#people really seem to project all over Michael and AL's relationship but never really look at it for what it is | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

lambourngb · 3 years

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re: your tags on that one post abt plotholes in rnm: what are the plotholes that make you lose the most sleep?

(this is my main btw, my rnm blog is @curlyguerin )

Hi! Okay... strap in, because there are a lot of little and big things that wiggle into my thoughts and makes me wonder ...am I the only one who couldn't follow that plotline?

In my opinion RNM suffers more from abandoned narratives and continuity errors than plot holes I guess, since we only have 2 seasons, with at least 2 more to go I guess I can hope they come back to these issues... but: [Under the cut plus some spoilers for season 3]

Things I would like explained :

1. What did Jesse Manes fund with family money in 1x08 ? I'm guessing it was surveillance of the town and the search for more aliens that could have escaped the military in 1947-1948. The idea that Jesse funded Caulfield is just laughable to me, along with how he was able to get his Army-assigned son moved from Germany to New Mexico for 5 years and no one noticed?? Caulfield has to be separate from whatever Jesse was doing in Roswell. Clearly there is still an ACTIVE military project focused on aliens because Flint isn't AWOL, Flint also takes Noah's body to Area 51, so where was Jesse in violation of his orders (Alex's threat to Jesse in 1x08 and then shipping him to Niger)? Surveilling citizens and setting up cameras all over town?

2. Did they ever build an Air Force base on the Fosters Homestead Ranch? (1x01-1x02) ...then it's never mentioned again.

3. I am aware I am the only one who cares about this little bit, but the show seemed to set up a narrative in season 1 about the spotlight Roswell shined white victims of crimes - like Katie and Jasmine, that the town of Roswell holds quite a lot of racism regarding justice- vilifying Rosa for over 10 years, ignoring the deaths of people around Ranchero Night, and then Noah kills Wyatt Long's best friend Hank Gibbons in 1x13. I dunno, I was expecting more from Wyatt in season 2 about this than picking a fight with Michael over Mimi's missing persons sheet and showing up with a crossbow in 2x04. And like, there was a theme of people going missing in season 2!! Mimi, Jenna, the weird twins from 2x06, Charlie -- but yet, no closer scrutiny by Sheriff Valenti other than her focus on Max Evans and the story about Mexico- Like this felt not like a plot hole, but a dropped narrative -- to wrap up the fate of Racist Hank in a missing persons sheet in 2x01. To treat him weirdly like all of Noah's other victims (who were women and men of color and poor), but for a few factors like he was white, he had actual lines in the show over a couple of episodes, and he's one of the few townspeople we learn his first and last name still sticks out in my mind as strange. The Doylist explanation is the actor wasn't available for season 2, but the Watson-perspective of this is just someone the in-show universe doesn't care about ...? Okay. I will keep that in mind, and try to ignore the fact that the town of Roswell swings wildly back to caring about white victims again in 2x13 with Jesse Manes.

4. The Alighting from 1x13 - just how far away was it from happening? Noah was ready to stick a sheriff's deputy, the town event planner and Michael (who probably would be been the only one to go missing without much fanfare, except maybe by Alex) into a pod...for how long? Months? Years? What was his endgame? how did he expect to go unnoticed by the town while he waited for his alien salvation/alien UBER to arrive? Could he just mindwarp everyone into forgetting about the pod squad? Since we didn't see any alien ships show up in the six months from 1x13 to 2x13, and no further follow up by any of our heroes about what Noah was babbling about... I'm going to say this should come back into play for season 3, otherwise it's the most egregious plot hole from season 1.

5. Why did Flint want to work with Helena? Jesse had this master plan that Helena knew all about apparently but she never shares the plan with Flint? Jesse never shares this plan with Flint either? Why? As far as I can tell from the plot of season 2, Jesse takes the console piece from Alex, he was going to kill Alex to keep him out of the way, use the console to blow up civilians, he created a paper trail that pointed the finger at Max, and then when everyone knew the truth about aliens, he was going to use HIS atomizer bomb to release the toxin that Charlie had already developed for Project Shepherd to kill all the aliens.... WHY would Flint want to stop that, especially since they fight in 2x11 over how slow Jesse was moving in his plans? Other than objecting to killing Alex, why would Flint turn Alex over to Helena to blackmail Michael into building a second atomizer bomb? He should have just kept Alex out of the way until it was all over and let Jesse proceed with his plans. Flint's desire to work with Helena Ortecho remains a plot hole to me, that is explained in the most flimsy way of he thinks his dad isn't serious about killing all the aliens even though he has the means? And if he takes Alex from Jesse's control so easily, why not steal the bomb Jesse had too?

6. These are more gripes about continuity, not really plot holes, but the fact we have this loose timeline of events but it doesn't match the weather of filming.... Like Heather Hemmens looked so gorgeous in that little silk outfit in 2x01, but she's wandering outside in Dec in Roswell New Mexico looking like that. I get that it was filmed in August/Sept of 2019 but come on... so my main frustration is I have no idea what season and month is supposed to be on screen. Universe timeline says Winter but filming schedule meant it was early fall with still having the heat of summer there...then the show ends in May/June in the universe, but we all know RNM wrapped in Dec 2019/Jan 2020 so they are all bundled up in winter again.

7. Also on continuity, small things like Rosa's birthday being wrong, the fact her astrological sign isn't Pieces for either date, openly letting Greg Manes see Rosa, not seeming to care that Liz's ex-fiance hears that Rosa is alive - like i'm sure her "dead" sister came up in conversation between Liz/Diego

- the show gives us this beautiful conversation with Michael sharing his background with Alex in 1x10, but then Alex completely forgets it in 2x04 by dropping some line like "this is what you do with family" when Michael expresses confusion about a height chart. Also, on the same note- the jabs about the Library being a dive bar, also felt like a drop in continuity because Alex knows that Michael just lost his mom (1x12) , the government IS studying aliens, and his brother is in a pod, so like, he has some very valid reasons to drink if that's what he wanted to do with in his life in early season 2!! but, also he knows Michael is a genius??

- Why Alex never mentions Rosa, Isobel's blackouts/why Michael gave up UNM, or even hint about what happened with his dad in the shed during his conversation with Maria in 2x05 is also beyond bizarre to me. It was an "information" dump conversation that Alex still doesn't share all the information he has about a situation and just ends up looking kind of judgmental in my opinion.

- the truck conversation in 2x06 between Maria and Alex, why Maria prompts a girl's name when Alex says he's never been in a real relationship INSTEAD of addressing the very real elephant in the room, Michael Guerin, that they had a conversation about in 2x05- also feels like a gap in continuity.

8. Science wise- the pathogen that Charlie developed? It was supposed to be so specific that it could kill a leader of Al Quada and all of their direct descendants but leave the rest of the population unharmed. [Which um, that's a war crime, but whatever!] How was Maria affected? the DNA they had at Caulfield to develop it - like, Maria was descended from Louise and Louise lived free. The only person that pathogen SHOULD have affected was Michael (if they used Nora to base it on) Unless you're telling me that there's some protein in "alien dna" that is so specific to aliens, that no other human shares it, but also so completely undetectable that Kyle couldn't find it in Maria's blood... ? I suppose it's possible. I hope we get more explanation about that in season 3. It makes me wonder why Caulfield/Project Shepherd ever let Patty Harris go after she volunteered for some study then, and remained content to just pay her medical bills through a fake insurance company? [But also didn't flag Mimi and all the doctors that Maria took her to???]

9. Michael's hand. I'm going to reserve judgment about this, because some of my salt on this is based on season 3 promo pictures, but I really thought that moment in 2x13 when he takes off his hat, while Alex is singing, you see him without the wrapping on his hand, that maybe he found some peace with Jesse dead and demolishing the shed with Alex. But then it looks like the hand-danna is all over season 3, right up until the finale of season 3, so... was that a mistake in wardrobe AND not a beautiful moment of character growth??? I wish I could extend some grace to RNM about that, but alas... see above for why I have trust issues.

10. Perhaps I wasn't watching season 1 closely, but I thought Noah's madness was brought on by the fact he was stuck in his pod? That it was "lower class travel accommodations" and Isobel's scream at 13 got his attention? I assumed that he stayed in the pod, possessing Isobel on and off, right up until he used her body to kill Rosa in 2008, absorbing enough power to break out. So how did Noah find Jim Valenti so quickly? If it was through Isobel's memories, then why did Jim not immediately have Noah, some random alien approaching him about his recently dead daughter, hauled off to Caulfield? Jim pays $1,000 for Rosa's body, putting her in a pod [Noah's broken pod??] and stores her, waiting for...something? An alien to come along to bring her back. So did Jim know about The Savior? Why would Jim work with Noah and vice versa? Again, I'm hoping we get more about this in season 3.

11. Was there a point of keeping Alex in the Air Force? He arranges a place for them to work on bringing Max back, but I feel like anyone could have done that? Like Isobel had money, she could have rented a storage facility. All of the equipment was borrowed from the hospital, not the military. The information about 1947-1948 was from the drives decoded from Caulfield or the AAR report left by Flint in the Project Shepherd bunker (which again was decommissioned, not an active military installation). I could support the decision if it had provided some richness to the plot or some conflict within the character, neither of which really happened. Alex hacking the government and going undercover in the Air Force to protect Michael is basically fanon. I love that fanon, but alas...

12. Finally, the time jump. What year are we jumping into? 2020? 2021? Why does it make me think none of those questions above will be answered.

#rnm thoughts #season 3 thoughts #very long post #season 2 had tons of important conversations happen off screen #and tons of ooc conversations happen on screen #hopefully that changes in season 3

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captain-ross-poldark · 3 years

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Another interesting article from the Irish DM.

THE WOMAN WHO FINALLY TAMED POLDARK

By Maeve Quigley

Heartthrob Aidan Turner has a track record of dating co-stars and it seems like he’s finally found his leading lady as it’s revealed he and Caitlin Fitzgerald have tied the knot

THEY were the pictures that broke the hearts of thousands of fans — the dark-haired actor affectionately smooching his new wife on the romantic streets of Rome, as their wedding rings flashed in the warm Italian dusk. After three years of dating, Aidan Turner tied the knot with fellow thespian Caitlin Fitzgerald in a secret ceremony in the Italian capital last summer, although news of the nuptials has just broken.

The pair met on the set of adventure film The Man Who Killed Hitler And Then The Bigfoot and it seems — despite Turner’s previous protestations that he would never date another actress — they couldn’t help falling for each other.

Pictures taken on August 8 show the newlyweds days after tying the knot as they flashed their gold bands while enjoying a romantic al fresco dinner date at Pierluigi’s restaurant in Rome.

In the newly-released images, the loved-up pair seem unable to keep their hands off each other as they sip their drinks, holding on to one another as they gaze into each other’s eyes.

It is believed Fitzgerald also came to Ireland before the pandemic to meet Turner’s extended family — possibly ahead of their big day. Of course, she’s not the first woman with beauty and talent to be seen on the arm of the dashing Dubliner.

But at 37, the man whose shirtless scything in BBC drama Poldark had women everywhere a-quiver is now officially off the market.

Turner was born in Clondalkin, the son of Eileen, an accountant, and Pat, an electrician. He is the youngest of two boys; his brother works for the Revenue.

The family later moved to Walkinstown where growing up he was quite shy so his mum sent him to ballroom dancing classes as she felt it would help him no matter what career he chose. He became quite the champion and could possibly have been headed for an international career before he got bitten by the acting bug when he attended the Gaiety School of Acting, where he dated classmate India Whisker for a short time.

Even then, Turner’s dashing good looks were getting him noticed off stage.

To supplement his acting career, he got a job as a barman in famous Dublin nightclub Lillie’s Bordello, where he proved to be a big hit with the VIP guests

‘Women would come in just to stare at him,’ said former hostess now wellness guru and television presenter Andrea Hayes, who gave the acting student his position behind the bar. ‘I’m not joking.’

His first big acting break came when he landed the part of receptionist Ruairi MacGowan in RTE’s long-running medical drama The Clinic, taking the seat left vacant by another major success story, Chris O’Dowd, who also played a medical administrator on the show.

Around this time he was dating Charlene McKenna. The thenaspiring acting stars were together from 2007 to 2009 and shared a flat together in London before their relationship ended just weeks after McKenna had said in an interview how happy she was.

McKenna has recently got married in secret herself, to actor Adam Rothenburg, with whom she starred in Ripper Street, although she has said she still has a friendship with Turner.

‘He’s flying and I’m so proud of him,’ she said of Turner in a 2016 interview. ‘We still keep in touch and I knew he would do this well for himself. I always told him he would be a movie star.’

While they lived together, Turner landed his breakthrough role as tortured vampire Mitchell in the BBC Three hit Being Human.

Mitchell was torn between his blood lust and doing the right thing and was keen on leather trousers and coats, allowing Turner to smoulder on screen for the first but certainly not the last time.

He managed to gain a cult following from the role — as well as a new girlfriend in the form of his co-star Lenora Critchlow who played a ghost to Turner’s vampire.

When their relationship ended, Turner also chose to quit his role on the show.

But it was Being Human that got him his role in The Hobbit after director Peter Jackson saw him in the show and was struck by his elfin features. He never made it to the elves though, instead playing a dwarf.

And as his star ascended, he began dating another actress, this time Cork-born Sarah Greene. They had been friends for a few years after meeting on the set of Titus Andronicus, directed by Selina Cartmell at Dublin’s Project Arts Centre; but love didn’t blossom until much later.

‘I played Demetrius, her character wasn’t a named character but we met on that,’ Turner said in a magazine interview. ‘It was all very platonic and we never hooked up or anything, but that’s how we got to know each other. Then years later we just met again and it just sort of took off.’

Turner and Greene became the golden couple of the Irish drama scene, both with careers on the rise. They were together when he landed the role of Ross Poldark in the BBC revival of the Cornish drama that became a huge international success.

The fame that came with the role was difficult for both to handle as Turner is not a fan of being seen as a celebrity while Greene hated people taking photographs of her boyfriend while they went about their daily business.

Though then happy in his relationship with Greene, Turner admitted that he had been heartbroken in the past and it was something he was able to channel into his role as the brooding Ross Poldark, a man torn between two women.

‘I don’t know anyone on this planet who hasn’t had their heart broken,’ he told the Radio Times. ‘It’s happened to me. Love is love it’s the purest and rawest thing we have in life.’

As their careers progressed, the couple spent more time apart as Turner was in New Zealand with The Hobbit while Greene was working on projects like Vikings closer to home. But he insisted the distance wasn’t a problem.

‘You meet someone, you fall in love, then you can only see them over Skype or phone calls or texts and emails. And you have this whole other side to your relationship and it’s... it was fun,’ he said in a 2015 interview. He added: ‘We knew we really wanted to be together. And knew if we could do that, we could tackle a lot more. It was never: God, this is hard, bloody hell, we need to review this. This sucks. We never questioned it; it was great. So we had that from the beginning...’

But as the Poldark mania went into overdrive, so did the rumour mill and there were false reports of an engagement and even a secret wedding between himself and Greene. In actual fact the opposite was the case, with the relationship ending in 2015, five years after it started.

Turner then seemed to swear off dating those in the same business, despite his track record. In a press conference for the fourth series of Poldark, he said dating in acting circles meant you could never get away from work, admitting: ‘If you’re in my business and you find somebody who does exactly what you do and you’re living with them, then you’re in the business all the time.

‘You go home, talk about casting directors, you talk about the press, you talk about the next job you’re doing — it can become quite dull and taxing,’ he added.

So instead he was linked to a mystery law graduate, an advertising executive and then the artist Nettie Wakefield, who he dated for around a year before their hectic schedules drove them apart in what was described as an amicable split.

But obviously when he met the stunning blonde Irish-American, Caitlin Fitzgerald, 38, on a film set three years ago, Turner’s new rules went out the window, so bowled over was he by the beauty and talent of his co-star. By the time the film was premiered, the pair already looked smitten, posing on the red carpet together.

Fitzgerald appeared at a concert with Michael Sheen, with whom she starred in Masters of Sex but was seeing Turner at that time and like him, is an intensely private person.

Despite his fame and the stir his bare-chested scything caused, Turner has never been one to chase the celebrity lifestyle — perhaps because of those nights he spent observing celebrities while working behind the bar in Lillie’s.

‘If I allowed myself to let it change my life, it could,’ he has said in the past of his fame. ‘Where there’s celebrity, it’s easy to slip into that — being followed in nightclubs, or dating famous people or getting adverts. I’m just not interested in that stuff.

‘I want to do good work with good actors and filmmakers, read interesting scripts. I didn’t get into this business for celebrity. I did it for my love of film and stories and theatre.’

So although it has now been widely reported that he and Fitzgerald tied the knot in front of his parents Eileen and Pat, neither of them are likely to confirm their nuptials at any stage in the near future.

In fact, the only kissing Turner is likely to talk about is for his role in the film Leonardo, which explores the life and sexuality of Leonardo Da Vinci. In the film we will see Turner as the renaissance artist in a passionate clinch with another man as it explores Da Vinci’s sexuality and his rumoured affair with his apprentice Gian Giacomo Caprotti, better known by his nickname Salai. It is for his art that Turner intends to keep us all guessing as he’d rather we were interested in his roles than his romances.

‘It’s important to me that people don’t know too much about me because I’m trying to play characters,’ he has said in the past

‘Sometimes you see actors who are really good, but you have trouble separating that actor from the celebrity profile.

‘I don’t want to be one of those guys. It helps that people don’t know a lot about me, I guess.’

#aidan turner #leonardo

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invisibleicewands · 3 years

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Staged's Anna Lundberg and Georgia Tennant: 'Scenes with all four of us usually involved alcohol'

Not many primetime TV hits are filmed by the show’s stars inside their own homes. However, 2020 wasn’t your average year. During the pandemic, productions were shut down and workarounds had to be found – otherwise the terrestrial schedules would have begun to look worryingly empty. Staged was the surprise comedy hit of the summer.

This playfully meta short-form sitcom, airing in snack-sized 15-minute episodes, found A-list actors Michael Sheen and David Tennant playing an exaggerated version of themselves, bickering and bantering as they tried to perfect a performance of Luigi Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author over Zoom.

Having bonded while co-starring in Good Omens, Amazon’s TV adaptation of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s novel, Sheen, 51, and Tennant, 49, became best buddies in real life. In Staged, though, they’re comedically reframed as frenemies – warm, matey and collaborative, but with a cut-throat competitiveness lurking just below the surface. As they grew ever more hirsute and slobbish in lockdown, their virtual relationship became increasingly fraught.

It was soapily addictive and hilariously thespy, while giving a voyeuristic glimpse of their interior decor and domestic lives – with all the action viewed through their webcams.

Yet it was the supporting cast who lifted Staged to greatness,Their director Simon Evans, forced to dance around the pair’s fragile egos and piggy-in-the-middle of their feuds. Steely producer Jo, played by Nina Sosanya, forever breaking off from calls to bellow at her poor, put-upon PA. And especially the leading men’s long-suffering partners, both actors in real life, Georgia Tennant and Anna Lundberg.

Georgia Tennant comes from showbiz stock, as the child of Peter Davison and Sandra Dickinson. At 36 she is an experienced actor and producer, who made her TV debut in Peak Practice aged 15. She met David on Doctor Who 2008, when she played the Timelord’s cloned daughter Jenny. Meanwhile, the Swedish Lundberg, 26, is at the start of her career. She left drama school in New York two years ago and Staged is her first big on-screen role.

Married for nine years, the Tennants have five children and live in west London. The Lundberg-Sheens have been together two years, have a baby daughter, Lyra, and live outside Port Talbot in south Wales. On screen and in real life, the women have become firm friends and frequent scene-stealers.

Staged proved so successful that it’s now back for a second series. We set up a video call with Tennant and Lundberg to discuss lockdown life, wine consumption, home schooling (those two may be related) and the blurry line between fact and fiction…

Was doing Staged a big decision, because it’s so personal and set in your homes? Georgia Tennant: We’d always been a very private couple. Staged was everything we’d never normally say yes to. Suddenly, our entire house is on TV and so is a version of the relationship we’d always kept private. But that’s the way to do it, I guess. Go to the other extreme. Just rip off the Band-Aid.

Anna Lundberg: Michael decided pretty quickly that we weren’t going to move around the house at all. All you see is the fireplace in our kitchen.

GT: We have five children, so it was just about which room was available.

AL: But it’s not the real us. It’s not a documentary.

GT: Although some people think it is.

Which fictional parts of the show do people mistake for reality? GT: People think I’m really a novelist because “Georgia” writes a novel in Staged. They’ve asked where they can buy my book. I should probably just write one now because I’ve done the marketing already.

AL: People worry about our elderly neighbour, who gets hospitalised in the show. She doesn’t actually exist in real life but people have approached Michael in Tesco’s, asking if she’s OK.

Michael and David squabble about who’s billed first in Staged. Does that reflect real life? AL: With Good Omens, Michael’s name was first for the US market and David’s was first for the British market. So those scenes riffed on that.

Should we call you Georgia and Anna, or Anna and Georgia? GT: Either. We’re super-laidback about these things.

AL: Unlike certain people.

How well did you know each other before Staged? GT: We barely knew each other. We’ve now forged a friendship by working on the show together.

AL: We’d met once, for about 20 minutes. We were both pregnant at the time – we had babies a month apart – so that was pretty much all we talked about.

Did you tidy up before filming? AL: We just had to keep one corner relatively tidy.

GT: I’m quite a tidy person, but I didn’t want to be one of those annoying Instagram people with perfect lives. So strangely, I had to add a bit of mess… dot a few toys around in the background. I didn’t want to be one of those insufferable people – even though, inherently, I am one of those people.

Was there much photobombing by children or pets? AL: In the first series, Lyra was still at an age where we could put her in a baby bouncer. Now that’s not working at all. She’s just everywhere. Me and Michael don’t have many scenes together in series two, because one of us is usually Lyra-wrangling.

GT: Our children aren’t remotely interested. They’re so unimpressed by us. There’s one scene where Doris, our five-year-old, comes in to fetch her iPad. She doesn’t even bother to glance at what we’re doing.

How was lockdown for you both? AL: I feel bad saying it, but it was actually good for us. We were lucky enough to be in a big house with a garden. For the first time since we met, we were in one place. We could just focus on Lyra . To see her grow over six months was incredible. She helped us keep a steady routine, too.

GT: Ours was similar. We never spend huge chunks of time together, so it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. At least until David’s career goes to shit and he’s just sat at home. The flipside was the bleakness. Being in London, there were harrowing days when everything was silent but you’d just hear sirens going past, as a reminder that something awful was going on. So I veered between “This is wonderful” and “This is the worst thing that ever happened.”

And then there was home schooling… GT: Which was genuinely the worst thing that ever happened.

You’ve spent a lot of time on video calls, clearly. What are your top Zooming tips? GT: Raise your camera to eye level by balancing your laptop on a stack of books. And invest in a ring light.

AL: That’s why you look so much better. We just have our sad kitchen light overhead, which makes us look like one massive shiny forehead.

GT: Also, always have a good mug on the go [raises her cuppa to the camera and it’s a Michael Sheen mug]. Someone pranked David on the job he’s shooting at the moment by putting a Michael Sheen mug in his trailer. He brought it home and now I use it every morning. I’m magically drawn to drinking out of Michael.

There’s a running gag in series one about the copious empties in Michael’s recycling. Did you lean into lockdown boozing in real life? AL: Not really. We eased off when I was pregnant and after Lyra was born. We’d just have a glass of wine with dinner.

GT: Yes, definitely. I often reach for a glass of red in the show, which was basically just an excuse to continue drinking while we were filming: “I think my character would have wine and cake in this scene.” The time we started drinking would creep slightly earlier. “We’ve finished home schooling, it’s only 4pm, but hey…” We’ve scaled it back to just weekends now.

How did you go about creating your characters with the writer Simon Evans? AL: He based the dynamic between David and Michael on a podcast they did together. Our characters evolved as we went along.

GT: I was really kind and understanding in the first draft. I was like “I don’t want to play this, it’s no fun.” From the first few tweaks I made, Simon caught onto the vibe, took that and ran with it.

Did you struggle to keep a straight face at times? AL: Yes, especially the scenes with all four of us, when David and Michael start improvising.

GT: I was just drunk, so I have no recollection.

AL: Scenes with all four of us were normally filmed in the evening, because that’s when we could be child-free. Usually there was alcohol involved, which is a lot more fun.

GT: There’s a long scene in series two where we’re having a drink. During each take, we had to finish the glass. By the end, we were all properly gone. I was rewatching it yesterday and I was so pissed.

What else can you tell us about series two? GT: Everyone’s in limbo. Just as we think things are getting back to normal, we have to take three steps back again. Everyone’s dealing with that differently, shall we say.

AL: In series one, we were all in the same situation. By series two, we’re at different stages and in different emotional places.

GT: Hollywood comes calling, but things are never as simple as they seem.

There were some surprise big-name cameos in series one, with Samuel L Jackson and Dame Judi Dench suddenly Zooming in. Who can we expect this time around? AL: We can’t name names, but they’re very exciting.

GT: Because series one did so well, and there’s such goodwill towards the show, we’ve managed to get some extraordinary people involved. This show came from playing around just to pass the time in lockdown. It felt like a GCSE end-of-term project. So suddenly, when someone says: “Samuel L Jackson’s in”, it’s like: “What the fuck’s just happened?”

AL: It took things to the next level, which was a bit scary.

GT: It suddenly felt like: “Some people might actually watch this.”

How are David and Michael’s hair and beard situations this time? AL: We were in a toyshop the other day and Lyra walked up to these Harry Potter figurines, pointed at Hagrid and said: “Daddy!” So that explains where we’re at. After eight months of lockdown, it was quite full-on.

GT: David had a bob at one point. Turns out he’s got annoyingly excellent hair. Quite jealous. He’s also grown a slightly unpleasant moustache.

Is David still wearing his stinky hoodie? GT: I bought him that as a gift. It’s actually Paul Smith loungewear. In lockdown, he was living in it. It’s pretty classy, but he does manage to make it look quite shit.

#Michael Sheen #David Tennant #Staged #Staged 2 #Georgia Tennant #The tidy corner #we noticed it #Staged2 #SwedishFishAL

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bobasheebaby · 4 years

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107 The Good Place Prompts

Eleanor Shellstrop

1 “I just don't think the group thing is for me. I'm better when it's one-one-one and we're both looking at our phones and I don't know the other person and we don't talk.”

2 “The closest thing I could find to herbal tea was a root beer I had them throw in the microwave.”

3 “Whenever anyone tells me a story about their life I always imagine all the people as being super hot. Otherwise, I quickly lose interest. Do you not do that? You can do it for free.”

4 “I'm SO ready to learn, it's like my brain is HORNY!”

5 “What can you possibly say to us that will make up for your actions?” “Pobody's nerfect?”

6 “You don't seem like a ... super genius.”

7 “Ugh, of course your hugs are amazing.”

8 “Oh, so now I'm supposed to be nice and make friends and treat him:her with mutual respect?” “Yeah!” “That's exactly what he/she wants me to do, NAME, wake up!” “That's what everyone wants everyone to do.”

9 “Your friend sounds like he’s/she's one pickle short of a pickle party.”

10 “I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed.” “Oh, come on. Everyone knows that's worse.”

11 “I know it sounds crazy, but if it weren’t crazy they wouldn’t call it a ‘leap of faith.’ They would call it a ‘sit … of ... doubting.’”

12 “Buzz off, Bambadjan.”

13 “Where is everyone?” “Who knows? Maybe they finally figured out clam chowder is disgusting, 'cause it's basically a savory latte with bugs in it.”

14 “First of all, throwing sand is an excellent way to put out a vodka fire.” “Why would you even know that?!”

15 “No, NAME, I used to do that. Now I do selfless things without even thinking about it.”

16 “Why don't I ever listen to people when they talk about themselves? No, it's annoying, and I'm right not to.”

17 “Are you going to talk? Or just walk around like a nerd trying to get a personal best on his Fitbit?”

18 “I guess ‘try and enjoy this’ is a better plan than ‘have the anxiety sweats.’’

19 “I’ve only ever said ‘I love you’ to two men my entire life, Stone Cold Steve Austin and a guy in a dark club who I mistook for Stone Cold Steve Austin.”

20 “Is that some kind of nerd pick-up line? Because it’s only kind of working.”

21 “You know I’m trying to say ash-hole instead of ash-hole, right?”

22 “It’s suddenly very important that I get drunk.”

23 “Well fork you, too.”

24 “Holy mother-forking shirtballs.”

25 “‘You’re not better than me’ was my yearbook quote.”

Tahani Al-Jamal

26 “You guys came to say goodbye because you're my friends.” “Well, I suppose some part of me possibly has a sense of casual kinship with you, much as one might be fond of a street cat.”

27 “I would say I outdid myself, but I’m always this good. So I simply did myself.”

28 “NAME, you seem thoughtful. And that concerns me.”

29 “I, NAME, shall do my level best to make every event too much.”

30 “I just want to sit and stare at nothing, and silently scream for the rest of time.”

31 “I made a complete fool of myself tonight. I interrupted your big speech and badly stained my cargo pants, which, I have to admit, are quite comfortable. Oh, God, what’s happened to me? I’m praising off-the-rack separates!”

32 “Who else feels that NAME has ruined every moment of your existence since you arrived?”

33 “Right now I'm just a boy/girl, towering over a boy/girl, asking him/her to admit he/she loves me.”

34 “My whole life, whenever I encountered any obstacles, I would simply say, ‘I would like to speak to a manager.’ But in our relationship, there was no manager. There was no one who could fix this for me except me.”

Chidi Anagonye

35 “I’m just not a ‘new experience’ kind of guy. My comfort zone is basically like, that chair, and honestly? The arms are a little sharp.”

36 “Here’s an idea. What if we don’t worry about whatever comes next?”

37 “Principles aren’t principles when you pick and choose when you’re gonna follow them.”

38 “If this isn’t a test, then it’s something way worse: A choice! That we have to make!”

39 “I am absolutely paralyzed by decision-making.”

40 “I’m going to ... start crying.”

41 “I am pretty good at turning every place I go into my personal hell.”

42 “You know the sound that a fork makes in the garbage disposal? That’s the sound that my brain makes all the time.”

43 “Well, I’ve narrowed it down to two possibilities: yes and no.”

44 “There's an old Chinese proverb... ‘Lies are like tigers. They are bad.’””That's it?” “I guess it's more poetic in Mandarin.”

45 “I argue that we choose to be good because of our bonds with other people and our innate desire to treat them with dignity. Simply put, we are not in this alone."

46 “I am breaking up with you.” “Why?” “I can't ... It's complicated, but it's happening. Ya dumped!”

47 “I do have a stomachache. Why do I always have a stomachache?”

48 “You put the Peeps in the chili pot and eat them both up! You put the Peeps in the chili pot and add the M&Ms. You put the Peeps in the chili pot and it makes it taste bad.”

49 “Are you alright? You didn't sleep at all last night.” “I got a solid eight minutes. Not consecutively, but still. It's fine. You're not even that blurry.”

50 “We can be colleagues. Associates is pushing it. And by even having this conversation, you're becoming my confidante. I can't have that.”

51 “I am absolutely paralyzed by decision making and it is destroying my life.” “Yeah, I sort of got that when you couldn't choose a chair to sit on.” “Well, I didn't want to offend you in case you had a favorite.”

52 “This whole romantic situation is such a mess. I am vexed, NAME. Vexed.”

53 “I need to step outside ... for some air ... and I will not be back for many days.”

54 “I'm sorry, everyone, I just have some worries as well as some concerns that could potentially turn into outright fears. Ah, there they go, they're fears now.”

55 “When I'm really upset, concentrating on a table of contents helps me calm down. It's like a menu, but the food is words.”

56 “I have never been that certain about anything. I once even tried to rent socks. How did I say that that easily?”

57 “You broke the world. It's not a compliment!”

58 “This is fun. It's a fun party. There's no question about it, this is a fun ... situation. Hey! You guys are here! The fun continues, nay, increases!”

Michael

59 “If soulmates do exist, they’re not found. They’re made.”

60 “I’ll say this to you, my friend, with all the love in my heart and all the wisdom of the universe. Take it sleazy.”

61 “We have no plan. No one’s coming to save us. So ... I’m going to do it.”

62 “It’s a rare occurrence, like a double rainbow. Or like someone on the internet saying, You know what? You’ve convinced me I was wrong.”

63 “Lies are always more convincing when they’re closer to the truth.”

64 “Kissing is gross. You just mash your food holes together. It’s not for that.”

65 “Birth is a curse and existence is a prison.”

66 “Serious question: should we kill them?”

67 “Lonely Gal Margarita Mix for One.”

68 (Holding a plush Minion) “I won this ugly yellow toddler, which is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.”

69 “Hello, everyone. Good to see you all here, mingling around with your various secrets. Who really knows which of you are who you say you are? No way to know unless I pull your skeletons out, right?"

70 “In the words of one of my actual friends: 'Ya basic'. It's a human insult. It's devastating. You're devastated right now."

71 “Where's the H? This keyboard doesn't have an H.”

72 “Dick Tracy called back on his watch phone and said you better "watch" out!”

73 “I got to ride a bike. I put a coin in a thing and got a gumball. And then someone came up to me and said, ‘hot enough for ya?’, and you know what I said? I said, ‘tell me about it!’” “Well I am glad that you got to chew a gumball.” “Oh, damn. I didn't even think to chew it. Missed opportunity, shoot.”

74 “I saw this place that was at once a Pizza Hut and a Taco Bell! I mean, oh! The mind reels! A Pizza Hut and a Taco Bell!”

75 “And what's the significance of the keychain?” “Nothing, I just like frogs. I'm a frog guy.”

76 “I won't let you down.” “I think you will. I think this entire project of yours is stupid and doomed to fail.”

77 “You know the way you feel when you see a chimpanzee and a baby tiger who have become friends? That's how you're going to feel every day.”

78 “You humans have so many emotions. You only need two: anger and confusion!”

79 “It makes sense, right? They're good so they're stupid and trusting.”

Jason Mendoza

80 “I have no idea what’s going on right now but everyone else is talking and I think I should too!”

81 “I can’t believe NAME betrayed us again, why is it always the ones you most expect?”

82 “I wasn’t a failed DJ. I was pre-successful.”

83 “Claustrophobic? Who would ever be afraid of Santa Clause?”

84 “If you’re a devil, how come you’re not wearing Prada?”

85 “I’m too young to die and too old to eat off the kids’ menu. What a stupid age I am.”

86 “Well, my year started about a year ago …”

87 “Dude! We can get mythical animals? Maybe I’ll get a penguin.” “Penguins are real.” “That’s the spirit, NAME. They’re real to me too.”

88 “When I say I'm meditating, I'm just trying to figure out what the fork is happening."

89 “You know, it doesn't matter if you know things. All that matters is what's in your heart."

90 “I'm ranking my favourite Fast and the Furious movies. You said you wanted to know who I am, and this is the best way to get to know me."

91 “He’s/She's my everything. He/She makes the bass drop in my heart.”

92 “Long story short, it was all a dream.”

Janet

93 “I think I might hate things now, too. So far, it’s genocide and leggings as pants.”

94 “NAME told me that instead of being sad, I should ‘go get it, girl.’ So I’m going to go get it, girl.” “Get what?” “Unclear. I’ll get everything, just to be safe.”

95 “In case you were wondering, I am, by definition, the best version of myself."

96 “Ooh, I've never had to walk before, this is fun! [Walks a few steps] Now I'm bored. Walking is dumb.”

97 “Oh, really? Is it an error to act unpredictably and behave in ways that run counter to how you were programmed to behave?”

Minor Miscellaneous Characters

98 “There is some good news. There’s some cake left!” – Neil from Accounting

99 “Well, I'm sure you're busy, you probably wouldn't want to talk to me. I get it, I wouldn't either. I'm as dull as a rock. Ugh, even that analogy was boring. I'm sorry, I'm so dull, and I'm ugly. I'm like a rock. Ugh, stupid Larry! Stop talking about rocks!” — Larry Hemsworth

100 “Oh, and you should smile more. You'll get bigger tips.” — Trevor

101 “Later days, dingus.” — Trevor

102 “Hold that thought. Is it OK if I go work out? I love working out. I gotta stay jacked. It's who I am.” — Chris Baker

103 “This is exhausting. I just want to go back to my container of goo and go to sleep.” — Shawn

104 “So, what's up, what's your deal? Are you single? What's going on?” — Trevor

105 “What up, ding dongs?” — Bad Janet

106 “Hello, imbeciles.” — Shawn

107 “So, we'll just roll on out, and you can get back to putting rainbows up your butt or whatever you do here.” — Trevor

#the good place quotes #the good place prompts #eleanor shellstrop #chidi anagonye #tahani al jamil #jason mendoza #writing prompts #drabble prompts #quaratine sucks and making these keeps my mind busy #i live in covid 19 hell #dialogue prompts

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mindthump · 4 years

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Robert De Niro and Al Pacino: 'We’re not doing this ever again' https://ift.tt/33hEQTi

‘Hi guys and girls,” says Al Pacino brightly, making his entrance. He is sporting a veteran-boho look: what seems like about six black cardigans on top of each other, lots of chunky finger jewellery and messy bird’s-nest hair. There may even be one of those two-inch ponytails that were popular in the late 80s in there somewhere – it is hard to see in the general tonsorial disorder.

Next to stroll in is Robert De Niro, who – in dramatic contrast – looks like he has come in from a round of golf: shirt and sports jacket, grey-white hair slicked back. Welcome, then, to the Al and Bob show.

Observing them here, in an intimate room full of selected journalists, you see how their personalities contrast as much as their dress sense. Pacino speaks in a barely audible bass rumble and is not short of waffle; De Niro, while not exactly monosyllabic, spends as much time nodding with his distinctive pursed-mouth underbite and says as little as he can get away with. That is, until we got on to the matter of a certain US president, of which more later.

The pair – the film industry’s equivalent of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards – are bona fide living legends, the greatest US actors of their generation, able to wipe the floor with modern lightweights such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt and Daniel Day-Lewis. Or that is what we would like to believe, anyway. Today, they have rolled into London as the main attraction on the press roadshow for The Irishman, Martin Scorsese’s monumental new gangster picture – and there is a lot to get through. “Wow,” says Pacino at one point, casting his mind back across the pair’s career-long relationship. “We’ve known each other for a really long time.”

For years, The Irishman was little more than a rumour; plagued by delays, distractions and drop-outs, it looked odds-on never to make it out of the starting gate. But, like a wiseguy fitted with a cement overcoat, it has landed thunderously in the middle of the autumn season, blowing away the rest of the awards-bait dross.

The Irishman is the fourth in Scorsese’s series of epic mafia pictures, following Mean Streets, Goodfellas and Casino; it is the latest variant of Scorsese’s reinvention of mob life as an agonised stations of the cross. It is also the wintriest of character studies, contemplating (like Scorsese’s last film, Silence) the approach of death with equanimity. The CGI that Scorsese added to “de-age” his actors, and the deal that the director made with Netflix to fund it, has unexpectedly put his film in the same camp as cutting-edge industry disrupters. Scorsese himself has acquired new cultural currency in recent months: the naked homage/appropriation by the makers of Joker has driven attention to his string of 70s masterworks, while his dismissive comments about superhero movies (“not cinema”) – the first shots in the publicity campaign for The Irishman, as it happens – ignited a social media firestorm that is yet to die down.

Yet, more fundamental than any of this is the sense that The Irishman is a landmark reunion of the old neighbourhood: a last gathering of the clans, a final get-together before age and time overtakes them. Harvey Keitel and Joe Pesci play ageing mob bosses, Pacino is a notorious union boss, Jimmy Hoffa, and De Niro is the Irishman, ice-cold real-life hitman Frank Sheeran. The Irishman turns on the relationship between Hoffa, whose disappearance and presumed murder in 1975 remains unsolved, and Sheeran, a hitherto little-known mob figure who confessed to killing Hoffa, his longtime friend, to the lawyer Charles Brandt, who included it in his 2004 biography of Sheeran, I Heard You Paint Houses. Hoffa and Sheeran provide suitably substantial figures for Pacino and De Niro to renew their on-screen confrontation, most vividly portrayed in the 1995 Michael Man thriller Heat (the 2008 cop comedy Righteous Kill was slightly less memorable).

Pacino says they met in 1968; at the time, Pacino was a firebrand stage actor yet to feature in films, while De Niro was doing wacky avant-garde movies such as Brian De Palma’s Greetings. “Early on in our careers, we connected from time to time and we found we had similar things happening to us,” says Pacino. “Our lives took on a whole different kind of thing.” It was camaraderie, he says, that “got us together”.

Looking back, their acting careers did seem to blossom with a mysterious symbiosis. Both acquired a reputation in their teens as a troublemaker: De Niro spent much of his youth in Little Italy, Manhattan; Pacino, three years older, grew up in the Bronx. Both scored major breakthroughs in the early 70s courtesy of the Italian-American presence in the Hollywood new wave: Pacino as the flint-hearted capo-in-waiting in Francis Ford Coppola’s gangster epic The Godfather in 1972, De Niro as a knockaround guy in Scorsese’s Mean Streets a year later. The two appeared in the same film for the first time, although not together, in Coppola’s Godfather sequel in 1974: De Niro played the young version of Pacino’s father.

Sometimes I feel I know nothing about acting. Until you start. That's what's exciting for me

Al Pacino

Pacino gets a little dewy eyed; he looks a bit like a panda with a secret sorrow. “We’re really close. We don’t see each other very much, but when we do, we found we shared certain things. In a way, I think we’ve helped each other throughout life.” The thought of Tony Montana chewing things over with Jake LaMotta is not an image to trifle with. De Niro nods away, bottom lip almost wobbling, but there is no stopping Pacino. Their off-screen friendship, he says, has fed into their acting; in Heat, he says, “we were at opposite ends”, whereas “we were close” on Righteous Kill. They “had a chance to explore that again” on The Irishman: the relationship between Hoffa and Sheeran, who were friends for years before Sheeran’s betrayal, is the nub of the film. “I don’t think we talked about it consciously. It came relatively easy, as those things go.”

When it is his turn to talk, De Niro is all business. The Irishman, it would appear, is as much his show as Scorsese’s. He explains how he nagged Pesci on to the film, despite him having all but retired: “I said: ‘Come on, we’re not going to do this ever again.’” Sentiment is not his thing. “It was tough enough to get it done, to get the money to do it and everything. I don’t see us putting on a movie like this. I hope we do other films together, but like this? Not likely. This is it.”

Much ink has been spilled over the years on the De Niro-Scorsese axis, as well as the De Niro-Pacino one. But, bizarrely enough, Pacino and Scorsese had never worked together before. For two such high-profile princes of the Italian-American sensibility, that feels like a mistake. “I know,” rumbles Pacino, leaning in and turning worldly-wise. “Like everything in this business, if you’ve been in it for a while, you realise that things get started, but then they go in different places and they don’t always culminate in a film. A couple of times, Marty and I were going to do something together, then they slip away.” He mentions a Modigliani biopic he and Scorsese worked on in the 80s, which they tried and failed to get financed. “Happens all the time.”

De Niro was the key in finally getting The Irishman off the ground. He and Scorsese had been mulling another project about a retired hitman for years, The Winter of Frankie Machine, adapted from the 2006 novel of the same name by Don Winslow. As it was gearing up, De Niro was directing his second film, The Good Shepherd, about the early days of the CIA; that film’s writer, Eric Roth, gave him a copy of Brandt’s Sheeran book as research. After reading it, De Niro took it straight to Scorsese. Just as Frankie Machine was about to get the green light from Paramount, Scorsese did the unthinkable: he walked away and started over again.

More Scorsese films intervened – Shutter Island, Hugo, The Wolf of Wall Street, Silence – before schedules and money aligned and The Irishman could start shooting. For half a decade, De Niro says, the only relic of the film was a now-legendary table read in 2012, “just to have it documented so it could be shown to anybody who was interested”. Every now and then, De Niro says, Pacino “would call me and ask: ‘Is it happening?’ I’d say: ‘Yeah, yeah, it’s happening.’ But it took a long time.”

So long, in fact, that they started to get too old to play their roles as originally conceived. Both actors are well into their eighth decade: Pacino is 79, De Niro 76. Scorsese had been clear that he did not want to use different actors for their middle-aged selves, who dominate the film’s scenes. Enter the “de-ageing” CGI technology. “Netflix came in and paid for the process,” De Niro says. “It helped us all along.”

Did they get the willies confronting their younger versions? Sheepish guffaws ensue. “What do you think?” asks De Niro. “Don’t we all?” replies Pacino. Do they still enjoy the job? De Niro is pithy: “It’s different, but I like it just as much.” Pacino goes long: “It sort of depends on what you’re doing,” he says. “I hate to say it, but you can go 20 years between inspirations.” He stops for a moment, baffled by his own eloquence. “Bear with me – I’m going through the bushes here and I’ll come out with something.” He says he is always on the lookout “to find something that you really connect to, you really want to do”. A lot of the acting he does is “work-rest”, he says, so he can “get back to looking around and seeing what’s out there”.

We have a gangster president who thinks he can do anything he wants

Robert De Niro

De Niro nods along furiously. Pacino is in the groove. “Sometimes I feel I know nothing about acting. Until you start. That’s what’s exciting for me. A new character. I often say: ‘Desire is more motivating than talent.’ I’ve seen people with great desire take it through. The truth is, it’s the same thing that is always was: you are feeling this new character, this new person, this new story.” As he grinds to a halt, Pacino looks pleased: he has come out with something all right. It is a great manifesto for a living legend.

As the encounter starts to wind down, one big question – arguably the biggest – remains unasked. If it is about anything, The Irishman is about the gangsterisation of US politics, how the Cosa Nostra exploited opportunities to corrupt the electoral process and organised labour. Two big killings – those of John F Kennedy and Hoffa – are characterised as the outcome of mafia intervention in the political sphere. Some might say the US is still living with the legacy; as De Niro’s version of Sheeran likes to say: “It is what it is.” De Niro has a record on this: we know he hates Trump and has called him out time after time. But the way he suddenly takes over the room is amazing to behold: eyes like gun-sights, he gives Trump both barrels. “We have a real, immediate problem in that we have a gangster president who thinks he can do anything he wants.” De Niro is livid; Pacino knows to keep quiet. “If he actually gets away with it, then we all have a problem. The gall of the people around him who actually defend him, these Republicans, is appalling.” He does not call Trump a “mook”, but he may as well have.

Instead, he has a message for the press: “It’s a resentment of people like you guys, writing about what you see is obvious gangsterism. They don’t like that, so they say: ‘Fuck you, we’re going to teach you people.’ And they have to know they’re going to be taught.” This is De Niro unfiltered, and it is thrilling to experience it at close quarters. Does he think Trump will go to jail? “Oh, I can’t wait to see him in jail. I don’t want him to die. I want him to go to jail.”

And with that the Al and Bob show closes. De Niro abruptly resumes his affable persona and says goodbye; he and Pacino are swiftly escorted out. Trump – we can but hope – is quaking in his boots. But The Irishman roadshow rolls on. It is what it is.

The Irishman is released in UK cinemas on 8 November and is on Netflix from 27 November

#IFTTT #Feedly #Movies

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auburnfamilynews · 7 years

Link

Signing day is still months away but it’s never too early to try predicting the future. The truth is I don’t really have much to talk about this week. It appears Clemson has asserted themselves as the possible leader for 4* WR Justyn Ross after Saturday night and LSU has emerged as a legitimate contender in the 5* QB Justin Fields race. But those are not happy things to talk about and I am tired of talking about not happy things this week... So, like any great recruiting writer lacking content, I am going to do a class prediction today. Two warnings though before diving in. First, I am not an insider. Unlike apparently 50% of Auburn fans on the internet, I don’t have any close connected sources to the Auburn coaching staff or recruits. I do, however, spend way too much of my free time reading/writing/following the wild world of recruiting so there’s that. Second, this is probably going to be wrong. So much changes in recruiting that it’s impossible to really understand or know what’s going to be happening months from now. What if Auburn gets their offense figured out and goes 11-1? What if they don’t, defense collapses and Gus is sent packing after a 3-9 season? What if AU finishes 9-3, Malzahn sticks around but half of the assistant coaches on staff leave? There are so many different scenarios that can have a major affect on a recruit’s decision that confidently stating what’s going to happen is sheer lunacy. But the internet loves lunacy, so here’s my 100% accurate 2018 Auburn signing class prediction.

Quarterback - 1

4* Joey Gatewood (Committed) - Gatewood entered the 2017 season with a lot of question marks about his ability to play quarterback at the next level. So far he’s sent a clear message that he’s more than capable. At 6’4” 230 lbs, Gatewood is one of the best athletes in this class and has shown outstanding improvement as a passer early in the season. He is still a bit raw and will probably need some time to develop but his ceiling is as high as you will find in this class.

Running Back - 2

4* Asa Martin (Committed) - I am still hyped about this commitment. Martin is off to a a ridiculous start and making a strong case to move up in the rankings. He’s flashed a little bit of everything but I have especially enjoyed how strong he’s looked running in between the tackles. Tigers are getting a good one.

3* Shaun Shivers (Committed) - One of Auburn’s longest committed recruits, Shivers has become an important recruiter for the Tigers. He’s far from the biggest kid on the block but is one of the fastest players in this class and is a little ball of muscle making him capable of running between the tackles some at the next level. I expect Auburn will find ways to get this kid the ball down the road.

Wide Receiver - 3

4* Seth Williams - Just a few months ago this would have seemed ludicrous but not now. Kodi Burns has done an outstanding job recruiting Williams and the big bodied WR out of Cottondale, AL seems to be trending Auburn. Bama is always a threat but they seem to have their sights set elsewhere for now. Auburn might need to start showing more of a passing threat to seal this commitment but as of today I think Williams ends up a Tiger.

4* Matthew Hill (Committed) - I love Hill’s skillset. He’s got great length, big time speed and is just a playmaker. Landing him last month was a big boost for this recruiting class.

3* Shedrick Jackson (Committed) - So far this season, Jackson has proved unstoppable. He’s snagged 13 catches for 250 yds and a TD through two games and there’s a chance that at least on 247 he will get that 4* bump. Seems like every time he takes the field he gets better.

Tight End - 1

3* Tyneil Hopper - The tight end position has been a mystery this recruiting cycle which shouldn’t be surprising given how it’s use in our offense is also a mystery. FWIW Auburn did attempt to target both Jalen Harris and Salvatore Cannella against Clemson but good coverage or poor execution prevented either from making a catch. Hopper looks a lot like the type of player Lindsey wants in this system moving forward. Keep an eye on Michael Parker as well.

Offensive Line - 4

4* Trey Hill - Hill’s recruitment has been hard to track. For a long time, most people just assumed he would end up at Georgia but that certainty seems to be fading. That week 1 visit to Auburn should not undersold. I think the chance to get on the field early with Austin Golson and Braden Smith graduating along with him being close with the Auburn coaching staff helps the Tigers land the top 50 player. Auburn must win this year if they want to land Hill though, he’s made it clear he wants to go play for a competitor.

4* Dylan Wonnum - Auburn quietly built momentum with Wonnum over the summer up to the point that now some think he’s a major AU lean. South Carolina is a real threat as his brother currently plays for the Gamecocks. The Tigers have made Wonnum a major priority and that could pay off in December when he plans to commit.

3* Jalil Irvin (Committed) - No idea why this kid isn’t rated higher. Irvin plays tackle for his high school but will probably end up at center or guard at the next level. He’s an outstanding player and is working hard to help the Tigers land one of his long time buddies, Dylan Wonnum.

3* Kameron Stutts (Committed) - Stutts is a monster up front. At 6’4” 329 lbs, this dude crushes people in the run game. Auburn has done an outstanding job of consistently recruiting road graders in the interior and Stutts is no different. I think he’s got NFL potential and will leave Auburn a multi year starter.

Defensive Line - 5

4* Coynis Miller - Miller continues to say that the Florida Gators are his top team. However, it wasn’t all that long ago Asa Martin was saying the same thing. Bottom line, it’s hard to get kids out of the state of Alabama that the Tigers or Tide want. Miller is close with Martin and has a great relationship with Rodney Garner. Oh and his former teammate Tadarian Moultry is on campus too. In the end, I think relationships and location swing this in Auburn’s favor.

4* Richard Jibunor - There’s a very good chance Jibunor will be making his decision very soon. He will visit Gainesville this weekend and a decision is expected not too long after. Right now, Auburn appears in the driver’s seat and this would be an outstanding pickup for the Tigers.

3* Kayode Oladele - Based off 247’s Crystal Ball feature, Auburn is trending up with Nigerian native Oladele. He’s a guy with a great frame at 6’4” 237 lbs and has a lot of the raw tools you love to see in an end prospect. If Auburn were to sign Oladele and Jibunor that would give them four Nigerian born players on the team. Pretty cool.

3* Daquan Newkirk (Committed) - Newkirk is off to a strong start at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. He’s a big dude and though he is listed as a DE, he will more than likely play DT for Auburn next year. He’s a guy that will join Auburn’s DL rotation the moment he steps on campus.

3* Caleb Johnson - Johnson has long been on Auburn’s radar. With things not looking great for Andres Fox, I suspect you see Auburn start to really push for the Columbus, GA native. Johnson is listed as a LB on 247 but at 6’4” 250 lbs, his future is on the defensive line. The Tigers will have to beat out Georgia and Tennessee if they want to land Johnson.

Linebacker - 3

4* Channing Tindall - I have about 5% confidence in this pick and honestly probably shouldn’t have included him. The Gamecocks appear to be the clear cut leader for the freak athlete out of Columbia, SC. However, Auburn has two reasons for hope. First, he’s very close with linebacker coach Travis Williams who played high school football at Tindall’s school. Second, he’s become pretty close with AU lean 4* Richard Jibunor. The two plan on visiting Florida this weekend together. This is a long shot but if Auburn can reel in Jibunor and get Tindall back on the Plains for a visit soon, there’s a chance.

4* Quay Walker - I actually feel a lot more confident in this prediction than Tindall. It seems a matter of when not if Walker flips from Bama. The Crisp County star has visited multiple other schools and some seem to think that both Auburn and Florida State have a great shot of flipping him. Personally, I think having Big Kat Bryant on the team along with Travis Williams and Kevin Steele helps Auburn steal this talented backer away. It might end up that the team that gets him to visit last wins.

4* Michael Harris (Committed) - No matter what, Auburn has done a great job at linebacker already having this kid committed. I am very high on Harris and think he is one of the top ten linebackers in this class and possibly the best in the southeast. Excited to see him suit up for Auburn next year.

Cornerback - 2

3* Joseph Foucha - This is more of a hope than a prediction. Over the summer, it looked very likely that Foucha would end up with the Tigers. Then, Auburn went on a roll at safety landing Monday, Sherwood and Marsh. All of a sudden, Foucha didn’t have a spot. However, now Auburn is evaluating Foucha as a CB or Nickel prospect. I am extremely high on this kid and hope Auburn finds a way to get him on campus. Personally, I think he could play all three DB spots in Auburn’s defense.

3* Derek Turner - It appears Turner wants to be an Auburn Tiger but the staff is taking it slow at the cornerback position. However, Turner brings a nice combination of size and physicality that I think the Tigers won’t pass on when given the chance. Turner and Foucha would give Auburn two commits from Louisiana in one class, something Auburn hasn’t done since 2007.

Safety - 4

4* Quindarious Monday (Committed) - Monday just might be Auburn’s most important commitment in this class. The Tigers will lose three outstanding senior safeties this year to go along with the two underclassmen that left the program. Auburn will need guys ready to go day 1 and Monday is that type of player. Keep an eye on Clemson who has not given up on flipping Monday but for now I think orange and blue Tigers hang on.

3* Jamien Sherwood (Committed) - Sherwood is an old school football player. He does pretty much everything for his high school team from running back, to tight end, to linebacker, to cornerback and of course safety. Don’t be shocked if he finds his way onto the field early on in his career. A Monday/Sherwood safety combo gives Auburn two long, hard hitting athletes back there.

3* Kolbi Fuqua (Committed) - Originally, Fuqua committed as a wide receiver. Since then, he’s agreed to flip to safety which I think is a smart decision. Unfortunately, his high school team isn’t really that good but from the limited film I have seen, I think Fuqua has a bright future on the defensive side of the ball.

3* Josh Marsh (Committed) - Marsh was a star at Auburn’s last camp this summer, earning an offer and committing on the spot. He’s a tackle machine who could end up playing linebacker at the next level but will probably play more of a hybrid role.

According to 247’s Class Calculator, this group would give Auburn a score of 264.27 which puts them in the 8-12 range historically. It’s important to note that rankings aren’t finalized and there’s always a chance that some of these guys rise in the rankings helping Auburn’s score. Also, there are still some other big fish out there in the likes of Justin Fields, Justyn Ross and JJ Peterson that Auburn is fighting to land. What happens on the field moving forward is not only important for Gus Malzahn’s career but for Auburn’s recruiting class as well. I still believe that if Auburn can put together a 9+ win season, you will see the Tigers sign another top 10 class. War Eagle! from College and Magnolia http://bit.ly/2wvBHhC

#IFTTT #Blogger #auburn #auburn fast #wareagle #AuburnFamilyNews #war eagle #sec #football news #aubu

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ingravinoveritas · 25 days

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profileranon replied to your post "So anna posted this picture just after the trailer…"

Some Anons in my inbox re this and as usual I came here to see what in hot tea hell was happening. I see now. This girl, istg….. 5 years and 2 kids into this shitshow and nothing much has changed it seems.

@profileranon This is exactly what I wish people understood. That those of us who talk about what we are seeing with Michael and AL's relationship and AL's behavior are responding not just to one post or one thing in isolation, but all of this cumulatively put together. It's that many of us remember Anna posting things exactly like this in 2020, to where as you said, it seems nothing has really changed four or five years and two kids later.

In the wake of The Assembly trailer release, I've seen so many people on Twitter saying, "They're well past the dating stage," yet it was Anna herself who used the word dating to describe their relationship just a month ago. I have also seen people create an entire narrative about Michael and AL's relationship that has nothing to do with reality (saying that Michael was "so depressed" before he met AL and then he became so much happier once they were together, when there is nothing that remotely suggests this and the most vivid recent examples of him being depressed were in 2020 and 2021, when they were already together).

But again, taking AL's own words into account and the fact that so little has changed, it could just be that their relationship hasn't progressed beyond where it was five years ago, and that maybe Michael and AL aren't as serious about each other as fans want to think they are. A crazy notion, and yet here we are...

#profileranon #reply post #michael sheen #welsh seduction machine #also it should go without saying that this doesn't mean they are not committed to the kids #or doing what is best for them #because that is what parents who love their kids do #even if they aren't in love with each other #people really seem to project all over Michael and AL's relationship but never really look at it for what it is #so if nothing else maybe this will be the start of that #but i will leave it to my followers to make up their own minds #anna lundberg #relationships #discourse

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oldguardaudio · 7 years

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In for some FAKE NEWS for today? Here is your dose of the Mullet Wrapper -> Why Republicans took the risk of denying Merrick Garland a hearing

Barack Hussein Obama and the drive by news media @ HoaxAndChange.com

Mullet Wrapper @ Hoax And Change

FAKE NEWS uncovered at HoakAndChange.com

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Neil Gorsuch could help cement Republican majorities for a generation

Neil Gorsuch jokes around with supporters during his confirmation hearing last month. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post)

BY JAMES HOHMANN with Breanne Deppisch

THE BIG IDEA: Most of the coverage about Neil Gorsuch now focuses on Senate rules and the procedures for changing them. While important, the underlying reasons that both sides are so willing to allow a nuclear confrontation have been lost or obscured in most news stories. It is instructive to step back and consider why Republicans took the risk of denying Merrick Garland a hearing last year and why they’re now poised to blow up what was once the world’s greatest deliberative body.

— By the end of this week, when the judge has been confirmed and the Senate leaves town for Easter recess, Republicans will control all three branches of the federal government for the first time since 2006.

— On paper, this is a golden age for the GOP. There are 33 Republican governors, the most since 1922. In 25 states now, Republicans have unified control of the governorship and legislature. Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri and New Hampshire joined that club last November when the GOP took over five more House chambers and two more Senate chambers. Today there are 4,195 Republican state legislators, compared to 3,132 Democrats.

— Gorsuch, once confirmed, will be well positioned to provide the decisive vote on a host of issues that might help cement this Republican hold on power, or at least give the party a leg up in future elections. He could vote to allow states to restrict voting, give more leeway to partisans in the round of redistricting that will begin after the 2020 election and further loosen campaign finance limitations. Don’t forget Bush v. Gore, when the Supreme Court – on a party-line vote – delivered the presidency to George W. Bush.

Neil and Mary Louise Gorsuch listen as Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) speaks before the Senate Judiciary Committee. (Susan Walsh/AP)

— These are significant, and under-covered, reasons why only four of 48 Democrats have broken ranks on using the filibuster. Three face tough reelection fights next year in ruby red states that Trump carried by double digits. The fourth, Michael Bennet, represents Gorsuch’s home state of Colorado.

Bennet reportedly urged Chuck Schumer to keep the party’s powder dry for the next Supreme Court fight. He believes Gorsuch, filling Antonin Scalia’s seat, will not fundamentally change the ideological balance on the court the way Donald Trump getting to pick Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s or Anthony Kennedy’s successor would. “If you’re looking to preserve Roe, [the next vacancy] is the seat you need to die on the sword for,” one person close to Bennet, describing the senator’s thinking, told Politico.

The senator’s colleagues in both parties, who understand the stakes and grasp how politicized the judiciary has already become, privately mock this as a naively short-sighted view. Yes, Gorsuch won’t be able to immediately overturn Roe v. Wade. But the 4-4 splits after Scalia’s death during the last term on issues like collective bargaining, plus the number of 5-4 decisions in the years before that, are reminders that the Supreme Court takes up a lot more than abortion rights.

What’s at stake in this week’s Senate showdown

— Gorsuch is a political animal. His mother was a conservative Colorado state legislator before she ran Ronald Reagan’s EPA. The judge’s own resume used to say that he had “worked on Republican campaigns since 1976.” In addition to volunteering in Ohio for the Bush-Cheney 2004 reelection effort, he was the co-chair of a Republican National Lawyers Association task force. The Senate Republican Conference even gave him a “distinguished service” award.

“He is a true loyalist (and a good, strong conservative),” then-RNC chair Ken Mehlman, his roommate at Harvard Law, emailed the White House’s political affairs shop as Gorsuch sought an appointment after the 2004 election.

Gorsuch himself wrote Bush’s political director to say he’d “spent considerable time trying to help the cause on a volunteer basis in volunteer roles.” “I’ve concluded that I’d really like to be a full-time member of the team,” he said. Soon after that, he landed a senior job in the Bush Justice Department. Within two years, he was on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.

— Republicans and Democrats alike are confident that Gorsuch will continue working to advance “the cause” as a “full time member of the team” once he’s on the high court. That’s why conservative groups are spending more than $10 million on commercials to promote him and liberals are fighting tooth and nail to stop him. In contrast to someone like John Roberts, Gorsuch came into this confirmation process with a very long paper trail. He’s ruled on nearly 3,000 cases during his tenure in Denver. Even if he’s never directly ruled on a subject, there are few mysteries about how he will come down on the hot button issues that will likely come before him. Academics who have studied his jurisprudence found that Gorsuch is further to the right than all four of the Republicans presently on the court.

— Consider voting rights: When Scalia was alive, he joined the 5-4 majority to strike down a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, which required states with a history of racial discrimination to get preclearance from the Justice Department before they could change voting rules. That ruling prompted several states to quickly enact new limitations that disproportionately impacted African Americans, a core constituency of the Democratic Party.

One of the states was North Carolina, which selectively chose voter-ID requirements, reduced the number of early-voting days and changed registration procedures. Government-issued driver’s licenses became an acceptable form of identification, but government-issued public assistance cards — used disproportionately by minorities in that state — were not. It came out during litigation that, before enacting the law, the state legislature requested data on the use, by race, of a number of voting practices.

A three-judge panel of the 4th Circuit unanimously ruled to strike down the law. “The new provisions target African Americans with almost surgical precision” and “impose cures for problems that did not exist,” Judge Diana Gribbon Motz wrote for the panel.

The Republican governor appealed to the Supreme Court for a stay. All four of the Republican justices wanted to grant North Carolina’s request, which would have allowed the restrictions to be in place for the 2016 election. Because there was a 4-4 tie, the lower court ruling prevailed. If either Scalia or Gorsuch had been on the court, the decision almost certainly would have gone the other way.

Senate hurtles toward filibuster showdown over Gorsuch

Al Franken pressed Gorsuch during his confirmation hearing about “whether you’re disturbed by a state government’s effort to systematically and strategically discriminate against its citizens by race.” “It seemed like an easy question to me so I’ll ask you again,” the Minnesota senator said. “Does that disturb you at all?” Gorsuch ducked and declined to give a straight answer. “Senator, if there are allegations of racism in legislation, in the voting area, there are a variety of remedies,” he said, declining to elaborate.

The Nation also published a piece last month about emails Gorsuch sent to Hans von Spakovsky during his tenure at the Justice Department. “Few people in the Republican Party have done more to limit voting rights than von Spakovsky,” Ari Berman explained. “He’s been instrumental in spreading the myth of widespread voter fraud and backing new restrictions to make it harder to vote. … At very least, the e-mails suggest Gorsuch was friendly with von Spakovksy.”

— Gorsuch might also be able to give air cover to redistricting plans that could help lock in the Republican House majority. The drawing of boundaries is always heavily litigated.

— And, on campaign finance, the judge has a history of siding with conservatives who oppose legal restrictions on fundraising. In Riddle v. Hickenlooper, Gorsuch joined the majority to invalidate a Colorado law. “The act of contributing to political campaigns implicates a ‘basic constitutional freedom,’ one lying ‘at the foundation of a free society’ and enjoying a significant relationship to the right to speak and associate — both expressly protected First Amendment activities,” he wrote.

CONTENT FROM MORGAN STANLEY

Capital creates better connections Morgan Stanley helped All Aboard Florida raise capital to finance the development of Brightline, an express rail in the Sunshine State—which is projected to potentially add up to hundreds of millions in federal, state and local government tax revenue over the next several years. 1 By Morgan Stanley

Welcome to the Daily 202, PowerPost’s morning newsletter. Sign up to receive the newsletter.

WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING:

Theo Pinson of the Tar Heels dunks last night in Glendale, Arizona. (Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

— North Carolina beat Gonzaga 71-65 to win the NCAA championship. It was an ugly win. The Tar Heels were 4-for-27 on three-point shots and missed 11 free throws out of 26. But they went on an 8-0 run in the final 100 seconds, and a W is a W. (Chuck Culpepper)

Jeff Sessions listens as Trump speaks with police union reps in the Roosevelt Room last week. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

— Attorney General Jeff Sessions ordered Justice Department officials to review reform agreements with troubled police forces nationwide, saying it was necessary to ensure that these pacts do not work against the Trump administration’s goals of promoting officer safety and morale while fighting violent crime. From Sari Horwitz, Mark Berman and Wesley Lowery: “In a two-page memo released (last night), Sessions said agreements reached previously between the department’s civil rights division and local police departments — a key legacy of the Obama administration — will be subject to review by his two top deputies, throwing into question whether all of the agreements will stay in place. The memo was released not long before the department’s civil rights lawyers asked a federal judge to postpone until at least the end of June a hearing on a sweeping police reform agreement, known as a consent decree, with the Baltimore Police Department that was announced just days before President Trump took office. Since 2009, the Justice Department opened 25 investigations into law enforcement agencies and has been enforcing 14 consent decrees, along with some other agreements.”

Civil rights advocates fear that Sessions’s memo could particularly imperil the status of agreements that have yet to be finalized, such as a pending agreement with the Chicago Police Department. “This is terrifying,” said Jonathan Smith, executive director of the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, who spent five years as the department’s chief of special litigation, overseeing investigations into 23 police departments such as New Orleans, Cleveland and Ferguson, Mo. “This raises the question of whether, under the current attorney general, the Department of Justice is going to walk away from its obligation to ensure that law enforcement across the country is following the Constitution.”

— “Trump Administration Considers Far-Reaching Steps for ‘Extreme Vetting,’” by the Wall Street Journal’s Laura Meckler: “Foreigners who want to visit the U.S., even for a short trip, could be forced to disclose contacts on their mobile phones, social-media passwords and financial records, and to answer probing questions about their ideology, according to Trump administration officials. [The White House] also wants to subject more visa applicants to intense security reviews and have embassies spend more time interviewing each applicant. The changes could apply to people from all over the world, including allies like France and Germany. The measures—whose full scope haven’t yet been publicly discussed—would together represent the ‘extreme vetting’ Trump has promised. The changes would be sure to generate significant controversy … with experts warning that other nations could impose similar requirements on Americans seeking visas.”

Explosion on St. Petersburg subway

— The Russians have identified a suspect in the St. Petersburg metro explosion that killed 11 yesterday. Investigators are still examining whether a suicide bomber may have detonated the blast as they continue to comb through wreckage and body parts, but the reported suspect is a Russian citizen from Kyrgyzstan, a restive Central Asian republic. The state security service there told Interfax that he is 22-year-old Akbarzhon Dzhalilov, who was born in Osh, a city that has seen bloody ethnic conflicts and the growth of Islamist militant movements since the Soviet Union began disintegrating three decades ago. (Andrew Roth and David Filipov)

A Syrian child receives treatment yesterday following a suspected toxic gas attack in a rebel-held town. (Mohamed al-Bakour/AFP/Getty Images)

GET SMART FAST:

A suspected chemical attack in northern Syria killed at least 58, including 11 children, on the eve of an international meeting in Brussels to discuss the country’s reconstruction. If a monitoring group’s report is confirmed, that would be the deadliest chemical attack since Assad’s forces dropped sarin gas on the Damascus suburbs in 2013. (Louisa Loveluck)

Boeing has signed a $3 billion deal with Iran’s Aseman Airlines for 30 737 airplanes, the first major U.S. sale to the Islamic Republic under the Trump administration. (AP)

One in five patients with serious medical conditions are initially misdiagnosed by their primary care providers, according to an alarming new study from the Mayo Clinic. (Lenny Bernstein)

Mercedes-Benz and Hyundai yanked ads from Bill O’Reilly’s show, following reports that the top-rated television host and his employer have paid five women $13 million to settle allegations of sexual harassment and verbal abuse. (Katie Mettler)

Fox News contributor Julie Roginsky also filed a discrimination suit against ousted CEO Roger Ailes and president Bill Shine. Her suit is potentially significant because it describes events allegedly taking place after Ailes’ departure, when the company vowed to clean up the “culture of harassment.” And because she’s a contributor, not a full-time employee, Fox cannot force her into arbitration. (Paul Farhi)

Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) said he will remove an Orlando prosecutor from some two dozen murder cases, the latest salvo in an escalating dispute over her unwillingness to pursue the death penalty against an accused cop killer. (Mark Berman)

A Connecticut university is mourning the death of a student after choking last weekend in a pancake-eating contest at her sorority. Thousands attended a mass in honor of the 20-year-old, whose father died while rescuing people on 9/11. (Susan Svrluga)

Camels from across the Arab world are descending on Saudi Arabia for an annual beauty contest. They are judged on the length of their lashes, the size of their lips, and the placement of their back humps. Contenders strut a 12-mile runway — and compete for more than $30 million in prize money. (Samantha Schmidt)

Trump donor secretly met with Russian close to Putin

THERE’S A BEAR IN THE WOODS:

— The United Arab Emirates arranged a secret meeting in January between Blackwater founder Erik Prince and a Russian close to President Vladimir Putin as part of an apparent effort to establish a back-channel line of communication between Moscow and then President-elect Trump, according to U.S., European and Arab officials. Adam Entous, Greg Miller, Kevin Sieff and Karen DeYoung scoop: “The meeting took place around Jan. 11 — nine days before Trump’s inauguration — in the Seychelles islands in the Indian Ocean … Though the full agenda remains unclear, the UAE agreed to broker the meeting in part to explore whether Russia could be persuaded to curtail its relationship with Iran, including in Syria, a Trump administration objective that would be likely to require major concessions to Moscow on U.S. sanctions.”

Though Prince had no formal role with the Trump campaign or transition team, he presented himself as an unofficial envoy for Trump to high-ranking Emiratis involved in setting up his meeting with the Putin confidant: “Prince was an avid supporter of Trump. After the Republican convention, he contributed $250,000 to Trump’s campaign, the national party and a pro-Trump super PAC led by GOP mega-donor Rebekah Mercer, records show. He has ties to people in Trump’s circle, including Stephen K. Bannon, now serving as the president’s chief strategist and senior counselor. Prince’s sister Betsy DeVos serves as education secretary … And Prince was seen in the Trump transition offices in New York in December.”

“U.S. officials said the FBI has been scrutinizing the Seychelles meeting as part of a broader probe of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election and alleged contacts between associates of Putin and Trump. The Seychelles encounter, which one official said spanned two days, adds to an expanding web of connections between Russia and Americans with ties to Trump — contacts that the White House has been reluctant to acknowledge or explain until they have been exposed by news organizations. ‘We are not aware of any meetings, and Erik Prince had no role in the transition,’ said Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary.” Read the full story here.

Carter Page, then an adviser to the Trump campaign, speaks at the graduation ceremony for the New Economic School in Moscow last July. (Pavel Golovkin/AP)

— Former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page met with and passed documents to a Russian intelligence operative in New York City in 2013, Buzzfeed’s Ali Watkins reports: “Carter Page met with a Russian intelligence operative named Victor Podobnyy, who was later charged by the US government alongside two others for acting as unregistered agents of a foreign government. The charges, filed in January 2015, came after federal investigators busted a Russian spy ring that was seeking information on US sanctions as well as efforts to develop alternative energy. Page is an energy consultant. The revelation of Page’s connection to Russian intelligence — which occurred more than three years before his association with Trump — is the most clearly documented contact to date between Russian intelligence and someone in Trump’s orbit.”

— House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes said Monday that his committee could resume interviews in its Russia probe later this month. Karoun Demirjian reports: ”The committee’s Russia investigation effectively ground to a halt last week after Nunes said it would be difficult to schedule interviews or depositions before [James Comey and NSA Director Mike Rogers] returned to Capitol Hill for additional closed-door testimony, following open testimony they gave two weeks ago. A scheduled, open hearing that would have featured testimony last week from former director of national intelligence James R. Clapper Jr., former CIA director John Brennan and former acting attorney general Sally Yates was canceled to make way for the return of Comey and Rogers to Capitol Hill, Nunes said — although The Washington Post later reported that the White House sought to keep Yates from testifying.” Nunes said the Comey and Rogers meeting has still not been scheduled and that the holdup was “with Comey, not with anyone else.” Nunes declined to say whom the committee planned to interview, or what the format of the interviews might be.

— New details of an attempted cyber-attack in 2014 underscore how much more aggressive foreign powers are becoming as they attempt to breach U.S. computer systems. Ellen Nakashima reports: “Over a 24-hour period, top U.S. cyber defenders engaged in a pitched battle with Russian hackers who had breached the unclassified State Department computer system and displayed an unprecedented level of aggression that experts warn is likely to be turned against the private sector. Whenever National Security Agency hackers cut the attackers’ link between their command and control server and the malware in the U.S. system, the Russians set up a new one. The new details about the November 2014 incident emerged recently in the wake of a senior NSA official’s warning that the heightened aggression has security implications for firms and organizations unable to fight back. ‘It was hand-to-hand combat,’ said NSA Deputy Director Richard Ledgett, who said the attackers’ thrust-and-parry moves inside the network while defenders were trying to kick them out amounted to ‘a new level of interaction between a cyber attacker and a defender.’”

— The governing body of track and field has been hacked by Fancy Bear, the Russian-linked group that previously attacked the World Anti-Doping Agency. IAAF officials believe the hack has compromised athletes’ medical records. (AP)

Spicer critiques media over coverage

THE RICE CONNECTION:

— “Top Obama adviser sought names of Trump associates in intel,” Bloomberg’s Eli Lake: “White House lawyers last month learned that former national security adviser Susan Rice requested the identities of U.S. persons in raw intelligence reports on dozens of occasions that connect to the Trump transition and campaign … The pattern of Rice’s requests was discovered in a National Security Council review of the government’s policy on ‘unmasking’ the identities of individuals in the U.S. who are not targets of electronic eavesdropping, but whose communications are collected incidentally. Normally those names are redacted from summaries of monitored conversations. … The intelligence reports were summaries of monitored conversations — primarily between foreign officials discussing the Trump transition, but also in some cases direct contact between members of the Trump team and monitored foreign officials. One U.S. official … said they contained valuable political information on the Trump transition such as whom the Trump team was meeting, the views of Trump associates on foreign policy matters and plans for the incoming administration.”

Sean Spicer yesterday decried the media’s “lack of interest” in the Rice story as he continued to deflect questions about the contacts between Trump associates and Moscow. The press secretary declined to comment directly on the Rice reports, but he still complained that the press cares more about certain stories than others.

— Important context: “Unmasking” refers to revealing a name that has been blacked out in an intelligence report on surveillance,” Karen DeYoung explains. “The law does not permit surveillance of U.S. persons without a warrant; if one shows up in authorized surveillance of a foreign person, it is ‘masked.’ According to a former senior national security official, top aides in all administrations are assigned an individual intelligence ‘briefer’ who gives them a curated report each morning, including foreign surveillance reports deemed of interest to them. The former official … said that in a minority of cases, the recipient may determine that the context of a particular communication, especially if it deals with sensitive security or foreign policy matters, requires knowledge of the U.S. person involved. The official can ask the intelligence briefer to ‘unmask’ that person. The request is considered and acted upon — or not — by the intelligence agency involved. The process is neither uncommon nor illegal.”

“Rice, as national security adviser, certainly had the authority to request the identities of U.S. citizens picked up as part of National Security Agency intercepts of communications by foreign officials,” adds Post Fact Checker Glenn Kessler. “Most of the reports were said to be summaries of conversations of foreign officials discussing the Trump transition, but some included conversations between foreign officials and Trump associates. The disclosure that Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak spoke several times with Trump incoming national security adviser Michael Flynn — and that Flynn had misled Trump officials about the nature of the calls — led to his firing by the president just three weeks after Trump took office. Lake reported two officials claimed that Rice made ‘dozens’ of requests. The Fact Checker contacted former NSC officials and that number seems rather high, although Rice apparently was closely monitoring the high-profile investigation into Russian interference.”

House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-NC) speaks to reporters. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

THE HEALTH CARE FIGHT IS NOT OVER:

— White House officials, led by Vice President Pence, jump-started negotiations on a stalled health-care bill last night, raising hopes that the closely watched legislation could pass the House as soon as this week. Mike DeBonis and John Wagner report: “Pence, Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney came to Capitol Hill late Monday to attend a meeting of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, days after [Trump] launched a remarkable intraparty attack on the staunch conservatives who helped block the bill last month. Early in the day, the three men hosted members of the Tuesday Group, a caucus of about 50 moderate House Republicans, at the White House for a health-care-focused discussion.”

House Freedom Caucus chairman Mark Meadow said administration officials offered a “solid idea” that could form the basis of an intraparty compromise: “That idea, he said, would allow states to apply for federal waivers exempting them from some health insurance mandates established under Obamacare, including an ‘essential health benefits’ requirement mandating coverage of mental-health care, substance abuse treatment, maternity care, prescription drugs and more. It remained unclear whether moderate Republicans could swallow the proposals offered Monday. But the flurry of activity reflected an ongoing willingness to wrestle with the difficulties of winning a GOP consensus on health care — an issue that helped drive much of the party’s electoral gains over the past eight years since the Affordable Care Act was passed.”

— A remarkable stat: The top 1 percent of health-care spenders use more resources, collectively, than the bottom 75 percent, according to a new study in Health Affairs. Slice the data a different way, and the bottom half of spenders all together rack up only about 3 percent of overall health care spending. The pattern hasn’t budged for decades, Carolyn Johnson explains, but this dynamic underscores a fundamental inequality in the country’s health spending that is the crux of the challenge policymakers face: They need a system that works for people who are ill, but is attractive to those who are healthy and spend little on health care.

Jared Kushner gets a a helicopter tour of Baghdad yesterday. (DOD handout)

THE FIRST FAMILY:

— “Jared Kushner has a singular and almost untouchable role in Trump’s White House,” by Ashley Parker and John Wagner: “In an administration riven by competing factions and led by a president who demands absolute loyalty, Kushner’s position — elevated and so far nearly untouchable — emanates from his familial relationship with [Trump]. Kushner’s portfolio has already grown to encompass slices of foreign policy (Mexico, the Middle East) and domestic issues (opioid addiction, veterans affairs), in addition to serving as the in-house mediator for the various feuding camps within the West Wing (the ideologues, the Wall Street guys). But Kushner’s outsize role has led to larger-than-life sniping and resentments, with rivals whispering that he has little depth and lacks the self-awareness to know what he doesn’t know. Simply put: Kushner’s role and relationship with the president — neither chief of staff nor regular political adviser — come with no precedents.”

Thomas Mann, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, compares the Trump-Kushner dynamic to “a mob family operation”: “It’s as if Trump is the don and he only trusts his close family members. There’s no indication that experience in the real estate business prepares one for the tasks at hand. It’s the hubris of a businessman imagining he can run government just because he’s a businessman. I don’t know if Jared Kushner shares the hubris of his father-in-law, but he’s certainly willing to say, ‘Yes, sir.’”

— The White House breached protocol Sunday by confirming reports of Kushner’s trip to Iraq before he was even on the ground, raising security concerns from the Pentagon. U.S. military officials typically provide information about trips made by senior officials under the condition that media not report them until the official already has landed in a country. (Ashley Parker and Dan Lamothe)

— Kushner’s trip to Iraq does not appear to be yet another item on his absurdly long list of responsibilities – but rater part of a Pentagon effort to reach out to members of Trump’s inner circle. New York Magazine: “Administration officials said that after early disagreements with the president over personnel matters, both [Joint Chiefs Chairman] Joseph Dunford and Defense Secretary James Mattis have been devoting considerable time to building relationships with top White House officials. It appears the defense officials hope to ensure they’re heard, regardless of which faction happens to be on top in Trump’s White House. One of the national security officials said the idea is to make sure ‘everybody is seated at the table.’ Of course, giving Dunford the chance to bond with Kushner during a long plane ride wasn’t the trip’s only purpose. Dunford said he invited Kushner and Thomas Bossert, the White House homeland security adviser, to Iraq so they could hear ‘first-hand and unfiltered’ from military advisers about the battle against ISIS.”

— “At Kushners’ Flagship Building, Mounting Debt and a Foundered Deal,” by the New York Times’s Charles V. Bagli: “The Fifth Avenue skyscraper was supposed to be the Kushner Companies’ flagship in the heart of Manhattan – a record-setting $1.8 billion souvenir proclaiming that the New Jersey developers Charles Kushner and his son Jared were playing in the big leagues. And while it has been a visible symbol of their status, it has also been a financial headache almost from the start. On Wednesday, the Kushners announced that talks had broken off with a Chinese financial conglomerate for a deal worth billions to redevelop the 41-story tower, at 666 Fifth Avenue, into a flashy 74-story ultraluxury skyscraper comprising a chic retail mall, a hotel and high-priced condominiums. The official announcement said the company remained ‘in active, advanced negotiations’ with a number of investors, whom it declined to name.”

— Ivanka and Jared are paying $15,000 a month to rent their home in D.C.’s Kalorama neighborhood. The rental agreement, filed with the city, is the first concrete information about the couple’s deal with a Chilean billionaire who has business before the government and recently purchased the house for $5.5 million. (WSJ)

— Trump donated his first three months of White House paychecks to the National Park Service. The $78,333 will be put towards the maintenance of historic battlefields, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said. (David Fahrenthold)

— The “trust agreement” that Trump used to put his adult sons in charge of his companies allows him to withdraw money at any time without any public disclosure, illustrating the thin divide between the president and his private fortune. It’s another reminder that the president has not actually divested from his wide-ranging holdings. (Drew Harwell and ProPublica)

Trump leaves the Oval Office with Egypt’s president. (Olivier Douliery/Pool via Bloomberg)

PERSONNEL IS POLICY:

— Former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore is on the shortlist to be U.S. ambassador to Germany. (Anne Gearan and Abby Phillip)

— An English-language newspaper in Saudi Arabia is discontinuing a column by Middle Eastern scholar Andrew Bowen after he requested that his pre-election columns criticizing Trump be taken down so that he could pass clearance for a potential job in the State Department. In an unapologetic post on its website, Arab News blasted Bowen’s request as “unprofessional journalistically, particularly given that there were no factual errors or libelous comments that require a redaction or correction.” (Samantha Schmidt)

— The Trump administration has hired the former executive director of the Louisiana GOP, Jason Doré, even though his name surfaced on a list of accounts released in the hack of the Ashley Madison cheating web site in 2015. Doré began his new White House gig this week, where he will serve as assistant chief counsel for external affairs for the Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy. He maintains that he registered so that he could conduct opposition research on Democrats and says it was a non-issue during his interviews. (Politico’s Daniel Lippman)

— “Controversial Trump Aide Sebastian Gorka Backed Violent Anti-Semitic Militia,” by The Forward’s Lili Bayer: “As a Hungarian political leader in 2007, [Trump’s] chief counter-terrorism adviser, publicly supported a violent racist and anti-Semitic paramilitary militia that was later banned as a threat to minorities by multiple court rulings [and] later condemned by the European Court of Human Rights for attempting to promote an ‘essentially racist’ legal order. … Asked directly on the TV interview program if he supports the move by Jobbik, a far-right anti-Semitic party, to establish the militia, Gorka, appearing as a leader of his own newly formed party, replies immediately, ‘That is so.’ The Guard, Gorka explains, is a response to ‘a big societal need.'”

— “SEC Pick Communicated With Thiel, Mercer, and Bannon Before Nomination,” by Bloomberg: “Jay Clayton, the deals lawyer nominated to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission, said he had ‘substantive’ communications with several wealthy backers of Trump before he was offered the job in January. Clayton spoke with venture capital billionaire Peter Thiel and political adviser Rebekah Mercer, both of whom were on Trump’s transition team. … Clayton also said he communicated with … Stephen Bannon … The Wall Street connections that Clayton cultivated as a Sullivan & Cromwell partner have led Democrats including [Elizabeth Warren] to question whether he’ll be a tough regulator. The SEC is responsible for crafting and enforcing regulations governing U.S. equity markets and the operations of hedge funds, traders and banks.”

Ben Carson speaks Monday at a luncheon hosted by the National Low Income Housing Coalition. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)