An angel and a demon walk into a bar.
It sounds like the beginning of a joke, one that would have annoyed Crowley greatly before- before. Maybe it would have been mildly amusing, were it not for the fact that it is a pub, not a bar (a mere technicality that somehow still mattered), and it is the first time in seven months that he is looking Aziraphale right in the face.
He chose the place, walked right out of the bookshop and across the street the second Aziraphale looked at him with his stupid purple eyes and opened his mouth. Same table, same drinks. New silence.
A demon leads an angel into a pub so he does not kiss him again.
Less of a joke, more like the beginning of a nightmare he has had every single time he tried to sleep, woken by whispered words either confirming his worst fears or greatest desires; both incite fear, one way or another.
The low table between them is enough of a barrier to prevent a repeat of their last interaction, it has to be, although this time Aziraphale is looking at him with violet-coloured longing and an apology on his lips, no longer pleading, no longer angry. He is asking for forgiveness, and if that isn't a deeply ironic twist of fate.
Before either of them says a single word, Crowley finishes his drink and raises his hand to order another one, clinging to the familiar sting of alcohol in his throat to burn away the questions lingering on his tongue.
An angel followed a demon into a pub because he loves him.
Aziraphale wishes he could tell himself Crowley looks like he did seven months ago, that he hasn't changed, but he is done lying to himself, to either of them. Behind his shades, dark, darker if that is even possible, he can feel his golden gaze heavy on his face, familiar and the answer to an empty longing in his chest.
His drink goes untouched as Crowley downs one, then another, and it is after the third that he finally begins to talk.
"What do you want?"
Bitter, sharp, spit at his feet with an anger he expected and yet doesn't know how to react to. Underneath it is pain—more pain than any being should ever have to experience—and instead of trying to carry some of it for him, he only added to it.
"I want to apologise."
"Fine." Crowley shoves his empty glass away and gets up. "I don't forgive you."
Reflexively, Aziraphale reaches out and curls his fingers around his wrist when Crowley tries to walk past him, blinking up at him with eyes the colour of dying Myosotis.
Forget-me-nots.
They both freeze, the point of contact a crack in the walls they have spent centuries building and seven months rebuilding, and he knows he has made a mistake immediately.
Crowley stares at him, still as stone, until he suddenly rips his arm out of his grasp, almost cradling it against his chest. With dawning horror, Aziraphale realises he is shaking, tremors running through him like waves breaking apart on a rocky shore.
"Don't you dare touch me." Panic, not anger. Pure, unfiltered panic blooming beside a mountain of fear that could outlast an eternity.
"I-" He doesn't know what he wants to say, what he is trying to say, what he needs to say to make him stay. Oh, the irony of it all.
Crowley leaves the pub, and the Supreme Archangel stays behind.
Not a demon anymore, not technically, he is done with sides, and deeds, and choices; he never makes the right ones anyway. His wrist hurts with the ghost of a kiss, and he cannot get the glint of purple where summer sky blue should be out of his head.
The Bentley is waiting for him, providing an escape from the noise, the people, him.
Apologies instead of I'm coming back.
A sickening aura of holiness tinged with the burn of ozone instead of books and dust and soft, silly angel.
Seven months of waiting, of pleading with God, of cursing Her, cursing him, cursing the entire fucking world for taking and taking and taking from him without pause, without even a fragment of mercy.
For this.
An angel returns to heaven. Crowley curses the stars and cries.
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A quick look at the timeline since we last checked in
Sonic Frontiers has a song by ONE OK GO and one version says "Fuck the pain away"
Disney proves it truly listens to what fans do not want by making live action Pinocchio, Little Mermaid, and Mufasa, which is a prequel to the much behated live action Lion King
HBO Max nuked a bunch of its animated shows for tax write offs
Uncle Grandpa almost survived with one episode called "Fleas Help Us" before being deleted
Summer Camp Island literally had a whole season ready
WB canned a completed Batgirl movie after spending $98 million. For tax write offs.
FBI raided Trump's Florida home and found hundreds of stolen top secret files, and one includes nuclear defense details on a foreign nation. Yeah he's in very hot shit
Biden administration opens the path for forgiveness for $10k-$20k of student loans, MS decides to tax anyone that gets it
When the Republicans got offended the White House Official Twitter Account revealed the MILLIONS of PPP loans the nay sayers had forgiven individually
NASA Is trying to GET US BACK ON THE MOON BABEY WOOOOOOOOO but unfortunately they had to scrub 2 launches because of engine troubles and a leak
But it's cool! It's cool! They gotta get it right because the end goal is to try and establish a MOTHERFUCKING MOON BASE!!! SOMEBODY HIGH FIVE ME
A machine on Mars the size of a lunch box made about as much oxygen as a small tree, prompting some to think we could have oxygen mines for future manned Marsian missions
Leonardo DiCaprio breaks up with another woman who just turned 25
JK Rowling wrote a book about totally not her being harassed by the very people she demonizes every day as a racist antisemitic ableist TERF and embarrassed herself in front of God and the internet again
After years of failing to sell on the market, Sony makes the decision to INCREASE the price of the PS5 despite only 5 people other than Crypto Dorks having them
Nintendo follows up by revealing they have no plans to change prices, which we all been knew because they still sell years old ports for $60
Gendy Tartokovsky's Primal aired a Dinosaur literally laying eggs up close and personal from its cloaca (side note do dinosaurs have those?)
Gendy is also apparently at the helm of a second PPG reboot in the works
She-Hulk Twerked
Looney Tunes officially ships Bugs X Daffy
3 Avatar Movies in the works. No not the blue people- well yes those too but I meant the one about the bald kid, the second one about Zuko, and the third about Korra
Blue people avatar has a movie coming in December
Reigen Arataka from Mob Psycho 100 wins Twitter poll for Twink Supreme
Reigen does absolutely nothing and wins Ultimate DILF
In an ultimate final clash, Reigen just barely loses to Sans Undertale for Tumblr Sexyman
Tobyfox wrote fanfic about it and posted it to Twitter
On the same exact fucking day Sans defeats Reigen, the Queen of England DIED. Tv stations in mourning across the globe. Meanwhile Irish people and other people directly negatively impacted by colonization by the crown cheered and partied and tumblr and twitter released the crabs 🦀
This is as of September 10th, 2022, not told in any particular chronological order
This has been the look at the timeline, and no, the year is not over yet
See yall in December
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Archangel Michael in Season 3
You know, I really am interested in Archangel Michael future contribution to the story. For some reason I think they have a chance to be a bit more relevant in S3.
The reasons for this assumption…are not that big. But still, listen to me.
We know that at least some of archangels from S1 were brought to the script from sequel drafts. At the time nobody knew that the show will be successful enough to have S2 and S3, and the unwritten sequel might be created in any form. But the idea of what these characters could have done if the book had been written still was there. Probably not too detailed, but still existent. And now these characters have the ability to do what they were first intended for.
So…this why I was interested in this particular moment from the cut bookshop opening scene:
Isn’t it interesting that with that promotion Aziraphale was going to be replaced not by any other angel, not even by any archangel, but by “fancy” Archangel Michael themself? What position was he even going to be promoted to? Would Michael like it – go to Earth, manage the bookshop? I suspect, no more than Aziraphale would like to go back upstairs in that cut scene.
And isn’t it interesting that throughout the season 2 we saw Michael not only wanting the position of the Supreme Archangel, but actively acting as if they were already promoted - only to have the position snatched out from under them at the last minute by Aziraphale? Isn’t it interesting how similar these situation are in a way?
I have a theory this one was a plot point from the sequel – Aziraphale got the promotion, and that pissed off Michael (or unnamed angel that later became Michael, not necessary an archangel at that point?). Be it because Michael wanted this position themself, or it caused some troubles for them (could it be that ‘Michael’ was supposed to be sent to the bookshop instead of made-for-S2-Muriel?). And that plot point was important enough to bring it up while writing the script for the first season, and leave it as a sort of mythology gag when there was no hope for the continuation; and then return to it while writing the second season with the lead-in to the third one aka the implementation of the aforementioned sequel.
So…if this is a plot point – what it might lead us to?
The simplest idea – Michael would just be antagonistic to Aziraphale in Heaven. As will every other archangel (they all know Aziraphale is a traitor who somehow got big..maybe in a book it would have been 'some nameless angel who somehow got big'), but it will have a special flavor in case of Michael who will just feel robbed. And that will lead to all kind of shenanigans.
It is worth to notice that Aziraphale, in return, has a few reasons to dislike Michael the most amongst other archangels:
They were the one to bring the holy water to Hell for Crowley’s execution - in front of Aziraphale’s eyes; and we know Aziraphale’s feelings about the possibility of Crowley dying by holy water;
They are threatened him with a Book of Life despite having no authority to do it, just out of spite;
And most importantly, they were the one to call Aziraphale ‘a bit of a fallen angel’, shaming him for collaborating with a demon – all while working with demons themself, sharing information and such. Aziraphale probably doesn’t know all about it yet – only about them specifically going downstairs to bring the water. But once he find out? Don’t you think this hypocrisy on Michael’s part will make him at least a bit angry?
The more convoluted idea – Michael will became angry. But not only at Aziraphale, no. It was The Metatron who made a decision to promote the traitor, ignoring all the reasons to make Michael the Supreme Archangel. Why not be angry with him?
….the thing about Michael – in S2 they already showed too much non-really-angelic desire to grab the power without any approval from above. “We aren’t in charge” – Uriel is right by all means: you can’t just decide this vacant position is yours because you’re the best, you need to be appointed first, even in a human society; not to say anything about Heaven, built on subordination to the hierarchy!
So there is already not that much respect for the authority of The Metatron underneath all Michael’s holier-than-thou attitude as it should have been. And if Michael decides that The Metatron's decision was wrong, or that he was the one to specifically rob them of their promotion…
There are a lot of possibility for this to become entertaining. One idea that came to my head is that Michael might start to work with Hell more actively, just to out of spite– they already got some contacts downstairs after all. Maybe even specifically finding a way to Fall – there is a vacancy of Grand Duke of Hell downstairs, and isn’t it better to reign in Hell, than to serve in Heaven, especially than to serve to Aziraphale, in Michael's eyes?
The most ridiculous yet fun idea though is…..Michael and Aziraphale teaming up against The Metatron.
Yes, I know. It sounds as much possible, as, I don’t know, Gabriel’s redemption? Oh, wait…
But still. If we assume that Michael might become angry specifically at The Metatron…and that Aziraphale will consider him his enemy too…and considering that it’s not the first time for Michael to work with ‘an enemy’ (the demons, again) to achieve a common goal…and if we’d assume that Aziraphale is not all that bad in persuasion (as we can see in S2E5 and the fact that he was fulfilling his part of the agreement by doing temptations)….
….yeah, it still sounds unlikely. But it might be a fun twist of events. Especially with them still hating each other, but hating The Metatron more.
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Percy Jackson Review/My Thoughts
SPOILERS FOR THE PERCY JACKSON SHOW AND BOOK SERIES!!!!! READ WITH YOUR OWN CAUTION!!!
I Accidentally Vaporized My Pre-Algebra Teacher
The opening scene is absolutely perfect. 10/10 Uncle Rick.
Please, please, please, pleeaaassseee tell me the Pegasus on the rooftop was Blackjack. I am begging.
Sally told Percy, "Not everyone who looks like a hero is a hero. And not everyone who looks like a monster is a monster," foreshadowing to Medusa.
Gabe is more of comic relief and I'm not sure how I feel about it.
Sally Jackson listening to Logical by Olivia Rodrigo is the best because 1. I love that song and 2. she's listening to it in the rain.
d'Angelos sandwich shoppe?? Like Nico di Angelo? Please, please, please, please, please.
"You fell in love with God? Like Jesus??!" crying laughing. "A God..." followed by Sally sloppily trying to tell Percy he's a half-blood
No, mom, I'm not a God's kid there's something wrong with my brain. OMG I didn't know whether to laugh or cry in this scene.
"Grover, why is there half a goat in your PANTS?!?!" "So the important thing is not to panic."
"Is that the (voice crack) Minotaur??" Oh my, Walker you are perfect.
"I'm actually 24.." This had me rooollling.
Sally is already badass and I can't wait for The Last Olympian when Mama Jackson is shooting monsters with a GUN.
Grover swearing to Sally that Percy would be safe made me sad but it would have been 100000x worse if he swore on Styx.
"You are not broken, you are a miracle, and you are my son. Hold fast Percy."
Sally evaporating into dust hurt watching a lot more than reading, and
OMG OMG OMG baby Percy holding riptide and it glowing and my heart is crying I can't tell if it's tears of pain of joy but my heart and my eyes are crying.
"He's the one." "Hush, Annabeth." I was hoping to see her but we don't see her yet lmao
The end credits scene looks a lot like the same illustration for the covers of the paperback books.
When I saw this ep was only a half hour I was genuinely disappointed.
Dior's acting in this and her emotion when Clarisse's spear broke is perfection.
Never picked up on Annabeth calling Percy Sunshine
2. I Become Supreme Lord of the Bathroom
My first thought: scary lightning and delirious Percy.
My second thought: "You drool in your sleep," Annabeth said, arms crossed and glaring at Percy while Percy is confused.
My third thought: this is the scene in the books where Percy notices Annabeth looks like an actual Princess lmao.
Camp Half-Blood t-shirt!!! I want one and it looks soooo cooollll
PETER JOHNSON !!!
Dionysus and Percy already getting into it lmao
Dionysus is funny.
"Actually, I think I can, son." "Dad?!?!"
Chiron is sooo tall I never realized how tall a centaur is.
Chiron telling Percy he isn't his son is the funniest thing.
But imagine Mr. D doing that to all the kids lmfao
I love the waterfall that is shown
I want to see the strawberry fields...
Never surrender riptide, Percy. Never
12 cabins for 12 Olympians (for now; the Gods banished Zues and he doesn't have a cabin which is completely unfair. And only a few would be occupied. Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, and Artemis are empty).
OMG Luke I hate that you're going to betray Percy like thatttt
Who tf is the wood nymph Grover talks to? And will she be the one to introduce us to Juniper?
Introduced to the Cloven Council early and we find out about Sally Jackson really early.
"I don't want to lie to him anymore," and we love you for it Grover. You are a schmol bean too pure for this world.
Luke comforting Percy
Percy already wanting to Gods to pay their child support is the best thing in the world.
Clarisse is so pretty and I love her.
Percy not being able to be good at archery is a great detail from the books.
I can't tell if I'm more in love with Luke, with his morally greyb self, or Chris Rordiguez because Damn he's fine.
Percy praying to his mom :'(
"He can ignore me but he doesn't get to ignore you."
The Ares kids are so mean and then they got their butts kicked by Karma lol
Clarisse def knew that he was a Poseidon kid or that she was gonna kill him.
I love Annabeth and how Luke is always on her side.
The Yankees cap !!!!
Literal war between red and blue lmao
Luke saying "When it's time, he's gonna be ready. I know it," immediately followed by Percy flossing, peeing, petting a lizard, and laying doing nothing is the absolute best.
Percy being naturally good at sword-fighting is the best.
Dior's acting when Percy breaks Clarisse's spear is great and Walker said in an interview that when the camera pans back to him he was actually scared.
Annabeth: Offers Percy her hand. "Listen, Percy... I'm sorry." And then him immediately being claimed
This is a change from the books because she didn't know who his father was and wanted him to be a Zeus kids.
Everyone else: OMG you're Poseidon's kids.
Percy: I'm Sally Jackson's kid, actually mf
"I am Sally Jackson's son!"
Percy immediately going from "good luck finding three idiots to complete this quest" to "When do we leave."
3. We Visit the Garden Gnome Emporium
Walker's voice cracks are so adorable.
Am I the only one who was confused when Gabe showed up as the Oracle???
I love that Percy immediately chose Annabeth bcuz "I don't see us ever being friends"
Grover talking to a Pegasus is the best thing ever.
Why does Poseidon's cabin have a pool in the middle of the floor? Seems like a hazard in the middle of the night.
Yayy, Golden Drachmas.
And the shoes, curse those converses.
We actually get to see Luke's scar in this ep and i feel like in the books it seems a lot more... seen rather than just a thin line.
Thalia's treee
I hate that Grover often talks about himself in third person when he's not proud of something.
"Does she think she's in charge?" "Who else would be in charge?" Smart answer, Grover. Smart answer.
And we all already hate zeus
CONSENSUS SONG!!!!!!
"I really hate to be the tie breaker" lmao
Annabeth getting all the snacks.
And then immediately noticing a fury is how we all knew she was Athena's kid before we were even told.
Yayy, Alecto is back. And she went after Annabeth? Not Annabeth, Luke, and Thalia?
Annabeth's knife hits another Fury in the chest and dies.
I love Jessica Parker Kennedy's Medusa. she's both flawed and the victim and I couldn't decide whether to hate her or root for her. Like I love her outfit.
I would eat the hell out of the cupcakes lmao.
"Do you think it's safe to eat?" "Percy, I'm not gonna lie to you I'm really hungry and I'm willing to take that chance." Grover, I stan you.
I absolutely worship Medusa's story. It's so sad. And while she is telling the story, if you focus on her hair, you can see the snakes moving on her head.
Oh, Percy, my sweet, sweet boy. Of course you would help. Future wifie is like "Uhm, no. We need to leave."
I love the color of Medusa's eyes
Ohhh, these pre-pubescent kids fighting and making up is adorable <3
"They will see this as impertinent." "I am impertinent," another quote from the book.
Percy singing consensus is everything.
Min Manuel-Miranda is Hermes!!!! I love that man. "You guys are not gonna believe this."
4. I Plunge to My Death
This episode caused the most of my tears
Baby Percy is sooo cute I swear he is my life. I love the flashbacks. Except when they turn bad like this
Annabeth's story is identical to the books from what I remember
We find out Grover's interest in Pan a lot earlier than in the books. We don't see that until at least book 3.
We get to see the echidna. I really wanted it to be the Chimera to look like a poodle.
I hate Athena because she sent the echinda into her temple because annabeth "embarassed" her. Like really? Worst mother of the year.
Percy looking deathly ill breaks my heart.
Grover is literally me when I don't get enough sleep LMAO
The start of Percabeth's bickering and joking!!!
"It's like you need me to make fun of you."
The Policeman looks familiar.
Annabeth looking legit offended when she was called a little girl
The male police officer is played by Alessandro Juliani who plays Sinclair in the 100 on the Cw, another great show 9/10, highly reccommend
Percy and Annabeth bonding over Grover and their parents is adorable.
"careful I think you were about to call me a friend." more bickering and joking
Percy pulling a reverse uno card lmao
The fight with the chimera was terrifying but so worth it. Also why do you out my bby boi through this torture Uncle Rick???
Also the naiad?? what was with that? Why can't Posei-don't-wanna-pay-my-child-support just face Percy himself. That's gonna be a fucking emotional scene.
5. A God Buys Us Cheeseburgers
Percy climbed over the rail and was like : Hi :D
Thought Annabeth was gonna punch him not hug him but my percabeth heart was a puddle of fluff.
OOH. What's in Santa Monica?
Our baby is a fugitive.
Our three babies hiding behind the cement block from Ares: No we're good, thanks :D
Percy freaking out bc he thought Annabeth was freaking out she hugged him.
In the books Grover was always on Percy's side, but I love seeing him not choosing.
Ares is not as terrifying as I thought he was in the books lmao
"That's my cousin?" Percy said it with such disgust in his voice lmao.
Ares and his Twitter fights lol
Annabeth is fearless. I love it
Ares and Percy immediately having beef is the funniest thing because (in bellatrix voice) I KNOW WHATS GONNA HAPPEN! I KNOW WHATS GONNA HAPPEN! I KNO-
First use of Celestial Bronze!!
Annie geeking out over the mechanisms after trying to make a joke lol
WHAT IS LOVE? BABY DON'T HURT ME, DON'T HURT ME. nO MORE!!
Hephaestus was not at all ugly like Rick made him in the books. Or like Greek mythology made him.
The whole Tunnel scene was beautiful and sad and I love it
Grover and his psychological gaslighting is my world
"Percy stand up, I mean it!" and then him repeatedly saying he was ok broke my fragile heart.
Annabeth "I'm not leaving for my friend" is my favorite Annabeth.
Annabeth just likes to tell off Gods. Go off Queen!!
Percy likes to fight Gods lmao
"So thank you for the emotional abuse and the cheeseburgers."
6. We Take a Zebra to Vegas
Have seen TikToks where Nico and Bianca's names are called out and I will keep an eye and an ear out for it.
Why did they have to make Hermes an obstacle? He wasn't at the Lotus in the books!
Kronos is kinda creepy ngl
Iris message to Luke! In Chiron's office??
"Toss it, Seaweed Brain!" EEEKK
"How do you know" Luke had a Panic attack.
"When did you turn into an old married couple?"' Luke is the best and the worst.
Grover is the empathetic one, poor animals.
I wish we got the scene where Percy talked to the Zebra like in the book.
WISE GIRL !!!!!!!!
The satyr Agustus was not in the books. I actually think he was in the Cloven of Elders in the 4th book.
12:37 we hear Nico calling Bianca's name, faintly in the background so the tv has to be on full or almost full blast.
Lotus nectar in the air??
Hermes playing Blackjack?
"Hey, demigods! Welcome!"
Hermes eyebrows arch makes Lin Manuel look so evil.
"We're friends of Luke's!" and it looked like Hermes was gonna help but nooooooo!
Percy is so proud of his wifey for pick-pocketing Hermes
"Man, Grover got really old. How long have we been here?" hahahaha
"To the Dumb Kids" Damn, Hermes that hurts.
I love that since Grover is 24 they think he's qualified to dribve.
Percy driving is the best thing. I don't know anything about driving or New York or driving in New York but I do know about road rage and Percy hitting the horn after almost getting t-boned.
Percy finding out that they were actually late for the summer solstice was sad. Like he was freaking out.
"save the world. And then save your mother."
7. We Find Out the Truth, Sort of.
Underworld time!!!
Okay, but what the hell happened between the ending of the last ep and the beginning of this one??
Crusty is dead.
"You've got dad's eyes," reminds me of "You look exactly like James. Except your eyes. You've got your mother's eyes."
"It's either the realm of the dead or someone left a carton of milk in there in the 1990s.' LMAO
I wish the demigods' ADHD and dyslexia was more openly discussed.
I love Cerberus
Poor Grover. Loosing his pearl
I want to see Annabeth flashbacks
Seeing the flashbacks are so, so sad.
I will forever be in awe of Hades's Palace.
What were the regrets that Annabeth had to get her bound to Asphodel? I think it has something to do with her dad and step mom. Or Thalia.
"I trust your dad" says a lot coming from Annabeth because in the books, she hated Poseidon at first.
Why is there sand by Tartarus?
(Sarcastic gasp) Percy had the bolt? No way.
"Is this--?" "NO!" "This looks" "It absolutely is NoT!!" Grover my precious angel.
Another flashback. Poor Percy doesn't understand the situation and poor Sally can't tell him.
I love Hades. He's perfect and fruity and I can't wait to see him interact with Nico.
Poor Hades just wants his helm!
And Percy had decided to think without the wifey and decided to get Hades helm after figuring out Kronos was behind everything. And Grover is so insulted at being called a goat lmao
POSEIDON!!!
I want to know the science/mythology behind how Sally conjured Poseidon and why she put a match in an empty milkshake to do it.
We actually see how much Poseidon loved and cared about Sally.
What happened between when he was 7/8 to 12 that made Sally not want to drop him off at camp like she had discussed with Poseidon?? She wanted to, to keep him safe but then it seems like Poseidon talked her out of it?
Sally believes in Percy so much even from such a young age.
Ares with the sword and the final scene.
8. The Prophecy Comes True.
Dramatic instrumental music and Luke talking in the intro?? Yes pleaSe!
And then flashback to Luke training Percy.
Ares laughing at Percy when he offers to spar with him is the funniest thing because he's about to get his ass kicked!!
Did Ares work with Kronos in the book? I can't remember.
"when you die, say goodbye to your mommy for me" Low blow Ares!!!
Go Percy!! Fight with water! And Ares is pissed. Even more!
Riptide and Percy in one corner, Ares and another celestial bronze sword in another. And Percy wins!! By a mudslide! LMAO
I thought Alecto died? When she was turned to stone??
Alecto saying "Good luck on Olympus," is scary. Like hella scary.
Percy calling Zeus a monster is so, so, so fucking fitting like I swear.
We get to see Annabeth's dad's college ring!!! On her camp necklace! That she gave to Percy.
"I'm here to see Zeus. I don't have an appointment."
My roommate is watching this ep with me and when Luke said "You don't want to be small and scary" she said "like spiders! :D" he said "cus things that are small and scary get squished" we both laughed out loud.
RIP Lance Reddick but Zeus is an absolute DICK
and scary (said in meek voice)
Poseidon fighting Zeus is amazing!!!!!
Zeus: "He's a forbidden child"
Poseidon: "So was Thalia"
Me: "What about your Roman form Jupiter with JASON GRACE!!!!"
I squealed and clapped my hands
I wanted to see who they cast as Athena
Like will she be white or black?
Percy and daddy bonding over Sally has my hearts in pieces.
"Do you ever dream about mom?"
Percy run away from Luke! He will hurt you!
Why is Luke crying???
We get to see Backbiter!!!!
ANNABETH WAS THERE?????!!!!
"I heard everything!"
OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG
Percy got his first bead!!!
The third seaweed brain!
Percy calling Kronos grandpa is freaky
And Sally saying no absolutely fucking not
And Sally seeing right through Percy's bullshit lies
Sally is divorcing Gabe!! He is turned to stone LMAO
How long until season 2????
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By: Michael Shermer
Published: Aug 9, 2023
There is arguably no better known set of moral precepts than the Ten Commandments. As an exercise in moral casuistry, in this essay, excerpted from my chapter on religion in my 2015 book The Moral Arc, let’s consider them again in the context of how far the moral arc has bent since they were decreed over three millennia ago. (The Ten Commandments are stated in two books of the Old Testament, Exodus 20:1-17 and Deuteronomy 5:4-21. I quote from Exodus, King James Version.) In the next essay I shall reconstruct them from the perspective of a science- and reason-based moral system.
I. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
First, this commandment reveals that polytheism was commonplace at the time and that Yahweh was, among other things, a jealous god (see God’s own clarification in Commandment 2). Second, it violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution in that it restricts freedom of religious expression (“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”), making the posting of the Ten Commandments in public places such as schools and courthouses unconstitutional.
II. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.
This commandment is also in violation of the First Amendment’s guarantee of the freedom of speech, of which artistic expression is included by precedence of many Supreme Court cases (“Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech”). It also brings to mind what the Taliban did in Afghanistan when they destroyed ancient religious relics not approved by their Islamist masters. Elsewhere in the Bible, the word “idol” is synonymously used, with the Hebrew word pesel translated as an object carved or hewn out of stone, wood or metal.
What, then, are we to make of the crucifix, worn by millions of Christians as an image, an idol, a symbol of what Jesus suffered for their sins? The crucifix is a graven image of torture as it was commonly practiced by the Romans. If Jews today were suddenly to start sporting little gas chambers on gold necklaces the shocked public reaction would be as unsurprising as it would be unmistakable.
I the LORD thy God am a jealous God.
That might explain the genocides, wars, conquests, and mass exterminations commanded by the deity of the Old Testament. These humanlike emotions reveal Yahweh to be more like a Greek god, and much like an adolescent, who lacks the wisdom to control his passions.
The last part of this commandment—visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me—violates the most fundamental principle of Western jurisprudence developed over centuries of legal precedence that one can be only be guilty of one’s own sins and not the sins of one’s parents, grandparents, great grandparents, or anyone else for that matter.
III. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
This commandment is once again an infringement on our Constitutionally-guaranteed right to free speech and religious expression, and another indication of Yahweh’s petty jealousies and un-Godlike ways.
IV. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Again, freedom of speech and religious expression means we may or may not choose to treat the Sabbath as holy, and the rest of this commandment—For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy—make it clear that its purpose is to once again pay homage to Yahweh.
Thus far, the first four commandments have nothing whatsoever to do with morality as we understand it today in terms of how we are to interact with others, resolve conflicts, or improve the survival and flourishing of other sentient beings. At this point the Decalogue is entirely concerned with the relationship of humans and god, not humans and humans.
V. Honor thy father and thy mother.
As a father myself, this commandment feels right and reasonable, since most of us parents appreciate being honored by our children, especially because we’ve invested considerable love, attention, and resources into them. But “commanding” honor—much less love—doesn’t ring true to me as a parent, since such sentiments usually come naturally anyway. Plus, commanding honor is an oxymoron, made all the worse by the hint of a reward for so doing, as in the rest of that commandment: “that thy days may be long upon the land which the lord thy God giveth thee.” Honor either happens naturally as a result of a loving and fulfilling relationship between parents and offspring, or it doesn’t. For a precept to be moral, it must involve an element of choice between doing something entirely self-serving and doing something that helps another, even at the cost of oneself.
VI. Thou shalt not kill.
Finally, we get a genuine moral principle worth our attention and respect. Yet even here, much ink has been spilled by biblical scholars and theologians about the difference between murder and killing (such as in self-defense), not to mention all the different types of killing, from first-degree murder to manslaughter, along with mitigating circumstances and exclusions, such as self-defense, provocation, accidental killings, capital punishment, euthanasia, and of course war.
Many Hebrew scholars believe that the prohibition is against murder only. But what are we to make of the story in Exodus (32:27-28) in which Moses brought down from the mountain top the first set of tablets, which he smashed in anger, and then commanded the Levites: “Thus saith the lord God of Israel, put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor. And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.”
How can we reconcile God’s commandment not to kill anyone with his commandment to kill everyone? In light of this account, and many others like it, the sixth commandment should perhaps read thus: Thou shalt not kill—not unless the Lord thy God says so. Then shalt thou slaughter thine enemies with abandon.
VII. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Coming from a deity who impregnated somebody else’s fiancé, that’s a bit rich. However, the bigger issue is that this commandment, like all the others, is a blunt instrument that doesn’t take into account the wide variety of circumstances in which people find themselves. Surely grownups in intimate relationships can and should negotiate the details of their relationship for themselves, and one hopes that they’ll act honorably toward their partner out of a sense of integrity, and not because a deity told them to.
VII. Thou shalt not steal.
Again, do we really need a deity to command this? All cultures had and have moral rules and legal codes about theft.
IX. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
Anyone who has been lied to or gossiped about can explain why this moral commandment makes sense and is needed, so chalk one up for the Bible’s authors whose insights here were spot on.
X. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his cattle, nor anything that is thy neighbor’s.
Consider what it means to covet something—to crave or want or desire it—so this commandment is the world’s first thought crime, which goes against centuries of Western legal codes. More to the point, the very foundation of capitalism is the coveting or desire for things and, ironically, it is Bible-quoting Christian conservatives who most defend the very coveting forbidden in this final mandate.
The late Christopher Hitchens best summed up the implications of taking this commandment seriously, in an April 2010 Vanity Fair essay: “Leaving aside the many jokes about whether or not it’s okay or kosher to covet thy neighbor’s wife’s ass, you are bound to notice once again that, like the Sabbath order, it’s addressed to the servant-owning and property-owning class. Moreover, it lumps the wife in with the rest of the chattel (and in that epoch could have been rendered as ‘thy neighbor’s wives,’ to boot).”
After demolishing the Decalogue in his inimitable style, Hitchens proffered his own list of commandments:
• Do not condemn people on the basis of their ethnicity or color.
• Do not ever use people as private property.
• Despise those who use violence or the threat of it in sexual relations.
• Hide your face and weep if you dare to harm a child.
• Do not condemn people for their inborn nature—why would God create so many homosexuals only in order to torture and destroy them?
• Be aware that you too are an animal and dependent on the web of nature, and think and act accordingly.
• Do not imagine that you can escape judgment if you rob people with a false prospectus rather than with a knife.
• Turn off that fucking cell phone—you have no idea how unimportant your call is to us.
• Denounce all jihadists and crusaders for what they are: psychopathic criminals with ugly delusions.
• Be willing to renounce any god or any religion if any holy commandments should contradict any of the above.”
Hitchens caps his list in summary judgment: “In short: Do not swallow your moral code in tablet form.”
Now, that is a rational prescription! In my next Skeptic column here I will offer my own “Provisional Rational Decalogue.” So you don’t miss it please consider subscribing below.
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Book #100 - Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
(ugh, fine. you have worn me down, tumblr. happy now?)
For the record, I have read this book twice already, so your fucking movie trailer gif sets and excited yelling have only worn me down to read it a third fucking time (and finally talk about it, because I guess I did start a fucking blog in the meantime).
So, here goes.
First reads are occupied with understanding something new. It's the broad picture, detailed enough to form an opinion, but not yet fully known. In this case, I liked it. Done.
Second reads, then, are often more critical, more in-depth, have a generally more watchful eye for details and things that were missed the first time around. They can be a bummer, depending how much and in which direction your critical thinking skills evolved, and how highly you thought of the book before. But they can also be happy occasions, if the book holds up better than you thought.
However, some things are very dependent on situation and mood. For example, second reads can be tremendous killjoys if you reread the book seven months into a global pandemic that has taken the mask off basically any political optimism you had left in you, and the political escapism you did like the first time suddenly sounds like liberal bloviating to you that almost makes you pop a blood vessel. (Truly amazing, in retrospect, how 2016-19 felt like this huge cataclysm, when it turned out in 2020 to have just been the dress rehearsal.)
Not a fun time.
(That being said, I would absolutely love to radicalize Alex into advocating for universal basic income, state-funded healthcare, taxing the rich, and an at least partial overhaul of the US constitution, including major reforms to the voting system, Senate and Supreme Court. But maybe that's just the left-wing European in me, being horny for whatever Americans think "communism" is.)
I still fail to get back into it. The escapism aspect, I mean. I think the last few years have added a sort of desperation to political action that is just... incompatible with dreaming. At least for me.
But.
But, I still love this book. I had a blast reading it. I enjoy the high drama, the impossible stakes, I cherish the lively characters and their whirlwind dynamics. I relish the humour and the wit and the startling heart. It made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me whoop and holler, along for the whole ride.
I can't fault it for being what it is, like I mistakingly did before, in the privacy of my own head. I can see now, the care put into it, and it brings a smile to my face. Because we care.
We, queer people, will always care for each other.
And that's just a nice thing to be reminded of, m'kay?
Also, not to mention, Alex and Henry just make me melt. They inflict the most insidious of status effects - gay yearning. I hate it. Time to hide the book behind mountains of more books again (why is so much of my contemporary queer shelf pink) (not a complaint, just an observation).
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Recently read: Well, well, well. Look who accidentally did a pink theme for the last books of February.
Radiant Sin is the fourth in Katee Robert’s Dark Olympus series and features Apollo/Cassandra as the main pairing. I was pretty excited for this book initially, but god, was it a slog. The romance was tied into a weak house party/murder mystery plot to further the overall plot of the series which I absolutely could not summarize for you in any way other than rich people power struggle problems. It felt like filler and the smut wasn’t even good. SIGH. The only thing this series is good at is inspiring me to finish up the Roman!AU tbh (★★.5)
I’ve finished all of the current books in Julie Anne Long’s Palace of Rogues series and I am very very sad. You Were Made To Be Mine was supremely delightful, with the build up from the previous books adding for some truly great moments with the extended cast. I think this romance is the weakest of the five books, but it was still very good overall. (★★★★)
If the plot of The Roughest Draft is any indication of how Emily Wibberly and Austin Siegmund-Broka write their books... lol. This book started off strong and I liked the angle of co-authors reuniting to find the magic for another book after parting on bad terms, but oh my god, I was so tired of their “we’re writing about our ~real feelings for each other BUT NOT REALLY” shit by the middle of the book. Throw in some clear emotional cheating and the constant whiff of infidelity throughout the book, and I was skimming by the final third. This book could not be more up its own ass about the ~magic~ of ~truth telling~ in writing fiction, I swear. (★★)
It Started With A Dog by Julia London was an adorable palette cleanser. Conflict that was resolved through communicating like adults? AMAZING. I love contemp romance novels that take the time to properly build up their main conflicts and keeping them as a central plot of the story. It was also a nice little subversion of the business rivals-to-lovers trope which can get pretty bland without some effort behind it. (★★★★)
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Facebook's right, Apple is too powerful
On the one hand, Facebook’s comments to the NTIA on Apple’s market power are supremely ironic. Facebook, complaining about excessive market power?
https://downloads.regulations.gov/NTIA-2022-0001-0145/attachment_1.pdf
Even worse is what Facebook is complaining about: Apple’s App Tracking Transparency update to Ios devices like the Iphone, which allowed users to comprehensively and easily block all the apps on their phones from spying on them. When Apple gave users this choice, nearly all of them chose privacy.
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/05/96-of-us-users-opt-out-of-app-tracking-in-ios-14-5-analytics-find/
Facebook says this cost them $10b (no wonder they’re mad). Nothing Facebook did — neither deceptive messages about why users should choose to be spied on, nor astroturf campaigns from small businesses extolling the value of submitting to surveillance — worked:
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/02/facebook-makes-the-case-for-activity-tracking-to-ios-14-users-in-new-pop-ups/
So on the one hand, Facebook’s motivations here are straightforward. Facebook profited from depriving its users of the right to decide how they used its service. Apple gave users more control. Facebook lost money, and complained.
But on the other hand…they’ve got a point.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/06/facebook-says-apple-too-powerful-theyre-right
Not about why it’s bad that Apple gave its customers the ability to choose privacy — but that those Apple users had to wait for Apple to decide that they deserved that protection. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining about Apple deciding to protect its users — but I am complaining about Apple preventing its users from protecting themselves.
As far as Apple -and Facebook, and Google, and other large tech companies — are concerned, we’re entitled to just as much privacy as they want to give us, and no more. For example, Google and Apple kicked the worst location data brokers out of their platform — but left dozens of nearly equally terrible ones to ply their trade:
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/03/apple-and-google-kicked-two-location-data-brokers-out-their-app-stores-good-now
Apple argues that preventing its users from choosing rival app stores is just a manifestation of the company’s sense of duty and commitment to caring for its users. But Apple, like all other tech giants, has conflicting priorities here. The company’s decision to take a 15–30% cut of every penny you spent using apps means that its motives are, at best, mixed.
As Apple fights laws in the EU (Digital Markets Act) and USA (Open Apps Market Act) that will force it to allow its customers to choose other app stores, it continues maintain that it objects to these purely on security grounds. Apple makes that argument, but doesn’t acknowledge the possibility that a third party app store might increase security:
https://www.eff.org/document/letter-bruce-schneier-senate-judiciary-regarding-app-store-security
The pretense that Apple objects to competition on purely altruistic grounds is absurd. Apple’s decision to take a 30% commission on in-app sales means that its own products have a 30% advantage compared to its competitors. Think of audiobooks, which Apple sells through its media player, and also lets Amazon sell through its Audible app, on preferential terms. The retail margin on audiobooks is 20%, which means that a competing audiobook store on Apple’s platform loses money on every sale (that’s why indie alternatives to Apple/Amazon all make you buy your books using a browser).
But even if you take Apple at its word and stipulate that Apple wants to protect its customers (which it often does!), the company has made it clear that it shouldn’t have the last word on this. Yes, it has stood up to governments that tried to force it to weaken the privacy protections in Ios:
https://www.eff.org/cases/apple-challenges-fbi-all-writs-act-order
But the company also caves in when some governments order it to weaken security:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/17/technology/apple-china-censorship-data.html
And sometimes Apple weakens its security even when no government tells it to:
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/08/apples-plan-think-different-about-encryption-opens-backdoor-your-private-life
In Facebook’s complaint, they accuse Apple of intentionally raising the “switching costs” of leaving Ios for Android, by refusing to improve Safari so it can run web apps that work equally well on any platform, and by blocking users from installing non-Safari-based browsers on Ios:
https://open-web-advocacy.org/
Facebook is a world authority on the abuse of high switching costs as a means of locking users to its platform, even when they’d prefer to leave. After all, that’s what Facebook does. Internal FB memos, published by the FTC, expose a parade of mustache-twirling Facebook execs discussing how to make leaving Facebook as painful as possible:
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/08/facebooks-secret-war-switching-costs
Many of the proposals to address Apple’s inconsistently benevolent dictatorship of Ios customers’ apps have toyed with the idea of forcing Apple to include apps it doesn’t like in its App Store. This is…not great. I don’t believe in corporate personhood, but you don’t have to be a Citizens United megafan to worry that the federal government maybe shouldn’t be allowed to order companies to publish things they don’t think are worth publishing.
By contrast, rules that allow Apple customers to choose other stores, ones they trust more, are pretty great. The reason we cheer when Apple lets Facebook users choose to use some parts of the service (talking to their friends) but not others (being spied on) is because people — not corporations — should have the final say over their technology.
That’s true of Apple, too.
Again, it’s great when Apple protects its customers’ privacy. It’s great when Facebook does it (as they did when they turned on end-to-end encryption for billions of Whatsapp users). But the final word on whether a privacy measure is legitimate shouldn’t rest with Facebook or Apple, or any other tech giant.
That word should to to the public, through a national privacy law with a private right of action, one that sets the floor on privacy protections on all platforms, app stores and services:
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/01/you-should-have-right-sue-companies-violate-your-privacy
Image:
Electronic Frontier Foundation
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/06/facebook-says-apple-too-powerful-theyre-right
CC BY US 3.0
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/
[Image ID: The Apple logo with a smiling worm peeking out of it.]
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GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY (2022)
Starring Daniel Craig, Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Jessica Henwick, Madelyn Cline, Kate Hudson, Dave Bautista, Ethan Hawke, Dallas Roberts, Jackie Hoffman, Noah Segan, Angela Lansbury, Stephen Sondheim, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Natasha Lyonne, Hugh Grant, Serena Williams, Yo-Yo Ma and the voice of Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
Screenplay by Rian Johnson.
Directed by Rian Johnson.
Distributed by Netflix. 139 minutes. Rated PG-13.
Screened at the 2022 Philadelphia Film Festival.
Let’s take the Knives Out back out. Writer/director Rian Johnson’s 2019 all-star mystery comedy was a surprise smash when it was released to theaters a few years ago. A mixture of old-fashioned parlor mystery and supremely black farce, the movie was one of the best of the year.
Glass Onion is the second of the Knives Out comic mysteries – although technically from a storyline point, it has little in common with the first film other than the presence of Daniel Craig’s “gentleman sleuth” Benoit Blanc. However, if has a similar feel and vibe to the first one, so the latest film is welcome.
In fact, writer/director Johnson has signed a deal with Netflix to make a whole series of Blanc whodunits, much like Johnson’s inspiration Agatha Christie did with her fictional novels revolving around a single detective character like Hercule Poirot. In fact, Netflix has broken with their own precedent with Glass Onion, making it the first made-for-Netflix film which will have a short (week-long) theatrical run before debuting on the streaming channel.
Glass Onion is even bigger, broader and wilder than the first film – and nearly as good. When you consider how good the first film is, that is not a bad thing. Glass Onion doesn’t quite have the freshness of the first film and occasionally seems to be trying a bit too hard, but it’s still very good. We’ll settle.
And bonus points for Glass Onion purloining its opening from the fantastic nearly forgotten 1973 whodunit film The Last of Sheila. (On the red carpet of the Philadelphia Film Festival before the screening, director Johnson told me that film is one of his favorites.) It’s also very much inspired by the Agatha Christie book (and movie) Evil Under the Sun.
Glass Onion is a modernized variation on the old standby plot of a small group of diverse people – all with some potentially sinister motives – who are stranded together when a body suddenly appears. They have no way to get away and nothing else to do but to try to find the killer.
The setting is at a huge mansion on the private island of billionaire tech tycoon Miles Bron (Edward Norton). His guests are all friends from college who have each gone on to some fame or infamy – disgraced fashion designer Birdie Jay (Kate Hudson), Connecticut governor Claire Debella (Kathryn Hahn), scientist Lionel Toussaint (Leslie Odom, Jr.), macho social media influencer Duke Cody (Dave Bautista) and Miles’ estranged business partner Andi Brand (Janelle Monáe).
Also invited is detective Blanc, although how exactly he was invited is just one of the many riddles which pop up.
What begins as a murder mystery game party quickly becomes an actual murder mystery.
The puzzle itself doesn’t always totally make sense, but it’s fast and funny and allows you to overlook the periodic plot holes. The film has as many layers as a… well glass onion… which is a huge, intricate sculpture in the mansion which keeps exposing little quirks as you look at it from different angles.
As any good mystery should.
Johnson is already at work on a third film in the series, and Netflix has said they are open to as many films as can be put together. (And since his inspiration Agatha Christie wrote 80 books in about 40-50 years, as Johnson told me on the red carpet, “I'm slacking.”)
Here’s looking forward to seeing what he comes up with as he tries to catch up.
Jay S. Jacobs
Copyright ©2022 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: October 22, 2022.
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Weekly Reading Update (5/29/23)
Reviews and thoughts under the cut
Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas (7/10)
It took me a while to finish this book, but I got through it. It was a solid 7 for me, which is what I typically give average books. I think it moved way to slowly, and really could not have cared less about Dorian's whole thing, but there were parts I liked. I really enjoyed Manon's perspective—the wyverns are just so cool—I liked Aedion, and Aelin's finale was pretty good, even if I wasn't a huge fan of the build-up. I like that the romance seems to be taking a turn towards a slow burn, which I prefer infinitely to the meet-and-get-together-in-one-book approach that Maas often uses.
Island of Silence by Lisa McMann (8/10)
The first book of The Unwanteds is firmly average. It's fun to read, but it lacks something that makes it stand out, especially considering when it was published. That all changes in Island of Silence. While the first half of the book is just okay and there are some character choices that irk me, the second half is just batshit insane. All sorts of things are happening, including some great worldbuilding developments, and there's a huge plot twist at the end. It definitely makes you want to read the next book!
Code by Kathy and Brendan Reichs (8/10)
I really enjoy the Virals series. It's a candy series for me; not exactly great quality but so much fun to eat. The mysteries in these books are always so well-planned and researched; it's obvious the Reichs put a ton of effort into writing these. If you ever want to know some facts about Charleston, just read these books. I'm a fan of Tory Brennan, she's a relatable and likable protagonist, and I loved that the romantic subplot was getting more attention in this one. My one major complaint is that Tory seems to be shifting more and more in not-like-other-girls. In the first book, she at least had one other girl she was friends with/looked up to. Now most of her female interactions are limited to her dad's well-meaning but frankly idiotic girlfriend and her school bullies, which doesn't really make for an incredibly feminist narrative.
The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System Vol. 4 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu (10/10)
This book is after the main story has ceased and is a collection of short stories and extras that are basically just fanfiction. I loved it. It was cute, silly, and...steamy at times. I feel like after the third volume, which while great doesn't really have the time to delve into the main relationship, it's the perfect addition. It's pretty adorable to watch them become more comfortable around each other, and there's also some development for the secondary relationship and some side characters such as Liu Qingge and Yue Qingyuan. I enjoyed myself supremely.
Blood Bonds by J. Bree (CR, 51%)
I've made very little progress with this book since last week. I'm in no rush, and I've been craving a bit more substance. If you'd like to see my thoughts, check out the reading update from last week.
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros (CR, 25%)
This book has been hyped to the moon and back, so I'm kind of nervous! So far, it's pretty good. I like that the main character, Violet, is clever and uses that to her advantage, though I do find her personality, which is very stubborn and sassy, very similar to most other YA/NA protagonists. It's really obvious who the love interest is supposed to be, but I like him so far, and I also like that there's no instalove situation going on, even if Violet (fairly) finds him attractive. The worldbuilding is incredibly interesting—the way the dragons work and the different types are just right up my alley. I suspect that while everything right now is revolving around Violet simply living through the next three years, there's something more under the surface (there have already been hints of historical revisionism!).
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Thoughts on the Multiverse of Madness
As promised, I’m going to give a little review about Multiverse of Madness! Or, rather, a breakdown of what I thought was good, and wasn’t so good.
The Good
The fact that the plot was built around love and relationships was AWESOME. Not many comic book movies have seen that.
The acting.
Okay, Benedict is amazing. We knew that was always the case. But to do what he did, playing four different versions of Stephen that you’re able to tell apart? Talk about talented. His facial expressions and tone inflections were incredible. His voice for Sinister Strange was really neat. There was something about the pitch that I can’t quite put my finger on. It’s kind of cool and fidgety; a little creepy, which I think is what it’s supposed to be like. And he gave quite the menacing expression. Gosh, I could do a whole subcategory on facial expressions. Like, the way he looked so torn while looking at the memory. And then his steadfastness when he professed his love.
Elizabeth Olsen. Ladies and gentlemen, this woman is a superstar. Seriously. She got to really exercise her acting skills in this movie. She was demure and sweet, but was able to turn cruel and calculating on a dime. Her expressions when she was playing full-on Scarlet Witch...whooo, boy. Micro-acting for days. I hope she does more of these kinds of serious roles.
Rachel McAdams was excellent, though I wish there was a bit more of a variation between the two Christines. I think the issue was that there were only a few minutes of screentime for 616!Christine. I’ve never been able to get a good read on her. She seems to be a little aloof. 838!Christine is more businesslike, no-nonsense...most likely because she was hurt by Supreme Strange’s actions. Rachel’s subtleness 838!Christine’s transition from untrusting our Stephen to slowly warming up to him and caring about his well-being was seamless and believable. The fierceness in her voice as Christine was urging Stephen to fight was just SO powerful. It was one of my favorite acting scenes in the movie. Then, as I mentioned in my meta, her facial features as Stephen declares his love for Christine were the best. She goes from shocked to flattered to something bittersweet. Amazing scene all around.
The music battle was pretty sweet. It was super creative. I appreciated it as a music minor. I wonder what made Sam Raimi want to do it. Perhaps it was a nod to Stephen’s love of music in the first film. I will say, though, it was a bit long-winded.
Speaking of music, major points to the editor for matching up the end credit titles of Rachel with softer notes.
Stephen purposefully antagonizing Mordo was absolutely hilarious. That whole scene was.
All things Wong! Especially when trying to instruct Stephen on how to act when Wanda comes to Kamar-Taj.
Zombie!Defender scene. Though kind of freaky, it was really cool to see Stephen flex his sorcery skills. And that speech to America...
The not-so-good
It was a little too short. I didn’t feel as if enough things were developed. The first movie had about the same time limit, but it was plenty, since it was an introductory movie. This one had a lot going on, but was really fast paced. I think it could have handled at least another 15 minutes. More could have been added with the wedding, I feel.
The soundtrack was a bit lacking; not as memorable as Michael Giacchino’s awesomeness.
The trip through the multiverses was way too long. I felt a little like Stephen (well, not really).
I’d like a bit more explanation on the titles of Defender and Supreme Strange.
The Illuminati massacre. That was, uh, something. I’m not one who goes for gore, specifically with what happened to Captain Carter and Blackbolt.
The third eye, with both Stranges. I know it’s a thing in the comics, but it gave me the heebie-jeebies, especially at the end when Stephen gets it.
Whatever that was with Clea. Why did she come to 616? Last time I checked, Sinister Strange’s universe was the one with the incursion. I know he was offed by Stephen, so maybe she thinks he can help explain...? I don’t know, but it didn’t seem cohesive, even for a post-credit scene.
Overall, it was a mostly fun film. It’s not as good or solid as Doctor Strange, but it was still enjoyable. I know there have been some people who complained that it wasn’t multiverse-y enough. I think there was the right amount. My brother actually was concerned before the movie that it would be too much. He is of the opinion that, after No Way Home, Marvel was going to jump right into the Multiverse way too fast. I don’t think that’s the case yet. I’m actually kind of looking forward to Love and Thunder.
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The Defiance of Salman Rushdie
After a near-fatal stabbing—and decades of threats—the novelist speaks about writing as a death-defying act.
By David Remnick
February 6, 2023
When Salman Rushdie turned seventy-five, last summer, he had every reason to believe that he had outlasted the threat of assassination. A long time ago, on Valentine’s Day, 1989, Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, declared Rushdie’s novel “The Satanic Verses” blasphemous and issued a fatwa ordering the execution of its author and “all those involved in its publication.” Rushdie, a resident of London, spent the next decade in a fugitive existence, under constant police protection. But after settling in New York, in 2000, he lived freely, insistently unguarded. He refused to be terrorized.
There were times, though, when the lingering threat made itself apparent, and not merely on the lunatic reaches of the Internet. In 2012, during the annual autumn gathering of world leaders at the United Nations, I joined a small meeting of reporters with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the President of Iran, and I asked him if the multimillion-dollar bounty that an Iranian foundation had placed on Rushdie’s head had been rescinded. Ahmadinejad smiled with a glint of malice. “Salman Rushdie, where is he now?” he said. “There is no news of him. Is he in the United States? If he is in the U.S., you shouldn’t broadcast that, for his own safety.”
Within a year, Ahmadinejad was out of office and out of favor with the mullahs. Rushdie went on living as a free man. The years passed. He wrote book after book, taught, lectured, travelled, met with readers, married, divorced, and became a fixture in the city that was his adopted home. If he ever felt the need for some vestige of anonymity, he wore a baseball cap.
Recalling his first few months in New York, Rushdie told me, “People were scared to be around me. I thought, The only way I can stop that is to behave as if I’m not scared. I have to show them there’s nothing to be scared about.” One night, he went out to dinner with Andrew Wylie, his agent and friend, at Nick & Toni’s, an extravagantly conspicuous restaurant in East Hampton. The painter Eric Fischl stopped by their table and said, “Shouldn’t we all be afraid and leave the restaurant?”
“Well, I’m having dinner,” Rushdie replied. “You can do what you like.”
Fischl hadn’t meant to offend, but sometimes there was a tone of derision in press accounts of Rushdie’s “indefatigable presence on the New York night-life scene,” as Laura M. Holson put it in the Times. Some people thought he should have adopted a more austere posture toward his predicament. Would Solzhenitsyn have gone onstage with Bono or danced the night away at Moomba?
For Rushdie, keeping a low profile would be capitulation. He was a social being and would live as he pleased. He even tried to render the fatwa ridiculous. Six years ago, he played himself in an episode of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” in which Larry David provokes threats from Iran for mocking the Ayatollah while promoting his upcoming production “Fatwa! The Musical.” David is terrified, but Rushdie’s character assures him that life under an edict of execution, though it can be “scary,” also makes a man alluring to women. “It’s not exactly you, it’s the fatwa wrapped around you, like sexy pixie dust!” he says.
With every public gesture, it appeared, Rushdie was determined to show that he would not merely survive but flourish, at his desk and on the town. “There was no such thing as absolute security,” he wrote in his third-person memoir, “Joseph Anton,” published in 2012. “There were only varying degrees of insecurity. He would have to learn to live with that.” He well understood that his demise would not require the coördinated efforts of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or Hezbollah; a cracked loner could easily do the job. “But I had come to feel that it was a very long time ago, and that the world moves on,” he told me.
In September, 2021, Rushdie married the poet and novelist Rachel Eliza Griffiths, whom he’d met six years earlier, at a pen event. It was his fifth marriage, and a happy one. They spent the pandemic together productively. By last July, Rushdie had made his final corrections on a new novel, titled “Victory City.”
One of the sparks for the novel was a trip decades ago to the town of Hampi, in South India, the site of the ruins of the medieval Vijayanagara empire. “Victory City,” which is presented as a recovered medieval Sanskrit epic, is the story of a young girl named Pampa Kampana, who, after witnessing the death of her mother, acquires divine powers and conjures into existence a glorious metropolis called Bisnaga, in which women resist patriarchal rule and religious tolerance prevails, at least for a while. The novel, firmly in the tradition of the wonder tale, draws on Rushdie’s readings in Hindu mythology and in the history of South Asia.
“The first kings of Vijayanagara announced, quite seriously, that they were descended from the moon,” Rushdie said. “So when these kings, Harihara and Bukka, announce that they’re members of the lunar dynasty, they’re basically associating themselves with those great heroes. It’s like saying, ‘I’ve descended from the same family as Achilles.’ Or Agamemnon. And so I thought, Well, if you could say that, I can say anything.”
Above all, the book is buoyed by the character of Pampa Kampana, who, Rushdie says, “just showed up in my head” and gave him his story, his sense of direction. The pleasure for Rushdie in writing the novel was in “world building” and, at the same time, writing about a character building that world: “It’s me doing it, but it’s also her doing it.” The pleasure is infectious. “Victory City” is an immensely enjoyable novel. It is also an affirmation. At the end, with the great city in ruins, what is left is not the storyteller but her words:
I, Pampa Kampana, am the author of this book.
I have lived to see an empire rise and fall.
How are they remembered now, these kings, these queens?
They exist now only in words . . .
I myself am nothing now. All that remains is this city of words.
Words are the only victors.
It is hard not to read this as a credo of sorts. Over the years, Rushdie’s friends have marvelled at his ability to write amid the fury unleashed on him. Martin Amis has said that, if he were in his shoes, “I would, by now, be a tearful and tranquilized three-hundred-pounder, with no eyelashes or nostril hairs.” And yet “Victory City” is Rushdie’s sixteenth book since the fatwa.
He was pleased with the finished manuscript and was getting encouragement from friends who had read it. (“I think ‘Victory City’ will be one of his books that will last,” the novelist Hari Kunzru told me.) During the pandemic, Rushdie had also completed a play about Helen of Troy, and he was already toying with an idea for another novel. He’d reread Thomas Mann’s “The Magic Mountain” and Franz Kafka’s “The Castle,” novels that deploy a naturalistic language to evoke strange, hermetic worlds—an alpine sanatorium, a remote provincial bureaucracy. Rushdie thought about using a similar approach to create a peculiar imaginary college as his setting. He started keeping notes. In the meantime, he looked forward to a peaceful summer and, come winter, a publicity tour to promote “Victory City.”
On August 11th, Rushdie arrived for a speaking engagement at the Chautauqua Institution, situated on an idyllic property bordering a lake in southwestern New York State. There, for nine weeks every summer, a prosperous crowd intent on self-improvement and fresh air comes to attend lectures, courses, screenings, performances, and readings. Chautauqua has been a going concern since 1874. Franklin Roosevelt delivered his “I hate war” speech there, in 1936. Over the years, Rushdie has occasionally suffered from nightmares, and a couple of nights before the trip he dreamed of someone, “like a gladiator,” attacking him with “a sharp object.” But no midnight portent was going to keep him home. Chautauqua was a wholesome venue, with cookouts, magic shows, and Sunday school. One donor described it to me as “the safest place on earth.”
Rushdie had agreed to appear onstage with his friend Henry Reese. Eighteen years ago, Rushdie helped Reese raise funds to create City of Asylum, a program in Pittsburgh that supports authors who have been driven into exile. On the morning of August 12th, Rushdie had breakfast with Reese and some donors on the porch of the Athenaeum Hotel, a Victorian pile near the lake. At the table, he told jokes and stories, admitting that he sometimes ordered books from Amazon even if he felt a little guilty about it. With mock pride, he bragged about his speed as a signer of books, though he had to concede that Amy Tan was quicker: “But she has an advantage, because her name is so short.”
A crowd of more than a thousand was gathering at the amphitheatre. It was shorts-and-polo-shirt weather, sunny and clear. On the way into the venue, Reese introduced Rushdie to his ninety-three-year-old mother, and then they headed for the greenroom to spend time organizing their talk. The plan was to discuss the cultural hybridity of the imagination in contemporary literature, show some slides and describe City of Asylum, and, finally, open things up for questions.
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(The post I wanted to put is most likely far too long for Tumblr, a mircoblogging website-- what? who said, what a dick! Anyways, here's a condensed version, as best as i can, of that post. there are spoilers below, so play the complete game before reading.)
the final horizion update was finally released last night at about 20.10pm (it was late, it left players confused on wtf was taking so long), and i almost fell asleep playing, again, but thats not the point. i use the nintendo switch to play Sonic Frontiers, and i have 110+ hrs of game time, and my save file had 75+ hrs on it. we've been hungry, "hangry" even, but i assure you, we shall all feast such a divine one.
except for me, i wont be fully enjoying it yet. my plates in the fridge marked "plz dont eat :3"
back in february when i finally got the game, for $50 lol, i remember spending the whole month on this game, hours spent every night i played, being one of the lucky ones, veterans now, who've waited through the year, hungering, yearning for the next updates to come for. lemme tell you, the Sonic Team "grill masters" (- someone on twitter, 2023) cooked, and that moment when the update finished installing, and i saw that glorious "Another Story has opened up on Ouranos" booting up the game was an exhilarating feeling. it was weird that Another Story was a proper noun. i didnt know what to expect, but I was excited anyway to see where I would go from there.
unfortunately, the mystery and wonder was kinda removed due to the prior knowledge of Tails, Knux, and Amy (my girl returneth!) being playable again, the final boss changing, and now something huge is happening with Ouranos, which is the access point to the Another Story portion of the game via a giant ring (they bought the warp ring back!)
however, before entering the ring, the game prompts you with a long warning message that game progress will be halted, and recommends completing the game first before returning here as it uses your current save slot.
the way i see it, the AS acts like a parallel universe; the game's timeline splits after Rhea. the normal timeline is Sonic going about collecting the emeralds again, and eventually fighting Supreme and The End (ive never heard Vandalize in-game before cuz ive only played on hard mode, a small price to pay for being a chad gamer).
this new timeline, the AS, is where after teleporting to Ouranos, Sage pulls a godtier move and is like "ayo lemme pull this godtier move real quick" and frees Sonic's friends, though still in their mid-dimensional forms, so they can collect the Chaos Emeralds (which are in different places than the vaults of the prime timeline). there are also more towers that just appeared on Ouranos, so my first thought was "oh my god they recombined Kronos, Rhea, and Ouranos, so thats why the towers are here", but no, it's apparently reserved for something relating to the four Titans; "memorials" as Sage put it in the release trailer.
my reaction is still mixed on this, but i understand why they made a split like this; to keep the old and merge the new without changing much. i thought they would completely change the last fifth of the game to just be the AS portion, but no, it's just... Another Story. another book to read after this one that details specific and canon events that arent told in the first material.
i played until i got to Knuckles' first time around the island. here the game mentions that you'll be able to swap characters later which im hoping this function is relegated to the dpad. its right there, four buttons, four characters, they couldn't have missed an opportunity as such.
playing as Tails will be lit, but somethings that bothered me were
Amy jumps like shes in Cyberspace so turning is fucked, and
the controls for input feel slightly delayed; Amy's Card Attack combo is the weirdest thing because to execute the third attack, the spin, youre required to press your attack button consecutively AND in a consistent three beat tempo.
i was stuck trying to figure this out. a button pressed counts as the button comes upwards, after being pushed down, to make a click sound (for my gamecube pro-controller which was what i used during my time through the game). it requires a "full A press", not a half. Sonic, in the last update and the short time I played as him before Another Story, didnt have these problems.
update 10/1/23: spoiler alert, i made the executive decision to can my save data ("dad-uh") just so i could start again. its an extreme compared to, yknow, just starting a new save SLOT, but i wanted just ONE save slot, and only one. im ocd like that, but im not diagnosed. its a joke. im sure, until a doctor says something that it. btw i started fresh. im about two hours in and Sonic still controls just fine imo
the Cyberspace jumping makes some sort of sense because Amy is still between dimensions. still sucks to control though. the input delay i will not understand and im not sure they'll go back and fix this any time soon.
so that just leaves me: only able have to eat the scraps and leftovers and cant eat with everyone else who finished this portion the day of. an exaggeration probably, but people have told me "oh yeah i finished that game in a day", the base game, casually.
look.
kronos island time of completion (b4 moving on to ares), 7:58:54
ares island time of completion (b4 moving on to chaos), 20:00:28
chaos island time of completion (b4 moving on), 36:15:54
rhea island time of completion, 37:00:26
ouranos island/end time of completion, 48:50:33
my intrinsic explorative gameplay style caused what was about ~20hrs for most other people to be almost 50hrs for me my first time, again spread through a month. the game was said to be 20-60hrs so i guess they were right, but if this new game section takes ~3hrs, it would take me 10-20. more accurately im a completionist type of guy. when i wasnt in Cyberspace i was going around the islands solving puzzles, fighting Guardians, experiencing Starfalls (Starfall+ goes WAY too hard, btw whats with all the + signs, there are new guardians, i saw a Spider+ which is white coloured and shot lots of missiles at me) so i could go fishing with my man Big, which also bumped up my game time, and finding Koco around the map which were probably the biggest contributor why I capped my adventure at 48 hours.
(^ my intrinsic explorative gameplay style likely caused by who else?)
they werent necessary for 100%, even Update 2 doesnt list them as needed but i went for as many as i could just because i wanted to. as for my time in post-game, it was spent fishing, rerunning Cyberspace stages, particularly 4-2, finding Koco in places i missed when I thought id been everywhere (and i mean EVERYwhere). all other time was just spent running and rolling by the time Update 2 came out.
im a bit bummed that i lost my first ever save. i wont be able to look back and show people "this was the file i sank all my time and love into because i only played through the game once and never looked back", but going through again is both refreshing and will be unsurprising since i will know the events. it wont be like majoras mask not playing for eight years. its like kid icarus uprising, where I never knew what was happening next, and i would send my friend who loaned me the game accurate memes relating to the chapter i just finished (big surprise, chapter 6 is my most played chapter). i was all like "wooooah, that happened and oooooh"
thankfully, i still have my scrapbook, i.e. the photos and videos i took via the switch's capture button, stringing together my first moments ("you. leave. immediately." - Sage) to the end ("so... that was fun!" - Sonic). i should compile them into video form. maybe this will be good. God knows im far too late and cant recover anything, so heres to a clean slate to new Frontiers.
(also you still cant manually delete saves. i tweeted to the game director Morio Kishimoto about it, hoping something that i said could change something i want to be better)
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Like fine wine gaining depth, strength, and taste, so is Grammy-winning comedian, actor, writer, director, cannabis activist, Tommy Chong. After a lifetime of adoring this man and his art, having spent countless hours laughing over and over and over again at his funny, I’ve been struck by his warmth, generosity, intelligence, centeredness, spirituality, self-awareness, business acumen, and intuitive good sense, since first meeting him in the parking lot of a Chinese restaurant 3 years ago. This Tommy––a pandemic, a book, tango lessons, massive product output, and some health issues later, I found to be even more thoughtful, profound, emotional, and vulnerable. I sit here reflecting, very moved. What a beautiful thing.
Before we went Live we talked about last weekend’s Willie Nelson 90th Birthday Celebration and why he and Cheech weren’t there. Of course, they were asked! A work conflict prevented it - but man! That’s the only topper I could imagine for those 2 nights. Talk about a match striking weed heaven!
We began with his drop-dead gorgeous wife Shelby, who continues to defy age and gravity. It’s inconceivable that this knock-out has been with Tommy for 50+ years and they have a 50-something daughter to prove it. His respect, adoration, and appreciation of her after all these years is admirable and enviable.
We talked at great length about Tommy's very humble beginnings, his mother's illness leading him and his siblings to a year plus in a children's home. Returning to his own with nary electricity, let alone a telephone, or a toy. They made their own. Thus, the imagination. And, he played house with the girls, hour after hour, day after day. Thus, the beginning days of honing his improv skills.
From his early career as a guitarist, getting signed by Berry Gordy, discovering the Jackson 5, following them on the bill, writing a hit, having it covered by the Supremes, owning a club, seeing The Committee, and redirecting himself to Improv... how Cheech and Chong began. Tommy takes us through those very early daze, to Up in Smoke, landing with the iconic, Dave's not here!
We talked about his getting erroneously busted, copping a plea, and doing the time because it was something he was meant to do. Being of service, the I Ching, redirecting thought, seeing things through, and getting them done. We talked pot, of course... as a medicinal tool which he claims, along with traditional treatment helped him beat cancer, twice. His cannabis business, which almost and may still go public, and his thoughts on the state of politics and what has to happen.
What I came away with is if I could accomplish what Tommy has and continues to, I’d still be smoking the whacky weed. Nah! Not for me. But damn, the man has done so much and had such enormous success, with all the weed. How the hell does he focus? I’m sitting here sober as a straight grandma and I’m distracted and paused at every turn.
There was a certain wistful sadness underlying the stories and the funny. A man in the third chapter, as I believe he called it, accepting that the best is in the past. I trust there’s more greatness and creativity to emerge. And, who knows, maybe he’ll save the very best for last. With Tommy’s energy, passion, and vitality, it’ll no doubt be a long way away.
Tommy Chong Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson
Wed, May 3rd, 5 pm PT, 8 pm ET
Streamed Live on The Facebook
Replay here:
#CheechAndChong, #UpInSmoke, #TommyChong, #Weed, #Pot, #Marijuana, #CheechMarin,
#GameChangersWithVickiAbelson, #VickiAbelson, #GameChangers, #podcast, #inspirationalpodcast, #Celebrity, #FacebookLive, #Talkshow #Chat #Live #pandemic, #comedy, #music, #talk, #community, #caring, #sharing, #sharingiscaring,#streaminglive
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“Youth Convicted of Armed Robbery Netting Him 15 Cents,” Windsor Star. January 23, 1942. Page 5 & 16.
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Harry Trupp Faces Jail
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Awaits Sentence for Holdup Which Proved Costly
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Harry Trupp 19, Wellington avenue, was convicted by a jury at the Winter Assizes here Thursday afternoon of the armed robbery in Windsor of Nicholas Zawerski, farmer, Third Concession, R.R.I, on December 29 last.
SENTENCE DEFERRED
Mr. Justice J. Keiller MacKay said he would defer sentence until the end of the present sittings of the Supreme Court. Maximum penalty for armed robbery is life imprisonment. The robbery netted Trupp 15 cents.
Joseph Kovach, 19, Crawford avenue, who was tried with Trupp on the same charge, was acquitted by the jury. The jury added a recommendation that Kovach should be placed on probation.
"I suppose the verdict of not guilty demands his discharge," said His Lordship.
"Yes, my Lord," said Lorne S. Cummins, who had appeared for Kovach, adding that he did not know what the recommendation of the jury meant that his client should be placed on probation.
ADDRESSES KOVACH
Requesting Kovach to stand. Mr. Justice MacKay addressed him at some length.
"Ordinarily when the jury acquit it is not my custom to address any remarks to the person so acquitted," said His Lordship. "But the Jury have made a recommendation here which I cannot see fit to disregard. The jury have taken a lenient view and have acquitted you. On the evidence they might very well have convicted you. That, however, they did not do and I have nothing more to say about that.
"But I do say that enough evidence ha fallen from your own lips to convince me that you are on the highroad to disaster and, if you continue in the coarse that you are pursuing, I can see nothing or yon other than that you will probably be here again on a much graver charge than yon are today, although this is a very crave charge.”
ROAD TO GALLOWS
Such conduct as you are pursuing is the conduct that leads directly to the gallows. I hope that these words of mine will be remembered by you and will sink into your conscience and that you will decide to shake yourself clear of bad association and frequenting houses of such character as we have heard about in this trial.
"You have had a fair trial; you have had a very able defence, I have nothing farther to say to you other than to remind you that doubtless the people who are charged with keeping the peace in this community will keep a prudent eye in your direction hereafter. You are discharged."
After Kovach had left the court room, His Lordship, in addressing the jury on the verdict and thanking them for their labour, observed that “it may be that there was an element of doubt which operated in your mind.”
Trial of the case late Wednesday afternoon, the first of six of criminal cases in which the grand jury brought in true bills on Tuesday. Both Trupp and Kovach pleaded not guilty. While Kovach was represented by Mr. Cumming, Trupp conducted his own defence.
ZAWERSKI'S EVIDENCE
Zawerski. first Crown witness called. who gave his evidence through an interpreter, said that he was at a local hotel on the evening of December 28 and got into a fight and was on the way to the police station to make a complaint when he was held up by accused and robbed. He said that after leaving the hotel, he noticed he was followed by two men. and while crossing a vacant lot opposite the city of market he was knocked down. "Then I was picked up by the collar by Trupp. He pointed a shining object at me. Then he said, 'Give me your money.
"I told him I only had 15 cents and a pocket book. He said, ‘I want that.' Trupp took the 15 cents. I handed over to him what I had." Zawerski charged that Kovach then went through his pockets. "Immediately after that, one ran one way and the other ran the other way. Then I began to yell."
Cross-questioned by counsel. Zawerski admitted that while he had not made any trouble and had been struck in the mouth. This was his reason for going to the police station to make a complaint. The complainant said that he had never seen the accused until shortly after midnight, when they left the hotel at about the same time.
HARRY KRUG
Harry Krug, 27, 1380 Moy avenue, a newsboy, testified that he had seen the holdup. "He had a gun in his hand and stuck him up."
Asked who by counsel. Krug said. "That guy," indicating Trupp, sitting at counsel's table. "That's what 1 seen; I'm not lying." During the tak ing of evidence, Trupp made copious notes at counsel's table and cross examined Crown witnesses.
"Did you see two of them?" His Lordship asked.
"I seen both of them. I ain't going to lie."
Krug said that he was accompanying Zawerski to the police station to be of assistance and to show him the way. "We all went along together. About four of as. My idea was to take him down to the police station." Questioned about statements he had made in police court at the first hearing of the ease, Krug declared emphatically, "I did say that. Cross my heat and spit in my eye.’ Both his Lordship, the crown attorney and members of the jury were seen to hide smiles.
OFFICERS TESTIFY
Police officers who gave evidence In court testified that later In the day following his arrest, Trupp said he had taken "some papers, wallet and small amount of money" from the complainant, but said he "did not have a gun at the time." Trupp said that he had obtained the gun later. He had turned over a gun to the police shortly after his arrest.
DENIED BY KOVACH
Kovach on the witness stand denied that he had taken part in the robbery or gone through the pockets of Zawerski. He said he had seen the complainant on the evening of December 28 at a local hotel and Zawerski had asked the accused to take him to the police station. Kovach said he had walked along behind Zawerski about 50 feet and then as soon as he had seen the complainant knocked a own he had walked away. He had seen nothing of Krug, the newsboy.
"You say you were walking 25 feet behind Zawerski?" asked Crown Attorney James S. Allan in cross-examination.
"Yes."
"Can you show us how far back that is in this courtroom?"
Kovach indicated the distance to counsel's table.
NO REASON FOR RUNNING
Asked why he ran away when he saw Zawerski knocked down, Kovach could give no reason. He was also asked both by his counsel and by His Lordship then as to why he ran away. Finally he said be did not want to get into trouble.
"If you are a decent, honest, law- abiding citizen, why do you run away and hide?" Kovach did not answer.
"If you saw someone murdered, would you run away? Do you think your actions are those of a person with a clear conscience?"
"Not exactly," confessed Kovach.
At this point Mr. Cumming asked Kovach if he told the authorities what happened.
"Yes."
Crown counsel interjected that Kovach had not done this until after his arrest.
His Lordship then asked the a ceased if he had been going around with Trupp a long time. His reply to His Lordship was too low to be heard.
COUNSEL'S ADDRESS
In his address to the jury, Mr. Cumming said the case was one which had to be decided solely on the evidence. It was the duty of the Crown to show that the accused was guilty beyond reasonable doubt. And there was a very serious doubt as to whether there was one man or two in the robbery. While he would not say that Zawerski was untruthful in his allegations, he undoubtedly was wrought up; he had been hit and he had been drinking.
While counsel said that he could not condone Kovach running away when he had seen a man knocked down, he reminded the jury that Kovach was "but a kid." He questioned whether because of his youth he had the appreciation of his responsibilities and privileges in society which an older person would have. It was not safe to convict alone on the evidence of the complainant, he added.
During most of the address of his counsel, Kovach leaned forward in the prisoner's dock with his head between his hands below the rail so that he was scarcely visible.
The jury retired at 3:40 p.m. to consider its verdict and returned at 5.10 p.m.
Members of the jury follow: John G. Swann. Henry Archibald, Langton Capstick, Leonard Campbell. Richard Boose, Earl CaWer, Hugh White, Alfred H. Poole. Ernest Sauve, William E. Lambier, Laurent LaChance and George Gignac.
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the first three books are perfect and glorious in each of their own ways, but The Penderwicks in Spring is on a whole other LEVEL.
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