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animezinglife · 4 years

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What about Kougami then? Do you think he realizes or rather has any form of attraction to Akane? Is it the same form that akane sees it?

I think he does, but doesn’t yet realize the depth or significance of it. Or, if he’s started to at this point, it’s not something we’ve been able to see a lot of because of the way the story is framed. There’s the other side of it too where he sees her as something beyond himself--like she’s an anomaly, and something to aspire to.

On my side blog, I’ve talked a lot about his obsessive and often self-destructive nature, and I fully believe that he would have significant reservations where Akane is concerned for that reason. On one hand, he has complete faith in her. On the other, he has a lot in himself in only the sense of completing tasks--he does not have the same faith in his own character or influence, which is something Akane corrects him on in the film during their late-night talk.

I think that film is where his attraction became pretty obvious, personally: Ko’s the kind of guy who’s going to be attracted to a woman’s mind. Her intellect, the way she thinks, stimulating conversation, and her moral code (in this case, a strong one that’s comfortable dwelling in the murky shades of gray even if her sense of integrity is clear). He’s not about the bombshell type or the obviously sexy. My opinion is that in addition to the amazing and arguably alluring (especially to him) qualities she already has go well with the fact she’s naturally pretty, has a quiet confidence (much like his, actually), and graceful. Yet the woman can throw down and handle a pistol and Dominator with the best of them now, and while I don’t like to generalize men I feel very comfortable saying Ko’s not going to be the exception who isn’t into that.

I know some get a little caught on the earlier content of the first season. Akane’s clearly young, and I do very much think while Ko was fascinated by the way her mind worked and how quickly her skills were growing that he felt more of a mentor/protective role towards her. I also think there starts to be a shift from that even in the first season, where he starts to recognize her as a full-fledged detective who can not only challenge him, but rival him. I think that in itself is what starts to shift his mentality where she’s concerned, but I also don’t want to pretend that his obsession with hunting down Makishima and tackling his own demons didn’t take precedence at the time. Because again, even if he were to acknowledge fully that he was starting to feel something for her, he wouldn’t think he’s good for her.

It seemed a little murkier in the film--he hangs on everything she says, and with a delicacy he doesn’t with others. It’s evident that not only have they not lost their connection with each other that had developed throughout the first season, but that it’s shifted in their time away from each other. The tension between them is thick because of everything that’s happened, everything that hasn’t been said, and arguably, the other unresolved elephant in the room that I think they’re very much aware of. They mirror each other, sense each other’s movements, and go right into a discussion that’s incredibly vulnerable on his side and intimate in nature. There aren’t many instances where he shares things like this in the earlier installments--even Saiga has to prompt it and pull those fears from him (that he’s like Makishima and that his ability to draw people is dangerous). With Akane though, he opens up and essentially puts some of his worst fears about himself in her hands. He trusts her fully, and the way he studies and considers her when she responds and those walls start to come down between them both says a lot more than what you see on the surface. I have a hard time separating that moment from their departure, when she loses her composure and panics because she doesn’t want to leave without him and he holds onto her shoulder and tries to reassure her he’ll make it out alive.

There is a lot of hurriedness and, frankly, failure in the writing from the minute that bomb goes off and interrupts their reunion, and I’m not just saying that because I love them and their relationship. It completely threw off the pacing and depth of what was happening, and took away the vulnerability and human aspects of the scene. I would’ve much rather let their reunion play out then see a war scene with motorcycle backflips and scalps getting blown off.

I’m not sure if you’ve ever watched the dubbed version of the film, but there were some line tweaks in the translation that are very deliberate and for good reason. Some of them arguably fit Ko better where the original lines--at least in the way they were translated--were almost inconsistent with his character. Ko’s lines are more obviously referring to Akane: “a beautiful/glamorous woman” turns into the prospect of Desmond’s line “sounding much sweeter coming from her.” “I’m tired/hungry”--which was completely random and out of place, especially considering Ko doesn’t talk just to talk--turns into, “She’s an incredible woman.” I talked with a translator about that change before. She hadn’t liked that change because it wasn’t direct, and I had loved it from the character standpoint (rather than the “Shinkane” one). It’s fair to want a direct translation, but if something doesn’t fit within the context or character to begin with, I’m a firm believer in line changes not only being justified, but necessary.

I haven’t seen season 3 or the other films, but I didn’t miss the way his expression softens and how much more apparent that change actually is. They maintain the strongest parts of their dynamic, but the way they handle and address it has changed significantly and will continue to.

All this to say:

1. Yes, he is attracted to her.

2. Yes, I think he realizes it, but not yet to the extent that she does because he won’t allow himself to.

3. No, it’s not quite the same as Akane’s to him, but it’s the other side of the same coin.

I know that especially in recent years, there’s been a shift with some of the newer fans and how they see this relationship, and I know people are going to have strong opinions of it one way or another. But I will hold to what’s demonstrated in the canon content rather than whatever is said outside it or coming up with an interpretation that doesn’t match the writing. Some viewers want concrete proof--a stated “I love you” (which isn’t going to happen with them, by the way) or seeing them get down and dirty onscreen to consider it canon, but I think that neglects the fact that realities are built within the characters and canon content that are not yet seen to fruition or are for some reason cut short/left unfinished.

It’s just like real people: if you or I fell in love with someone but nothing ever happened with that person, did that mean our feelings weren’t real?

Hopefully that answers your question. It was a good one.

Thanks for the message!

#answered #shinkane #kouaka #psycho-pass #psycho pass #akane tsunemori #tsunemori akane #shinya kogami #kogami shinya #shinya kougami #kougami shinya #shinya x akane #kogami x akane #kougami x akane

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andrewrosswatson1987 · 6 years

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REVISIT: BON JOVI WERE SLIPPERY WHEN WET THIS DAY IN 1986

Bon Jovi released their classic album, Slippery When Wet, which came out today (August 18) in 1986, released via labels, Mercury/Vertigo.

The seminal rock band and poodle haired heartthrobs already had albums Bon Jovi (1984) and 7800° Fahrenheit (1985) under their belts, with Slippery When Wet (1986) propelling them to a truly massive and global audience.

Singer, Jon Bon Jovi, conspired with guitarist, Richie Sambora, and American songwriter and producer, Desmond Child, to take the world by storm. Singles for this album were “You Give Love A Bad Name”, “Livin’ On A Prayer”, “Wanted Dead Or Alive” and “Never Say Goodbye”.

Opening track, “Let It Rock”, rings in with feedback before keyboard runs wild to let it ring. Like an Eighties incarnation of classic Deep Purple. Pounding bass and drum syncopate as the guitar and vocal punch triumphantly. It’s a call to arms for the rock community and burgeoning hair rock and metal enthusiasts. “If you want to cross that line, break on through to the other side” like smashing through brick walls with fists, sledgehammers and charging heads if you’re lairy enough as The Doors.

“You Give Love A Bad Name” opens with anthemic raucous group vocal harmony before breaking into triumphant guitar, grooving and moody. The bass is tight in the pocket, bobbing and weaving for that extra syncopation. The solo dive bombs, mixing perfect technique with power. The middle section and vocal refrain expertly deploys dynamics to give that emphatic lone drum extra oomph.

“Livin’ On A Prayer” enters the fray with grave keyboard. Then the driving bass kicks in and the working class love story of ultimate perseverance sets in. The talk box is all funky, moody and epic. Jovi’s high register triumphalism during the chorus is noted, as is the world beating guitar solo. Then, of course, the key change. “Take my hand, and we’ll make it I swear” the soundtrack to many down on their luck but forever optimistic and steely eyed.

Here comes “Social Disease”. This grooves a bit like “You Give Love A Bad Name”, metal riffs tight and forever on point. The guitar solo is joyous and conspiring, the boys on the hunt for women they can’t take home to their mothers. The quick fix, epitomised in the main riff and the down and dirty lyrics.

“Wanted Dead Or Alive” has an epic opening, moody with the flavour of a badass American outlaw. Check. Bluesy, sliding acoustic guitar evocative of travelling far and wide. Check. Then the whole band comes in to take it up another notch. Check. Sounds formulaic, but it works and’s highly enjoyable. The ensuing guitar solo rings out passionate and dirty, like a working man tip to toe in gravel who can’t quite get the dust out his hair. It ramps up yet another notch before slowing to a windy and mysterious conclusion.

The crowd are urged to collectively “Raise Your Hands”. It thumps with the fervour of rocking drum and high octane, machine gun guitar. It squeals much like the cry of a wildcat, indeed animalistic and with primal instinct and, to some extent, lust. The solo’s followed by crowd noises, the chorus self-explanatory if ever in the live context.

“Without Love” is love song rather than a tale of working for the union and doing right by your wife. “It’s nothing without love” spelling out the whole premise. Although sad and lovelorn, it also drives with a certain determination. A middle section gives way to a grave solo, harmonising with dreamy and twinkling keyboard.

“I’d Die For You” is a ramping up of the previous story with heightened drama of namechecking Romeo and Juliet. Indeed, the staccato keyboard conveying grave proceedings implies even death or serious maiming if the protagonists are unsuccessful in their rendezvous. The solo takes flight with unbridled passion as the song reaches a clattering and dramatic conclusion.

“Never Say Goodbye” is a graceful, slower number ballad. Lines like, “Remember when we lost the keys and/You lost more than that in my backseat, baby” are a tad tacky, though. However, “Remember we used to talk about bustin’ out/We’d break their hearts” is evident of the struggle and strife of industrial blue collar life referenced in “Livin’ On A Prayer”.

Like an update of Springsteen’s native New Jersey, now taken over by these young, wild rockers. The mournful solo like looking back upon a life of unrealised potential through the bottom of a beer glass. A second one, again mournful, is teary eyed before passion overpowers it and the sad sentiment is appreciated as a wider part of the journey to happiness and fulfilled ambition.

Finale, “Wild In The Streets”, is a fast, driving and pounding in drum. The atmospheric guitar chords ring out, like a hazy summer day and its gentle heat washing over you. Back in the day with the boys looking back at all the insane things they all did to get their kicks. The solo is rock and roll personified; flicked hair, leather jackets and denim jeans. The chorus is sung so emphatically and by all the band that you get a sense they really did grow up together.

This was proof Bon Jovi weren’t half as disposable as some others in the so-called hair metal genre. Although they would remain to achieve commercial success beyond this point, Slippery When Wet was arguably their commercial peak. The highlights were concocted within a brew of ingredients that ensured pop superstardom. All these highlights are, to some extent, moody, anthemic, triumphant against all the odds and with a tad of atmosphere to immerse you.

Said song writing partnership made Bon Jovi a force to be reckoned with. “Livin’ On A Prayer” and “Wanted Dead Or Alive” finally proved the band’s propensity for less throwaway music. “Let It Rock” kicks off things and gets your hands clapping. “You Give Love A Bad Name” brought pop sensibilities to metal riffs plus “Never Say Goodbye” and “Wild In The Streets” were a tad profound. Bon Jovi’s Slippery When Wet can be bought on iTunes, here.

#Bon Jovi #Jon Bon Jovi #Richie Sambora #Desmond Child #Slippery When Wet

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kevindurkiin · 4 years

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New Steve Aoki Musical About Mozart Coming To New York In 2021

Steve Aoki is creating a musical focusing on Mozart’s sister, a brilliant composer who struggles to be recognized in the male-dominated 18th century court. Yes, you read that right.

The show was formally scheduled at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall on Jan. 24-25 and tells the story of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s sister, Nan. The synopsis reads: When the young virtuosa is silenced and banned from all artistic endeavors, she rebels. In this untold story of the greatest composer of all time, two siblings embark on a journey of love, hate, tragedy, and redemption.

It will feature Broadway stars Robert Cuccioli (Jekyll & Hyde) as Leopold, Grace Field (Disney on Broadway, Hercules) as Aloysia, Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer (Hadestown, In The Heights) as Constanze, Ruby Lewis (Paramour) as Nan, Anthony Rapp (Rent, If/Then) as Salierii, and Justin Matthew Sargent (Rock of Ages, Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark) as Mozart, among other leading talents.

Mozart² The New Musical features music from Steve Aoki himself and various artists, with book & lyrics by Tegan Summer, an original score by Gregory Nabours, story by Mr. Summer and Colette Freedman and dynamic choreography by Dwight Rhoden & Desmond Richardson, with Ferly Prado.

A representative for Aoki said this week that more would be revealed about the project by the end of August.

vimeo

For more information, you can head over to the event page here.

via Broadway World | Photo via Rukes.com

This article was first published on Your EDM. Source: New Steve Aoki Musical About Mozart Coming To New York In 2021

New Steve Aoki Musical About Mozart Coming To New York In 2021 published first on https://soundwizreview.tumblr.com/

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bestdjkit · 4 years

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New Steve Aoki Musical About Mozart Coming To New York In 2021

Steve Aoki is creating a musical focusing on Mozart’s sister, a brilliant composer who struggles to be recognized in the male-dominated 18th century court. Yes, you read that right.

It will feature Broadway stars Robert Cuccioli(Jekyll & Hyde) as Leopold, Grace Field (Disney on Broadway, Hercules) as Aloysia, Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer (Hadestown, In The Heights) as Constanze, Ruby Lewis (Paramour) as Nan, Anthony Rapp (Rent, If/Then) as Salierii, and Justin Matthew Sargent (Rock of Ages, Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark) as Mozart, among other leading talents.

MozartÂ² The New Musical features music from Steve Aoki himself and various artists, with book & lyrics by Tegan Summer, an original score by Gregory Nabours, story by Mr. Summer and Colette Freedman and dynamic choreography by Dwight Rhoden & Desmond Richardson, with Ferly Prado.

A representative for Aoki said this week that more would be revealed about the project by the end of August.

vimeo

For more information, you can head over to the event page here.

via Broadway World | Photo via Rukes.com

This article was first published on Your EDM. Source: New Steve Aoki Musical About Mozart Coming To New York In 2021

from Best DJ Kit https://www.youredm.com/2020/08/03/new-steve-aoki-musical-about-mozart-coming-to-new-york-in-2021/

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bluebuzzmusic · 4 years

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New Steve Aoki Musical About Mozart Coming To New York In 2021

Steve Aoki is creating a musical focusing on Mozart’s sister, a brilliant composer who struggles to be recognized in the male-dominated 18th century court. Yes, you read that right.

A representative for Aoki said this week that more would be revealed about the project by the end of August.

vimeo

For more information, you can head over to the event page here.

via Broadway World | Photo via Rukes.com

This article was first published on Your EDM. Source: New Steve Aoki Musical About Mozart Coming To New York In 2021

source https://www.youredm.com/2020/08/03/new-steve-aoki-musical-about-mozart-coming-to-new-york-in-2021/

#edm #music #music production #music news #edm news

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spiderbird7-blog · 5 years

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Gypsy Showcases the Ultimate Stage Mother

Porchlight Music Theatre Presents

Gypsy

Book by Arthur Laurents

Director Michael Weber

October 12 – November 25

Gypsy Showcases the Ultimate Stage Mother

The Marx Brothers, Drew Barrymore, Shirley Temple, Elizabeth Taylor, Brooke Shields, Dorothy Dandridge, Lindsey Lohan, and Kim Kardashian all had overbearing stage mothers dubbed as “Momagers” to push them to success. However, long before Kris Jenner hit the scene to do whatever it took to make her daughters famous, there was one legendary “Stage Mother” by the name of Rose Hovick, a woman who was a force to be reckoned with and would stop at nothing to make sure she and her daughters were in the spotlight.

If you haven’t heard of “Gypsy,” let us introduce you to this musical fable written by playwright Arthur Laurents. Gypsy was considered by many to be the greatest American musical. It is loosely based and inspired by one of showbiz’s unique personalities, Rose Hovick, and the 1957 memoirs of Gypsy Rose Lee, the famous striptease artist. Gypsy’s mother, Rose, has become known as “the ultimate show business mother.”

Rose is the most profit-making “Stage Mother” of the mid-twentieth century, a star in her own right. The musical includes some standard favorites such as “Let Me Entertain You,” “Some People,” “Together, “Wherever We Go” and the show-stopping, “Everything’s Coming Up Roses.”

“Gypsy” is set in various cities throughout the United States in the early 1920s to the early 1930s, where the world of big-time, family oriented vaudeville is quickly fading away to the adult-themed burlesque industry.

In this electrifying and heart-wrenching story of a woman who raises her daughters to navigate their dreams of stardom whether they wanted to or not, Mama Rose, a victim of her wander-lust for personal success, becomes the “Momager” from hell where agents and producers refuse to work with her.

“Gypsy” is an old favorite that hit the stage with several talented actors such as the unconquerable entertainer with the extraordinary gift to capture an audience, E. Faye Butler, who leads the cast in “Gypsy” as Mama Rose. Like so many before her playing the character of Mama Rose, she brought her feisty persona to life with a lot of zest.

Daryn Whitney Harrell, who played Louise, Mama Rose’s eldest daughter, was such a pleasant surprise to grace the stage. Louise comes out of the shadows of her younger sister June (Aalon Smith), the one Mama Rose invested so much in; Louise eventually rose to stardom as the sophisticated “Gypsy Rose Lee!”

This well-rounded cast also included Herbie (José Antonio García). His character fell instantly in love with Mama Rose as he waited patiently on her terms to marry her. He tried to add balance to her life as he became the girls’ official manager.

Director Michael Weber showcases this dynamic fast-paced musical as it follows the dreams and hardships of Mama Rose to raise her two daughters to perform on stage and it casts an affectionate eye on the struggles of business life during the vaudeville era.

Let’s Play “Highly Recommends” that you check out this amazing musical “Gypsy” at Porchlight Theatre where “everything’s coming up roses!”

The cast includes:

Faye Butler (Rose)

Daryn Whitney Harrell (Louise)

Aalon Smith (June)

José Antonio García (Herbie)

Honey West (Agnes, Electra/Miss Cratchitt)

Dawn Bless (Mazeppa)

Melissa Young (Tessie Tura)

Marco Tzunux (Tulsa)

Saniyah As-Salaam( Newsboy)

Larry Baldacci (Uncle Jocko / Mr. Weber / Mr. Goldstone / Pastey)

Tatiana Bustamante (Marjorie May)

Joshua Bishop (Bougeron-Cochon)

Elya Faye Bottiger (Agnes, showgirls)

William “Pierce” Cleaveland (Clarence)

Jared David Michael Grant (Georgie / Mr. Kringelein / Phil)

Michelle Huey (Dolores)

Jillian-Giselle (Baby Louise)

Hannah Love Jones (Balloon Girl)

Michael Jones (Pop / Cigar)

Marvin J. Malone II (Yonkers)

Desmond Murphy (Arnold)

Renellè Nicole (Gail/Renee)

Jeff Pierpoint (L.A.)

Ariel Triunfo (Edna Mae)

Isabella Warren (Baby June)

Also On The Chicago Defender:

Source: https://chicagodefender.com/2018/10/30/gypsy-showcases-the-ultimate-stage-mother/

#read more #see more #check it out #interesting #learn more

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ladylizaelliott · 7 years

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Sunset Blvd on Broadway 5/14

First off a HUGE congratulations and praise for Nancy Anderson (u/s for Norma Desmond) who came on yesterday afternoon due to Glenn Close being ill. This was announced just prior to the theater opening for the patrons to be seated and I was disappointed only for a few minutes than resolved to go in for nothing else but her and to support what I could only assume to be a nerve wracking performance; and talk about shoes to fill. She did not disappoint. More thoughts below the cut.

So I am more thrilled than anything with the size of the orchestra in this show, which is currently the largest on Broadway or so its’ advertised, and it makes you feel like you are listening to the cast album or even the Albert Hall concert; the orchestrations are so lush. The set design was brilliant, simple, versatile and useful and was able to use smaller set pieces to bring us from place to place without the lumbering gigantic monstrosity that the previous set was (from photos I’ve seen and collected). I grinned like an idiot when we were introduced to Artie Green, played by Preston Truman Boyd, because he was simply the most adorable man I’ve ever seen-consequently making me hate Joe right out the gate for knowing his shenanigans with Betty and being a dick friend. Joe, by Michael Xavier, is incredible. He is dynamic and holds the audiences sympathy by his charisma and humor the entire evening, but still gives you moments where you question his behavior. Depending on what side of his character you favored, you are either broken hearted by him not being able to be with Betty, or telling Betty to get the hell out and Joe is a scum for even letting Betty get this far with him. I’ll digress about Joe in some other post if I haven’t in the past already. I think his love story with Norma is far better minus her toxic insecurity.

The costumes by Anthony Powell were also a character in and of themselves; I could tell Nancy Anderson used Glenn’s originals rather than having a second set of costumes made as she wore only the Asian Brocade dressing gown for the majority of Act I (Glenn has been photographed in that, a gold beaded lounge set, and a red china brocade jacket). The gown in “The Perfect Year” which I had seen at Glenn’s museum exhibition in Virginia at the Muscarelle looked more stunning here on stage under the lights than any gallery lighting. Nancy Anderson looks like Gloria Swanson in full Norma make up, but she adds a graceful fragility to the part that was especially critical when it came to her emotional manipulations. Her voice never faltered and she commanded every scene she was in.

Now onto the only thing I did not like at all. Young Norma. The actress was beautiful, don’t get me wrong, she looked like a young Glenn/Nancy and her silence was filled with emotional journeys, but rather than Follies where eventually the Younger Counterparts become a key figure in the second act and get to be utilized, this Young Norma I felt distracted from paying attention to the performances by the leading singers describing Norma’s past (Max, Norma and completely unnecessarily in The Perfect Year). I thought it was a completely unnecessary trope to introduce to this show which already needs the audience to yearn for the ‘olden days’ but the actors who are telling you about it are asking you to imagine or remember it. We don’t need a visual representation and I found it horribly distracting.

Considering how often and notorious I am for ugly crying during musicals, I can say here I completely lost it at ‘As If We Never Said Goodbye’. The spotlight, the staging, Nancy’s emotional performance, it was perfection from beginning to end. The applause following that was enough to run the city on for a week. This was also the moment I decided it would be well worth the expense and time to come back at a chance to see Glenn. This can’t be missed, either with her or Nancy so if you are thinking about it, just do it!

It was a divine night in theater that I will be talking about for a long time. And absolutely I’m going to try to get back and bring my parents this time as my father is a huge Lloyd Webber fan and this is a revival that is not to be missed.

#sunset boulevard #Sunset Blvd #Glenn Close #Nancy Anderson #Sunset Blvd on Broadway

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zodiacspot · 7 years

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Horoscope - Feb 2 2017

Aries Horoscope

(Mar 21 – Apr 19)

Persistence in the face of doubt proves the impossible to be possible today. Encouragement from a supportive buddy inspires you to break down your ambitious goals into manageable pieces like an immovable boulder being chipped into movable rocks. High-and-mighty Saturn holds you to your principles as you persevere through challenges and come out on top. Thankfully, reprieve quickly follows when the Moon cools off in laid-back Taurus, giving you a chance to celebrate your progress.

Taurus Horoscope

(Apr 20 – May 20)

You're doing your best to confront issues as they pop up, even if you're afraid you may not be able to stretch as far as challenges demand. A heartening square between discerning Mercury and promising Jupiter inspires you to hold the big picture in mind and keep moving even when it seems smarter to dig in your heels and wait. Keeping your chin up now makes it easier to unwind later when the Moon relaxes into your sensual sign. A positive attitude is your best offense.

Gemini Horoscope

(May 21 – Jun 20)

Excitement can turn to frenzy if you lack focus and it's easy to spin your wheels rather than move forward when you doubt your abilities. Luckily, stabilizing Saturn in your 7th House of Others reminds you to seek the advice of a trusted friend to help you stay consistent now. Finding a way to make progress on a tumultuous journey enables you to keep your momentum without letting nerves swerve you off the road. A well-deserved break is just around the bend, so keep calm and carry on.

Cancer Horoscope

(Jun 21 – Jul 22)

You can just as easily declare your certainty and question your competence in the same breath today, but courage wins out when you remain firm in your convictions. Saturn the Tester honors its half of the bargain when you stick to your to-do list and overcome overwhelm by staying organized. Your unrelenting focus on your goals softens later after the Moon slips into mellow Taurus, offering you a chance to relax and get cozy. Indulging in creature comforts is a delightful way to reward your hard work.

Leo Horoscope

(Jul 23 – Aug 22)

As the natural performer of the zodiac, you put on a great show even when you're unsure you can pull off your grand plan. Happily, a dynamic connection between inspirational Jupiter and methodical Mercury points out where adjustments might be made to help you run a tighter ship without having to depend solely on showmanship to get by. Recognition for your efforts is likely after the Moon moves into your 10th House of Reputation. Work for the cause, not the applause.

Virgo Horoscope

(Aug 23 – Sep 22)

You prefer to know the chances of success or failure ahead of time, but you can't always plan every detail in advance. A splash of boldness added to your naturally brainy methods is just the combination that allows you to maintain your rhythm in the face of apprehension. Affirmative Jupiter passes a note to cerebral Mercury today, reminding you of your worth and reinvigorating your self-confidence. Positive thinking leads to positive outcomes.

Libra Horoscope

(Sep 23 – Oct 22)

Your ability to stay centered without picking a side comes in handy today as contentions may intensify your interactions with others. An invigorating square between altruistic Jupiter and clever Mercury reminds you that fairness and justice are worth fighting for now; keeping your cool when engaging in tricky conversations helps level the scales for everyone involved. The mood softens down the road after the graceful Moon slows her pace in sensible Taurus. Rumi wrote, "Love is the bridge between you and everything."

Scorpio Horoscope

(Oct 23 – Nov 21)

You're determined not to take the easy way out, even though it looks appealing in the heat of the moment. You innately understand that when the going gets tough, the tough get going. Fortunately, persistent Saturn is on your side now, encouraging you to believe in your skills and talents. Your nose gets a break from the grindstone later when the Moon chills in soothing Taurus, relieving you of obligations, both real and perceived. Your unwavering perseverance is an undeniable force of nature.

Sagittarius Horoscope

(Nov 22 – Dec 21)

Sugar-coating the truth isn't your style, especially when you passionately believe in your position. While it's prudent to choose your words wisely and avoid inflammatory remarks, you can't help but feel that it's your duty to speak your opinion now without reservation. Boisterous Jupiter connects with tricky Mercury, inciting animated conversations about social values. A welcome lull in the excitement comes later once the emotional Moon relocates to placid Taurus. Anais Nin wrote, "Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage."

Capricorn Horoscope

(Dec 22 – Jan 19)

It may feel like all you do is work, but that's because you instinctively take on heavy loads knowing that you can somehow bear them. Twinges of hesitation appear in the shadows today but will quickly fade when auspicious Jupiter in your 10th House of Ambitions reminds you why your goals are so important. It is nearly impossible to give up when you are motivated by pure intentions. Happily, you can take a break from your persistent striving when the Moon moves into pleasure-seeking Taurus. Pablo Picasso wrote, "The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away."

Aquarius Horoscope

(Jan 20 – Feb 18)

It's tempting to just speak louder if you feel like you're not being heard. You may be afraid that if you don't make your point now, you won't get another chance. However, it's wise to temper your words with maturity as stern Saturn looks on from your 11th House of Networking. What you say and how you say it can create goodwill among your peers or cause hurt feelings. Think before you speak today rather than taking a reactionary approach. Thankfully, the tension will dissipate if you leave well enough alone. Desmond Tutu teaches, "Don't raise your voice. Improve your argument."

Pisces Horoscope

(Feb 19 – Mar 20)

Material assets are at the forefront of your mind today, and there's nothing stopping you from pursuing what you want. Sometimes acquiring coveted possessions makes you feel like you're climbing the ladder of success, but money can't buy happiness. True worth is found in loving who you are and striving to fulfill your potential by being the kind of person you admire. Take a page from the book of a person you respect to see the value in genuine connection and dedication to a cause. Actor Scott Caan said, "Good things happen when you set your priorities straight."

Source : Rick Levine

Read more about your horoscope here

#ZodiacSpot #Horoscopes #Horoscope #Astrology #Daily

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wbwest · 7 years

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New Post has been published on WilliamBruceWest.com

New Post has been published on http://www.williambrucewest.com/2017/02/10/west-week-ever-pop-culture-review-21017/

West Week Ever: Pop Culture In Review - 2/10/17

Last night, my friend Mike and I went to check out The Lego Batman Movie. Seeing as how we were the only two people in the theater, I’m not quite sure what its weekend box office is gonna look like. I bet John Wick: Chapter 2 takes #1, since that’s where everyone seemed to be heading. Anyway, I LOVED the film. First up, it considers EVERYTHING canon. If you saw it onscreen, then it happened in that universe. The whole thing is kind of surreal, as the movie focuses on Batman’s loner status, while also confronting his complicated relationship with The Joker. On the Batman Beyond cartoon, there’s an episode where old Bruce Wayne and his protege, Terry McGinnis, go to a Batman-themed musical. Bruce can’t get over how goofy the whole thing seems, but I feel like this film is the movie version of that musical. It doesn’t have the camp of the ’66 show, but it’s a movie that never really takes itself seriously. I loved the liberties they took, like making Jim and Barbara Gordon people of color (voiced by Hector Elizondo and Rosario Dawson). It doesn’t hurt the story any, while bringing some diversity to the Lego world. I also liked how it tied in concepts from The Lego Movie, such as the fact that Batman is a Master Builder. I’m not going to spoil the movie for you, but I feel like it’s strong until the middle of the second act, at which point it switches from a Lego Batman movie to a Lego Dimensions movie. Trust me, you’ll understand when you see it, and I think you’ll agree that the story gets a bit weaker at that point. In any case, I can’t wait for it to hit Blu Ray, so I can rewatch it a thousand times to catch all the Easter eggs.

This week, we got a trailer for a new season of Arrow. Wait, what? That was actually for Iron Fist? Huh. Yeah, I was really underwhelmed by that trailer. Finn Jones doesn’t seem like a great actor, there’s not a lot of Kung Fu on display, and it seems like it’s more focused on corporate takeover, as Danny Rand tries to reclaim his family’s business. Since it’s a Netflix Marvel show, there’s also Rosario Dawson and another damn hallway fight. I welcome the former, but I’m SO over the latter. I’ll get around to watching it, but the days of me binge-watching a Marvel season the weekend of its release are long gone. Considering I still need to watch Daredevil season 2 and Luke Cage, I’ll be lucky to get around to it in 2017. That said, I know a lot of y’all will binge it that day, and will tell me if it sucks or not.

In other TV news, it’s rumored that NBC wants to spin Saturday Night Live‘s Weekend Update segment into a weekly 30-minute show. I guess they looked at John Oliver and Samantha Bee, and realized they might be leaving money on the table. Still, Jost and Che as “polarizing”, at best, and I’m not sure if that segment has the legs to air 30 minutes every week, in the same format. Plus, would it also remain a part of SNL, or would it be excised completely? I think this would’ve been a good idea in an election year, as there’s just so much news to cover, but now that all that is behind us, I’m just not sure this is going to work. And then what happens? If it does leave SNL, would it come crawling back next season, with its tail between its legs? The difference between Last Week Tonight/Full Frontal and Weekend Update is that those cable shows are actually smart, with smart hosts. Plus, they can get away with a bit more because cable. Weekend Update has gotten a lot more biting since Trump was elected, but is it too little, too late? Are the SNL writers up to the task of this project? I just feel like it’s a bad idea that will dilute the Weekend Update and SNL brands.

It was also announced that Viacom will be rebranding Spike TV as the Paramount Network. In my lifetime, I don’t think I’ve witnessed a network go through as many format changes as that one. As far back as I can remember, it was The Nashville Network. Then, to appeal to a wider audience, it became The National Network. Then, to appeal to dudebros, it became Spike TV. Now, I don’t even know who they’re targeting. I also don’t know why they chose this particular name. It’s like they have short memories or something. After all, there’s already been a Paramount Network. Sure, most of us referred to it as UPN and not the United Paramount Network, but that’s what those letters stood for. And it was the definition of “failed experiment”. Sure, it hobbled along for about 10 years, but its legacy is basically Star Trek: Voyager, America’s Next Top Model and Girlfriends. Outside of that, it gave us such critical darlings as Shasta McNasty, Homeboys In Outer Space, and The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer. Hey, let’s see how many shitty (that means all of them) UPN shows I can list without looking them up: DiResta, Legend, Platypus Man, Hitz, Good News, Sparks, Dilbert, Marker, The Watcher, The Sentinel…yeah,that’s enough to make my point, which is you probably don’t remember any of these. UPN did NOTHING for the Paramount brand, and its effects are still being felt 11 years after its demise. So why, WHY would Viacom want to go down this road again? Anyway, the early plans for the rebranding call for the network to be a warehouse for hit Viacom programming from their other networks. It’s basically just gonna be the Now That’s What I Call Viacom Channel, posting the highlights from MTV, Nick, Nick Jr, etc. In fact, there are no concrete plans for the future of other Viacom networks, such as VH1, CMT, and TVLand, but reports say that there’s no immediate push to shut them down.

It was also rumored that there are already talks of an American Idol revival, but this time on NBC. Now, keep in mind the show just ended its run on Fox last year. The idea is that The Voice would be reduced to one cycle a year, and then they would slot Idol in one of its old slots. I feel like NBC sees the value in that show in that it actually creates household names – something The Voice has failed to do after 11 seasons. The focus is too much on the judges, and the winners have gone nowhere. Quick, name a winner of The Voice without looking it up. Hell, I watched the first season, and I can’t even remember that guy (I looked it up: Javier Colon. Who? Right). So, there’s definitely something to be gained from acquiring the franchise. That said, though, I also feel like a network only gets one of those shows. Fox had Idol, NBC had The Voice, ABC had Rising Star, and CBS had some show that got canceled that I forgot. Fox hurt Idol by double-dipping and picking up The X-Factor. That show never caught on in the US, and it hurt the Fox singing competition brand. If NBC picks up Idol, it’s going to do the same to The Voice. I mean, how much longer does America want to see Blake Shelton and Adam Levine bicker at each other? Sure, there’s a new dynamic now that Blake and Gwen Stefani are dating and both judges, but unless the show breaks them up, I don’t know how engaging that’s gonna be. And Miley Cyrus as a coach? Now, let me say that Bangerz was a great album. I’ve written about how awesome it was. But I don’t think Miley is established enough as a singer to be coaching anyone. She’s more known for her antics than her music. Then again, Paula Abdul was a has been, judging the talent of tomorrow, but that was intrinsic to the formula. Ultimately, America chose the Idol, and the show brought in established stars as coaches. The Voice has an unnecessary layer. They have talented judges, but then they also have the coaches, and then America. As Idol showed us, ANYBODY cane a judge, which is going to be an important thing for NBC to remember once it comes to for contracts to be renegotiated. Anyway, I think Idol needs to rest a few more years before they dust it off. It was once a powerhouse, but television AND music changed over time. Let the industry figure out its next steps before trying to reenter it.

I don’t know about you, but I grew up with women, which meant I did a tour of duty with soap operas. I started with Days of Our Lives back in the late 80s, then shifted to The Young and the Restless, and then shifted back to Days in the 00s. And besides Victor Newman, there is no soap villain quite as diabolical as Stefano DiMera. Well, the actor who portrayed him, Joseph Mascolo, died back in December, but his final filmed episode aired yesterday. Although Mascolo had been battling Alzheimers for the past few years, he had portrayed the character for around 30 years. For some reason (I haven’t watched in a while), he was in prison (he’s killed/led to the death of a lot of folks. But they typically come back after contract negotiations), and at the end of the episode, he escapes! What a beautiful ending, knowing that he will be forever “in the wind”, as they can’t really catch him again unless they recast him. Seeing as how the rumor is Days is coming to an end this year, they won’t even have time to do that, with scripts written about 6 months in advance. So, here’s a toast to one of the greatest villains to ever grace the television set. You will be missed, you evil son of a bitch.

Let’s get a little controversial, shall we? This week, comedian George Lopez got in hot water for kicking a woman out of one of his shows when she objected to a racially-charged joke he told. Basically he said, “There are only two rules in the Latino family: Don’t marry somebody black and don’t park in front of our house.” Apparently, a woman gave him the finger after that joke, to which he began to tell her to “sit [her] fucking ass down or get the fuck out.” Now, comedians are on his side because they say he was just shutting down a heckler. Meanwhile, the general public is on her side because they’re offended by the joke, and don’t see why he had to kick her out for objecting. Here’s my take: First of all, he’s told variations of this joke for years. He used to joke about how his grandmother wouldn’t even want President Obama in her house. If you’re familiar with his material, then his joke the other night shouldn’t surprise you. Now, for the folks offended by the joke: was he wrong? All I know is my own life experience. I dated a Cuban, and as polite and Ivy League-educated as I could be, I was still the Black guy who could only illicit grunts from her father. And I don’t know anyone named Esmeralda Jenkins or Manuela Johnson. Growing up where I did, Black guys didn’t get Latinas or Asian girls. Those girls’ families weren’t gonna stand for that! So, this is one of those jokes that’s grounded in truth. It might rub some folks the wrong way, but it’s not necessarily untrue. Where I stand, I don’t think he really did anything wrong. After all, that’s how comedians handle folks who they feel are interrupting their show, and the joke itself was par for the Lopez course. I wouldn’t say it was “haha funny”, but it wasn’t wrong.

Things You Might Have Missed This Week

An animated series based on the Castlevania video game is coming to Netflix later this year. Hopefully it will star gay Simon Belmont from Captain N: The Game Master.

Kate McKinnon will voice Ms. Frizzle in Netflix’s reboot of The Magic School Bus

Speaking of Netflix, Love, The OA, and Trollhunters have all been renewed by the streaming service.

Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, announced that she’s retiring after her next album is released.

After 25 years over covering the Olympics, Bob Costas announced he’s handing the reins over to Mike Tirico

Entertainment newsmagazine show The Insider has been canceled after 13 seasons.

Formerly of USA’s Satisfaction, Blair Redford has been cast as the first mutant in Fox’s X-Men TV series

Not to be outdone by Beyoncé, it was announced that George and Amal Clooney are expecting twins. Those Hollywood In Vitro clinics are working overtime these days!

Speaking of babies, Jason Statham proved he’s the Transporter of Sperm, as he announced he’s expecting a baby with girlfriend Rosie Huntington-Whiteley

I don’t like Tom Brady. Don’t like a thing about him. I find it odd that you can be suspended for cheating AND win the Super Bowl in the same damn season. That said, that was a Hell of a comeback during Sunday’s Super Bowl LI. Somehow, the Atlanta Falcons blew a 25-point lead, allowing the New England Patriots to mount an amazing comeback and win their 5th Super Bowl title. It was the first Super Bowl to go into overtime. There was Edelman’s amazing catch. Some are calling it the most exciting game of football ever. But in the end there can only be one winner, and that was the Patriots. So, with that in mind, the New England Patriots had the West Week Ever.

#80s #Batman #DC #Marvel #Movies #Music #Politics #Race #Star Trek #Television #Toys #Video Games #West Week Ever #X-Men

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aion-rsa · 4 years

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Wynonna Earp Season 4 Episode 1 Review: On the Road Again

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This Wynonna Earp review contains spoilers.

Wynonna Earp Season 4, Episode 1

Hold onto your flasks, Earpers. For the next six weeks, new episodes of Wynonna Earp will be gracing our hearts and eyeballs. It’s almost too good to believe that, after almost two years, a time in which funding snafus and then COVID-19 temporary halted production, we have more of this wonderfully bonkers, ridiculously fun, and unabashedly sentimental story that centers found family, queer love, and women getting shit done to look forward to, but sometimes the universe gives you something good.

Given the long, long hiatus, you would be forgiven for not remembering everything that happened in Season 3 and, cleverly, this premiere doesn’t expect you to. While some of the dialogue refreshers can feel a bit crammed in there, given that the alternative would be showing a 15-minute recap at the beginning of the hour, it’s a necessary sacrifice. Basically, what you need to remember from Season 3 is this: half-angel Waverly got pulled into The Garden (of Eden), vampire gentleman Doc went after her. The curse is broken and therefore Wynonna no longer has Peacemaker. And, after drugging all of her family (save Waverly) in a misguided attempt to keep them safe from Bulshar, everyone in Purgatory disappeared save for Nedley. Got it? Good.

“On the Road Again” spends some time getting its characters into place for the episode’s main action. We quickly find out that Nicole, Jeremy, Kate, and the rest of Purgatory’s residents (whoever they are) were taken by either the government or private militia posing as government (this “distinction” hits different in the COVID-19 era). They were forced at gunpoint onto a train out of the Ghost River Triangle. Nicole hops off before they reach the border, but not before getting a high-stakes Tarot card reading from vampire Kate, who also gives her an assist off the train, as its doors are rigged to turn humans into french fries (not literally—I feel like I have to make that kind of thing clear with this show) should they try to open them.

Meanwhile, Wynonna and Nedley have gathered firepower and are heading back to the steps that lead to The Garden. We also quickly find out that Wynonna (still) can’t get into the Garden (I guess it’s good to double check?) and that Nedley retired for a reason. After getting bitten by some demon crabs that crawled out of Eden, Wynonna has to leave an injured Nedley in the loving (she makes omelettes!) care of Mercedes as she goes to investigate some Valdez leads she found in Dolls’ old files.

Because Nedley needs a rest and Mercedes can’t really be trusted, Wynonna is on this rescue mission alone, and you can tell it’s starting to shake her. Sure, she drugged her friends and family so she could go it alone, like she used to be more comfortable doing, but she soon realizes that she has grown to become accustomed to a team. When her truck gets a flat and Wynonna starts to lose faith in herself, she imagines what Doc and Waverly would say, obviously starting to understand just how much she needs backup both for emotional and logistical support.

It’s not Doc and Waverly that comes to Wynonna’s aid, but rather Nicole, who has caught up to Wynonna and wants to give her a piece of her mind—and a punch to the face. I love that Nicole, and therefore the show, doesn’t let Wynonna off the hook for the fact that she drugged her loved ones in the season finale. This is the kind of thing that happens all of the time in genre programming and that is treated as heroic, but it’s really, really not. Wynonna not only drugged them without their consent, she took their agency away from them. Frankly, Nicole lets her off easy.

Nicole’s unwillingness to let Wynonna get away with things is one of the best things about their odd couple dynamic, and I love that we see it centered yet again in the season premiere. Wynonna is a sarcastic, drinks a lot of the time, and isn’t always a team player. Meanwhile, Nicole is a straight-shooter who likes to have a plan, do things by the book, and keep lines of communication open and honest. They are two different kinds of leaders, and probably wouldn’t hang out in normal circumstances, but they both love Waverly more than anything in the world and that makes them family.

Following the “Valdez” clues Wynonna found in Dolls’ Black Badge files, Wynonna and Nicole continue on to an abandoned facility in nearby Monument, hoping they will find an alternate way into The Garden there. What they do find is Dr. Gloria Valdez’s gunslinging teen daughter and a whole lot of zombies. The zombies give the premiere a chance for the kind of stylish, oh-so-fun fight scene Wynonna Earp does so well, but they also feel like one obstacle too many. And did I mention the precarious grates? The facility has those to and, when Wynonna steps on one, she seems sure she’s marked for death. But Officer Haught has something to say about it. She knocks Wynonna off the grate and falls down the hole below instead, into darkness.

Elswhere in the episode, we get to see where Waverly and Doc ended up after going through that gate and it’s not super homey… at least not initially. The barren snowscape has no food or water to speak of, only looming obelisks and stone doorways that cast long, ominous shadows. Oh, and a throne (Julian’s throne), that Waverly seems like she kinda sorta wants to sit in?

Waverly and Doc aren’t the only characters in the Garden. They meet a former Black Badger driven crazy by his time there. He doesn’t give Waverly and Doc much of an explanation of what he’s doing there, other than that they need to pour human blood down a hole or something bad will happen, before he uses some supersized shears to chop off his own head. The situation is all very Desmond in The Bunker. Waverly and Doc have one teeny, tiny problem: neither of them are what you might strictly call “human.”

Another side effect of staying in The Garden? The longer you stay there, the more it messes with your memory. Waverly and Doc go from reminiscing about the dark deeds they’ve committed in the past to having trouble remembering the people they love most over the course of one scene. They can’t remember how long they’ve been in The Garden and we don’t actually know how much time they’ve been in there either. When Dolls falls asleep, Waverly wanders back into the bunker and feeds it some half-angel blood, “the good stuff.” It more than does the trick. Trees grow. Flowers blossom. Something deep inside the bunker whispers Waverly’s name.

The bunker also gives Waverly a choice. We see books with four different character names on them: Wynonna Earp, Waverly Earp, Nicole Haught, and Doc Holliday. It seems like Waverly chooses the book marked “Nicole” before venturing deeper into the bunker, towards that whispering voice. That leaves Doc all alone for now and means he’s the only one home when a very naked Nicole Haught appears in the bunker, chipper and only somewhat confused. She doesn’t seem to remember how she got there or even perhaps who Doc is? Was this the effect of Waverly potentially choosing Nicole’s book? Is it a result of Nicole falling down the grate? Could it have been a gate to The Garden? The Season 4 premiere leaves us with some great questions, and the promise of a new episode next week to start answering them. What a feeling.

Additional thoughts.

“You almost done? I feel like I’ve been standing here for two years.” Brilliant.

Is Kate going to come back? This show has an unfortunate pattern of writing out and/or de-centering its characters of color.

Wynonna Earp manages to both lean into the “Girl Chained to the Train Tracks” trope with Waverly and also subvert its problematic aspects at the exact same time.

Reader, that taser was not set to tickle.

Petition to have the characters of Wynonna Earp continue to use pads as bandages for the rest of its existence? This show normalizes parts of womanhood, from pregnancy to periods, like no other. Every time, it feels like a radical revelation.

“Well, that’s a felony.” Nedley’s response to hearing that Wynonna drugged her friends. Yes, yes it is.

Generally, we see dude characters doing the whole “I take away characters consent in the name of protection” shtick. I hope Wynonna Earp continues to push back against this really fucked up decision Wynonna made in the Season 3 finale, and we see Wynonna realize how much of a hurtful mistake this was.

What is time passes differently in The Garden and Waverly and Doc have been in there for the time it took for Wynonna Earp to come back after the Season 3 finale???

It was Jeremy, he of the former Black Badge employment, who scratched “Valdez” into Wynonna’s staircase. Like normal, Jeremy seems to know more than he is letting on. Why didn’t he tell Wynonna about “Valdez” before? Sadly, this is all we see of Jeremy in this premiere, which is probably an intentional choice to preserve some of the mystery of this premiere.

“Do you have anything of hers?” *Nicole looks for and realizes she doesn’t have Waverly’s wing, but offers Kate her hand instead. “Yeah… me.”

“This is Eden? It’s not the way they wrote it up.” I love Doc Holliday.

“You came?” “Of course.” I also love the Doc/Waverly dynamic. Get you a show that doesn’t just give your complex dynamics between the “traditional” relationships, like romantic partners or family members, but between all of its characters.

“You don’t get the judge of who matters and who doesn’t.” Nicole makes Wynonna better. Not sure if I believe they are best friends, though.

Calgary’s really beautiful.

What was Julian protecting The Garden from if not Bulshar? And are there more of those demon crab things? Asking for a friend.

“It is my birthright. My legacy.” Is Wynonna getting brainwashed by The Garden?

“Is that a yes?” “Like I would tell you first.” Still waiting on an answer to Waverly’s proposal…

“These guys did not find a great work-life balance.” Relatable.

The post Wynonna Earp Season 4 Episode 1 Review: On the Road Again appeared first on Den of Geek.

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niccongo0-blog · 5 years

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Gypsy Showcases the Ultimate Stage Mother

Porchlight Music Theatre Presents

Gypsy

Book by Arthur Laurents

Director Michael Weber

October 12 – November 25

Gypsy Showcases the Ultimate Stage Mother

Let’s Play “Highly Recommends” that you check out this amazing musical “Gypsy” at Porchlight Theatre where “everything’s coming up roses!”

The cast includes:

Faye Butler (Rose)

Daryn Whitney Harrell (Louise)

Aalon Smith (June)

José Antonio García (Herbie)

Honey West (Agnes, Electra/Miss Cratchitt)

Dawn Bless (Mazeppa)

Melissa Young (Tessie Tura)

Marco Tzunux (Tulsa)

Saniyah As-Salaam( Newsboy)

Larry Baldacci (Uncle Jocko / Mr. Weber / Mr. Goldstone / Pastey)

Tatiana Bustamante (Marjorie May)

Joshua Bishop (Bougeron-Cochon)

Elya Faye Bottiger (Agnes, showgirls)

William “Pierce” Cleaveland (Clarence)

Jared David Michael Grant (Georgie / Mr. Kringelein / Phil)

Michelle Huey (Dolores)

Jillian-Giselle (Baby Louise)

Hannah Love Jones (Balloon Girl)

Michael Jones (Pop / Cigar)

Marvin J. Malone II (Yonkers)

Desmond Murphy (Arnold)

Renellè Nicole (Gail/Renee)

Jeff Pierpoint (L.A.)

Ariel Triunfo (Edna Mae)

Isabella Warren (Baby June)

Also On The Chicago Defender:

Source: https://chicagodefender.com/2018/10/30/gypsy-showcases-the-ultimate-stage-mother/

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theconservativebrief · 6 years

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What does redemption look like in the age of #MeToo?

From Louis C.K. returning to the stage to Paige Patterson returning to the pulpit, men accused of sexual harassment, misconduct, or sexism more broadly are going on what are, in essence, comeback tours.

Meanwhile, some defenders of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, now accused of two separate instances of sexual assault and misconduct in high school and college, have argued that Kavanaugh’s youth excuses his behavior. (Kavanaugh has denied both allegations). The American Conservative columnist Rod Dreher argued that to deny the possibility of forgiveness and rehabilitation to youthful sexual offenders sets a “terrible standard” for public life.

I do not understand why the loutish drunken behavior of a 17 year old high school boy has anything to tell us about the character of a 53 year old judge. By God’s grace (literally), I am not the same person I was at 17. This is a terrible standard to establish in public life.

— Rod Dreher (@roddreher) September 17, 2018

But what forms should rehabilitation and forgiveness take? How can we, as a society, establish processes and procedures by which offenders can make restitution for their actions?

In some cases, like that of Harvey Weinstein, in which the accused are facing criminal charges, the path forward seems clear; there is a system in place designed to provide some form of justice, judgment, and rehabilitation.

But what about those who have been accused of behavior that is unethical but not criminal (or, at least, not prosecutable)? What do we want from them — and what would a sincere example of rehabilitation look like?

I spoke with L. Gregory Jones, PhD, the dean of Duke University Divinity School and author of numerous books about the nature of forgiveness, repentance, and reconciliation. Our conversation has been lightly edited and condensed for length and clarity.

Tara Isabella Burton

So let’s start more broadly. How do you conceive of the role of forgiveness in society more generally? What does forgiveness look like? What are the mechanics of it, and what purpose does it serve both individually and societally?

L. Gregory Jones

Forgiveness is really crucial to find paths forward in the midst of brokenness, pain, suffering, wrongdoing, but it’s both a gift that is offered and something that requires a commitment to repentance, to be received well. So it’s an important way to chart a path for the future, but there also needs to be accountability for that to not be cheap and superficial.

Desmond Tutu said “there’s no future without forgiveness,” and I think that’s really important. And yet too often, it’s cheapened by a sense that it doesn’t involve accountability or penance on the part of the person has done wrong.

Tara Isabella Burton

In a 2013 talk you gave for the Faith Angle Forum on forgiveness, you discuss the way repentance and forgiveness have been commodified by PR experts. You say “forgiveness is often used as a way to excuse the past and to spin sorrow, largely as a PR way of managing a crisis,” and argue that “the fact that a lot of the characters who spin their sorrow are actually narcissists, and the problem is that narcissism makes forgiveness and repentance exceedingly difficult because the person lacks the capacity for empathy.” Assuming we can’t actually get inside a person’s head, how can we tell the difference?

L. Gregory Jones

It’s really hard to know in the moment, because what you have initially are words and then you’d have to see if the words actually match deed and emotions. One of the keys, though, that I would say is whether the words have authenticity to them.

A lot of the way of what I call “spinning sorrow” happens is when people craft a language that goes, “If people were offended, I’m sorry.” That word, “if,” usually suggests a hedging of responsibility. When someone says, “I’m sorry for what I did,” or, “I’m sorry that I harmed you,” there’s a much greater level of accountability than the kind of spin that says, “Well, I’m sorry if you had your feelings hurt.”

So the first step is: Is there a kind of owning of the responsibility by the person who did the wrongdoing? And then the second thing is: Is it followed by both actions and emotions that would convey an acknowledgment of that wrongdoing and a desire to either redress the wrongdoing or at least show that it won’t ever happen again?

Tara Isabella Burton

So, something I’m very curious about is the twofold nature of repentance in, let’s say, the #MeToo movement, or any kind of public exposure of wrongdoing. There’s the process of forgiveness or reconciliation between the victim and the accuser. And there’s a separate issue — the public apology — a demand to make restitution, in some sense, to the community. How do those two processes work together, and how do they differ? What does an accused sexual harasser owe to his victim, versus to society at large?

L. Gregory Jones

The most important step should be in terms of an apology or repentance to the person or people who’ve been harmed. That’s the most important step in the process. The broader recognition of society is really a way of saying, “I accept that my responsibility has had consequences beyond the victim himself or herself or themselves.” It’s to say that “I acknowledge that what I have done harms folks indirectly as well as people directly.” What you really want is a full-throated apology that both says, “I harmed this person, or these people directly,” and, “I’ve also compromised standards that really matter to society, and so hurt a lot of people indirectly.”

Tara Isabella Burton

So let’s transition here to talking about those societal standards. When it comes to something like #MeToo, we have two issues at stake. One is the individual responsibility of alleged abusers for their actions. The other is the responsibility of a patriarchal society that has, at least until recently, normalized behavior and promoted toxic attitudes. When we talk about responsibility and rehabilitation, how do we balance these two senses of responsibility without either “excusing” away the behavior of the abuser or failing to sufficiently weigh the vast nature of collective guilt?

L. Gregory Jones

I think it depends to a certain degree on how egregious the wrongdoing is. To what extent the conscience of a person should be stronger even than a broken or corrupt or distorted culture. There are some things that are gray areas, and that’s where the line that you’re asking about is difficult to draw, in terms of what would have been a normal cultural assumption — and so understandable, if still regrettable, the way ordinary people had bad assumptions and bad habit.

I think most of the time, particularly at the societal level, it takes the more egregious examples that highlight a lot more of the gray area. I don’t think there’s any doubt, for example, that Harvey Weinstein’s behavior was reprehensible in relation to a lot of women over a long period of time. Even in a culture where the standards may have been different, he still was way beyond acceptable.

That is a hallmark to then start looking at more of the gray areas. Every case is different, and you have to look at the particularities of every situation. I don’t think in general we ought to excuse bad behavior because of cultural assumptions. Even though it might mitigate the forcefulness with which we judge that behavior to have been wrong.

Tara Isabella Burton

Can you think of any stories of rehabilitation and repentance from the #MeToo era that you’d hold up as a model of what a good example of the forgiveness process looks like?

L. Gregory Jones

I can think of a lot more bad examples. The challenge is that the best examples of repentance don’t require a public outcry and exposure, but wanting to clear one’s conscience on their own. Rather than waiting to be found out by somebody, somebody who would take the initiative and say, “I’ve got this in my past and I want to come clean about that.” That’s a much harder task to do, and particularly in this environment, it’s risky because things often feel much more punitive than focused on real rehabilitation. The environment makes it harder when it looks like, as soon as somebody is accused, there’s a rush to judgment.

But in general, much of the #MeToo movement has been an important moment of women acknowledging pain and events that have been kept quiet or buried for many decades. And now being able to talk about it, because the social circumstances have changed, is the most important step. What I wish was happening is more perpetrators wanting to come clean rather than waiting for something to become a very public and dramatic thing.

Tara Isabella Burton

Okay, so let’s speak a little more broadly, not about those accused of sexual misconduct but more generally. What’s a good example of a rehabilitative process?

L. Gregory Jones

What I would point to is actually, I think, probably the process in South Africa [after apartheid] had very good impact — the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. People who came forth and confessed to significant wrongdoing — sexual, violent, financial. There was a process of both confession and acknowledgment of responsibility and a genuine desire for reconciliation with victims. The process had a huge amount of integrity to it. The victims often showed considerable heroism in being willing to take steps toward a different kind of future. The difference I see there was that there was really a quite well-structured and well-designed concept to enable that to happen. It was almost like a secular liturgy.

We have much less of that in the US; far more of it has been a kind of dynamic where somebody does wrong, their PR team comes out with a kind of “sorry people were offended.” They take a ritual departure for a few months, then resurface again on a kind of “now I’m much better” tour. But it doesn’t have much of a genuine process of repentance or desire to live literally into the future. Forgiveness isn’t only about healing the past; it’s also about creating a different kind of future. We’re not very good as a culture right now about transposing the healing of the past into pointing to a different future.

Tara Isabella Burton

I’m struck by a word in your answer there: “liturgy,” a word we usually associate with, say, the ritualistic structure of a Catholic Mass. In your 2013 talk, you quote a book by former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, who says we’ve lost a sense of remorse as a culture. And, of course, forgiveness and repentance often have quite specific, ritualized forms within theological contexts: confession in a Catholic Church, say, or Yom Kippur in the Jewish tradition.

But, of course, we’re living in an increasingly religiously diverse and in many ways increasingly secular society. To what extent are some of our difficulties figuring out how to conceptualize repentance, as a society, the result of lacking a cohesive, shared vocabulary within which to contextualize what forgiveness and repentance mean?

L. Gregory Jones

In countries like the US or South Africa where you have multiple faiths, you nonetheless have a sense — and this is kind of the power that Nelson Mandela or Desmond Tutu exhibited in South Africa, or Abraham Lincoln had in the US — that the future involves some kind of healing of the past, and forgiveness, and in the process of doing that, you need some kind of ritual or liturgy to make that possible. It doesn’t have to be theological or religion-specific, but something that has a clear formula.

The courtroom has its own version of liturgies. As do some restorative justice processes. The point is to say that when possible, even without any convictions about God, a process that enables somebody to confess and somebody else to release them from the burden of that in a [formalized] process of exchange of words spoken or some kind of relationship repair.

In Yom Kippur, for example, there is a ritualized approach that’s designed to create a structure designed to make reconciliation more likely than not. We depend on those kinds of rituals. You even see them in [old-style] etiquette books like Gloria Vanderbilt’s — some of the assumptions of forgiveness articulated in those rituals. The problem is that we’ve lost most of those rituals, even in a secular sense, and that’s weakened us as a culture as a whole. In a religious or secular context, there’s something that inspires us about seeing somebody doing that: offering forgiveness.

Tara Isabella Burton

There’s been a wealth of literature, though, about — particularly for women in instances of sexual abuse — the glorification of forgiveness that puts an undue burden on victims to re-traumatize themselves in order to heal a community. A woman is pressured to forgive her abuser, and thus becomes doubly victimized by the idea that his rehabilitation is her job. How do we avoid that pitfall?

L. Gregory Jones

I think it’s important to remember that forgiveness should always be a gift and not an expectation. It’s unfair to expect any person who has been victimized, especially if it’s raw, to be ready to forgive.

And — this is particularly important in domestic violence and other kinds of forgiveness — the expectation of forgiveness is also used as a weapon to punish and perpetuate a cycle. It’s often the case in domestic violence, for example, where the abuser will come and say, “you need to forgive me because you’re a Christian” and the person feels obligated to do that. All that does is perpetuate and intensify the violence rather than remedying it.

To even have it be viable expectation as a societal level, forgiveness needs to be understood as the offer of a gift, and it needs to be linked to a presumption that the other party or parties are going to engage in repentance. And that’s not just a onetime gesture. It’s a commitment to a different way of life.

Tara Isabella Burton

As I scan the media in recent weeks, reading about, say, Louis C.K.’s return to comedy or Matt Lauer’s attempt to return to TV, there’s a lot of discourse about “are we ready for this?” Well, who is we? Who gets to officially make that call about who gets rehabilitated, or gets to return to public life or employment, and when? We don’t really have a cohesive society sense of authority — of who is the person or body who gets to make that call.

L. Gregory Jones

It’s the tail end of celebrity culture. The whole process is messed up. There’s not any kind of decision-making or authority other than what people think can be tolerated or what pushback there is going to be. I think the deeper question is, when there’s a broader organization, the expectation should be embedded in the whole organization.

So for Matt Lauer, say, [the question] isn’t whether he can come back and be a celebrity again, but rather what kind of organization NBC wants to be. What kind of expectations does it have embedded in its culture for its employees across the board. Lauer should be held as accountable as a person working in the mailroom. The questions about rehabilitation is, what would it mean for them to still be a viable member of a community?

There is a danger of holding people too accountable — for which there’s never any opportunity for redemption. The greatest example of this is in the book and Broadway musical Les Misérables [the story of an escaped convict, Jean Valjean, and the police officer, Javert, who doggedly pursues him]. Javert is literally hell-bent on ensuring that Jean Valjean never has a future anywhere with anyone at any time. And that can be as destructive as a kind of spinning sorrow that says, “Just stay out of the public limelight for two or three months and you can come right back.”

We need a broader and healthier discussion about the dynamics of forgiveness, repentance, and community — in organizations and more broadly — and to recognize that every case is different. We need to look at every instance as it occurs, in public or our personal lives, and recognize the differences and the complexity. So it’s not that we have a conversation [and] then we know how to apply the rule in every circumstance. We have to develop the kind of practical wisdom of both the broader conversation and then the ability to make very careful distinctions.

Original Source -> A scholar of forgiveness explains what makes a good public apology for sexual misconduct

via The Conservative Brief

#IFTTT #The Conservative Brief

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atrayo · 6 years

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Jewels of Truth Statements and Favorite Quotes of the Month

Hello All, I wanted to squeeze in this "Jewels of Truth and Favorite Quotes of the Month" segment before this month of November concluded. By acknowledging my lack of usual posts for November in terms of consistency. Being a caregiver has zapped my motivation and what has been a sheer delight in channeling the Angels on the behalf of all. Feels now like I'm performing open heart surgery at least in terms of public blogging. This is aside from my private writing which is happening less frequently around to once or twice a week. Although my more elaborate "Gems of Opportunity" series of new material has come to a standstill. That takes greater focus and concentration in channeling the angels and with caregiving to my mom that has dementia has knocked me off kilter. That's why I haven't shared inventions, business models, governmental policy etc... for about nearly 6 months now. As part of the "Gems of Opportunity" series as angelic solutions for the next society to come after this 2nd Gilded Age comes to a conclusion. Sorry, for that helter-skelter update I just wanted to give you all my global loyal readers a heads-up as to my whereabouts. Now onto the good stuff which I enjoy disseminating here at "Atrayo's Oracle", meaning the channeled Angelic Wisdom. Today's trio of spiritual wisdom statements are on the topics of Peace 2,566; Faith 2,572; and finally Oh My God! 2,573. May you enjoy them as you find them uplifting in your very sacred personal faith traditions whatever they be of holy origin. Peace:

2566) With every season when peace is there it is God's Peace eternally without end. All peace has a basis upon the profound spiritual truth of well-being. Without such a core distinction all secular peace that is to follow becomes lukewarm and often meaningless towards the masses. To have a World with global unconditional Peace is to have the basis of such a grace be divine in holy nature. No matter if its codex of jurisprudence is written into secular vernacular as the rule of law. All laws that are thoughtful as they are effective with a genuine purpose serving the public trust without corruption and exploitation. Has a spiritual component for such a society in question irrespective of any one religion in particular. Often it is said of bold-faced cheaters following the letter of the law and hardly it's sacred spirit. Have fornicated before God and Country as hypocrites with a justice meant to curb misconduct. This is when the larger and wider informed citizenry must call to task such miscreants to stop giving the oppressed lip service. To carry their weight with both hands and hardly just in rhetoric. Slick legal representation can hardly protect you when economic divestiture is the ultimate equalizer of the multi-national corruptions. Advocacy is local as it is nationally bespoken and internationally laid claim to in all sincerity. As it is the eternal dissemination of the Will of God upon which all righteousness is embarked upon for all time. Any voice that falls silent given a choice to do right is a victory given for wrongdoers universally. Righteousness may come at a cost to integrity if it fails to be practical repeatedly versus than just once. To do otherwise may be easier chalked up to idealistic fools. However, this is how justice is to be upheld if the moral conduct is diluted to the point it becomes meaningless. Beyond becoming a police state of fear without democracy much less equal representation within a pluralistic republic society. I reiterate World Peace is God's Peace Holy as it is Sublime not as a pipe dream but as Heaven on Earth. It is a fine line between a Utopian civilization and a dystopian catastrophe on Earth. A spiritual enlightened shift can alter the course of human history to follow for eons to come. Be Divine versus just little more than barbaric animals upon Creation. Amen. ---Ivan Pozo-Illas / Atrayo.

Faith: 2572) When Life spins us out of control when all seems to be cast aside in turmoil. This is when our faith in God is tested as valid or plainly hypocritical. Only through the struggle with suffering is our best and worst features of self-revealed for all to witness. Sometimes this is expressed as torturous pain and at other times it is showcased as a personal triumph by the divine wind known as Luck and Character combined. The Divine doesn't take pleasure in exposing us to pain and danger in the world. However, it is aware that this is one of the most direct routes to positive change in the world. By benefiting countless by revealing the holy children of paradise in how they respond to pain in the world. Versus how the unholy children of perdition do behave when confronted with hardships usually by making the circumstances worse and not better. Sifting through the shards of pain it can indicate who are the Angels and the daemons reborn on Earth. By means of reincarnation by every generation of mortality of all species timed perfectly by the Will of God in Divine Origin. Every person is a reborn original Angelic Image and Likeness of God the Majestic Original Apex Creator. By divine nature, we are hurled into the world by the means of Infinite reincarnations without end or beginning meaning constantly like a spinning wheel. One lifetime we are a saint and another soulful spirit later we are a criminal. The Infinite is due its equal moment before the Spirit of God that finds value in this stark contrast. Not out of petty whims of vanity but in celestial divine order as Enlightenment much like how a battery uses electricity. Our human and other reincarnated rebirths in these many universes combined hurl us through the circuits of a meta lifespan. The use of the Essence of God is akin to electricity to power the short shelf life of a disposable battery. (a lifetime) What is generated is far greater in output than our solitary human experiences alone can indicate at first glance. Something akin to a meta-cycle of sublime metric analytics spews forth like a torrent of a Mighty Whirl Wind of endless Life. From such a short lifetime provides a richness of telemetry that propels us all together in no uncertain terms as God Itself. Like a natural feedback loop as a circular power train of propulsion swirling together endless Physical and Metaphysical Universes like a ballet. Our individual lives matter and our collective humanity matter equally to God. As One and the same phenomena metaphysically to him / her / itself. God, can lay claim to any individual lifetime and become realized by means of miracles. For God is a higher perfect order beyond our mundane natural laws of nature leads us to believe is paramount. One Metasystem of Law subordinates a lesser system of laws everytime as a consequence of dynamical motion. God claims our good for us when we are stuck, distracted, or in some other dilemma in the world. When God claims our lives miracles become commonplace for all to see and hear by grace. Amen. ---Ivan Pozo-Illas / Atrayo.

Oh My God!: 2573) When people lament "My God!" so and so in astonishment and in anguish. The disbelief of such a phrase as part of our earthly vernacular from the universal human condition is triggered gently into a metaphysical movement. In stating "My God" silently or out loud something magical occurs soul wise. Although the intent differs from the reason of such an outburst. What happens spiritually is quite the opposite of happenstance in holy origin. What occurs behind the metaphysical veil takes a mere moment but is beautiful and miraculous simultaneously. The person(s) whether aware of this spiritual phenomenon or not has claimed their entity godhood with the Supreme Creator. Since in a meta scheme we are each God in an Infinite Capacity as his omnipresence in a universal inclusive scope ethereally. This causes a blessed pivot to occur with our own Angelic Image and Likeness of the Infinite personified individualized Face of God. That we each have been endowed with by the Grace of God in earnest. Our Soul of God shimmers like it's been pinged or caressed gently with compassion. Depending on the pious demeanor of such a spiritual being as a living person upon Creation. It garners a cornucopia of potential blessings to be seized and fully realized. Much like "Jesus the Christ" stated often in the Christian New Testament amongst many of the Books of the Apostles such as in Mark, Luke, Matthew, etc... That one's Faith has Made Them Well. When the faith of the righteous is joined literally to an unrehearsed astonishment of "Oh My God!" Then one has for all intents and purposes pinged the Holy Spirit of God metaphysically. By claiming your divine heritage in a role greater than your present era humanity. As the living fabric of God's Great Mystery for all of our macro totality known as our reality. One takes communal ownership of the Omnipresence of God by accepting ones grace in the world. It matters not if one is atheist or deeply spiritual and/or religious in context it happens all the same almost identically as a pleasantry with the Creator. Much akin to a positive well-meaning handshake soul to soul with God the Original Supreme Greatest One of Heaven and all Creation(s)! You have tickled the Holy of Holies and in return unknowingly you will be Loved and Blest Deeply every time. Amen. ---Ivan Pozo-Illas / Atrayo.

============================ Sometimes our light goes out but is blown again into instant flame by an encounter with another human being. Each of us owes the deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this inner light. ---Dr. Albert Schweitzer. My humanity is bound up in yours for we can only be human together. ---Desmond Tutu. We are each other's harvest; we are each other's business; we are each other's magnitude and bond. ---Gwendolyn Brooks. Our Unity is like a gently flowing river which waters the earth with blessings. ---St. Mary Euphrasia. Human beings must always be on the watch for the coming of wonders. ---E.B. White. Let me fall If I must. The One I will become will catch me. ---Baal Shemtov. We are not alone. There is always an unseen power working for righteous. ---Olympia Brown. Ivan "Atrayo" Pozo-Illas, has devoted 22 years of his life to the pursuit of clairvoyant automatic writing channeling the Angelic host. Ivan is the author of the spiritual wisdom series of "Jewels of Truth" consisting of 3 volumes published to date. He also channels inspired conceptual designs that are multifaceted for the next society to come that are solutions based as a form of dharmic service. Numerous examples of his work are available at "Atrayo's Oracle" blog site of 12 years plus online. Your welcome to visit his website "Jewelsoftruth.us" for further information or to contact Atrayo directly.

#Jewels of Truth #Atrayo's Oracle #Ivan Pozo-Illas #angelic wisdom #Spiritual Wisdom #spiritual teacher #automatic writing #Angels #Peace #Faith #Oh My God!

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