These daguerreotypes date from the 1840s or 1850s. The closed cover of each measures about 2 by 3 inches.

For a moment, lets forget craftsmanship and design, form and function.

As I travel the world of antiques, there is one thing for which I look history.

Its one of the key components that make an object interesting often, its the only component of interest in something that otherwise would be sadly lacking.

The people involved in an objects creation, the folks who used it, the events that have taken place around it all leave their marks.

Those are part of history.

And, for the most part, the faces that were behind that history long ago were consigned to dust, their names forgotten.

But in one form of collectible, the faces remain, even if the names are lost.

Im referring to the first photographs, Louis Daguerres daguerreotypes, created in the 1830s.

Those 2-inch bits of silver were coated with light-sensitive mercury vapor then exposed, offering ordinary folks a shot at earthly immortality.

That was a first. A portrait drawn or painted by an artist was expensive, available only to the affluent. In comparison, daguerreotypes were inexpensive and provided near-instant results.

PHOTOS BY SCOTT SIMMONS / FLORIDA WEEKLY

So, 180 years later, the anonymous faces stare back, peering from behind the protective glass that shields the precious images.

I was reminded of those faces as I dug through my desk, filled with pencils, stamps, envelopes and thumbtacks, and stumbled across the embossed covers of daguerreotypes I bought some years ago for a few dollars at the West Palm Beach Antiques Festival.

The people tell a story of wearing their Sunday best for a portrait.

A double set of images shows two women wearing matching dresses and white lace collars at their necks. Both wear dark lace mitts on their crossed hands.

In another, a boy looks expectantly into the camera while seated on a straight chair, his arm resting on a table.

And in yet another, a sour-faced woman, her hair parted at the middle, peers at the camera. The early thermoplastic Union Case in which her photograph is mounted, was made between 1855 and 1865, according to The Daguerreian Societys website. That case measuring just over 3 inches by 3 inches is the largest of our trio. Its also the newest and may well be an Ambrotype exposed on glass or a tintype a photograph exposed on a sheet of tin.

This image is an Ambrotype, made between 1855 and 1865. It measures 3 inches by 3 inches.

Was she having a bad day, one wonders, or was she simply dealing with the cumbersome photography process of the day? The subjects of those early photographs often had a brace holding their heads so they didnt move during the long exposure time the image required sometimes as much as a minute.

Regardless, you can look into their eyes and see another world one of horses and buggies and struggles and one of taking great effort to look ones best for a tiny shot at immortality even if immortality means lying at the bottom of my desk drawer, only to be awakened for this brief interlude. Rest well, whoever you were.

Scott SIMMONS

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A look back at the faces of 170 years ago and more - Key West Florida Weekly

Greenwade was the primary scout on Jackie Robinson; he eagle-eyed the Kansas City Monarchs when Rickey sought to break baseballs color line. And Greenwade was the scout who in May 1949 signed Mantle out of Commerce High School in northeastern Oklahoma.

According to Jim Kreuz of the Society of American Baseball Research, Greenwade wrote The Sporting News in 1954 that he was the only scout who in 1948 and 1949 watched Mantle play for Baxter Spring, Kansas, in the Ban Johnson league, a summer amateur organization. Two days after Mantles high school graduation in May 1949, Greenwade signed Mantle to the Yankees for $1,500 and a salary of $140 a month.

Two years later, Mantle was in the Yankee outfield and headed for baseball immortality.

The same script could have happened, only with the Dodgers.

Greenwade was born in Willard, Missouri, near Springfield, and lived there most of his life. He played minor-league baseball all over, including Muskogee and Tulsa.

Greenwade went into minor-league managing, then in 1940 was hired to scout for the Dodgers. He scoured Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri and Arkansas for ballplayers, and Rickey made him the color-barrier secret agent who checked out Robinson and Cuban Silvio Garcia.

But in December 1945, after the Dodgers signed Robinson to a contract with the Montreal Royals of the International League, the Yankees offered Greenwade $11,000 a year, counting bonuses, a huge jump from his $3,600 Dodger salary. Rickey let him go.

With the Yankees, Greenwade did not move. He did not change regions. He did not change much of anything, except for which New York team he recruited. And recruiting is what it was, in those pre-draft days.

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What if Mickey Mantle signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers instead of New York Yankees? It's not far-fetched. - Oklahoman.com

Signs supporting the National Health Service (NHS) during the coronavirus outbreak are displayed together on railings in east London on Monday. Associated Press

That is partly because different countries are at different stages of the epidemic, and partly because data is recorded and then reported in different ways, often to score a political point about our own or other governments. Large parts of the world are still going largely unreported. What happened after those pictures a few weeks ago of a chaotic lockdown in India? After the hunger riots in Nairobi slums? When the dead bodies piled up on the streets of an Ecuadorian city? And what is the progress of the epidemic that was running out of control, causing mass casualties, in Iran?

We are not being told what is going on in the mega cities of Lagos, Sao Paulo, Mexico City and Mumbai. Most of Planet Earth seems to have disappeared. And that matters not just for humanitarian reasons, but because we still have are so many gaps in the knowledge of how this virus operates and what is required to defeat it.

An example of how the international data can be misleadingly oversimplified came in a report last week of how Britain was now in the top five nations for recorded deaths from COVID-19. I have no particular brief for this government, and suspect that they have made some bad, avoidable, mistakes. But such accusations are meaningless in the absence of information on deaths per head of the population; deaths in relation to infection rates; the age profile and therefore years of life lost; and deaths in excess of the underlying trend. (Much comment still seems to assume immortality, forgetting that 1,600 people die in the UK every day from heart failure, cancer, car accidents, other illnesses and, of course, simple old age.)

What is potentially more informative than morbidity league tables which make sense only when scientifically interpreted are insights from the different strategies and tactics employed in around the world. The differences reflect the fact that different scientists have different views, and that different politicians are making different judgements about how to act on the evidence.

The big strategic argument is between those favouring suppression of the virus by cutting the rate of infection well below one using lockdowns and the closing off of large sections of the economy and those arguing for a weaker, mitigation approach to minimise disruption. After a damaging couple of weeks of prevaricating, when herd immunity was entertained, Britain is firmly in suppression mode. But total suppression is impractical except in remote, low density communities such as New Zealand, which is now down to two cases, both isolated.

The subsidiary issue for those choosing suppression is whether to rely on the crude, sledgehammer approach of lockdown, causing immense economic harm, or the more surgical approach of testing and tracing, as in Korea and Taiwan, or some combination of the two, as in Germany. But that kind of surgical approach requires a degree of foresight, planning and organisation which Britain lacked (and still lacks).

Then, within the lockdown approach, there are varying degrees of draconian. In Paris and Milan, permits are required to leave your house; walking and cycling are not indulged as they are in the UK. In that light, I am rather grateful that we have an instinctively libertarian prime minister. My nearest brush with authority has been the sighting of a drone checking that, miles from anywhere and everyone, my wife and I were not indulging in proscribed activities such as sitting down or sunbathing. Had Theresa May still been around, I suspect Britain would have had issued curfews and internal passports by now

There is an even more liberal approach, however, which is to accommodate rather than suppress the virus. At one extreme there are the virus deniers in the nastier and weirder parts of the former Soviet Union, such as Belarus and Turkmenistan; the nastier and weirder parts of the US, as in the Republican Deep South; and, of course, in Bolsonaros Brazil. This is almost certainly where Donald Trump would like to be, had he not channelled his anti-scientific, populist instincts into promoting alternative vaccines like the injection of disinfectants.

There are sensible governments which are not in denial but believe they can avoid the extreme economic pain of lockdown. One is Japan, where life and business continues much as normal, save for in a few regions where mounting infections are forcing the governments hand. The Japanese do not challenge the epidemiological orthodoxy but they seem to have developed a variant of the Taiwan/Korea model, for the most part successfully clamping down on localised clusters.

A case nearer home is Sweden, which has not followed the other Nordics in a lockdown model. Shops, cafes, workplaces and schools for those under 16 are open, and people still mingle in Stockholm.

I listened in to a Zoom seminar this week organised by the Institute of Global affairs at LSE in which Scandinavian experts were trying to understand how this social democratic country (every right-wingers nightmare of a nanny state) should have ended up taking the most extreme libertarian position in Europe. The response from critics was that they were muddled. The more generous answer is that they really believe in suppression but are relying on self-discipline, solidarity and common sense, rather than coercion and legal sanctions. So far, the profile of the disease and deaths appears not dissimilar from the UK in per capita terms.

Where international experience and devolved government (as in Scotland) is so useful is in testing out the various routes out of lockdown over the next few months. These routes tell us a lot about national tastes as well as the applicability of social distancing. The civilised Italians started with bookshops and childrens clothes stores. The Trump-loving state of Georgia is apparently giving priority to massage and tattoo parlours. Perhaps Britain will start with garden centres?

These are details best settled on the basis of comparative experience and technical advice. The public will expect a common sense approach to gradual relaxation where social distancing can be maintained: outdoors, on beaches and mountains, for example; or where unnecessary travel doesnt actually involve meeting anyone.

To get there, the first requirement is for the government to be transparent about the trade offs between some weakening of the suppression strategy necessitating a degree of risk and the fearsome, collateral damage to our economy and society which would result from maintaining the status quo.

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Is UK actually in the top five for COVID-19 deaths? - Gulf Today

Note: Wed planned to reviewDoom Patrol as it released episode by episode, but WB surprised us by unleashing the first three episodes at once on June 25, so our reviews will be a little bit out of order.

Im constantly comparingDoom Patrolto everything I know about the X-Men. It sounds like a bad idea, right? To compare this obscure team of nobodies to a group of heroes that transformed Marvel and spawned dozens if not hundreds of different books for the company. Except that every time I do, Doom Patrol wins out for me. I like weird stuff.Doom Patrol is the weirdest stuff. This week, the analog between the two is all at once impossible to miss and yet less substantial than in many previous episodes.Spoilers follow forDoom Patrol Season 2, Episode 4, Sex Patrol. Also, warning for sex words below. Get ready to giggle and blush.

This week is all about what Stewie from Family Guy would describe as a sexy party. The Patrol needs to resuscitate Danny the Street, who became Danny the Brick, and then Danny the broken Brick. Out of ideas, Dr. Caulder throws a hail-mary pass and invites the Dannyzens from last seasons awesome Danny episode. All thew weirdoes and freaks that have found safety with Danny after being shunned by society. Like that episode, this one feels like a huge coming-together for many of the characters, where the Dannyzens self-acceptance forces them to come to terms with things about themselves.

Theres a great moment early on when Flex Mentallo, the muscle superhero, is using his powers to help prepare the house for the party. He flexes this muscle and lights appear over the windows. He flexes that one and streamers appear all over. Rita goes to put up the disco ball, intending to use her powers to mount it, but her powers wont manifest. So far, shes only been able to do it when her self esteem is low or when shes in a very stressful situation. She has very little control over it, other than not turning into a horrifying flesh blob anymore.

This kicks off two of the interesting storylines this week. Dorothy is in the middle of an existential struggle. She knows her father is dying. She knows she loves Danny. But shes also realizing that Danny wasnt simply her friend for the many years she lived within his streets. Danny was her jail. Meanwhile, Rita is realizing that something is stopping her from controlling her powers. Seeing Flex reminds her that the only time shes been clear of mind is when Flex operated his splenius cervicis muscle, which elicited a very specific reaction from the Patrol.

These two storylines expose just how precarious Dorothy is living with the Patrol. Shes stuck not just physically but mentally and emotionally at the age of 11. Despite being over 100 years old, she is quite literally a child living with a bunch of very adult adults.

Dr. Caulder is in an impossible position with Dorothy. On the one hand, if she were to make a wish to the Candlemaker, there could be repercussions of apocalyptic proportions. Shes an 11-year-old in every sense other than her number of literal years on earth, so wishing is just something shes emotionally predisposed to do. On the other hand, Caulder has been keeping a literal child imprisoned for decades while he searches for immortality to outlast his daughter. I suspect the thrust of the season will be Caulder discovering that there are other optionsthat the search for immortality has been a decades-long goose chase. Well see if that bears out. But Ritas storyline shows that this situation cannot last.

Flex Mentallo is, in short, helping Rita work her way through some trauma by causing her to orgasm. But if you remember back to season 1, Flexs splenius cervicis muscle (its on the back of the neck, down near the shoulder) is quite powerful, and caused the entire street and all the Dannyzens to orgasm when he accidentally engaged it. Listen, these sentences are as absurd to write as they are to read.

The intense, amplified orgasms wake up this weeks monster and summon this weeks heroes, and they literally could not be better than they are. The demon Rita accidentally summons is a sex demon called theShadowy Mr. Evans,a being that meditates in a temple in the far east. The Shadowy Mr. Evans has a periscope on his head and can dissolve into shadows. Wherever he goes, wanton lust follows, and soon he arrives at Doom Manor to spice up the party.

As if by magic, though, someone shows up to stop him. It turns out that the Shadowy Mr. Evans, if unleashed, could turn the world in a childless, hedonistic playground. The SeX-Men appear with back-mounted gun packs and libidometers. Theyre named after the X-Men (by a 12-year-old, probably) and themed after the Ghostbusters.

This pairing sums up the tone of Doom Patrol, something Im calling a silly nightmare. The reality of what could happen is legitimately horrifying, but its very silly to describe, and its good for both laughs and action alike.

So far, Im genuinely enjoying this season ofDoom Patrol. The showrunners are finding great ways to investigate and develop each character. Im enjoying Ritas concerted attempts to become a better person, as well as Vics struggles with continuing to be human while living in a body that is A) not is own and B) custom-built for heroism. Janes struggles to live at peace with herself are compelling thanks to not just Diane Guererros great acting but the other actors who portray her personalities when shes in the underground.

And Cliffs struggles would be heartbreaking if he wasnt so defiant and prone to swearing. He struggles to feelanythingwhile trying to cope with the pain of knowing his daughter has grown up without him while he convalesced in his mechanical body for 30 years.

Im also glad to see the Dannyzens back and for the show to continue to develop who and what Danny is. Danny is a protector, and everything about Danny reinforces that.

I want to see the show get into the meat of the story, but its doing so well with these monster-of-the-week episodes in terms of make-up, set design, special effects and story that Im not going to complain. Plus, Im always down for an episode featuring Flex Mentallo, The Muscle Man of Mystery.

Doom Patrol season 2 is airing now on DC Universe.

Link:
Doom Patrol 204 Review This Ain't the X-Men - Batman-News

There are a lot of terrible movies out there, yet, some movies are so bad that they transcend typical rating systems and actually become watchable.

Despite many film fans' insistence that "critics are always wrong," review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes has become a make-or-break barometer of critical opinion surrounding movies. Films that receive the "Certified Fresh" rating oftentimes go on to big success, while anything labeled "Rotten" has to carry that distinction as a badge of shame in perpetuity.

RELATED: 10 Of The Worst 0% Horror Movies On Rotten Tomatoes

Recently, the good folks at Rotten Tomatoes compiled a 100 Worst of All Time list that's a whos-who of cinematic dumpster fires that should be sampled at one's peril. Still, there are a few guilty pleasures to be had in the list, and below we count down ten of Rotten Tomatoes' "worst of all time" that are surprisingly watchable, should you be brave enough to take the plunge!

After taking home the top disco dance prize in Saturday Night Fever, Staying Alive picks up six years later as Tony Manero (John Travolta) teaches young dancers at an NYC studio and yearns to make his way to Broadway. When he manages to score a backup dancing spot in a new production, he begins to backslide into his old, troubled behaviors.

Somehow, bizarrely, directed by Sylvester Stallone, this lunk-headed backstage drama trades the grit of the first film forslick dance sequencesobviously, somebody saw Famebut it has its charms, especially the overblown, Hell-bound finale sequence.

In the latest tragedy to befall the bloody, shark-plagued legacy of the Brodys, Ellen (Lorraine Gary) is devastated when her son is killed by a great white. Though mourning, she heads to the Bahamas to spend time with her other son, where she falls for Hoagie Newcombe (Michael Caine). But, almost immediately, their budding romance is threatened by another pointy-finned monster from the deep.

RELATED: Steven Spielberg: 5 Reasons Why Jaws Is His Best Monster Movie (& 5 Why Jurassic Park Is A Close Second)

Even a franchise based on an immortal classic isn't immune to the law of diminishing returns,but the Jawssequels went to pot faster than most. Though Jaws 2 and Jaws 3-D have their fans, The Revengeis a last-gasp that few people have warm feelings for. Still, it's entertaining to the ludicrous lengths its makers go to just to justify its existence, and it's easy to see these films in the DNA in such cornball fare as the Sharknado series.

A wheelchair-bound young man and a bug-eyed extraterrestrial form a fast friendship in this legendary turkey from director Stewart Raffill. A hysterically inept and unintentionally creepyE.T. clone with some of the most brazen and extended product placement of all time, Mac and Me is a true case of seeing-is-believing. Treat yourself to theMystery Science Theater 3000 takedown of the movie.The beloved riffing seriesdedicated an episode of The Return to its schlocky, consumerist pleasures.

In the sequel to the 1986 fantasy adventure, Connor MacLeod, the titularwarrior known as the Highlander, has aged after giving up his immortality. After defeating a group of assassins from his homeworld, the Highlander is again granted immortality, leading to a struggle with the cruel General Katana (Michael Ironside).

Highlander(1986) became something of a cult classic despite a mixed critical reception, and The Quickening doublesdown on all the things that may have turned people off in the first film. This more-is-more sequel somehow manages to be more absurd and bombastic than its predecessor, which is either a joy or misery, depending on the viewer.

Avaricious mega corporation Omni Consumer Products is up to their old tricks again, attempting to lay the foundations of the new Delta City to replace a crime-ridden Detroit by enlisting paramilitary forces to relocate residents against their will. An OCP creation now gone rogue, RoboCop (Robert John Burke) joins the civilians in the battle againstthe corporate oppressors and their new state-of-the-art unit of ninja robots.

The RoboCopsequelshavea consistently bad rap, despite being perfectly serviceable, if middling, sci-fi action films. RoboCop 3has theunfortunate distinction of losing the first and second film's hero, Peter Weller, for Robert John Burke, which almost automatically puts it in third place, and, though it's worlds away from the genre-defining classic that spawned it, it's a fine enough time-waster that still manages to touch upon thesocio-economic issues that are RoboCop's bread and butter.

Annie (Sandra Bullock) is in her element when a Caribbean cruise with her boyfriend (Jason Patric) ishijackedby a madman (Willem Dafoe), having survived a bob-rigged bus in 1994's Speed.

RELATED: 5 Action Movies From The 2000s That Are Underrated (& 5 That Are Overrated)

Proving that a bigger budget almost never means better, Speed 2 - Cruise Controlchases the success of the film, before it to no avail. Jason Patric is a poor substitute for Keanu Reeves, but with Willem Dafoe in prime looney-toons mode, Cruise Controlis one of those cable TV staples that simply won't let you change the channel no matter how much you might resist.

In this live-action retelling of the beloved children's tale,a magically animated puppet (Roberto Benigni)sets out on an adventure to rescue his maker and become a flesh and blood boy.

Why Roberto Benigni followed up his Oscar-winning turn in 1997's Life Is Beautiful,which he also wrote and directed, with this monstrosity is a question for the ages, but more people know about it as a cautionary tale than have ever actually seen it. No, Pinocchioisn't good by any stretch, but there's something to be said for experiencing something this misguided and gobsmackingly weird just once.

Retired FBI agent, Jeremiah Ecks (Antonio Banderas) is back on the job after his former cohorts threaten to blackmail him. Tasked with hunting down a DIA operative gone rogue, known only as Sever (Lucy Liu), Ecks soon realizes that the woman he's targeting may be a worthwhile ally against their common enemies.

Rotten Tomatoes has qualified this action disasterpiece as the absolute "most rotten" film of all time, which may disappoint viewers. Ballistic: Ecks vs. Severis terrible, but far more competently made than its infamous RT-approvedlabel would suggest. Come for two big-name actorsembarrassing themselves, stay for the better-than-expected action set pieces.

When Simon (Tyron Leitso) and Greg (Will Sanderson) hook up with a pack of partiers headed for a remote island rave, the last thing they expect to find is zombies, but that's just what they get when they arrive at their destination. The group has to dodge the monsters and get back to safety, which is easier said than done considering that their boat has been swarmedby the undead.

RELATED: 5 Video Game Movie Franchises That Deserve A Reboot (& 5 That Don't)

Uwe Boll is often labeled the "worst director of all time," and, with products like House of the Dead, it's hard to argue.

The male descendants of a cabal of magic-users named the Sons of Ipswich attend an elite boarding school for warlocks. When a student is murdered, the boys start to discover learn more about their shadowy lineage and the family secrets that have been protected for generations.

Renny Harlin's glossyHarry-Potter-by-way-of-Abercrombie-and-Fitch snoozefest is actually something of a guilty-pleasure in queer circles due to its abundance of unintended sexual tension and cast of generic, white, mid-2000s hearth-throbs, including Taylor Kitsch, Sebastian Stan, and Chace Crawford.

NEXT: Rotten Tomatoes: 10 Great Movies With A 'Rotten' Score

Next Disney Villains Ranked By Intelligence

Rocco is a Chicago-based writer, editor, and programmer. An avid devotee of all things weird and outrageous, he's most in his wheelhouse discussing cult oddities and horror classics. Follow him on Instagram: @rosemarys_gayby

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10 Of Rotten Tomatoes Worst of All Time That Are Surprisingly Watchable - Screen Rant

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The Tribune-Review sports staff is conducting a daily countdown of the best players in Pittsburgh pro and college sports history to wear each jersey number.

No. 13: Dan Marino

He was the coachs son, so it was only right that a very young Dan Marino had to accept he was the last kid given the chance to pick his jersey number.

No. 13 was left in the pile. He grabbed the jersey and wore it for the rest of his football life and, eventually, into college and NFL immortality.

Raised on Parkview Avenue in Oakland, Marino was No. 13 as a youth, at Central Catholic, Pitt and for the Miami Dolphins until he retired in 1999. He is the Tribune-Review staffs clear choice for the best Pittsburgh athlete to wear a number some people consider unlucky.

Not so for Marino.

Now 59, he never won a national championship for Pitt or Super Bowl for the Dolphins, although he reached one as a second-year player. But he carved his name indelibly into those teams history books on the strength of a right arm unsurpassed by almost every other quarterback over all these years.

Pitt retired his number after his last season (1982) before he earned induction into the College Football and Pro Football Halls of Fame and the inaugural class of the Pitt Athletics Hall of Fame.

At Pitt, 38 years after his final season, he holds records for touchdown passes in a career (79) and season (37 in 1981, tied by Rod Rutherford in 2003). He threw for 8,597 yards, a record at the time.

The Panthers won 42 of 48 games during Marinos four seasons, including one of the most dramatic victories in Pitt history. Marino hooked up with tight end John Brown for a 33-yard touchdown strike with 35 seconds left in a 24-20 victory against Georgia in the 1982 Sugar Bowl.

Penn State coach Joe Paterno called Marino, the best quarterback Ive ever coached against.

Marino was chosen by coach Don Shula in the first round of the 1983 NFL Draft 27th of 28 picks and played 17 years, all with the Dolphins. At the time of his retirement, he held NFL records for passing attempts (8,358), completions (4,967), yardage (61,361) and touchdowns (420). Today, he is fifth in each category behind (in varying orders) Drew Brees, Tom Brady, Brett Favre and Peyton Manning.

Florida States Bobby Bowden was right when he said, Hes a pro quarterback in college, really.

Other Pittsburgh athletes were not afraid to wear No. 13.

Duquesne basketball player Mike James scored 1,411 points, with 348 assists and 201 steals from 1995-1998 before entering the NBA.

He played 12 years for 11 teams and was the first undrafted player to average more than 20 points in a season (20.3 in 2005-06 for the Toronto Raptors.).

Stan Terlicki wore No. 13 for the Pittsburgh Spirit, an indoor soccer team that played at the Civic Arena for seven seasons from 1978-1986, outdrawing the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1983-84. Terlicki was co-MVP of the Major Indoor Soccer League in 1981-82, with 74 goals and 43 assists in 43 games.

In six seasons, he scored 252 goals, with 161 assists.

Nick Bonino played for the Penguins 2016 and 17 Stanley Cup champions. Bonino totaled 66 points in two seasons (27 goals, 39 assists), but he was at his best in the 2016 run when he had 18 points in 24 playoff games (four goals, 14 assists).

After the second championship, he visited his hometown of Farmington, Conn., and ate his moms homemade spaghetti right out of the Stanley Cup.

Also, Roberto Clemente wore No. 13 as a rookie in 1955. He switched to 21 that season, according to baseballreference.com.

Check out the entire Burghs Best to Wear It series here.

Jerry DiPaola is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jerry by email at jdipaola@triblive.com or via Twitter .

TribLIVE's Daily and Weekly email newsletters deliver the news you want and information you need, right to your inbox.

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'Burgh's Best to Wear It, No. 13: From midgets to the NFL, Dan Marino wore lucky number - TribLIVE

The Immortal Hulk #34 recontextualizes a weird '90s plot and ties up loose ends for a relatively forgotten character.

WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Immortal Hulk #34 by Al Ewing, Butch Guice, Tom Palmer, Paul Mounts and Cory Petit, on sale now.

With only 16 issues left untilThe Immortal Hulkends, there are still plenty of deep corners in the Hulk mythos left for writer Al Ewing to explore. In The Immortal Hulk #34, Ewing masterfullypulls backthe curtains on last issue's reveal that the Leader has been secretly disguised as Rick Jones all along-- and ties up a strange '90s plot thread.

The bulk of the issue followsthe Leader's recounting of his various lives and deaths and how that lead to his quest for immortality.This recontextualizesThe Immortal Hulk's recent revelations that gamma power is intrinsically linked to the Hell dimension and immortality through the journalof Samuel Sterns. It addsa new layer to an already character-redefining series.

Related: Devil Hulk: Marvel's ORIGINAL Yellow Hulk, Explained

Eventually, the Leader's journal entriesexplorea retelling of Tom DeFalco and Todd McFarlane'sIncredible Hulk #345, in which he drops a Gamma Bomb on Middleton, Ariz. This creates fivegamma mutants including Father Jason McCall, a.k.a. Soul Man, who can summon souls of the dead.

Throughout the '90s, Soul Man was sort of disciple to the Leader, though his powers were never fully explained and he was eventually killed by the Hulk. The Immortal Hulk#34 reveals he could summon souls through gamma radiation, which neatly ties up the plot and positions the character as a catalyst to the realization that gamma is somehow tied to hell. Therefore, it's also tied to immortality, which leads to Sterns' ultimate manipulation of the Hulk.

Related: Will Immortal Hulk Unleash [SPOILER] On the Marvel Universe?

Clearly, the links between gamma and immortality have been present for a long while. With Soul Man's ability intrinsically linked to gamma, as well as the Leader's journey throughout the Hell dimension, there's more evidence to the concept that a character's connection to gamma radiation is essentially a portal between life and death.

The scariest part is how the Leader is revealed to have figured this out before anyone else. This forces the realization that he has set in motion almost all of the events presented in The Immortal Hulk so far.It now seems thatThe Immortal Hulk has never truly been about Hulk figuring things out and working with Banner to create the ultimate alliance. Instead, this has all been an elaborate scheme by one of Hulk's most dangerous enemies.

While the recontextualization of Soul Man's existence in the Hulk mythos paves the way for the Leader's ultimate reveal, it remains unclear what Samuel Sterns has in plans for the Hulk and friends. However, one can be sure that no matter howthis plays out, it won't be good for Bruce Banner or the rest of the Marvel Universe.

Keep Reading: Hulk: The End Was The ORIGINAL Immortal Hulk

Harley Quinn Team Reveals the One DC Character They Weren't Allowed to Kill

Jacob Nardone (also known as Jakobe or Jakobe.Wav in the music community) is a Writer, Reader, Beatmaker, and all around Student of life. A graduate of Hunter College in New York City, he has collected a vast amount of experience examining the cultural and societal context of Film, TV, and Comics in pursuit of his B.A. in Media Criticism and Analysis. A writer and music producer in his free time, Jacob consumes an unhealthy amount of pop culture to satiate his endless hunger for cultural knowledge of Midguard. His lifelong journey for the six infinity stones began with his defeat at the hands of.... oh wait that's the wrong story.

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Marvel's Hulk Finally Fixed a WEIRD '90s Plot Thread - and It's PERFECT - CBR - Comic Book Resources

One. More. Thing.

Liverpool needed that one more thing to end their 30-year wait, to start the moment you have dreamed of for so long.

The one thing which sees us all come together, in a time when we have been forced apart, and behold the kings of England. Bootle to Bangkok. Mossley Hill to Melbourne. Old Swan to New York City. Anfield is everywhere. In our living rooms and gardens, on laptops and public parks, in our hearts and minds.

It is the thing which pops open the champagne bottles, sinks a thousand beers, and finally allows us to open the bottle of whisky, untouched since 1990, to hold the sweetest toast.

The one thing we all thought about when playing in the park. When talking on Twitter. When walking up Walton Breck Road on match day. Thinking about how it looks, how it smells, how it tastes. How it feels.

This is how it feels.

One more thing. The thing which was the topic of conversation for 30 years 30 years! at weddings, christenings, and birthday parties. Which has been the remembrance, and the solemn vow, at funerals. The one thing sees us call those loved and long-lost, and think of those no longer with us with a tearful smile. To say thank you to fathers, grandfathers and brothers. To mothers, grandmothers and sisters. This is all for them. This is all for you.

That one thing which seemed so close for so long, but sometimes seemed so far. The thing we touched before having it taken away. The thing we used to keep going, even when it was out of reach. The reason we are what we are, and we do what we do. The thing which makes Jurgen Klopp and Jordan Henderson break down on live television, makes flares glow at Anfield, and sends fireworks into the Merseyside sky.

And now youre going to believe us.

You have to believe us.

Those who revelled in the misfortune, in Steven Gerrards slip, the 3-3 with Crystal Palace, the 97-point season without the prize. Now youre going to believe us.

Those who wrote off Mohamed Salah from day one, said Virgil van Dijk was all hype, and that Jurgen Klopp wasnt the man to make it so.

Now youre going to believe us.

Those who have cried for null and void, to cancel this season, that this will have an asterisk against it forever.

Now you really are going to believe us.

One more thing. Liverpool got it, and the time for believing is through. It is now time to live it.

Stop believing. Start living.

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Liverpool needed one thing to achieve immortality, and only 440 words can sum it up - Liverpool.com

If India ever finds its way back to the freedom and democracy that were proud hallmarks of its first eighteen years as an independent nation, someone will surely erect a monument to Justice H R Khanna of the Supreme Court. It was Justice Khanna who spoke out fearlessly and eloquently for freedom this week in dissenting from the Courts decision upholding the right of Prime Minister Indira Gandhis Government to imprison political opponents at will and without court hearings The submission of an independent judiciary to absolutist government is virtually the last step in the destruction of a democratic society; and the Indian Supreme Courts decision appears close to utter surrender

This iconic tribute by a journal several seas away marked H.R. Khannas transition from mortality to judicial immortality.

While Justice Khanna, who penned the dissent at the cost of the Chief Justiceship of India, cannot be grudged his canonisation, it must not be forgotten that the case which gave him the opportunity to demonstrate his judicial spine ADM Jabalpur v Shiv Kant Shukla, 1976 AIR 1207 arose out of orders passed by liberty minded justices of nine high courts who held that Indira Gandhis constitutional coup could not come in their way of defending the inalienable basic rights of the citizens.

Rajinder Sachar, himself a judicial victim of the Emergency, maintains that if the Supreme Court had supported these brave high court justices, Indiras Emergency itself would have collapsed.

AG Noorani, in an article titled The judiciary and the Bar in India during the Emergency, notes an opinion expressed by Jayaprakash Narayan about the judiciary during the emergency:

As for the judiciary, I must say that the High Courts have come out with flying colours in the present crisis. But the record of the Supreme Court is unfortunately very disappointing, mainly because Mrs. Gandhi has packed it with pliant and submissive judges except for a few.

The darkness of Indiras Emergency is also a story of the courage of many members of Indias Bar and the Bench. This is their story.

In fact, the executive had anticipated that the high courts might show some spine. Granville Austin notes that a powerful individual in the Prime Ministers house apparently had it in for the high courts from the beginning. He refers to an order issued on 25.06.1975 to lock up the high courts.

Also read: How the Judiciary Defied the Government to Uphold Constitutional Values During the Emergency

Om Mehta, the then Minister of State for Home, reported this audacious move to the Indiras kitchen cabinet member Bengal chief minister Siddhartha Shankar Ray, who, as a senior advocate himself, knew how outrageous such an order sounded. Deft manoeuvres on his part, not without Sanjay Gandhis outburst at it, ensured this was timely aborted!

Express journalist Kuldip Nayar was arrested under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act and his wife Bharati Nayar challenged the detention before the Delhi high court. The formidable V.M. Tarkunde, former Bombay high court judge and widely respected for his commitment to human rights, presented Nayars case before Justices S. Rangarajan and R.N. Aggarwal. The state simply refused to disclose to the court the material on the basis of which the detention order had been passed. The court responded by quashing the detention holding that the right to a writ of habeas corpus had not been suspended.

Justice Hans Raj Khanna. Photo: GoI

The Bar was as vocal. Taraporewala recalls that the Emergency was met with lawyers strikes in several parts of the country. On the day of declaration of Emergency, the legendary Nani Palkhiwala, who, until a few days ago, was Indiras own lawyer pleading before the vacation judge Krishna Iyer, to stay Justice Sinhas order disqualifying her from electoral office for six years, led a delegation of lawyers to the chambers of Bombay high court Chief Justice Kantavala. His bench partner, Justice Tulzapurkar was also present.

Nani informed the judges that all lawyers in Bombay had decided to go on strike in protest. The Chiefs sympathy was obvious from the fact that, while he emphatically stated that judges could not go on strike, in the same breath he assured that as litigants should not suffer, no adverse orders would be passed by courts.

On 12.10.75, under the banner of Citizens for Democracy, an All India Civil Liberties Conference was held in Ahmedabad presided over by Justice J.C. Shah, a retired Chief Justice of India. One factor behind choosing this venue was that Gujarat was then an Opposition Ruled state. Yet even in Congress states, Ananth V. Krishna observes, for some reason, though a number of former judges and lawyers protested, they were not arrested. The Ahmedabad meeting passed several significant resolutions seeking immediate restoration of the liberties of the citizens. The legendary M.C. Chagla was also a delegate.

The fire spread to neighbouring Bombay at the initiative of N.P. Nathwani, a retired justice of the Bombay high court. The Committee of Lawyers for Civil Liberties formed by him was to hold a meeting on 18.10.75, at the Jinnah Hall to discuss Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law under the Constitution. The Bombay police declined permission and, for good measure, invoked the Defence of India Rules to ban any such lawyers meetings anywhere during the duration of the Emergency.

Nathwani, an office bearer of this Committee, challenged this ban before the bench of Chief Justice R.M. Kantawala and Justice VD Tulzapurkar. The charge of the petitioners was led by none other than Mr Nani Palkivala with 157 lawyers supporting him. The Bar had risen in one voice. The court quashed the ban saying that, even when Emergency was imposed, it was lawful to meet and assert a view that its imposition was unlawful, unjust and illegal.

Also read: The Supreme Court and the Need for Judicial Discipline

Justice Tulzapurkar was savage when he pointed out that:

A family unit of five consisting of husband, wife and three children cannot sit together for a dinner at a table without obtaining the prior permission of the Police Commissioner and a Muslim cannot socially meet his four wives at one place and time without obtaining the prior permission of the Police Commissioner.

The Supreme Court promptly stayed the order in appeal. For good measure, the court even stayed the judgement in addition to its operative part.

When the famous Jinnah Hall meeting finally took place with former chief justice Chagla and former Supreme Court Justice J.C. Shah in attendance, many lawyers actually chickened out. One senior told Soli Sorabjee and Taraporevala, Goodbye. I do not want to be jailed with you both. There was panic and a feeling was created that even attending a protest meeting could get one into trouble.

The retaliation was swift. The targets were those judges who had been responsible for the release of political opponents. Justice Lalit of the Bombay high court and Justice R.N. Aggarwal of the Delhi high court were additional judges. In the tooth of all convention, their appointments were not confirmed. Graville Austin claims that even Indiras law minister Gokhale as well as the respective high courts had favourably recommended the confirmation of these two judges.

It came out in the report of the Shah Commission, set up by the Janata Party to inquire into Emergency excesses, that Indira had rejected her own law ministers note of recommendation with the handwritten noting I do not approve. In fact, the Shah Commission concluded that this non-confirmation was an abuse of authority and a misuse of power. Justice Aggarwals misfortune was that he was on the bench that had decided in favour of Kuldip Nayar. In an unprecedented move, he was demoted to the Sessions Court. The senior member of the bench, Justice Rangarajan was transferred to Guwahati.

Sixteen judges who had issued habeas corpus writs or had not fallen into line were transferred to different high courts. This included the members of the Division Bench (D.M. Chandrashekar and M Sadananda Swamy) which had quashed the detention orders of A.B. Vajpayee and L.K. Advani. Justice Chandrashekhar was transferred to Allahabad and Justice Swamy to Gauhati. Justice A.P. Sen (One of the judges in Shiv Kant Shukla vs ADM Jabalpur) was transferred to the Rajasthan high court as acting Chief Justice.

Also read: Sorry Mr Gogoi, We Need Constitutional Distancing, Not Court-Government Bonhomie

Austin has written about how the list of judicial transfers were discussed in the Home and Law Ministries and sent to Chief Justice Ray who had to sign the transfers or resign. Austin also notes that Senior officials in the Law Ministry did not favour the transfers, but there was no higher level dissent because the issue had already been decided.

In fact, a list of fifty-six to seventy judges, apart from the sixteen transfers, was also leaked to the press to keep the potential trouble makers on their toes. This had its desired effect and in the words of M.C. Chagla, Judges hesitate where they used to be fearless.

Post Emergency, on April 5, 1977, law minister, Shanti Bhushan, apprised the Lok Sabha that during the emergency as many as 21 judges were transferred from one court to another, without their consent. The courageous ones were:

Chief Justices:

Other Judges:

Transferred as Chief Justices:

The late Ashok Desai recalled that the news of transfer to Calcutta high court of Justice Mukhi of the Bombay high court who was keeping indifferent health, impacted him so much that he passed away in September 1976 though by that time the transfer had been revoked.

Also read:

One person stood out was Justice Sankal Chand Seth, a transferred judge, who challenged the constitutional validity of his transfer before the high court of Gujarat.

The full bench of the Gujarat high court unanimously struck down the transfer order. In the Supreme Court, the appeal was heard by a constitution bench of Chandrachud, Bhagwati, Krishna Iyer, Untwalia and Fazal Ali, JJ. During the pendency of the appeal, the central government decided to withdraw the transfer order. The court still went ahead and pronounced on the law. The majority (Chandrachud, Krishna Iyer and Fazal Ali, JJ.) held that independence of the judiciary was not imperilled if consent of the transferee judge is not obtained. The minority view (P. N. Bhagwati, Untwalia, JJ.) was to the contrary.

Noted lawyers P.N. Lekhi and Rama Jois (subsequently a judge) were arrested and imprisoned.In March 1976, about 200 lawyers chambers in the Tis Hazari Court Complex were demolished and 43 lawyers jailed.This provoked the Supreme Court Bar Association to summon its Emergent General Body Meeting on 30.03.76 to strongly condemn executive highhandedness against the bar.

The chairman of the Bar Council of India in those days used to speak against the government and his explosive speech to the Palghat Lawyers Conference in Kerala ensured a MISA Arrest warrant bearing Ram Jethmalanis name. Bombay Lawyers had filed a petition against Jethmalanis detention order drafted by Soli Sorabjee along with Rams son Mahesh.Nani Palkhivala had obtained interim relief. However, the ADM Jabalpurs ruling of the Supreme Court, which came while the petition was pending, ensured minimal chances of success.Ram had no option but, on Nanis advice, to flee India the day after Justice Khanna read out his dissent.

All through the dark times of 1976, the legal profession continued to stay invested in the fight against authoritarianism. Towards this end, the lawyers roped in academicians, journalists and other public-spirited persons. Ashok Desai asserts that many lawyers refused to accept government briefs in solidarity with those protesting against its draconian action. Coomi Kapoor states that all bar associations of India, with the exception of the Calcutta Bar, had issued statements condemning the Emergency.

On June 14, 1977, William Borders reported for the New York Times that two young lawyers, wearing the black robes and starchy white dickies customary in Indian court rooms were sitting in a Bombay Law Library and sipping tea. One of them observed, The Rule of Law has swept back like fresh air. The awful politicization of our cherished judiciary has been reversed, thank God.

I am waiting to sip that cup of tea.Every generation deserves such a moment of serendipity.

SanjoyGhose is a labour lawyer in Delhi.

Link:
The Ones That Didn't Make It to NYT: The Valiant Bar and Bench During Indiras Emergency - The Wire

Issued on: 30/06/2020 - 05:08Modified: 30/06/2020 - 05:07

Haridwar (India) (AFP)

Life is slowly returning to normal among the hallowed temples of Haridwar, one of Hinduism's holiest places, but the Indian pilgrimage town still has a forlorn air as the country emerges from its coronavirus lockdown.

The town usually teems with tens of thousands of visitors who flock from far and wide for a dip in the holy waters of the Ganges and to catch riverside prayer ceremonies at dusk.

But India remains in the grip of a raging COVID-19 outbreak that has claimed more than 15,000 lives and infected over half a million people.

For the first time in as long as any local can remember, pilgrims stopped coming in late March after India imposed the world's biggest coronavirus shutdown.

M.K. Vashistha, a wizened priest, told AFP that his elders would recount how even in the Spanish flu pandemic a century ago -- which hit India hard -- cremations on the banks of the holy river still took place constantly.

"Things still didn't stop here at that time, like they have now," he said.

In the past few weeks as India has eased restrictions -- even as case numbers have surged -- a few pilgrims have begun to return.

Now though, instead of broadcasting hymns and chants, Haridwar's loudspeakers blare announcements telling people to wear masks and use sanitiser.

Temples ask devotees to keep a safe distance from each other and keep away from the statues of the gods that they usually touch, bless and offer flowers, sweets and crumpled rupee banknotes to.

"Look around," Tanmany Vashishta from the Shri Ganga Sabha, one of Haridwar's most influential religious groups, told AFP, pointing to a few hundred pilgrims on the streets, most in masks and keeping their distance.

"This isn't even one or two percent of the normal times."

- Centuries of records -

Hugging the banks of the Ganges as it emerges from the Himalayas, Haridwar is believed to be one of four places where drops of the elixir of immortality were spilled from a pitcher carried by the mythical bird Garuda.

A trickle of customers are now returning for the town's famous ancient order of some 2,500 Hindu priests who since time immemorial have registered births and deaths for visiting pilgrims.

Deepak Jha, one eighth-generation such "purohit", says the chunky ledger he is rolling up and tying with string contains records going back 11 generations for thousands of families.

"This is our culture, our tradition and history. It may be difficult for people to find their kids' school notebook after six months, but we've kept these records for centuries," Jha said.

The tomes, some 500 years old -- the birch leaves used before then have long since crumbled -- are written in a mix of Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi, reflecting the area's complex mix of languages and cultures.

People from all over come to trace their ancestors and are visibly touched to see their forebears' handwriting, tipping the priests handsomely for a detailed family tree.

- 'We can't live in fear' -

Haridwar's usually narrow and congested bylanes, full of shops selling religious books, artifacts, statues of Hindu gods, clothes, toys and sweets, have also never been so deserted.

"It isn't a good situation right now," Jyoti Arora, the owner of a shop bereft of customers told AFP.

"Right now, who knows who could be corona positive? Even we take a daily risk coming for work, but we have to do it for our families."

Many normally busy hotels, eateries and restaurants remain shut. Thousands of workers have gone back to their home villages, and nobody is sure when they will come back.

One of the few pilgrims to return is Mohit Kumar, who came from Delhi to take a purifying dip in the Ganges, which is looking slightly cleaner for the lockdown.

"We can't live in fear. We have taken all precautions, and pray that everyone around us stays healthy," he said, accompanied by two friends as he headed to the holy river.

2020 AFP

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Pilgrims trickle back to the Ganges as India lockdown eases - FRANCE 24

If theres one thing comic fans hate, its when movie adaptations change the source material so much, that the final product becomes so disassociated from the original.

Its a feeling shared by novelist and comic book writer Greg Rucka, of Whiteout fame, as well as his indelible runs on Batman and Wonder Woman, whose works, including the upcoming The Old Guard, is slowly being adapted as live-action vehicles.

I think we have seen in particular in the last 10 to 15 years certainly in the American comics market, a lot of people who never had any interest in making a comic suddenly deciding that that was the thing they needed to do because they had a great idea for a movie, Rucka said in a press interview for The Old Guard.

And that annoys me enormously. I dont like feeling that the art form is being prostituted in service to something else.

And as a screenwriter for the upcoming adaptation, which stars superstar Charlize Theron in the lead as an immortal warrior leading a group of ever-living soldiers, hence the title, he knew of the responsibility and pressure on his new role.

Along with the comic co-creator and illustrator, Leandro Fernandez, the duo never intended for the series to have a live-action adaptation. He and Fernandez created the comic simply because they had a story to tell through the medium of comic books.

I also wrote the screenplay that they made a movie of, but that was secondary to what Leandro and I started in the beginning, Rucka elaborated.

We didnt start at the beginning going Were making a movie, were just going to dress it up as a comic. We wanted to tell the story we wanted to tell as a comic, then Skydance and Netflix came along and said, We like this as a movie.

Thankfully, the immense success of comic book movies, most notably from Disneys Marvel Comics franchise, has helped shaped the level of expectation and quality of a new crop of adaptations. In fact, TV adaptations, including the more recent Amazon series The Boys and HBOs Watchmen, have shown that under the right creative force, such adaptations can be appreciated and recognised as forms of art.

Comics have been there the whole time, its like Hollywood only discovered them recently.

That being said, Rucka himself is aware of why the trend in comic-to-film adaptations are on the rise. But just because one understands the reason for something, doesnt mean one has to fully accept it.

I understand why so many comic properties are being turned into film and television now. Its because its a template document, it gives you an idea of what [a film] can look like and what it can be. That makes it very easy to sell in an industry where it takes a lot of money to make [a film], so you have an idea of what you are going to get. I understand how we got there, I just dont like seeing individuals exploited for [Hollywoods] own use.

READ ALSO: Netflix Nabs Legendary Disney Animator Glen Keane For Over The Moon Feature

And just because hes writing the adaptation to a comic he created doesnt mean he has to be a slave to his story. Yes, there are slight changes to the comic, including the addition of a new yet familiar character.

Audiences will be able to see Quinn, who isnt a new character, but a new version of an existing Japanese character. Since the actress in the role is Vietnamese, he made some changes as the team didnt feel it was appropriate to get her to act as a Japanese character.

As Rucka mentioned, Leandro and he never started The Old Guard with the intention of it being made into a movie, but the limited series, which has two chapters to it, caught the sights of production studio Skydance Media and streaming giant Netflix in 2017, the challenge was on how to best adapt it, and who to star in it. Fast forward three years, and now the release for the film on Netflix is soon upon us, with the film set to release on 10 July 2020.

The Old Guard follows a group of mercenaries who are in fact centuries-old immortals who cant die. They are well literally old guards as the title suggests. The group are all but impervious to death, with the ability to heal from any wound such as a small stab to the chest, or even a blast that blows half of someones head off.

In the words of a popular knight from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Tis just a flesh wound.

Having worked on Wonder Woman, another immortal character and now, The Old Guard, what is it about immortality that fascinates the writer?

According to Rucka, hes noticed that there has been an increasingly unhealthy fascination with death, and the notion of attaining immortality and not dying, but there isnt enough conversation around the ethics of fighting back death and the repercussions of attempting to do so.

You know, and theres no secret about it, weve got several multi-billionaires running around the planet right now, and they fully do not intend to ever die. They are looking for ways to live forever, and the idea of some of these guys living forever terrifies me. Its scary, explains Rucka.

Death is part of the natural order and if we are going to say, Well, we are going to beat back death itself. Okay, but that brings with it a whole bunch of other questions and those questions have to be addressed. Whos going to get that? Who gets the right to live forever? Right, who gets immortality? Who gets longevity? Is it only for the rich? Cause when it happens, its only going to be for the rich first. We got to ask these questions.

So the questions are being asked by Rucka and Leandro through their comic series, with the rich Steve Merrick capturing the Old Guards after learning of their secret, with hopes of figuring out their secret to immortality.

READ ALSO: A Chicken Run Sequel Is In The Works At Netflix, 20 Years After Original Was Released

Fortunately, the immortals, led by a supposedly seven thousand year old warrior, Andy (Charlize Theron), are ready to fight for both their freedom and their erm, immortal lives.

According to Rucka, the idea for The Old Guard comes from ghost stories of soldiers who dont die, coupled with the idea of a strong warrior woman who couldnt die.

The ghost stories of soldiers who dont die, theyre there in almost every military culture. And that ghost story sort of mythology sort of joined up with this idea I had for this woman who was so inconceivably old because she couldnt die and who herself was a warrior and the most dangerous warrior the world has ever seen simply because she had 7000 years of experience, explained Rucka

The Old Guard is the second feature film Rucka had worked on, having also written the screenplay for the 2008 direct-to-DVD anthology film Batman: Gotham Knight. But this is special as it marks the first time hes been involved in the development of a film so deeply. Its also the first film of his to premiere directly on Netflix instead of movie theatres, unlike many other comic book-to-film adaptations, which is a notion that Rucka is more than happy with.

I remember getting a call saying, So its going to be on Netflix, and theres this pregnant pause as if they were expecting me to go, Oh, no, you promised me a movie theatre, and my response was Great!, Rucka said.

He continued, Again there was this pause and You dont have a problem with that?, and I said Why would I have a problem with that?, and the guy said its because some people think its not the same but I say its better.

Netflix is in something like 138 million homes worldwide, 138 million people will get to see our movie. Holy mackerel, that would be unbelievable.

For those that will be watching the movie, both Leandro and Rucka hope that audiences leave the movie wanting to start on the comic book series that it is based on.

I would love for people to come away from this movie having loved it and being so excited by it that they want to see the original material, that they actually want to see the work that Leandro did, the work that Daniela Miwa did in colouring this book.

I am very proud of the comic and I would love for people to be able to experience that.

You can catch the live-action adaptation of The Old Guard on Netflix on 10 July 2020.

Germaine is a fun-sized introvert who loves nothing better than sleeping in on rainy days. She can be found reading fanfiction and manga while still waiting for her Hogwarts acceptance letter. Itll come eventually.

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The Old Guard's Greg Rucka Is Annoyed With Needless Comic To Movie Adaptations - Geek Culture

In a sea of bad movies, Tommy Wiseau's 2003 romantic drama The Room stands apart as something unique. Widely considered the Citizen Kane of so-bad-they're-good movies, The Room has acquired cult status and pop culture immortality on the strength of its awfulness, even spawning the Oscar-nominated film The Disaster Artist. But its widespread notoriety was not enough to tempt Netflix into a streaming deal. The creator of the film, Tommy Wiseau, revealed this fact on Twitter in response to a fan asking if The Room could become available on Netflix someday.

The Room is the story of Johnny, a good-natured investment banker played by Tommy Wiseau, his duplicitous fiancee Lisa, and best friend Mark, and the love triangle that develops between the three over the course of the film. But really, the movie could have been about lion tamers trying to figure out how to fix a leaky faucet for all the difference the plot made to the film's reception.

What The Room is really known for is the bad acting of the cast members, the many technical and narrative flaws, and a bizarre screenplay, also written by Wiseau, featuring such gems as the staple amongst internet memes, "You're tearing me apart, Lisa!"

It says much about the film's quality that it was found wanting by Netflix's standards, a site which has frequently featured movies with a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It might also have something to do with the movie's borderline pornographic sex scenes.

But then, the fact that The Room is considered so very terrible is what allowed for it to become popular in the first place. If it had been a run-of-the-mill bad movie, it would have long been forgotten. Instead, fascinated audiences watched the film again and again, and James Franco was so moved by Wiseau's work as the writer, director, producer, and star of The Room that he played him in The Disaster Artist.

Even if it is not on Netflix, The Room did make Wiseau a star of sorts, even if for the opposite reason that what he had hoped for when he first started out making the film. But Wiseau has embraced the notoriety that The Room gained him. He was a part of The Disaster Artist in a small cameo, and he was right there on the stage along with James Franco and the rest of the film's team receiving awards.

While The Room may not feature on Netflix any time soon, unless fans want to start a 'Release the Wiseau cut' campaign for Netflix, you can buy the film on Blu-ray and DVD through Wiseau's website, Amazon, and other outlets. Or you can play The Room Tribute, an unofficial video game adaption of the movie. Meanwhile, Wiseau has plans to make the broadway adaptation of The Room, and is currently working on Big Shark, a film that was supposed to release last year before filming got delayed.

Topics: The Room, Netflix

Neeraj Chand

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Netflix Said No to Streaming Tommy Wiseau's The Room - MovieWeb

American Horror Story has featured a number of different Supremes so far. Here's every character who took on the role as the lead witch of the coven.

A handful of major characters emerged as the Supreme witch in American Horror Story. The title is given to the leader of the descendants of the Salem witches and is meant to be the living embodiment of magic. The role of Supreme was primarily in the focus of American Horror Story season 3, Coven, but the topic returned on a few other occasions. Series creator Ryan Murphy has been keen on using the presence of witches in the horror anthology and has plans to bring back their presence in the future.

In order to determine a Supreme, the witch must pass all seven stepsof the Seven Wonders test. The elements includeTelekinesis, Divination, Transmutation, Pyrokinesis, Concilium, Descensum, and Vitalum Vitalis. Only witches that master all seven sections can become the Supreme. The test is very dangerous and has been known to cause death for those who attempt the Seven Wonders.

Related:American Horror Story: Every Seasons Connection Explained

Even though being Supreme involves many benefits, it doesn't last forever. The role will pass from generation to generation, meaning when a new witch comes to power, the current Supreme will start to lose her strength. The next Supreme can't take over until the previous leader has passed away. Here's every character who took on the role of Supreme in American Horror Story.

Scthach served as an immortal witch and the original Supreme according to American Horror Story lore. The character was introduced in season 6, Roanoke, and was primarily portrayed by Lady Gaga through the reenactments onMy Roanoke Nightmare.Adescendant from the Druids,Scthach sailed to the British colonies during the 14th century. When the ship arrived, she was one of the only survivors, leading British soldiers to believe she was a witch. They imprisoned Scthach with the plans to burn her at the stake. With the help of Pagan gods,Scthach received the powers to massacre the soldiers before gaining followers in exchange for their souls, including Thomasin White, aka "The Butcher".

As the first-ever Supreme,Scthach was highly skilled in all elements of the Seven Wonders. She was also presented as one of the most powerful witches in history. Not only did she have immortality, but she also held rare magical abilities.Scthach partook in black magic and would often sacrifice humans for various rituals. What made her so different was the fact that she wasn't born a witch, she obtained powers through worship.

Scthach may have been the original Supreme, but Fiona Goode (Jessica Lange) served as the first major character to take on the role in the series. When viewers were introduced toMiss Robichaux's Academyin Coven, Fiona was the current leader of the descendants of Salem. It was later revealed that Fiona killed the previous Supreme for doubting her worth in the coven. Rather than look out for her fellow witches, Fiona was more focused on finding immortality. She was obsessed with youth and feared the fact that one of the young students would soon emerge to take her place. Fiona tried to mentor the girls as a way to gauge who would threaten her role. When she got cancer, Fiona became desperate but there were no options left. Papa Legba, the Gatekeeper to the Spirit World, wouldn't give her immortality because she didn't have a soul to offer in exchange. Fiona eventually died from her illness, sending her to her personal hell.

Related:American Horror Story: Dante's Inferno Theory Explained

Cordelia Goode (Sarah Paulson) was Fiona's only child and the headmistress ofMiss Robichaux's Academy in Coven. Unlike her mother, Cordelia had an interest in teaching the students and protecting the future of the witches. She and Fiona had a strained relationship due to their opposing viewpoints. Fiona also felt that her power started to wane since the moment Cordelia was born, adding to the animosity. Cordelia struggled with her potential but when the opportunity arose, she took part in the Seven Wonders test. The witch wound up passing each section and became the new Supreme when her mother passed away.

Cordelia was still the reigning Supreme in season 8, Apocalypse, and helped lead the charge against Michael Langdon, the Antichrist. After he successfully resurrected some of her fallen witches, she felt her powers diminishing. Cordelia reluctantly allowed Michael to take the Seven Wonders to see if he emerged as "the Alpha," the male equivalent of the Supreme. He passed but she subsequently had a vision of the forthcoming apocalyptic events. She orchestrated a plan that would pay off in the future. In doing so, Cordelia sacrificed herself and allowed a younger witch to gain the power to travel back in time to prevent Michael's rise of power. With the change in the timeline, it's presumed that Cordelia is still serving as the Supreme in the American Horror Story universe.

Mallory (Billie Lourd) was a newcomer atMiss Robichaux's Academy in Apocalypse. From the very beginning, it was clear that Mallory had a lot of potential as a witch. In fact, it was insinuated that Cordelia was losing some of her powers because Mallory was emerging as the next Supreme. Cordelia also recognized the strength of Mallory's powers so she put the young witch under an identity to protect her during the coming apocalypse. Mallory was sent to Outpost 3 where she was later reunited with Cordelia and some of her other coven members. Having already passed all elements of the Seven Wonders, Mallory became the Supreme when Cordelia sacrificed herself during Michael's attack. Mallory thenperformedTempus Infinitum, traveling back to 2015 so she could kill Michael before he obtained powers. After succeding she restored the timeline, saving many of the witches that were previously killed, including Cordelia.

Next:What To Expect From American Horror Story Season 10

The Flash: Why The CW Took So Long To Fire Hartley Sawyer

Kara Hedash is a features writer for Screen Rant. From time to time, she dives into the world's most popular franchises but Kara primarily focuses on evergreen topics. The fact that she gets to write about The Office regularly is like a dream come true. Before joining Screen Rant, Kara served as a contributor for Movie Pilot and had work published on The Mary Sue and Reel Honey. After graduating college, writing began as a part-time hobby for Kara but it quickly turned into a career. She loves binging a new series and watching movies ranging from Hollywood blockbusters to hidden indie gems. She also has a soft spot for horror ever since she started watching it at too young of an age. Her favorite Avenger is Thor and her favorite Disney princess is Leia Organa. When Kara's not busy writing, you can find her doing yoga or hanging out with Gritty. Kara can be found on Twitter @thekaraverse.

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American Horror Story: Every Character Who Became The Supreme - Screen Rant

Issued on: 20/05/2020 - 13:04Modified: 20/05/2020 - 13:02

Washington (AFP)

US geneticist Francis Collins, the head of the National Institutes of Health, on Wednesday was awarded the Templeton Prize, which honors individuals whose work combines science and religious faith.

The prize, now in its 50th year, is worth 1.1 million pounds ($1.35 million).

In an interview given to AFP before the announcement of the prize, Collins -- who led the pioneering Human Genome Project in the 1990s and 2000s -- says he discovered his faith in the 1970s when he was in medical school.

"I realized as a medical student encountering life and death on a daily basis that there were some pretty profound issues that my atheism wasn't helping me with," Collins told AFP.

The 70-year-old Collins, who is now at the forefront of the US response to the coronavirus pandemic, says he is spending "probably 100 hours a week" on the search for a vaccine and other treatments.

But in an interview via videoconference, he took time out to reflect on the intersection of science and religion, and how that combination has affected his work.

Altruism, beauty, love, death -- science is ill-equipped to address such concepts, Collins says.

"It is perhaps the most radical of the dogmas to say that I know so much, that I can exclude the possibility of God, that there is no chance," he said.

"The most indefensible of all possible worldviews is a strict atheism, which comes across as actually pretty arrogant."

- 'The Language of God' -

Among past winners of the Templeton prize are astrophysicists and cosmologists who reflect on the biggest questions we face, about the origins of the universe.

But Collins' work has focused on the tiniest bits of that universe -- starting with the three billion DNA letters that make up our genes.

It is there that he found "The Language of God," the title of his best-selling 2006 book.

"Let me be clear, I'm not one of those who think God miraculously stepped in and figured out the exact letters in some supernatural moment, a few thousand years ago, and created the human genome in that way," Collins said.

"I see this as the long and elegant result of an evolutionary process beginning with that first self-replicating organism, which we really don't quite know how it got started."

From that microbe came life, which evolved into "creatures like you and me with big brains who can think big thoughts."

"I guess when I look at life science, I see this beauty, I see this elegance," Collins said.

"I see the way in which God's plan -- which I perceive to be having sort of wired the whole creation from the beginning -- results in the possibility of complex organisms and the evolutionary process to get there," he explained.

"That's even more amazing to me than galaxies, even though I love them too."

- Research as 'worship' -

The Templeton Prize, originally called the Prize for Progress in Religion, was created in 1972 by John Templeton, an investor who made his fortune on Wall Street before becoming a British national and moving to the Bahamas. He died in 2008.

The award first went to religious leaders -- Mother Teresa won the inaugural prize -- but eventually the field of laureates was widened to include scientists, theologians and philosophers.

Other past winners include the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Russian writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn and Jordan's King Abdullah II.

Only three women have been given the prize so far. The last was British nurse Cicely Saunders, who was honored in 1981 for helping to found the movement for palliative care.

Descendants of Templeton, whose eponymous foundation funds research on projects covering everything from immortality to love and neuroscience, like to note that he set the value of his prize slightly above that of the Nobel, to show that religion was not worth less than science.

For Collins, the two are harmonious.

Science gives researchers "this privilege of exploring God's creation," he said, adding that such a pursuit transforms from a purely intellectual exercise into something approaching "worship."

2020 AFP

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US health research boss wins Templeton prize for science and faith - FRANCE 24

The LAFC star says he was inspired while watching the 10-part series on the Chicago Bulls

Like virtually every sports fan across America and the world, Carlos Vela developed a Sunday routine over the last five weeks.

For the first time since Game of Thrones went off the air in summer 2019, the U.S. was united by a true television phenomenon: The Last Dance. The documentary, a 10-part event broadcast over five weeks, followed Michael Jordan's rise to his place as the most revered basketball player of all time while focusing on his final season with the Chicago Bulls in 1997-98.

With American sports suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, The Last Dance became a phenomenon. The series of episodes offered deep dives into one of the greatest athletes and one of the greatest teams of all time, filling everyone's Sunday with larger-than-life stories about Jordan and his six NBA titles.

Vela, a massive basketball fan, was instantly hooked.

"Of course. Every Sunday I was there," Vela told Goal. "My wife wasn't happy. But I said, 'these two hours, these are for me'."

The Los Angeles FC star has long been a fan of the NBA. In the past, Vela has stated that he actually prefers basketball to soccer and, in his free time, he chooses to spend his moments away from his own sport by following the NBA.

Vela recently uploaded a video of him, in full Los Angeles Lakers gear, dunking on his own hoop while the Mexicointernational also expressed excitement at starring alongside James Harden in a new ad for sports drink BODYARMOR.

Over the last five weeks, Vela, like the rest of the country, was offered an insight into Jordan's mindset as a leader, for better or worse. The series detailed the famous grudges and perceived slights that fueled his career. It discussed Jordan's gambling, or as he calls it "competition", problems.

Most poignantly, the series revealed Jordan's leadership style, which often pushed teammates to their limit physically and mentally. At the end of the seventh episode, an emotional Jordan reflected on criticisms of how far he pushed those that played alongside him before tearfully calling for a break in the interview.

"When people see this they are going say, 'Well he wasn't really a nice guy. He may have been a tyrant'.Well, that's you. Because you never won anything," Jordan said.

"I wanted to win, but I wanted them to win to be a part of that as well. Look, I don't have to do this. I am only doing it because it is who I am. That's how I played the game. That was my mentality. If you don't want to play that way, don't play that way."

Throughout his career, Vela has played with a number of big players. And, having watched Jordan's leadership style and his ability to push teammates further than they thought they could be pushed, the Mexican star says he was reminded of former Arsenal star Thierry Henry.

Henry and Vela never took the field together at Arsenal, as Vela was loaned out throughout his early years with the club due to a work permit issue. But Velasays Henry's leadership still stood out, giving him a Jordan-like presence.

"Thierry Henry was a really hard guy," he said. "He tried every day to be the best and he pushed the young guys to work more, to be professional, to try to bring everything to every training.

"He would say, 'if you train hard, you can play hard'. Thierry Henry was an inspiration to me and you can see the career he had. I'm proud to have said I can play with him. He's a good leader."

Vela's personality, meanwhile, is a bit more laid back, but he's still found plenty of success since making the move to MLS ahead of LAFC's expansion season.

The winger smashed MLS records last season by scoring 34 goals in 31 matches, helping guide LAFC to a Supporters' Shield and an MLS record for points in a season.

But, as he looks to add an MLS Cup to his resume, Vela says he learned a lotfrom watching Jordan's rise to NBA immortality.

"I wasn't surprised. You are not there to see it day by day, but when you see what Michael Jordan did, you feel something special, something different than the rest," he said.

"I feel like I have a lot of things to learn from Michael Jordan to try and be the best. I take it as motivation. Maybe I have to be more hard, do more things to help my teammates to be better so we can win more championships."

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'Henry tried every day to be the best' - Vela says Jordan's Last Dance documentary conjured memories of Arsenal icon - Goal.com

As the weather cools down in this part of the world, and outside living hasnt fully resumed just yet, a small part of me cant help but long for those lazy summer afternoons. When the climate is pleasantly warm not verging on uncomfortable sun almost kissing you into idle submission; agendas for the day are nothing more than suggestions, and theres really no guilt. Just moments and often times a body of water. Hell, sometimes you dont even need the excuse of weather to enjoy a well-placed pool the waters nice at any time of the year. But until the day when we can all live out those afternoons once again, here are the best pools around to world to daydream about/add to your bucket list/visually enjoy.

There are infinity pools, and then theres then theres the Anantara Golden Triangle infinity pool. This is where Id imagine heroes of mythology would would bathe to gain immortality/god-like properties.

anantara.com

For those of you more inclined to venture forth into a colder climate, theres always the steamy affair that is the Cambrian Hotel pool. Overlooking the Swiss Alps amid crystal-clear air and verdant meadows in the summer, this is a living, breathing postcard of an experience.

Famed for being not just one of the best swimming pools in the world, but also one of the largest once the definitive title holder just a few years prior. This baby is 1,013 metres long, covers 8 hectares, and contains approximately 250 million litres. Everything else is practically spoken for with the picture above.

sanalfonso.cl

Admittedly smaller than the majority of the list, the pool at Balis COMO Shambhala Estate deserves a spot on this best pool list all the same. Sometimes, you just want an escape thats virtually never crowded. Quite fitting considering this spot is also know as the Retreat for Change.

comohotels.com

I bet you were expecting something from Bondi for the Aussie entrant. A solid contender, sure, but respect must be paid to this spot out in WA. Yet another opportunity to connect with nature.

lakeargyle.com

Weve made no effort when it comes to hiding our love for Los Cabos. And the Viceroy resort has it all. Blending nature with modernity, visual art and function, the only thing that rivals the scenery here is the sense of relaxation that consumes you at the first dip.

viceroyhotelsandresorts.com

This award-winning luxury boutique hotel offers guests an entire myriad of things. Chiefly among them are sweeping panoramic sea views that youll only find in this corner of Greece. Simply stunning.

aubergeresorts.com

What used to be an 11-century palace perched on a cliff overlooking the Amalfi coast is now one of the most indulgent European getaway spots perched on a cliff overlooking the Amalfi coast. And the pool, well lets just say we could pretty much end the list here. But we wont. Because we promised at least two more entrants.

belmond.com

Terrace and swimming pool combos will always be a winner in my books. If youve never had any desire to visit Cape Town before, its almost worth doing so purely for this pool.

theroyalportfolio.com

Some people just feel more comfortable being in and amongst the urban sprawl. Hence why the Hotel Indigos skypool exists, quite literally hanging over the cityscape. Not for the faint of heart.

ihg.com

Originally posted here:
10 Best Pools You Can Actually Swim In Around The World - Boss Hunting

The recent unearthed turtle stone statue at Srah Srang reservoir at Angkor, calls for a visit into the mythology of this sacred reptile, in the context of Angkorian culture.

In many ancient civilizations, people worshipped many animals as a reincarnation of divinities. Among them, the turtle is a common one, which is considered as a sacred reptile that represents the universe in ancient Chinese and Indian cultures.

They symbolise longevity, power and fertility. The other Sanskrit term for turtle is Kashyapa, which is the ancestor of all living creatures including plants.

Indeed the choice of the turtle as an animal-icon by the ancients seems logical, because of the robustness of their thick carapace and longevity as their lifespans can go beyond 100 years. Like the Chinese say: The white crane lives 1,000 years and the turtle 10,000 years.

They are worshiped also because some believe that they symbolise wisdom and knowledge. They embody the ocean, the moon, the earth, time, and immortality.

The ancients believe that the magical power of turtles was most likely associated with the creation of the world,because of their power to bear the burden of the world, similar to Atlas in Western mythology.

As such, sacred turtle representation is common at Angkor. They appear either as large carved stone statues, like the one that was unearthed recently at Srah Srang, or small votive sculptures when they are used as offering at the foundation of many temples. But the best representation containing a sacred turtle is in the form of narrative bas-reliefs carvings on the walls of Angkor Wat that tell mythical stories.

Churning of the ocean of milk known in Sanskrit as the Samudra Manthana, is narrated in various ancient Sanskrit sacred texts about Hindu mythology. They explain the origin of the Amrita, the famous nectar of immortality. Texts such as the Ramayana, Mahabharata and Vishnu Puranas were read by scholars of the royal court of ancient Angkor. They are represented as bas-reliefs of Angkor Wat with the largest one (48.5 by 2.4 metres) shown on the wall of the third enclosure of the temple. Smaller scenes are represented at the Southwest corner pavilion and at the southern gateway of the cruciform pavilion.

The protagonists and elements of this legend include the Mount Mandara as the churning post, four-armed Vishnu holding the Naga Vasuki playing the role as the rope around the post for the churning, which is operated by the Devas and Asuras at opposite sides of the post. The Mount Maranda is supported by Kurma Raja or Turtle King serving as a stabiliser, during the millennial churning process to release the Amrita under the divine control of Lord Vishnu. In this sacred endeavour, Turtle King as a powerful avatar of Vishnu, symbolises the sacred and creative power ultimately needed to generate the Amrita.

During the reign of King Suryavarman II, a legend combining ocean and mountain was believed to be the foundational myth that inspired the building of Angkor Wat, as a temple to worship Lord Vishnu. Angkor Wat was a temple mountain, symbolic of the cosmic Mount Meru. This five-tiered temple at the centre of the universe was said to be surrounded by a moat representing cosmic oceans including the ocean of milk.

Beyond its roles on the sacred legends of Angkor, turtles serve many other purposes in the belief system of modern Cambodia. Turtle release in religious rituals to gain merits is still common and were conducted at the royal court and various Buddhist temples of the Kingdom. Oddly paradoxical, in modern Cambodia and many other Asian countries, turtles have lost their sacred status and have sadly turned into a mere meat ingredient for soup, to boost longevity. The appetite for these shelled reptiles has fuelled an intense illegal wildlife trade that threatens their survival. The recent unearthing of the sacred turtle at the Srah Srang excavation site is a powerful reminder that Kurma Raja, our Turtle King, was worshipped as a guarantor of the grandeur and immortality of our great Angkor civilization. This symbol of our glorious past may inspire a revival of spiritual respect towards Kurma Raja by modern Cambodians and contribute to the protection of this endangered species.

Chhem Rethy, MD, PhD (Edu), PhD (His), Honorary Distinguished Fellow, Asian Vision Institute

Originally posted here:
The myth of the Angkor sacred turtle - Khmer Times

Michael Jordan revealed during the last episode of The Last Dance docuseries that he would have come back with the Chicago Bulls during the 1998-99 season if Phil Jackson was still the head coach.

After Chicago won the 1998 Finals over the Utah Jazz for the franchises sixth championship in eight years, Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf told Jackson he could return despite general manager Jerry Krauses statement that the famed head coach would not be back for the following season.

Jackson told Reinsdorf that it was time to retire, though. The Zen Master could sense that his relationship with Krause had reached its end and that it would put the late Bulls architect in an awkward position after what happened at the beginning of the 1997-98 campaign.

Krause famously told the Chicago media that the 1997-98 season was going to be Jacksons last year as head coach, even if the team went 82-0 and won the title. The Bulls replaced Jackson with Tim Floyd and the rest is history. Chicago hasnt been back to the Finals since the Jordan-Jackson era.

Meanwhile, Jackson won five more titles after moving on from the Bulls.

After hearing that Michael Jordan would have signed a one-year deal to chase title No. 7 in 1998-99, its only fair to wonder if His Airness could have led the Bulls to the championship during the 1998-99 season which only featured 50 games in the regular season because of a lockout.

If Michael Jordan could have convinced Scottie Pippen to stay one more year and the other key pieces on the team such as Steve Kerr, Dennis Rodman and Ron Harper remained, theres a good chance the Bulls do win No. 7. Of course, convincing Pippen to stay would have been difficult given his fat contract offer from the Houston Rockets, but the idea of ring No.7 and true basketball immortality would have certainly been enticing for Pippen since he was Jordans No. 2 guy.

The San Antonio Spurs wound up winning the title in 1999. They defeated the New York Knicks in five games, with Tim Duncan winning Finals MVP at the age of 22. Its safe to say Duncan wouldnt have averaged 27.4 points on 53.7 percent shooting from the field if he was going up against a defense led by Jordan, Pippen and Rodman.

You also have to factor in Luc Longley and his 7-foot-2 frame.

MJ was forced to retire because Phil wasnt the head coach of the Bulls anymore. Jerry Krause should have never publicly said that Jackson was going to be let go after 1997-98. Sure, it gave us The Last Dance, but Bulls fans missed out on a chance to watch Jordan and Co. capture ring No. 7.

Since it was the lockout year, Jordan would have been fairly fresh for the 1999 playoffs had he and Jackson decided to run it back. Its impossible to predict what would have happened, but we can only look at history one that has shown us that you really shouldnt doubt Michael Jordan.

The Last Dance docuseries provided ample examples of Jordan using little things as motivation to destroy his opponents. One can only imagine what Jordan would have done if he played in 1998-99 had pundits said the Bulls couldnt win No. 7.

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Why Michael Jordans Bulls would have won title No. 7 if they brought the band back together - ClutchPoints

Tony Stark's unparalleled genius has given him the means to construct a powerful suit of armor with numerous applications - from creating resilientdefenses to delivering destructive attacks. Unlike Iron Man's, the extraordinary skills and talents of the X-Men have been acquired from birth but manymutants are unpopular or underrated in comparison.

RELATED: 10 Avengers That Are Surprisingly More Dangerous Than The X-Men's Wolverine

Some of Marvel's most consistently formidable heroes are X-Men. Asurprising number of them are capable of defeating a battle-ready Tony in a confrontation orare superior to him in terms of the feats they can pull off through their abilities.Here are 10 X-Men that are surprisingly more powerful than Iron Man.

Wade Wilsonis armed with nothing but a pair of katanas and he can't fly. However, the Merc with the Mouth has frequently used a teleportation device to enter or leave a battle and his blade strikes are capable of cutting through surfaces harder than diamond. This gives Deadpool a legitimate chance of getting close to Stark,negating his suit's ranged and technological capabilities and take him out. Wilson's immortality, superior speed, and greater fighting skill ultimately make him the stronger superhero.

Iceman's powers are limited to just a single element in contrast to Stark's numerous abilities but the mutant still has the right tools to overpower Tony. Firstly, he is capable of defending himself and attacking by creating ice out of thin air, which candestabilizethe Iron Man armor and shut it down. Secondly, Robert Drake has the power to control water on a molecular level meaning that some truly nasty stuff can happen to Tony's body and the billionaire is not popular for his stable health -considering the arc reactor in his chest.

The fact that Psylocke is willing to enter a fight without too much physical protection around her shouldn't give anyone the false impression that she is vulnerable. Hertelekinesis, which allows her to move and reform solid objects is all the defense that she needs.

RELATED: 10 X-Men That Are Surprisingly More Powerful Than Thor

Through it, Elizabeth Braddock can create impenetrable force field shielding as well as close combat and ranged weapons and render herself invisible. Psylocke'stelekinesis is more powerful and focused than Stark's and she is completely invulnerable to magic, psionics, and space-time alterations.

Despite being a born flier, Warren Worthington's naturalgifts don't look too threatening when compared to the high-tech weaponryof Iron Man. However, Archangel does possess some deadly technology of his own. Hecan use the metallic armament of his wings to fly at several times the speed of sound, attack with devastating blades from a distance and protect himself from destructive assaults, such as the bio-nuclear strikesof the mutant Holocaust. Archangel's body is far more resilient - he has the capability to swiftly regrow tissue even if it was completely destroyed.

Although for many, Iron Man isMarvel's perfect merger of man and machine, Cable isan immensely talented and skilled mutantand Tony will have to push the boundaries of Earth technology even further if he hopes to match his prowess. Nathan Summers' huge skillset can be broken down into 4 separate sections. Telepathy is out of Stark's reach but he is impervious to it.

RELATED: X-Men vs. A-Force: Who Would Win?

Time travel is something Iron Man has achieved(like in the MCU). Techno-organic physiology provides Cable with super strength and endurance. The one thing, in which Iron Man is inferior is telekinesis, which is mastered by Cable to such a degree that he can literally disassemble complex devices (like Tony's armor).

Negasonic Teenage Warhead's rather innocent looks should notfool anyone. She can easily evade the enemy attacks because of her superhuman speed and her ability to warp reality. The two powers, which make Ellie Phimister a worthy and superior opponent to Stark are her particle manipulation and absorption, which allow her to consume energies, use them to attack and to completely transform certain materials and her telekinesis, which will let her to control Tony's suit of armor in a hypothetical confrontation.

For all of his unlimited resources and spectacular scientific knowledge, there are some forces, which are out of Tony Stark's reach such as the interstellar, cosmic powers of Magik. Illyana Rasputina can travel through both time and space. Additionally, she is a powerful sorceress and is capable of performing some of Doctor Strange's most complex spells.

RELATED: 10 Marvel Villains Who Defeated The X-Men All By Themselves

Magik can put up powerful psionic shields around her mind, which even the greatest of telepaths can't penetrate. Which of the two heroes wields greater power will always be a difficult question to answer because each individual can attack the other in ways that would render the opponent defenseless. However, since Rasputina is capable of dealing as much physical damage as Stark is, the scales should rightfully tip in her favor.

Tony Stark has his incredible suit of armor and Karima Shapandar has her potent Sentinel tech so the contest between the two is quite even. Iron Man's firepower is matched by the specialized weaponry of Omega Sentinel. Shapandar can consume and project energy and therefore - create various types of protection around her. She can also fly.The mutant is gifted with another, very special skill, which possibly gives her a slight advantage - Technopathy. Through it, Omega Sentinel canrestructure and take control of nearby machines. She is not hacking, so Stark's A.I. will likely prove to be helpless when Karima takes advantage of thisparticular ability.

An intense duel of firepower,Havok versus Iron Man is a battle, the outcome of which is quite difficult to predict. Both can fly and absorb energy that they can then transform into a power source. While the mutantis invulnerable toany and all forms of heat attacks (like Iron Man's ray strikes), Tony's armor can protect him from a nuclear blast. However, while Stark is using Earth technology to power up his repulsors, Alexander Summers' source is cosmic. His energy absorptionand resilience passed the ultimate test when he was dropped into a large star and survived. Given his technology's origins, Iron Manpulling through such a challenge is quite uncertain and rather unlikely.

Iron Man's suit is equipped with numerous levels of protection and defensive mechanisms that guard him against magnetic, telepathic and various super-powered attacks so Alison Blaire's ability to project light doesn't immediately seem like too much of a problem for the famous Avenger. Well, as a matter of fact, if Dazzlerfocuses her light beams, she can cut through virtually anything with the produced laser. Additionally, she is capable of creating a destructive shield that doesn't simply protect her but incinerates anything thattouches it.Stark's armor might very well be able to hold out against her specialized light strikesbut as Avengers: Endgame unfortunately proved, Tony most certainly can't replicate Alison's most special and unexplained power - to get resurrected every time she is killed in battle.

NEXT: 5 Reasons Why Cyclops Is The Smartest Summers Brother (& 5 Why It's Havok)

Next5 Marvel Cosmic Beings That Are More Powerful Than Galactus (& 5 That Arent)

Deyan Angelov is a writer and short film director based in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. In the past, he has worked as an online film reviewer and news writer for Film-book.com, covering the London Film Festival in 2013 and 2018. He has written and directed two short films and has undergone several courses in Nu Boyana Film Studios. He has graduated from the University of Royal Holloway and is currently a writer in training for Comic Book Resources. He likes to write short scripts and stories in his spare time.

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10 X-Men That Are Surprisingly More Powerful Than Iron Man | CBR - CBR

With a Marvel Secret Warsand Deluxe DC sale already underway this week, ComiXology isnt letting its foot off the gas by launching yet another batch of discounted reads. This time, youll be able to save up to 67% on a variety of comics by famed author Tom Taylor, with prices starting at under $1. Amongst all of the deals, one standout is onSuperior Iron Man Vol. 1: Infamous at $2.99. Youd typically pay $9 for this novel, with todays offer matching the lowest weve seen on a digital copy.In Superior Iron Man, Tony Stark decides to give every smartphone-wielding citizen of San Francisco access to his most powerful suit yet, the Extremis armor. But Daredevil isnt down with Starks new vision of the future, and the two will battle it out.Head below for all of our top picks.

Dont forget that ComiXology is currently offering a 60-day free trial of its Unlimited service, which offers digital access to thousands of comics and even an extra 10-15% off a wide selection of comics. Learn more in our ComiXology getting started guide.

How much would you pay for perfection? Beauty? Immortality? Tony Stark knows, and hes ready to give it to you but at a terrible price! The AXIS effect has changed Tony: Hes more stylish, more confident and more cunning than ever before. And hes ready to lead San Francisco into the future but the first step is to release Extremis upon the entire city!

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Save 67% on Superior Iron Man, Spider-Gwen, and other Marvel reads from $1 - 9to5Toys