#weekly interview 10

[erectile-disgruntlement]

TW: suicidal thoughts and law enforcement

I had an interview at my local Safeway today and they offered me the job pending a background check. I thought I should be honest about my criminal history because if they're going to do a background check, I might as well not lie about it and make myself look worse. That was the wrong fucking decision. They decided the harassment conviction that I self reported along with my "rehabilitation" plans of weekly therapy and the phone number of the victim in the case were just too horrible for me to be hired. This is the only fucking place that would give me 4 hour shifts and I'm so fucking tired. I just want to be done with that stupid fucking conviction.

In July of last year, I called 911 on my partner after he grabbed a knife and threatened to kill himself after he ruptured my eardrum. For reasons completely beyond me, the police decided to arrest me and throw my ass in jail. It was like 9-10 am and I still had to wait till 1 pm the next day to see a judge. I wasn't given any of my medications that night despite them having them and my heart rate being in the 150's or higher the entire night.

The fucking trauma didn't stop after I got out though because I still had fucking criminal charges against me. We had a plea deal made up that would expunge the charges after I was on unsupervised probation for a year. And then the day of my fucking sentencing, they switched DAs and that flew out of the window. I was also originally charged with both harassment and assault, but the assault charge was dropped, so the new DA decided to threaten that if I pleaded not guilty and it went to trial, they would add the assault charge back on.

I was basically forced to plead guilty without a plea deal. Thankfully, the judge took pity on me or something so she just gave me 12 months bench probation and ordered me to continue the therapy I was already doing instead of giving me 18 months and making me go to a batters group like the DA wanted.

At this fucking point I'm genuinely contemplating suicide not because I actually want to die, but just because I know I don't have to worry about this shit if I'm dead.

[alienssstufff]

MISSING PERSONS ARTICLE (5/10/ NULL):

An extract from a local article published by The Weekly Hermit on the 5th of October (Year: NULL). Covered by Pixlriffs [Pen Name] –DISAPPEARING ACT, The Bachelor Who Vanished In Thin Air

[MEMORY : 1/2 ] [MEMORY : 2/2 - HERE]

>[READ ARTICLE?]

They were young and unafraid, Joel [LASTNAME] alongside friend Scar [LASTNAME] would venture on a hiking trip around the mountains only to vanish without a trace.

With the Joel engaged and set to be married to the current head of the Fairy Fort Resort ranger Lizzie [LASTNAME], accounts state that him along with best man Scar were last seen on the 22nd of September in the safety of Hiker’s Checkpoint, a popular camping destination of the Last Life woodlands.

“He said it was supposed to be an ‘act of bravery’. He wanted to prove he was strong to me.” A distraught Lizzie recounts. 

“I knew Scar was acting rather off the last few weeks, but I never expected he would just.. Up and run away like this. Especially with someone as inexperienced to hiking as Joel – I didn’t think they would go this far!” witness and former roommate of Scar, Grian, relays to the press.

Further interviews with the witnesses on the day of the disappearance recount in agreeance to meet the two at the Fairy Fort Reserve, a small group had held an early-morning farewell bachelor party at the Hiker’s Checkpoint, where the two would begin their 3-day trip along the marked Mycelium Trail to the wedding venue on the 25th of October.

Joel was last seen wearing a thick brown sheepskin sweater, brown pants, and worn white-and-green running shoes - with his most noticeable feature being green, dyed highlights in his hair. Scar was last seen donning a brown aviator's jacket above a black, multi-purpose utility jacket and white plaid flannel with blue cargo pants - most noticeable feature being the green bandanna found at the checkpoint.

Prior background given by loved ones and witnesses of the party reveal that the wellbeing of Joel, a novice hiker, would still be under the guidance of friend Scar who is reported to have years of experience of hiking both within and beyond the hiking trails of the woodlands. 

Reports to the authorities of their disappearance were made just 24-hours past the expected date by the Fairy Fort Reserve and the duo would be officially declared missing on the 28th of September. Several smaller search parties made within the FFR, Lizzie admits, were held prior to making the decision on contact around the reserve and the Hiker’s Checkpoint. A larger, more extensive investigation along the Mycelium Trail was held from the 28th onwards as more people volunteered and potential witnesses were questioned.

The Mycelium Trail is a relatively accessible route for both man and off-road vehicles to traverse between various locations in the Last Life woodlands. While recordings of the weather at this time of year had been colder than usual, there had been no signs of snow, rainfall or forest fires that would hinder the mens’ trip. 

A total of 78 individuals have participated in the search for our runaway bachelor and avid adventure-lover with little succession as damp footprints of the missing, Scar’s green bandanna,  a set of binoculars belonging to Scar, and two discarded lighters and canteens found within the bounds of the Hiker’s Checkpoint. 

Suspect of foul play between the men were brought up in questioning but was avidly rejected by witnesses and investigators for lack of motive even considering Grian’s accounts on Scar’s unusual behavior. Further theories relating to mentions of exploring the nearby Magical Mt were also suspect and a smaller search party made closer to the foot of the mountain was conducted to no avail due to the frigid weather. Urgencies from Lizzie to authorities in further investigation within the mountain were set forth and ultimately rejected due to windy weather and unstable, difficult-to-cross terrain.

As of current release, the status of Joel and Scar remains unknown. For information leading to the safe return of Joel [LASTNAME] and Scar [LASTNAME] please contact [NUMBER REMOVED] at the Fairy Fort Reserve investigation team.

>[ARTICLE ENDS HERE]

#stufffsart #myart #last life apocalypse au #gtws #goodtimeswithscar #gtwscar #smallishbeans #ldshadowlady #[mentioned] #last life #last life smp #life series #life smp #trafficblr

[queerdisagreeable]

TMP/Magnus Kickstarter Update

Hi all! We just got a huuuuge Kickstarter update, and I thought I'd share the TL;DR that we (the mods of Statement Remains) put together to give people a hand navigating it!

TMP News - The digital premiere will be available on October 22nd for backers at the Archival Assistant level and above, and for Knight & Noble Patreons. - It will include a preview of The Magnus Protocol pilot episode and some exclusive bonus content. - The audio of the preview episode, without the extra content, will be released to KS backers at the Researchers level and above on 31st October.

- There will be a post-premiere livestream on Twitch with cast and crew, sometime after the 31st

- All the pre-launch previews will be exclusive to backers and patrons, but the official debut (in January 2024) will have new content not seen in the previews (including the full orchestral debut)

- The double length pilot episode releases Jan 2024, with a weekly release schedule following (and a 2 week break every 10 episodes)

- They are currently finalising script drafts for season 1, writing for seasons 2 and 3, doing primary recordings for episodes, and editing the Pilot episode

Casting Announcements - Meet Alice Dyer, played by Seer Pink (they/them). You may know Seer from streaming/tiktok -- this is their RQ debut! - Meet Samama Kahlid, played by Shahan Hamza (he/him). Shahan has previously played Siva in Trice Forgotten!

Other Castings - Anusia Battersby (she/her) as Gwendolyn Bouchard - Lowri Ann Davies (she/her) as Celia Ripley - Ryan Hopevere-Anderson (he/him) as Colin Becher - Kazeem Tosin Amore (he/him) as Teddy Vaughn - Sarah Lambie (she/her) as Lena Kelley - Ellie Dickens (she/her) as Lady Mowbray - Tim Fearon (he/him) as [ERROR] - Alexander J Newall (he/him) as [ERROR] - Jonathan Sims (he/him) as [ERROR]

There are "multiple returning friends and enemies from The Magnus Archives", but revealing them now would be a spoiler!

Making-Of Documentary - The documentary is well underway! - It will feature candids from meetings, interviews, and video diaries from Jonny and Alex! - The full version will air after the series is concluded, but a teaser segment will be released alongside the premiere!

ARG Updates - Official start date: **15 September**

- Far larger scale than the mini-ARG, featuring both digital and in-person elements - Will feature lots of worldbuilding and exclusive story that will provide an even deeper insight into the world of TMP

- Bookmark https://themagnusprotocolarg.com! This will be the main ARG hub! - Questions about the ARG can go to [email protected]. They will not provide hints/help solve the puzzles.

- Important note from the ARG site: Participants of this ARG must be over 18 for legal reasons.

Mic Updates - The Podcast Pro mics are nearly ready to start shipping. They are finalising packaging and etching the finished microphones!

---

And a quick note from me on behalf of the SR server! We're currently looking for mods to bolster our team, so that we can feasibly host the ARG solving efforts! If you're interested, you can join the Discord here: https://discord.gg/h6bkdqc5yd

#tma #tmagp #the magnus archives #the magnus protocol #magpod #senseless ramblings

[takitafulily]

Misadventures of the MCs #02

Welcome to our exclusive interview with your favourite MCs! It's ok if you don't know them, let's get to know them!

Q: Let's start simple! Who's the baby?

WHB!MC: Easy, Ppyong

OB!MC: Luke. No matter how much he denies it it's Luke.

TWST!Yuu: I'm gonna say Ortho since Grim is technically a cat, not human, but then again Ortho isn't exactly human either...

LTD!MC: Oh! I'm invited? I'm flattered, thank you! Oh, the baby? Yinny definitely!

MM!MC: Shhhhhhh don't tell him I said this... it's Yoosung-

Q: Who's the parent of everyone?

WHB!MC: Either me or Solomon I guess. Probably Solomon.

OB!MC: Everyone's expecting me to say Lucifer. Wrong. It's Barbatos. Poor demon works overtime to make sure the universe doesn't collapse in on itself.

TWST!Yuu: Hmmm, I'm gonna say Professor Crewel, but he's not the affectionate parent type, he's the Asian parent.

LTD!MC: I'm not quite sure... everyone's very professionally so most of us know how to look after ourselves... maybe Chauncy...

MM!MC: (Immediate response) Jaehee. Please. Give my girl a break-

Q: What's the hardest currency to obtain (as a F2P)?

WHB!MC: Solomon's tears. I need my dear ancestor to cry more please-

OB!MC: Devil points. You really need to save and gacha wisely...

TWST!Yuu: Gems. Once you reach you limit in the storyline, cleared your twistunes and cleared your weekly missions they're so hard to come across...

LTD!MC: Tomatoes I guess? I'm not very F2P friendly after a certain point which is a shame...

MM!MC: The. Freaking. Hour. Glasses.

Q: How many times has someone attempted to kill you so far?

WHB!MC: A couple dozen times, the angels just won't leave me alone-

OB!MC: About 10-20 times? I forget to count since it gets brushed under the rug every time. (Cue the other MC staring weirdly at them) What?

TWST!Yuu: 9 and counting, though I guess some weren't personal I just happened to be there.

LTD!MC: N-none??? Are you guys ok????? (Concerned noises)

MM!MC: Less than 10 I think? They were pretty close calls though.

#whb #whb mc #what in hell is bad #prettybusy what in “hell” is bad? #obey me shall we date #obey me #obey me mc #twst #twisted wonderland #disney twst #twst yuu #ltd #lovetodo #lovetodo mc #mystic messenger mc #mystic messenger

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

Timeline: Part 8 - November 2017

For earlier timeline posts: click here or here.

The one where Meghan's hustle finally starts paying off.

Also, Meghan's PR loyalties begin changing during this month. By mid-December 2017, she's stopped leaking to her usual sources - Star Magazine, US Weekly, and E News.

And when the engagement is announced, you can watch the official stories of how Meghan and Harry met begin changing in real-time.

11/1/2017: No new Meghan or Harkle stories.

11/2/2017: Meghan teases an engagement with adoption of a royal wardrobe.

11/3/2017: Meghan's role on a 2009 TV show resurfaces. Samantha Markle reveals internal family racism towards Doria and Meghan, and William's friends reopen a nightclub that Harry used to party at.

11/4/2017: No new Meghan or Harkle stories.

11/5/2017: No new Meghan or Harkle stories.

11/6/2017: No new Meghan or Harkle stories.

11/7/2017: No new Meghan or Harkle stories.

11/8/2017: Soho Farmhouse announces expansion plans. Meghan merches beauty products and calls Kate a fashion copycat.

11/9/2017: No new Meghan or Harkle stories.

11/10/2017: A television program searches for a Meghan Markle lookalike.

11/11/2017: No new Meghan or Harkle stories.

11/12/2017: Remembrance Sunday for the UK. The press points out that Harry is breaking military code by keeping his beard whilst wearing a military uniform. Doria sells her high school photos to the Daily Mail.

11/13/2017: Meghan papped filming wedding scenes for Suits.

11/14/2017: Meghan papped again on Suits sets. She fuels engagement rumors by hinting she plans to leave the show (but technically she already confirmed it last month).

11/15/2017: Affair rumors about Prince Philip resurface, ahead of The Crown Season 2 release. Promos reveal that the season will focus on tension in Philip and Elizabeth's marriage.

11/16/2017: Meghan lays groundwork for a PR narrative that the royal family is jealous of her popularity by reminding everyone that The Queen and Prince Philip were angry about Diana's popularity.

11/17/2017: Meghan's body-double/Suits stand-in reveals Meghan is moving to London soon. Meghan moves her dogs to the UK and merches her boots.

11/18/2017: Genealogists discover that Meghan's ancestor was beheaded by Henry VIII.

11/19/2017: Meghan owes her celebrity to her father's lottery win. Diana's former lover, Hasnat Khan, announces his engagement.

11/20/2017: The Queen and Prince Philip celebrate 70 years of marriage and Her Majesty appoints Philip Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order. The royals celebrate with a swanky party at Windsor Castle; Meghan is not invited (her absence is confirmed next month). Meanwhile:

Meghan is papped arriving at the UK airport.

Samantha Markle gives an interview declaring desire to be invited to the royal wedding.

Financial reports announce that the Royal Family has contributed 1.8 billion pounds to the UK economy.

A rumor begins that Prince George will make a special guest appearance on Fireman Sam.

11/21/2017: Meghan is papped in London doing her Christmas shopping. She leaks to US Weekly that she has officially moved out of her Toronto house, her furniture was put into storage, and her personal belongings have been shipped to the UK.

The Daily Mail fires a warning to Meghan about how the 'needy' King Edward trapped Wallis Simpson and made it so she couldn't leave him. The implication is that Harry is similarly needy and will trap Meghan in a similar unhappiness.

11/22/2017: Meghan merches her scarf.

11/23/2017: Meghan gets a facial and merches the spa, fueling engagement rumors.

11/24/2017: Revisiting Prince Philip's stag party. Kensington Palace announces William and Kate will attend the Royal Variety Performance. Meghan leaks to E News that she and Harry are "practically" engaged, fueling more engagement rumors.

11/25/2017: No new Meghan or Harkle stories.

11/26/2017: Meghan merches her facialist and her treatment. The Daily Mail scoops Buckingham Palace and reveals an announcement is coming. They also recap Harry and Meghan's relationship and reveal that both Doria and Meghan have received RPO security details.

11/27/2017: Kensington Palace announces the engagement of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and:

The Telegraph republishes its "Meghan Markle: The Making of a Hollywood Princess" story.

Meghan merches her coat, shoes, health tips, beauty, skincare, and boots.

They hint at receiving Sussex titles.

Revisiting all of Harry's ex-girlfriends.

Meet Meghan's besties and potential bridesmaids.

The Markle family comments on the royal engagement.

Meghan and Harry will live in Nottingham Cottage.

How Meghan Markle went from seedy LA tenement to the Palace.

How Catholic Meghan Markle survived her parents' LA divorce.

Meghan's life in photos

Meet the Markles

Meghan and Crown Princess Mary (of Denmark) are style sisters.

Mishal Husain was hand-picked by Harry to conduct the engagement interview.

Speculation about the wedding dress begins, with Meghan teasing an Australian designer.

Meghan leaks to US Weekly that she and Harry spent the weekend away before announcing their engagement.

Meghan leaks about her preparation and support from Harry to become royal.

Diana and Meghan would have been best friends.

Meghan retires from acting.

How Meghan tamed Harry

Royal fashion showdown: Meghan, Diana, and Kate

11/28/2017: Engagement coverage continues.

Violet von Wesetenholz is the royal matchmaker.

Doria gives a statement on the engagement.

Meghan's sixth grade school photos are published.

Meghan's sexy online photos resurface.

Quid pro quo: How Meghan supports her friends

Meghan and Harry merch Luckington Manor as a prospective home.

No, it's not Violet. The royal matchmaker is Misha Nonoo.

Harry papped at the gym in Chelsea.

Meghan did the calligraphy for Robin Thicke and Paula Patton's wedding.

Actually, Markus Anderson is the royal matchmaker. (I believe this one; the source is US Weekly, which is a confirmed Meghan ally. The Violet and Misha stories are from the Daily Mail.)

Samantha Markle says Thomas wants to walk Meghan down the aisle.

Meghan leaks that she and Harry secretly visited The Queen after announcing engagement.

See? Meghan can do royal glam too -- 11 times she won the red carpet.

Meghan merches her fashion sense and style.

11/29/2017: Engagement coverage continues.

All about Meghan's genealogy (again)

Meghan reveals Bogart was too old to fly and was left behind in Canada. She also leaks that the BRF is forcing her to stop acting and that the BRF is also making her stop her private charity work.

Meghan the humanitarian

Ninaki Preddy sells pictures to the Daily Mail. The motherlode includes a photograph of Meghan posing outside Buckingham Palace.

Meghan expected to join the royal family at Sandringham for Christmas.

Meghan merches tongue massages.

Aaron Korsh, the creator of Suits, reveals that Meghan was written out of Suits in 2016.

Meghan leaks her expectations to be better than Princess Grace of Monaco.

Meghan merches her beauty routine again.

11/30/2017: New day, same story.

Meghan is on the cover of Elle France.

Meghan merches her nose.

Meghan's soap commercial resurfaces.

Meghan's sorority pictures are published.

Kensington Palace announces wedding will be in May.

Remember when Meghan was a fashion expert/consultant for the Today show?

Northwestern University remembers Meghan.

Meghan has royal ancestors.

How will Meghan become a British citizen?

#timeline #brf #sussexes #pr shenanigans

[ladyluscinia]

Draft clearing. I think I had more of a point on the topic of Jenkins and genre I wanted to make when I gathered these, but I'm not feeling it anymore. However, I need spread awareness of his absolutely baffling ideas about pirate media and how he sounds half-convinced it must be a formulaic action/adventure. I only picked up on this by reading way too many interviews back to back so I'm not surprised I've never seen anyone else mention it, but like. It's wild. And he's SO additionally weird about how showrunning a piece of media about pirates relates to whatever concept he has of pirate media in his head.

Here's the link to my interview compilation if you want to check my sources on these.

Jenkins Quotes on "Pirate Genre"

"I think actual pirate stuff is fine, but it's not necessarily my cup of tea. And I think Taika [Waititi] felt similarly.

[...]

Showrunner Jenkins sees Our Flag Means Death as having "joy. A lot of joy. I like Stede because Stede is, to me, the outsider artist of pirates. And I think in designing the show, I was conscious [of the fact that it's] a hard genre to do anything to. It's a very stubborn genre because it's been done so well and so often. So I kind of tried to look at, like New York, like Alphabet City in the '80s via a pirate genre via Mad Max and try to throw all these different things at it. So I think you'll get a different feel than you'd get on a normal pirate thing. I think we achieved that with our amazing crew." - (Gizmodo, 2/22/22)

"I guess I really… I get kind of bored. How much pirate can you do? They're going to rob stuff. They're going to steal ships. There's only so many pirate stories you can do." - (Collider, 3/24/22)

Despite creating a pirate show, he himself says he's not a huge fan of pirate movies. - (EW.com, 12/13/22)

"I don't want to see a bunch of pirate things that I've seen in other things, I'll just go watch another thing if I want to see that. That's not really my thing. I like the genre, but it's a very hard genre to budge. I want to see relationships in a pirate world." - (TV Guide, 10/5/23)

"The pirate genre is fun, but I wasn't dying to make a pirate show. Taika wasn't dying to make a pirate show. But the thing that was interesting to me was that Stede finds love, and he finds it with Blackbeard." - (Variety, 10/13/23)

"I think there is something in the show about how piracy is a brutal way of life. It's essentially Mad Max, this world. There's no law, there's just strong and weak." - (Polygon, 10/21/23)

"And it’s also a pirate show, so he’s got to die." - (Vanity Fair, 10/26/23)

"Another thing I love is what I call shaggy stories, stories about people navigating each other. When you plug them into different genres, you get this great engine that comes with it. I'm not particularly dying to write a pirate thing, but I want to write a bunch of characters trying to navigate each other in a pirate thing." - (Vulture, 10/28/23)

"But I'm like you. I'm not a big pirate person. In general, it's a big creaky genre that's hard to budge, but I think the show benefits from we can pull pirate stuff out when we need it. Ultimately, yeah, I want to see these different relationships and perspectives on different relationships. Then it's fun to plug it into an overwrought genre.

[...]

Pirates of the Caribbean, those movies are great. That's not necessarily what I hunger to see, but in that genre, it's great. You're not going to beat that, especially on something that's lower budget. We've seen a lot of this stuff, so it's fun to take it then and don't do any of that stuff." - (Metro Weekly, 11/1/23)

"I think it's more interesting to me that I've never seen a love story like this in this genre, and you dream for that. Really, pirates, what can you do that's different with pirates?

[...]

To me, to tell the story about these two men in this very hetero action genre, falling for each other..." - (Metro Weekly, 11/1/23)

---

...This is the same guy who just ended a season on the British Navy blowing up Nassau for symbolism reasons that I'm pretty sure have nothing to do with the love story. 🤨

#good news - his forest fight is probably not intentionally a weak parody of black sails #because despite being a known tragedy enjoyer i don't think he would watch black sails #our flag means death #ofmd s2 #ofmd piracy #david jenkins #i'll also do just to be safe #ofmd critical #even though this is 90% just pulling his own words together for you to make your own conclusion #ladyluscinia

[the---hermit]

20|05|2023

16/50 days of productivity

It's yet another rainy day, but I am indeed feeling better. I am still a bit more tired than usual and I struggle to stay focused for long, but it's overall much better. I can't wait to spend tomorrow reading and relaxing to recharge before the new week.

Productivity:

wrote a couple of book reviews

edited all the book reviews I have in my drafts (I have fallen behind a bit espeically with reading challenge updates, but those will take a bit more time to be posted. Look out tomorrow because there'll be a few book review posts!)

watched and annotated one and a half history of religions lectures (I was losing focus so I stopped half an hour before it was done, I'll finish it on Monday)

highlighted all my new notes

made the new weekly spread in my bullet journal

updated my reading journal

emails

crosswords

practiced Irish on duolingo

Self care:

read first thing in the morning (I started my day with reading an interview with my favourite graphic novel artist and then reading about hobbits, 10/10 would recommend)

📖: The Hobbits Of Tolkien by David Day (I am so obsessed with this book, I am so glad I randomly found it yesterday it's bringing me a lot of joy)

🎵: Animal by PVRIS

#studyblr #studyinspo #uniblr #university #studying #student life #50 days of productivity #productivity challenge #productivity #currently reading #bookblr #book #journal #notebook #notes #handwritten notes #knife gang #journaling #mine #the---hermit

[mirai-e-jump]

TV Guide Dan, LDH Special Issue dan the Girls ft. Yuzuki Hirakawa Interview (translation below)

Publication December 1, 2023

-RESOLUTION-

"Hirakawa-san, you entered the entertainment industry after winning the Grand Prix in the vocal and dance category of LDH's, "LDH Presents THE GIRLS AUDITION" held in 2018. Please tell us why you took part in the audition."

Hirakawa: I've always liked LDH artists. I would go and see their live performances, and I watched "Weekly EXILE," a music information program that was being broadcast at the time. Then, I heard the announcement that they'd be holding an audition for female artists for the first time in a while. Before that, auditions had been limited to singing and dancing, but the auditions I attended included various categories, including singing and dancing, as well as acting and modeling. At the time, I wasn't interested in the entertainment world, but my parents and those around me recommended I do it, so I did it partially out of curiosity. However, as judging progressed, before I knew it, I won the Grand Prix…is how it felt. I like singing, but I didn't have any dreams of becoming a singer. After joining the agency, I took singing, dancing and acting lessons equally, and during those lessons, I decided to pursue acting.

"Winning the Grand Prix helped you in deciding to pursue a career in the entertainment industry."

Hirakawa: I was in my second year of high school when I won the Grand Prix, and I had to move from Kumamoto to Tokyo by myself, so I was determined, or rather, I felt I had no choice but to do it. The final stage of the audition was a training camp exam, where about 10 finalists spent a week together. While there, I met other kids who were seriously working hard to pursue their dreams, and I realized that I could no longer be half hearted in my efforts just because I had been chosen. However, when I made my debut as an actor in the stage play of "Moryo no Hako," I didn't know what to do or what was expected of me on the stage, so I just went along with things. It was only last year when I was cast as the role of Rita Kaniska (PapillonOhger) in "Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger" that I was able to proudly say, "My profession is an actor. Actually, before I was cast for the role…there was a time when I was wondering if it was okay to continue down this path, or if I should look for another one. That's why I was so happy when I was chosen to play the role, and thought I could continue as an actor. However, I was alittle anxious before the broadcast started. Rita is the king of Gokkan and the Chief Justice of the International Court of Justice, but their gender isn't clearly stated, and their face is almost invisible, being hidden behind their collar and hair. Since this type of character hasn't been seen in the Super Sentai series before, I couldn't predict what kind of reaction we'd get from the viewers. But thankfully, the positive feedback I've received since airing started has made me enjoy filming even more.

"We feel that characters who don't specify their gender are appropriate in the current era."

Hirakawa: I'm grateful to have been given such a role. I've always thought that my appearance, personality and voice were (gender) neutral, so I was happy to have landed the role of Rita. At first, Rita was a calm and quiet character who didn't say much, but as the story progressed, they're able to rely on others, and gradually become able to express their feelings in public. Slowly, their humanity and cuteness is showing, and I hope that my performance will make the character even more beloved.

"We feel like it's more difficult to express a character that changes gradually, rather than one that changes drastically, but do you find it difficult?"

Hirakawa: I'm not sure…personally, I don't find it that difficult. More than the changes of Rita in the story, I think the relationship between me and all the cast members were the biggest change. As filming progressed, the relationship between the cast members deepened, and I feel that we're able to understand each other. I think this naturally led me to express myself in the role. The atmosphere when Rita and their retainer, Morfonia (Hasegawa Kasumi), are together has also changed. Of course, this happened after the halfway point of the story, but it also reflects the fact that the cast members have become closer to each other.

"And now, "Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger Character Book: The Bonds Connected by Moffun and Racules?!" featuring Rita, Morfonia, and Hymeno Ran (played by Murakami Erica) is on sale. Please tell us your thoughts after looking back on the photo shoot and interview."

Hirakawa: In the TV series, Rita and Hymeno, and Rita and Morfonia are sometimes filmed together, but this is probably the first time that Hymeno, Rita, and Morfonia are together. This was the first time doing an interview with the three of us, so it was very refreshing. Rita is called the "Immovable King," a character with very few movements. So, there aren't that many posing variations, but Hymeno and Morfonia moved alot to add variety, so I felt thankful for that (laughs).

"In episodes 32 and 33 of the TV series, there was a collaboration with "Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger." You co starred with Shiono Akihisa-kun, playing the role of Souji Rippukan (Kyoryu Green), who also belongs to LDH."

Hirakawa: The day after it was decided that I'd be appearing in King-Ohger, I had work to do with Shiono-san, and when I told him, "I'm going to be your junior in Super Sentai," he said to me, "I know it'll be a tough year, but please do your best." He also said, "I hope we can work together again somewhere." At that time, I never imagined that I'd be able to work with Shiono-san in King-Ohger, so I was really happy when the collaboration episodes were announced. We only had one day of filming, but I was able to hear stories about the "Kyoryuger" days, and I was deeply moved by being able to appear in the same scenes for the first time. The collaboration episodes were directed by Sakamoto Koichi, who's famous for his action direction, and although we had to fight more enemies without transforming than usual, since I like action, it didn't bother me, and it was a valuable experience. I'm also working with Amano Kousei-san, another senior at LDH, who plays Grodie Leucodium starting from episode 30. Since Grodie is Rita's enemy, they have many scenes together. Amano-san is very considerate, lending us things to cool our necks when we were on location during the hot season. Also, he gets involved with me on Twitter, and is a really funny and friendly person. However, once he gets into his role, he completely changes, which I think is amazing.

"Since our magazine mainly features men, we'd like to ask what kind of men Hirakawa-san likes."

Hirakawa: Someone who's firm and flexible. When he messes around, he'll completely mess around, and when he talks about serious matters, he's serious. I'm the type of person who gets excited when I'm having fun, so ideally, I'd like someone who has the same enthusiasm as me, and to take the initiative and have fun doing whatever it takes, instead of being drawn away from me (laughs). Also, I think it's wonderful if he can say, "Thank you" and, "I'm sorry" for even the smallest of things, and if he cares about family.

"If you could be reborn, would you prefer to be male or female?"

Hirakawa: I'd like to be male. I used to play with my brother, who's 5 years older than me, and his friends, and I wanted to be a boy too.

"Well then, if you could be a man for one day, what would you like to do?"

Hirakawa: I wonder…(taking time to think), I guess I'd do some muscle training. If I can become a muscular man like Kaku So-san, my co star in King-Ohger, I'd like to go to the gym and train my muscles until he admits defeat! Kaku-san said he can bench press 120 kg (265 lbs), so I'd like to aim for that too and show off my muscles to everyone (laughs).

#👀 #ohsama sentai kingohger #kingohger #super sentai #rita kaniska #rita kanisuka #moffun #my scans #my translation #toku cast #kingohger cast #yuzuki hirakawa #hirakawa yuzuki #tokusatsu #ohsama sentai king ohger #king ohger #tv guide dan

[hungergamesbookclub]

A List of Suzanne Collins Interviews

A list of interviews Suzanne Collins has given over the years, specifically related to The Hunger Games series and movies. Please use as a reference or to explore. If I'm missing any, please feel free to send me a link and I'll add it in!

Print Interviews

2008 School Library Journal Interview

May 2009 "An Interview with Suzanne Collins" by James Blasingame

September 2009 Interview by Deborah Hopkinson

2010 Entertainment Weekly Interview

August 2010 School Library Journal Interview

March 2012 Entertainment Weekly Interview

Scholastic Interview

2013 Time Magazine Interview

2018 10-year anniversary edition interview

May 2020 TBOSAS Interview

Video Interviews

Scholastic Interview

2009 Bibliostar Interview

2009 Borders Interview with readers

2010 Scholastic Interview

November 2023 TBOSAS Interview

Bonus!

Suzanne Collins reads first chapter of Mockingjay

Suzanne Collins reads from TBOSAS

#suzanne collins #the hunger games #tbosas #thg book club #reference #interviews

[pianokantzart]

My English class had to make a newsletter about anything, literally anything that we want it to be, and we had to write it as if we were in that universe. And I (of course) chose the Mario Bros. Universe. I call it Mushroom Kingdom Weekly. And I want your professional opinion on it.

Good layout Highly readable Love the background Lots of pictures Aesthetically 10/10

Luigi's Mansion 3 appreciation! (and LUIGI appreciation specifically <3) I love how everybody looks at Gooigi– arguably a HUGE crime against God and nature, whose very consciousness is an utter mystery– and collectively go "awe sweet! New companion!" That is the most Mario thing I've ever heard of.

Low key, when I saw that Yoshi was getting interviewed I was CERTAIN it was just going to be one side of the conversation and "Yoshi! Yoshi!" on the other side. A good joke? yes? Low hanging fruit? Also yes, but the fact that they actually provided and credited a toad translator creates the cutest mental picture. Dang, Lakitu's really out for blood isn't he? you can tell he probably works in reality tv.

Actually laughing at how this is clearly a Mario-positive magazine, but when Bowser Jr. sends in a comic about his Dad incinerating Mario the response is "wow this is very well drawn!" like alsdkjflkj they're so nice to that kid.

Adore how Luigi's got people fighting over him in the love advice column asdfljk he's gonna have a mailbox STUFFED with little gifts (as he should.) But yeah, Bowser should really just hire some pretty looking commoner with nannying experience to roleplay as a mom??? Then again he probably gets bored if he's not actively breaking the law at any given moment.

I know that the Double Dash article is focused mainly on Bowser and Luigi's team up, but boy oh boy nobody stands a chance against the pure, chaotic, destructive energy that will be the Daisy-Mario team up. King Boo and Bowser Jr. might be able to compete in terms of chaos, but NONE of those carts are crossing the finish line in one piece.

#nsbfenro #needless to say... a good read! Thoroughly enjoyed! #absolutely deserves an A+ #askbox

[sailormoonsub]

INTRODUCING: SailorMoonSub Sundays

WHAT IS IT: An official scheduled weekly liveblog day!

HOW IT WORKS: Once a week, starting in September, I will blog 1-2 episodes of something from my Big List of Stuff to Catch Up On, as well as write about stuff I've been reading or watching lately.

WHEN IS IT: Sundays. It's in the title!

WHERE IS IT: Right here on Tumblr. Not sure about Twitter. Sorry, I mean X. I kind of hate X.

HOW YOU SHOULD FEEL ABOUT IT: That's up to you, isn't it?

Big List of Stuff to Catch Up On

In the interest of not becoming a Top 10 Tumblr Scam of 2022, here is a list of said commissions:

Code Realize 12✅

Yurikuma 11-12✅

HajiKoi 2-4

Kiratto PriChan 1

Pripara 1

Lupin III Green Jacket 17

Lupin III Red Jacket 4

Magia Record season 2 & 3

The Demon Girl Next Door 1

Interviews with Monster Girls 3-5

M.A.S.H 11x01

Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy Legend

Ultraman Zero: Revenge of Belial

Skip Beat 3-4

Heartcatch Precure 7-14

Sengoku Basara 3-4

FR07 Freddie the Frog

Otherside Picnic (book) 

Futari Wa Precure 1-5

Galavant 2

Infinity Train s2 6-10✅

and of course, Sailor Moon Cosmos. 

Please let me know if I’m missing your thing! If you see something you recommended over a year ago and you’re like, that’s not me anymore, can you switch it to XYZ instead, I certainly can. Or if you’d rather have a refund, that’s fine too! 

#as soon as virgo season started I got a huge burst of organization and motivation. clearly astrology is real #just read How To Keep House While Drowning and if you have executive dysfunction... this is for you #this is way more attainable than keeping myself to a calendar #sundays are the only day i reliably have a LARGE block of uninterrupted time #many of you probably know the 'if i don't have three full hours then i will not start the task' mindset lol

[capybaracorn]

Australia challenged on ‘moral failure’ of weapons trade with Israel

Regular protests have been taking place outside Australian firms making crucial components for the F-35 fighter jet.

Melbourne, Australia – Israel’s continued assault on Gaza has highlighted a hidden yet crucial component of the world’s weapons manufacturing industry – suburban Australia.

Tucked away in Melbourne’s industrial north, Heat Treatment Australia (HTA) is an Australian company that plays a vital role in the production of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters; the same model that Israel is using to bomb Gaza.

Weekly protests of about 200 people have been taking place for months outside the nondescript factory, where heat treatment is applied to strengthen components for the fighter jet a product of US military giant Lockheed Martin.

While protesters have sometimes brought production to a halt with their pickets, they remain concerned about what’s going on inside factories like HTA.

“We decided to hold the community picket to disrupt workers, and we were successful in stopping work for the day,” Nathalie Farah, protest organiser with local group Hume for Palestine, told Al Jazeera. “We consider this to be a win.”

“Australia is absolutely complicit in the genocide that is happening,” said 26-year-old Farah, who is of Syrian and Palestinian origin. “Which is contrary to what the government might have us believe.”

More than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its war in Gaza six months ago after Hamas killed more than 1,000 people in a surprise attack on Israel. The war, being investigated as a genocide by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), has left hundreds of thousands on the brink of starvation, according to the United Nations.

Nathalie Farah has been organising regular protests outside HTA’s factory [Ali MC/Al Jazeera]

According to Lockheed Martin, “Every F-35 built contains some Australian parts and components,” with more than 70 Australian companies having export contracts valued at a total 4.13 billion Australian dollars ($2.69bn).

Protesters have also picketed Rosebank Engineering, in Melbourne’s southeast, the world’s only producer of the F-35’s “uplock actuator system”, a crucial component of the aircraft’s bomb bay doors.

Defence industry push

In recent years, the Australian government has sought to increase defence exports to boost the country’s flagging manufacturing industry.

In 2018, former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced Australia aimed to become one of the world’s top 10 defence exporters within a decade. It is currently 30th in global arms production, according to the Stockholm International Peace Institute.

It is an aspiration that appears set to continue under the government of Anthony Albanese after it concluded a more than one-billion-Australian-dollar deal with Germany to supply more than 100 Boxer Heavy Weapon Carrier vehicles in 2023 – Australia’s single biggest defence industry deal.

Since the Gaza war began, the industry and its business relationship with Israel have come increasingly under the spotlight.

Last month, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles insisted that there were “no exports of weapons from Australia to Israel and there haven’t been for many, many years”.

However, between 2016 and 2023 the Australian government approved some 322 export permits for military and dual-use equipment to Israel.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s own data – available to the public online – shows that Australian exports of “arms and ammunition” to Israel totalled $15.5 million Australian dollars ($10.1m) over the same period of time.

Officials now appear to be slowing the export of military equipment to Israel.

In a recent interview with Australia’s national broadcaster ABC, the Minister for International Development and the Pacific Pat Conroy insisted the country was “not exporting military equipment to Israel” and clarified this meant “military weapons, things like bombs”.

However, defence exports from Australia fall into two categories, items specifically for military use – such as Boxer Heavy Weapons vehicles for Germany – and so-called ‘dual use’ products, such as radar or communications systems, that can have both civilian and military uses.

[See the video embedded in the article]

Australia’s Department of Defence did not respond to Al Jazeera’s requests about whether the halt to defence exports to Israel also included dual-use items.

What is certain is that companies such as HTA and Rosebank Engineering are continuing to manufacture components for the F-35, despite the risk of deployment in what South Africa told the International Court of Justice in December amounted to “genocidal acts“.

In the Netherlands – where parts for the jet are also manufactured – an appeal court last month ordered the Dutch government to block such exports to Israel citing the risk of breaching international law.

The Australian government has also come under scrutiny for its lax “end-use controls” on the weapons and components it exports.

As such, while the F-35 components are exported to US parent company Lockheed Martin, their ultimate use is largely outside Australia’s legal purview.

Lauren Sanders, senior research fellow on law and the future of war at the University of Queensland, told Al Jazeera that the “on-selling of components and military equipment through third party states is a challenge to global export controls.

“Once something is out of a state’s control, it becomes more difficult to trace, and to prevent it being passed on to another country,” she said.

Sanders said Australia’s “end use controls” were deficient in comparison with other exporters such as the United States.

“The US has hundreds of dedicated staff – with appropriate legal authority to investigate – to chase down potential end-use breaches,” she said.

“Australia does not have the same kind of end-use controls in place in its legislation, nor does it have the same enforcement resources that the US does.”

The protesters say they will continue their action until manufacturing of F-35 components is stopped [Ali MC/Al Jazeera]

In fact, under legislation passed in November 2023, permits for defence goods are no longer required for exports to the United Kingdom and the US under the AUKUS security agreement.

In a statement, the government argued the exemption would “deliver 614 million [Australian dollars; $401m] in value to the Australian economy over 10 years, by reducing costs to local businesses and unlocking investment opportunities with our AUKUS partners”.

International law

This new legislation may provide more opportunities for Australian weapons manufacturers, such as NIOA, a privately owned munitions company that makes bullets at a factory in Benalla, a small rural town in Australia’s southeast.

The largest supplier of munitions to the Australian Defence Force, NIOA – which did not respond to Al Jazeera for comment – also has aspirations to break into the US weapons market.

At a recent business conference, CEO Robert Nioa said that “the goal is to establish greater production capabilities in both countries so that Australia can be an alternative source of supply of weapons in times of conflict for the Australian and US militaries”.

Greens Senator David Shoebridge told Al Jazeera that the government needed to “publicly and immediately refute the plan to become a top 10 global arms dealer and then to provide full transparency on all Australian arms exports including end users.

“While governments in the Netherlands and the UK are facing legal challenges because of their role in the global supply chain, the Australian Labor government just keeps handing over weapons parts as though no genocide was happening,” he said. “It’s an appalling moral failure, and it is almost certainly a gross breach of international law.”

The Dutch government has faced legal action over the export of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel [File: Piroschka van de Wouw/Reuters]

Elbit has come under fire for its sale of defence equipment to the Myanmar military regime, continuing sales even after the military, which seized power in a 2021 coup, was accused of gross human rights violations – including attacks on civilians – by the United Nations and others.

Despite a recent joint announcement between the Australian and UK governments for an “immediate cessation of fighting” in Gaza, some say Australia needs to go further and cut defence ties with Israel altogether.

“The Australian government must listen to the growing public calls for peace and end Australia’s two-way arms trade with Israel,” Shoebridge said. “The Albanese government is rewarding and financing the Israeli arms industry just at the moment they are arming a genocide.”

Protests have continued both at the HTA factory in Melbourne and their premises in Brisbane, with organisers pledging to continue until the company stops manufacturing components for the F-35.

#palestine #free palestine #save palestine #gaza #free gaza #save gaza #world news #current events #war on gaza #gaza genocide #gaza strip #israel #gazaunderattack #israeli apartheid #israel palestine conflict #boycott israel #palestinian genocide #palestine genocide #stop the genocide #genocide #human rights #arms trade #weapons manufacturing #weapons technology

[nctyena]

A Compilation Of Fans' Favorite Moments YenaxMembers #3

YenaxKun

NCT 2018 - Weekly Idol ep347

The show was pretty chaotic since all of the 19 members were at one place. Not everyone had the same chance to speak, show on the camera. Specially Kun as Yena noticed. So throughout the episode she tried to mention her precious member.

"Do you know Kun oppa speaks Korean so well. It's amazing."

"Black On Black is my favorite track because Kun oppa is in it."

"Look at his dimple!"

Fans couldn't help but notice his little smiles whenever she talked about him.

Yena's Vlive (A duck in the Tower) 190927

"And this is where we usually practice with fewer members. Sometimes it's occupied by others. Let me check first."

She opened the door and her eyes lit up.

"I'm showing the fans around. Do you wanna say hi?"

She went in to the room and hugged someone. Then Kun with a cap on his head appeared with a big smile on his face.

"Hello everyone."

He waved to the camera.

"Wayv members are here practicing hard. Their leader looking handsome as always."

"Eyy!"

Some members cheered behind the camera.

"All of them are working very hard. Please support them. Specially my favorite Kun oppa."

"Suddenly?"

"Don't act surprised."

[Un Cut] Take #1 | 2020 YearParty Behind The Scenes #1

"Yena looks good today."

"I look good everyday"

"Yes but you used to be so cute back then."

After his comment she got up and started to annoy him by acting cute nonstop.

Even after a few other scenes, they could be seen at the back. Kun fighting to get away from her and Yena still not letting him go.

Wayv Concerts

It's not one moment. Whenever she attends a Wayv concert she always brings a little pankart about Kun. And fans' favorite is the one with "Can do anything he wants Creative Leadership 10/10 Can do magic God? No Qian Kun"

YenaxDoyoung

SMTown Concert 2018

Everyone was saying goodbye to the audience at the end of the concert. Yena was trying to go to her members. She was distracted by Red Velvet's members and waved at them but someone in the crowd throw a soft plushie to her. Since it was out of nowhere and hit her head she got surprised and got startled. Doyoung saw it and went to her as soon as he can. It wasn't clear what they were saying but Doyoung started to kiss her head and brushed her hair. Even though she got some hate after that moment fans still love how Doyoung was alerted even by something like that.

Music Bank Interview 200626

She had high ponytails that day and was standing in front of Doyoung. He kept playing with her hair the whole time. She wasn't even fazed at all. It was a simple but sweet moment that made fans go crazy.

NCT 127 Vlive Punch Countdown

"Yena please marry me."

Jaehyun read the comment out loud. Even before she could say something Doyoung sighed loudly.

"Why are guys like that? I already told you , you cant marry her. Be normal."

"Omo, angry rabbit."

Then she hugged his back and stood like for a while.

Just One Of The Very Times Doyoung Claimed Jeno As His Favorite

"Jeno is my favorite dongsaeng."

"This is why you are not my favorite. You hate me."

"What? I don't hate you."

"Then why do you always betray me?"

"Jeno respects me more."

"Because you love him. See, it's a chain reaction."

Then like she was not sulking she started to sing chain in a weird way. Doyoung didn't even bother to stop her. Mouthed to the camera "This is why it's Jeno."

Doyoung Instagram

We all know that Doyoung is the biggest fan of his members. But his instagram story posts are somehow always filled with Yena. It's either him being a fan and praising her or sharing embarrassing pictures of her.

#nct female member #nct 24th member #nct addition #nct female addition #nct female oc #nct added member #nct yena #nct oc #nct imagines #kpop female addition #kpop female member #kpop female oc #kpop oc #kpop addition

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

Timeline: Part 9 - December 1-10 2017

For earlier timeline posts: click here or here.

December starts out strong with a daily bombardment of tons of stories about Meghan and/or Harry. Their PR backs off in the middle of the month, but only barely. Luckily for us, there is salvation: Meghan gets her first, second, third, and fourth dose of royal criticism.

Like I mentioned in the November 2017 timeline, this month sees Meghan pulling her support from Star Magazine, US Weekly, and E Online. People Magazine begins to earn her loyalty instead.

Ok, apparently I exceeded the limit of links that can be in a Tumblr post. the December edition is going to be split up into smaller segments. I've got a solution for how to fix this going forward, but it's going to take some time to figure out how to implement it.

12/1/2017: Fleet Street has a fever and the solution is more Harkle coverage.

Doria is papped at a laundromat in California.

Another story about Ninaki's photos of Meghan.

Can Kate cope with Meghan Mania?

Harry and Meghan make their first appearance together at a royal engagement.

Meghan and Pippa look alike.

Meghan and Harry's engagement is straight from Love Actually.

Meghan's old men's magazine photoshoot resurfaces.

Replica of Meghan's ring is an instant bestseller.

Meghan merches her outfit.

Meghan's 1993 Nick at Nite appearance reserfaces.

Meghan is Best Dressed of the Week.

Meghan's resume will seriously surprise us.

Anything Kate can do, Meghan can do better: First Royal Engagement edition.

Meghan's royal style vs her old Suits style.

Meghan leaks intent to visit US and Canada after the wedding in her first official foreign royal tour.

12/2/2017: Meghan's "draw your own box" essay goes viral again, as does her old Larry King Show interview. The Markles sell more pictures of Meghan, Meghan once tried to hook up with Ashley Cole but failed, and she makes a dig at William and Kate with a story about her and Harry holding hands.

12/3/2017: Meghan merches the Botswana camp again. The Times writes about Meghan's old instagram account and Bogart and leads speculation about bridesmaids and pageboys. Et tu, Times?!

Note: December 2 is a Saturday and December 3 is a Sunday. How nice Meghan's PR gave us a break for the weekend. But don't worry...the bombardment is back!

12/4/2017: Harkle Mania continues

About Meghan's ring

Meghan once auditioned for Shakira

All about Thomas Markle

Meghan leaks her expectations of marital bliss.

Meghan leaks that Harry has asked William to his best man. (Note, in Spare, Harry argues that this leak came from Kensington Palace but the source is US Weekly...Meghan's magazine.)

Wedding dress designer predictions

Meghan Markle Under Fire: Why is the Future Princess the Subject of So Much Scrutiny? (From E News, a Meghan affiliate)

Let the Misogynistic Public Shaming of Meghan Markle Now Commence (From Vogue, part of the CondeNast empire, to which People Magazine also belongs...Meghan affiliate)

Meghan Markle the garden influencer

Meghan's photoshoot charity work in Rwanda resurfaces.

What's with Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, and Bananas? (I kid you not, that's the title of the article.)

Will Meghan's wedding be like Pippas?

Meghan and Harry love bananas some more - they merch a banana cake.

12/5/2017: New day, same shit. Senior royals attend the Diplomatic Reception at Buckingham Palace but Meghan and Harry skip it to attend the Henry van Straubenzee Memorial Fund carol concert (pssh...like they were even invited to the Diplomatic Reception in the first place).

Daily Mail promotes Suits

Meghan's style inspiration is Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy.

Meghan merches clothes from when she was a teenager.

Harry appears on Top Gear.

Meet Meghan's celebrity doppelganger.

Meghan wants to wear the Spencer tiara for the wedding.

Meghan merches her engagement ring again.

Meghan the beauty icon.

12/6/2017: (le sigh...)

Who does Meghan curtsey to?

Meghan manifests The Lover's Knots Tiara for the wedding.

Nobody told Meghan she was pretty as a kid. (But did they ask her if she was OK?)

Meghan leaks about Ninaki's betrayal.

Harry attends the London Fire Brigade Carol Service alone, and so does his ex, Cressida. Meghan is upset and leaks that she is in LA visiting her mother.

Meghan merches Strathberry.

Can Meghan rewrite the royal fairytale?

Meghan the fashion influencer

12/7/2017: Another story about Misha Nonoo being the royal matchmaker. Thomas Markle does a papwalk. Meghan merches a pilates workout and is "incredibly moved" by how much people love her.

12/8/2017: The Crown Season 2 is released on Netflix

Meghan's old home video of her driving around LA resurfaces.

How Meghan won over Harry's friends.

Doria gets papped in LA.

Meghan leaks that she and Harry are staying with William and Kate at Anmer Hall for Sandringham Christmas.

Meghan leaks that William is planning Harry's stag party.

Meghan manifests for Selena Gomez to play her on The Crown.

World Vision promotes Meghan's charity work again.

All about Nottingham Cottage and Meghan's interior design style

Kate takes style inspiration from Meghan

12/9/2017: Meghan merches her Toronto rental. Harry quits smoking.

12/10/2017:

Meghan's old Tig article waxing poetic on Ivanka Trump resurfaces.

Harry goes to Germany with friends for a hunting party.

Doria does a papwalk.

Kensington Palace announces that Meghan will attend Sandringham Christmas and that she is expected to attend the Windsor Christmas luncheon at Buckingham Palace.

Old photos from a 2009 TV appearance Meghan did resurface.

William and Harry choose a sculptor for Diana's Kensington Palace statue.

Meghan hailed as a royal fashion asset.

#brf #timeline #sussexes #pr shenanigans

[dagwolf]

 In any event, here's a tasty interview excerpt:

Speaking of doing a lot of different records and working with a lot of amazing songwriters, I own a ton of the records that you've done over the years. One, in particular, I'd like to ask you about is Paul Simon's Graceland. I obsessed over that thing when I was young. Do you have any recollections of working on it?

Oh, I have plenty of recollections of working on that one. I don't know if you heard the stories, but it was not a pleasant deal for us. I mean he [Simon] quite literally — and in no way do I exaggerate when I say — he stole the songs from us.

...

The interviewer's softball question leads to an extended rant that rolls on for over 1500 words. There's no clear way to verify Berlin's claims. But it's interesting to consider his characterization of Los Lobos' “collaboration” with Simon at a moment when the latter artist is being trumpeted as the latest hipster influence, like David Byrne and Gang of Four before him. It must be a heady moment for Simon. New York's much respected Brooklyn Academy of Music is feting him with a sold out month-long residency celebrating his post-Garfunkel career — a tribute fest that finds everyone from Byrne to Ladysmith Black Mambazo singing his songs, a residency whose final week — starting April 23rd — includes one of the top 10 ever most unlikely co-bills: Grizzly Bear, Gillian Welch, Josh Groban, and Olu Dara.

WTF, indeed.

After the jump, Steve Berlin's entire diatribe on Los Lobos' “collaboration” with Simon, including a rare dis of legendary former Warner Bros chief Lenny Waronker.

...

Really…

Yeah. And you know, going into it, I had an enormous amount of respect for the guy. The early records were amazing, I loved his solo records, and I truly thought he was one of the greatest gifts to American music that there was.

At the time, we were high on the musical food chain. Paul had just come off One Trick Pony and was kind of floundering. People forget, before Graceland, he was viewed as a colossal failure. He was low. So when we were approached to do it, I was a way bigger fan than anybody else in the band. We got approached by Lenny Waronker and Mo Ostin who ran our record company [Warner Bros.], and this is the way these guys would talk – “It would mean a lot to the family if you guys would do this for us.” And we thought, “Ok well, it's for the family, so we'll do it.” It sounds so unbelievably naïve and ridiculous that that would be enough of a reason to go to the studio with him.

We go into the studio, and he had quite literally nothing. I mean, he had no ideas, no concepts, and said, “Well, let's just jam.” We said, “We don't really do that.” When we jam, we'll switch instruments. Dave will play drums, I'll play something. We don't really jam. Especially in that era. Louie will be the first to tell you this – he was made to play drums. They forced him to play drums. He's not really a drummer by trade. He's never practiced a moment in his life. Not once in his life did he sit down at the drums because of his love for drumming. The other three guys made him play drums in the early days, so he sort of became drummer by default. He hates playing the instrument, I think. Again, you should ask him, but I don't ever ever, ever get the sense that he was one of those dyed-in-the-wool, John Bonham, let's-play-drums-for-three-days-straight kind of guys. So consequently, as the core band was comprised then, we never jammed – never ever. Not by accident, not even at soundcheck. We would always just play a song.

So Paul was like, “Let's just jam,” and we're like, “Oh jeez. Well alright, let's see what we can do.” And it was not good because Louie wasn't comfortable. None of us were comfortable, it wasn't just Louie. It was like this very alien environment to us. Paul was a very strange guy. Paul's engineer was even stranger than Paul, and he just seemed to have no clue – no focus, no design, no real nothing. He had just done a few of the African songs that hadn't become songs yet. Those were literally jams. Or what the world came to know and I don't think really got exposed enough, is that those are actually songs by a lot of those artists that he just approved of. So that's kind of what he was doing. It was very patrician, material sort of viewpoint. Like, because I'm gonna put my stamp on it, they're now my songs. But that's literally how he approached this stuff.

I remember he played me the one he did by John Hart, and I know John Hart, the last song on the record. He goes, “Yeah, I did this in Louisiana with this zy decko guy.” And he kept saying it over and over. And I remember having to tell him, “Paul, it's pronounced zydeco. It's not zy decko, it's zydeco.” I mean that's how incredibly dilettante he was about this stuff. The guy was clueless.

Wow. You're kidding me?

Clue… less about what he was doing. He knew what he wanted to do, but it was not in any way like, “Here's my idea. Here's this great vision I have for this record, come with me.”

About two hours into it, the guys are like, “You gotta call Lenny right now. You gotta get us out of this. We can't do this. This is a joke. This is a waste of time.” And this was like two hours into the session that they wanted me to call Lenny. What am I going to tell Lenny? It was a favor to him. What am I going to say, “Paul's a fucking idiot?”

Somehow or other, we got through the day with nothing. I mean, literally, nothing. We would do stuff like try an idea out and run it around for 45 minutes, and Paul would go “Eh… I don't like it. Let's do something else.” And it was so frustrating. Even when we'd catch a glimpse of something that might turn into something, he would just lose interest. A kitten-and-the-string kinda thing.

So that's day one. We leave there and it's like, “Ok, we're done. We're never coming back.” I called Lenny and said it really wasn't very good. We really didn't get anything you could call a song or even close to a song. I don't think Paul likes us very much. And frankly, I don't think we like him very much. Can we just say, 'Thanks for the memories' and split?” And he was like, “Man, you gotta hang in there. Paul really does respect you. It's just the way he is. I'll talk to him.” And we were like, “Oh man, please Lenny. It's not working.” Meanwhile, we're not getting paid for this. There was no discussion like we're gonna cash in or anything like that. It was very labor-of-love.

Really…?

Yeah. Don't ask me why. God knows it would have made it a lot easier to be there.

And Lenny put you guys together thinking it would be a good match?

Well, “It would be good for the family.” That was it. So we go back in the second day wondering why we're there. It was ridiculous. I think David starts playing “The Myth of the Fingerprints,” or whatever he ended up calling it. That was one of our songs. That year, that was a song we started working on By Light of the Moon. So that was like an existing Lobos sketch of an idea that we had already started doing. I don't think there were any recordings of it, but we had messed around with it. We knew we were gonna do it. It was gonna turn into a song. Paul goes, “Hey, what's that?” We start playing what we have of it, and it is exactly what you hear on the record. So we're like, “Oh, ok. We'll share this song.”

Good way to get out of the studio, though…

Yeah. But it was very clear to us, at the moment, we're thinking he's doing one of our songs. It would be like if he did “Will the Wolf Survive?” Literally. A few months later, the record comes out and says “Words and Music by Paul Simon.” We were like, “What the fuck is this?”

We tried calling him, and we can't find him. Weeks go by and our managers can't find him. We finally track him down and ask him about our song, and he goes, “Sue me. See what happens.”

What?! Come on…

That's what he said. He said, “You don't like it? Sue me. You'll see what happens.” We were floored. We had no idea. The record comes out, and he's a big hit. Retroactively, he had to give songwriting credit to all the African guys he stole from that were working on it and everyone seemed to forget. But that's the kind of person he is. He's the world's biggest prick, basically.

So we go back to Lenny and say, “Hey listen, you stuck us in the studio with this fucking idiot for two days. We tried to get out of it, you made us stay in there, and then he steals our song?! What the hell?!” And Lenny's always a politician. He made us forget about it long enough that it went away. But to this day, I do not believe we have gotten paid for it. We certainly didn't get songwriting credit for it. And it remains an enormous bone that sticks in our craw. Had he even given us a millionth of what the song and the record became, I think we would have been – if nothing else – much richer, but much happier about the whole thing.

Have you guys seen him since then?

No. Never run into him. I'll tell you, if the guys ever did run into him, I wouldn't want to be him, that's for sure.

That's an amazing story. I can't believe I never heard it before.

We had every right and reason to sue him, and Lenny goes, “It's bad for the family.” When we told the story in that era, when this was going down, we were doing interviews and telling the truth. And Lenny goes, “Hey guys, I really need you to stop talking about it. It's bad for the family.”

Amazing. Talk about bad for the family.

I know. Again, it's just so incredible how naïve we were back then. You can't even imagine that era of music when you'd actually listen to your record company president who told you to shut up because “it's bad for the family.” Now, I'd tell him to go fuck himself.

#paul simon #super prick

[gumjrop]

The Weather

30 US states remain at High to Very High levels of SARS-CoV-2 detected in wastewater since February 9, 2024, with multiple states not reporting. Preventing the spread of COVID by taking precautions like masking and improving your indoor air quality can strongly reduce your chance of infection.

We would also like to note that the CDC, which usually updates their wastewater data on a weekly basis, has not updated their dashboard since Friday, February 9th. It is significant that this data delay arrives during the same week of the announcement that they are considering making cuts to the 5-day isolation guideline. We would like to urge the CDC to make their data release schedule public and to continue to provide wastewater information in a timely and consistent manner.

Despite regional declines in wastewater levels in the Midwest, Northeast, and West, the South is still trending extremely high, almost double the national average. This is especially concerning since 7 of the 10 states to refuse Medicaid expansion are located in the South, a region home to some of, “the largest Black populations in the US.” Our collective fight against the state’s abandonment of pandemic protections is a fight against racial injustice.

As a reminder, the last two weeks are provisional data, indicated by a gray shaded area on the graph, therefore these values may change as additional wastewater sites report data. We want to remind you that multiple layers of precautions can protect against a COVID infection.

Variants

JN.1 remains the dominant variant in the United States, and is projected to make up 96.4% of cases in the next two weeks. HV.1 is projected to drop even further 1%, and all other variants are estimated to make up less than 0.6% or less each. 

Remember to check estimates for your specific HHS Region for more accurate projections of JN.1 prevalence in your own community.

Take Action

This week is a fast moving train when it comes to demanding equitable pandemic responses and protections from the CDC and public policy. Follow the campaigns below for ways to tap in, sign on, and get involved! And don’t forget to share these with your loved ones as well.

This week the CDC announced they’re considering a change in isolation guidelines for people with COVID, removing the 5 day isolation in order to take the pressure off of American citizens who can’t afford to stay home due pressures from work, lack of paid time off and childcare expenses.

Dr. Lara Jiramanus of The People’s CDC who was interviewed expressed that “frankly, there has been no change in the science. Most people continue to be shedding virus for about nine days, with a range of six to 11 days. Younger patients will tend to be infectious for maybe one day less than that. Older patients or people with severe disease can shed the virus for a longer time.” She further elaborates in conjunction with People’s CDC press release from February 14th that “public health policy should put people first, not billionaires. Rather than ending isolation, the US should ensure paid sick leave for all.”

The CDC’s isolation guidelines impact what reasonable accommodations we can ask for at work, at school, and in hospitals as well as our legal rights should we become held in interactions with police, in jails and in prisons. It is important for all of us on a human rights level that these guidelines reflect proper research and science.

Join us in echoing this call for mandated paid sick leave for all instead of an end to isolation guidelines to Biden and Congress. The CDC’s proposal to eliminate isolation is counter to medical science and the White House must not accept it. Call the White House Comment Line Tuesday – Thursday 11-3 ET at 202-456-1414 and the Congressional Switchboard at 202-224-3121. Making calls is especially important between now and the end of March. For more information and a proposed script, follow this link. Stay tuned to our substack and social media for announcements of more actions in the next two weeks.

Additionally, ACIP, the Advisory Committee on Immunization and Practices will hold their next meeting online on February 28th and 29th.

Scientific evidence indicates updated vaccines should ideally be allowed, available, and fully covered by public funds and/or insurance, for people of all ages at least every six months.

Current vaccine uptake is low due to barriers such as lack of education, the recent diversion of the vaccine program through insurance companies, and pharmacies’ uneven participation in the CDC’s Bridge Access Program, which is due to end December 31st, 2024. Even those who did receive the updated vaccine in the fall may not have adequate protection under the annual vaccine strategy, as vaccine efficacy wanes significantly four to six months following vaccination.

A more frequent vaccination approach and frequent updates to match current variants is needed to better protect all of us amid year-round COVID infections. Follow this link for guidance on submitting a written or oral public comment no later than this Thursday, February 22, 2024 at 11:59 ET to make demands for the above.

Last month the CDC kicked the horrible and unsafe new hospital infection control guidelines it was considering back to the advisory committee (HICPAC) that had proposed the draft guidelines.

Bad guidelines have been delayed, and the next fight over them will hopefully be on a more level field, and hopefully in a process that is at least in some ways more transparent.

Public health advocates have gained another round in this fight, and we’ll need your help! You can start by signing this new petition by National Nurses United that demands that HICPAC ensure the input of frontline healthcare workers, labor unions, patients and community members, and experts in occupational health, industrial hygiene, aerosol dynamics, respiratory protection and infection prevention is central in their next round of revisions.

Additionally, please use our action network letter and call-in toolkit to write to the president, your governor, and state and federal representatives to demand that they bring back masking in healthcare and utilize all measures of infection control that are currently available to us. Don’t forget to customize letters to your own experience! For more information on how COVID spreads in hospitals and the impact of nosocomial, or healthcare-associated, infections check out our article on substack.

MoveOn has started a petition to the Biden Administration, the Department of Health and Human Services and to Congress to bring back free PCR tests for all and to increase the number of free at-home rapid antigen tests. After the end of the Federal Health Emergency for COVID in May 2023, everyday people were stripped of the resources and support they needed to manage community care and health. Even with insurance, insurers are no longer required to cover the costs of testing, pushing the most reliable form of testing for early detection, Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests, out of reach for many. Sign this petition to return fast, prevalent, and free testing tools to everyone equitably.

On a more regional note, those living in New York State are urged to customize this letter to tell their representatives and NYS Governor Hochul to continue to fund the COVID-19 Sick Leave program instead of disposing of it in the FY 2025 budget as is currently proposed. If the governor’s current budget proposal goes through, New York citizens would be forced to rely on state minimum sick leave policies of 5-7 days, meaning one COVID infection would easily meet or exceed sick leave allotments for the entire year. Additionally those who do not work in settings that meet the conditions of qualification to enforce the state’s sick leave policy would be left without any leave at all.

Finally, we must remember to keep calling our elected officials to demand a ceasefire in Gaza and to continue to wear and require high quality respirators (N95, KN95 or better) at protests and in organizing spaces. Masking in organizing spaces keeps our fight safer, more accessible and more sustainable. The occupation of Palestine is a healthcare issue. There can be no disability justice under settler colonialism.

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