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sinsins52 · 4 years

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Everything Wrong With Everything Wrong With SpongeBob SquarePants -"Rock Bottom"

It’s been ages since one of these, eh? Again, my interest isn’t the highest but I still wanna do some. I also wanna finally dive into TV Sins, which launched last year. But I also gotta do something over on SpongeBob Sins for the month. Thankfully, this week the sin gods blessed me with…this. Yep, TV sins did a SpongeBob episode for some reason. ….Let’s see how bad it is.

1. They plaster the “Everything wrong with” text stuff over the show’s title in the intro, even though the episode has a title card they could put it over instead.

2.”First, how do Rollercoasters work under the water?” There’s a lot of things that shouldn’t work under the water in this show, why single out the rollercoasters? That’s not really that confusing. He goes on but I don’t care.

3.”Another funtastic day. So you’ve been here before? Considering the rest of the episode revolves around you getting on the wrong bus home, this statement is patient zero for me not feeling the least bit sorry about your spongey ass” Oh and you’ve totally never forgetten things like this before, sure. Also, maybe his previous day was like a year ago.

4.”I guess you think making a joke about something being too to fit when it’s clearly small enough to go in without any friction whatsoever is hilarious. Well, it’s not. Just ask my college girlfriend” Jeremy makes a really cringe-y sex joke cliche.

5.”They’ve been here before so needing change for the bus shouldn’t be much of a surprise” They don’t look surprised, really. Just forgetful. And again, we don’t know when their most recent visit was.

6.The captions spell “canon” as “Cannon”

7.Overlong unfunny tangent about Jeremy’s aunt that has nothing to do with anything and is not a sin.

8.”And now I realized Rule 34 applies to SpongeBob” Sin for reminding me of SpongeKnob SquareNuts. And sin on me for reminding ya’ll of that.

9.”-now he’s looking at Sponge30 to SpongeLife” Putting Sponge in front of word does not count as a joke.

10.”Just wait for someone to come out, then we’lll know” Cue somewhat sexist joke about the difference between men and women’s bathrooms.

11.As someone who runs SpongeBob Sins, I now the line between when it makes sense to question logic in a world where there is none and when it’s just pedantic, and questioning how toliets can flush is that line.

12.”At Glove World the sign for the bus was a green triangle, not a red semi circle. Are these different buslines entirely?” One sign is in Rock Bottom, where everything looks different so this makes total sense.

13.”Don’t blame me, you knew who I was when you clicked play” …Ya got me there.

14.”Do Sponges have digestive systems?’ No but they don’t have vocal chords either.

15.”And now I know that fish are born with pants on” Well, only Rock Bottom fish. Again, this town/world is different.

16.Bonus round for all the raspberries…for some reason.

SINS SIN SIN TALLY: 16

SENTENCE: On the run, in theaters may whatever 2020.

Well, that was fun. It actually got into some decent sins later on so that’s why I dried up near the end. I like TV Series I bit more than the OG but you can see it’s got some of the same problems here and there. Still, it’s fun to see him stomp on my territory. I swear I’ll get to the one I teased last time someday, but hopefully this was able to tide you over until I did more of these.

Bye!

#Sins #TV Sins #SpongeBob

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donnerpartyofone · 5 years

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This is really not a big deal, but it got me going on one of my favorite topics so I'm going to post it.

This is a reply on a one-paragraph review I wrote of THE PERFECTION on my other blog. This review wasn't reblogged, so the person must have found it through the tags. You can probably guess that I found this movie really pretentious and condescending (and also ripped off of some other better movies). So, this person decides to give me a piece of their mind.

This isn't the first time this has happened me, of course, although it's often when I least expect it. I got a really, really angry reply from somebody about how I didn't understand THE ROOM *or* THE DISASTER ARTIST. Once somebody told me I was "poisoning people's minds" by saying the reasons why I hated MOTHER!. (I thought everybody hated MOTHER! ?) Then one time on this blog, I posted about some movie I don't even remember anymore, but I was very specific about what I thought didn't work about it, and I suddenly had a string of anonymous messages about how "me and the wife loved it! It was well-written and exciting, and the acting was great!" I didn't know what the fuck I was supposed to do with that, because this was in response to a really detailed dissection I had just made of how the script broke down, and the movie was uneventful and overlong, and the acting was like a cold reading. I couldn't have even engaged with this guy without copying and pasting the exact thing he was responding to. I was so baffled that I posted the messages with a caption like "This individual has a different opinion from me." It was meant to be sarcastic, but it was also meant to point out to him the total mootness of what he was doing. Naturally, he flew into a rage and yelled at me about how if I post things on the internet, then people have the right to say whatever they want and I have to accept that. He didn't get the irony that he was missing that exact same point.

There are patterns to this behavior of trying to correct someone else's feelings:

- It's always strangers.

- It's always a response to me disliking something. (I know people do attack others for *liking* things all the time, that just seems to be less provocative in my case for some reason)

- It's never a reasoned response, ie I give really specific reasons why something didn't work for me, and the response is just, IT WAS GOOD!!😠

- Sometimes (but not always), the person specifically objects to the very fact that I reasoned out my analysis. First, they don't like my opinion, and then they don't like the fact that I have reasons for my opinion, which they think is an artificial and unnatural manipulation of the facts. They boil it down to something like, "The movie is good because it's good," meaning "It's good because I like it," which points to the essential problem of opinions being mistaken for objective reality.

I realize that in talking (again and again) about this behavior, I'm revealing just as much about myself as I am about the derangements of the internet. I mean, this is a really ordinary social media experience, and I don't have to care about it if I don't want to. I think this is pretty autistic of me, by which I mean that things Have to Make Sense to me or else I lose my mind. This applies especially to people, and the idea of having to express or even enforce an opinion ABOUT someone else's opinion--especially an inconsequential stranger like me--really does not compute for me at all. First of all, it is seldom possible to change someone else's emotional responses, especially when the only reason is FUCK YOU. Secondly, what's the risk of someone having a different feeling from you? Hating your favorite movie or favorite actor for their own personal reasons? Why is it important to scrounge around the internet making sure that never happens? This isn't even politics, where mounting public emotion can affect the safety of some groups of people. Anyway, it should be easy enough for me to just say, "Well, people are reactionary and kind of dumb a lot," but instead I obsess over finding logic where there probably isn't any.

That's the ironic thing about this: She wants to attack my opinion, and I want to attack her attack of my opinion. I would never do this, because I know intellectually that there's absolutely no point, but I fantasize about asking her:

"Why did you tell me this? When you sent me your reply, did you imagine different possible outcomes, or just one? What did you think the odds were, that there would be an outcome you prefer? Why was it important to you that I, a stranger, know how you feel about a movie I did not enjoy? Is it that you want this stranger to change her opinion to match yours? Let's complete this sentence: 'I have to tell this stranger that I have different feelings from her, because of X.' What's the X?"

(actually I should probably literally copy and paste this back to every such reply I ever get from now on, and collect my survey results, but I usually just block people)

I have an elaborate fantasy life that revolves around conducting conclusive investigations into what the fuck people's problems are. Actually, I'm writing two different stories right now about varyingly autistic characters who basically act out all my most autistic fantasies. Most of it consists of them just being eccentrically frank about the apparent internal logic of other people's behavior and how it's not really functional. (In one of them, that behavior is actually a utility that helps unravel a mystery, and in the other it's just really combative and I worry that I'm not personally "autistic enough" to have the right to fictionalize autism as a serious noticable challenge) I love the idea of sticking like a TV news microphone in somebody's face and interrogating them about why they stopped dead in the middle of a public staircase to start doing shit on their phones, or why they sat right in the middle of a row of subway seats instead of on the end where people aren't necessarily forced to sit next to them, and why they act like the movie opinions of distant strangers are a deliberate attempt to break their hearts. I might actually do this, but, as you can tell, I am so thin-skinned that every subsequent answer I get might send me spiraling into mania. Actually, I can't even remember how I wanted to conclude this post, because while I was in the middle of it, somebody ELSE said something to me on Facebook that I didn't understand and now I'm mad about it, as if that isn't the main thing that ever happens to anyone on Facebook. I guess I'm just going to stop writing this now, find something else to worry about, and suddenly explosively remember what point I was trying to make in the middle of the night later on. I really need to care about less stuff!

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thesinglesjukebox · 5 years

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BILLIE EILISH - BAD GUY

[6.93]

The Jukebox has thoughts on Billie Eilish? Well, duh.

Andy Hutchins: Nothing clicked for me with Billie Eilish until "Bad Guy." I understood the appeal intellectually, because it has sometimes been my wheelhouse: "Prodigy-cast makes off-kilter pop music from a perspective with more than a little precociousness and possibly a feminine spin that serves to disrupt rather than reify" is my jam for months at a time, sometimes. But some combination of prodigy and precociousness sometimes striking me as preciousness -- something that I've occasionally found issue with in the work of Sky Ferreira and Solange and Lorde and Cher Lloyd and fka twigs and Haim and Kacey Musgraves and Lana Del Rey and so many women who have occupied this same treacherous lane where deviating from delivering what is expected from a young woman making pop music can offend the sensibilities (or engage the biases) of even someone who has strained to stave off the stupidity of dismissing music made by young women and largely intended for young women -- and what I read as a deliberately dark and standoffish aesthetic put me off of Eilish, whose stuff just didn't compel me. Everything clicks for me with Billie Eilish now that I've heard "Bad Guy," which I reckon is pathetic on my part, because so much of the DNA of "Bad Guy" is in other work she's done that the things that differentiate it as The Hit and The Breakthrough come down to tempo and a kooky synth run in the hook that every third YouTube commenter thinks is stolen from Plants vs. Zombies. But "Bad Guy" is also an unassailable pop song and has come along at a time when bulletproof ones are not occupying the charts -- the closest competition in the current top 40 by my sight is, like, a Katy Perry song whose verses let down its magnificent hook, a bunch of drowsy-to-dire Khalid and Halsey tunes, a C- effort from Taylor Swift, and a microwaved Lizzo track that I've known of for a while and don't consider her best stuff -- and so it stands out even more from the pop metagame than the larger Eilish oeuvre does from a host of less realized tunes. And I'm a sucker for an unassailable pop song, especially one with a vocal initially delivered so low that it demands attention to the dial in the car but that is by turns brightly funny ("...duh!") and world-weary and campy to the hilt (the titular phrase being stretched to a titanium crocodile's rasp), a relentless bass line that sounds like a monster's heartbeat echoing in a cave, and lyrics that constitute a semi-sincere embrace of some Lolita tropes and a more powerful sarcastic destruction of them while somehow also being fully ready for Instagram captions and Twitter display names and ... well, no one's on Tumblr anymore. But that's hardly Billie's fault, and I'm not docking points for only barely failing to raise the dead with a virtuosic song that makes me this glad to be alive. [10]

Alfred Soto: There's a reason this song has become the breakout hit besides its insidious keyboard hook: Billie Eilish sings not mumbles the gender bending hook. Otherwise a ditty that the top 40 could use more of; its quietness is a tonic. [8]

Joshua Copperman: Sounds great, looks great (if possibly plagarized), memes great. The deadpan anti-sexuality of "might-seduce-your-dad type" is "Guys My Age" done right. The delivery of "my soul, so cynical" like even that is too earnest of a statement. The only weak part is the ending switch-up. But you knew all that already. Duh. Besides the cries of "industry plant!" there's also the ongoing sense that Eilish is a music writers' idea of what a 17-year-old Tumblr-born pop star would sound like. And sure, she's a young music writers' dream; I have a byline at Billboard because of her. But also, it's genuinely smart music that is mostly set to age well, even if it's hard to tell if it m a t t e r s. Who knows what 17-year-olds of any predilection towards seducing dads are actually listening to; I'm 21 and finding that out is only getting more difficult, if maybe not more necessary. If teens still control popular culture, if anyone does, who knows if this really does reflect them, or if its bottomless angst is mocked like Limp Bizkit? Is "Bad Guy" just "Heathens" for the late-2010s? Does this really represent the next generation? And which next generation; the shit-talking saviors, or the ones just like their parents and the radicalized alt-right kids? There's no easy answer to any of these, no "duh" to shrug them off. But there is Eilish and co. applying the daily grind of apocalyptic dread to smaller-scale topics. Processing death on "Bury a Friend," processing one's own body image on "idontwannabeyouanymore," processing changing gender roles here. Finding your place in 2019 is a lot for anyone. No one is getting it right. What Eilish does instead is turn that uncertainty to playfulness, confidently existing within the mess instead of trying to find her spot. [8]

Leah Isobel: I was on Tumblr in 2011, so "might seduce your dad type" doesn't feel as provocative as she might intend. (Also, Halsey did the exact same thing.) Besides, pop is a space for fantasy and role-playing, and she's not the first 16-year old bad girl to make adults freak out a little. What gets me is that the song itself is a brilliant production piece in search of an equally compelling melody; the biggest hooks here are an audible eye-roll and a Tim Burton rip. I love the idea of Billie as a goth-teen-pop star, and the choice to swerve into a spooky outro instead of a more traditional structure is genuinely a lot of fun, but this all feels like so much posturing -- normal for a teenager, but not that compelling to listen to on its own. [6]

Katherine St Asaph: If Billie Eilish is the Gen Z Fiona Apple, which I've heard from about three separate people even before the Discourse started, then "Bad Guy" is her "Criminal," down to it being creep flypaper. Everyone quotes that one dad line a bit too eagerly, like they're subconsciously thinking that if they have the pithiest take they just might get to be the dad. (It isn't even the most suggestive line.) There's a strong case for the dad being the bad guy, if only because he's, well, the guy. But "Bad Guy" lives in the world of teenage politics, where the guys just are and the girls get their badness thrust upon them, and their choices are to shrink away or play along. Duh. ("Bad Guy" : "duh" :: "Your Love Is My Drug" : "I like your beard.") But all this is pretty serious analysis for a fundamentally trolly song: half-mumbling the melody to a beat I'm pretty sure I made in a high school to go with a video project; rhyming bad/mad/sad/dad like a Mavis Beacon keyboarding tutorial (or whatever the kids have now; maybe they're just born typing); crooning an exceedingly Lana Del Rey-ish "I'm only good at being bad" then immediately cutting that crap for a bassy, fuck-off breakdown; filling only about 60% of the song with, like, song. [6]

Joshua Minsoo Kim: Not the most impressive or cohesive Billie Eilish song, but it is the one most likely to remind you of how fun her music can be (that she included the Invisalign skit in the video helps). The coda is fine, but the best reversal is found elsewhere: the nonchalant cries of duh followed by a cartoonish synth melody, underlining just how playful the song's darker elements are. [6]

Josh Langhoff: Eilish sometimes sounds like the Cardigans if they only did Black Sabbath covers, "evil" squeezed between an extra set of scare quotes, and sometimes she's Nellie McKay on downers, ennui shaped like wit but without the laughs. Sometimes she's good and sometimes she sings ballads. And somehow that combination produced "Bad Guy," the elusive Somehow Perfect Pop Song That Sounds Like Nothing Else On The Radio. I can't say I love it, but all her murmuring and posturing makes Top 40 radio seem, after too many years, like a playground of endless possibility. What'd we do to deserve this and "Old Town Road"? [8]

Jessica Doyle: Yes. Some are red, and some are blue. Some are old, and some are new. Some are sad, and some are glad, and some are very, very bad. Why are they sad and glad and bad? I do not know. Go ask why that menacing bass and Eilish's whisper didn't deserve better lyrics. [4]

Tobi Tella: Billie Eilish's artistic direction and style of music makes it seem almost impossible for her to make a legitimate banger, but this fits in perfectly with the rest of her album tone-wise and also completely slaps. The simplicity of the production, literally created in a bedroom just adds to the perfect low-key vibe. The lyrics do make Billie sound a little like a teenager who will cringe reading them in 10 years, but as an 18 year old, sometimes doing stupid stuff you know is destructive and immature is FUN, and this completely captures that feeling. [8]

Will Adams: I love love love the idea of this shifty, close mic'd oddball dancepop song being as big of a mainstream hit as it is, even if it's one of the more slight offerings from the album. Extra point for the coda, where Billie drops the coy and reminds you how quick she is to put her foot on your neck. [7]

Pedro João Santos: The coda lamentably inverts the light heart of "Bad Guy": the colourful, whispered titillation conjugated with what's left unsaid, a sort of puerile pleasure dutifully translated by the Theremin-esque synths; not the heady, overlong consummation that it unfolds onto by the end. I must say I'm exhilarated that someone knew how to ape "Las de La Intuición" nearly 15 years on, although startled by the fact that it was Billie Eilish the one to do it. [7]

Scott Mildenhall: Done well, it's enjoyable to hear a musician having such fun, but especially so when one unexpected element of a song comes in to underline just how much fun they're having. In this case, it's the gloopy searchlight noise, playing out like the theme tune to a 1970s cop show set in space, in a way that cannot be anything but gleefully goofy. Such bold and playful invention is something pop music would suffer without. Extra points for the consideration to leave a gap before the outro so that radio stations can cut it out. [8]

Iris Xie: I still think this song should've been cut off at the 2:14 mark, because it said everything it needed to say. [5]

Katie Gill: That purposefully obnoxious "duh" sums up what Eilish wants to say more than the rest of the song combined (and is currently in the running for my favorite 2 seconds of 2019 pop music). This image of her as the bad guy isn't serious. It's bratty and playful, more her creating something she can have fun with instead of taking herself seriously. Unfortunately, that something interesting here is buried in a three minute piece that somehow manages to be three completely different songs which never actually coheres to a single whole. [6]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox]

#Billie Eilish #pop #music #music review #writing

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bnrobertson1 · 3 years

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EXCELLENCE IN PRODUCT PLACEMENT

Death Stranding* is a wowing mind-fuck of an experience, surreal and mundane and draining and invigorating. Unafraid to constantly show you Norman Reedus’ bare ass while pontificating on the nature of modern existence, the game is unlike any before it, a venerable nightmare for marketing people and gamers expecting something more tried-and-true.

Choose a Caption!: “I intend to help all of humanity through these apocalyptic times. But first, a peek of me bottom for the ladies.” -OR- Reedus Rump: Kojima’s Metal Gear-esque Weapon to Appeal to Women.

Death Stranding is also the host to the best piece of product placement in recent memory. The product? Monster mahfucking Energy** drink, a (demonic?) elixir that boosts main character Sam’s stamina when consumed- a life-giving tonic with only 160g of sugar. You don’t drink water in the game, you drink Monster. Hell yes. For a game about wandering the wreckage of a nuclear-ish event, it’s a masterful touch, eloquently capturing our need as humans to technologically improve everything (yes, even the liquid responsible for life), a destructive compulsion that is the vertebrae and driver of the game’s narrative. Many in the press find this shameless money-grab to be tasteless, but the fact Coca-Cola (a corporation!) undoubtedly paid millions to get it so prominently in the game only speaks to its preposterous-yet-probable presence. It’s probably too subtle to be a Kojima-nod to the futuristic satire of Idiocracy, but Monster Energy will undoubtedly go down as the real world’s Brawndo (just without the electrolytes).

*More Thoughts on Death Stranding (BEWARE NON-SENSICAL SPOILERS): God Bless Hideo Kojima, the man goes for it. Arguably video game’s most beloved auteur and inarguably the one who most wants to be referred to as “Kubrikickian” and/or “enigmatic,” the mastermind behind the beloved Metal Gear games proves incapable of working small or with gloves with his Death Stranding, leaving both fingerprints all throughout and editors’ calls unreturned. Hours-long cut scenes waxing philosophical about technology’s dooming yet liberating role in our future? Check. 4th wall breaking, star-fucking pop culture references? Check. Singular gameplay whose laborious nature quite soundly proves larger points about things ranging from literary theory to the gig economy? Check. Check. Check.

But between the preposterous acronyms, convoluted packing systems, and Conan O’ Brien cameos, there glimmers dots of genius. Those willing to wade through the oft- incomprehensible industrial-military-complex babble are rewarded with “Holy Shit” moments, those boundary and/or sense exploding things of which Kojima is King. Death Stranding is no different, and although the game never reaches the heights of the Metal Gear games, there are specific parts that unleashed that goosebump wave of awesomeness. The bolo gun that wraps up your enemies instead of killing them, your ability to hog tie the unsuspecting with an elastic strand, the focus on oil and blood as the life force of all things- these are but some of the elements of the game that really work, dripping into the game at just the rate where you keep interested but not overwhelmed.

But the best moment in the game is in a cut-scene where your baby companion (did I mention Kojima is weird?) literally stops bullets with its mind to save you. Now, the prior sentence shouldn’t make sense, and probably doesn’t. But the real nonsensical thing is just how powerful it hit. In a game about loneliness and the brutal nature of existence, this self-less act is totally unexpected but gives you the real feeling that someone has got your back (even if it proves to be a futile gesture). It’s effect was reminiscent of similar film sequences. After about 15-months of Covid I would say the point was comforting in a way I was not anticipating whatsoever.

Being the only one of my friends insane enough to finish the game’s deliberate but nonetheless grotesquely overlong runtime (60+ hours of fetch quests!), my fellow Metal Gear fans have asked: is it worth playing? To which I really don’t know the answer. It’s absolutely bold and tries to tell a tale that could only be told in the video game medium, but then again, video games aren’t particularly great ways of telling stories. At points it felt like its design was made to be played in the pandemic: it’s time-consuming, meditative, and at times utterly mind-numbing. At its peaks, the game is reminiscent of Grandaddy’s The Sophtware Slump, another generally somber post-technological tale, albeit with less alcoholic robots and more characters named things like Die-Hardman. It’s not nearly as *fun* as other AAA titles, but then again the diametrically different approach of Doom Eternal didn’t inspire a couple thousand words.

**I can’t remember my first cigarette, beer, or kiss but I do remember the first time I had a Monster Energy drink. Due to some mental, emotional, and physical deficiencies, I was unable to fly for about 6 months- just the thought of driving to the airport turned my anxiety- and palm sweat- on like a firehose. But knowing this fear was simply incompatible with modern life, I gave myself a building block of a goal- make a flight from my then-home of Austin to somewhere close enough that I could rent a car and drive home. I chose Dallas because I had an incentive: to see obscure musical group Nine Inch Nails*** performing at one of the Metroplex’s many arenas.

Getting on the plane took some assistance- specifically in the form of about 2 grams of Alprazolam. The barbiturate calm pressed the right buttons beautifully, having me giggling about clouds as opposed to obsessing about how we were in a speeding steel cylinder 7 miles above the surface of the earth. But when we landed in Dallas about 30 minutes later, the ease evolved into a potent sleepiness. Which is fine if you’re headed to a hotel, or virtually anywhere else in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, but not so much when you’re about to see an Industrial concert with 8,000 other people not exactly known for their chill. Plodding along, I finally made it to the concert, hoping to order a Red Bull as big as its namesake to get me out of blah bliss and into banging. The venue only sold Coke products, so in my apathetic exhaustion, I decided to order a Monster, an energy drink to that point I identified with redneck culture and thus avoided. Finding the whole thing pretty funny- and strongly buzzing off the fact that I had somehow faced my fear and gotten on an airplane- I figured there was probably no better place on earth to try a tall boy Monster Energy Drink Zero Sugar than FUCKING DALLAS, ie, the Monster Energy Drink of America.

The flavor I ordered was in a white can and poured out looked like some sort of large sea mammal had just bricked into a cup. Disgusted but not discouraged, I grabbed the glowing goblet like it was the reins of a dragon and took it by its mighty wing, by which I mean swig. Surprisingly tasty, I thought. Not the Pepsi-fied version of Red Bull I was fearing. The house lights then were dimmed, indicating it was game time. I wisely bought another Monster and went into the show, thinking 32 oz of liquid electricity was exactly what I needed to match Reznor’s energy.

You’re goddamn right I took a picture of my first Monster!

Whatever chemistry was going on in my body was probably bad, because it felt awesome. Even though Nine Inch Nails had performed a majority of my favorite stuff the night before (their first of two nights in Dallas), the concert was as engrossing as was hoped- the loudness and lights simultaneously pummeling and transcendent. While it goes without saying that it wasn’t for everyone, the entire 3-hour ride back to Austin I was laughing like a maniac, having won a small battle (flying) and getting a big reward for my efforts (NIN). So, when anybody asks me what the ludicrously huge can of white can of energy drink I’m proudly, obnoxiously enjoying tastes like I am genuine when I tell them: “Carbonated Capri-Sun. And Courage.”

*** I had been scared of NIN growing up too, specifically the video for “Closer” which made my 10 year old guts squirm like worms with its hanging meat and imagery that was confusingly gory yet sexual. I also went to a conservative all-boys school where wearing NIN stuff was rarely allowed, and when it was you’d be shamed by one of the change-petrified cliques that ran the place. My position softened a bit after the landmark Johnny Cash cover of “Hurt,” but what confirmed my fandom was when I heard “The Hand that Feeds” on a Chicago strip-club sound system- since then, they have soundtracked much of my life. Lesson: There lies wisdom in Strip Clubs.

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dweemeister · 4 years

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“Women Make Film” marathon reviews (2/?)

Sleepwalking Land (2007, Mozambique)

From 1977 to 1992, Mozambique was in a state of civil war. Mozambique, situated in Africa’s southeast corner above South Africa and separated by a channel from Madagascar, still reckons with the human, political, and social legacies of that conflict. Exacerbated by the Soviet Union and the anti-communist Apartheid South Africa (both meddling for influence in Mozambican affairs), the war quickly reached a conclusion as those foreign regimes disintegrated. In the final year of the Mozambican Civil War, author Mia Couto published an acclaimed magical realism novel, Terra Sonâmbula (Sleepwalking Land), that takes place with the war as a backdrop. Couto’s book inspired a film adaptation by Teresa Prata – Portuguese-born, Mozambican-raised, and now living in Germany.

Sleepwalking Land is Prata’s first feature film as a director. She was mesmerized by Couto’s book, saying that memories of the war rushed through her head while reading. Believing the text to be deeply cinematic, she spent seven years to complete this adaptation of Sleepwalking Land. The final print is a film difficult to categorize. Comprised of two parallel narratives, Prata has the narratives blend into the other as the film progresses. Its magical realism elements only appear in the final half-hour of the film. One scene in particular will most likely shock, if not offend, Western viewers. But the actions in that scene are considered a traditional behavior in Mozambique (something that I shall explain later in this write-up). Central to Sleepwalking Land is the idea that storytelling is integral to survival – especially as the innocent trod through their war-torn homeland.

In the Mozambican countryside, we encounter eleven-year-old Muidinga (Nick Lauro Teresa) and a much older man named Tuahir (Aladino Jasse). Their relationship is unclear, but Muidinga refers to Tuahir as “Uncle” (if the film’s dialogue is to be believed, they are probably not related). Muidinga wishes to find his mother, but the search has been fruitless. The young refugee also appears not to remember much about his life before his journeys with Tuahir; he cannot even recall how he and Tuahir met. The elderly Tuahir is a storyteller who makes clear his desire to leave the past behind – the audience learns almost nothing about that past by film’s end. This duo has been wandering the countryside, but one day stumble upon the wreckage of a torched bus. They bury the charred bodies of those who died in their seats, salvage a diary from one of the victims, and take shelter in the bus (“What is already burnt cannot burn again.”) Muidinga reads from the diary (Tuahir is illiterate), and learns that the writer is a woman searching for her missing son. He believes, however unlikely, he is that very son and that the writer is his mother.

If the viewer expects details about the Mozambican Civil War itself, just note that those details never appear. Prata elects to keep the affiliations of the roving militias as ambiguous as possible. Like Couto’s text, this film adaptation of Sleepwalking Land has not taken any sides or political stances – save the notion that war is solely a destructive force. But it is not war itself that Sleepwalking Land focuses on, but how its central characters respond to the traumas it has unleashed on their lives. Muidinga and Tuahir enter the film with unrevealed, if not unknowable, pasts. “You don’t even have a story,” Tuahir tells the young boy.

Muidinga responds by creating his own life story, however fantastical. He is reborn; the particulars of the civil war, the loss of his parents, and the famine that affected Mozambique prior to this rebirth is fully removed from his lived experiences. Muidinga’s imagination leads the film into its magical realism. Having never seen the ocean and despite being nowhere near the beach, Muidinga transports himself and Tuahir there – without ever leaving the bus. Muidinga has broken the inescapable cycle that has trapped him and Tuahir. Upon this development, Tuahir realizes that the young boy he has been accompanying has learned all that he needs to survive in desperate, nightmarish times. In each of these scenes, Paulo Rebelo’s (2000’s O Fantasma) editing does well to transition between the scenes depicting the diary entries the roundabout travels of Muidinga and Tuahir, lending a documentary-like feel to the latter.

Plot-hungry viewers will probably demand for explanations for Muidinga’s amnesia and Tuahir’s past, but the film refuses to provide any answers. To those viewers: stop resisting the film’s refusal to accommodate your expectations, and allow it to tell its story on its own terms.

And as for expectations, one shocking scene in Sleepwalking Land will undoubtedly startle Western audiences and requires explanation for anybody reading this review after viewing the film. The behavior in that scene is custom in Mozambique. In Mozambique, young boys and girls are “initiated” by elder men and women, respectively, as they reach puberty. In a secluded environment, the elders will teach the young ones about sexuality. Sexual initiation of Mozambican children was banned by the left-wing FRELIMO party after securing independence from Portugal and establishing one-party control. FRELIMO argued that initiation rites promoted female subservience; their many critics dismissed this as simplistic, saying that the rites provided women with sexual education they might not otherwise get.

The ban on initiation rites has long been lifted in Mozambique, though the practice is no longer as prominent as it used to be. In keeping with the film’s fidelity to Mozambican culture at this time, Prata includes Muidinga’s initiation in this film. The scene is filmed obliquely, in a matter-of-fact way. The audience never sees anything graphic and Tuahir’s verbal descriptions are innocuous, but the implication of what he is doing to Muidinga is clear. Prata, a child of both Africa and Europe, could not have filmed this scenario with any greater respect to her actors and the cultures she was raised in. For Western viewers like myself, it is one of more than a few teaching moments in Sleepwalking Land.

The film’s two leads in Nick Lauro Teresa and Aladino Jasse are both non-professional actors. Their acting might not be the most accomplished, but the dynamic between the two is a joy to watch. Though they probably are not related, their characters have an asymmetric emotional intimacy understandable considering their situation. In what might have been a dour, overlong experience, Teresa and Jasse inject enough charm and humor to keep Sleepwalking Land bearable. The same cannot be written for the parallel story fronted by Kindzu (Helio Fumo) and Farida (Ilda Gonzalez), which throws the film’s narrative propulsion off-balance whenever Teresa and Jasse are not on-screen. To everyone’s credit, the acting ensemble helps Sleepwalking Land feel like a vivid dream – from the silences paired with the rural landscapes, the decisional logic, and the film’s impossible conclusion (but it is one that, mind you, works).

Though Sleepwalking Land has made appearances in film festival across the world, it – and Teresa Prata’s career (this is Prata’s most recent movie, and by what is provided in Sleepwalking Land, I would like to see much more from her) – has never found much traction. I may not have read Couto’s novel prior to viewing this film (the novel is available in an English translation), but its novelistic overtures are felt throughout the film. The blending of narratives flows like something from a printed page, rather than quickly edited into yet another one of Christopher Nolan’s moviemaking mazes. From its humble, low-budget origins, Sleepwalking Land is composed in its singular artistic vision and confident about the depth of human endurance.

My rating: 8/10

^ Based on my personal imdb rating. Half-points are always rounded down. My interpretation of that ratings system can be found in the “Ratings system” page on my blog (as of July 1, 2020, tumblr is not permitting certain posts with links to appear on tag pages, so I cannot provide the URL).

For more of my reviews tagged “My Movie Odyssey”, check out the tag of the same name on my blog.

NOTE #1: This is the second of an unspecified amount of film reviews on this blog relating to films that I saw as part of Turner Classic Movies’ (TCM) Women Make Film marathon.

NOTE #2: Sleepwalking Land is currently available to watch on YouTube for free. The print includes English subtitles in the closed-captioning options.

#Sleepwalking Land #Teresa Prata #Nick Lauro Teresa #Aldino José #Hélio Fumo #Ilda Gonzalez #Laura Soveral #Dominique Gentil #Mia Couto #Women Make Film #TCM #My Movie Odyssey

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lovemychinchilla · 4 years

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Do Chinchillas Need Salt Licks?

Salt licks and salt wheels are commonly given to small pets like chinchillas. But do chinchillas need mineral supplementation? Or would it be bad for them?

Does a chinchilla need a salt lick? They don't. Chinchillas get everything they need from their diet of hay and hay pellets. It's rare that chinchillas on a diet of timothy hay and alfalfa pellets has deficiencies, but if yours does, cuttle bones or vet supplements are better choices than salt licks. Since your chin likely gets enough micronutrients already, adding more through giving it a salt lick would be detrimental, as the excess minerals would form kidney and bladder stones. Extra sodium in the diet can also cause seizures.

The guide below first looks at what salt licks are, and why chinchillas don't need them. We'll also address what happens if you give your chinchilla a salt lick anyway, and what we recommend doing when your chinchilla has a diagnosed nutritional deficiency.

Do Chinchillas Need Salt Licks?

There are no circumstances in which your chinchilla might need a salt lick, even if other pets do. Whether your chinchilla is perfectly healthy, or it has nutritional deficiencies, salt licks won't help it—if anything, they would be bad for your pet.

Part of the reason why is that chinchillas should get all the nutrients they need from their hay. Wild chinchillas eat a variety of grasses, but timothy hay has a wide range of micronutrients, as do the hay pellets you give to your pet. It can therefore thrive on hay alone. As such, if you then go ahead and give your chinchilla extra minerals, these can have negative health effects, especially if the salt lick in question contains lots of sodium.

What Is a Salt Lick/What Is a Salt Wheel? And What Are Salt Licks For?

[caption id="attachment_3239" align="alignright" width="275"] An example of a salt lick provided for livestock.[/caption]

A salt lick, also known as a mineral lick, is a block of salts that contain many micronutrients. They occur in the wild, and many wild animals lick at them to supplement their diets, particularly if their diet is low in certain minerals. Many owners provide their pets or livestock with made-made mineral licks to promote their health.

A salt wheel is a special kind of salt block that's made for small animals. It's a block of compacted salt, like a regular mineral lick, but with a hole in the middle. A rod runs through the hole, and has loops at each end that attach to the metal bars of a small animal's cage.

The point of a salt lick is to make up for nutrients that an animal is missing. That's why wild animals find natural salt licks to lick; it's why people who keep pets on non-varied diets often need to offer them alongside whatever their pets eat. But despite being designed for small pets kept in cages, and typically stating 'For Small Animals' or something similar on the front, salt wheels aren't suitable for chinchillas. Neither is any kind of solid mineral block.

What Nutrients Does a Salt Lick Provide?

Mineral licks contain all sorts of minerals, not just one. They typically contain calcium magnesium, sulfur, phosphorus, potassium, sodium and more. They aren't solely made of table salt; the name 'salt lick' comes from the fact that the minerals in the lick are in the form of mineral salts. How much of each mineral the salt lick contains depends on what kind you buy, and how high quality it is. Some are primarily sodium, while others are a more rounded mixture.

Is My Chinchilla Licking Me Because It Needs a Salt Lick?

On occasion, chinchillas lick their owners. This is a behavior that we don't fully understand: it may be because they like the taste of your skin—sweat contains lots of minerals—or because they're trying to be affectionate.

What's unlikely is that your chinchilla is licking you because it needs the minerals in your sweat. Neither owners nor scientific studies have reported that chinchiillas with deficiencies lick their owners more frequently, although it is theoretically possible. And besides, if your chinchilla were doing that because it's deficient, there are far better ways to provide nutrients than through a lick.

Do Chinchillas Need to Gnaw on Salt Licks?

Chinchillas need to gnaw on things to stop their teeth growing overlong. This is a trait that's common to all rodents: unlike ours, their teeth grow continuously from the moment they're born until the moment they pass. That's because a rodent's teeth are important both for self-defense and for eating. A chinchilla without its teeth can't eat, can't fend off predators, and so is exceptionally vulnerable.

When a chinchilla doesn't gnaw on things, though, its teeth grow too long. This means they don't meet correctly in the middle, an issue known as malocclusion. This can also be caused by physical trauma or a missing tooth, but the upshot is that you need to give your chinchilla something suitable to chew on, be that an apple wood stick or wooden cage accessories. But what about a salt lick? Would that be suitable?

Unfortunately, no. Since chinchillas love gnawing so much, the question morphs from do chinchillas need to LICK salt licks into can chinchillas EAT salt licks, and the answer to that is a definite no. If your chinchilla gnawed on its salt lick, as it likely would, it would ingest far too much sodium and far too many minerals. That's because chins ingest some of whatever they gnaw on.

What Happens If You Give Your Chinchilla a Salt Lick?

For other animals, salt licks have the beneficial effect of staving off nutritional deficiency. But for chinchillas, the opposite is true: they can have detrimental effects on the urinary tract, or even cause deficiency through sodium imbalance.

Kidney & Bladder Stones

Kidney and bladder stones are accretions of minerals that build up gradually over time, in either the kidneys or bladder respectively. They occur when the kidney or bladder is not fully emptied, whether because the chinchilla is drinking more than usual, because it has a UTI, or because it has a genetic deformity of the bladder, kidney or the pipes connecting them.

Excess minerals are excreted in urine, so when the urine isn't emptied quickly enough, the minerals can clump together. They very gradually form large structures that cannot be easily passed. They require surgery to be removed, and if the surgery is not successful, your pet will need to be put to sleep. The more minerals your chinchilla ingests, the quicker these stones will form.

Potential for Seizures

Having too much sodium in its diet can make your chinchilla deficient in calcium. That's because the body eliminates as much sodium as it can through the urine, and when it does, it takes lots of its dietary calcium with it. This causes hypocalcemia, i.e. calcium deficiency.

One of the many effects of calcium deficiency is that the affected chinchilla starts having seizures. Seizures are episodes where the brain stops functioning as it should, and there are many types of them. The precise effects of a seizure depend on what causes it. In this case, the chinchilla loses control of its body briefly; its back curves so that its nose and tail point upwards. Seizures aren't typically serious enough to significantly hurt your chinchilla, but they are stressful and upsetting, both for you and your pet.

How to Help a Chinchilla with Nutritional Deficiencies

[caption id="attachment_1164" align="alignright" width="300"] You can entirely prevent nutritional deficiency by keeping your chinchilla on a suitable diet, although if your chinchilla already has a deficiency, more drastic action may be needed.[/caption]

If you suspect your chinchilla is unwell for any reason, you must take it to a vet as soon as possible. They can diagnose the issue that your pet is facing, whether it's nutritional deficiencies or something else. If they diagnose the problem as a deficiency, there are several things you can do.

Correct your chinchilla's diet. Chinchillas need a diet of hay and hay pellets, not of fruits and vegetables, or of pellets intended for other animals (like rabbit pellets or dried cat food). The correct diet of hay should contain everything your chinchilla needs.

Feed your chinchilla high-quality hay pellets. If you feed a low-quality pellet, it may have gone stale, or been made from hay that isn't high in nutrients. Pick a trusted brand like Oxbow instead.

Ask the vet about supplementation. The vet can administer a liquid supplement containing whatever it is that your chinchilla needs. They may also prescribe a supplement that you can administer your pet in the future; however, adjusting its diet should do the trick.

Can my chinchilla eat salt? We would recommend against giving any sort of salt: table salt, salt licks, pink salt, sea salt—anything. The sodium in salt would make your chinchilla's problem worse.

Never diagnose deficiencies without the assistance of a vet. If you do, you could make whatever problem your chinchilla is experiencing worse.

How to Give a Chinchilla More Calcium

Calcium is the one mineral that chinchillas need precisely the right amount of. It's easy to give either too much or too little, and doing either will cause ill health. Too much causes kidney and bladder stones as described above, while too little contributes to weak bones and teeth, and even malocclusion.

There are two easy ways to give a chinchilla more calcium that don't include offering salt licks. The first is to give your chinchilla fresh alfalfa hay, or alfalfa hay pellets. Alfalfa contains many times more calcium than timothy hay, so if your chin has a calcium deficiency, mix in a portion of alfalfa with its regular hay. Most hay pellets contain alfalfa, but some have more than others, so pick one that has more.

The second way to give your chinchilla calcium is through giving it a cuttle bone. Cuttle bones are the internal shells of cuttlefish, and their structure contains large amounts of calcium. They are solid and brittle, making them excellent chew toys as well as calcium supplements.

To be clear, excesses of other minerals can also cause kidney and bladder stones. However, it's excess calcium that has the greatest effect, and a lack of which has the greatest effect also. You must talk to a vet and have them properly diagnose calcium deficiency before addressing the issue, as if your chinchilla is in fact getting enough calcium, giving it even more would cause bladder or kidney stones.

Below, you can find our chinchilla quiz, new posts for further reading, and a signup for our Chinchilla Newsletter!

[ays_quiz id='9']

#chinchillas #chinchillanutrition

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paulbenedictblog · 4 years

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Bbc news ¿Deberían los Oscar romper el libro de reglas de la ceremonia?

Bbc news

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Image copyright Getty Photography

Image caption The 2007 arena used to be on the total glitzy, but the Oscars would now not attract as many viewers because it feeble to

The Oscars are looming, and for movie fans clutching a bottomless popcorn bucket, which method any other TV marathon.

Closing one year's ceremony used to be a whoppingthree hours and 23 minutesand used to be watched by 29.6 million of us within the US - a 12% boost from 2018's viewing figures.

Alternatively it used to be aloof the2d-smallest target market recordedfor an Academy Awards broadcast - segment ofa stylish fall in award ceremonies scoresas extra of us gain to spy the highlights online quite than take a seat by the total thing.

In distinction, whenExtensive swept the boardon the Oscars aid in 1998,the ceremony used to be watched by a file 57 million viewers.

Image copyright Getty Photography

Image caption James Cameron declared himself "king of the arena" when his movie Extensive won 11 Oscars

Matthew Belloni, the Hollywood Reporter's editorial director, thinks the ceremony desires a new method.

"I own the Oscars telecast shall be improved if there used to be outlandish movie allege that viewers needed to tune in to stumble on," he tells BBC News.

"To illustrate, the Hollywood studios may perchance also all conform to air an outlandish trailer nobody has viewed for the duration of the telecast. Who wouldn't want to stumble on for a well-known stumble on at Top Gun 2 or Swiftly & Wrathful 9?"

Belloni went extra on the Media Masters podcast in 2018, pronouncing: "The proven truth that the Oscars are so stupid is a gigantic failure on the Academy's segment.

Image copyright Getty Photography

Image caption Julia Roberts and Russell Crowe won performing Oscars for Erin Brockovich and Gladiator in 2001

"First of all there are 24 categories, most of which the everyday particular person would now not care about. And they also're presented with the real same fanfare and real same time distributed to each and every without a doubt one of them.

"It's after middle of the evening on the [US] east flee by the point they acquire to most attention-grabbing image, and they're working by it to acquire it done because they're already gradual. It's crazy."

He also thinks the Academy "has been nominating movies that fewer of us are seeing" in fresh years.

"You develop now not survey as most of the Extensive or Gladiator-model motion photos that gain most attention-grabbing image any longer. It's smaller movies, movies with niche audiences."

That method, he says, that "there may be less of an incentive for viewers to tune in, because they develop now not undoubtedly feel delight in they've a horse within the dawdle".

Image copyright Getty Photography

Image caption Editor Thelma Schoonmaker thinks the ceremony "may perchance also very well be shorter"

Three-time Oscar winner Thelma Schoonmaker,whose working existence is spent deciding suggestions to most attention-grabbing point to movie footage, also had some suggestions for the ceremony.

"Frankly I develop now not stumble on it unless without a doubt one of our of us is nominated," she suggested BBC News.

Nonetheless the outmoded editor suggests "it is miles going to also very well be shorter potentially [with] shorter speeches".

"There's so many thank yous that all people does - to their agent, their this, their that. That, I own, is now not as significant to a selection of the target market because it is clearly to the of us they're thanking.

"Seemingly the speeches may perchance also very well be extra relating to the work - , the art of it."

Image copyright Getty Photography

Image caption Oscar winner Mark Bridges won a jet ski for the brevity of his speech in 2018

In 2018, host Jimmy Kimmel used to be so animated to lop down the speeches he gave a jet ski to the winner who spoke for the least duration of time.

"I undoubtedly own a stopwatch," he suggested that one year's nominees. "Why crash treasured time thanking your mom whereas that you just may perchance also very well be taking her for the roam of her existence on a new jet ski?"

Phantom Thread costume style designer Mark Bridges ended up with the $18,000 (£13,800) automobile,which he donated to charity.

Bbc news 'Unending list of thanking'

Schoonmaker, who is up for an Oscar this one year for The Irishman, famend that when she attended the novelAmerican Cinema Editors awards, the speeches were high notch.

"I was very impressed. They were very transferring speeches. There used to be rarely any of the endless, endless list of thanking. The speeches were quick and it used to be a extremely true ceremony."

Seemingly movie editors own a thing or two to educate the leisure of the movie alternate by talking succinctly.

Image copyright Getty Photography

Image caption Jimmy Kimmel wanted to set aside the 2018 ceremony quick

Yet one more advice got here fromThe Enormous Narrate podcast, which suggested the Academy must depend appropriate down to the successful movie by undoubtedly revealing the votes each and every most attention-grabbing movie nominee bought.

Hosts Sean Fennessy and Amanda Dobbins, who'd viewed the premise on Twitter, talked about this may acquire the ceremony "phenomenal extra fun", alongside with that a ranking desires to be published "each and every 15 or 20 minutes until you acquire to the closing movie - that you just may perchance also own the elimination chamber of Oscars".

Obviously, the Oscars are now not the appropriate TV point to facing declining audiences. Venerable TV as a total is struggling to prevail in younger viewers.

"The most up to date shows on TV networks - which convey the supreme advert costs - are attracting older viewers, which is a challenge for brands that want to prevail in millennials and youngsters,"talked about the Contemporary York Cases in 2018.

"As TV advert spending has begun to fall, marketers had been diverting extra cash to tech giants delight in Google and Fb."

So what's also done to stem the exodus of award point to viewers?

This one year's Brit Awards areslimming down the variety of winners from 12 to 9, when put next with the Oscars' 24 categories.

The Brits are also promising "extra tune", with artists given fleshy artistic administration of their performances.

Image caption Celeste, the BBC's Sound Of 2020, is performing on the Brits as their Rising Star winner

The Baftas already edit their movie awards ceremony appropriate down to a two-hour BBC broadcast.

Even with novel host Graham Norton, this one year's match attracted a median of three.03m viewers, down from 2019's 3.5m - which in flip used to be500,000 fewer than 2018.

Oscar watchers may perchance also clutch that organisers tried to replace the ceremony final one year.

They wanted to embody ain model movies category, ownfewer songs completedand to give awards alongside with cinematography and editing for the duration of advert breaks.

Image copyright Getty Photography

Image caption Spike Lee criticised a proposal at hand out Oscars for the duration of advert breaks

Nonetheless afterobjections from heavyweights alongside with Spike Lee and Martin Scorsese, the advert spoil dedicationused to be reversed.

The total layout remained the an identical - minus a number, afterKevin Hart resignedamid controversy over feeble homophobic tweets.

No question the Academy hopesone more hostless ceremonymay perchance also set aside or boost viewing figures - especially after Ricky Gervais'scaustic web hosting of final month's Golden Globessaw viewership fall 2% from 2019.

Image copyright EPA

Image caption Ricky Gervais returned to host this one year's Golden Globes

So used to be dilapidated host Johnny Carson truewhen he famously called the Oscars"two hours of gleaming entertainment, unfolded over a four-hour point to"?

BBC News asked a team of students from theLos Angeles Film Collegewhat they belief.

As attainable academy voters, and even perchance future winners, they were in a say to give a youthful point of view - and their views were decidedly blended.

Whereas most of them loved the ceremony, they felt it used to be "too long", "hasn't modified in years" and "would now not captivate younger audiences".

Image copyright Getty Photography

Image caption Attendees on the Governors Ball can abilities a chocolate Oscar after the ceremony

None of them talked about it desires to be hostless.

The ditching of the in model movie category spoil up idea. Some talked about it may most likely perchance simply reward "the movie that made the most cash" and used to be "ineffective" because "the awards desires to be about quality".

Nonetheless others loved the premise, feeling it "may perchance also attract the consideration of younger viewers" who are currently being courted by many aspects of the media.

Spell binding winners' speeches, similar to Olivia Colman's final one year, acquire for memorable moments, and some students love it when movie-makers focus on their work or politics.

"Motion photos are supposed to switch of us, and the of us making them own mighty voices and must focus on for what they own," talked about one.

Nonetheless others own "overlong thank you's are the worst", with one student declaring: "I develop now not care about Hollywood's idea on politics."

There also used to be no consensus about consigning categories delight in editing to the advert breaks. One student argued these awards represented "the put the staunch skill is", but one more answered: "It desires to be reported afterwards."

Image copyright Getty Photography

Image caption Bradley Cooper and Girl Gaga's Oscars duet went viral final one year

Very top tune performances were a gargantuan hit with the scholars. After all, who may perchance also neglectfinal one year's steamy efficiency of Shallowby Girl Gaga and Bradley Cooper?

One remarked they "loved" the songs as "they acquire the point to undoubtedly feel extra stylish", whereas one more advocated lowering all of them to a "medley".

BBC News has also contacted Oscars organisers to stumble on within the event that they've any longer plans for the ceremony.

In response to Matt Wolf from the Worldwide Contemporary York Cases, Oscars organisers will "incur outrage nearly it be now not linked what they attain with the ceremony".

Bbc news 'Winners are guessable'

"Even though five novel preconditions were met, five extra would emerge," talked about Wolf, who describes himself as a "self-confessed Oscars nerd".

He also thinks the organisers must televise your total categories, but talked about of the technical nominees: "Mr and Mrs Center The United States don't own any belief what they attain."

He complained that "all four performing winners are guessable this one year in come, which takes the suspense out of it.

"It's now not the Oscars' fault, but Renée Zellweger, Joaquin Phoenix, Brad Pitt and Laura Dern seem dreary certs so the awards seem a bore."

Image copyright Getty Photography

Image caption Security is continually tight inside of the Dolby Theatre

Yet Wolf is sympathetic to the ceremony's organisers.

"The Oscars own develop into a extremely pliable punching acquire; of us can exercise it to vent their frustrations from all quarters. If they attain A of us want B; within the event that they attain Q of us want Z."

The Oscars, he goes on, want to own all aspects of the ceremony. "You'll want to own the garish costume on the red carpet as phenomenal as you'll need any individual gorgeous and stellar. We would like the kit, warts and all.

"People like to whinge relating to the Oscars, it be invent of a cultural sport, but the imperfections are what acquire them so beautiful."

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riffrelevant · 5 years

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Article By: Kira Schlechter, Staff Writer ‡ Edited By: Leanne Ridgeway, Owner/Chief Editor

Making Sweden rock since 1993, to swipe a phrase, HAMMERFALL is the standard bearer for all things Scandinavian. Relentlessly prolific, they’ve helped define all that is good about modern power metal.

In crafting the follow-up to 2016’s ‘Built To Last,’ singer Joacim Cans, guitarists Oscar Dronjak and Pontus Norgren, bassist Fredrik Larsson, and drummer David Wallin wrote a lot of their latest, ‘Dominion,’ on the road, a first for the band, according to a Facebook bio. And indeed it has an immediacy to it that their customary carefully-crafted polish can’t disguise.

“Never Forgive, Never Forget” references the Vietnam War. Cans’ voice aches with regret – the sentiment of the title seems to mean that we will never forgive nor forget the mistake that was Vietnam, rather than acting as some flag-waving braggadocio. Its details are carefully drawn, mentioning “the trail” (the Ho Chi Minh Trail), and “Call for Agent O” (Agent Orange, of course). The same haunting melody that introduces the song also serves as the outro and bookends things very nicely.

“Testify” is firmly anti-religion and pro-self-determination, apparent from the opening salvo (“I’m electric, energetic / Quite high on life’s epiphanies / I don’t need no two-time weasel / To judge my way based on their bigotry“) and it doesn’t let up (“Be the prophet, the creator / And master your own universe“). The title is ground out with vigor and all is set to a pounding, insistent rhythm.

[spotifyplaybutton play=”spotify:album:0GuV3xyGdO8bZ8RepoBV0x”/]

Two midway tracks are real fist-raisers and horns-flashers, definitely inspired by that writing while touring. “One Against the World” is a call to the Templar faithful, exalting the glory of the live show, the defiance of the metal horde against all non-believers, a common theme in their canon.

And “(We Make) Sweden Rock,” the story of their own birth and a stirring tribute to their homeland, is a reminder that band and fans are one. If you don’t spontaneously and helplessly sing along to the chorus, check if you have a pulse.

“Second to One” is an old-school piano-based track with some truly lovely sentiments (“You’re the sweetest sound / The note that explains the symphony”). It’s ok that it gets all big and power-ballad-y in the chorus with the equally big solo – that’s what it’s supposed to do – and it’s not overlong nor overly sappy, which helps.

“Scars of a Generation” is rather like “a how metal saved the world” allegory. There’s a great line, “And the green-eyed monster sang the blues / To choke our flame,” almost saying other genres are envious of metal. It soars with glorious guitars and an especially spectacular bridge.

Tracklist:

01. Never Forgive, Never Forget 02. Dominion 03. Testify 04. One Against The World 05. (We Make) Sweden Rock 06. Second to One 07. Scars of a Generation 08. Dead by Dawn 09. Battleworn 10. Bloodline 11. Chain of Command 12. And Yet I Smile

“Dead by Dawn“ is the supernatural story of a demon summoning during a seance, all in good catchy, punchy, driving fun. “Bloodline“ brings, right on cue, the Norse mythology, retelling the fall of Asgard, the home of the gods, during Ragnarok, that the gods must die in order to be reborn. It’s laden with imagery (“By blood we are unified / By fire we will rise again“) and ends with a hopeful resolution – “And now we are free at last / Counting the stars up above / One for each brother who’s fallen from grace / Giving our bloodline a face.”

“And Yet I Smile” is a stirring note to end things on, of positivity and finding your own way (“in the end, we only will regret the things we did not do,” they note), and adding that in adversity, we often find our true selves (“My star cannot shine / Without darkness around”). How great is that and how true as well.

HAMMERFALL tours the U.S. starting in October with fellow power Swedes Sabaton in a bill that can’t be less than a blast. They’ll head back to Europe in the new year to headline, bringing Battle Beast along.

HAMMERFALL on:

Order ‘Dominion‘ from Napalm Records [link]

– HAMMERFALL Tour Dates –

– w/ Sabaton – 2019 –

Oct. 04 – Ft Lauderdale, FL, Revolution Oct. 05 – St. Petersburg, FL, Jannus Landing Oct. 06 – Atlanta, GA, Center Stage (sold out) Oct. 07 – New Orleans, LA, Southport Hall ^^ Oct. 08 – Dallas, TX, House of Blues (sold out) Oct. 09 – Lubbock TX, Jake’s ^^ Oct. 10 – Phoenix, AZ, Van Buren Oct. 11 – Los Angeles, CA, The Wiltern Oct. 12 – San Francisco, CA, The Regency (sold out) Oct. 13 – Reno, NV, Virginia Street ^^ Oct. 14 – Portland, OR, Roseland Ballroom (sold out) Oct. 15 – Seattle, WA, Showbox Sodo (sold out) Oct. 16 – Vancouver, BC, Vogue Theater Oct. 18 – Edmonton, AB, Union Hall Oct. 19 – Calgary, AB, The Palace Theater Oct. 21 – Salt Lake City, UT, The Complex Rockwell Oct. 23 – Denver, CO, Ogden Theater (sold out) Oct. 24 – Kansas City, MO, Riot Room ^^ Oct. 25 – Minneapolis, MN, Skyway Theater Oct. 26 – Chicago. IL, The Vic Theatre (sold out) Oct. 27 – Cleveland, OH, The Agora Ballroom (sold out) Oct. 29 – Toronto, ON, The Danforth Music Hall (sold out) Oct. 30 – Montreal, QC, M Telus (sold out) Oct. 31 – Ottawa, ON, Maverick’s ^^ Nov. 01 – Worcester, MA, Palladium Nov. 02 – New York, NY, Playstation Theater (sold out) Nov. 03 – Silver Spring, MD, The Fillmore (sold out) Nov. 04 – Charlotte, NC, The Underground ^^ Nov. 05 – Charleston, SC, Music Farm ^^ Nov. 30 – Monterrey, Mexico, Metal Fest

^^Headline Shows/No Sabaton

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– Hammerfall Europe 2020 –

Jan. 30 – Bremen, Aladin Jan. 31 – Hamburg, Sporthalle Feb. 01 – Osnabrück, Hydepark Feb. 02 – Oberhausen, Turbinenhalle Feb. 03 – Nijmegen, Doornroosje Feb. 05 – Antwerpen, TRIX Feb. 06 – Saarbrücken, Garage Feb. 07 – Munich, Tonhalle Feb. 08 – Kaufbeuren, All Kart Halle Feb. 09 – Milan, Live Club Feb. 11 – Langen, Stadthalle Feb. 12 – Leipzig, Werk 2 Feb. 13 – Prague, Forum Karlin Feb. 14 – Bamberg, Brose Arena Feb. 15 – Ludwigsburg, MHP Arena Feb. 16 – Pratteln, Z7 Feb. 18 – Warsaw, Progresja Feb. 19 – Krakow, Studio Feb. 20 – Budapest, Barba Negra Feb. 21 – Graz, Orpheum Feb. 22 – Wien, Gasometer Feb. 23 – Berlin, Huxley’s

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HAMMERFALL ‘Dominion’ Album Review & Stream; Tour Dates Article By: Kira Schlechter, Staff Writer ‡ Edited By: Leanne Ridgeway, Owner/Chief Editor Making Sweden rock since 1993, to swipe a phrase, …

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lovemychinchilla · 4 years

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Why Are My Chinchilla's Teeth Orange?

Almost all pet chinchillas have orange, even red teeth, which can be shocking for a new owner. But is that healthy, or is it a sign that your chinchilla is deficient in something?

Why are my chinchilla's teeth orange? Deep yellow, orange or orange-red teeth are healthy for chinchillas while lighter yellow or white teeth are unhealthy. Deep orange or orange-red teeth occur because your chinchilla's tooth enamel contains lots of calcium, iron and phosphorus. Lighter shades indicate that your chinchilla has a nutritional deficiency. To fix calcium deficiency, mix fresh alfalfa hay with your chinchilla's regular timothy hay, or switch to a high-calcium pellet. You could also provide a cuttle bone for gnawing. If nothing helps, talk to a vet and they may prescribe supplements.

The guide below first looks at what color chinchilla teeth should be, before detailing why they might be orange or white. We'll also cover exactly what you should do if your chinchilla's teeth are the wrong color.

Should a Chinchilla's Teeth Be Orange?

Chinchillas, in fact all rodents, have teeth that are different to ours. If you ever look into your chinchilla's mouth, the first thing you would notice—provided that it's healthy—is that its teeth are orange. This is normal, natural and healthy. A chinchilla's teeth should be deep yellow, orange or orange-red in color.

This can be quite shocking to see. We're so used to thinking that lighter teeth are healthier that to see such dark teeth strikes us as a sign of ill health. But in chinchillas, it's the opposite that's true: darker, deeper orange teeth are healthier while lighter teeth mean something's wrong.

What Makes a Chinchilla's Teeth Orange?

What makes rodent teeth darker than ours is the enamel.

Enamel is the outer layer of a tooth, and it's the hardest tissue in your chinchilla's body. It's thin, but it's very strong; it both provides a solid surface for cutting and grinding, and protects the tooth (with all its nerves) underneath. That's why when your enamel is worn away, your teeth become sensitive.

In people, this enamel has lots of magnesium in it; but in chinchillas, the enamel contains lots of iron and calcium, which gives it its dark yellow or orange hue. They can even border on orange-red, which is the natural color of iron. You can see the same difference in other rodents such as beavers or rats.

Should My Chinchilla's Teeth Be White?

[caption id="attachment_1164" align="alignright" width="300"] Poor quality hay can be low in nutrients like calcium.[/caption]

If your chinchilla's teeth are a light yellow shade, or even verge on white, that's a bad sign. It indicates that your chinchilla isn't getting enough of certain micronutrients, particularly iron and calcium. Chinchillas should be able to get all the nutrients they need from their hay, but yours may not, due to:

You buying a low quality hay brand

Hay that has gone bad or stale during the production process

Hay that has gone bad or stale after you bought it

Hay that was grown in adverse conditions, e.g. drought

Your chinchilla is not eating because dental disease makes doing so painful

One of these issues, or all of them combined, could be causing your chinchilla's white teeth.

What Happens If My Chinchilla's Teeth Are White?

Nutritional deficiencies have a direct impact on your chinchilla's health and should be corrected as soon as possible. While the specific effects of calcium deficiency in chinchillas hasn't been studied, there are several ways it's likely to affect your pet:

Calcium deficiency may cause brittle bones. Calcium is one of the building blocks of bones, and without it, they can become weak. This is especially relevant if your chinchilla is still growing.

Calcium deficiency may make malocclusion more likely. Calcium deficiency is likely to make teeth weaker, and more prone to chipping. For both of these reasons, deficiency would make malocclusion occur.

Calcium deficiency may impair organ/body function. Calcium is needed by the body for muscle contraction (e.g. in the heart), as well as blood clotting and enzyme function.

These issues won't necessarily occur all at once, or as soon as your chinchilla's teeth turn yellow rather than orange. But if you'd like to avoid them, you should take steps to combat your pet's calcium deficiency.

How to Make a Chinchilla's Teeth Orange Again

If your chinchilla's teeth have changed from a dark shade to a light shade, or even white, you need to take action. Otherwise, your pet's health is at risk.

Fix Your Chinchilla's Diet

The likely issue is that your chinchilla isn't getting the nutrients it needs from its food. As such, if you take steps to provide your pet with a better diet, you can fix the problem.

The first thing you should do is stop giving your chinchilla snacks. Chins don't need anything aside from hay and hay pellets. While snacks like shredded wheat or rose hips are healthy enough, you should focus on improving the core of your pet's diet before including anything else. This ensures that it only eats the things that's right for it.

Since the likely issue is that your chin isn't getting enough calcium, your next step is to give your chinchilla alfalfa pellets or fresh alfalfa hay. Alfalfa contains far more calcium than timothy hay, so much so in fact that if you feed your pet nothing but alfalfa, it can develop health issues from having too much. So, give your chin fresh timothy hay mixed with 1/3 alfalfa until its condition improves; or, get rid of your old pellets and feed your pet some that are high in calcium instead.

Provide a Cuttle Bone to Gnaw On

If your chinchilla is already eating what seems to be an adequate diet, there are further changes you can make. One is to provide something called a cuttle bone for your chinchilla to gnaw on.

A cuttlebone, which you might also know as a 'cuttlefish bone', is an internal shell that all cuttlefish possess. It's made of a mineral called aragonite, which is a kind of calcium carbonate, which means it contains lots of calcium. Cuttle bones also happen to be the perfect consistency for chinchillas to gnaw on.

These cuttle bones therefore kill two birds with one stone. First, they provide your chinchilla with the calcium it needs for strong enamel. And second, it helps your chin keep its teeth from growing overlong. We don't recommend offering them if your chinchilla gets lots of calcium from its diet, because too much calcium causes bladder stones. But if your pet clearly has a deficiency, they're a good choice to combat it.

Talk To a Vet

[caption id="attachment_2933" align="alignright" width="300"] You should talk to a vet any time your chinchilla experiences a health problem.[/caption]

If you don't notice any improvement, you should talk to a vet. That's because calcium deficiency can have a serious impact on health if it continues for an extended period of time.

The vet can make recommendations on how you can change your chinchilla's care for the better. This might be related specifically to your chinchilla's dental problem—they might, for example, recommend a particular kind of alfalfa hay pellet that they find effective—or, they might make general recommendations. If your chinchilla has several health problems, they will treat all of them.

The vet can also prescribe supplements. We don't recommend the use of supplements as a rule, since chinchillas should get all the nutrients they need from their hay. But if your chinchilla is deficient in something like calcium, calcium supplements will help. Talk with the vet about appropriate dosage.

Below, you can find our chinchilla quiz, new posts for further reading, and a signup for our Chinchilla Newsletter!

[ays_quiz id='9']

#chinchillas #chinchillacare

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