s sorority, Psi Pi Alpha and Dorothy is ready to help her through it. So we find out that Connie did in fact put MST down as her first choice and was rejected which is bizarre given that her cousin, Anne, is the President. Legacies don’t just get shut down like that guys!

So as it turns out, Rick, President of the Student Union and infamous ex-boyfriend of Anne, told her to reject Connie, for what reason? We’re not so sure but it smells like blackmail to me. Connie being Connie says she doesn’t want to react because she loves Anne and of course she doesn't want to do anything to make matters worse for her. Now here, we get a firsthand view of a not lover’s quarrel, the first of many I’m sure, when Connie so straightforwardly yells, “Dorothy, you’re not my girlfriend!”

And...scene…

Except that it isn’t...Because Connie reveals that Anne was told to block two pledge and guess who pledge number two was...All because of Douchcanoe, Owen Rochefort. We shouldn’t be surprised at this revelation but we are and I’m shookth (am I using that right?) at Cumyn’s performance to keep it together when I’d be a baby crying on the floor.

Dorothy shares her news with the trio we’ve come to love and you can only imagine where they each stand on this. Alex is for ‘Team Don’t Do Anything!’ While Ariana is on Team ‘Let’s Rock This Shit! Personally,’ I’m on ‘Team Let’s Rock This Shit.’ Nevertheless, Alex talks some sense into Dorothy and they plan to take Rick down at the next Student Union gathering.

Episode Takeaway: Alex’s moral compass seems to be rubbing off on Dorothy...kinda and Ariana is definitely a lot more dark than we thought she was...Hacking the Pentagon, what?!

Best Inseparable Line: This is why I don’t date guys, from our favorite cookiemonster *cough* Laure Hollis, with an honorable mention from monochrome stating the obvious, ur a lesbian.

First thought: GUYS CONNIE IS BACK!

Final thought: Rick the Dick is a thing, also I want to see these hyena videos that Ariana’s talking about.

Episode 9: Vengeance Interruptus

Characters: Dorothy, Alex, Ariana, Portia, Treville

Plot: So that went well...not. As you can see, our beloved leading ladies are covered in what appears to be...fruit, so I’m assuming their non-violent, Rick the Dick, confrontation went well. So you guys ready for the rundown? After getting cleaned up, Alex lets us know she was well prepared, cue cards and all until they realized that everyone at the student union...LOVES and I mean LOVES the student union in a not cool scientology way, yikes.

They’re two hours into the meeting and Alex finally gets her chance to speak but Rick and being the charming man that he is, diplomatically states he’d love a sit down. It should’ve ended there right? But it didn’t because Dorothy, oh our sweet and firecracker of a girl, decided to pick a fight with Rochefort in hope of provoking him in front of Rick.

As if her night couldn’t get any worse, Treville springs a surprise visit and Dorothy is not prepared. Straight to the point, Treville asks for an explanation of Dorothy’s earlier antics and boy were we not prepared for this version of Treville because she is ON IT, even shooting Alex down as she tries to be a good friend and explain but on the premise that Rick is evil, Treville grants her permission to continue the validation of her earlier outburst but despite her best rebuttal Treville is once again ON IT. She gives off some, “don’t mess with me vibes,” and guys, I AM HERE FOR IT.

Episode Takeaway: Treville is a badass, Dorothy still has a lot to learn and Alex is pretty great despite her motherly antics.

Best Inseparable Line: So gang, let’s regroup: how do we get Dorothy into MST? sometimesawesome asking the important questions in life but also, agreed.

First thought: *nods absentmindedly to The Beatles, Revolution*

Final thought: I need more Treville in my life.

Episode 10: I Solemnly Swear That I Am Up To No Good

Characters: Dorothy, Portia, Ariana, Alex, Miller (Dan Mousseau)

Plot: Welcome back viewers and oh...gross...kissing. Now I know that I said I loved the chemistry between Miller and Dorothy because it’s there, absolutely! But after the not-lovers spat that Dornie had in episode 8 how can I not be rooting for them? So Miller finally removes his face from Dorothy’s long enough for us to get an update, I’m all about new love, romance and all that jazz but c’mon you gotta remember your friends. We find out there isn’t any updates on Rick, but judging from the episode title, we’re in store for something good and oh if it isn't Miller with the interruption suggesting that maybe Dorothy can do something about it just on the DL.

So Miller comes up with a brilliant plan to take down Rick by exposing him for his other misdeeds, but this time be smarter about it by going after him for something the team can actually prove. I hate to admit it, but Miller’s onto something, let the sucking face continue.

And we’re back, with Miller and Dorothy a respectable distance away from each other, we finally get to hear this diabolical plan of theirs which now includes Portiana and Alex! This moment also strikes the first time that Miller meets Dorothy’s friends and it’s all great until Alex shows up...Because it turns out she knows Miller and she knows him by Anton. We’re with Breton on this one, wtf?!

Episode Takeaway: Portia’s a Hufflepuff, Ariana’s a Slytherin, Alex is a Ravenclaw and Miller is a hippogriff.

Best Inseparable Line: I don’t think u 2 attacking each other’s faces will stop Rick, preach on monochrome, preach on!

First thought: Gross, turn the camera off if you’re gonna mack.

Final thought: Shit just hit the fan, cue dramatic zoom in and zoom out on Alex’s face!

Episode 11: Don’t You Dare Look Back

Characters: Dorothy, Portia, Ariana, Alex, Anton/Miller

Plot: So Anton...Anton is Miller and Miller is Anton. Got it? Okay, good. Well whoever he is, is doing a shit job at trying to save face as he tries to hurdle Alex outside away from prying eyes and ears but leave it to Dorothy to intervene at the right time.

So here’s what we find out, Anton is Miller’s middle name and he knew Alex in high school, are you guys thinking what I’m thinking? Absolutely, he was totally Alex’s high school runaway boyfriend. Dorothy, trying to continue the conversation gets shut down hard and I mean hard as Anton/Miller loses his cool and yells for them to drop it. Strike one bruh...strike one.

The episode takes a bit more of a serious turn as Alex confesses that she thought he was dead, Anton/Miller takes a step forward, his hand going straight to comfort her by grabbing her forearm, a very intimate and affectionate move might I add. In front of Dorothy. Strike two.

Dorothy quite literally inserts herself into the conversation, standing between Alex and Anton/Miller and tries to reel the conversation back to herself, naturally. She turns to Anton/Miller looking for some sort of clarity and he at least has the decency to reply with, “it’s complicated.”

Okay, now every time I’ve seen this episode I’ve had to pause at this moment (1:41). The acting is phenomenal and not much is even being said. There are three things I love especially about this moment, 1) Ariana’s reaction to watching this go down. 2) Dorothy’s stance after confronting Anton/Miller and 3) Anton/Miller might be the tallest one in the room, but right now he’s looking very, very small.

The scene continues with Alex powerfully taking control of the situation, kicking everyone out of the room to talk to Anton/Miller. Some go quietly, some go kicking and screaming, Dorothy.

The gloves come off and underneath all that macho, pie-baking, scruff, there is a real human in there who felt things. Anton/Miller admits how dejected he felt after being dumped, to which Alex reminds him that she didn’t break up with him, she just told him that he might be better off with a better family that could care for him. Honestly, both sides are pretty heavy to take in but I feel for both of them, I really do. The acting from Simmons and Mousseau are phenomenal and it’s quite possible one of the shortest episodes of the series thus far and just wow.

Episode Takeaway: Anton/Miller might not be such a bad guy after all.

Best Inseparable Line: I think Akari^89 takes the cake with this one...

First thought: Anton/Miller is TOTALLY trying to save face right now and I hope no one buys it. Especially Dorothy and Alex.

Final thought: Where does this leave Alex and Dorothy but also Dorothy and Anton/Miller?

Episode 12: Bugaboo

Characters: Dorothy, Ariana, Portia, Alex, Miller

Plot: Things seem to be going swimmingly as the entire gang (Miller and Alex included) have banded together to help take down Rick. Miller seems to be handling it better than Alex, if the way Alex’s pacing gives anything away.

Portia makes drinks, because of course she does and Miller continues to rattle off any ideas to take Rick down, but it’s Alex with the not-so-legal tactic to get what they need, by bugging Rick’s office. Miller has this devlish gleam in his eye and it most definitely does not go unnoticed by Dorothy. The plan takes on a life of its own with Portia and Miller placing the bug, Ariana hacking the video camera and Dorothy in the least bitter way possible (yeah, right), asks Mom what her role is and we can totally tell she’s not having it with being shafted to backup for Miller and Portia while Alex heads up everything from base AKA Dorothy/Connie’s apartment. Speaking of Connie, where is she? I miss her.

Six hours later the plan is moving forward and we’ve got Alex at the helm alongside the Inseparables which spark the conversation on what’s been going on with Alex and Dorothy. You have to feel for them because this really isn’t anyone’s fault but when feelings are involved well, I’m sure you guys know how it goes.

The walkie talkie banter is pretty solid in this episode, in addition to the Miller backstory Alex divulges too. Long story short but they met at a mall, Miller’s parents had just passed away and he left to avoid getting stuck in a group home. We can’t blame him there, but unbeknownst to us, he had an aunt and uncle ready and willing to take him in, he just didn’t want them. Oh and not to leave you guys hanging but the bugging of Rick’s office was a success!

Episode Takeaway: Alex is a boss at executing plans, walkie talkies need to become a thing again, jealous Dorothy is probably one of my favorites and Alex admits that the Inseparables are real friends!

Best Inseparable Line: So how did teeny bopper Alex meet Anton and faaaalll in loo~ooove. Breton, I despise you but I also love you.

First thought: Dorothy has some feelings.

Final thought: Dorothy still has some feelings.

Episode 13: 100% Success Rate

Characters: Dorothy, Ariana, Alex, Portia, Connie, Miller

Plot: The squad is in full celebration mode after the successful hacking/bugging of Rick’s office and it appears that foam swords are now part of this crew’s celebration. You do you! Alex takes this moment to confront Dorothy and clear the air, quite frankly I’m a bit peeved at how standoffish Dorothy is being, when Alex has been nothing but kind to her, given the circumstances. Dorothy is awkward as hell and Alex is still the best for being so supportive. Plot twist though: Alex tells her to be careful because Miller is cool but the Anton she knew wanted to set the world on fire. Another plot twist, apparently Rick might be involved in some heavy coke smuggling ring, things sure have changed since I was in college.

This is probably a great time for Connie to show up. HI CONNIE! After a quick rundown on what’s been going down, Connie doesn’t exactly disapprove but she doesn’t exactly approve either. Either way, we’re just happy to see Connie back in our lives and in Dorothy’s (squeal). So naturally, this is a great time for Monty to be brought back up and for Connie to even ask about Miller. The roomie reconciliation ends and everyone comes out of Dorothy’s room to get back to celebrating. There’s an awkward conversation between Dorothy and Miller about Connie that honestly leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth but I suppose time will tell and Miller officially goes back on my Do Not Trust list. The episode segues into a group dance because why not and the episode ends in a rather dramatic way with a dark room and Alex back at the helm with a message to the Inseparables: Keep an eye on Dorothy and don’t trust Miller. This doesn’t feel right.

Episode Takeaway: Dorothy doesn’t know how to be cool. CONNIE IS BACK. Ariana and Miller fake sword fighting is everything, fake sword fighting in general is awesome.

Best Inseparable Line: And as usual Dorothy has the subtlety of a hammer. Sassyinspanish is quickly becoming my favorite.

First thought: Do we get another episode of Jealous Dorothy?

Final thought: Alex is the real MVP.

Episode 14: The Red Pill

Characters: Dorothy, Alex, Ariana, Portia, Miller

Plot: To say things are getting out of hand would be an understatement. There hasn’t been any incriminating evidence on Rick, Douchcanoe seems to be a very willing participant to do whatever Rick tell him to do and our Musketeers are once again left asking themselves what more can they do? Alex and Miller are at each other’s throats because once again one of Alex’s plans haven’t flourished so the overall frustration is understandable. Ariana’s dark side is showing again and I’m starting to feel like things may not be so great in the foreseeable future.

The bug seems to be useless right now and instead of trying to think of a more strategic approach Miller goes 0 to 100 real quick. I do however agree with one approach that they’re going for, and that’s making Rochefort look weak to Rick. The way to do that? By using Portia as bait and I am NOT here for this, especially with how Ariana is pushing her to do this.

Episode Takeaway: Rick the Dick drinks cherry coke. Ariana’s quick with the quips.

Best Inseparable Line: Ariana SWEETHEART pls save it for fanfiction.net. Akari^89 with the mic drop!

First thought: Why are Alex and Miller fighting?

Final thought: I am NOT here for Portia being pushed into a corner and being used as bait. Not one freaking bit.

Episode 15: Backstab in the Back

Characters: Dorothy, Portia, Ariana, Miller, Alex

Plot: It’s party time back at Casa de Castlemore, the drinks are flowing and everyone seems to be in a great mood except, Portia. Can you blame the girl? We get a rundown from Rick himself as Dorothy plays the tape of Rick tearing into Rochefort after his let up AKA being seduced by Portia. Plot twist, but not a surprise at all: Alex still doesn’t know about the plan.

Now can I please introduce you to the highlight of this episode? This reenactment from Portia and Miller who are being puppeteered by their significant other. Is it hilarious? Oh it is by far one of the best things this season, expect it’s pretty obvious that Portia doesn’t think so judging by her annoyed face.

Alex appears and things take yet another bad turn and this time there’s no telling what Rick will do and Portia may face the brunt of it. Alex has a point, their plan wasn’t thought through in the slightest. Alex lashes out at Miller, calling him out on his Anton bullshit (YAS), she calls out Dorothy and her lack of brains and she even calls out Portia for going along with it, which poor Portia, she so doesn’t deserve it but she did go along with it. Alex leaves in a huff only to be stopped by Dorothy asking her not to tell Treville which tells me that she absolutely cares and wasn’t fully comfortable...Yikes.

Episode Takeaway: Ariana and Dorothy are not the best reenactors, but A for effort, also A for hilarity.

Best Inseparable Line: Ariana’s kinda skeezy when she’s wasted. Breton, I actually agree with you for once.

First thought: Why is Portia sad and why isn’t anyone paying attention to her.

Final thought: When is Portia going to snap and when is Dorothy going to get her head out of her ass?

#RJ Lackie #Sarah Shelson #Cherrydale Productions #KindaTV #Claire Gagnon-King #Xavier Lopez #AJ Simmons #Denise Yuen #All For One #Linnea Currie-Roberts #Dan Mousseau #Damien Doepping #Gwenlyn Cumyn

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dwtspd · 6 years

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DWTS25 Week 9: Semifinals!

These semifinalists look really good in leather.

Round 1: Pro’s pick.

Drew and Emma - Tango Emma picked I’m Gonna Be (500 miles) to describe Drew because he is heartworking and he has Scottish roots, like the band that originated this song. Definitely a hilarious and memorable opener, but Drew got a bit rough with his handling of Emma. He was kinda skippy during the fast parts, and his feet turn in when he has cross steps. Anyway, Drew gets to be the first person to dance in a kilt and bobbysocks. 8-8-8 T24

LOLZ at Jordan and Mark doing the tango kicks

Victoria and Val - Contemporary This was supposed to be a waltz. On one hand, this song wouldn’t fit a waltz so that’s the good thing about changing it. On the other hand, I’m not sure doing a contemporary is the best idea given her spasms last week. I didn’t catch it. Did they mention it? I like the concept based around Victoria’s family home, but Victoria didn’t do much. She just stood or sat around and did hand movements. And I’m not sure there was much else she could do. The little hand signals I think are from Jenna’s part, since she knows ASL. I didn’t get the part where she was leaning on the door. Because it’s close to her heart, though, it was Victoria’s best emotional performance. 9-9-9 T27 I don’t think it should be a whole 3 points above Drew, because it was far simpler, though Victoria performed it better.

Jordan and Lindsay - Argentine Tango “Brother” by Needtobreathe isn’t the brother song I thought. Not a very apt AT song, but I felt like Jordan had great musicality with it. I didn’t think Jordan was emotionally disconnected, but I do think it was a bit loose and swishy for an AT. I think Bruno got a good word for it: mature. Lindsay hurt her leg during a pro rehearsal on Sunday and I could see her compensating a bit as she danced. I thought Jordan’s expression was a biiiit weird. They mentioned he scratched his cornea (???!!) so I guess that’s why. 9-9-10 T28

WHAT WOULD I DO WITHOUT THE SWIFFER AD

Lindsey and Mark - Contemporary Head High. Mark and BC’s song. Really Mark? Lindsey has a really cute slouchy hat, and I just realised that Mark’s hair looks different in every single rehearsal shot. Like Victoria, given Lindsey’s recent injury I’m not sure doing contemp is the best idea right now. I found Lindsey to still be holding back and as a result some of the more technical parts like the jumps looked a bit wonky. I think it would have been more mindblowing if she had been able to go full out. 10-9-10 T29

Frankie and Witney - Salsa So Frankie said that if he made it past week 8 he would take his shirt off. And he did open his shirt to show off his spray-tanned abs or lack therof. I dunno if the song reflect Frankie’s personality, but I think it definitely brought out his SWAG. I knew Len wouldn’t like the hip hop, but hip hop salsas are Witney’s specialty. The basketball dunk was kinda random in the middle but would have been great in a freestyle. Like his NSYNC samba, not the most technical, but hella entertaining. 8-8-9 T25 God bless Bruno on this night.

That tour pro preview number was super out of sync. Britt fell out of one of her turns. Oh well, they have, like, half a month to polish it. I don’t think I saw Lindsay in that number, probably because she hurt her leg during this number.

Round 2: Iconic former DWTS dances

Drew and Emma - Corbin Bleu’s Jazz from season 17 Ironically I don’t remember this dance as well as some of Corbin’s other ones. I didn’t expect Drew to be as dynamic as Corbin, but I thought Emma did a good job tailoring it to Drew. She didn’t hold back on throwing in so many big moves and extensions, even with Drew’s long limbs. I thought Drew’s expressions were quite funny an gave it a bit of character. OH MY GOD EMMA. That move is so scary, and they did it like FIVE TIMES?????? But Drew gave it his 110% and didn’t lose stamina. 8-8-8 T24 8s were low, I think he deserved one or two 9s.

Victoria and Val - Amber Riley’s Charleston from season 17 For the first time, I feel like Victoria really threw herself into this dance. Lots of time-wasting parts put in by Val. Victoria had a cute, flirty kinda of character that suited her and worked really well rather than trying to force Amber’s kind of swag. CAI was kinda hypocritical, praising Victoria for making the dance her own and nothing like Amber’s, but she criticised Drew for not being like Corbin. I think the troupe made the dance seem more dynamic than it really is, but Victoria actually didn’t move around much. She twisted one of her legs in rehearsal???!!!!! 9-10-10 T29 No way this was anywhere near Lindsey’s contemp. Still a very simple dance. I get that there’s only so far Victoria can be pushed, but 29 is a stretch. Amber only got 24 the first time she did it, but danced a whole lot more, and only in week 3 or 4.

Jordan and Lindsay - Paige VanZant’s Jive from season 22 YES YES YES!!!!!! AMAZING. SHOWSTOPPING. WOW. There was a lot of things nodding at the original number. The lighting was similar, there was parts of the choreo that reminded me of Paige and Mark’s. But there was a kind of...snazziness, that was uniquely Jordan and Lindsay. Instead of trying to differentiate themselves from the original performance, they ran head first into the challenge and paid a good homage to Paige and Mark while also putting on a fantastic performance and dare I say it, one-up Paige’s dance. Jordan did the double cartwheel with straight legs, which was better than Mark. Did they speed up the music ever so slightly? INSANE. And they still stayed in sync and did so much content. Also, Jordan subtly brought up Lindsay’s farting in David’s face from last season. Bonus. 10-10-10 T30

Lindsey and Mark - Meryl Davis’ Tango and season 18 Another couple that didn’t shy away from trying to match the original and did something great. Just argh, those flashy lights were so distracting. I agree Lindsey kinda stumbled on one of the turns. Again, still think she is holding back because of her rib. And from personal experience, the frame in tango, in particular, stresses a lot of the torso and back, so I guess that’s why. Someone pointed out on PureDwts that this is the first time Mark will be doing a standard tango for the show since season 11. 9-9-10 T28 Meryl looks really cute with that hair.

Frankie and Witney - Apolo Anton Ohno’s Paso Doble from season 4 Is it bad that I remember this song more as Shawn and Derek’s freestyle? Well, that was a remix so... Witney pulled some muscles doing the split move. I feel like Frankie was trying too hard so he looked very tense through his whole body rather than coming across as strong and fierce. Didn’t hit his spanish lines and sometimes looked like he was hunching forward a bit. 9-8-9 T26

And now for the elimination. Safe: Lindsey, DREW, Jordan.

Eliminated: Victoria. She’s very upset.

The moment they called Drew safe, I knew Victoria was going home. In another season, she might have gotten in, but Jordan and Lindsey are powerhouses and Drew and Frankie just happen to be very VERY popular with the main demo.

Julianne will be back to guest judge the finale. Is the finale really the best time to have a guest judge?? Why not bring her back this week?

In any case, I think Drew will be fourth and for the first time, I really don’t care who of the remaining three wins. I love them all.

Total scores: Jordan: 58 Lindsey: 57 Frankie: 51 Drew: 48

#DWTS #dwts25

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qmartwall · 4 years

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John was kind enough to do the wall back in 2014.

We’ve stolen some bio history from Wikipedia

Lurie has been painting since the 1970s. Most of his early works are in watercolor and pencil, but in the 2000s he began working in oil. He has said of his art, "My paintings are a logical development from the ones that were taped to the refrigerator 50 years ago."

His work has been exhibited since July 2003, when two pieces were shown at the Nolan/Eckman Gallery in New York City.[15] He had his first solo gallery exhibition at Anton Kern Gallery in May and June 2004 and has subsequently been exhibited at Galerie Daniel Blau in Munich, Galerie Lelong in Zürich, the Galerie Gabriel Rolt in Amsterdam, the Basel International Art Fair at Roebling Hall and the P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center in New York, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the NEXT Art Fair in Chicago, the Mudam Luxembourg, the Watari Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo, Gallery Brown in Los Angeles, and the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.The Museum of Modern Art has acquired some of his work for their permanent collection.

Lurie has released two art books. Learn To Draw, a compilation of black and white drawings, was published by Walther Konig in June 2006. A Fine Example of Art includes over 80 reproductions of his work and was published by powerHouse Books in 2008.

Lurie's watercolor painting Bear Surprise was enormously popular on numerous Russian websites in an Internet meme known as Preved.

The Lounge Lizards

Main article: The Lounge Lizards

In 1978 John formed The Lounge Lizards with his brother Evan Lurie; they were the only constant members in the band through numerous lineup changes.

Robert Palmer of The New York Times described the band as "staking out new territory west of Mingus, east of Bernard Herrman." While originally a somewhat satirical "fake jazz" combo spawned by the noisy No Wave music scene, the Lounge Lizards gradually became a showcase for Lurie's increasingly sophisticated compositions. The band's personnel included guitarists Arto Lindsay, Oren Bloedow, David Tronzo, and Marc Ribot; drummers Grant Calvin Weston, Dougie Bowne, and Billy Martin; bassists Erik Sanko and Tony Garnier; trumpeter Steven Bernstein; and saxophonists Roy Nathanson and Michael Blake. The band made music for 20 years.

Marvin Pontiac

In 1999 Lurie released the album The Legendary Marvin Pontiac: Greatest Hits, a posthumous collection of the work of an African-Jewish musician named Marvin Pontiac, a fictional character Lurie created. It includes a biographical profile describing the troubled genius's hard life, and the cover shows a photograph purported to be one of the few ever taken of him.[5] Lurie wrote the music and performed with John Medeski, Billy Martin, G. Calvin Weston, Marc Ribot, and Tony Scherr. The album received praise from David Bowie, Angelique Kidjo, Iggy Pop, Leonard Cohen and others.

“For a long time, I was threatening to do a vocal record. But the idea of me putting out a record where I sang seemed ostentatious or pretentious. Like the music of Telly Savalas . . . I don't sing very well, I was shy about it. As a character, it made it easier."

John Lurie National Orchestra

Lurie in 1992Parallel to the final version of the Lounge Lizards in the early 1990s, Lurie formed a smaller group, the John Lurie National Orchestra, with Lurie on alto and soprano saxes, Grant Calvin Weston on drums, and Billy Martin on congas, timbales, kalimba, and other small percussion. Unlike the tightly-arranged music of the Lounge Lizards, the Orchestra's music was heavily improvised and compositions were credited to all three musicians. They released an album (Men With Sticks, Crammed Discs 1993) and recorded music for the Fishing With John TV series. In February 2014 the Orchestra released The Invention of Animals, a collection of out-of-print studio tracks and unreleased live recordings from the '90s. Columnist Mel Minter wrote:

This new release may require a reassessment of Lurie the saxophonist because the playing is engagingly fluid, inventive, and visceral—and well worth revisiting. . . . The emotional immediacy of Lurie's playing – and that of his partners – makes for riveting stuff. Think of his sax not so much as a musical instrument, but instead, as a window with a clear view of his soul.

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bk-lostintranslation · 4 years

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ESSAY: The Law vs. Justice - A Troubling Dichotomy

"...Depictions of policemen – and recently, policewomen – as flawed but essentially courageous figures whose blatant disregard of rules should be forgiven because they care too much, fails to address a grim history of due process abuses by burying them beneath the facile premise of action-packed hijinks or zany comedy.”

In text or film, police stories run parallel to a mosaic of much-loved tropes and familiar cinematics: the steely-eyed officer staring down the barrel of a gun as he confronts the perp; the ubiquitous car-chase through a glittering metropolitan mise-en-scéne to the counterpoint of screeching tires and wild jazz; the athletic detective pursuing the antagonist through an urban maze of rooftops and stairwells, guns blazing and adrenaline pumping; the hard-edged police duo pummeling a snitch to a bloody pulp in a trash-strewn alleyway until he confesses to the information they're after. Genres switch from comedy to drama; protagonists evolve from stoic sleuths with a spotless badge and an unswerving mission to wisecracking cynics whose broken moral compass belies a heart of gold. Yet, as key figures in a discursive construction of culture, each character is elevated to near-sacrosanct levels of heroism for one reason: he will unflinchingly use violence to achieve his ends – not because he disregards the law, but because he has taken it upon himself to uphold justice. The dichotomy between the two, while incontestably age-old, is remarkable because the idea that one is an obstacle to achieving the other is a recurrent theme in law enforcement fiction – and because it appears to at once enable and ennoble police violence.

A cursory glance toward contemporary entertainment reveals how saturated it is with alternately gripping or poignant portrayals of the police – be they crime dramas, infotainment or film. Yet, when perusing a majority of these media-created depictions, it is also essential to note the dark skein of violence that runs through the narrative, framed as a necessity to maintain control within a gritty backdrop of urban decay (Deflem, 2010). From television shows like Law & Order, CSI Miami, The Wire and Chicago PD, which feature hard-nosed protagonists roughing up their suspects as par for the course, to critically-acclaimed films such as The French Connection (1971), Dirty Harry (1971), and Die Hard (1988), which showcase the ideal cop as a trigger-happy maverick willing to flout both institutional and legal safeguards to catch their perp, to more recent buddy-cop comedies such as The Heat (2013), where the quirky, would-be feminist twist attempts to call attention away from flagrant police abuses, there is a pervasive message that police brutality and misconduct are the panacea to clean up a city seething with crime.

The execution of this concept is certainly exciting from a storytelling standpoint. After all, there are countless instances where the law is stymied by historical framing, its message and purview a product of its times. Neither ironclad nor teleological, laws evolve according to their own methodology, not in smooth sequences but in messy, haphazard, often incoherent increments that reflect the protean nature of society itself (Hutchinson, 2005). However, the diegesis of law vs. justice becomes fraught with complications when it is used repeatedly to promulgate fictional constructs as truth – to frame violence as the only means to fight fire with fire, with the hero cop acting in the best interests of the underdog, against antagonists who will ultimately and most deservedly be trounced in a simplistic narrative arc of Good versus Evil (Geller, 1997; Jacobson, Picart & Greek, 2017). Unfortunately, what these formulas tend to overlook – either due to disingenuity or pure carelessness – is how they function as propaganda pieces for institutions already entangled in civil rights violations. More to the point, their depictions of policemen – and recently, policewomen – as flawed but essentially courageous figures whose blatant disregard of rules should be forgiven because they care too much, fails to address a grim history of due process abuses by burying them beneath the facile premise of action-packed hijinks or zany comedy.

To be sure, crime dramas have been a popular staple of entertainment for decades. In their work, Media and Crime in the U.S, criminologists Yvonne Jewkes and Travis Linnemann remark that crime films are "arguably the most enduring of all cinematic genres..." and that their attraction is rooted in the fact that they "reassure us that criminal behaviors can be explained and serious offenses can be solved. They offer immutable definitions of 'the crime problem' and guide our emotional responses to it" (2017, p. 173). But beyond the comforts of catharsis and closure, these films provide an intimate view into worlds that exist as ciphers to the general public. Research has repeatedly shown that viewers glean knowledge of law enforcement not from direct interaction with said entities, but from mass media consumption (Surette, 1998; Skogan, 1981; Mawby, 2003). While public opinions of policemen are, on the whole, encouragingly positive (Huang and Vaughn, 1996), it is imperative to ask ourselves whether these opinions are factual or colored by the glamour and gloss of mediated representations. In their work, Media Consumption and Public Attitudes toward Crime and Justice, Kenneth Dowler and Valerie Zawilski note that,

Presentations of police are often over-dramatized and romanticized by fictional television crime dramas while the news media portray the police as heroic, professional crime fighters. In television crime dramas, the majority of crimes are solved and criminal suspects are successfully apprehended. Similarly, news accounts tend to exaggerate the proportion of offenses that result in arrest which projects an image that police are more effective than official statistics demonstrate. The favorable view of policing is partly a consequence of police’s public relations strategy. Reporting of proactive police activity creates an image of the police as effective and efficient investigators of crime (2007, p. 3).

Of course, it would be simplistic to claim that all audiences imbibe and interpret media-constructed images of police in the same fashion. As Yvonne Jewkes remarks in the work Captured by the Media, "people are not blank slates who approach a television programme without any preexisting opinions, prejudices or resources" (2013, p. 145; Kitzinger, 2004). However, it is equally impossible to believe that these sources do not feed social constructions of law and order in its myriad forms. Indeed, the media's portraits of crime and justice are often pivotal in influencing both policy and day-to-day events. A large body of research devoted to the relationship between public attitudes and criminal justice policy has shown that representations of crime news catalyze public pressure toward harsher policing and more punitive sentencing. Additionally, a close appraisal of police-related television shows and films yields disturbing trends. Not only is there an overblown emphasis on offender-based violence, i.e. murder, rape, and robbery, but the offenders themselves are portrayed as cunning to an almost, if not outright, psychopathic degree. They can play the criminal justice system like a fiddle, and can run circles around the average police officer, whose by-the-book approach only leaves him/her mired in red-tape and frustratingly stultified by Internal Affairs. Instead, it is up to a tenacious few, with the guts and grit to transcend these bureaucratic impositions, to dispense justice towards offenders (Barille, 1984; Surette, 1998).

Given that the ontological divide between fiction and fact can often risk becoming disquietingly blurred, the study of sensationalist fiction's influence on criminal justice policy becomes doubly relevant (Potter & Kappeller, 2006). An example can be taken from 24, a hugely-popular Fox Network series that ran from 2001 to 2008. The show followed the exploits of counterterroist Jack Bauer, a resourceful anti-hero willing to resort to everything from mass property destruction to torture in order to save the American public. Bauer's legacy survived well beyond the screen, to the point where he was cited by the late Supreme Court Justice, Anton Scalia, as pertinent to constitutional jurisprudence and the use of torture: "Jack Bauer saved Los Angeles. ... He saved hundreds of thousands of lives. Are you going to convict Jack Bauer?" The fact that Bauer does not exist is beside the point; rather, it is the durable imprint his heroics left on the minds of the audience. For them, the thrilling, nick-of-time rescues and terrorist intrigues exemplified by 24 were not escapist fantasies, but a dire reflection of the national state of affairs (Lattman, 2006, p. 1).

Similarly, Clint Eastwood's wild card, Harry Callahan, immortalized by the 70s cult classic Dirty Harry, is portrayed as a ruthless but ultimately effective cop whose willingness to bend – or break – the rules guarantees fast results. What makes the film particularly noteworthy is its scathing criticism of the perceived hurdles beset upon law enforcement via the enactment of the Miranda warning in 1966, in addition to would-be obstacles such as the Exclusionary Rule. Whether or not the film's legal research is rooted in accuracy is, again, beside the point: its true premise is to question whether a system that gives precedence to the rights of offenders over victims is even worth upholding. In the film's closing scene, Harry, having broken the law by shooting the rampaging sniper, Scorpio, tosses his police badge into the water – an act as politically charged as it is defiant. Through Harry, not only is the upheaval of the period's political climate reflected, but the passions of the viewers enacted (Leitch, 2007). Indeed, the Dirty Harry Syndrome – also known as Noble Cause Corruption – is a term coined by the film, although the phenomenon understandably predates it. Jack R. Greene describes it as when "police are tempted to use illegal means to obtain justice... [even though] police ethicists and lawmakers hold that any gains that might be achieved by illegal means are not worth the miscarriages of justice and negative precedents that might result" (2006, p. 601). However, the film's enduring popularity is testament as much to its directorial finesse as to the resonance of its underlying message: that in order for justice to prevail, pragmatic vigilantism is preferable to the impractical hurdle of upholding civil rights. Like his modern predecessor, Jack Bauer, Harry Callahan's actions serve to anchor him within a timeless cultural bricolage: the everyman's avenger who occupies the liminal space between saint and rebel for his steadfast pursuit of justice.

In his work Encoding & Decoding in the Television Discourse, renowned cultural theorist Stuart Hall coined the term 'Circuit of Communication' to argue that, despite the assumption of meaning as a static agent, it is in fact a socially structured process that can either edify or delimit us through its visual language and representation (1973). Indeed, the meaning of any medium can be considered a sociopolitical and cultural discourse with its own style, syntax, structure and vocabulary – all of it pivoting on the audience as both the 'receiver of the message, and the 'source.' With that in mind, police films and dramas do not exist in a vacuum, but are in fact embedded in contingent social realities, many of which serve largely to either reflect or perpetuate specific modes of thought and conduct. One need only trace the complex evolution of law enforcement on-screen to observe how they establish specific notions of law vs. justice, good vs. evil, order vs. disorder, within a specific sociopolitical milieu.

For instance, the earliest film noir classics such as Double Indemnity (1936) were pivotal in bringing to life the postwar disenchantment and murky morality of the era, while touching upon gender politics, social mores, and their shocking subversions. Similarly, the besieged and troubled characters of Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958) served almost as widgets fulfilling a critique on sexual politics and mass surveillance. The late 1960s relaunch of the genre-defining radio and television series Dragnet (1949-70) was designed to tout the impressive intricacies of LAPD procedurals, in an age characterized by anti-police sentiment and the infamous Watts Riots.

Later, the Nixonian legacy of the War on Drugs, and its subsequent Reaganite expansion, saw the rise of such Cop Booster classics as 48 Hours (1982) and Lethal Weapon (1989). More recent films such as Crash (2005), while attempting to touch thoughtfully upon racial tensions in the melting pot of LA, quickly became entangled in undercurrents of misogynoir and color-blindness by suggesting that the officer who committed digital rape on a black woman was redeemed by later saving her from a car crash, and by asserting superficial equality with the idealistic message that everyone across the racial spectrum has problems, while conveniently denying the reality of systemic racism in a white power structure (Hobson, 2008; Lott, 2006). Even the latest blockbuster, The Heat (2013), which aimed to subvert gender roles in law enforcement, unfortunately tripped over its own message by becoming not a paean to feminism but a stale, formulaic buddy-cop cliché that equated female empowerment with the same reckless disregard and gross misconduct vis-à-vis its male-centric counterparts.

At nearly every point, cop films and dramas appear to be a means to either challenge or embellish institutional authority. Yet no matter their superficial advancements, very few focus on the realities of police-work, such as preventive and proactive strategies, much less on efforts at rapport-building – or lack thereof – within the community they protect. Fewer still address blatant acts of police violence and misconduct not as effective tools, but as risky perpetuations of Hobbesian logic where good must vanquish evil by any means necessary.

However, it is imperative to understand how this rigid binarization circumvents meaningful and nuanced dialogue. By resorting to cursory labels that pit one 'side' against the other – and, indeed, create sides at all – it is dangerously easy to frame entire groups of people, policies, and phenomenon as irrational threats that can only be eradicated by extralegal and increasingly ruthless means (Parenti, 2003). Certainly, recent history has seen the expansion of law enforcement as justification to eradicate a 'newer, deadlier' breed of enemies beyond the scope of conventional legality. In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, for instance, former President George W Bush denounced the tragedy as "a new kind of evil" that had to be fought "in the shadows." Constitutional safeguards therefore had to be set aside out of necessity, in order to protect the greater good. The outcome would lead to two wars, increasing governmental opacity, the establishment of the Patriot Act, mass domestic surveillance, and the unspoken sanctioning of 'enhanced interrogation techniques' on terror suspects (Graham, 2004; Nakashima, 2007; Purdum, 2001, p. 1).

While national security – internal and external – is certainly of prime importance, it is necessary to understand the risks of being engulfed and acclimatized to an atmosphere of terror, through which the media derive profit, politicians push insidious agendas, and financial systems subjugate and surveil public activities. Furthermore, into this commodification and mass consumption of terror, recent trends towards more egregiously aggressive cop shows, and the expansion of police power they reflect, deserve critical focus. In his book, The Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America's Police Forces, Radley Balko remarks that, "No one made a decision to militarize the police in America. The change has come slowly, the result of a generation of politicians and public officials fanning and exploiting public fears by declaring war on abstractions like crime, drug use, and terrorism. The resulting policies have made those war metaphors increasingly real" (2014, p. 42).

To decry the media as the sole instigator of fear-mongering would, of course, be unfair. But nor can it be denied that the media in all its forms plays a pivotal role in reinforcing the black-and-white paradigm of law vs. justice, with the heroes willing to achieve their goals at any cost, be it torture or deception (Rafter, 2006). While such narrative designs can be compellingly escapist and entertaining, they run the risk of becoming so entrenched into the social fabric and psyche as to seem factual. A no-holds-barred, take-no-prisoners approach to law enforcement would seem ideal for convicting the indisputably guilty – but the fact of the matter is that the deliberate disregard of procedural law will only undermine the liberty interests of the innocent. Films and television shows that continue to push this agenda merely misrepresent police misconduct as a legitimate validator of heroism, and therefore of goodness. The protagonist is elevated to near-sacrosanct levels for one reason: he will unflinchingly use violence to achieve his ends – not because he disregards the law, but because he has taken it upon himself to uphold justice. Yet regarding the two as mutually exclusive is not only pandering to teleological delusion, but masking the reality of a deeply flawed justice system by redefining criminality as the darkest shade of evil, and police misconduct as the only means to take it down.

References

Balko, R. (2014). Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America's Police Forces. Perseus Books Group.

Barille, L. (1984). “Television and Attitudes About Crime: Do Heavy Views Distort Criminality and Support Retributive Justice?” In Ray Surette (ed.) Justice and the Media: Issues and Research. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C. Thomas.

Deflem, M. (2010). Popular Culture, Crime and Social Control. Sociology of Crime, Law and Deviance, Iii. doi:10.1108/s1521-6136(2010)0000014019

Dowler, K., & Zawilski, V. (2007). Public perceptions of police misconduct and discrimination: Examining the impact of media consumption. Journal of Criminal Justice, 35(2), 193-203. doi:10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2007.01.006

Geller, W. A., & Toch, H. (1997). Police violence: understanding and controlling police abuse of force. Choice Reviews Online, 34(08). doi:10.5860/choice.34-4799

Grahan, B (2004). As an issue, war is risky for both sides. Washington Post. Available at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1575-2004Oct1.html. Accessed on September 21.

Greene, J. R. (2006). Encyclopedia of Police Science. doi:10.4324/9780203943175

Hall, S. (1973). Encoding and decoding in the television discourse. Strasbourg: Council of Europe.

Hobson, J. (2008) Digital Whiteness, Primitive Blackness. Feminist Media Studies, 2 (8), 111-126. doi: 10.1080/00220380801980467

Huang, Wilson W.S. & Michael S. Vaughn. (1996). “Support and Confidence: Favorable Attitudes Toward the Police Correlates of Attitudes Toward the Police.” In T.J. Flanagan and D.R. Longmire (eds) Americans View Crime and Justice: A National Public OpinionSurvey. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications.

Hutchinson, A. C. (2005). Evolution and the common law. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Jewkes, Y., & Linnemann, T. (2017). Media and crime in the U.S. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

King, N., Picart, C. S., Jacobsen, M. H., & Greek, C. (2017). Framing Law and Crime: An Interdisciplinary Anthology. Contemporary Sociology: A Journal of Reviews, 46(5), 586-587. doi:10.1177/0094306117725085ff

Kitzinger, J. (2004). Framing abuse: media influence and public understanding of sexual violence against children. London: Pluto Pr.

Lattman, P. (2007). Justice Scalia hearts Jack Bauer. Wall Street Journal. Available at http://blogs/wsj.com/law/2007/06/20/justice-scalia-hearts-jack-bauer/. Accessed on September 21, 2017.

Leitch, T. (2007). Crime films. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Lott, M. R. (2006). Police on screen: Hollywood cops, detectives, marshals, and rangers. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co.

Mason, P. (2013). Captured by the media: prison discourse in popular culture. London ; New York: Routledge.

Mawby, R.I. (2003) 'Evaluating Justice Practices', in A. Von Hirsch et al (eds) Restorative Justice and Criminal Justice: Competing or Reconcilable Programs? Oxford: Hart Publishing.

Nakashima, E. (2007) A story of surveillance: Former technician 'turning in' AT&T over NSA program. The Washington Post. Available at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/07/AR2007110700006.html. Accessed on September 25, 2017.

Parenti, C. (2003). The Soft Cage: Surveillance in America From Slavery to the War on Terror (Reprint Edition). New York, NY: Perseus Books.

Potter, G. & Kappeler, V. (Eds). (2006). Constructing Crime: Perspective on Making News and Social Problems. Chicago: Waveland Press.

Purdum, T. S. (2001, September 16). Bush Warns of a Wrathful, Shadowy and Inventive War. Retrieved November 10, 2017, from http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/17/us/after-attacks-white-house-bush-warns-wrathful-shadowy-inventive-war.html

Rafter, N. (2006) Shots in the mirror: Crime films and society. New York: Oxford University Press.

Roberts, J. & A. Doob. (1986). “Public Estimates of Recidivism Rates: Consequences of a Criminal Stereotype.” Canadian Journal of Criminology 28:229-241. gy 28:229-241.

Skogan, W. & M. Maxfield. (1981). Coping With Crime. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications.

Surette, R. (1998). Media, Crime, and Criminal Justice: Images and Realities 2nd Edition. New York: Wadsworth Publishing.

#essay #law #police brutality #police violence #mass surveillance

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