At the 99th PGA Championship, Jordan Spieth for the first time will be playing for one of the transcendentprizes in golf: the career Grand Slam. Of course, the 24-year-old is quick to deny hes thinking that way. Spieth insists his focus will be on simply winning the PGA, which, since his victory last month at the Open Championship, is now the only one of the four professional majors he hasnt won. I mean this, he intoned last week at Firestone in explaining his mindset. Its just a major.

Then again, Spieth, who because of his back-nine heroics at Royal Birkdale is occupying the same kind of attention in the golf public consciousness as he did when he won the first two majors in 2015, is floating on a cloud of confidence and well being. Free rolling, as his caddie, Michael Greller puts it. Its the approximate state that three of the five greats who achieved the career Grand Slam were in the year they captured the final leg, given that Ben Hogan in 1953 and Tiger Woods in 2000 each won three major championships, while in 1966 Jack Nicklaus won two.

So while Spieth may insist that because he expects to play in 30 future PGAs, if he doesnt win at Quail Hollow, its not going to be a big-time bummer whatsoever because I know I have plenty of opportunities, theres a chance he may never have a freer roll. And for the record, the last three winners of the Grand SlamGary Player, Nicklaus and Woodsall completed the feat in their 20s. For that matter, golfs first Grand Slammer, Gene Sarazen, won his first two majors at age 20, sooner even than Spieth. In the journey to the career Grand Slam, the time to take advantage of a head start is always now.

If all this sounds a bit over-caffeinated, its because career Grand Slams in golf are special. They are more rare than in tennis, where eight men (the latest Novak Djokavic) have done it. But more importantly, it can besad to see great players fall one major short. Counting Spieth, 12 players have achieved three legs without getting the fourth. And those for whom valiant attempts at the final have been thwarted by bad luck or multiplying tension or bothespecially Sam Snead with the U.S. Open, and Arnold Palmer and Tom Watson with the PGAhave ended up on a slightly lower tier of the pantheon. It looks like that has happened to Phil Mickelson in his quest for a U.S. Open, and that there is an increasing possibility of this happening to Rory McIlroy at Augusta National.

RELATED: Golf Digest PodcastSpieth's pursuit of the career Grand Slam compared to Tiger

Not that the career Grand Slam is a perfect measure of greatness. Walter Hagen, who won 11 major championships, didnt have a real shot at what evolved into the Grand Slam because the Masters wasnt even played until he was well past his prime. And what of Bobby Jones original Grand Slam in 1930, winning the U.S. Open and Amateur and their British counterparts in one year, which has never been replicated by any golfer over an entire career? That feat, or the still unattained the calendar professional Grand Slam, or even the Tiger Slam of 2000-01, would all have to be more exalted than the career Grand Slam.

In the journey to the career Grand Slam, the time to take advantage ofa head start is always now.

Still, other than those one-offs, theres a good argument that theres no marker in golf better at historically differentiating the best from the rest than the career Grand Slam. It requires some special things. Theres the tennis analogy of the complete game in four different conditions especially the Masters, U.S. Open and British Open. (The PGA might be the favorite set up of the tour pros because its still U.S. Open light).

Then theres overcoming the pressure of finally capturing the last leg, which builds the more years that go by. Even Spieth was attuned to this challenge, conceding that he would have to be careful not to make the PGA an obsession. The con, he said of being just one major away from the career Grand Slam, and what makes it more difficult than just saying its another major, is that its one a year now instead of four a year that that focuses on, if thats what the focus is.

Clearly, getting the final leg is a validator. It means meeting the moment, demonstrating the rare ability to bring out your best golf when it means the most, when the pressure is highest, when the battle is hardest. It takes greatness.

That said, not all career Grand Slams were created equal. Heres how I would rank them, counting down from least to most significant:

5. Gene SarazenThough he will always be a giant figure with seven major championships, Sarazen is golfs greatest beneficiary of retroactive history. Not only did he win the 1935 Masters by getting into a playoff on the wings of holing a 4-wood from 235 yards on the 15th hole on Sunday, but the Masters was far from being considered a major championship, probably not reaching that status until Ben Hogan and Snead played off in 1954. There was no pressure on Sarazen because he didnt even know he was making history.

RELATED: Spieth not finding any negatives in career Grand Slam bid

4. Gary PlayerIndisputably the games greatest international golfer, with nine majors included among his 159 victories worldwide, Player was ruthlessly efficient in clicking off the four majors in six-year period that ended with his victory at the 1965 U.S. Open at Bellerive, in the only time he would win that championship. Its quite possible that no one ever wanted the achievement more. I was aware of the Grand Slam in 1953 because Hogan was my hero in golf, Player said by phone last week, and I knew when he won at Carnoustie he had the four.

The prize was in his head when he won his first major at the 1959 Open Championship, and soon he became determined to beat rivals Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus to the mark. Though he hadnt won a major since the 1962 PGA, he was primed at Bellerive. I was squatting with 325 pounds, the fittest I ever was in my life, Player said. He was going to a church in St. Louis every day and praying for courage. He wore the same black shirt every day, washing in the sink of his hotel room each night. When he got to the course, he devoted a few minutes to standing before the scoreboard, which had past winners names, and envisioned his own. I saw Gary Player, winner, 1965, and Gary Player winner of the Grand Slam, he said. I dont know if any golfer ever, ever, was as focused as I was that week on winning.

And if Player had lost the playoff to Kel Nagel, does he think he might have suffered the same frustrating fate in the U.S. Open as Snead? Oh, no. I would have won it, absolutely no doubt, he said. Of such minds are career Grand Slam winners made.

3. Jack NicklausThe man who would go on to win the equivalent of three career Grand Slams achieved his first one as a forgone conclusion, he was clearly so good. But even Nicklaus confesses an early setback in 1963 at Lytham, where he bogeyed the final two holes to lose by one, created a crisis of confidence in his ability to win the Open Championship. With three legs of the Slam completed, he finished second at St. Andrews in 1964, and still wondered if his high ball flight would always hold him back on the windy linksland.

He seemed to find the key at Muirfield in 1966, but with a three-stroke lead with seven to play, he three-putted from seven feet, missing a 15-inch putt. I experienced one of the most severe mental jolts Ive ever suffered on a golf course, Nicklaus confessed in his autobiography. Jittery is not a strong enough word to describe my feelings. He bogeyed two of the next three holes, but then, as Spieth did at Birkdale, found a way at the 11th hour to go from negative to positive and eeked out a one-stroke win.

Realizing he had won the Slam, Nicklaus was overcome at the trophy presentation. He wrote: Being about to receive something that even I, never much of a self-doubter, had genuinely doubted would ever be mine, was extremely emotional. From that point, the Open Championship became the major where Nicklaus most consistently contended.

2. Ben HoganTrue, the professional Grand Slam hadnt yet become a thing when Hogan won his fourth leg at Carnoustie in 1953 at age 40. In fact, Hogan, who hadnt won the first of his nine majors until he was 34, wasnt thinking career Grand Slam when he made his first trip to the Open Championship. He had gone because friends had urged him to for the good of the game, and for the challenge. Once there, he became engaged with a monastic purpose that entranced the Scots, keeping legs battered by his car accident functioning through long, soaking baths, mastering the nuances of the small British ball and stoically executing with near perfection. His victory remains perhaps golfs supreme example of a one-shot, do-or-die, all-or-nothing, surgical strike that culminated in a glorious mission accomplished. It earned Hogan a ticker-tape parade when he returned to the U.S., and turned out to be his final major-championship victory.

1. Tiger WoodsUntil further notice, his is the most brilliantly dominating career Grand Slam. Its Himalayan peaks remain prominent on golfs landscape: the 1997 Masters (by 12 strokes), the 2000 U.S. Open (by 15 strokes) and the 2000 Open Championship (by eight strokes). But it was the 1999 PGA at Medinah where Woods seemingly inevitable ascendance could have been stalled, and the tricky, seven-foot, left-to-right par putt he made on the 71st hole to maintain a one-stroke lead over Sergio Garcia may go down as the most important putt of Woods career. Any pain Woods suffered in his few close loses in majors for the first 12 years of his career was negligible, but losing at Medinah probably would have left a mark. With appropriate theater, Woods closed out his first Grand Slam with a triumphant march up the 18th at St. Andrews.

If Spieth can claim a fourth leg at Quail Hollow, where would his Grand Slam rank? Third best, behind Woods and Hogan.

Spieth, as the sixth holder, would be the youngest, by eight months. Hes been more stalwart than opportunist, having led or been tied for the lead in 15 of the 70 major championship rounds he has played. But other than his first major win, a wire-to wire job at the 2015 Masters, Spieths victories have been tight ones in which, for all his magic with the short game and putter, his tee-to-green play has lacked the majesty of Woods or Nicklaus or Hogan. Hes also lost the lead late at two Masters, leaving more scar tissue at an early age than Woods, Nicklaus or Player experienced.

Then again, Spieths combination of passionate competitiveness and personal charm is reminiscent of Jones, and engenders a similar degree of public devotion. If he could close out the Slam in Charlotte, his resultant popularity would lift golf and his persona into Jones/Palmer/Woods territory.

It would also install him firmly on the games throne at an early age. Nicklaus and especially Woods showed such a position can be a self-perpetuating mental edge. As good as being No. 1 in the world is, its betterthrough an early career Grand Slamto have proved youre the best when it matters most.

RELATED: The history of Grand Slam pursuits

WATCH: GOLF DIGEST VIDEOS

Jordan Spieth's epic claret jug celebration

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PGA Championship 2017: Jordan Spieth chases golf immortality - GolfDigest.com

Todays advances in science and technology are happening at a breakneck speed.

Genes can now be more accurately edited and modified with Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) technology. It may soon help mankind in curing HIV/AIDS, different types of cancer, and genetic disorders.

Aging can now also be slowed down with stem cells infusion, NAD+ booster pills, and other latest discoveries.

How about immortality?

An organization founded by Russian billionaire Dmitry Itskov thinks thats also achievable.

The 2045 Movement, which was established in February 2011, has the support of Russian specialists in the field of robotics, neural interfaces, artificial organs and systems.

According to their website, their team is endeavoring to put up an international research center where work will be devoted in anthropomorphic robotics, living systems modeling, and brain and consciousness modeling. The knowledge will then enable man to transfer ones consciousness to an artificial carrier or avatar and attain cybernetic immortality.

The organization thinks its the answer to the worlds current problems and our vulnerabilities as a human species.

Heres their timeline for envisioned Avatars that can make man live forever:

Will it be an exciting life, to be a robotic specie?

If you think about the movie Transformers, you may feel a degree of excitement as you imagine yourself almost like Optimus Prime, Bumble Bee, or whoever your favorite character is.

They have intelligence and feelings, and almost indestructible bodies.

Its almost tempting to think, isnt it?

But, if you think more deeply, what youve come to love about the Transformers was not their almost indestructible bodies but their sense of humanity the ability to love, to be loyal, and to show gratitude.

They felt compassion for those who were weaker. They fought because they were needed.

When every single one of us becomes strong, powerful, indestructible and independent to the point of not needing anyone other than a robotic doctor to occasionally fix or update our robotic bodies will we really reach the point where well loose the ability to love, to feel compassion, to feel happiness because were needed? Considering all these elements the next question would be: Will you accept immortality in a metal suit?

Continued here:
Will You Accept Immortality in a Metal Suit? - Wall Street Pit

We went in search of the Monuments of Gravel: the five gravel races that carry the most prestige to win. This week we will be rolling out stories around each race and why our panel of experts voted it onto the list.

We love the bone-jarring cobblestones outside Roubaix, the daredevil descent off the Poggio, and the leg-cracking attacks at La Redoute. Our adrenaline rushes during the chaotic battle on the Oude Kwaremont, and we are mesmerized by the punishing tempo up the Madonna de Ghisallo.

We love pro road cyclings five Monuments: Paris-Roubaix, the Tour of Flanders, Milano-Sanremo, Il Lombardia, and Lige-Bastogne-Lige. Why do these races deserve the lofty title of Monument, as well as our collective affection? The title comes from each races lengthy history and punishingly difficult distance and parcours.

Thats not why we love the races, of course. The Monuments win our affection because of the prestige bestowed to the victor. With immortality on the line, the best riders battle each other with dramatic gusto just for a chance to win.

Its no secret that American cycling is experiencing a renaissance, with gravel and mixed-surface events surging in popularity across the country. Hundreds of these races now dot the competition calendar. Of course, not all of these events are equal in terms of difficulty, history, or prestige. There are some races that have already captured the imagination of participants, media, and elite riders.

Thus, at the onset of 2020 we set out to determine the Monuments of Gravel: the five gravel races that stand atop the growing list of events as the most prestigious to win. Defining the road Monuments is relatively easy: The five are the oldest and longest-running events on the calendar. Yet doing so for gravel is less straightforward. Is a 350-mile race with a handful of participants more deserving than a 150-mile race that attracts thousands? Whats harder: 100 miles on flat gravel or 70 miles with 10,000 feet of climbing?

In the end, we reached out to the gravel community to help us determine our list. Over the past two months we have posed the question to a list of elite riders, all of whom have won or challenged for the victory at the major events on the gravel calendar.

Our definition for what event deserved to be a Monument was simple: Which races hold the most prestige to win?

No, not the longest, not the oldest, not the hardest, not the race with the most participants, or the tastiest feed zone snacks, or the best post-race party. Which are the races that mean the most to win?

We asked the riders for their list of five races, and we tallied the votes. One race was a unanimous qualifier; one more received overwhelming votes, even if riders debated whether it was actually a true gravel event. Two more races were heavy favorites.

As for the final Monument of Gravel, we came up against a dead tie between two events. And thus, on Friday, we will let you, the reader, decide.

Stay tuned to velonews.com this week to see which races made our Monuments of Gravel list, and read about the promoters, athletes, and gear that have come to define the events and push them forward. We will be revealing one Monument per day. And, once youve read our list, please cast your vote for which gravel event should be our fifth and final Monument.

This year we will be covering each Monument thoroughly, bringing you the stories in the lead-up to each event as well as the drama from inside each race.

Read the original post:
Introducing the VeloNews Monuments of Gravel - VeloNews

Holi, a traditional Hindu festival whichcelebrates the beginning of spring as well as the triumph of good over evil, is set to takeplace next week.

Although the festival originated in India and is still widely celebrated there as a religious festival, it has been adopted in many places around the world.

Here is everything you need to know about it, from where it came from to why the powder, known as gulal, is thrown.

Every year the festival celebrations take place over two days, beginningaround the time of the full moon that comes in 'Phalguna' (between the end of February and the middle of March). This year, the Holi Festival takes place on Monday March 9,the same day theWorm Moon will grace our skies, and Tuesday March 10.

The first evening is known asHolika Dahan, or Chhoti Holi. Festival-goers traditionally gather around a bonfire to celebrate the victory of good over evil. They perform religious rituals, which include prayers that any evil inside of them is destroyed.

The following day is calledHoli, or Rangwali Holi. This is when the famous colourful powdersare thrown, mixing with water from water guns and water balloons so that the powder sticks to people.

Holi's different celebrations come from various Hindu legends, although one is widely believed to be the most likely origin.

In it, the celebration's name refers to Holika,the sister of the Hindu demon king Hiranyakashipu. The demon king was granted immortality with five powers:

When his immortality turned him evil and he began to kill anyone who disobeyed him,his son, Prahlad, decided to kill him. When the king found out, he asked his sister Holika for help; in their plan she would wear a cloak which stopped her from being harmed by fire and take Prahlad into a bonfire with her.

However, the cloak flew from Holika's shoulders while she was in the fire and covered Prahlad; he was protected but she burnt to death.

In the legend, the Lord Vishnu then appeared to killHiranyakashipu by sidestepping his five powers.

He took the form of Narasimha, who was half-human and half-lion; he met him on a doorstep, which is neither indoors nor outdoors; he appeared at dusk, which is neither daylight nor dusk; he placed his father on his lap, which is neither land, water nor air; and he attacked him with his lion claws, which are neither projectile nor handheld weapons.

While Hiranyakashipu and Holika came to represent evil, Vishnu and Prahlad came to represent good. The story shows the victory of good over evil, which is why it is tied to the festival.

The other most popular origin of the festival is the legend of Krishna. The Hindu deity, embarrassed by his dark blue skin, told his mother he was worried his love Radha would not accept him. She told him to colour Radha's facewhatever colour he wanted; when he did, they became a couple.

The coloured powder - or gulal -thrown on the second day of the festival comes from the legend of Krishna. Anyone at Holi is fair game to be covered in the perfumedpowder as a celebration of Krishna and Radha's love, regardless of age or social status. The powder also signifiesthe coming of spring and all the new colours it brings to nature.

Historically, the gulal was made of turmeric, paste and flower extracts, but today synthetic versions are largely used.

Thefour mainpowder colours are used to represent different things. Red reflects love and fertility, blue is the colour of Krishna, yellow is the colour of turmeric and green symbolises spring and new beginnings.

Peshwari naan

A delicious side dishfor aHoli Festival feast. The coconut in this naan bread also makes it a great sweetener to any spicy meal.

Sweet potato and lentil curry

This healthy, yet tasty, curry, is perfectfor a Holi Festival-inspired lunch.

Red lentil tarka dal

Packed with garlic, ginger and chillies, this dish can be enjoyed as a soothing soup on its own, or with a dollop of yogurt.

Spring onion bhajis

These crispy onion bhajis, made with spring onions, shallots, fresh coriander,turmeric and chilli flakes,offer a zip of freshness.

Excerpt from:
Holi Festival 2020: how the thwarting of a Hindu demon king led to the colourful celebration - The Telegraph

An international team of researchers spread out over three labs in Switzerland, Italy, and the UK have successfully joined artificial neurons and an organic neuron to form the first operational biological-artificial hybrid neural network.

Theyve made a cyborg.

The team set out to recreate a classic experiment showing how neurons can learn by transferring information through synapses.

In a classic neural network, various neurons light up in response to stimulus. Over time the neurons will require more or less stimulation to fire, thus demonstrating how neural networks adapt and learn.

Read: Scientists discover strong evidence of life on Mars

Weve studied this concept in organic neural networks such as those found in living brains, but this is the first time its been done with both living and artificial neurons.

Per the teams research paper:

We demonstrate a three-neuron brain-silicon network where memristive synapses undergo long-term potentiation or depression driven by neuronal firing rates.

The experiment involved three different neurons across three different geographical locations, connected via the Internet using standard TCP/IP.

The first, a silicon-based artificial neuron, resided in Switzerland where researchers used it to send information to another artificial neuron in the UK.

Connecting the two human-made neurons was an organic neuron derived from a lab rats brain in Italy which served as a bridge for information.

The scientists demonstrated the hybrid neural networks ability to learn by modifying the way the data was sent, thus causing the artificial neuron at the end of the transmission to require more or less stimulation to light up.

Theoretically, this experiment could be expanded exponentially. With enough artificial bridges mimicking natural synapses we may one day be able to emulate entire brain regions.

The implications could go as far as total-conversion cyborgs that retain only the bare minimum of organic brain material essentially, this could mean immortality.

But, more likely in this century, it means scientists may one day be able to repair damaged or abnormal brain regions. This could mean a cure for paralysis, dementia, and other brain disorders, even those currently considered irreparable.

Theres still plenty of work to be done. It takes hundreds of thousands of connections for even simple brain circuits to operate, the three-neuron approach is little more than proof of the concept.

But when full-on cyborgs walk the Earth, theyll trace their origins back to this research.

You can read the full paper here.

H/t: Singularity Hub

Published March 11, 2020 22:47 UTC

The rest is here:
Scientists successfully created a cybernetic neural network - The Next Web

TYSON FURY has again taken to social media to show off his remarkable body transformation over the last two years.

The 31-year-old capped off his comeback last weekend by knocking out Deontay Wilder to become WBC heavyweight champion of the world.

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Posting four shirtless pictures illustrating his differing weights to Instagram, the star wrote: "Been an amazing comeback over the last 2 years. Thank you for the support."

Last week's victory over Wilder was the culmination of a remarkable journey back to stardom, having previously been in the boxing wilderness amid his battles with mental health issues away from the ring.

At his heaviest, the Brit hero had ballooned to 27 stone.

But with help from boxing legend Ricky Hatton, and latterly Ben Davison, Fury battled his way back to fitness and returned to the sport in June 2018 when he fought Sefer Seferi.

The Gypsy King has since seen off Francesco Pianeta, Tom Schwarz, Otto Wallin and Wilder on his way to boxing immortality.

Ahead of his first clash with the Bronze Bomber in December 2018, friend and camp manager Timothy Allcock was his personal cook - with peanut butter chicken on the menu virtually every night.

For the second Wilder fight, however, Fury turned to Conor McGregor's nutritionist George Lockhart.

And the former US marine and MMA fighter rustled up a diet to get Fury into pristine shape in order to definitively defeat Wilder once and for all.

It involved SIX meals a day - including two lunches and two dinners.

Fury would eat Greek yogurt with berries for breakfast, before tucking into salmon cakes with jalapenos, cilantro and more yogurt.

Then would come skewered chicken with tzatziki sauce for his second lunch - before moving on his dinners.

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First up he would wolf down a red meat curry with turmeric, before devouring apple and cranberry stuffed pork loin with butternut squash, quinoa, walnuts and spinach.

Finally, for supper would come sriracha honey salmon laid out on a bed of quinoa and rice.

The bulky, powerful star weighed in at 19 stone, 270lbs for the hotly-anticipated rematch, and was able to overpower and outbox Wilder in Las Vegas to clinch the WBC title - justifying his position as the most talked about man in boxing.

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View original post here:
Tyson Fury shares amazing shirtless snaps showing body transformation over last two years as he thanks fans - The Sun

Evan Rachel Wood plays Dolores in Westworld.

Warning: Spoilers ahead.

It's been nearly two years since season 2 of Westworldcame to a confusing end. That's two years to forget some of the finer details of a story that jumps backward and forward in time and explores big themes like free will. Instead of retracing the complex narratives via your detective's "crazy wall," catch up with our guide to seasons 1 and 2.

We'll go through the main characters' overall storylines, focusing on where they end up at the end of season 2. Once you're done here, you should be ready to watch season 3, premiering on March 15 on HBO, without getting lost in the maze.

Now playing: Watch this: Westworld season 3: Incite vs. Delos

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Dolores and Arnold (Jeffrey Wright) at Escalante.

Our Alice in Wonderland-looking robot host Dolores Abernathy (Evan Rachel Wood) spends this season wrestling with traumatic flashbacks she doesn't yet understand. She begins searching for Escalante, a town with a church that keeps surfacing in her memories. Finding it in the final episode, she remembers what took place there years ago: A massacre. And she carried it out.

Early in Westworld's creation, theme park co-founder Arnold Weber (Jeffrey Wright) realized his robot hosts were gaining sentience. Afraid of what the park guests might do to them, he installed the violent Wyatt personality into Dolores' drive with instructions to destroy the other hosts, then himself, then herself.

Yet despite this massacre, Robert Ford (Anthony Hopkinshaving way too much fun playing the other founder of the park) revives Dolores and opens the park anyway. In Escalante for the second time, and having reached full consciousness and gained autonomy, Dolores shoots Ford. But little does she know this was Ford's plan all along: He wanted to play gamemaster and facilitate the robot uprising.

Jeffrey Wright plays Bernard, aka Arnold.

Bernard Lowe, the park's head programmer who helps create the hosts, is Ford's right-hand man. Unbeknownst to Bernard, he's an exact replica of Arnold, created by Ford to assist him following the real Arnold's death.

At the end of season 1, Bernard reels from a murder he's forced to commit under Ford's control. This leads him to the revelation he's really a host -- "Bernard Lowe" is an anagram of Arnold Weber. Bernard confronts Ford to find the truth of who he is, resolving to rebel against Ford and help release all the sentient hosts from the park.

Ed Harris plays William, aka the Man in Black.

En route to Escalante, Dolores encounters William (Jimmi Simpson), future collaborator with the Delos corporation, which runs Westworld operations. When William and Dolores fall in love, William's future brother-in-law Logan Delos (Ben Barnes) cuts Dolores open to remind William she's just a machine and his real fiancee is waiting back home. This triggers something dark in William and his transformation into the sadistic Man in Black begins.

Intent on finding more to Westworld as well as meaning to his own life, the Man in Black obsessively returns to the park over many years. He searches for the center of a fabled "maze" until Ford informs him the maze isn't for him, it's for the hosts. The maze is a representation of Arnold's theory that hosts can't reach full consciousness on a linear path.

Thandie Newton plays Maeve.

We first meet host Maeve (Thandie Newton) as the Madame of Sweetwater, but in an earlier narrative, she was a homesteader with a daughter. On his philosophical rampage, the Man in Black murdered her child, leaving Maeve so profoundly distraught Ford was forced to reassign her a new role.

But the memory has stuck, triggered by certain images and phrases. Whenever Maeve is killed by guests, sometimes by her own design, she wakes up in the underground lab used to restore damaged hosts. Maeve wades through her confused state with the help of a sympathetic technician named Felix Lutz (Leonardo Nam) who bumps up her intelligence to the point where she essentially has mind control over the other hosts. Despite using her new abilities to find a way out of the park, she's halted by yearning to reunite with her daughter.

Teddy (James Marsden) and Dolores.

Dolores, aka "the death-bringer," spends this season gathering a small army and blowing things up on her quest to take over the human world. She and her followers end up in the storied Valley Beyond, aka the Sublime. It's a virtual heaven created by Ford where the consciousnesses of hosts can live freely away from humans. The Valley Beyond is also the location of the Forge, a database which houses replicas of the minds of every guest to the park. This is part of the Delos corporation's experiments with human immortality. Dolores, being Dolores, wipes the guests' data.

She then escapes Westworld with a Delos evacuation team, but not before using a satellite uplink to transfer the hosts and the Sublime to a secret location. Inhabiting a replicant body of Delos executive Charlotte Hale (Tessa Thompson), Dolores makes it to Arnold's home in the real world, along with Bernard. There, Dolores finds a machine that prints hosts, making herself a new body (the same as the Evan Rachel Wood Dolores we recognize) and implanting an unknown host into Charlotte's body.

The Man in Black needs a new hobby.

Logan's dad James Delos has been experimenting with housing his mind in a host's body to achieve immortality. To ease the transition, Delos' host body stays in a test tube apartment caged in glass. William interviews each host iteration of Delos, but Delos always fails the cognitive test and the body is incinerated. After the latest iteration of Delos fails, William abandons the project (read: lets the malfunctioning Delos wreak havoc).

All this has consequences, and William's daughter Emily (Katja Herbers) pays a visit to the park to confront her father about his secret project. Mistaking her for a host, William shoots her in cold blood. A grieving William, severely injured in clashes with Dolores and Maeve, is just about facing his death bed. But in a post-credits scene, he appears alive in the Forge, only it's the far future and he may or may not be a host. Joining him is none other than Emily, who also appears to have been replicated.

Maeve in Shogun World.

Maeve's journey to find her daughter arguably brings the best episode of season 2, where she explores her host-controlling powers in a world based on the Edo period of feudal Japan. Gathering a party of her own, Maeve eventually escapes Shogun World and reaches her old homestead, only there she discovers her daughter no longer knows who she is, now living with a different host as her mother.

Still, Maeve wishes only for her safety. Maeve and her party are caught up in a battle between the Ghost Nation or host "Indians" and the Delos security team on their way to the Valley Beyond, otherwise known as Eden. Sacrificing herself, Maeve sees her daughter safely through the Door to heaven. But there's still hope for Maeve's survival (we've already seen her in a season 3 trailer), as remaining scientists are tasked with salvaging bodies from the battleground.

Luke Hemsworth plays Stubbs.

What happened to the other characters at the end of season 2?

See original here:
Westworld seasons 1 and 2 recap: Everything to remember - CNET

Andre Dawson has had 18 knee surgeries.

That includes three knee replacements. Yeah, one of them had to be done twice because the first one didn't take.

Thanks very much.

It could be argued that the 65-year-old gave to the game of baseball everything his body would allow, so when he speaks you can be certain it's with love and concern for the sport.

And on the issue of the Houston Astros, he isn't at all vague.

"They should forfeit the title," Dawson said. "It's like I felt all along about steroids.

"Those guys reaped the rewards and they should suffer the ramifications. They got elite status and made a lot of money and achieved all the accolades.

"Cheating is cheating. It's not fair and you should pay a price for that. They should take away the title."

Dawson was taken aback when informed that commissioner Rob Manfred thought the World Series trophy was nothing more than an irrelevant "piece of metal" and not worth retrieving from the Astros.

"It's much more than a piece of metal to all of us who played," Dawson said. "It's the prestige of winning and being a part of history. It's the glory of getting through an entire season and being the last team standing.

"It's something that you live with for the rest of your life when you win, and it's something that you live with for the rest of your life if you don't get that chance."

There are some very familiar names on that unpleasant list, the leaders of a club no one wanted to be a part of, the men who appeared in the most MLB games in history without ever playing in a World Series game.

Topping the list is Rafael Palmeiro, second is Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. and third is future Hall of Famer Ichiro Suzuki.

Not surprisingly, there are many Cubs in the Top 30.

Having retired as the leader, Dawson is No. 4 all-time with 2,627 games and Ernie Banks -- who also retired as the leader -- is No. 5.

Billy Williams is No. 7, Ron Santo is at No. 21 and Ryne Sandberg is No. 28. They have all been elected to the Hall of Fame, but not one of them got what they wanted most, to play in the Fall Classic.

White Sox great Luke Appling is No. 10 with 2,422 games played -- retiring in 1950 atop the list -- and fellow Hall of Famer Frank Thomas is 17th. At least Thomas was with the club and got a ring when the Sox won the 2005 World Series, but he was not on the roster due to injury.

Ask any of those mentioned above and they'll tell you they feel incomplete, even having achieved immortality and a place in baseball's most hallowed museum.

"I got close a couple times," Dawson said of the '81 Expos and '89 Cubs. "Those are things you think about every year when you watch teams celebrate.

"That's the dream when you have a club that you know can go far, but a lot of things have to go right and you need some luck.

"You've got to have the personnel. I don't care how good you are individually. Ernie can attest to that. If you don't have the personnel, it's not happening.

"There's no use beating yourself up. It's just hard when you play against your peers and you see them get there. For some of us, you just have to accept that it wasn't meant to be."

That drives home even deeper the foolishness of Manfred diminishing the trophy.

To hear the pain in Dawson's voice and to have seen up close the pain he endured, you can't help but feel for a guy who wanted it that much.

"If I had to do it all over again, I would do it again," Dawson says with no hesitation. "My knee problems helped build my work ethic, and my attitude was to get that uniform back every year, as opposed to them taking it away from me.

"After that, it was all a bonus."

It doesn't minimize his distaste for those who used PEDs or swiped a championship.

"People do stuff for selfish reasons, for personal gain," Dawson said. "But now they're gonna have to deal with the fallout, and that fallout can come in a lot of ways.

"It's going to be pretty uncomfortable for them this season and probably for a long time. Like with steroids, probably some of them will never get away from it.

"They knew what they were doing and they knew it was wrong, or else they wouldn't have tried to hide it."

True enough.

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Rozner: Andre Dawson says 'cheating is cheating,' and Astros should vacate title - Chicago Daily Herald

Sci-fi aside, how long will I live?

Living to 100 will soon become a routine fact of (long) life. Life expectancies have been rising by up to three months a year since 1840 and although gains in the UK began to slow in 2011, it is still estimated that more than half the babies born in wealthier countries since 2000 may reach their 100th birthdays.

It is an impressive increase: in the early 1900s, the probability of a baby reaching 100 was 1%. A newborn in the UK today has a 50% chance of living to 105. There were 3,600 centenarians in 1986. Today there are some 15,000.

You do not have to be a newborn to benefit from this trend of increased longevity, though. A 60-year-old in the west today has an even chance of living to 90 and a 40-year-old can expect to live to 95.

But the longevity boost is not done yet: it is generally agreed that the natural ceiling to human life is somewhere around 115. Others say that even without cutting-edge AI or other technological wizardry, we could live far longer. Opinion broadly divides into three groups: the levellers who say we are at peak lifespan now. The extrapolators who argue that technology and education have made their biggest leaps but can squeak us up to a ceiling of 120 before levelling off for good. And the accelerators those determined to defeat ageing, who believe we are on the verge of major breakthroughs in scientific and technological research that will increase longevity, pushing us into the realms of immortality.

Life expectancy has been increasing since we cracked infant mortality in the 19th century. Economy, technology, healthcare and education have all combined with vaccines, safer childbirth and medical advances in the care of stroke and heart attack patients to keep the relentless pace of increasing longevity going strong.

But the growth in life expectancy began to slow in 2011 in the UK and people live longer in more than two dozen other countries.

There has not been a big medical or health gamechanger in the past couple of decades. While some argue that we should celebrate the longest lifespans that humans have ever attained, others warn that illness and infirmity risk turning long lives into slow, miserable declines.

In his essay on ageing, De Senectute, Cicero says there are four reasons why people write off old age: it stops you working, it makes your body weak, it denies you pleasure and every day is one step closer to death. Then he shows why each argument is wrong. The old retain their wits quite well, he notes, so long as they exercise them.

Dan Buettner coined the term blue zones for five regions he identified as having populations who live healthier and longer lives than others (they are Okinawa in Japan, Sardinia in Italy, the Nicoya peninsula in Costa Rica, Loma Linda in California and Ikaria in Greece). The diets of those living in these regions, he discovered, consist almost entirely of minimally processed plant-based foods mostly wholegrains, greens, nuts, tubers and beans. Meat is eaten, on average, five times a month. They drink mostly water, herbal teas, coffee and some wine. They drink little or no cows milk.

Other scientists have added different ideas to the mix. Sufficient sleep and a sense of purpose are important but exercise is key at least 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity each week, plus twice-weekly muscle-strengthening sessions, to reap health and longevity benefits.

Having said that, short bouts of light physical activity, such as walking and cleaning, have been shown to increase the lifespans of older people. And a study published last January found that simply moving instead of sitting for 30 minutes each day could reduce the risk of early death by 17%. Some research suggests that club sports such as tennis and soccer are best for longevity because they also encourage social interaction, another vital ingredient to longevity.

At conferences on longevity, it is immediately obvious during the morning breaks that the buffets remain largely untouched and that everyone drinks their tea and coffee inky black, disdaining even a drop of milk. Most serious seekers of longevity also practice both calorific fasting and intermittent fasting.

In a nutshell, the approach is to eat 30% fewer calories and fast for 16 hours a day, though this may not be appropriate for certain vulnerable groups. In essence, it means skipping breakfast and not making up for the missed meal during the day.

No one knows quite why intermittent fasting works. The best guess is that it has something to do with metabolic switching and cellular stress resistance causing the body to increase production of antioxidants.

Repeated studies on mice going back a century seem to prove that it works on rodents, at least. Last December, the New England Journal of Medicine reviewed all the studies in this area and concluded that a combination of fasting and calorific reduction does slow ageing, extend lifespan and counteract age-related disorders, including cardiovascular disease, cancers, diabetes and neurological disorders such as Alzheimers, Parkinsons and stroke. Animal models show that intermittent fasting improves health throughout the lifespan, the paper concluded.

The problem with gauging its efficacy on humans is that, as the paper said: It remains to be determined whether people can maintain intermittent fasting for years and potentially accrue the benefits seen in animal models.

US scientists are raising funds to launch a five-year clinical trial of a product called metformin, commonly prescribed for pre-diabetics and diabetics. Longevity advocates believe it may have a side effect slowing the development of age-related diseases.

Im not telling everyone to go out and take it until our clinical trial proves it does what I believe it does, said Dr Nir Barzilai, the director of the Institute for Ageing at New Yorks Albert Einstein College of Medicine. But if our trials come back with the results I expect then, yes, I believe everyone should take this drug.

Even more niche are the the promises of Dr Aubrey de Gray, a gerontologist who founded the Sens (Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence) Research Foundation with the goal of undoing ageing.

Sens is defined by a focus on repairing molecular and cellular damage rather than on merely slowing down its accumulation, he said. The logistics of indefinitely healthy ageing will, he believes, be simple and affordable: Mostly itll be injections once a decade.

The latest epigenetic clock, DNAm PhenoAge, will shortly hit the shelves. Epigenetic clocks a form of molecular augury were first developed in 2011 and claim to offer a glimpse into the future. By analysing the pattern of chemical chains that attach to the DNA in your cells, these clocks apparently reveal how swiftly you are ageing and perhaps even how much longer you will live.

The big sell with these tests is that while DNA is fixed at birth, our epigenetic patterns change according to our lifestyles. The promise of those who produce these clocks for commercial use is that they enable us to calibrate our ageing.

The tests havent been independently evaluated and do not need to be approved by the US Food and Drug Administration but that has not stopped some life insurance companies using the tests to predict lifespans. Researchers have jumped on board, too, using the clocks to test anti-ageing drugs and to look for an anti-ageing diet.

Talk of immortality was outlaw science until a couple of decades ago but now it is attracting serious interest and big bucks: in 2013, Google invested $1.5bn (1.1bn) in an entire division, Calico, which is devoted to solving death. The PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel has given millions of dollars to De Greys foundation.

Instead of focusing on why, say, we get cancer or have a stroke and how to treat each distinct condition, this branch of medical research argues for all these conditions to be regarded as symptoms of one far larger and deadly disease: ageing itself. Instead of trying to treat all these different diseases that develop as people age, the argument goes, we should be trying to treat that one big disease. If we can do that, all the so-called age-related conditions that currently harm so many and cost so much will be by definition eradicated.

No one is saying it is going to be easy. This branch of research attempts to tackle ageing inside every cell of the body. In other words, change the whole genetic makeup of the human species. There are plenty of claims that we can already slow down the ageing of cells or senescence but the most radical adherents claim that the first person to live to 1,000 has already been born.

The Miracle of Fasting, Paul and Patricia Bragg

How Not to Die: Discover the Foods Scientifically Proven to Prevent and Reverse Disease, Michael Grege

The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer From the People Whove Lived the Longest, Dan Buettner

Lifespan: Why We Age and Why We Dont Have To, David Sinclair

The Telomere Effect: A Revolutionary Approach to Living Younger, Healthier, Longer, Dr Elizabeth Blackburn and Dr Elissa Epel

100 Days to a Younger Brain, Dr Sabina Brennan

More:
The 100-year life: how to prolong a healthy mind - The Guardian

Jorge Mojarro

IT is well-known that Jos Rizal was, unavoidably, an avid reader. He explains in some of his letters how he preferred to spend his money on books rather than food. His curiosity was more typical of an humanist from Renaissance times that of a middle-class man from 19th-century Calamba. There was no topic that was of no interest for him: ancient languages, medicine, anthropology, history, religion, etc. His mind was in a permanent state of effervescence, always willing to be fed with new intellectual stimuli.

Rizal accepted with superb serenity his martyrdom, but he was not certainly looking for immortality through his unfair execution, but through his writings. I have argued elsewhere that the genius of Noli Me Tangere did not come from, lets say, divine inspiration, but from a life devoted to books, especially literature of fiction.

The topic of an impossible love between two beautiful souls, both of impeccable moral standards, was very common in 19th-century Latin American novels. The most well-known among those was Mara (1867) by the Colombian Jorge Isaacs, a novel so successful that it has obtained more than 200 editions until the present. We do not have any evidence of Rizal reading Latin American novels, but ultimately, the most relevant issue here is that the Spanish-speaking intellectual class shared the same worldview and very similar political and artistic concerns.

Nnay (1885) by Pedro Paterno, a Filipino novel that certainly needs more credit, was surely an influence on Rizal, who probably did the proofreading before going to print. What in Nnay is a lachrymose romance between two lovers in a very idealized and exoticized Philippines, peppered with adventurous scenes and information regarding local customs, Rizal transformed into a literary masterpiece where all social classes are mercilessly criticized. The parallelisms between Nnay and Mara Clara, Carlos Mabagsic and Crisstomo Ibarra are quite evident, but more relevant even is the parallelism between two original, enigmatic and very likeable characters: Berto and Elas.

But who was the most popular, most read and most prestigious novelist in Madrid in the second half of the 19th century? Benito Prez Galds, whose life is being commemorated this year in Spain as he passed away exactly 100 years ago. And certainly, Galds must have been a major literary influence on Jos Rizal. Galds was born in the Canary Islands and moved to Madrid at 19 years old in search of literary glory. His career began when he was allowed to publish his first pieces in the most important newspapers. He published more than 80 novels, 20 dramas, plus several travel books, essays and a collection of his pieces as a journalist. Most importantly, he was a staunch anticlerical novelist, and priests are generally given a very negative role in all his novels. With the exception of Miguel de Cervantes, there is no novelist like Galds in Spanish literature; his novels keep being read until today and some of them have even become popular movies. Belonging to the realist trend, there is something in the plots and characters of Galds that still appeal pleasantly to the readers of today.

Rizal, who was in Madrid while Galds was in the summit of his literary career and was extremely updated in literary novelties, should have read some of his works. Moreover, there is a novel by Galds whose plot reflects somehow one of the problems pointed out by Rizal in Noli Me Tangere: the dramatic and persistent interference of priests in extra-religious issues. The novel is titled Doa Perfecta (1876), and the plot is as follows: a marriage of convenience is arranged by Doa Perfecta between her daughter Rosario and her cousin, Pepe Rey, in order to keep the properties of the family united. What was supposed to be a cold relationship led by mutual interest becomes unexpectedly a passionate true love. However, the priest, Inocencio, had better plans for Rosario: to marry his nephew. Doa Perfecta, a devoted believer, accepts the plan of the priest against the will of the two lovers, and a tragedy ensues. It seems that this Inocencio could very well have served as an inspiration to Rizal to create his evil Padre Dmaso. It wouldnt be difficult for us to imagine Rizal reading the novel while thinking about his mother country and its problems.

The fact that Rizal found inspiration in many books is not an accusation of a lack of originality, not at all, but an acknowledgment of his creative impetus. Reading the most popular novelists of his century, he was able to create something completely new and perfectly shaped to the situation of the Philippines. More importantly, it wouldnt be an exaggeration to claim that Noli Me Tangere came to be a masterpiece superior to the previous novels that may have inspired it.

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Rizal and Galds The Manila Times - The Manila Times

Maybe its the time a light stand nearly conked Alex Ovechkin in the head during an impromptu video shoot before the 2011 Winter Classic.

Or the time we had lunch and he was happily sporting a kind of ode to vagrants fashion look.

Or the time we spent the evening watching the Washington Capitals captain display his bowling prowess along with some of his Russian teammates. Think a southpaw version of Fred Flintstone and youve got an idea of the vibe.

With yet another historic moment for Ovechkin passing on Saturday afternoon as he reached 700 career goals, these images play into the impressions of the Washington sports icon as indelibly as any of the dozens of scorching one-timers from the left circle or his under-appreciated deft passes that more often than not caught opposing defenders and netminders befuddled.

When you reach this rarified strata within the game there is a tendency to speak only in terms of the mythic. And make no mistake...

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Alex Ovechkin has always been unapologetically unique on the path to greatness - The Athletic

Ragnarok is the well-known end of times associated with Norse mythology and a recurring theme in Kratos and Atreus' epic quest for 2018's God of War.With the game's ending foreshadowing the event playing a major rolein God of War 2,it seems clear that it will play a big role in the game, but whatdoes Ragnaroktruly mean for the God of War universe?

God of War's description of Ragnarok isrelatively close to thereal-lifeNorselegends. Historically, Ragnarok represents a cataclysmic eventforeseen by the giantess seer Groa. Also known as "The Twilight of the Gods," Ragnarok issaid to culminate with the deaths of most of the Norse Gods, including Odin, Thor, Freya, and Loki (who we know as Atreus), devastating the human world of Midgard with natural disasters andultimately wiping out all life, allowing the world to be reborn anew.

RELATED:God Of War PS4: 10 Storylines That Were Never Resolved

The prophecy tells that the firstevent to signal the coming apocalypse is the death of the god Baldur, the near-immortalson of Freya and brother of Thor, which will bring about a three-year winter known as "Fimbulwinter." As seen in the climactic moments ofGod of War's story, Baldur is turned mortal by accidentally pricking himself on one of Atreus' mistletoe arrowheads, the only thing capable of reversing the curse of immortality placed upon him by his mother. Finally able to die, Kratos slays Baldur to prevent him from strangling Freya. As Baldurdies,the first snowflakes of Fimbulwinter begin to fall, signaling that Ragnark has begun.

So what does this mean for God of War 2?The prophecy is vague about when certainpredictionswill occur, but the epic events depicted are more than enough to get players excited forGod of War 2. Skoll and Hati - twoenormous wolves - will devour the sun and moon, the fire giant Surtr will burn Asgard to the ground with a flaming sword, Odin and the wolf Fenrir will slay each other in battle, and Thor will battle Jormungandr, hittingThe World Serpent so hard that it gets sent back in time.

The most intriguing of the giants' predictions can be seen on one of the murals that Kratos and Atreus pass upon arriving in Jotunheim at the end ofGod of War. Thepainting shows Kratos, supposedly dead or dying, as Atreus kneels over his body, the World Serpent flying out of his mouth. While it's hard to imagine how this is going to play out, the fact that Kratos and Atreus have seen the God of War's apparent death is sure to influence their relationship in the sequel.

While the prophecy of Ragnarok does promise a great deal of chaos, it's important to note that, unlike the murals, the future is not necessarily set in stone. Kratos asserts throughoutGod of War thatjust because something is prophecized does not mean that it is sure to happen.The truth of this is witnessed firsthand when Kratos kills Baldur and brings about Fimbulwinter over one hundred years before the giants predicted. Butjust because the events of Ragnarok can be sped up, does that mean they can be stopped or changed altogether? The way the first game ends, it sure looks like Gods like Thor and Freya are eager to speed up Kratos' demise, but for now, fans can only speculate as they await the much anticipated sequel toGod of War.

God of War 2is rumored to be in development.

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Tags:Sony,God of War,Santa Monica Studio

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God of War 2: What is Ragnarok? - GameRant

MANILA, Philippines Arguably the most inspirational song of the decade is something none of us could have predicted: Sarah Geronimo's "Tala" yes, that LSS-inducing song people have been dancing to all over the internet.

The song was released as the lead single on Sarah's 2015 album, The Great Unknown and it made a huge impact on landing. Critics warmly received the way the song infused mainstream pop with a tribal feel in the percussions. And fans couldn't get enough of the catchy chorus that sang, of course, of Filipino listeners' favorite subject, love.

When the "Tala" music video was released in June 2016, the song made even more of a dent in Pinoy pop culture as the nation beheld their beloved wholesome ate Sarah then still known as the Pop Princess showing off a totally different side of herself.

It certainly wasn't like the jump Britney Spears made going from "Sometimes" to "Slave 4 U." But the video with Sarah impressively nailing some tricky dance sequences in a tattoeed bodysuit cemented the idea (if her two previous hits "Kilometro" and "Ikot-Ikot" hadn't already) that Sarah was a talented triple threat who does not come to play.

Over time though, the "Tala" hype slowly faded as OPM gave way to folk-pop and funk-rock. For 3 years, the shine of "Tala" remained largely forgotten by mainstream listeners occassionally being taken out of the baul for the odd cover here and there.

Of course, on the drag circuit, it was a different story and many, including Sarah herself, credit the reemergence of the song to the LGBTQ+ community, and particularly to Bench Hipolito, a drag queen and Sarah Geronimo impersonator, who featured the song in many of her performances.

By late 2019, years after its initial release, "Tala" had become ubiquitous once again.

Pretty much everyone who can follow the choreography (and even some who can't) have shared their own dance covers online. Even inmates at the San Juan City Jail got in on the action.

Sunday variety show ASAP Natin 'To even held a "Grand Tala Day" to celebrate the song that has become a national obssession 4 years after it was first released.

By this point it's safe to say that "Tala" has eclipsed its own impact when it first came out and we're all for it.

In fact, we are so for it , that we've compiled a bunch of "Tala"-adjacent tracks from mostly Pinoy pop artists with a little K-pop thrown into the mix for good measure.

With the same upbeat vibe, same danceability, and the same LSS potential, these songs are a reminder that when life gets rough, there is always a reason to dance as "Tala" was, and, apparently now, always will be.

Rappler.com

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PLAYLIST: A celebration of dance pop and the immortality of 'Tala' - Rappler

The Super Bowl is the advertising industrys biggest stage. Its the one day when watching the commercials is every bit as central to the experience as what happens during the actual game.

Some advertisers rise to the occasion, while others fumble.

Over the years, there have been memorable spots the kind that make it into those now-annual TV specials like Apples arresting 1984 ad, Wendys oft-quoted Wheres the beef? commercial, Budweisers Clydesdales campaign, and Volkswagens kid in the Darth Vader costume.

On the flip side, being center stage has its downside like Nationwides misguided 2015 ad that turned out to be narrated by a dead child, or the Ram Trucks spot that used a Martin Luther King Jr. sermon as a voiceover in a way that was instantly labeled crass.

Because of the variety of sponsors and approaches, theres no one way to make a Super Bowl ad worthy of the platform, and not all the spots are intended for every consumer. While most blue-chip advertisers shun controversy, smaller ones sometimes lean into it see GoDaddy for one example as a means of getter a bigger bang for their marketing bucks.

Marketing experts and academics have been clogging journalists inboxes for weeks, offering their perspectives on what makes Super Bowl ads pop. To add one more voice to that chorus, consider this a rough list of the dos and mostly donts to avoid missteps, and perhaps even earn a place in memorable commercial immortality.

This might sound obvious, but its too often forgotten by advertisers (and commercial directors) blessed with unfettered budgets. They get so enamored with beautiful shots and creating an image that they forget to tell consumers why they might want or need the product. Keanu Reeves, for example, starred in a spot for Squarespace that was kind of neat, without explaining to anybody what exactly Squarespace does.

Its fun to see familiar faces pop up during the game, but it helps enormously if theyre not a non-sequitur. Ideally the celeb (or one of their projects) can be logically connected to the product or the theme of the ad. Otherwise, it just looks like the advertiser simply enlisted the first person to say Yes to a big pile of cash. Just looking at this years lineup, Sam Elliott is a perfect fit for a western-themed Doritos spot. Wesley Snipes for Planters? Not so much.

Super Bowl ads are known for two things: How much it costs to buy them a 30-second spot goes for as much as $5.6 million this year, according to Variety and the fact that they will reach the years biggest TV audience. So producing a spot that just feels like any old commercial fails to maximize that showcase. T-mobile, for example, ran a series of spots last year offering free giveaways, which didnt rise to the occasion creatively.

With only 30 or even 60 seconds to get the message across, commercials have to do a lot of business in a short amount of time. So tethering the spot to something else in pop culture (see Bud Lights Game of Thrones-themed ad last year) or the world at large is especially useful in creating an ad that will linger beyond the games final whistle.

Ad agencies can easily outsmart themselves with their desire to create something thats going to garner attention. Being overly coy or obscure might play well in a Madison Avenue conference room, but its not necessarily the way to make people remember your commercial. Think the GM commercial where an assembly-line robot contemplates suicide, which many saw as more depressing than amusing.

Patriotism and emotion work well in this setting an approach that Budweiser in particular has mastered but theres also a danger of putting people off by overreaching, or worse, depressing them.

The aforementioned Martin Luther King Jr. Ram ad is a good example. Issues and causes can bring resonance to Super Bowl commercials, but theres a fine line between touching an emotional nerve and coming across as exploitative, since its generally understood that the point of the flowery words and images are, ultimately, in the service of making the audience feel good about the sponsor and its product.

One neednt be a prude to note that reaching 100 million viewers carries with it certain responsibilities, starting with the fact that there are going to be a lot of people seeing your ad who might not under normal circumstances.

Big sight gags are fine, but if theres the slightest doubt that something pushes too far in an effort to get noticed, err on the side of caution. Its highly subjective, obviously, but Budweisers spot featuring a flatulent horse comes to mind.

And some products, frankly, just dont work in this venue, as Jublia discovered in 2015, when it served viewers an ad for a toenail-fungus treatment along with their chips and salsa.

Super Bowl LIV kicks off Feb. 2 at 6:30 p.m. ET on Fox.

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Super Bowl commercials: The dos and don'ts of successful ads - KTVZ

We learn the fallout of Dibnys clash with Bloodwork from last week, which leads us to a full on battle royale for the soul of Barry Allen himself this week and the winner might surprise you.

Spoilers ahead for The Last Temptation of Barry Allen, Part 1, the latest episode of The CWs Flash, which aired Tuesday, November 26, 2019.

Bloodwork has made for a breath of fresh air as far as big bads are concerned, so its only fitting the big clash with Ramsey makes for a very different type of battle as the first half of the season looks to wrap up in time for Crisis on Infinite Earth in a couple of weeks (the second half of The Flashs season will be a different, self-contained story, similar to the mini-arcs utilized on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. the past few years). Turns out Ramsey infected Ralph (though Ralph did land an epic punch between manholes on him), and as Barry saves Ralph with a blood transfusion, a tiny bit of that infection spreads to him.

So yes now Barry Allen is infected with Bloodworks seemingly unstoppable black goo.

This leads Barry to collapse (a few times) with a fever as his speed healing and the Speed Force try to fight off this sentient infection that is literally Ramsey himself kicking around in the memories and pain of Barrys mind. It manifests in some fascinating ways and asks some interesting questions along the way. Ramsey walks Barry through a graveyard of all the people hes lost along the way (shoutout to the dearly departed Eddie Thawne may he RIP), gives him a peek at his future daughter as a baby, and gives him a glimpse at a possible future where he can literally revive the dead with the power of Ramseys black goo. Its certainly tempting.

The counterpoint to Ramseys temptation is represented by the Speed Force itself, once again taking on the face of Barrys late mother. She encourages Barry to try and fight Ramseys influence, but with Barry staring down the barrel of a gun (in The Flashs current timeline, the Crisis is a mere two days away) he sees Ramseys offer of immortality through the power of his corrupting concoction as a possible lifeline. When the Speed Force itself confirms that, yes, Barry could survive the Crisis if he joins with Ramsey, he finally breaks. Though its made clear he would lose his soul to save his body, we cut away with Barrys body literally split in two between the competing forces and ideologies.

The he wakes up, having seemingly battled away Ramseys infection. But it takes Iris just a moment to realize thats not Barry he gave in to Ramseys offer, and now The Flash himself is a lightning-quick agent of Bloodwork.

Much of the season has found Barry diving into his work and trying to prepare Star City, and the team, for a world without him. Its only now we really see Barry finally grapple with his own fear and mortality and when a questionable means of escape drops in his lap, he caves to those fears and takes it. Weve seen Barry make a lot of mistakes over the years (ahem, Flashpoint), but its rare hes made a turn like this. Of course, hes never faced something so uncertain and gigantic as Crisis, either.

As for the rest of the team, much of the focus is on Iris and her crack journalism squad at The Citizen. They spend much of the episode looking into a case, though its mostly a means for iris to distract herself from actually having the write that Flash Vanishes in Crisis article that has been looming over the series since its launch. At Allegras urging, she finally does settle in to write the infamous cover story which turns into a touching obituary of sorts for what the Flash has meant to Central City all these years.

As for Dibny, he looks to be on the road to recovery but hes being shipped off to an Argus safe house to finish mending up. But, pics from Crisis show him back in action for the big crossover, so hell be back soon enough.

Timeline check-in. Yes, once again, Crisis is only two days away in The Flashs current timeline. So, once the Bloodwork story (likely) comes to an end, its straight into Crisis.

Nashs dig for the Monitors hideout also continues this week, and it seems hes found the door, which features a few mysterious symbols.

Next week: It feels like a season finale, as Bloodwork makes his move for Central City and spreads his infection all over the place. Will Flash return to the side of good? I mean, yeah. Probably. But it sure looks like fun.

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Its Barry vs. Bloodwork in a battle of the mind in the latest Flash - SYFY WIRE

In Oryx and Crake,the first novel of Margaret Atwoods dystopic Maddaddam trilogy, a character nicknamed Crake argues that mortality is not merely death, but also the anxiety-inducing and violence-producing foreknowledge and fear of death.Crakes solution to mortality is profoundly catastrophic, but his diagnosis is in some ways, spot on.

Two great thinkers whove shed important light on the phenomenon of death-anxiety are Ernest Becker, in his 1973 work, The Denial of Death,and more recently, Richard Beck inThe Slavery of Death.Both writers think about the ways we live in denial of death and how this creates deep-seated neurotic anxiety when we refuse to face the vulnerability and fragility of the human condition, it inevitably spills over into violence.

Another epic saga, the drama of redemption rolled out in our Scriptures, faces death head-on by addressing how it came to be (Genesis 3), how it will come to end (1 Corinthians 15) and how the solution finds its axis in Jesus Christ. Unlike Crake, who resolved to create a new species who are ignorant of death, Christ enters death to break its back and strip it of its power and grant us immortality.

But what is the power of death? This is where Atwoods insight (misapplied by Crake) is so helpful. She inspires me to see how the gospel can conquer death by death and make us immortal even though we will still pass through its gates. The power of death is not merely the reality that my bodily destiny will include an earthly departure involving the miracle of decomposition. Thats not our biggest problem, especially in light of our forthcoming resurrection established in Christ. The real issue is how we anticipate all that.

If we foresee my death as a fearful descent into non-being, then we are enslaved to mortalityi.e. to our death-anxiety, to the neurotic ways of death-denial, and to the fatal fruit of sin it produces.

But if we come to see and believe in the reality of Christs victory over death, the revelation of his resurrection sets us free from the power of deathnow, in this life. So says the author of Hebrews:

Now since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity, so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death(Hebrews 2:14-1.5).

In other words, while we will pass from literal mortality to immortality when we hear his voice saying, Rise!, it is also true that we already passed from death to life when we were first raised to life by grace through faith in Christ. Thats why we can take Jesus seriously when he said,

Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man (John 5:24-27).

Very truly I tell you, whoever obeys my word will never see death (John 8:51).

And even at the tomb of Lazarus, four days into death (John 11:25027):

Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?

Yes, Lord, she replied, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.

Was Jesus Christ mistaken? Was he just performing word-tricks or playing mind-games? Not at all. Its not just that he could raise Lazarus from the dead or would rise from the dead himself. Its even more than your some-day resurrection on the far side. Somehow, the power of death (mortality as foreseeing and fearing death) has already been dismantled and we enjoy the inheritance of immortality here and now.

In the 4th century, Athanasius key proof for the resurrection of Christ was notsome lawyerly proof of the empty tomb or a refutation of the Roman conspiracy theories. His proof that Christ was and is alive is that he had conquered the power of death (mortality) in his people. Their grace and peace in the face of martyrdomtheir fearlessness of what lay aheadwas proof of their Saviors immortality and their own immortality as an accomplished truth.

Modern Christianity has somehow lost sight of this on a grand scale. I wonder at our fear of death and the lengths we go to deny and divert it. Is it our white-knuckled attachment to the only life we actually believe in? When it matters most, do we revert to the de facto atheism of death-anxiety? How might Christ set us free again?

The worlds solutions, it seems to me, are little more than hubris, bravado and dehumanization than authentic assurance. And then theres the great and growing rush toward transhumanism, defined this way:

Transhumanism is a class of philosophies of life that seek the continuation and acceleration of the evolution of intelligent life beyond its currently human form and human limitations by means of science and technology, guided by life-promoting principles and values. Max More (1990)

Without ethical parameters, our faith in science to overcome the power of death transforms Atwoods fiction into prophecy a dystopic vision indeed. That tale cant end well.

I have only had a few sobering brushes with death, but have not to this point, been diagnosed with anything terminal other than death. For now, death is only in my face indirectly through several close loved ones who are, at this moment, counting their months or weeks until departure. Will I face my own terminustransition as graciously as they are? Or am I still in the death-denial of mortality? I dont know. Butas I see it, the problem of mortality and the power of death will down to just two options. Whats it going to be?

Christ or Crake?

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Christ or Crake? Mortality is the Fear of Death Brad Jersak | Brad Jersak - Patheos

Theres a game I keep coming back to every few years. Its Lost Odyssey for the Xbox 360. Developed by Hironobu Sakaguchis Mistwalker Studios, its basically Final Fantasy mixed with the old show about immortals, Highlander.

The first two times I played it, I got to the White Boa, then stopped. Life just got in the way and while I really enjoyed it, I moved onto something else. The third time I came back to it, I promised myself Id actually finish the game. Im glad I did, as Im having a blast.

Final Fantasy has changed a lot in its last three main series single-player outings. FFXII, XIII, and XV have incorporated simulation and action RPG elements to the point where they feel like very different games. So I was pleasantly surprised when I loaded up Lost Odyssey and it felt like Id warped back to the PS1 era of Final Fantasy games. That meant turn-based combat, intricate stories that focus on character interactions, and gorgeous worlds that are fun to explore. Even the menus reminded me of the PS1 JRPGs.

Lost Odyssey is about the immortal, Kaim, whos lost his memory. He doesnt seem interested in retrieving it as we learn how his past is bound up in tragedy. We first come across him in the midst of a battle between the nations of the Uhra and the Khent. As the conflict intensifies, a meteor that would have made Sephiroth proud wipes out both forces. Kaim is one of the few survivors thanks to his immortality. He walks through the decimated ruins of the battlefield, embers, ash, and smoke everywhere. The sense of futility and desperation weighs down on him. Hes not a hero running to the rescue. His actions on behalf of the Uhra were pointless. Despite his strength, he cant actually help anyone. Its as bleak an introduction to a game as Ive seen.

He eventually bumps into another immortal, Seth. She, too, has lost her memories. Im not immortal, but its hard for me to remember most things from 10-20 years ago. I cant imagine what shape my memory would be in with a thousand years of history weighing down on me. For Kaim, memories start seeping back through his dreams. I love how theyre triggered by random events. At one point, he meets a kid who exuberantly declares he wants to be a mercenary when he grows up. This evokes Kaims past memory of a time he was in war with a young mercenary who talked big, but eventually was so overcome by fear, he fled the battle scene. Theres a wistful pain to these memories, as time has dulled the wounds and experience has given Kaim a broader perspective on human nature.

Many of these memories come in the form of textual short stories. Honestly, I feel conflicted about these. On one hand, theyre beautifully written and are poignant short stories. But they also break the immersion in the game and feel like a jarring diversion. I wish somehow these sequences could have better blended into the game, maybe with a stronger visual element that would have helped make them more cohesive.

The interactions between the characters of Lost Odyssey are a lot of fun. Im probably going to sound like a broken record, but I had flashbacks to the dialogue in games like FFIX and even Chrono Trigger. The party members argue, banter, get on each others nerves, but somehow find a way to come together to fight a greater evil. The magician, Jansen, acts as comedic relief for the party. When he initially joined, I couldnt decide whether he was annoying or amusing. After spending some time with him, he became one of the most interesting characters in the game and always has a perfectly timed quip to shake things up.

Kaim is reserved and brooding, but hes also surprisingly vulnerable. When the party gets locked up in a prison, Kaim actually confesses hes scarednot by his imprisonment, but by his own dreams and what they portend. As an immortal, he basically doesnt give two cents what anyone thinks about him.

Seths memories as a pirate slowly creep back to her, all while shes trying to understand the political machinations going on around her. She balances Jansens ridiculous whining, but also tries to bring more cheer for Kaim as they try to figure out the mysteries behind the giant magical Staff protruding high up into the sky.

The world of Lost Odyssey is spectacular, combining fixed cameras and full 3D environments. The kingdom of Numara looks stunning with its seaside locale and sprawling architecture. I could see how their isolationist philosophy and long peace had inspired its people to focus on their culture. People debate art in the Artists Salon, a Philosophers Chamber welcomes the brightest minds of the kingdom, and theres even special types of custom-made equipment in a boutique. When we learn their General Kakanas wants to shift priorities and take on a more belligerent position, I was as angry and upset as their queen. Paradise was being threatened.

Its also really nice to enter a new town and hear people say weirdly quizzical things while they go about their business. A lot of RPGs these days do have towns bustling with people, but they dont interact with you unless theyre giving you a sidequest or selling you something. The cities of Lost Odyssey felt a lot more alive in that sense.

The battle system is turn-based, which may feel archaic to some. I didnt mind it at all, and the addition of an Aim Ring System, similar to the Shadow Hearts series, adds a timing element to it that makes the attacks feel like a rush. Party arrangement is important as the front line forms a wall that protects the rear forces, usually composed of magicians who are physically weaker. The battles themselves are tough and there were a few times I actually lost because I didnt plan carefully enough. Theres a story-based encounter against Numarian cavalry in the Ghost Town that I struggled with the first two times I faced them. After getting my butt handed to me, I re-strategized, starting the battle off with some shield spells to make my immortals stronger against the cavalrys charge, then using flare bombs to dispose of the soldiers. I also changed up the rings Id assembled to give a slight boost to my offensive skills and that made the difference.

Ive long harped about RPGs that offer you a huge cast of playable characters, but only allow you to take three of them into battle. Lost Odyssey allows a party of up to five, which feels like the perfect balance. Thank you, Mistwalker.

Towards the end of the first disc, Kaim meets up with two kids, Cooke and Mack, who are defending a flower garden. Something about them seems familiar to Kaim and the party goes home with the children after they invite them to stay over. When Kaim sees their mother, Lirum, memories flood back into him. He realizes she is actually his daughter and these two siblings are his grandkids. Lirum is on her deathbed, but she is so happy to see her father one last time. Relieved that Kaim can take care of her children, she passes on.

The funeral procession that follows is somber, but also incredibly moving. Lirums body is resting on a boat that is tied to the shore by multiple ropes. Friends of the family hold unlit torches and speak with Cooke and Mack, telling them how important Lirum was to their lives. The children in turn light the torches, which the respective people then use to burn one of the ropes holding Lirums boat. Once they finish, Cooke and Mack burn the final two ropes, causing her vessel to float away.

Kaim, whod mostly been reserved until that point in the game, opens up to his grandchildren, doing his best to comfort them. Even Jansen is surprised at how different Kaim is around them. The little details here make the difference. When you check the shelves, you can get a medical prognosis about Lirums deteriorating condition. Rather than buy flowers or torches, you have to gather them from the ghost town, and its a slow, almost laborious process. To further illustrate how impoverished they were, when you check Lirums bedroom cabinet, you find only one gold piece in contrast to most other homes where you find a lot more.

I got choked up thinking about how heartbreaking it must have been for Kaim to see his child this way.

Im totally hooked on Lost Odyssey. Ive wondered why I never finished it the first two times through. Fortunately, similar to the immortals, I forget the story every time I come back. Im hoping the third time is the charm and I can finally make my way through and uncover more answers to the questions I have, like why is the villain, Gongora, plotting to re-establish the monarchy? How is he involved with the amnesia of the immortals? Where did all the monsters infecting the Grand Staff come from? And who threw that big-ass meteor down on me at the beginning of the game?

One of the bigger questions I have is about JRPGs themselves: do I prefer JRPGs in the older traditional style Id grown up with?

My honest opinion is that I hope theres room for games like Lost Odyssey as much as FFXV. Persona V and Dragon Quest XI are turn-based, but had enough evolution in their systems where the battles never felt tedious. They both also told really great stories and had memorable characters that made them some of the best games of the generation. I really did enjoy the combat of FFXV and found there were even things I liked about the paradigm shifts of FFXIII. But Lost Odyssey hits a sweet spot for me and I like the old school mechanics. I still have a ways to go before I finish Lost Odyssey, but it feels like Im spending time with a friend I havent seen in ages again. I might not have a thousand years, but Im in no rush to speed through.

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Lost Odyssey Is A Moving Story About Immortality, Memories, And Loss - Kotaku

Ever heard of Amasa Stone Chapel? (Hint: Its right next to the Binary Walkway.) For those who dont know, Amasa Stone Chapel is named after Amasa Stone, an 1800s industrialist. He gained his fortune from a regional railroad empire right here in Ohio.

Why should you care? Because Amasa Stone was instrumental in bringing a university to Cleveland, something the city lacked in the 1870s.

Long story short, Stone helped provide the funding for Western Reserve College (WRC) to relocate from Hudson, Ohio to Cleveland, under three conditions. First, the college would become a university and the liberal arts college be named after his son Adelbert. Second, he would be able to name a majority of the trustees to the board of Western Reserve University. Third, he would oversee the construction of the universitys building.

WRCs trustees agreed to these stipulations, and, in 1881, Stone gave WRC $500,000 for its re-establishment as a university in Cleveland. Later, the federation of Western Reserve University and Case Institute of Technology would form Case Western Reserve University, a school you might be familiar with.

Stone had a big impact on this campus. But why did he want the liberal arts college of Western Reserve University to be named after his son Adelbert?

About 15 years prior to Stones gift to WRC, Adelbert, who attended the Sheffield Scientific School, was on a school geology trip to the Connecticut River. Several students decided to bathe in the river, including Stone. Unfortunately, Adelbert would never return. There is some confusion about what exactly happened, but on June 27, 1865, Adelbert Stone drowned in the Connecticut River and his body was not recovered until two days later, on June 29.

Sadly, Adelberts death wouldnt be the only tragedy to befall the Stone family. Shortly after the completion of the Adelbert College building, Stone would commit suicide. On May 11, 1883, Stone shot himself through the heart in the bathroom of his mansion on Euclid Avenue. Although no one can say for sure, there has been much speculation as to why Stone took his own life.

It was said that he had not been in good health for some time and rarely left his home in the weeks preceding his death. He also may have felt guilt over the Ashtabula Bridge disaster, a tragedy that claimed 92 lives and that he was largely considered responsible for. Additionally, it is thought that he never recovered from the death of Adelbert. It is also possible that he was worried about his business. His family would later memorialize Stone through building Amasa Stone Chapel.

So the Stone family was done with tragedy after Amasa Stones death, right? Wrong. On June 23, 1901, Stones 24-year-old grandson Adelbert Del Stone Hay fell to his death from an open window. According to reports, it was a hot night and Del, who fell asleep very easily, went to get some cool air by the window before going to bed. It is likely that he sat in the window and fell asleep.

The Stone family would escape tragedy for several years after Dels death, until Stones daughter Flora Stone Mathers death from breast cancer in 1909. She was responsible for helping fund the womens campus that existed until Western Reserve University became permanently co-ed.

Now whenever a student walks through campus they see traces of the Stone family. Though their deaths were tragic, the Stone family has achieved a sort of immortality with their names engraved on the buildings of the university they helped create.

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Untimely deaths in the Stone family - The Observer

The story of cinemas most iconic family will finallybe concluding this fall. Star Wars Episode 9 will be hitting cinemas in December and with it, the Skywalker saga delivers its long, long awaited encore. As pre-sales figuressurpass even Avengers Endgame, the hype train is at warp speed, and theexcitement so thick you can cut it with a lightsaber.

However, the more we delve into the stream oftrailers, TV spots and other juicy bits of information, the more it all starts toring a bell... a magical bell. It has been eight years since we saw Harry Potter casthis last Expelliarmus, but his influence has clearly spread far and wide. Allthe way to a galaxy far, far away.

Be it spiritually connected characters or an evil manssupposed quest for immortality, a lot of the challenges facing Rey and co. inthe heavily anticipated finale are shaping up to reflect things Harry andhis friends went through during their own crusade against the dark side.

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10 Signs Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker Is Ripping Off Harry Potter - WhatCulture

Commentary

If Tintern Abbey is Wordsworths first great statementabout the action of childhood memories of nature upon the adultmind, the Intimations of Immortality ode is his mature masterpieceon the subject. The poem, whose full title is Ode: Intimationsof Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood, makes explicitWordsworths belief that life on earth is a dim shadow of an earlier,purer existence, dimly recalled in childhood and then forgottenin the process of growing up. (In the fifth stanza, he writes, Ourbirth is but a sleep and a forgetting.../Not in entire forgetfulness,/ And not in utter nakedness, /But trailing clouds of glory do wecome / From God, who is our home....)

While one might disagree with the poems metaphysicalhypotheses, there is no arguing with the genius of language at workin this Ode. Wordsworth consciously sets his speakers mind at oddswith the atmosphere of joyous nature all around him, a rare moveby a poet whose consciousness is so habitually in unity with nature. Understandingthat his grief stems from his inability to experience the May morningas he would have in childhood, the speaker attempts to enter willfullyinto a state of cheerfulness; but he is able to find real happinessonly when he realizes that the philosophic mind has given himthe ability to understand nature in deeper, more human termsasa source of metaphor and guidance for human life. This is very muchthe same pattern as Tintern Abbeys, but whereas in the earlierpoem Wordsworth made himself joyful, and referred to the musicof humanity only briefly, in the later poem he explicitly proposesthat this music is the remedy for his mature grief.

The structure of the Immortality Ode is also unique inWordsworths work; unlike his characteristically fluid, naturallyspoken monologues, the Ode is written in a lilting, songlike cadencewith frequent shifts in rhyme scheme and rhythm. Further, ratherthan progressively exploring a single idea from start to finish,the Ode jumps from idea to idea, always sticking close to the centralscene, but frequently making surprising moves, as when the speakerbegins to address the Mighty Prophet in the eighth stanzaonlyto reveal midway through his address that the mighty prophet isa six-year-old boy.

Wordsworths linguistic strategies are extraordinarilysophisticated and complex in this Ode, as the poems use of metaphorand image shifts from the register of lost childhood to the registerof the philosophic mind. When the speaker is grieving, the maintactic of the poem is to offer joyous, pastoral nature images, frequentlypersonifiedthe lambs dancing as to the tabor, the moon lookingabout her in the sky. But when the poet attains the philosophicmind and his fullest realization about memory and imagination, hebegins to employ far more subtle descriptions of nature that, ratherthan jauntily imposing humanity upon natural objects, simply drawhuman characteristics out of their natural presences, referringback to human qualities from earlier in the poem.

So, in the final stanza, the brooks fret down theirchannels, just as the childs mother fretted him with kisses earlierin the poem; they trip lightly just as the speaker tripped lightlyas a child; the Day is new-born, innocent, and bright, just as achild would be; the clouds gather round the setting sun and takea sober coloring, just as mourners at a funeral (recalling thechilds playing with some fragment from a mourning or a funeralearlier in the poem) might gather soberly around a grave. The effectis to illustrate how, in the process of imaginative creativity possibleto the mature mind, the shapes of humanity can be found in natureand vice-versa. (Recall the music of humanity in Tintern Abbey.)A flower can summon thoughts too deep for tears because a flowercan embody the shape of human life, and it is the mind of maturitycombined with the memory of childhood that enables the poet to makethat vital and moving connection.

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Ode: Intimations of Immortality - SparkNotes