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gollancz · 1 year

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Why I'm Not Allowed On Twitter Unsupervised Any More: A Photo Essay

Key Notes:

Since this was posted I discovered that the books had briefly been available in the UK under the name Peter Beagle rather than Peter S. Beagle in the mid-90s, which is why they didn't show up on the British Library search

The article by Tor.com @torbooks: Peter S. Beagle Has Finally Regained the Rights to His Body of Work

If you want our gorgeous limited edition, I believe there are still a handful left (except for the US and Canada, sorry lads), and you can get it here. I'm not kidding when I say I got a little teary-eyed when these showed up.

[Image Description: A tweet thread from the Gollancz twitter dated 20th July 2022, which goes as follows -

Tweet 1: You may have seen that we're printing a Brand New Edition of The Last Unicorn. We're very excited! I was asked to tweet about it. I wasn't asked to do it quite like this, but I also wasn't asked NOT to do it like this, and I have the twitter login so whose fault is that? (Thread emoji, and gif from the film Scream reading 'The Call is coming from inside the house!')

Tweet 2: Imagine, if you will, you are a small child in the UK during the late 80s/early 90s. You might look a bit like this, or you might have had parents who didn't choose suffering (ask my mum about The Saga of the Hat) (an image of a small girl approximately 3 years old wearing a blue dress and a big white hat)

Tweet 3: Imagine you have a cool older cousin, one who, as you get age, introduces you to fantasy films like Ladyhawk and The Princess Bride and has a post the whole family knows as 'the vampire and the naked lady'. She's extremely responsible for the way you turn out as an adult.

Tweet 4: One year, for your birthday, this cousin buys you a video. It's the first video that is yours, not to share. It has a bright yellow cover. The butterfly scares you. But you watch it on a loop. You don't realise how special it is, but it's a seed that burrows into your brain. (An image of a VHS of The Last Unicorn)

Tweet 5: A decade or so later, in your teens, you rediscover it. None of your friends have heard of it, despite also being fantasy-inclined. That's odd, you think. Is this an outlandishly weird title? Then you get older and you realise: no, it isn't. (Principal Skinner meme reading 'Am I out of touch? No, it's the people who don't know about The Last Unicorn who are wrong')

Tweet 6: Time and tech march on, you get a DVD of the film. You realise it's got Christopher Lee in it! And Angela Lansbury! Your mum tries to get you to listen to songs by America other than the soundtrack, but the only one that really sticks is the other one they did about a horse. (Gif of Walter White from Breaking Bad singing along to Horse With No Name)

Tweet 7: You realise that the film is based on a book. Like The Princess Bride, which you've also read (after spending longer than you're proud of trying to find an unabridged edition). 'Neat,' you think, 'I'll have to read that!'

Tweet 8: And then you can't find it. Because, as mentioned previously, you're in the UK. The Last Unicorn was published for the first time in 1968. But, if you look at the British Library's National Bibliography (super neat resource btw), that was, uh, about it. (screenshot of the search results from the National Bibliography showing four editions of The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle, one from Gollancz in 2022, one from IDW in 2019, one from Tachyon Publications in 2018, and one from Bodley Head in 1968)

Tweet 9: The Tachyon edition is the unfinished first draft of the story. The IDW edition is a gorgeous graphic novel. But in terms of the novel? I don't know how many reprints it had (if anyone knows, I'd love to find out), but there's a good chance it went out of print in the 70s.

Tweet 10: The film, however, was released in 1982. Although it didn't make it to the UK until 1986. Conservative estimates could put that between 10 and 15 years since the book was last available in the UK. This gives you a generation in the UK who only know the story through the film! (A screenshot of the IMDB page showing the different release dates for The Last Unicorn around the world)

Tweet 11: The screenplay was written by Peter S. Beagle, and made by the legendary animation directors Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass. That's right, the guys behind Thundercats and 2 out of the 3 films based on The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

Tweet 12: The Book has been in print in the USA (and possibly all of North America) constantly since its publication, so it seems baffling that people in the UK haven't heard of it. As the internet became more prominent, however, it became easier to just... import a copy of the book.

Tweet 13: But! This also isn't quite as simple as you think. You see, until last year the rights to The Last Unicorn were tied up in legal limbo. And the US edition of the book contained changes that Peter wasn't happy with. (Link to the Tor.com article about the rights)

Tweet 14: Back to you, the 80s/90s kid, who is now an adult, happy that unicorns are A Thing again and you're living your best life. You're very easy to buy presents for. Your partner despairs of unicorns. You get a job working in books about magic and space. (unicorn emoji and photograph of a collection of unicorn memorabilia, including three different versions of The Last Unicorn)

Tweet 15: You mention that one day you would like to publish The Last Unicorn. That if you did, you would like to do a really beautiful edition of it. And you would like it to be purple. Because since the film is what you know, you associate it with purple.

Tweet 16: And, after taking a very circuitous route, here we are! This is the original text, that was first published in 1968. Reading it after you have only seen the film is the strangest experience - like being introduced to a very dear friend that you have never met before.

Tweet 17: Peter's screenplay kept the voice of the story so well, you can hear the characters when you read the book. But now there's so much more depth, softness and warmth to it. The butterfly doesn't seem so scary any more. And, it's beautiful. And it's purple. (Image of a hardback edition of The Last Unicorn, with a black base, purple background, and a linocut image of the unicorn in her wood. On the black cover underneath is a foiled unicorn with the moon and butterfly, the page edges are sprayed purple, and the endpapers are black with silver butterflies)

Tweet 18: Anyway, I've taken you on a three day trip that could have been done in a single tweet, but that's what happens when you let me drive. This edition is the limited exclusive one only available through the Gollancz Emporium and you can preorder here: (link to Gollancz Emporium)

Tweet 19: But there is also a standard edition available through all booksellers! You'll be getting the author's preferred text, with an introduction from Patrick Rothfuss. There's also a brand new audiobook and it will be available in eBook for the first time ever.

Tweet 20: It's like going from famine to feast, and I wasn't able to talk about this for months so now I am able to talk about it, I'm going to make the social media team cry. UNICORNS. SPECIAL EDITION. PURPLE. The End.

Tweet 21: Additional behind the scenes bonus detail - I did take this cover to the art meaning while wearing a unicorn onesie.

Tweet 22: The comms team wrestling me away from the twitter account: (gif of Ross from Friends shouting 'Stop typing! Stop typing!')

End ID]

#The Last Unicorn #Peter S. Beagle #Gollancz Blogging #Twitter Threads #Books #Long Post

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goldenphoenix4 · 2 months

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✨ 911 astrology ✨

athena: march 22, 1968 (ARIES)

may: december 29th, 2001 (CAPRICORN)

harry: february 7th, 2009 (AQUARIUS)

chim: october 20th, 1977 (LIBRA)

bobby: unknown date, 1968

buck: unknown date, either 1991 or 1992

hen: unknown date, either 1978 or 1979

maddie: unknown date, 1984

eddie: unknown date, 1992

chris: unknown date, 2011

albert: unknown date, 2000

tommy: unknown date, 1984

ravi: unknown date, unknown year

(((this is all according to the fandom wiki)))

#911 #911 on abc #911 memes #astrology #athena grant #bobby nash #evan buckley #hen wilson #chimney han #maddie buckley #eddie diaz #may grant #harry grant #christoper diaz #albert han #tommy kinard #ravi panikkar

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ausetkmt · 1 year

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Black women have made important contributions to the United States throughout its history. However, they are not always recognized for their efforts, with some remaining anonymous and others becoming famous for their achievements. In the face of gender and racial bias, Black women have broken barriers, challenged the status quo, and fought for equal rights for all. The accomplishments of Black female historical figures in politics, science, the arts, and more continue to impact society.

Marian Anderson (Feb. 27, 1897–April 8, 1993)

Underwood Archives / Getty Images

Contralto Marian Anderson is considered one of the most important singers of the 20th century. Known for her impressive three-octave vocal range, she performed widely in the U.S. and Europe, beginning in the 1920s. She was invited to perform at the White House for President Franklin Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt in 1936, the first African American so honored. Three years later, after the Daughters of the American Revolution refused to allow Anderson to sing at a Washington, D.C. gathering, the Roosevelts invited her to perform on the steps of the Lincon Memorial.

Anderson continued to sing professionally until the 1960s when she became involved in politics and civil rights issues. Among her many honors, Anderson received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963 and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1991.

Mary McLeod Bethune (July 10, 1875–May 18, 1955)

PhotoQuest / Getty Images

Mary McLeod Bethune was an African American educator and civil rights leader best known for her work co-founding the Bethune-Cookman University in Florida. Born into a sharecropping family in South Carolina, the young Bethune had a zest for learning from her earliest days. After stints teaching in Georgia, she and her husband moved to Florida and eventually settled in Jacksonville. There, she founded the Daytona Normal and Industrial Institute in 1904 to provide education for Black girls. It merged with the Cookman Institute for Men in 1923, and Bethune served as president for the next two decades.

A passionate philanthropist, Bethune also led civil rights organizations and advised Presidents Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, and Franklin Roosevelt on African American issues. In addition, President Harry Truman invited her to attend the founding convention of the United Nations; she was the only African American delegate to attend.

Shirley Chisholm (Nov. 30, 1924–Jan. 1, 2005)

Don Hogan Charles / Getty Images

Shirley Chisholm is best known for her 1972 bid to win the Democratic presidential nomination; she was the first Black woman to make this attempt in a major political party. However, she had been active in state and national politics for more than a decade and had represented parts of Brooklyn in the New York State Assembly from 1965 to 1968. She became the first Black woman to serve in Congress in 1968. During her tenure, she co-founded the Congressional Black Caucus. Chisholm left Washington in 1983 and devoted the rest of her life to civil rights and women's issues.

Althea Gibson (Aug. 25, 1927–Sept. 28, 2003)

Reg Speller / Getty Images

Althea Gibson started playing tennis as a child in New York City, winning her first tennis tournament at age 15. She dominated the American Tennis Association circuit, reserved for Black players, for more than a decade. In 1950, Gibson broke the tennis color barrier at Forest Hills Country Club (site of the U.S. Open); the following year, she became the first African American to play at Wimbledon in Great Britain. Gibson continued to excel at the sport, winning both amateur and professional titles through the early 1960s.

Dorothy Height (March 24, 1912–April 20, 2010)

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

Dorothy Height has been described as the godmother of the women's movement because of her work for gender equality. For four decades, she led the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW )and was a leading figure in the 1963 March on Washington. Height began her career as an educator in New York City, where her work caught the attention of Eleanor Roosevelt. Beginning in 1957, she led the NCNW and also advised the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA). She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994.

Rosa Parks (Feb. 4, 1913–Oct. 24, 2005)

Underwood Archives / Getty Images

Rosa Parks became active in the Alabama civil rights movement after marrying activist Raymond Parks in 1932. She joined the Montgomery, Alabama, chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1943 and was involved in much of the planning that went into the famous bus boycott that began the following decade. Parks is best known for her December 1, 1955, arrest for refusing to give up her bus seat to a White rider. That incident sparked the 381-day Montgomery Bus Boycott, which eventually desegregated that city's public transit. Parks and her family moved to Detroit in 1957, and she remained active in civil rights until her death.

Augusta Savage (Feb. 29, 1892–March 26, 1962)

Archive Photos / Sherman Oaks Antique Mall / Getty Images

Augusta Savage displayed an artistic aptitude from her youngest days. Encouraged to develop her talent, she enrolled in New York City's Cooper Union to study art. She earned her first commission, a sculpture of civil rights leader W.E.B. Du Bois, from the New York library system in 1921, and several other commissions followed. Despite meager resources, she continued working through the Great Depression, making sculptures of several notable Black people, including Frederick Douglass and W. C. Handy. Her best-known work, "The Harp," was featured at the 1939 World's Fair in New York, but it was destroyed after the fair ended.

Harriet Tubman (1822–March 20, 1913)

Library of Congress

Enslaved from birth in Maryland, Harriet Tubman escaped to freedom in 1849. The year after she arrived in Philadelphia, Tubman returned to Maryland to free her family members. Over the next 12 years, she returned nearly 20 times, helping more than 300 enslaved Black people escape bondage by ushering them along the Underground Railroad. The "railroad" was the nickname for a secret route that enslaved Black people used to flee the South for anti-slavery states in the North and to Canada. During the Civil War, Tubman worked as a nurse, a scout, and a spy for Union forces. After the war, she worked to establish schools for formerly enslaved people in South Carolina. In her later years, Tubman also became involved in women's rights causes.

Phillis Wheatley (May 8, 1753–Dec. 5, 1784)

Culture Club/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Born in Africa, Phillis Wheatley came to the U.S. at age 8, when she was captured and sold into enslavement. John Wheatley, the Boston man who enslaved her, was impressed by Phillis' intellect and interest in learning, and he and his wife taught her to read and write. The Wheatleys allowed Phillis time to pursue her studies, which led her to develop an interest in poetry writing. A poem she published in 1767 earned her much acclaim. Six years later, her first volume of poems was published in London, and she became known in both the U.S. and the United Kingdom. The Revolutionary War disrupted Wheatley's writing, however, and she was not widely published after it ended.

Charlotte Ray (Jan. 13, 1850–Jan. 4, 1911)

Charlotte Ray has the distinction of being the first African American woman lawyer in the United States and the first woman admitted to the bar in the District of Columbia. Her father, active in New York City's Black community, made sure his young daughter was well educated; she received her law degree from Howard University in 1872 and was admitted to the Washington, D.C., bar shortly afterward. Both her race and gender proved to be obstacles in her professional career, and she eventually became a teacher in New York City instead.

#10 of the Most Important Black Women in U.S. History #Black Women #Black Women Matter #Black Lives Matter #us history

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k1ranishf4 · 1 year

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My Lawyer Dio AU

I just want to clarify that I looked the characters up and researched if their birthdays were established. I’m keeping the canon ones and just made up some for those who don’t have a specified birthday.

We all know that Dio finished law school by the time he was 20 or 21 years old and 120/121 by the time Giorno was four. So I’ll just take this and move everything to the “modern” time.

Which basically means that Jonathan and Dio were born in 1967/68 instead of 1867/68.

But first of all, I’d like to specify that Stands still exist and Jonathan has his wonderful Hermit Purple but with roses. I’ll come up with a name later, I guess.

Also, since Jonathan is very much alive, Dio has his own body and is therefore still his canon height (185cm/6 ft 1 in)

To elaborate further:

Jonathan was born on April 4, 1968

He was 20 in Part 1, so I’ll just keep that in this AU as well. Only difference is that it’s 1989.

Now, I like to think that Dio’s older despite coming to the family later, which is really funny. Like, imagine you’re an only child until one day your father adopts a boy who’s like a year older than you and you end up having an older brother who’s the total opposite of you.

Since there’s no specific birthday, I’ll just make something up. Sooo… Dio: January 2, 1967

Obviously, this is also mudad, so I’m keeping his sons’ canon birth dates. But this also brings a few issues, if you will.

Giorno was born on April 16, 1985, which means that Dio was 18 when our Disney Princess was born.

He’s canonically a manwhore and I don’t intend on changing that anytime soon. He simply fucked around a lot in his last year of high school and the entirety of law school and ended impregnating four women.

I’ve checked and there aren’t canon birthdays for the other three, as well. All we know are their birth years. More to come up with for me.

Donatello: March 12, 1987

The thing is, despite being born in the same year, I like the thought of Rikiel being a few months older than Ungalo even tho he’s the local crybaby at home.

Rikiel: February 25, 1988

Ungalo: September 10, 1988

Now, Dio’s not the only one with children and I want to include George II and Erina too. George II’s canon birth year is 1889, so I’ll keep that as well but it’ll mean that Giorno, Donatello, Rikiel and Ungalo are older than him.

Since he doesn’t have a specific birthday, I’ll just add nine months to Jonathan’s canon date of death, which is February 7, 1889.

George II: November 11, 1989

Guess what, Erina also doesn’t have a specified birthday!! We only know that it’s some time in 1869. Hmmmmmm…..

I want her birthday to be in June, to be honest.

Erina: June 26, 1969

Let’s not forget the grandpa, of course. The only thing I’ve found out is that he died in 1888. I want him to be 45, which would mean that he’d be born in 1843.

So, we’ll just take that and move it to the 20th century and we get May 16, 1943.

To summarize:

George I: May 16, 1943

Jonathan: April 4, 1968

Dio: January 2, 1967

Erina: June 26, 1969

Giorno: April 16, 1985

Donatello: March 12, 1987

Rikiel: February 25, 1988

Ungalo: September 10, 1988

George II: November 12, 1989

Let’s get to how our local hoe finds out about his sons. As I’ve already mentioned, Dio was 18 when Giorno was born but he didn’t know and obviously didn’t get custody right then.

It went like this:

Homeboy was sitting in his study in the year 1990 and was going over the most recent case, when one of the butlers came in and delivered a letter.

It was signed by all four of his past flings and it said that all four of them had a son each. They gave him a location to meet ‘cause neither of them really wanted the custody of them. At first, Dio thought that it might be a lie to get money since he’s the adopted son of a famous aristocrat but he also believed that it might be true.

Jonathan found out, because of course he did, and immediately sent a butler to get the car ready so that Dio could go. Dio didn’t have another choice but to do so, since his lovely brother just had to get involved.

Turns out the letter was honest to God and Dio came back with a five-year-old who had pitch black hair, a three-year-old with brown hair and two one-year-olds in his arms, one of which had dark skin and black hair with hot pink highlights styled into locs and the other with unusual pistachio green hair.

Welp, at least George II wouldn’t have to grow up alone🤷 anyway-

George I was delighted to have even more grandsons but he didn’t exactly approve of Dio being a manwhore, since that’s the opposite of how he raised his sons to be.

I want to include D’Arby and Vanilla Ice (as well as Hol Horse and maybe a few others of the Agents of DIO) as Dio’s personal butlers because it’s fun to imagine his sons judging them because of their fanatical loyalty to Dio, but I’m not sure how.

I’ll probably make him move into a different manor maybe four years later, where he has his own (canon) butlers/servants, whatever you want to call them. But I’ll obviously let them stay in England, a grandpa and an uncle want to see the kids, okay?

Dio still has his shithead asshole personality but he doesn’t go as far as wanting to kill his adoptive family and trying to claim the inheritance via vampirism, to the point where he literally wants to achieve heaven.

Nah, this man cares for them but is extremely bad at showing it, even though Jonathan and George know. Jonathan always knows. Dio had to learn the hard way that he can’t hide shit from his brother.

He has a good relationship with Erina, they constantly make fun of each other and hey, would you look at that! He didn’t forcefully kiss her when they were twelve!! She can kick ass and he acknowledges and respects that.

Coming back to the Stands, Dio noticed that The World is very useful with four rat children who can do nothing but cause chaos and misery for him. Especially when one or all of them decide that running into traffic is how they want to spend their evening.

I’m not exactly sure but I think it’s established in canon that Giorno is the only one who’s a born Stand User. I’ll change that in this AU and make his brothers born Stand User as well.

The years pass, blablabla, Giorno still takes over the Italian Mafia because he can and gets rich even tho he already is and his brothers still don’t know what to do when they’re adults.

But! They find out their older brother has started dating some dude (“his name’s Hugo or something.” “are you stupid, it’s Fugo” “Gugo, like I said.”) and they spy on them when they’re out on a date.

Dio doesn’t exactly care if or whom his sons date, or which gender that person has since he’s a bisexual slut who keeps sleeping around, but he’ll make sure that neither of the four are taken advantage of and checks their partners’ backgrounds and lifestyles behind their backs.

Now, adding the fact that he’s a slut to his career as a lawyer: he wins every case.

Reason number one: he’s beautiful

Reason number two: he’s charismatic

Reason number three: he’s manipulative

Reason number four: he’s cunning

Reason number five: he’s convincing

Reason number six: he sleeps with the judge when his client is actually guilty

One of his sons: are you ever gonna give us a stepmother or stepfather?

Dio, planning his next one-night-stand: step-what?

He reluctantly leaves his sons in the care of his obnoxious brother when he has to go somewhere for work-related purposes. He’d rather die, though. (When they were children, at least. When they were 15/13/12/12, he began leaving them at home in hopes of finding it still in one piece later)

It’s basically a huge mess with a lot of chaos and misuse of some Stands (“didn’t I tell you two to stop using your Stands in the mansion?” “Ungalo started it.” “LIAR! Donatello started it.”) but it’s also fun and Dio wouldn’t trade it for anything.

He promised himself to never stoop down to the level of his piece of shit birth father, and he’s keeping that promise.

Oh yeah, he still poisons Dario before being adopted by George I. Normal, am I right?

#jojo's bizarre adventure #dio brando #giorno giovanna #donatello versus #rikiel #ungalo #george joestar #george joester ii #jorge joestar #erina pendleton #jonathan joestar #mudad #jjba headcanons #jjba #lawyer dio au

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scotianostra · 3 months

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Scottish Police Helicopter Experiment 1968.

Between 21st February and 20th March 1968, RAF Kinloss in Morayshire was the base for a pair of military Scout helicopters piloted by Army Air Corps pilots, with police observers.

As part of a UK-wide series of 4 experiments during the late 1960’s to evaluate the usefulness of helicopters in normal police work, the North of Scotland played host to one such experiment. The Forces which participated in the experiment, and the officers involved, were:

Scottish North-Eastern Counties Constabulary (Insp. Charles Inglis)

Ross & Sutherland Constabulary (Insp. Charles Rhoden)

Inverness-shire Constabulary (Insp. Murdoch J MacLeod)

Inverness Burgh Police (Sgt Richard Young)

The SNECC HQ Force Information Room at Bucksburn (Aberdeen) acted as Police Control Centre for the experiment and a Police Operations Room at the RAF base was manned by Sgt MacInnes (SNECC) and Constables A Ross (Inverness-shire) and R MacLeod (Ross & Sutherland).

As well as various operational police incidents in which the helicopter participated – which included assisting mountain search and rescue teams.

The comprehensive report produced by Inspector MacLeod illustrated numerous examples which he concluded “clearly indicate the inestimable value of helicopters to the Police Service”.

Despite keen interest the experiment remains just that – an experiment. More than 50 years later, the Police Service in the Scottish Highlands & Islands still does not have a helicopter –albeit that occasionally one has been hired from a commercial firm on occasion for specific events, such as searches.

If you’re interested in the history of the police force, primarily the Northern Constabulary, Dave Conner’s a pages on Flickr “Northern Constabulary Museum” is the place to go. https://www.flickr.com/groups/northern_constabulary_museum?fbclid=IwAR2WCYe8wm01hPyTC9oaaIbshw9M9U76ylXMMdxWhxBSh6JRApj_UUAp-xA

Dave’s personal page is also a great place to check out https://www.flickr.com/photos/conner395

The full report on the experiment can be found here http://www.policeaviationnews.com/.../1968ScottishExperim...

#scotland #scottish #history #police #helicopters

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alleannaharris · 1 year

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Today's Black History Month illustration is of James Baldwin, one of the 20th century’s greatest writers. Baldwin broke new literary ground by exploring racial, social, sexual, and class distinctions in his works, and he was known for his essays on the Black experience in America.

James Baldwin was born in Harlem in 1924. He was the oldest of nine children. His mother, Emma Jones, married a Baptist minister, David Baldwin, when he was three years old.

Despite their strained relationship, Baldwin followed in his stepfather’s footsteps and became a youth minister in a small Harlem Pentecostal church from ages 14-16. Also during his early teens, Baldwin was spending a lot of his time in libraries and found a passion for writing.

At 18, he worked with the NJ railroad, and then moved to Greenwich Village where he worked for a few years as a freelance writer writing mostly book reviews. Baldwin caught the attention of the well-known writer Richard Wright who helped him secure a grant so he could support himself as a writer.

In 1948, at the age of 24, Baldwin left the US to live in Paris because he couldn’t tolerate the discrimination he experienced. He often was a target of beatings by local youth and the police due to homophobia and racism. Baldwin hoped to find enough distance from the society he grew up in to write about it. Here's a clip of Baldwin and Maya Angelou in conversation:

In 1953, Baldwin wrote his first novel “Go Tell It on the Mountain,” an autobiographical work about growing up in Harlem. This is often seen as his finest work because of the way he described the struggles of Black Americans.

Over the next ten years, Baldwin moved between Paris, New York and Istanbul. He wrote two books of essays, “Notes of a Native Son” and “Nobody Knows My Name,” and two novels “Giovanni’s Room” and “Another Country.” The essays explored racial tension and the novels dealt with then taboo themes (homosexuality and interracial relationships). Nobody Knows My Name and Another Country were immediately bestsellers.

Baldwin’s travels also brought him closer to social concerns of his home, US. In the early 60s, he returned to the US to participate in the Civil Rights Movement. He attended the March on Washington in 1963 and the Selma to Montgomery March in 1965. His essays “Notes of a Native Son”, “Nobody Knows My Name” and “The Fire Next Time” became essential works during this time because of their call for human equality.

After the assassination of his three friends: Medgar Evers (1963), Malcolm X (1965), and MLK (1968), he returned to France and worked on a book about the disillusionment of the times, “If Beale Street Could Talk” (1974).

During the last few years of his life, he continued to produce important works of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. He also started teaching. Baldwin passed away in 1987 after a short battle with stomach cancer.

This is my last BHM illustration for this series, but I’ll be back tomorrow with a wrap up!

#james baldwin #black history month #black history facts #black history matters #artists on tumblr #illustrators on tumblr

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barkingbonzo · 2 days

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LAND OF THE GIANTS

Land of the Giants is a one-hour American science fiction television series that aired on ABC for two seasons, beginning on September 22, 1968, and ending on March 22, 1970. The show was created and produced by Irwin Allen. Land of the Giants was Allen's fourth science-fiction TV series. The show was released by 20th Century Fox Television. The series was filmed entirely in color and ran for 51 episodes. The show starred Gary Conway and special guest star Kurt Kasznar.

Five novels based on the television series, including three written by acclaimed science-fiction author Murray Leinster, were published in 1968 and 1969.

#Deana Lund #Gary Conway #LAND OF THE GIANTS #ABC #Irwin Allen #science-fiction #TV series #20th Century Fox Television

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thislovintime · 1 year

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Photo by Henry Diltz.

“‘The fan is great. Note I’m not saying the fans, because each Monkee fan is an individual and deserves to be treated in this way.’ There’s no denying that Monkee fans as a group respond to Peter’s personality and sincerity. Last summer on tour, it was always Peter who was standing hours on end to sign autographs, or Peter who was taking the time to discuss ideas with the many fans he met on tour. He doesn’t hesitate to tell fans what he thinks. If they’re misbehaving or disorderly, he tells them to shape up and have some courtesy. He’s not afraid of losing fans by being honest.” - Monkee Spectacular, June 1968

"Peter turned to look at me (probably due to the desperation in my voice), and when I gave him a handmade book of poetry I’d written, asked me what it was, was pleased it was for him, and smiled. And bless my brother’s heart, he immortalized the moment with his Polaroid Swinger. [...] [Seeing them in concert again during the 20th anniversary tour] Charla looked glazed, close to tears, and I — armed with my son’s Fisher-Price binoculars — never took my eyes off Peter. […] Since July 1, I’ve had a lot of fun watching reruns and singing full-blast to those tapes I made. And looking through that box of memorabilia, I’ve been gratified to discover that Charla and I and our other (unnamed) best friend were smart, creative and funny, as well as innocent. But mainly I’ve felt amazed again and again that in 1967 (at the apex of Monkee mania) Peter Tork took the time to treat my little book with sensitivity and respect." - Kay Betts, LA Weekly, September 11, 1986 (x)

“Last week we went to Peter’s house to meet him. He had some friends over, but he came out and talked to us. He looked so groovy, and he was twice as friendly and nice as we’d ever expected! He talked with us, took pictures, and signed autographs. We’ll never forget that day, and we just want to thank Peter for making that day the most wonderful in our whole lives! L.E. and S.M. Los Angeles, Calif.” - Monkee Spectacular, March 1968 (x)

“It was 3:00 [at the RCA studio] when Peter showed up and brightened everyone’s tired faces and spirits. It’s sure hard work to have to stand from ten in the morning until three in the afternoon and still look fresh and cheerful. But, when I gave Peter his presents of a gyroscope top, Mad paperback, paddle-set, and poem made to order about him alone, he smiled and looked so touched that every minute of waiting seemed all worthwhile.” - Lori Lee, KRLA’s The Beat, May 20, 1967 (x)

"A young girl in a blue bathing suit nervously stepped forward requesting an autograph. Peter signed: ‘Love, Peter Tork’ and drew a flower. ‘I dig flowers,’ he said. ‘I always put a flower after my autograph, because it’s more gentle that way.'" - The Des Moines Register, August 7, 1967 (x)

"My last sight of him was a smiling figure signing autographs for fans in the rain, each one with a ‘Love from Peter Tork’ and a flower." - June Southworth, Fabulous 208, January 17, 1968 (x)

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yuppieresearch · 2 years

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YUPPIE PSYCHO: A COMPLETE TIMELINE

since i received the collector’s edition, i thought it would be a good time to type out the yuppie timeline! this is ordered from past to present, and does not include much elaboration on events or in-game evidence. if you are confused about a certain event or want to know where i found a certain date, please ask! i am always happy to share.

1918 — João Sintra (father of Domori and Rei) is born.

1924 — Xiu Ying (mother of Domori and Rei) is born.

1924-1951 (implied to be sometime in the 1950’s) — Domori is “adopted” by the Sintra family.

1951 — Sintracorp is founded by João Sintra.

1958 (March 21st-April 19th, an Aries) — Irina Rostov is born.

1960 (April 20th-May 20th, a Taurus) — Hugo is born.

1961 (October 23rd-November 21st, a Scorpio) — Rei Sintra is born to João and Xiu through Domori’s blessing.

1962 (November 22nd-December 21st, a Sagittarius) — Jenna Malone is born.

1963 (January 20th-February 18th, an Aquarius) — James Spader is born.

1965 (June 22nd-July 22nd, a Cancer) — Eric Marshall is born.

1966 (August 23rd-September 22nd, a Virgo)— Inay Doshi is born.

1968 (May 21st-June 21st, a Gemini) — Mappy is born.

1968, December — The Cornucopia Project begins.

1969 (February 19th-March 20th, a Pisces) — Marta Sosa is born.

1971, May 2nd — The last photo of the Sintra family is taken. Domori and Rei switch bodies.

1971 — Domori, in the body of Rei Sintra, goes missing and Rei is presumed dead.

1971 (implied to be June) — Rei Sintra, in the body of Domori, is burned at the stake.

1972, April 2nd — João Sintra commits suicide.

1973, May 10th — Xiu Ying takes over Sintracorp after the death of her husband.

1973 (July 23rd-August 22nd, a Leo) — Anthony Chapman Jr. is born.

1973 (December 22nd-January 19th, a Capricorn) — Catherine Hicks is born.

1974 (September 22nd-October 23rd, a Libra) — Brian Pasternack is born.

1981 — Xiu Ying establishes a protocol that grants Rei immediate succession to the CEO position.

1981 — Xiu Ying begins to hire witch hunters; Hugo is hired as a janitor as well.

1982 or 1983 (the gravestone and Sintra say different dates) — Xiu Ying dies.

1983, December — The sixth floor in the Sintracorp building is closed. Presumably, every Sintra android remaining is destroyed. (spader possibly began his contracted work with sintracorp around this time.)

1984, April 4th — The old Sintranet becomes corrupted. Employees are given updated computers. (possibly due to the devil’s influence?)

1982-1989 — The witch hunters A.M., R.C., and E.N. converse via handwritten letters.

1989, November — R. Corvo is killed, and this is heavily implied to be done by Hugo.

1989 — A. Moeta and E. Nazari are killed shortly afterwards.

1995, possibly— TIKITAKA becomes chief of security. (in one of his notes, tikitaka says he has been connected to the system for 58 weeks. this is a year and six weeks. the note is undated, so i merely used brian’s starting year as the base point.)

1996, either December 2nd or February 12th — Sintracorp sends a letter to Brian Pasternack, saying he has secured a position in their ranks.

1996, a week later (either December 9th or February 19th) — Anthony Chapman Jr., Catherine Hicks, and Brian Pasternack arrive at Sintracorp.

#yuppie psycho #yp #timeline

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jencsi · 3 months

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A broody D.B Russell is a mood-

Straightened hair, it's been this way for months, even before we got here, I wondered why you did it, is it for him? Were you bored of the curls? You look better with them.

The doctors keep telling me it's not wise to have two people wasting away here. I disagree.

We messed up Jules, I messed up.

I don’t think you hate me, I know you hate me.

Julie Finlay, born March 20th, 1968, in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. “In west Philadelphia born and raised...” Okay I’m sorry, I know you hate that song.

Blue eyes, blonde hair, 5’3, a mirror image of Catherine Willows no less.

Thirty-five bruises, twenty two percent blood loss, a dozen staples, fifteen stitches, two transfusions, one scar across your forehead, the chunk of skull they fixed won’t show, so they say, drains, tubes, breathing on your own is a good thing, they can shock hearts, why not brains back to life?

Monthly charge- $2500. Interest- $800. Paid in full- March 15th 2015. Invoice complete. Receipt sent to Diebenkorn Russell. Card ending in 4879.

I met Jules in May of 1994, Charlie wasn’t even born yet, can you believe that kiddo?

Your eyes responded to light today, I could have swore your arm moved when they did it but the nurse didn’t see it. She must think I’m crazy.

Power of attorney file, client confidentiality, password protect, BloodGirl528, crap, no, it’s Agnes, there we go, please advise, December 2014, in the event of a life-threatening injury, please refer all medical decisions to one Diebenkorn Russell and his wife Barbara, Las Vegas Nevada. You knew before I did Jules.

“Baby if I could, change the world” You are the sunlight in my universe” damn this Clapton guy.

Las Vegas reached a near record high of 95 today. That high pressure system will remain in place for the rest of the week. Folks, be sure to stay hydrated out there.

Grandpa, when is Aunt Julie coming back from her trip? I need to tell her a secret.

Invoice complete. Payment received April 15th 2015. Card ending in 4879.

A fever, you spiked a fever today, low grade, 100.1. April 20th 2015. Could be nothing, could be something.

They had a funeral for Dan up in Seattle. I felt bad because none of us could be there for him but Kerri’s still healing, you’re here, I’m here…

One of the nurses had a birthday, they got pizza for her, I figured if you could smell it from down the hall, maybe you would wake up.

She wouldn’t want to stay like this forever. How do you know what she wants? Me? What about you? What makes you so sure? Do you think you know her better than you know me?

We are gathered here today, no that sounds like a wedding speech, damn, none of us want to gather for this….

Stop.

D.B, you have a phone call, it's Ely State, they want to talk to you about the court date for Winthrop’s trial. “I’m not taking the stand Conrad, and we’re not presenting a single shred of our evidence unless Jules is with us, make the bastard wait in state pen a little while longer.”

“Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones” Proverbs 16:24.

“I guess I can put two and two together. "Sometimes the answer's four," I said, "and sometimes it's twenty-two...”

Stan’s Floral’s. Sunset Blvd. 702-......

The judge isn’t going to extend the waiting period any longer, he says I need to be ready to present my findings by May twentieth with or without a blood spatter expert.

“I’ll be ready,” she rasps to him jokingly, eyes bright, smile meek but present "four days, that’s plenty of time.”

“Coma notwithstanding,” he bites back, soul on fire, fingers on her wrist, feeling her pulse, needing to be sure she was palpable, alive.

Boy did he miss this.

#db russell #julie finlay #just thoughts I can't get out into a full fic #ramblings #post coma things #csi cbs #writing #its getting better #but still not where I want it to be

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ryanhamiltonwalsh · 7 months

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The first Velvet Underground show in Boston - 10/29/66

In Astral Weeks: A Secret History of 1968 I devoted many pages in service of fleshing out just how important Boston was for VU in the late sixties. But what I didn't get to talk about was the very first time the band appeared in the city on 10/29/66, which happens to be 57 years ago this week. It's a fine excuse to briefly stop thinking about the ceaseless horrors of the larger world and collate/post a bunch of info I've collected about that show as well as their first show in Massachusetts all together in Provincetown a few months prior.

The Exploding Plastic Inevitable—Warhol's multimedia bombardment of lights, film, live music, performance, and dance—was less than a year old when it was scheduled to appear in Boston. This EPI, featuring the music of the Velvet Underground, was to serve as the culmination of Warhol's exhibit at the Institute of Contemporary Art (the ICA), which at this point was located at 100 Newbury Street (where H&M currently resides). This was only Warhol's second museum exhibition and the mere booking of it at the ICA led to robust conversation in local art cliques. Boston was titillated and ready to have strong opinions about the new pop sensation whom some were calling genius and others a charlatan. More on that in a bit.

But before that exhibit even opened, Massachusetts had gotten a preview of the full Warhol experience late that summer at the Chrysler Art Museum in Provincetown, the coastal resort town located at the very tip of Cape Cod.

The Chrysler Art Museum is the large white building in the background of this postcard on the right.

Since the late 1800's, Provincetown had been in contrast to much of Puritan-singed Massachusetts, welcoming artists and writers as residents and visitors, presenting experimental theater, and supporting thriving art colonies. In 1916, the Boston Globe wrote that Provincetown was 'the biggest art colony in the world.'" By the time the Warhol entourage rolled through, it was also quickly becoming known as a safe haven for LGBTQ folks as well. "There had been a gay presence in Provincetown as early as the start of the 20th century as the artists' colony developed, along with experimental theatre. Drag queens could be seen in performance as early as the 1940s in Provincetown." This, far more than Boston, was the kind of environment you'd imagine the Velvet Underground would be welcomed with open arms. But that's not how things panned out at all.

The Boston Globe previewed the event in late August:

By the time the EPI was set to come to Boston, the Globe preview of that booking (published 9/18/66) was far less dismissive; the write-up noted how the Exploding Plastic Inevitable grew out of Warhol's statements to the press that he had given up on painting (which was a terrific lie):

But back to Provincetown and the Velvets. Save for album opener "Sunday Morning," the debut VU album was already complete at this point, but would not be out until March of next year. Earlier in the summer, the band's first single had been released with Nico on lead vocals on both the A & B side. This no doubt frustrated Lou Reed if not all of the other Velvets. Warhol had convinced VU they needed a mysterious chanteusse in the mix, and they reluctantly, begrudgingly agreed to facilitate Nico's membership in the band while always simultaneously keeping her at arm's length (though both Reed and Cale also eventually both had affairs with her).

On the single version of "All Tomorrow's Parties," the six-minute prepared piano tour-de-force fades out after the 3 minute mark, undercutting its power substantially. The single did not chart. Reed claimed "All Tomorrow's Parties" was about the scene he witnessed at The Factory ("I would hear people say the most astonishing things, the craziest things, the funniest things, the saddest things," he explained) while Cale contends it's about a woman named Darryl they were both pursuing. In any event, it's highly unlikely anyone in Provincetown had heard the single before these performances but, factually, there *was* recorded VU music available out in the world at the time.

The complete EPI entourage in Provincetown featured all the Velvets—John Cale, Sterling Morrison. Nico, Lou Reed, and Maureen Tucker—Warhol himself, dancers Gerard Malanga, Mary Woronov, and Eric Emerson, road manager Faison, and Warhol assistants Paul Morrissey and Ronnie Cutrone. Relatively new to the group was Susan Bottomly (aka International Velvet) with David Croland, her boyfriend.

While it's certainly been mentioned that Susan Bottomly was from Boston (well, Wellesley, specifically), I haven't seen anyone chronicling the VU story or its primary players note that she was also the daughter of John Bottomly, who was not only the State Assistant Attorney General but also the chief of the special “Strangler Bureau," aka a key player in the infamous Boston Strangler saga.

International Velvet's father had never conducted a criminal investigation before heading up the bureau created in order to capture the phantom-like serial killer who had been terrorizing Boston for years, murdering over a dozen women. Bottomly was criticized for the interrogation methods he used on lead Strangler suspect Albert DeSalvo, guiding him directly towards certain ideas and details, for instance, and even more so when he became a paid consultant on the 1968 film The Boston Strangler. Between Bottomly's controversial Strangler hunt being recounted in Gerold Frank's best-selling '66 book, The Boston Strangler, and working on the Tony Curtis-starring-film of the same title, his daughter danced in the EPI, had flings with Lou Reed and John Cale, and appeared on the FEB '67 cover of Esquire sitting in a trash can. Being able to draw a direct line from the Boston Strangler case to the Velvet Underground is truly a hallucinatory, peak-1960's kind of footnote.

But according to Warhol, this was not how the Bottomlys actually felt about Susan's trashcan cover turn and current direction in life: "Her parents weren’t happy with her new ‘career’ - modeling in New York - and later on, when she was on the cover of Esquire, photographed in a garbage can (‘Today’s Girl, Finished at 18’), they were really upset... but they went on supporting her, and she went on supporting lots of her friends.”

Along with Nico, Bottomly was one of the few performers in Warhol's Chelsea Girls film that actually lived at the Chelsea Hotel. Bottomly also appears in the Andy Warhol 1966 film "The Velvet Underground and Tarot Cards" in which, over the course of 65 minutes, all members of the band get their tarot read (there's more on VU's unlikely interest in astrological signs and other occult topics in my book). The film is extremely difficult to screen, but here's a short silent clip featuring Susan.

"I'd be dying to go to bed with Susan Bottomly (International Velvet)," whom Lou was also fucking on the side," Cale wrote in his 2000 autobiography. "Unfortunately [Lou] caught me in bed with Susan and he threw us both out of the apartment." How much of this had already transpired by the time the New Yorkers landed at the curled edge of Cape Cod is unclear.

"Everyone is uptight for amphetamine," Gerard Malanga wrote upon the crew's first impressions of Provincetown and the lack of connections to a dealer in the area. "We're all waiting in front of the museum to go to the beach." Enjoying the beach might have been the last good thing to happen to the EPI team in Provincetown. For starters, apparently, the toilets in the house Warhol rented did not work and members of the entourage were "throwing shit out the window."

Next up, one of the EPI entourage stole various items from a local shop for the show, and the police arrived on stage during one of the performances. They "untied Eric Emerson from a post (which he was strapped to in preparation for being whipped by Mary Woronov) in order to retrieve some belts and whips that were stolen from a leather store." (Source: Up-tight)

Additionally, Gerard Malanga was running out of patience with how little control he had over any visual aspect of the EPI and having to compete for the literal spotlight with the Velvet Underground. In Provincetown, Susan Bottomly refused to dance where Malanga instructed her to and then, during "Heroin," she blocked the spotlight that provided him with any source of light to navigate the space. "I'm in total darkness. Mary is also in total darkness," he wrote in his diary. "Andy seems oblivious to the situation and to my personal feelings."

In a letter written to Warhol but never sent, Malanga griped about the Cape Cod performance: “I thought the Provincetown show got off to a rough but very good start, until you were so kind enough as to let Susan and everyone else not directly connected with the show to get involved with Mary and I on stage…You are slowly taking this away from me by allowing outside elements to interfere with my dance routines��From my vantage point on stage to have more than two dancers the show becomes a Mothers of Invention freak-out.”

Even worse, new dancer Eric Emerson tried to steal a priceless piece of art from the museum "just to see if he could get away with it" and negotiations to return the art without charges being pressed were only narrowly achieved.

Finally, to tie a bow on the cursed Provincetown engagement, the large photograph on the back of the debut VU album was taken during one of the Chrysler Museum performances, and that particular image led to a legal issue which severely affected the impact the first VU LP was able to have with the listening public. It all has to do with the head above the projection of Lou's head, both hovering above the band. That upside down man is would-be art thief and EPI dancer, Eric Emerson.

The best, succinct explanation of the debacle comes from Richie Unteberger's excellent White Light/White Heat: The Velvet Underground day-by-day book:

“Seeing how no one asked [Eric Emerson] about putting his picture on the jacket, he asked Verve for a lot of money,” Morrison later explains in M.C. Kostek and Phil Milstein’s critical Velvet Underground discography. “Verve got scared and airbrushed it out.”

As an immediate consequence, The Velvet Underground & Nico – which has only just entered distribution and the lowest levels of the charts – has to be pulled from stores while Verve/MGM alters the artwork. The delay effectively kills the record’s chances of rising up the charts – not that it goes very far, peaking at a lowly Number 171 on Billboard...When the album finally reappears, Emerson’s image has been airbrushed out, leaving a murky, yellow glow where his face once appeared. Even worse, some copies simply paste an ugly, black-and-white sticker with the album title and Warhol’s production credit over where Emerson’s face had been. There are no winners in this battle.

But how was the music? The Boston Globe's Ray Murphy covered the event and his specific references to the Velvet Underground sound more like how you might describe different shades on a painter's palette than an innovative rock band comprised of five unique individuals:

The performance ended when "all the fuses in the room blew out under the strain of all the projectors, amplifiers, and lights. The quiet made you dizzy."

"It was a wild affair and difficult to analyze," Murphy concluded.

"They got run out of Provincetown on a rail," Cutrone said in summary.

---

Less than two months later, the EPI/VU gang marched right back into Massachusetts for a rematch, this time in Boston proper.

Andy's appearance at the ICA in early October for the opening of his exhibit kicked off the Beantown version of Warhol-mania. The Globe reported:

Guess who this chic hangman was? That's right...

The Boston Globe spelled her last name incorrectly here, but other articles about her get it right.

Warhol, as he often did, just stood there and let people project their ideas onto him.

The paper declared Warhol "the hottest living art personality since Picasso and Dali." Then it was off to the races, with droves of Bostonians visiting to see what all the fuss was about, making it the most popular exhibit in the ICA's history.

Future Fletch novelist Gregory Mcdonald covered the phenomenon weeks into the exhibit for the Boston Globe. Mcdonald conjectured that it's not just people who love his art and hate his art, but also a third category of person who knows it's a fraud but finds it delightful that he's pulling one over on the sophisticated art world.

"His work has the limited future of a soup label," Mcdonald writes, unaware how wrong he'll eventually be proven, but then again, Warhol felt the same way. "My work has no future at all," he told the reporter, "I know that." Outside of a good caption joke about an older patron confused about whether she was at the supermarket or an art gallery, the Mcdonald piece concludes in what can only be described as the writer spiraling out trying to put the artist's ethos and its consequences into words:

"What are you currently reading exists this morning in 600,000 copies," he declares, "but by 2:30 this afternoon will not exist at all." And yet, here I am, reading those words and thinking about that same artist. No one saw what was coming.

The EPI event promptly sold out and an additional performance was added for 11PM on October 29th at the ICA. In the lead up to the show, the Velvet Underground are referred to in the press as a "cultural mafia," a preview of the event says the band will be "unleashed," and that "Boston has not seen anything like it." Admission was five dollars.

---

Just like the Provincetown trip, Boston had its own unique roster of ancillary players involved with the EPI and VU, and a few of them had some connection to a scene that was just starting to develop up on Fort Hill in Roxbury. The Mel Lyman Family, or Fort Hill Community, like Warhol, would soon receive reams of press coverage in an attempt to figure out who/what/why they precisely were. For now, Lyman and Co. had just acquired several dilapidated houses on Fort Ave. in the wake of Mel's initial audacious claims that he was God. Their alternative newspaper, Avatar, would start the following year in June of '67.

Ronna Page, who would dance in the EPI that night, had previously done a Warhol screen test and is the co-"star" of one of the most infamous scenes in Chelsea Girls in which an amphetamine fueled Ondine slaps her after she calls him a phony. It's a real, unscripted moment. It's also one of the most exploitive, squirmish moments in all of Warhol's work. Warhol said the unexpected violence made him uncomfortable and he had to leave the room while it was happening but Mary Woronov, in her memoir Swimming Underground, reported that privately the director said, "it's our best film yet. It's so beautiful."

The description of her screen test: "Ronna Page, lit only from the left, stares hard at the camera without blinking, until her eyes tear up halfway through the roll."

It was Page who introduced filmmaker Jonas Mekas to Mel Lyman at the Paradox Restaurant in New York, a connection that would lead to Lyman's first book, Autobiography of a World Saviour. It's unclear if she was ever a full time member of the Lyman family or just a friend on the periphery. In 1967, a member of the Fort Hill Community wrote of Page in the pages of Avatar:

The darkly voluptuous superstar, Ronna Page's metier is seducing swamis, and there's more and more work for her every day. Everyone's off to see the Master these days. The Beatles, Shirley MacClaine, Mrs. Frank Sinatra (that's Mia), Kandy Kane, Bobby Vinton are all looking for someone to help them on the journey to spiritual salvation. Can't you just see it! In a few years everyone will be going to their "psychia-christ" to the tune of seventy love — dollars an hour. But as long as our lovely Ronna is around, she'll weed out the swamis who are not bent on salvation but are bent over something else.

The subtext of this gossipy blind item is unknown, and whether this is in praise of Page or a dig is hard to say. In the 1966 "Expanded Arts" issue of Film Culture, Mel Lyman is listed as available for "A full evening show alone or together with Eben Given, Ronna Page, Jonas Mekas, light, images, voice, human presence" (Film Culture 43 [1966]: n.p.).

Also part of the Warhol entourage in Boston is artist and future art critic Rene Ricard, who was actively trying to avoid the Cambridge police for living illegally on Harvard property "and numerous flower thefts - from gardens, flower shops and particularly an alleged heist of one of Andy’s flower paintings."

In a November '67 article in Avatar, apparently Rene wrote an anonymously disparaging piece about himself:

A raging, high-pitched, red-eyed little transvestite called, get this, Rene Ricard, attacked Mel Lyman the other night in the back room (the place) of Max's Kansas City. Mel, slightly startled, but always the Master of the situation, just shut the little thing up by slapping his face. It turned out the reason for his attack was somehow everyone in New York thinks he's ME and he feels that I am ruining his name — YOUR name, you little bitch, think what you're doing to MINE!

Uh, ok. Sure. Maybe you had to be there.

Some of the NY entourage stay with Gordon Baldwin, others with Ed Hood, and because Nico only appears with the Velvet Underground a few times in Boston, this date is a fairly good candidate for one of the times the band stayed in the houses of the Mel Lyman Family. From AW68:

On one such occassion, when Nico simply helped herself to someone’s bed, the German singer was bluntly instructed to find somewhere else to catch some sleep. Personnel from the band and a Fort Hill Community member had certainly crossed paths at least once before; Faith Gude and VU’s whip dancer Gerard Malanga had a brief affair in the early sixties.

At 9PM, Saturday, October 29th, the first Velvet Underground show in Boston began.

Gerard Malanga sets the scene in Up-Tight:

In Jack Bernstein's review of the event for MIT's The Tech newspaper, he knew he had seen something ahead of its time:

To borrow a phrase, "it's the shape of rock to come." Andy Warhol's Expanding Plastic Inevitable featuring The Velvet Underground with Nico performed their new 'psychedelic rock' at the Institute of Contemporary Art Saturday. The biggest difference between this music and the stuff you get on 'frantic forty' radio is that you have to see this to believe it.

Bernstein describes the disorientating nature of the opening of the EPI with its lights, films, and a sense something was about to happen. And then:

Their first number, 'All Tomorrows Parties,' which, incidentally, has been released by Verve records, featured Nico singing, and the Underground, electric bass, electric guitar, electric piano, and supersonic drums, providing the most driving backing I've ever heard...the technical armament of Velvet Underground is something fantastic to behold...the most starling of all was two huge gas-discharge lamps which would flash in syncopated time as the music reached its climax. The only aspect of the performance which could been improved upon was the group's tendency to rely on the background material for too long between numbers, but once the music started, all was forgiven.

It sounds like an unadulterated win, but just like Provincetown, apparently, the New Yorkers left feeling down about the gig. EPI entourage member Susan Pile had a fairly grim assessment of how it all shook out in the end in a letter to her friend:

"Boston’s reaction was an incredible rejection. The thing is, those who do not get involved with the show tend to react in loud objection; those who do get involved are too overcome with the experience (capital E) to do much of anything. And the show in Boston was beautiful--it was a stage show in the auditorium - no dancing by scum on the floor."

But Pile also noted, "the Velvets are getting so much better--their album is done, but everyone is becoming disenchanted with the idea of touring." In truth, it wasn't quite done, and it was going to be awhile before it came out, and even then, it wasn't going to get the praise and adulation it deserved for decades, arguably. A long, long wait was ahead for the band, as an entity and even as a name. Think of the anticipation and crazed majesty of this first performance compared to the final Boston VU show, at Oliver's on Lansdowne St in 1973 with no original members and Doug Yule leading a competent bar band through a set that included some Velvet Underground songs. There would be a long free fall towards obscurity before they would be crowned one of the greatest to ever do it.

"One of the more celebrated rock groups..." indeed.

As would become tradition, the post-VU-Boston-show after party was held at Ed Hood's place in Harvard Square. Pile recalled, "A totally paranoid party - millions of people at Ed Hood’s in total isolation, everyone stoned beyond belief and uncommunicating."

The EPI in Boston generated an avalanche of stimuli, information, and discussion. Maybe everyone had done enough communicating for the night.

youtube

#the velvet underground #andy warhol #Boston #ICA #Youtube

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blood-darkened-moon · 1 year

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Possible Dates of Birth and Death for the Ashford Family

@geralddurden Part 1 of your request. For some historical context, I’ve calculated the possible birth and death dates of the Ashford family. The calculation does not directly fit your question, and I don’t want the post to become too long. That’s why I post it separately.

First, the official facts:

Alfred and Alexia were born in January(?)* 1971 and died in December 1998

Alexander turned into Nosferatu in March/April 1983 and died in December 1998

Edward died in July 1968

Veronica and Stanley lived in the 19th century

The head of the family stays in this position until death

The new head of the family receives a present from the butler, and a painting is drawn a while later

Alfred was head of the Ashford family from 1983 till 1998

Alexander was head of the Ashford family from 1968 till 1983

*I’m sure I read somewhere that Alfred and Alexia were born in late January, but I can’t find the source anymore. Now I’m unsure if this was official or from fan content. I still leave it here in case it was official.

Some general assumptions I used for the calculation:

Since Alfred is still a child in his painting, they were probably drawn shortly after (+1 year at max) the respective family member became the new head of the Ashford family. Therefore, the paintings equal roughly the date of death of the previous one.

Considering their status, all family members except for Alexander were married when their children were born and probably 20 or older.

Alexander: Alexander worked with his father before his father died. Therefore, he already graduated from a university. Also, in his video message in DC, Alexander looked still quite young. It is unlikely that he was younger than 25 in 1968, but he could not have been much older than 30 either. This places his date of birth between 1938 and 1943. So in 1983, when he turned into Nosferatu, Alexander was between 40 and 45.

Edward: In his painting, he is already an older man. I would estimate he was in his late 40s or early 50s (48-52). Also, I think he is somewhat of a similar age to Spencer and Marcus. Spencer was born in 1923, and Marcus in 1918. Edward is probably the oldest one of them, but not too much older. Therefore, he was presumably born between 1910 and 1915 and 53 to 58 when he died.

From here on, things become less clear and depend heavily on your interpretation. We know Arthur and Thomas were born around or before 1890 to 1895. You can use these years as a reference point, but I prefer another calculation. Let’s skip Arthur and Thomas for now and go to Stanley. But first, let me estimate how old these three are in the paintings. Thomas appears to be rather young. I'd say he was in his early 20s (20-25). Stanley looks older than his son, maybe 30-35. Arthur definitely appears to be the oldest, but his hair is still red and not graying (much?). He could be 35 to 40, 45 at max, but I will use 35-40.

Stanley: We know Stanley lived in the 19th century. If the years 1890 to 1895 were used as a date of birth for his children, a larger portion of his life would extend into the 20th century. That’s why I think it is more likely that he died around 1900. It can’t be too much before 1900 either since this would cause other problems. Let’s say he died between 1900 and 1905. Considering his and Thomas's age in the painting, he probably became head of the family between 1875 and 1885, which equals the birth of his children, and he was born between 1840 and 1855. Also, Stanley must have been at least 50 when he died.

Thomas and Arthur: So Stanley’s children were born between 1875 and 1885. Arthur became head of the family after the death of his brother. Therefore, Thomas died at the age of 35 to 40 between 1910 and 1925. As I’ve mentioned above, Edward appears to be in his late 40s or early 50s in the painting. This means Arthur presumably died between 1958 and 1963.

Veronica: We already have Veronica’s date of death: between 1875 and 1885. But when was she born? In the painting, she looks young, maybe in her mid-20s. I assume she married and became a mother after she got her title. Stanley was probably born quite late, when Veronica was between 30 and 35. This places her date of birth between 1805 and 1825. Also, she was at least 60 when she died.

I hope this wasn’t too confusing. Now here’s a summary of the final results:

Minimum estimation/Maximum estimation [Time as the head of the Ashford family] official and unofficial estimated dates

Alexia: January 1971 – December 1998 Age: 27 Alfred: January 1971 – December 1998 [1983 – 1998] Age: 27 Alexander: 1938/1943 – (March/April 1983)** or December 1998 [1968 – 1983] Age: 40/45** or 55/60 Edward: 1910/1915 – July 1968 [1958/63 – 1968] Age: 53/58 Arthur: 1875/1885 – 1958/63 [1910/1925 – 1958/63] Age: 73/88 Thomas: 1875/1885 – 1910/1925 [1900/1905 – 1910/1925] Age: 35/40 Stanley: 1840/1855 – 1900/1905 [1875/1885 – 1900/1905] Age: 50/65 Veronica: 1805/1825 – 1875/1885 [1830/1850 – 1875/1885] Age: 60/80

** Depending on whether you still count Nosferatu as Alexander or whether you say he is just an empty shell.

#resident evil #alexander ashford #alfred ashford #alexia ashford #edward ashford #veronica ashford #ashford twins #meta #🩸🌙#arthur ashford

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citsrp · 6 months

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Around 300 BCE: Ouroboros is founded during the time of Alexander the Great. The organization operates in secrecy with the goal of maintaining balance between the Gifted and the Ungifted.

The Inquisition 1500: During this time gifted people were nearly hunted to extinction as they were deemed all manners of supernatural creature and even trialed as witches.

Resurgence December 1920: The dormant double helix stars to resurface and a new generation of gifted humans come into being.

March 6th 1960: Oakbrook Asylum is established as a mental institution, intended to house and treat individuals with mental health issues, including those who are Gifted.

April 20th 1968: The government agency known as Maple Publishing House is created to control and manage works created by Gifted individuals. It operates for a few years but struggles to fulfill its mandate and is eventually dismantled.

October 10th 1976: Kim Entertainment, originally a family-oriented entertainment company, thrives under the leadership of Kim Chung Ae, who expands its influence in the entertainment industry.

July 16th 1986: Oakbrook Asylum, once a respected institution, faces financial difficulties and begins to deteriorate.-

November 9th 1989: Oakbrook Asylum, plagued by financial difficulties, goes bankrupt and ceases operations.

May 4th 1993: Esther Jung purchases the land where Oakbrook Asylum stood and begins extensive renovations to transform it into Westwood Sanatorium, aiming to provide mental health services to the general public.

March 7th 2001: Westwood Sanatorium officially reopens, with a focus on mental health care. But secretly this includes rehabilitation for Gifted individuals struggling with mental health issues.

September 2002: Kim Entertainment's Chung Ae dies and his children move the company's base of operations from Seoul to New York City and undergoes a transformation, becoming Atlas Industries. The company diversifies its interests and becomes involved in various aspects including entertainment, shipping and biotech advancements.

June 26th 2006: Phantom Order, a group of villains seeking to control the destiny of the Gifted, starts making moves and plans to seize power.

February 12th 2007: Helix Academy is established as a boarding school to provide education and support for young Gifted teens and children.

August 2nd 2008: Lightwell Printing Company rises from the ashes of Maple Publishing House, adopting a new purpose of protecting and serving the Gifted community.

November 1st 2009: The Government establishes the Special Abilities Control Unit (SACU).

June 18th 2015: The first video of a Gifted using their powers goes viral.

January 1st 2019: The US Government announces the Registration Act for all Gifted citizens in America.

April 5th 2021: Eclipse P.I. is born when a group of Gifted friends comes together to solve a missing person case. They decide to officially establish their investigative team to assist Gifted individuals and handle cases involving superpowered individuals.

June 8th 2021: Phantom Order intensifies its efforts, particularly in response to government initiatives to control the Gifted population.

January 6th 2023: Westwood Sanatorium, with its secret mission to support the Gifted community and rehabilitate "villains," continues to operate discreetly under the leadership of Esther Jung.

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lxvenderhxzehv · 7 months

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(Daniel Craig) [The Provider]. Please welcome [Oliver Thompson (He/Him)] to Huntsville, WV. They are an [55]-year-old [VISITOR] who lives in [TOWN]. You may see them around working as a [UNEMPLOYED]. They are looking for [Samantha Thompson ] their [DAUGHTER] Poor unfortunate soul. We’ll see if they survive.

Name: Oliver Thompson Nicknames: Ollie and Lee Age/DOB: 55 March 20th, 1968 Gender: cis-male He/Him Sexual Orientation: Straight Personality type: The Provider Relationship status: Married Occupation: Unemployed Destination: In Town Role: Hunter Family: Wife, Daughter (Sammie Thompson ~ deceased), Granddaughter (Ava Thompson ~ 9 years old)

Being a dad at 21 was not part of Oliver's plans. Yes, he loved his wife but they were both very career orientated people. So having children was never the plan let alone so early in their lives. By the time he was 21 he was already working for one of the top Law firms in the city, he was married, well off, and he had a beautiful baby girl on the way.

That baby girl was Samantha Thompson, and would grow up to be one of the biggest you tuber's of the this time. Raising Sammie was never easy but Oliver loved her with his whole heart albeit a bit strict and over protective over her but nothing like his Wife. And while they budded heads from time to time he always had her back. So when the time came and she turned 18, her mother and Sammie got into a blow out argument he was powerless to stop her. His baby girl was on her own and he wasn't going to change her mind.

He caught up with her life through her videos, watching Every. Single. Upload. Even following her friend Harvey to see a bit more into her life. He called on occasion but she always seemed preoccupied. When one day and out of nowhere. There was a knock on their door. It was Sammie in a panic crying, carrying a small baby in her arms. Their granddaughter. She begged them to take her in, protect her, keep her away from the lime light. Sammie would provide for her but she just needed some more time and the 9 months wasn't enough. After some convincing of her mother they agreed to let Ava stay with them and raise her. Under one condition, Sammie wouldn't be as involved, she could help with bills and clothes and such and could visit her any time. But Oliver and his wife would be known as Ava's parents and Sammie would be her older sister. Oliver hated the idea and resented his wife for her cruel ultimatum but if it kept Ava safe and Sammie was okay with that then so was he.

Ava was a dream to raise......until she wasn't doing things that were nothing short of concerning. It wasn't until she was about 4 they found out who her father was. Sammie came crying that she once again needed more time. She had everything ready for Ava to come live with her and then an true crime author had written a book that was....sickeningly close to Sammie. Oliver promised Sammie that this would be taken care of. What was the point of having a layer for a father if he couldn't pull some strings. But the more he looked into the more there wasn't much he could do. At best she might be able to fight for custody. So they just decided to keep the same arrangement to keep Ava safe and to keep her a secret from Andrew.

5 years later, Sammie is thriving albeit a little worried her Ex hookup is going to kill her at a moments notice. Scared her daughter is turning into her father. The therapy and medication was helping but she was only 9 this wasn't fair to her. None of this was.

Oliver knew Sammie was gonna be on a convention circuit for a good while but when news broke that she was missing he kicked everything into high gear. Pulling all the stops to try to find her. When her friends Harvey was pronounced missing a few months later as well and his latest Video landed him in west Virginia. Oliver didn't waist anytime. With Ava in tow leaving his wife who had dismissed the whole thing. He began searching and searching and nothing. It wasn't until he heard whispers of a town stuck in time, where people would go in and never come back. He hardly believed it. Making his way down the road he found himself and Ava in Huntsville just a little over a week after the earthquake.

Little does he know, his baby girl is no longer with us.

#Musings (Oliver)#Face (Oliver)#huntsvilleintro

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