This is a new theme for fiction, one resembling films likeA Quiet Placeand Alfonso CuarnsChildren of Men, or images of the depopulated Korean demilitarised zone and Chernobyl forest, those strange and beautiful landscapes where humans no longer dominate.

Shelley was writing in a time of crisis global famine following the Tambora eruption, and the first known cholera pandemic from18171824. Cholera spread throughout the Indian subcontinent and across Asia until its terrifying progress stopped in the Middle East.

Its disturbing today to read Shelley ventriloquising the complacent response from England to early signs of disease in its colonies. At first, Englishmen see no immediate necessity for an earnest caution. Their greatest fears are for the economy.

As mass deaths occur throughout (in Shelleys time) Britains colonies and trading partners, bankers and merchants are bankrupted. The prosperity of the nation, Shelley writes, was now shaken by frequent and extensive losses.

In one brilliant set-piece, Shelley shows us how racist assumptions blind a smugly superior population to the danger headed its way:

Can it be true, each asked the other with wonder and dismay, that whole countries are laid waste, whole nations annihilated, by these disorders in nature? The vast cities of America, the fertile plains ofHindostan, the crowded abodes of the Chinese, are menaced with utter ruin. [] The air is empoisoned, and each human being inhales death even while in youth and health [] As yet western Europe was uninfected; would it always be so?

O, yes, it would Countrymen, fear not! [] If perchance some stricken Asiatic come among us, plague dies with him, uncommunicated and innoxious. Let us weep for our brethren, though we can never experience his reverse.

Shelley quickly shows us this sense of racial superiority and immunity is unfounded: all people are united in their susceptibility to the fatal disease.

Eventually, the entire human population is engulfed:

I spread the whole earth out as a map before me. On no one spot on its surface could I put my finger and say, here is safety.

Throughout the novel Shelleys characters remain, ironically, optimistic. They dont know theyre in a book called The Last Man, and with the exception of narrator Lionel Verney their chances of survival are non-existent. They cling to a nave hope this disaster will create new, idyllic forms of life, a more equitable and compassionate relationship between classes and within families.

But this is a mirage. Rather than making an effort to rebuild civilisation, those spared in the plagues first wave adopt a selfish, hedonistic approach to life.

The occupations of life were gone, writes Shelley, but the amusements remained; enjoyment might be protracted to the verge of the grave.

Shelleys depopulated world quickly becomes a godless one. In Thomas Campbells poemThe Last Man(1823) the sole surviving human defies a darkening Universe to:

quench his Immortality

Or shake his trust in God.

As they realise the species of man must perish, the victims of Shelleys plague become bestial. Going against the grain ofEnlightenment individualism, Shelley insists humanity is contingent on community. When the vessel of society is wrecked individual survivors give up all hope.

Shelleys novel asks us to imagine a world in which humans become extinct and the world seems better for it, causing the last survivor to question his right to existence.

Ultimately, Shelleys novelinsists on two things: firstly, our humanity is defined not by art, or faith, or politics, but by the basis of our communities, our fellow-feeling and compassion.

Secondly, we belong to just one of many species on Earth, and we must learn to think of the natural world as existing not merely for the uses of humanity, but for its own sake.

We humans, Shelleys novel makes clear, are expendable.

Dr Oliva Murphy is a Postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of English at the University of Sydney. This article was originally published in The Conversation.

Read the original:
Mary Shelley's The Last Man is a prophecy of life in a global pandemic - News - The University of Sydney

The words of encouragement from Germany boss Joachim Low came to haunt Mario Gotze.

"Show the world you're better than Messi," he told the 22-year-old as he prepared to come on in the 2014 World Cup final with the game locked at 0-0 against Argentina. Ten minutes later, Gotze turned and volleyed Germany into a 1-0 extra-time win over Argentina, winning the World Cup and launching himself into sporting immortality.

"Gotze is a miracle boy, a boy wonder. He can play any position up front," Low said afterwards.

It was to be another step forward in what promised to be a remarkable, once-in-a-generation career. Fast-forward to 2020 and in some corners of the football world, Gotze has been written off as a former star, a dynamic player now finishing out his career far from the top tier. That criticism used to get to him, but he's realised in recent years that he only needs to meet his own expectations. As he rebuilds his career in the relative quiet of the Eredivisie at PSV Eindhoven, he is tentatively planning his second life in football.

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Borussia Dortmund, the club that gave him his senior debut on Nov. 21, 2009, released him in June. The six years since that goal in Brazil saw him spend two seasons at Bayern Munich and return to Borussia Dortmund, where his form and fitness slipped away. But remember this: Gotze is still only 28.

Having made his debut at 17 years old to great fanfare, he won five Bundesliga titles, signed a record transfer to controversially join Bayern Munich, and then went back to Borussia Dortmund, humbled by three indifferent seasons, hoping to appease their fuming fans. Then came his health trouble, injuries, the weight of expectation and unhealthy comparisons with his past performances. He finally left Bayern on a free transfer and spent the summer training on his own, before inadvertently whipping up a social media frenzy in early October.

Noise follows Gotze, but he's not one to cultivate it. He hoped for anonymity when he visited PSV for his medical, but a photo of his black Mercedes parked on the Vonderweg near the Phillips Stadium went viral.

His name still carries clout, but he's no longer that 17-year-old self, the fearless one who had the game on a piece of string and was the rock star in Jurgen Klopp's title-winning Borussia Dortmund team.

"I don't see it as the old Mario Gotze," Gotze tells ESPN. "I think you have different phases in your career -- you get older, you experience a lot of things and the key is to develop all the time, in the right way and not to try to be the old one, because when I was the old one, I was just young."

As he enjoys the silence and privacy of PSV's training ground Campus de Herdgang in the heart of the Langoed de Wielewaal forest, he's better prepared to brush off criticism which previously got to him. And quietly, he's loving football again. And he's playing well. But don't expect him to make any bold predictions. This time Gotze is playing football on his own terms and the only expectations he worries about, are his own.

When he travelled to Brazil for the 2014 World Cup, Gotze had just completed his first season at Bayern Munich. By that point, starring on the international stage was the logical next step. He'd already been dubbed "Gotzinho" by the German press after a remarkable performance against Brazil in a 2011 friendly. He also was the heartbeat of the back-to-back Bundesliga-winning Borussia Dortmund side -- the darling of the Sud Tribune at the Westfalenstadion.

In that second season, the 2012-13 campaign, he had 30 goal-scoring contributions in their 44 games. The great Franz Beckenbauer said that Dortmund midfield of Gotze and Marco Reus was better than the Barcelona double-act of Andres Iniesta and Xavi.

Bayern Munich came knocking and Gotze, a Bavarian, answered as Dortmund's rivals activated his 37m release clause, at the time a record transfer for a German player. The news, which broke 36 hours before Borussia Dortmund's Champions League semifinal against Real Madrid, was a hammer blow to Dortmund. In Uli Hesse's "Building the Yellow Wall," he speaks of how Klopp compared the news to feeling like a "heart attack," while sporting director Michael Zorc "walked in like somebody had died" to break the news to Klopp.

As Hesse said in his book, "there were only losers in this story, because the transfer would turn out to be a disastrous move."

After a promising first season playing as a multi-positional false 9, he headed to the 2014 World Cup as Germany's brightest young star. His tournament form was fair, though without being remarkable. Then, in the final, Andre Schurrle crossed the ball into the box in the 112th minute, Gotze controlled the ball on his chest, and in the same movement volleyed it beyond Argentina's Sergio Romero to give Germany their fourth World Cup and first since 1990.

The words of wisdom from Low advice, which Gotze later admitted should've stayed private, was hardly helpful in dimming the pressure, but his glory in Brazil would signal the end of the first movement in his symphony, rather than the catalyst for further overtures. Marcel Schmelzer, his Borussia Dortmund teammate, said, "I could imagine that he'll say one day it would have been better to not score it" while Mario's brother Fabian said: "To be that successful [at 22 years old] could be the reason why he has lost his ease." Schurrle said at the time how that winning goal brought Gotze "a lot of stress."

Gotze is looking back at that final as he talks to ESPN in the heart of PSV's training ground. He talks methodically and quietly, but expresses everything through his hands.

"I think for me, it was the best thing that happened when I was that young, because I always dreamed of playing in the World Cup and scoring -- I think it was a dream. For sure I was very young, I have to put that into perspective also.... It will always be a positive, but yeah just the expectation... the expectation you get from the media and everyone around you..."

His sentence tails off, the words "was hard" going unsaid. He feels the hype around him "peaked" when he was 17. He's reluctant to expand on how tough it was for him, only alluding to the media pressure being hard. "You have a lot of newspapers, media in Germany... that's part of the job, so I think the only way is to deal with it in the best way for me as an athlete and a person."

0:40

PSV midfielder Mario Gotze shares what he would tell his 18-year-old self.

The 2014 "ideal Gotze" has followed him around. The following two seasons at Bayern Munich saw him fall away: with every poor performance, he was compared to his previous form or to the man Guardiola wanted Bayern to sign that summer: Neymar. Beckenbauer, previously one of Gotze's main cheerleaders, said he was playing "like a child."

"This kind of behaviour does not fit in at Bayern," he said. "It is time for him to grow up. He has shown at Dortmund what he can do and we know that he is a great talent. But there is still something missing."

Bayern Munich chairman and ex-West Germany legend Karl-Heinz Rummenigge offered a more measured take, referring back to those words from Low. "Such sentences, once made public, are of course an unbelievable and damning weight on his shoulders."

Gotze went back to Dortmund in 2016. He'd missed 116 days of the previous season at Bayern due to hamstring injury. In early 2017, he was still fielding questions about 2014. "The picture people have of me is not up to date," he said then. "I can't always score a goal when I play or get subbed in like in the World Cup final. There is more to football. It's complex these days: Running, intensity, diligence." Then came his medical diagnosis: muscular myopathy, which causes muscle weakness and fatigue. He was ruled out for the rest of the season.

At the time he said he trained too much, trying to combat those feelings of tiredness. Those without knowing his condition criticised his fitness levels. When asked about that time in his life, he moves the narrative on.

"It was not the best period, but it was a learning process for me," Gotze says, "When I was 17, 18 I didn't go into the Bundesliga knowing everything, so you have to try a few things and improve yourself, and sometimes take a few steps back, and have ups and downs. I think this is normal and is a process -- now I am happy with how it is developing for myself."

The frequent theme of Gotze as he sees himself and football is one of escaping from the prism of expectation and potential. "I can't just blind it out," he said in 2018. He wants to see his career from a 360-degree perspective, rather than anchored on the past.

"If I could tell my younger self something, it would be to relax a bit, and to see the whole picture and that I have not only got two or three years of playing... so it's rather, I have 15 years to develop and improve and not go too hard on myself and to relax a bit more."

As he looks back on that spell, he is philosophical.

"From the outside, for sure there was a lot of media and pressure, but the only thing that matters [is] my view, my own view and how I view myself and my development. Maybe I put too much pressure on myself, and that's the only thing that is more important than what other people expect or say because in the end, it's all about yourself, and how you see yourself."

That self-inflicted pressure was down to his own personal "ambition" and "trying to develop and improve myself every day, and all the time." He laughs at this point, as if to alleviate tension. But as he talks, there is this overwhelming feeling of calm as he's embraced the joy of playing at PSV and rediscovering that love of football.

Gotze was released by Dortmund in June 2020. He'd missed the final matches of the season for his son, Rome, who was born six weeks prematurely, and that time away from the team dynamic allowed him to re-evaluate his priorities.

In his final season at Dortmund, the team's system changed when they signed Erling Haaland and Gotze's "false 9" role was no longer needed. Despite Lucien Favre saying Gotze could "play anywhere," that versatility went against him. He only played for 609 minutes, scoring three goals and contributing one assist in his final season. His minutes-per-goal ratio went from 205 at Bayern to 445 in his second Dortmund spell.

After his release, Gotze spent the off-season with his new family and focused on personal growth, throwing himself into yoga and fitness training. There was interest from Bayer Leverkusen, and even talk of a return to Bayern Munich. Hansi Flick called Gotze to talk about the move; though Uli Hoeness supported it, a formal offer was ultimately vetoed by sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic.

There was also interest from a Major League Soccer team and other Bundesliga sides, Hertha Berlin and FC Cologne. AC Milan, Roma, Sevilla and West Ham all reportedly showed interest. There was talk of a potential reunion with his old Dortmund boss Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool, but that never materialised either.

"He needs a club that gives him the feeling that he doesn't have to change the world in every game," Klopp said of Gotze. "Instead, Gotze has to just play normally and then play again and play again. Then I think we'll see the 'old' Mario Gotze again."

That "old Gotze" is reappearing at PSV Eindhoven.

"I am a man of feeling," he said on signing with the Dutch side, one of the Eredivisie's biggest teams and title winners as recently as 2017-18. But it's not the old Gotze they're getting, it's more like a Gotze 2.0. He is, in short, loving it at in the Netherlands: Roger Schmidt, the former Bayer Leverkusen boss and now PSV manager, was a huge factor in him opting for the Eredivisie.

"I think the style of play of playing very bravely are things I missed a lot, especially last year when I did not play too much," Gotze said. "This is very important for me. I think I am really close [to my top level], I just have to play to get the rhythm, I think this is the most important thing for me right now.

"And then we have to see, it also depends on the team and how successful we are -- I depend on the team a lot also."

Schmidt is loving Gotze at PSV as well. "He has the gift to make his teammates around him better," Schmidt said. "But it is important that we can get him into his best shape, and he can be his best self."

Gotze is passing on his own experience and knowledge to the next generation, like the ridiculously talented Mo Ihattaren. "For him [Ihattaren] it's the same situation as when I was young, to find the consistency and perform on that level - but it take time, it's a process and he will learn from the ups and downs. This is a big task."

While his experiences and mentorships are bearing fruit at PSV, he's also contributing on the field. He scored on his debut away at PEC Zwolle and has to date scored four goals in 11 games and contributed two assists. "If I look back on the last year, it's important I play," Gotze said. "[My personal goals] are to play, have a great impact and we see how it goes. Try to stay in the moment, enjoy it and try my best."

This same outlook is why he wants to play down expectations and hopes of a Germany recall; you sense it's partly to squash any hype, but also downplay any personal hopes of adding to his 63 caps. Gotze smiles as he is asked about hopes of a Germany recall.

"We are still in touch, I've known him since I was 18 years old. I have worked with him, we were successful together. He is a good guy, great person, good coach. But for me as a player, I don't decide. I don't make the decision, but I am always open to it... yeah."

He is also turning half an eye to life after football. He has invested in the Sanity Group, a Berlin-based pharmaceutical company that's focused on the health benefits of cannabinoids, alongside other celebrities including music producer Will.i.am and ex-footballer Dennis Aogo. But he's far from done in sport.

We're starting to see a new, resilient Gotze coming through. But don't expect him to make any bold predictions on how this year will work out. It's clicking, but when asked whether he sees himself staying at PSV beyond the two-year contract, Gotze anchors himself in the present. "I don't want to look too far in the future. For me it's the moment and for me it's the time right now and then we see how it goes."

Additional reporting by Milan van Dongen

Read the rest here:
Gotze's journey from World Cup hero to second act at PSV after joy and pain at Bayern and Dortmund - ESPN

Mary Shelley is famous for one novel her first, Frankenstein (1819). Its extraordinary career in adaptation began almost from the point of publication, and it has had a long afterlife as a keyword in our culture. Frankenstein speaks to us now in our fears of scientific overreach, our difficulties in recognising our shared humanity.

But her neglected later book The Last Man (1826) has the most to say to us in our present moment of crisis and global pandemic.

The Last Man is a novel of isolation: an isolation that reflected Shelleys painful circumstances. The novels characters closely resemble the famous members of the Shelley-Byron circle, including Shelleys husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley, his friend Lord Byron, and Marys stepsister (Byrons sometime lover), Claire Clairmont.

By the time Shelley came to write the novel, all of them along with all but one of her children were dead. Once part of the most significant social circle of second-generation Romantic poet-intellectuals, Shelley now found herself almost alone in the world.

As it kills off character after character, The Last Man recreates this history of loss along with its authors crushing sense of loneliness.

The novel was not a critical success. It came, unluckily, after two decades of last man narratives.

Beginning in about 1805, these stories and poems came as a response to great cultural changes and new, unsettling discoveries that challenged how people thought about the place of the human race in the world. A new understanding of species extinction (the first recognised dinosaur was discovered around 1811) made people fear humans could also be extinguished from the Earth.

Two catastrophically depopulating events the horrifying bloodshed of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (1792-1815), and the rapid global cooling caused by the massive eruption of Mount Tambora in 1815 made human extinction seem a horrifyingly imminent possibility. Meditations on ruined empires abounded. Many writers began to imagine (or prophesy) the ruination of their own nations.

Unfortunately for Shelley, by 1826 what had once seemed a shocking imaginative response to unprecedented disaster had become a clich.

A parodic poem like Thomas Hoods The Last Man also from 1826 gives us an indication of the atmosphere in which Shelley published her own book. In Hoods ballad, the last man is a hangman. Having executed his only companion, he now regrets he cannot hang himself:

For there is not another man alive,

In the world, to pull my legs!

In this hostile atmosphere, critics missed that Shelleys novel was very different to the rash of last man narratives before it.

Consider Byrons apocalyptic poem Darkness (1816), with its vision of a world devoid of movement or life of any kind:

Seasonless, herbless, treeless, manless, lifeless

A lump of death a chaos of hard clay.

In contrast to this total death, Shelley asks her readers to imagine a world in which only humans are becoming extinct. Attacked by a new, unstoppable plague, the human population collapses within a few years.

In their absence other species flourish. A rapidly decreasing band of survivors watches as the world begins to return to a state of conspicuous natural beauty, a global garden of Eden.

This is a new theme for fiction, one resembling films like A Quiet Place and Alfonso Cuarns Children of Men, or images of the depopulated Korean demilitarised zone and Chernobyl forest, those strange and beautiful landscapes where humans no longer dominate.

Shelley was writing in a time of crisis global famine following the Tambora eruption, and the first known cholera pandemic from 18171824. Cholera spread throughout the Indian subcontinent and across Asia until its terrifying progress stopped in the Middle East.

Its disturbing today to read Shelley ventriloquising the complacent response from England to early signs of disease in its colonies. At first, Englishmen see no immediate necessity for an earnest caution. Their greatest fears are for the economy.

As mass deaths occur throughout (in Shelleys time) Britains colonies and trading partners, bankers and merchants are bankrupted. The prosperity of the nation, Shelley writes, was now shaken by frequent and extensive losses.

In one brilliant set-piece, Shelley shows us how racist assumptions blind a smugly superior population to the danger headed its way:

Can it be true, each asked the other with wonder and dismay, that whole countries are laid waste, whole nations annihilated, by these disorders in nature? The vast cities of America, the fertile plains of Hindostan, the crowded abodes of the Chinese, are menaced with utter ruin. [] The air is empoisoned, and each human being inhales death even while in youth and health [] As yet western Europe was uninfected; would it always be so?

O, yes, it would Countrymen, fear not! [] If perchance some stricken Asiatic come among us, plague dies with him, uncommunicated and innoxious. Let us weep for our brethren, though we can never experience his reverse.

Shelley quickly shows us this sense of racial superiority and immunity is unfounded: all people are united in their susceptibility to the fatal disease.

Eventually, the entire human population is engulfed:

I spread the whole earth out as a map before me. On no one spot on its surface could I put my finger and say, here is safety.

Throughout the novel Shelleys characters remain, ironically, optimistic. They dont know theyre in a book called The Last Man, and with the exception of narrator Lionel Verney their chances of survival are non-existent. They cling to a nave hope this disaster will create new, idyllic forms of life, a more equitable and compassionate relationship between classes and within families.

But this is a mirage. Rather than making an effort to rebuild civilisation, those spared in the plagues first wave adopt a selfish, hedonistic approach to life.

The occupations of life were gone, writes Shelley, but the amusements remained; enjoyment might be protracted to the verge of the grave.

Shelleys depopulated world quickly becomes a godless one. In Thomas Campbells poem The Last Man (1823) the sole surviving human defies a darkening Universe to:

quench his Immortality

Or shake his trust in God.

As they realise the species of man must perish, the victims of Shelleys plague become bestial. Going against the grain of Enlightenment individualism, Shelley insists humanity is contingent on community. When the vessel of society is wrecked individual survivors give up all hope.

Read more: Explainer: the ideas of Kant

Shelleys novel asks us to imagine a world in which humans become extinct and the world seems better for it, causing the last survivor to question his right to existence.

Ultimately, Shelleys novel insists on two things: firstly, our humanity is defined not by art, or faith, or politics, but by the basis of our communities, our fellow-feeling and compassion.

Secondly, we belong to just one of many species on Earth, and we must learn to think of the natural world as existing not merely for the uses of humanity, but for its own sake.

We humans, Shelleys novel makes clear, are expendable.

Read the original post:
Guide to the Classics: Mary Shelleys The Last Man is a prophecy of life in a global pandemic - The Conversation AU

Paloma Faith is a singer, songwriter, actor and presenter, recently taking on an acting role in the Batman prequel series Pennyworth.

Here, Faith explores the best loved books of her life, which she would line up on her Fantasy Bookshelf. The performer discusses the novel which has changed the way she thinks, shares the villain shed love to voice most and reveals the book she has a whole pile of in her living room.

Revolting Rhymes by Roald Dahl. I remember loving the Little Red Riding one in particular because I thought it wasso funny when it said she pulled the pistol from her knickers. I would ask my dad to read that line over and over again.

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and Horse by Charlie Mackesy. I bought six copies and now any kid who has a birthday, I just give it to them because Ive got a pile of them in my living room.

Thats what all kids, to save the world, need to read because its about kindness. The first page is like, Whats the bravest thing you could do? and then it says, Ask for help. If you want to bring up a solid kid, read them that every night.

I would love to be Cruella de Ville in 101 Dalmatians.

I think the biggest life changing book that I ever read, that really shifted the way that I think and my perspective on life, was Immortality by Milan Kundera. Its all about existence.

I remember reading that and then it being a pivotal point in my coming of age. I was about 20 and I think I became more adult after reading it.

I just read Giovannis Room by James Baldwin. I loved it. Ive never read such a beautiful description of love before.I found that really moving.If I was still courting, Id give it to someone.

Paloma Faith as Bet Sykes in DCs Pennyworth Warner Bros

I was always cast as a sort of publicly perceived version of myself. A giggly, bit jokey and slightly eccentric character. And then with Bet Sykes, [who Faith plays in the DC series, Pennyworth] I feel like Ive had to delve into some darker corners of my past experiences to find that character.

I think thats something thats particularly changing in writing for women. For years most female roles were very one dimensional and a little bit boring. And I still today feel a bit jealous of male characters, not in this job, but I often read a script and I would prefer to play one of the men because I feel like it speaks to me more. Not because Im manly per se, but because those characters often have more layers.

Im a big fan of Miranda July and Id love to play the female lead in The First Bad Man, which is a quite hilarious character. Its about this woman who is single, living alone and she believes that she has a spiritual connection with a baby.

I just love her writing. Its so awkward and uncomfortable and I thrive in that. Its everything I want, its comedy, existentialism, fallibility, all very uncomfortable. I think thats the perfect role for me.

My best recommendation ever is The Master and the Margarita byMikhail Bulgakov, a very good book.

The Other Hand by Chris Cleave. Its a book about a family who go on holiday and they meet somebody and they frivolously say, if you come to England, then you should call us. Then this person comes to England seeking asylum.

Its a really brilliant, well observed, eye opening story about the disparity between the privilege of the Western world and what makes somebody become a refugee or an immigrant. Its probably one of five books that Ive really poured with tears reading.

Next on my list is Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams. Its meant to be absolutely amazing.

Pennyworth: The Complete First Season is now available on Blu-ray and DVD check out what else is on with our TV Guide

Read Paloma Faiths Fantasy Bookshelf

See the original post here:
My Fantasy Bookshelf: Paloma Faith shares the books which influenced her life and career - RadioTimes

Watch Now: 2020 NFL Schedule: Dallas Cowboys (2:40)

It's been a long time coming, but Drew Pearson might finally get the one thing he's been waiting decades for. The legendary former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver has seen his name lifted to the ranks of the team's coveted Ring of Honor, but still doesn't have a bust in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Instead, he's seen himself nominated time and again, followed by subsequent snubs as others were ushered in ahead of him -- many having played long after he hung up his cleats and helmet for good. The 69-year-old has been forced to wait so long that he's no longer considered a "modern era" player by the Hall of Fame committee, but instead a "senior" member, but that might've just worked in his favor.

Pearson has officially been named one of only two senior nominees for induction into Canton, the other being former Raiders coach Tom Flores -- the Hall of Fame announced on Tuesday -- and while voting won't take place until just before Super Bowl LV, it's known senior nominees usually get ushered into immortality with no resistance. And given all Pearson has endured emotionally to get to this point, it's hard to fathom he doesn't finally find himself home amongst the other gods of the sport.

Pearson, the receiver of the original "Hail Mary" pass thrown by Hall of Fame quarterback Roger Staubach against theMinnesota Vikings, went on to finish hisNFLcareer having amassed 7,822 receiving yards in his 11 seasons as a Cowboy, and while that may not seem like much by today's pass-happy standards, it's key to note Pearson played in an era dominated by running backs. Despite that having been the case, his yardage tally was the most in franchise history at the time, since bested by only Tony Hill, Michael Irvin andJason Witten.

His 48 career touchdowns are also seventh-most in Cowboys history, and only three shy of being top 5.

With the induction of former defensive back Cliff Harris this year, Pearson is now the only member of the NFL's 1970s All-Decade first team who hasn't been granted admission to Canton. Given what he meant to the franchise and the game of football itself, no one can blame the Ring of Honor inductee for reacting the way he did when his name again went uncalled. At this point, a whole 32 years after he first qualified for induction, Pearson is tired of hearing "maybe next time".

It appears he won't ever have to again.

See the rest here:
Cowboys legend Drew Pearson nominated for senior induction into Hall of Fame, will likely be voted in - CBS Sports

Ben Folds writes songs that twirl humor and misery together like flavors in a soft-serve cone. He never seems to take the easy way.

He named his 1990s alternative rock band Ben Folds Five, though it had just three members, a stroke of perversity questioned by every music journalist who interviewed him along the road to fame. And he put the piano, an instrument he plays with the intensity and grace of a Sumo wrestler, at the center of his trio, forcing him to drag a baby grand to gigs.

A solo artist since 2001, Mr. Folds, 53, also likes wrestling with real estate. After making vast improvements to an 8,700-square-foot three-story Victorian at 521 Warren Street in upstate Hudson, N.Y., that has been his home and creative refuge for the last four years, he put the rejuvenated building on the market this week for $2.8 million. Nicole Vidor is the listing broker.

Speaking from Sydney, Australia where he has been living since March, when the pandemic shut down his concert tour, Mr. Folds said he has a soft heart for big, needy properties.

I get emotional, he said. I feel bad for the building.

In 2014, he spearheaded the drive to save RCA Studio A in Nashville from demolition. The recording studio, which he leased as a work space for a decade and a half, was where country legends sealed their immortality. (Dolly Parton recorded Jolene there, to give one meager example.) It is now on the National Register of Historic Places.

Then, in 2015, his friend the musician and performance artist Amanda Palmer tipped him off to the 1890s brick building on the main drag in Hudson. Originally a department store that sold dresses with bustles, it had later lives as a karate studio, an antiques shop and a rock music club called Straybar, and later, Jasons Upstairs Bar. Among its former residents were two members of the New Wave band Human Sexual Response, who opened a puppet theater there in the aughts and put on shows with titles like The Joy of Cooking Children (a latter-day Hansel and Gretel).

Mr. Folds and his wife, Emma Sandall, a dancer, paid $1,181,740 for the property, but soon discovered that it had been traumatized by the removal of a central staircase. Working with Peggy Anderson, who owns a local design-build firm, they invested hundreds of thousands of dollars into the structure. The hardwood floors no longer produce a single creak or groan. You cant roll marbles around anymore, Mr. Folds said.

The couple also spent heavily on elegant finishes and fixtures. (Mr. Folds estimated the total renovation costs at close to $2 million.) The building became a live-work layer cake, where each layer measures about 3,000 square feet.

Much of its commercial base is leased to a boutique called Fluff that sells goods made from alpaca wool. A newly built steel front staircase with walnut treads rises from the private street entrance to the second floor, where the couple luxuriate in their vocations.

Ms. Sandalls dance studio is at the north end. It has mirrors, a barre, four antique pendant lamps, a wall of windows overlooking Warren Street and a sliding-glass door that allows light to pour through it (when it is not shrouded by curtains). Should the room ever be repurposed, the floor can be easily pulled up to expose the underlying boards.

Mr. Foldss music studio is at the south end. Given its walnut bookshelves, velvet couch and leather club chair, it could be mistaken for a library (with a Steinway grand piano and various other stringed instruments; and exquisite audio equipment; and stacks of vinyl). Indeed, Mr. Folds wrote his 2019 memoir, A Dream About Lightning Bugs: A Life of Music and Cheap Lessons here. It was my dream to have an office that looks like Rex Harrisons in My Fair Lady, he said.

Between the two studios is a large social or meeting space the couple call the project room and use in their collaborations with other artists. Its open kitchen includes custom steel cabinetry with walnut counters set against a wall of exposed brick. I didnt want it to sprawl and have a massive refrigerator to look at, Mr. Folds said.

There is also an office that Ms. Sandall, who retired as a ballerina but remains immersed in the field, uses when she writes about dance for magazines, or organizes productions. Another room, with computers and digital printing equipment, is where Mr. Folds practices his photography side hustle (not a feeble one; his work has appeared in National Geographic).

The third level a runway of naturally stained floorboards and glossy bead-board ceilings is purely residential.

In the front is a living room with two antique pianos. Mr. Folds said he hoped to leave behind the 1890s Steinway Model C grand. I love it, he said. I made a lot of records with it, but its the same era as the house, and it looks so good in that room.

The open kitchen, like the one downstairs, is a linear affair, but with cabinets of white oak. An antique cabinet that he found was refinished and topped in marble and is used as an island.

Guests are given an elegantly simple bedroom and bathroom, while the couple rewarded themselves with a vast master suite, the kind where closets are more leap-in than walk-in and no one has to cede the bathroom mirror because there are two. Bathrooms, that is.

The master bedroom is, typically, both spare and lavish, with humble, rough brick and wide proportions. Looking out the window one sees Hudsons Victorian rooftops and the green hills to the south. A pair of distressed doors that were original to the building and relocated from the ground floor can close off the suite.

The couple also designed a retreat at ground level. Behind Fluff, the alpaca store, is a double-height room to which they added a mezzanine and spiral staircase. The walls are accented with Cole and Sonss Woodland paper, an intense floral with echoes of William Morris, and an eight-armed chandelier by Stephen McKay hangs from the ceiling. The original American chestnut staircase that connects this room to the upper private quarters has a railing that was pieced back together from fragments discovered in the basement.

I seem to have a thing for long, rectangular, creative spaces, and we certainly put a lot into this one, Mr. Folds said of the building. But now, he added, he is ready to scale back.

After he completes his interrupted tour, which will take him at least through 2021, he and Ms. Sandall will resettle in a much more compact house they own in the area. For the past three decades, he said, he has vacillated between lording over these massive places and then receding back into small apartments and living a more modular style.

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Ben Folds Puts His Live-Work Sanctuary in Hudson on the Market - The New York Times

If you grew up in the 90s, lazy summer weekdays often consisted of the big three: The Price is Right, Unsolved Mysteries reruns on Lifetime, and Supermarket Sweep. 30 years later, The Price is Right is still going strong, Netflix revived Unsolved Mysteries, and a new Leslie Jones-hosted version of Supermarket Sweep is scheduled to premiere this fall on ABC.

The lesson? Never underestimate the intoxicating allure of nostalgia. If youre looking to revisit the campy fun of a classic 90s game show, youll be elated to discover that vintage episodes of Supermarket Sweep are now streaming on Netflix!

Earlier this week, 15 episodes of Supermarket Sweep premiered on the streaming giant. Originally airing from 1965 to 1967 on ABC, the series was later revived, airing on both Lifetime and PAX TV in the 90s and early aughts. The assortment of episodes added to Netflix are from the David Ruprecht era of the show and feature an array of contestants from various seasons.

Part quiz show part madcap dash through a supermarket, the popular series featured three teams competing for cash, a chance to win an additional $5,000 in a Bonus Sweep, and most importantly, supermarket game show immortality.

Okay, maybe $5,000 is more important than supermarket immortality.

If you dont have Netflix, classic episodes of Supermarket Sweep are also available to stream on Prime Video and YouTube.

Where to stream Supermarket Sweep

Original post:
Go Wild In The Aisles! Classic Episodes of 'Supermarket Sweep' Are Now on Netflix - Decider

By Insider Staff - Aug 13, 2020 |

Tuck Everlasting

By Natalie Babbitt

(180 pages, junior fiction, 1975)

If you were given the chance to live forever, never aging, would you take it?

Thats a decision the Tuck family never got to make. They unknowingly drank from the magical spring and now they cant age or die. Realizing the power of the spring, they protect it, keeping it a secret to prevent others from the same fate.

When Winnie Foster encounters the Tuck family while out for a walk, she insists on drinking from the spring, not knowing its true power. So what is the Tuck family to do, but kidnap her. They cant let the secret of the spring be revealed.

As Winnie gets to know the family more, she starts to fall in love with one of their sons. Now she must make the decision; drink from the spring and join the new immortal boy she loves or continue on as if she never knew about it. Find out what happens to Winnie in this touching story that delves into the philosophy of immortality.

Visit Concord Public Libraryat concordpubliclibrary.net

Amy Cornwell

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Book: Taste of immortality - The Concord Insider

When Disney started up their newStar Warscontent, wiping the previous Expanded Universe material from continuity, there was dismay from fans who were furious that this wealth of novels, comics, games, etc., was now relegated to Legends status. As the years have gone by, though, certain concepts, storylines or characters have been carried over from the old canon to the current one. The Clone WarsandRebelshave been good value for this, for example.

But a new novel has made a major change that completely separates it from the Legends canon, and its all to do with Darth Plagueis. After the reference to Palpatines Sith master in Revenge of the Sith,fans had to wait until 2012sDarth Plagueisnovel, written by James Luceno with input from George Lucas, for his full story. Thats now a Legends title, however, and E.K. JohnstonsQueens Perilhas officially contradicted its recount of Plagueis the Wise and his mentorship of Darth Sidious.

For one, Lucenos novel revealed that Palpatine was actually still an apprentice inThe Phantom Menace,only killing his master when he became Chancellor of the Senate.Queens Peril,meanwhile, which is set in a similar period, establishes Palpatine as the numero uno Sith Lord operating in the galaxy during this time. Plagueis himself may still be canon, then, but his reign now ended much earlier than it did in the old canon.

Of course, this is the second major retcon to the Palpatine/Plagueis dynamic Star Warshas served up over the past year.The Rise of Skywalkerfinally albeit indirectly revealed the secret to immortality that Sidious discovered from his master: Essence Transfer, which is how he was able to survive his death in Return of the Jediand transplant his soul into a back-up clone body on Exegol. How, when and why he murdered Plagueis, however, is now once again a mystery.

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Star Wars Just Wiped Darth Plagueis Backstory From Continuity - We Got This Covered

Giloy is an ancient herb that is packed with an array of benefits. Popular for its immunity boosting properties, giloy helps in actively fighting against various pathogens. It is a part of Indian medicine from a very long time. Giloy literally means Amrita, which means the root of immortality. Its abundant medicinal properties have time and again proved that giloy is one of the most effective natural medicines. Also Read - Baba Ramdev Claims That Giloy & Ashwagandha Can 100 Percent Fight Off COVID-19 Infection

Scientifically known as Tinospora Cordifolia, giloy can be consumed either in powder form or after boiling and making a soup. You can also prepare giloy juice and have it daily in the morning. Being rich in antioxidants, this herb can boost your immunity and prevent the onset of common infections. Lets know more about how it helps in keeping you healthy. Also Read - Here is How Giloy And Ashwagandha Treat Coronavirus

Being an anti-pyretic in nature, giloy can prevent the onset of recurrent fever. Also, it can reduce the symptoms of some deadly diseases like dengue, malaria, swine flu etc. So, the next time you have fever, you can opt for a cup of giloy juice to get rid of it instead of popping up a paracetamol.

Indigestion is one of the most common problems we go through. And, it can create a lot of discomfort. To take care of your digestive system and improve digestion, you can consume half a gram of giloy powder with amla daily in the morning. You can also try giloy juice with buttermilk. People who are suffering from piles can also consume giloy this way to get some relief.

Are you a diabetic and facing issues in keeping your fluctuating blood sugar level under control? If yes, start consuming giloy. This herb helps in managing the level by assisting in the production of insulin. Giloy can also burn excess glucose and reduce the level of blood sugar. Giloy works in this regard due to its hypoglycaemic effects.

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Benefits of Giloy: How Giloy Fights COVID-19 And Other Deadly Infections by Building Immunity - India.com

Ancient alchemy was a process by which medieval wizard-like explorers searched for a mystical substance called the philosophers stone. They believed this substance could turn lead into gold, heal sickness and even grant immortality. The theme of their endeavors was combining opposites, often depicted as the union of man and woman. The alchemists records are credited to be the origin of chemistry, as they mixed and cooked and refined all kinds of materials and recorded the results in detail.

Fast forward to the modern age and a resurrection of alchemical principles in the work of Swiss psychologist C.G. Jung. For Jung, the philosophers stone was creating meaning out of chaos. In his patients dreams he found that the tension of opposites defined the interplay of the unconscious and the conscious. When descending into the darkness of depression, the ego reunites with elemental forces and experiences purification. Redemption then appears as spiritual rebirth and a new level of consciousness.

Like it or not, we are all in the alchemy of quarantine. Not only are we experiencing a personal descent, we are joined in a web of conscious humanity in a collective descent. Where we go and where we end up is the great unknown. Like any inward-bound journey, we will encounter demons and angels and have to make friends with both of them.

If these explorers of earlier times have any advice for us, it is that we must persevere. We strap on the sword of discipline and we cut through. We dont abandon the quest when we are lost because then we stay lost. We identify the outer world as expressions of our inner world. When frustrated, we refine our process. We seek the philosophers stone because it is what has called us to be warriors of the spirit as well as the flesh. Deep in the meditation of the alchemical quarantine cauldron, we discover that the nature of reality is the meaning we derive from it.

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The alchemy of quarantine - Point Reyes Light

The resurrection of the body Cont.

(5) When believers receive their new bodies, they put on immortality (1 Cor 15:53). Scripture indicates at least three purposes for this: (a) so that believers may become all that God intended for humans at creation (cf: 1 Cor 2:9); (b) so that believers may come to know God, in the full way He wants them to know Him (John 1-7:3); (c) so that God may express His love to His children as He desires (John 3:16; Eph 2:7; 1 John 4:8: 1 6).

(6) The faithful, who are still alive at Christs return for His followers will experience the same bodily transformation as those who have died in Christ prior to the day of resurrection (1 Cor 15:51-53). They will be given new bodies identical to the ones given to those raised from the dead at that time. They will never experience physical death (see the article on The Rapture).

(7) Jesus speaks of a resurrection of life for the believer and a resurrection of judgment for the wicked (John 5:28-29).

(9) The Judgment Of Believers: An overview

For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, (Jn 5:22)

So then each of us shall give an account of himself to God (Rom 14:12)

Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13each ones work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each ones work, of what sort it is. 14If anyones work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15If anyones work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. (1 Cor 3:12-15)

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. (2 Cor 5:10)

Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing. (2Tim 4:8)The Bible teaches that believers will someday have to give an account at the judgment seat of Christ. Concerning the judgment of believers, the following facts should be kept in mind:

(1) All Christians will be subject to judgment; there will be no exception (Rom 14:12; 1 Cor 3: 12-15; 2 Cor 5:10; see Eccl 12:14).

(2) This judgment will occur when Christ returns for His church (see John 14:3; 1 Thes 4:14-17).

(3) The judge is Christ (John 5:22; 2 Tim 4:8).

(4) The Bible speaks of the believers judgment as something solemn and serious, especially since it includes the possibility of damage or loss (1 Cor 3:15; 2 John 8), of being ashamed before Him at His coming (1 John 2:28) and of burning up ones whole lifes work (1 Cor 3:13-15). The believers judgment, however, will not involve a declaration of condemnation by God.

(5) Everything will be made manifest. The word appear (Gk phane, 2 Cor 5:10) means to be revealed openly or publicly. God will examine and openly reveal, in its true reality. (a) our secret acts (Mark 4:22; Rom 2:16), (b) our character (Rom 2:5-11), (c) our words (Mat 12:36-37), (d) our good deeds (Eph 6:8), (e) our attitudes (Mat 5:22), (f) our motives (1 Cor 4:5), (g) our lack of love (Col 3:184:1), and (h) our work and ministry (1 Cor 3:13).

Email:mercyolumide2004@yahoo.co.uk http://www.thebiblicalwomanhood.com Mobile: +234 803 344 6614; +234 808 123 7987

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The last days of history - Part 16Sunday Magazine - Guardian

With Gov. Andy Beshear requesting Kentuckians to light their houses and businesses green to honor those that have died from COVID-19, Elliott Mortuary is hosting a tree-lighting ceremony Saturday evening.

The ceremony is open to anyone to attend as long as you adhere to social distancing guidelines, said CEO Peter Bowles.

Were doing our part in the community to help healing to come, he said. Thats what were having on Saturday at around 8 p.m., at dusk, to show and give hope.

Michael Lowery, a staff member at the mortuary, said the reason they want to host this event was rooted in the color greens meaning. Green represents the Word of God and also symbolizes immortality, he said.

We are trying to show that these people, although they have passed and gone, that we are still looking at them in the light that there will be a resurrection, he said. We want to give light to the community and to let them know that this is something we can deal with and show that God is involved in this. Together we can pull through this. Thats one of the reasons we want to have this; we want to give hope to the hopeless.

Because of the restrictions that have come from COVID-19, Bowles said he understands if people dont want to physically come to the lighting ceremony, so they will attempt to have a live video streaming of the service. Bowles said it could be found on their Facebook page.

At noon on Memorial Day at Elliott Memorial Gardens, they are holding short service with a song and a prayer. Then they will decorate the graves of veterans, said Lowery.

One of the things we want to do is look at it from a historical perspective, he said. In days past, Memorial Day was called Decoration Day to decorate the graves right after the Civil War. They had decorated all of those who had fallen in battle. In the African American community, it was a day when people would meet and greet one another and talk about their loved ones, and it would be an all-day celebration.

The tree-lighting ceremony will be held at 8 p.m. Saturday at 151 E. Noel Avenue. The Memorial Day ceremony will be at noon Monday at Elliott Memorial Gardens, which is located on Halson Avenue. Both events are in Madisonville.

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Elliott Mortuary to host events in Madisonville | Local News - The Messenger

We dont understand that life is a paradise [at present], for we have only to wish to understand this and it will immediately appear before us in all its beauty. Father Zossima in The Brothers Karamazarov.

Whitehead has referred to basic insights or initial intuitions or feelings of mankind calling for explanations or justifications. Our desire for immortality is one of these initial intuitions, or persistent dreams, or impulses. If we begin with this fundamental impulse of the human spirit, the question is not disputing their truth on this or that so-called scientific ground or explaining it away but how to express it. Believers and non-believers neednt dispute the matter taking all or none position but may better have a dialogue regarding how far we have succeeded in defining or understanding it correctly.

It needs just a moments reflection to see that the issue of Heaven is neither an obsession of old schoolmen nor a subject for idle dreamers or escapists but concerns every man by virtue of being human. On it hinges the fate of people, believers and non-believers alike as it involves the question of meaning of life. Violence in domestic or political arena is a reaction to failure to finding love/being loved and agitation of spirit that fails to find repose in absence of the object it craves for by its very nature. All divorcees and criminals have failed to find love/attention. The recent history of violence has much to do with the history of decline of understanding of Heaven in modern consciousness.

One can transpose to Islam and arguably to all transcendence centric traditions that posit our real home in the yonderland of Spirit, Kreefts description of the medieval Christendom: It was the world beyond the world that made all the difference in the world to this world. The Heaven beyond the sun made the earth under the sun something more than vanity of vanities. Earth was Heavens womb, Heavens nursery, Heavens dress rehearsal. Heaven was the meaning of the earth.. Indeed deep down, everywhere, man refuses to believe his mortality. If both the desire and somewhat intuitive conviction and over a dozen rational arguments that cumulatively do mean a lot if not individually so compelling are corroborated by countless experiences men traditionally have had and even modern do have occasionally one can go to YouTube and see hundreds of videos by not only gullible believers but former sceptics that seem to imply some sort of survival and good news from the yonderland one has, as a rational being, reason to believe essential immortality of intelligence that asks the question about its own mortality and thus seems to presuppose its own transcendental status as outside spatio-temporal frameworks. There is no harm in hoping for the best while preparing for the worst in any case. None of us can easily grant that love whose very mention evokes supernatural or eternal aspect can die, that beauty is merely natural phenomenon, that intelligence or that consciousness isnt somehow primordial.

It is not difficult to see that corresponding ideas to Heaven as Home idea inform every tradition that is wedded to the project of self-realization/enlightenment/Nirvana/Paradise of Essence/Illumination/Beatific vision. Again Kreefts words find resonance across traditions. Homethats what heaven is. It wont appear strange and faraway and supernatural, but utterly natural. Heaven is what we were designed for. All our epics seek it: It is the home of Odysseus, of Aeneas, of Frodo, of E.T. Heaven is not escapist. Worldliness is escapist. Heaven is home. Kreeft answers the familiar charges that one would feel bored in heaven or seek to escape from it or it constitutes escapism from the world. People think heaven is escapist because they fear that thinking about heaven will distract us from living well here and now. It is exactly the opposite, and the lives of the saints and our Lord himself prove it. Those who truly love heaven will do the most for earth. Its easy to see why. Those who love the homeland best work the hardest in the colonies to make them resemble the homeland. Thy kingdom come. .. on earth as it is in heaven. He explains why consciousness of Heaven is required to illumine our odyssey on earth. if we see life as a road to heaven, some of heavens own glory will reflect back onto that road, if only by anticipation: the world is charged with the grandeur of God and every event smells of eternity.

Man may be defined as transcendence oriented or perpetually restless Heaven seeking animal. It is something evoking or invoking (or parasitic on) Eternity/Heaven or semblance of it in ordinary experiences such as sunshine and women and beaches and friends and music and wine that secular writers propose for our earthly salvation. All that takes us out of body, makes us dance in ecstasy, or swoon in serenity and weep tears of love and gratitude or even just talking to friends, sipping tea in silence, making love with spouse or kissing ones child constitute our (as believers and nonbelievers alike) share of life in Heaven or mortals claim to immortality. Modern drug culture and alcoholism is ultimately linked to squeezing of spaces for cultivating safer and tested methods for tasting Heaven or securing our seat there. So the question of immortality is of great practical significance for governments and police is better equipped if it knows it. Daredevil driving that kills thousands annually is seeking shortcut to heaven here.

We have heard the good news but we have not paid heed. There is a great news broadcast in all scriptures, in the writings of saints, symbolized in great art works, hinted in virgin nature, dreamt in dreams or seen in visions, lived by children and simple minded, tasted by lovers, that is the Good News of Heaven. Heaven has been promised by God, witnessed by prophets and attested by saints. We havent just heard of it we have lived under its shade it or seen it albeit dimly or through a veil. It is thanks to Heavens ecstasies that we continue to cherish life, sex, music, beauty.

Peter Kreeft explains why we cant afford to miss heaven even if our ideologies deny it, The big, blazing, terrible truth about man is that he has a heaven-sized hole in his heart, and nothing else can fill it And Talk about heaven and youll get sneers. But talk about a mysterious dissatisfaction with life even when things go wellespeciallywhen things go welland youll get a hearing from mans heart, even if his lips will not agree. And explains that we arent really interested in houris Iqbal also remarked that houris complain about believers little interest in them. No one longs for fluffy clouds and sexless cherubs, buteveryonelongs for heaven. No one longs for any of the heavens that we have ever imagined, but everyone longs for something no eye has seen, no ear has heard, something that has not entered into the imagination of man, something God has prepared for those who love him.

A clarification regarding the view of not desiring heaven attributed to Imams and Sufis is due. Reza Shah Kazmi explains:

It is, of course, true that the highest degree of spirituality transcends the desire for Paradise and the fear of Hell, and the moral conduct proportioned thereto. But this means that when such higher degrees of realization have been attained, the state of the soul is one that can properly be characterized as paradisal, that is, as being already so utterly content with the beatific presence of God that it can desire nothing more. This state of soul is called in the Qurn al-nafs al-mumainna (89: 27), the soul at peace in absolute certainty.

The mere thought of Paradise is itself a purification of the mind and heart, a means of averting from the soul the ever-present temptation to seek its ultimate happiness and well-being in this world alone.

Building on the Quranic verse And give good tidings to those who believe and perform virtuous deeds, that for them are Gardens underneath which rivers flow. Every time they are given to eat from the fruits thereof, they say: This is what we were given to eat before. And they were given the like thereof (2: 25), Reza Shah Kazmi writes about Imam Alis (RA) teachings, The fruits of the paradisal gardens are thus experienced already in the herebelow, in the form of all goodness, beauty and truth, and the diverse modes of happiness flowing therefrom. All such experiences are so many foretastes of the ultimate beatitude in Paradise. On the ethical plane, the performance of good deeds, and even more directly, the realization of intrinsic virtue, isn, is thus not simply a prerequisite for posthumous salvation, but is already a kind of deliverance, here and now. It is a deliverance from the imprisonment of sin, on the outward plane, and from the bondage of egocentricity, on the inward plane. This theme of salvation here and now, grounded in unshakeable certitude, is fundamental to the spirit of the Imams teachings.

All joy felt here on earth is loaned from Heaven. Simone Weil, with the world fraternity of sages, noted that joy (embodied quintessentially in heaven) is contact with reality and sorrow distance from it. As such mans adventure to embrace the Real or more correctly Gods search for man, as Heschel would put it, cant fail to fructify and in fact its successes constitute all the triumphs of human spirit in diverse sciences or departments of human life. Man is made for the Absolute, to die in It and thus to eternally live. Certainty is the requirement of intelligence and man is not absurdity. If man fails to access the most certain, the indubitable, the absolutely safe in Wittgensteins terms, he has failed as a man. God is the greatest certainty the greatest and most palpable of the present facts in Whiteheads words and a philosophy or epistemology that doesnt account for this does not deserve to be called a philosophy. It is failure and betrayal of philosophy and of man and his intelligence if the real is not knowable.

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Living in the Shade of Heaven - Greater Kashmir

A staple of early 2000s internet culture, Don Hertzfeldts morbid animationsincluding but not limited to stick figures gawking at giant spoons, anthropomorphic clouds bobbing atop a sea of blood, babies toppling down staircases and unnervingly long wisdom teeth stitcheshave collectively reached the epitome of surreal, macabre humor.

But despite the bizarre hilarity of classic shorts like Rejected (2000) or Wisdom Teeth (2010), Hertzfeldts longer projects have historically been a space to poke at larger philosophical beasts. His 2015 animated short film World of Tomorrow is no exception: through simple lines and blooming colors, the sci-fi story contemplates everything from our capacity for love to solar-powered robots that fear death. Yet, the focus of World of Tomorrow feels anything but scattered. Hertzfeldt effortlessly permeates his apocalyptic dystopia with the beauty of childhood whimsy, and the films core message of appreciating the present resounds because of it.

World of Tomorrow is a tale of two Emilys, or at least of one toddler-aged Emily and her third generation adult clone from 227 years in the future. In a signature monotone, clone Emily (Julia Pott) hollowly narrates the life shes lived. Meanwhile, Hertzfeldts four-year-old niece Winona Mae voices the original Emily, or Emily Prime, in all her unscripted, four-year-old gloryhappily burbling about triangles and shooting stars. But those shooting stars are actually dead bodies falling, as clone Emily warns, and the fate of our future world has been sealed by an incoming meteor.

But inevitable doom aside, humanity has otherwise found the key to immortality. Defying death, those who can afford it buy into the unending cycle of uploading memories into clone bodies. People spend their hours staring into screens that digitize and display the memories of past generationsuntil soon all there is to be seen are past generations staring into the same screens.

While Hertzfeldt makes apt commentary on the screen-centric culture we live in today, as well the disparities of social class (the wealthy brace for the apocalypse by uploading their consciousness into cubes; the poor launch themselves into the atmosphere and become the aforementioned dead bodies), its the seemingly silly details of this futuristic world that gives World of Tomorrow so much soul.

Clone Emily recounts falling in love with a rock, a fuel pump and a lumpy alien. She describes watching a memory six thousand times over, clinging to a sadness she does not fully comprehend but still chases because the emotion makes her feel human. The absurdity is comedic; its something wed expect from toddlers like Emily Prime. Its also heartbreaking, profoundly human and hauntingly familiar. Suddenly, we understand.

And perhaps thats Hertzfeldts appeal. Blurring the line of tragedy and comedy, World of Tomorrow aches with something universal.

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'World of Tomorrow': Science fiction that brims with soul - The Tide

Dame Vera Lynns iconic wartime anthem Well Meet Again was broadcast across the nation last night in honour of Victory in Europe (VE) Days 75th anniversary. The recording of her powerful voice joined thousands of other Britons belting out those unforgettable words, which speak of better days amid apprehension and fear. Dame Vera, who is now 103 years old, revealed her belief that the meaning behind this song was especially poignant today considering the current situation in our country. That feeling of separation and the hope of reunion, as the singer described, will have been felt by many during the coronavirus lockdown. Dame Vera earned the title of Forces Sweetheart in a Daily Express poll during World War 2. Decades later,theQueen honoured her with a damehood for the countless performances she made during that era and her continued work for military charities. Her name issynonymous with thewar and admired by generations still living with the memory of those dark times. But unearthed accounts show Dame Vera will also still be respected when the nextmillenniumdawns and the world wakes up to January 1, 3000.

During World War 2 Dame Vera Lynn toured the country to perform tothenations military and public in a bid to maintain public morale.

On her BBC radio show Sincerely Yours, she read out heart-wrenching love letters to those out on the frontlines, announced the safe delivery of babies and sang her much loved hits.

At the shows peak, she was receiving more than 2,000 requests a week during the broadcasts short lifespan of 12 episodes until 1942 when it was canned by the BBC over fears it would soften the troops.

Dame Vera admitted that she never envisaged playing such an instrumental role in the war when it broke out, following Britains brave stance against Nazi Germany in 1939.

She feared her singing career would be over and that she would be repurposed for the war effort, likely to work in a factory, the army or services.

Dame Vera toldtheBBC in 1999 about the shock she received when she went to sign-up to the services as everyonedid at the time.

She explained:I was ready to do whatever they wanted me to do, like everybody else.

But I was told 'No, you will be much more useful if you carry on entertaining.'

The thought that entertainment was going to be such a vital means of keeping peoples' morale up, well I never thought about that at all at the time.

Reflecting on her efforts during this period including stints in Egypt, India and most notably Burma where she was down the hill from where a battle took place she modestly diminished her role.

Dame Vera said: I tried to keep peoples spirits up with music and so did many other performers.

We also spent time with our families and, of course, food was sometimes very scarce but we got through it because we knew we had to.

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In the years that have followed, she remains humble about her contributions to morale which undoubtedly played a part in helping us to win World War 2.

Dame Vera brushed off the flattering praise of others, including the words of BBC radio star Sir Harry Secombe who stated: Churchill didn't beat the Nazis. Vera sang them to death.

In 2000, she was named Personality of the Century in a nationwide poll where she received more than a fifth of all British votes 604 of 2,850 cast.

Dame Vera was one of 120 names listed for the public to deliberate over at the shoppingcentresin the towns and cities across the UK.

Herimprinton British history culminated in many of her personal belongings being sealed in theMillenniumVault 2000, in Guildford, Surrey.

This time capsule of World War 2 items, a motor vehicle, letters and items of the era will not be opened until the dawn of the nextmillennium.

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In the Year 3000, future generations will find a life-size print of Dame Vera in her military attire, along with her autobiography and numerous other objects.

She said: "Sixty years ago there was a poll with the service chaps in France and I came out top, that's how I got called the forces' sweetheart.

Little did I think that 60 years hence I would win another poll."

Other souvenirs from the 20th Centuryinclude a Mini that was treatedto stop itrusting.

They accompany a Yehudi Menuhin violin, samples of British currency and the Spirit of Ecstasy statuette from the bonnet of a Rolls-Royce car.

There are also letters from hundreds of members of the public and popular figures, including the then-Prime Minister Tony Blair, former Tory leader William Hague, actor David Suchet and countless others.

Link:
Vera Lynn's immortality explained: Why VE Day hero will still be relevant in Year 3000 - Express

Columnist Sally Friedman gives readers a look at her world.

I always cry on Mother's Day. It's almost a family tradition. I cry easily, especially when it comes to motherhood. Of all the ways I define myself, that single word, "mother," seems to have a holiness all its own.

I always need some time alone on this day in May because it carries with it past, present, future, hopes, joy and sadness.

I'll no doubt spend a part of this Sunday morning alone in my cluttered home office staring at past photos of Mom snapped by my sister Ruth, the family photographer, bless her.

Ruthie somehow captured a woman in a bright red suit, against a background of trees with a broad smile, who knew she had about two weeks to live as a marauder called lymphoma attacked her.

I love that photo because it spoke of what we all knew and loved about Mom. It seemed to say Ah, I still have today!

I'm guessing that in so many households today, there are similarly cherished photos that take families back to memories of a matriarch that is no longer there.

Mother memories never fade, with or without photos, for those of us lucky enough to be blessed with moms who loved us beyond all reason.

We buried my mother on my birthday, a quirk of the calendar, nearly 15 years ago. I dont think there's been a day since that I didn't think of her, and not because she was a saint, but because she wasn't. She was real, sometimes a bit overbearing, but always devoted.

Nobody loved us the way she did. I need to believe that she knows her voice, her wisdom, her common sense, and her love still live in me. I hope they always will.

On the day we buried his great-grandmother, one of our grandsons, the poetic Jonah, who was about eight at the time, saw me crying. He came up to me, tugged at my sleeve and said to me, "Don't cry. Mom-Mom is in the wind and the rain and the snow. She's always with us." And somehow, she is.

One of the joys of my life that intertwined with Mom, was seeing her as a great-grandmother to a flock of great-grandchildren. The gift of her long life allowed for that generational gift.

Also, on this special day, I love to share my own motherhood, and my gratitude that I became a mother at 22, when I barely knew who I was. I will admit that I made plenty of mistakes, nearly drowned infant Jill in her pink baby bathtub out of sheer terror. Her father was fortunately around for a rescue. Baby Amy arrived two years later, delivered quite unexpectedly by her astonished dad. Therein lies a tale, an early warning sign of Amy's mad dash through life. Nancy, far more sedate, was born in the hospital much to her nervous father's relief.

I think it would be fair to say that these three daughters forever altered our lives, our spirits and our dreams. They have been our link to immortality, joy, exhaustion and pride. Whatever else I may do in this life, they are my best work aside from the grandchildren they have added to our clan.

And here we are in this strange era of a most unwelcome pandemic. Although many of us may be denied real hugs and cheeks to kiss, we can still celebrate motherhood, however compromised.

Motherhood can't be wiped away or abandoned. The word itself has a sweetness that seems to soften life's hard edges.

Nobody or anything can take that away.

Sally Friedman is a freelance writer. Contact her at pinegander@aol.com.

Continued here:
Friedman: Remembering Mom with love and tears - News - Burlington County Times

While Sunday will be celebrated as Mothers Day here in Cherokee County and around most of the world, it will celebrated more as a virtual celebration this year due to the closing of so many shops heavily dependent of Mothers Day, the card shops, flower shops and gift shops, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

This Sunday may be a Mothers Day where the words I Love You Mom may be the greatest gift you can give your mother, all via phones, virtual computers etc. Hugs and kisses may have to be delayed until the pandemic is over and it will happen, soon.

In past columns I reviewed the history of Mothers Day and told about the day that my mother died. I shared that feeling of peace that came across Mothers face as she silently slipped from mortality into immortality. That was a picture I have never forgotten, that look of peace I saw on Mothers face as four children arrived to be with her as she slid into immortality.

Our mother-son relationship lasted for over 70 years with 30 of those years spent locating and recording family ancestral names in family history books. Her input was vital because she knew where every branch and twig fit on our family trees. Doing my family history helped me know my mothers for generations back. Vicariously I walked with them as they boarded small sailing vessels in the early 1800s in Scotland, Ireland and Germany. And vicariously I helped them load supplies on board to last until they could settle in a new and yet untamed world.

Once in Canada I walked with them through the forests. I hovered with them around their open fires that kept the wolves at bay. And I cooked with them over open fires until their men folk could build a lean-to or a small log cabin. One mother tells of using a blanket hung over a doorway to separate her family from the wolves who hungrily howled only a short distance away.

Another letter tells of a great-great grandmother walking across the mud flats of Toronto in the dead of winter. It tells how she carried her 2-year-old daughter wrapped in her arms and of her sitting on logs crying, not wanting to go on. But with her husbands help they arrived at their destination and built their new life in the wilderness. These mothers were strong women. While most lived to become mothers of large families a few died in childbirth, alone in the wilderness, with others living to be 100 surrounded by strong family members.

Researching my family history is how I learned that each generation has its own cross to bear. It is easy for our generation to think our ancestors cross was heavier to bear than our cross is today. Yes, they had their howling wolves that could kill the body, but our generation is dealing with equally deadly wolves: drugs and pornography, the wolves that destroy the soul. Their generation built nations with faith in God. Our generation is working hard to get rid of God. I hope this never happens because wolves and drugs are even more deadly in a Godless world.

Most of us elderly often wonder what lies ahead for our grandchildren and great grandchildren in todays very divided and confused world. One of my mentors once addressed this question by declaring the upcoming generations will have a good future. And Im grateful these reassuring words as I watch my grandchildren raise our great-grandchildren, children born to mothers and fathers who know the power and purpose of God, and teach them about Gods great Plan of Happiness, as did my ancestral mothers, straight from Gods scriptures.

My ancestral mothers didnt have the material things we have today, but they had something our generation seems to be losing faith in a living God. They lived and died with faith, building nations on the principles of Gods laws they found in their studies of their scriptures.

My Mother, as has my wife Joan, bore their motherly burdens quietly. They taught, they nurtured, they loved, and they cared for their families. And the fruits of their labor are apparent today God centered families. How fortunate are those who are born to mothers who know God and pass this heritage onto their children. And it was mom who introduced me to my favorite poem, The Touch of the Masters Hand.

I continue to love you Mom, as do all your posterity.

Happy Mothers Day Mom and to moms all around the world!

Donald Conkey is a retired agricultural economist who lives in Woodstock.

More here:
DONALD CONKEY: Thankful for mothers through the generations - Cherokee Tribune Ledger News

Destiny 2

Yesterday, the annoyance over the Antaeus Wards exotic in Destiny 2 reached a fever pitch. Clan Redeem, which is often one that finds exploits or glitches with exotics, leading to them being disabled, pretended to find a high-damage, immortality glitch with Antaeus Wards, complete with doctored test footage.

Other than setting off a five-alarm fire at Bungie on a Sunday for a few hours, no doubt, the questionable joke does raise the issue that yes, its probably time to address Antaeus Wards for real at this point.

Antaeus Wards were an exotic in the Forsaken era that flew under the radar until recently where something was altered about the way the Titan boots reflect damage. When they were first introduced, they seemed like a gimmick. A properly timed slide could reflect something like a super or a tank shell or a rocket.

But the recent change made Antaeus Wards better able to reflect normal gun damage, and now we have legions of perma-sliding Titans that reflect shotgun shots and fusion rifle blasts directly back at the user, along with following up with one of their own for instant, often unavoidable kills.

In practice, this is nothing short of a nightmare to play against in the Crucible, especially now that Trials of Osiris is here, and often on its small, tight maps, shotgun duels are the name of the game. Theres very little you can do against Antaeus Wards expect keep enemies as far away as possible, though with shotgun aping, thats often not in the cards.

Antaeus now often feels pretty much mandatory if youre running a Titan in high level PvP content, and the problem with a class-specific exotic being overpowered is that its not like a weapon, and the other classes are at a distinct disadvantage. When Hard Light was fully broken, it was terrible, but at least everyone could use it and counter Hard Lights with other Hard Lights. But with this, only Titans have access to Antaeus.

An additional problem is just how bad this feels generally. Yes, One-Eyed Mask was a big problem in Crucible for ages, with its regen and overshield and damage boost and wallhacks. But Antaeus feels different, because it essentially compounds the existing Bad Thing in Destiny where often it feels like your shots dont connect with a shotgun. Now, Antaeus replicates that effect on purpose, but also damages you and opens you up to be insta-killed by the wearer.

Destiny 2

Utilizing sliding has always been a PvP movement skill that separates a good player from a bad one, as it disorients opponents and messes with auto-aim. Shotgun sliding has been around long before Antaeus, but now with the damage-reflect/immunity, it has made it exponentially worse.

I just dont think Antaeus was ever supposed to work like this. I think it was supposed to be more of a gimmick exotic, reflecting things like supers or rockets on special occasions when you could time it just right. I dont think it was meant to make all shotgun/fusion fights against other classes completely one-sided, which is whats happening now.

We are in the unusual situation of the community banding together to agree on a nerf for once, for the most part, which almost never happens. I dont know if well see one before the end of this season, which is over in a month, but I would be amazed if nothing was altered about Antaeus for the next one, even if it cant one-shot Riven through Synthoceps switching.

Follow meon Twitter,FacebookandInstagram. Pick up my new sci-fi novelHerokiller, and read my first series,The Earthborn Trilogy, which is also onaudiobook.

Original post:
Yes, Destiny 2s Antaeus Wards Should Be Nerfed For The Sake Of Everyones Sanity - Forbes

The path to completely mapping every aspect of a brain is complicated. It requires incredibly precise scanning of the neurons, the cells that carry electrical impulses, as well as the synapses that link them together. The end result is a 3D rendering called a connectome, and the good news is that science has already made one.

The bad news is that it was of a Caenorhabditis elegans roundworm, which has 302 total neurons in its brain as compared to a human beings 86 million. A task with that complexity would take, as Francis Collins, head of the National Institutes of Health, told Smithsonian, a million electron microscopes running in parallel for 10 years.

Current science is split on whether technology will ever reach a level where that task is possible. That roundworm connectome, however, has already seen a digital life. In 2014, the OpenWorm project that mapped the brain decided to replicate it as software and install it in a Lego robot that was capable of the same sensory and motor actions as the biological model.

Without any additional programming, the team claims the robot worm behaved identically to a real one, recoiling from touch and moving towards food. Its not an exact analog, as the nerves in the worms body are approximated by hard-wired sensors, but it proves a point.

Already were raising some pretty intense questions hereis this Lego replica of a roundworm a sentient being? Is it distinct from the worm it was copied from? These are the kind of issues that will come to the fore as we get closer and closer to whole brain emulation.

That hasnt stopped some people from trying to sell it already. In 2018, startup Nectomeannounced that it had developed a method to preserve the human brain until the date that advanced scanning methods are practical. Only one issue: it has to be fresh. As in, you have to be alive when they do the process, which kills you.

Thats a pretty bold bet to take on the future, but Nectome CEO Robert McIntyre believes in his technology, pitching it as a way to save your precious memories rather than create a full digital simulacrum of your consciousness. Over 30 people have put down a $10,000 deposit to be on the list for preservation.

Other researchers are taking a more granular approach to digitizing the mind. Researcher Theodore Berger at the University of Southern California is developing an electronic prosthesis for the hippocampal region of the brain, generally recognized as the area that manages memory. The device monitors and encodes the sequence of neurons firing and can then replay them.

In rats, it was able to restore a memory of pulling levers in a sequence. A rat brain is significantly less complex than a humans, but the general principle is the same. Bergers team is investigating human applications to help people with brains damaged by Alzheimers and other degenerative diseases.

More:
Will We Ever Be Able to Upload Our Brains? - ComputerShopper.com