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Here’s why fans think Altered Carbon got canceled – Looper

Posted on September 30, 2020 by Danzig

Despite Altered Carbon opening up a whole new sci-fi world to Netflix viewers, fans have cited many flaws in the second season that leave them not entirely surprised by its cancellation. A Reddit userposting by the handle u/KevTravels wrote, "Folks blaming Mackie but it's the abysmal writing that did in the show. And the massive cut in budget!"

Many fans, whether justified or not, don't think Mackie was the right person to play Kovacs no amount of talent can save a role that's just the wrong fit. Still, that's not the only reason they believe Altered Carbon's plug was pulled after season 2. One user believed the second season was lacking clever twists and engaging mysteries, calling it a mediocre love story between Kovacs and Quellcrist Falconer (Rene Elise Goldsberry). Another user went as far as calling the writing "hot garbage."

At times, Altered Carbon season 2 left audiences feeling like it was relying on its world and aesthetics to do the heavy liftingat the expense of character development. A true protagonist isn't clear in the second season, with Quellcrist's story eating up a lot of time and yet another Kovacs reappearing (this one played by Will Yun Lee), making it hard to follow and get invested. After Kovacs was the clear protagonist in season 1, fans were confused about who to root for in season 2.

Whether the characters were paper-thin, the flashy effects and sets were less impressive, or the writing left a lot to be desired, it appears not enough people showed up to the digital stadium. According to Deadline, "Netflix's decision not to proceed with further seasons was made in April and is not COVID-related but stems from the streamer's standard viewership vs. cost renewal review process." As a monster budget even a reduced one is always going to be required for a project of Altered Carbon's scale, it presumably made more sense for Netflix to cut its losses as opposed to bleed cash on another season.

The rest is here:
Here's why fans think Altered Carbon got canceled - Looper

Everything new on Disney+ UK in October from The Mandalorian to Onward – Yahoo Movies Canada

Posted on September 28, 2020 by Danzig

The Mandalorian S2 lands on Disney+ in October, watch the first trailer here:

Its the moment Star Wars fans have been waiting for: October marks the launch of the second season of The Mandalorian on Disney+.

But theres more to just the return of Mando and The Child to look forward to on Disneys streaming service in October, with new stuff being added throughout the month.

Highlights include the launch of space race drama The Right Stuff, Pixars latest animated adventure Onward and a new Frozen short.

Also, from 1 October Disney+ will be the new home for Disney Channel, DisneyXD and Disney Junior in the UK. Every show, season, and episode will be available in one place for the first time ever. Thats over 4,000 episodes of Disney Channel shows, and over 1,000 Disney Junior episodes too.

Meet the sixyearold Blue Heeler dog, who turns everyday family life into extraordinary adventures. The hit Australian animation is the number one childrens show Down Under.

Streaming from 1 October.

Watch the teaser trailer for Onward below...

Onward is arriving on Disney+ on 2 October, so get ready to dive into a suburban fantasy world and allow Disney and Pixar to introduce you to two teenage elf brothers who embark on an extraordinary quest to discover if there is still a little magic left out there.

Streaming from 2 October.

Also new to Disney+ on 2 October: Disney Upside-Down Magic, Penny On M.A.R.S (S3), Primal Survivor (S3), Weird But True! (S3), Zenimation (Shorts).

Watch a trailer for new drama The Right Stuff below...

What does it take to be first? Would you risk it all? How are legends made?

These are all questions we ask in this new National Geographic eight-episode, scripted series that follows the incredible story of Americas first astronauts. The series is an inspirational look at what would become Americas first reality show, when ambitious astronauts and their families became instant celebrities in a competition of money, fame and immortality.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson are Executive Producers.

Streaming from 9 October.

Also new to Disney+ on 9 October: Oil Spill of the Century.

The logo for Disney+ show Marvel 616. (Disney)

Find out how the Marvel Universe continues to influence our society, culture, history and lives. Marvels 616 explores Marvels rich legacy of pioneering characters, creators and storytelling to reflect the world outside your window. Each documentary, helmed by a unique filmmaker, showcases the intersections of storytelling, pop culture, and fandom within the Marvel Universe. Episodes in this anthology series will cover topics including Marvels world-spanning artists, the trailblazing women of Marvel Comics, discovering the forgotten characters of Marvel, and much more.

Streaming 16 October.

Fin Argus, Sabrina Carpenter in Clouds. A teenager is diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer and finds a way to inspire others with the little time he has left. (Disney/ Laurent Guerin)

Clouds is the true story of Zach Sobiech, who captured the hearts of people everywhere when his original song Clouds debuted and became a viral sensation in 2012. Based on the book Clouds: A Memoir by Zachs mother Laura Sobiech, the film is a poignant beautiful look at the heart-breaking duality of life and a testament to what can happen when you start to live as if each day might be your last.

Streaming from 16 October.

Also new to Disney+ on 16 October: Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted, Ever After: A Cinderella Story, Rio 2, Meet The Chimps, Disney Junior The Rocketeer.

Story continues

The previously untold origins of Frozen's Olaf are revealed in Once Upon A Snowman. (Disney)

The previously untold origins of Olaf, the summer-loving snowman who melted hearts in the 2013 Disney animated feature, Frozen, and its acclaimed 2019 sequel, are revealed in the all-new Walt Disney Animation Studios animated short, Once Upon a Snowman. The film follows Olafs first steps as he comes to life and searches for his identity in the mountains outside Arendelle.

Streaming from 23 October

Also new to Disney+ on 23 October: The Last Secrets of the Nasca, The Big Fib.

The Mandalorian and the Child continue their journey, facing enemies and rallying allies as they make their way through a dangerous galaxy in the tumultuous era after the collapse of the Galactic Empire. The Mandalorian stars Pedro Pascal, Gina Carano, Carl Weathers and Giancarlo Esposito. Directors for the new season include Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, Bryce Dallas Howard, Rick Famuyiwa, Carl Weathers, Peyton Reed and Robert Rodriguez. Showrunner Jon Favreau serves as executive producer along with Dave Filoni, Kathleen Kennedy and Colin Wilson, with Karen Gilchrist serving as co-executive producer.

Starts streaming 30 October.

Also new to Disney+ on 30 October: Disney The Owl House, PJ Masks.

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Everything new on Disney+ UK in October from The Mandalorian to Onward - Yahoo Movies Canada

The Art World Goes Virtual This Fall With Open Studios And Workshops – WBUR

Posted on September 28, 2020 by Danzig

Just a few months ago, an art opening involved a jam-packed room of patrons standing shoulder-to-shoulder in a gallery, nibbling on crudits with one hand while balancing a glass of wine in the other. There was a lot of talking going on. And laughter.

Well, this fall, things are different. Thanks to the coronavirus, while museums and galleries are open, many art events have moved online. Were heading into a fall art season that will feel decidedly more subdued than the busyeven overloadedseasons of the past.

Still, there are options for art lovers coming in the form of a myriad of offerings online. No, you wont be able to pack into an artists studio, or sip wine at a crowded First Friday event, but you can still visit art exhibits, attend art classes, and even converse with artists about their work.

Heres a sampling of whats happening online this fall:

If youre hesitant to attend a traditional drawing class, youre in luck this fall that you dont have to. The MassArt Art Museum, otherwise known as MAAM, is hosting Live: Drawing Together, a series of online art classes that will appeal to your inner Picasso. Theyll include sessions on drawing, collage, and even a workshop on making your own paint.

Or, you can just draw.

There are more things to do with a Thursday evening than watch Netflix. MassArt professors Amber Tourlentes and Loretta Park are offering one alternativea one-hour collage workshop focused on simple, improvisational collaging techniques, set to music. All you need is scissors, magazines, photographs, and a modicum of artistic vision. All ages are welcome, and no art experience is necessary.

If you like the idea of making art to music, then youre in Iuck. MAAM is offering Noodle & Doodle, an opportunity to sketch to free live experimental acoustic guitar. The session will feature music by Jim Healey and Blackwolfgoat, the solo experimental vehicle of guitarist Darryl Shepard. Doodlers of all ages are invited to use whatever materials they have on hand to do whatever they like, whether its sketch the musicians, or sketch what their music inspires.

If youve ever wondered how pigments are made, youll want to join this workshop. Digital artist and MassArt Professor Jane Marsching will explore the world of pigments in this one-hour talk with special attention to naturally sourced, sustainable pigments. Marsching encourages participants to forage for plants, rocks, earth and food which will be crushed into pigments and mixed with binders to create paints, inks, and dyes. Shell also offer a tour of the new MassArt Natural Pigment Library featuring colors from around the world.

Nayland Blakes No Wrong Holes was originally supposed to open last spring. That opening never happened, but dont fret, you can still catch the exhibit online at the List website in October. Blakes art has been inspired by feminist and queer liberation movements and subcultures from punk to kink. In No Wrong Holes, Blake, who is queer and biracial (African American and white), considers the complexities of racial and gender identity, play and eroticism and the subjective experiences of desire, loss and power, all through the vehicle of assemblage. Using materials ranging from leather to medical equipment to food, Blake has spent a long-career subverting conventionality through art. The List will be presenting an online conversation between Blake and curator Jamillah James on Oct. 26.

Amid social upheaval, a bitter political divide and a pandemic, we are adapting to a new relationship with time. We grapple with our expectations, hopes, and fears. And we wait. The List (in collaboration with the Contemporary Arts Center of Cincinnati) addresses all the time weve got on our hands, with a series of online Zoom talks focused on experiences of waiting. Led by artists, architects, historians and theorists, the talks consider waiting for racial justice, waiting in prison, waiting when chronically ill, waiting in immigration detention, and even the concept of waiting in musical composition.

Kevin Jerome Everson discusses his cinematic work exploring the temporality of incarceration and Nicole Fleetwood speaks of her scholarly and curatorial work on the US prison system, and the artwork that emerges from it; Sandrine Canac offers a fictional conversation taking place in postcolonial theorist Dipesh Chakrabartys waiting room of history while Felipe Steinberg shares research into U.S. labor laws and the state of always being on-call as unpaid waiting; Mustafa Faruki discusses his work Celebatorium, while Kameelah Janan Rasheed discusses people who seek immortality, and those who wait forever; Diego Gerard uses magical realism to discuss forced disappearances in Mexico in the midst of drug wars while Margarita Sanchez Urdaneta uses horrorism to consider the terror of waiting for a legal sentence. If youre interested in attending, be sure to RSVP for a Zoom link.

One of the best ways to take a break from it all is to listen to music. The Boston Center for the Arts is offering a mid-day get-a-way with its Lunchtime Listening Sessions. The series, which began a few months ago, continues on this fall with Cliff Notez, an award-winning multi-digital media artist, musician, organizer and filmmaker, who will be performing Oct.7, and activist Shamara DJ WhySham, a 2019 Boston Music Award nominee performing Oct.21. Again, be sure to RSVP.

Like artists in other towns around Boston, Brookline artists every year open their studios to eager patrons. This year, they havent let the pandemic stop them. Beginning Oct. 1st, for an entire year, the association will showcase the work of more than 70 Brookline artists online. Similar to its in-person open studios event, artists will offer talks, demonstrations and studio tours. Plus, you can buy art.

October is also the month that Fort Point artists have traditionally thrown open their doors to the public. In the space of one weekend, artists normally welcome hundreds of visitors who traipse through the neighborhood to glimpse whatever artists have got percolating in their studios. This year, Fort Point artists are connecting with patrons virtually over a weekend that will also include studio tours, workshops and demonstrations, live artist talks, and discussions and performances in music, dance and theater. (Full disclosure, Ill be there discussing my memoir, Revamp).

In Waltham, one of Greater Bostons oldest art communities, the Waltham Mills Artists Association, is also joining in on the virtual OS action. The event, now in its 44th year, will feature close to 100 artists, working in painting, sculpture, digital art, ceramics, film, photography, printmaking, jewelry and installation.

Like many galleries in the South End, the Kingston cooperative gallery is open for in-person visits, but with a caveat: no more than six people are allowed into the gallery at one time and visitors must wear masks. Physically going to the gallery is one way to see their exhibits (including Cree Bruins"Drawn to Film", Yuri Shimojos"Unbroken Line," and Jennifer Moses"Protest" through Sept. 27).

But art patrons preferring to keep their visits virtual have another alternativethe gallery has an Artsy page where you can catch exhibits online. Until Sept 27, visitors can seethe online version ofDrawn to Film,and "Dreams Within" until Sept. 30. From Sept 30 to Oct 31, Kingtston will present "Pangaea and Panthalass."

The virtual exhibits are great, but the icing on the cake is the gallerys Zoom-based studio visits, dubbed KingstonConversations, featuring talks by artists currently showing. Upcoming conversations will feature Margaret HartandChantal Zakari, who will speak Nov. 11 and 18. Register for the talk on the website.

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The Art World Goes Virtual This Fall With Open Studios And Workshops - WBUR

I’m Thinking Of Ending Things: Every Job The Woman Had (& Why It Changes) – Screen Rant

Posted on September 20, 2020 by Danzig

The woman in Charlie Kaufman's I'm Thinking Of Ending Things had several jobs that inexplicably changed; here's every job and why they changed.

Throughout the entirety of Charlie Kaufman's psychological thrillerI'm Thinking Of Ending Things Jessie Buckley's young woman character changes jobs several times for nearly inexplicable reasons. As the film progresses, the more it reveals about why she goes from a college student majoring in literature and poetry to an artist who paints landscapes. While her career path shifts in seconds, it provides an abundance of information that lends to the fact that very few events in the movie are real.

The film follows Jake (Jesse Plemons) and his girlfriend known as Lucy/Louisa/Lucia (Jessie Buckley) as they go to visit his family's farm where she will meet his parentsportrayed by Toni Collette and David Thewlisfor the first time. As it progresses, the more apparent it becomes that it is all a fantasy made up in Jake's head while he contemplates ending things. Despite the fact that the film is structured as a journey through the inner workings of a couple on the verge of a break-up, it is actually about a singular character who is struggling with existential dread and a deep fear of dying alone. As the two share dinner with Jake's parents, the young woman's name and jobs shift dramatically from what they once were just moments prior.

Related:I'm Thinking Of Ending Things: How The Movie Compares To The Book

Kaufman is known for his films that explore relationships and loneliness, such asEternal Sunshine Of The Spotless MindandSynecdoche, New York.In this recent addition to his filmography, the director explores a much more complex representation of the two. While the young woman's jobs may appear to be a small detail in the larger story ofI'm Thinking Of Ending Things,they are actually some of the most revealing insights into Jake's mind in the movie.

The ending of I'm Thinking Of Ending Thingsreveals that the young woman is a figment of Jake's imagination, as such, it is appropriate to discuss her jobs in the context in which they are given to her. When the story begins, she is a college student studying literature and poetry. As they drive to the family farm, the two discuss one of William Wordsworth's most famous poems titled "Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood", which reflects Jake's own fears of growing old and the inability to retain memories of childhood. Her collegiate career is given to her in order to mirror his own interests in literature. She becomes a painter once the dinner begins. The landscapes she shows Jake's parents are actually paintings he had done in his youth that she discovers in the basement. This career and detail reveal that he has creative dreams he was never able to achieve.

Moments later, she becomes a student of quantum physics. Jake's childhood bedroom contains various books on the subject. Later in the film, his mother references his twentieth birthday which is actually the age he dropped out of college. This fact, alongside his ending recitation of mathematician John Nash's speech inA Beautiful Mind,suggests that he may have majored in the subject while in school. ARobert Zemeckis credit is shown on a romantic comedy about a server. Which is followed byhis mention that she worked as a waitress and they met while she was working, similar to the short film's scenario. Her studies change for the last time with gerontology. In the midst of discussing Suzie's aging and death, Jake asserts that Lucy/Louisa/Lucia studies aging. In doing so, he expresses his guilt towards not being able to help them in the ways he wish he could have in their final moments.

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I'm Thinking Of Ending Things: Every Job The Woman Had (& Why It Changes) - Screen Rant

The indie Chinese RPG that suddenly became one of Steam’s most popular games may get an English translation – PC Gamer

Posted on February 7, 2021 by Danzig

Tale of Immortal is one of Steam's most popular games right now. After launching just last week, the Chinese indie RPG rocketed to the top of Steam's global top sellers list and most popular games by concurrent viewers. Around 176,000 players are playing during peak gaming hours in Chinamaking Tale of Immortal more popular than familiar mainstays like Grand Theft Auto 5, Team Fortress 2, and even Apex Legends.

As I wrote just a few days ago, it's another fascinating case of Chinese indie games exploding onto Steam and often beating out big-budget releases from major North American or European developers. It's cool to see, but Tale of Immortal is currently only available in Simplified Chinese, which makes it tough to play if you don't know the language. It's on the vanguard of a new subgenre of RPG popular in China called "cultivation sims," which are open-world sandbox RPGs set in the incredibly popular "xianxia" genre of Chinese fiction. The gist is simple: Through training, meditation, and adventuring, you ascend from being a mere mortal to divine godhood.

Judging by the 20,000 positive user reviews on Steam, players like it a lot, and those of us who don't read Chinese may eventually get a chance to see why: An English translation is in the plans according to a forum response from one of the developers back in December.

Steam user MidnightCerealKiller, who is one of the developers on Tale of Immortal, responded to a question about whether the game would eventually be localized in English or other languages. In that response, MidnightCerealKiller outlined what a massive challenge it is for a small team to take a text-heavy RPG like this and translate it to different languages. "The amount of words in the game and their difficulties could be very time-consuming," the developer wrote, "but we will work hard to have at least English localization in the future!"

It's not exactly an announcement that an English localization is actively in the works, but it's clear that the development team wants to launch an English version at some point. That's very good news.

Tale of Immortal is currently in Early Access and the developers expect it to take a year before launching the full version, so that might be a likely window for an actual English translation.

I've reached out to Tale of Immortal's publisher, Lightning Games, for more information.

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The indie Chinese RPG that suddenly became one of Steam's most popular games may get an English translation - PC Gamer

Vicky Kaushal’s The Immortal Ashwatthama to go before cameras in June – EasternEye – Eastern Eye

Posted on February 4, 2021 by Danzig

By: Mohnish Singh

After setting the box-office on fire with their first film together Uri: The Surgical Strike (2019), actor Vicky Kaushal and filmmaker Aditya Dhar are set to reunite for a superhero flick The Immortal Ashwatthama, which the makers officially announced a couple of weeks ago by releasing first-look posters.

The Immortal Ashwatthama sees Kaushal in a powerful character inspired by the warrior Ashwatthama, who played an important role in the war between the Pandavas and the Kauravas in Mahabharata.

We now hear that the makers are planning to begin production on the film in the month of June. Confirming the same, a source in the know informs a publication, The film is scheduled to be shot between June 2021 and December 2021. Earlier, the makers had plans to film in the UK, but owing to the present Covid-19 situation they are now looking at Hungary and Iceland. Aditya and his team will head for a recce in April depending on the situation in these countries.

Before the film goes before cameras in June, Vicky Kaushal will start his weapon training from mid-February. He will be training in archery, sword-fighting, spear-fighting, and martial arts. Besides Ashwatthama, the film will also feature a couple of more characters from Mahabharata, casting for which is presently underway, adds the source.

Meanwhile, Vicky Kaushal is currently busy shooting for Yash Raj Films next with former Miss World Manushi Chhillar. The untitled film is being directed by Vijay Krishna Acharya of Thugs of Hindostan (2018) fame. The actor will also be seen in Shoojit Sircars biographical drama Sardar Udham.

The Immortal Ashwatthama is a homecoming for Kaushal as besides Aditya Dhar, the actor also reunites with RSVP Movies Ronnie Screwvala two years after URI: The Surgical Strike.

Keep visiting this space for more updates and reveals from the world of entertainment.

Link:
Vicky Kaushal's The Immortal Ashwatthama to go before cameras in June - EasternEye - Eastern Eye

The Winners and Losers of Disneys Investor Day – The Ringer

Posted on December 12, 2020 by Danzig

While the most exciting pop culture news of Thursday was a trailer for a movie where Bob Odenkirk gets the John Wick treatment, Disney also had its 2020 Investor Day, which some people care about. OK, a lot of people. The nearly four-hour presentation featured such an overwhelming deluge of announcements that sifting through the entirety of its ramifications would be too much to fit into one blog or podcast without turning into some weird Mickey Mouse manifesto. (This is where Im contractually obligated to tell you to keep an eye out for more Disney Investor Dayrelated content in the coming days at The Ringer dot com!) In the meantime, lets take stock of some of the companys biggest announcements with some Disney Investor Day winners and losers.

Disney made it clear earlier this year that its biggest priority as a company going forward would be its streaming empire, and the early returns have been promising. As announced during the Investor Day presentation, Disney+ is already up to 86 million subscribers. For a streaming service thats been active for just over a year, thats an incredible achievementespecially when you factor in that its slate of buzzy original programming basically begins and ends with The Mandalorian.

But Baby Yodasorry, Groguis finally getting some backup. Disney+ is going to be home to, per the companys own announcement, roughly 10 Marvel series and 10 Star Wars shows, to go along with more new content from National Geographic, Pixar, and Disney Animation. (To say nothing of more new programming coming to Hulu and ESPN+.) All told, most of the newly announced projects from Investor Daywith the exception of 2021 blockbusters like Black Widow and Jungle Cruise, which Disney confirmed will have theatrical releasesare going straight to streaming. If there were still any doubts that Disney+ would stake its claim as one of the biggest competitors to Netflixs streaming dominance, Investor Day was one hell of a mic (Thors hammer?) drop.

For the exhausting number of projects that Disney flexed, looking for something with an original conceit was like finding a needle in a haystack. Take the Star Wars news: There will be not one but two Mandalorian spinoffs; an already-announced prequel show about Rogue Ones Cassian Andor; a stand-alone Lando Calrissian series; the return of Hayden Christensen in the Obi-Wan miniseries (OK, thats lit); and something called A Droid Story, which will feature C-3PO and R2-D2. The only project that sounds remotely original is The Acolyte, a mystery-thriller set in the High Republic era from Russian Doll creator Leslye Headland. (The next Star Wars movie, Rogue Squadron, is also in safe hands with Patty Jenkins.)

All told, Disney seems reticent to expand its idea of Star Wars beyond the characters and ideas that George Lucas already builteven a breath of fresh air like The Mandalorian is being stripped for parts for spinoff material. (And to be fair, the two main characters on that show were already inspired by Yoda and Boba Fettnot exactly original stuff.) Its not just Star Wars: Disneys lack of original ideas spreads across the whole company. Even Pixar, long admired as a beacon of creative (and tear-jerking) ingenuity, is making a Buzz Lightyear movie with Chris Evans and spinoff shows featuring characters from Up and Cars. If Disney put even the slightest bit of effort into exploring new ideas instead of milking nostalgia dry, maybe it wouldnt feel so much like the Galactic Empire.

This is Buzz Aldrin erasure.

This is where the fun begins.

It hasnt been a great couple of years for Noah Hawley. The latest seasons of Legion and Fargo werent up to the showrunners usual high standards; his first feature film, Lucy in the Sky, was panned by critics and completely bombed at the box office. Naturally, then, the only thing to do with a guy whos strung together a years-long series of duds is hand him the reins of the Alien franchise?!

Yes, Hawley will be helming the first ever Alien TV series for FXand while my love of the franchise is such that I will always go to bat for Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection (theyre good!), I have my doubts that this will be a fruitful pairing between creator and material. The sparse details of the project arent off to a great start, either: For some reason, the universe-spanning series will be taking place on [Checks notes.] Earth?! Thankfully, Ridley Scott is in talks to be involved as an executive producerfingers crossed he directs some episodes?so hopefully the granddaddy of the franchise will be able to curb some of Hawleys worst impulses. If not, well, at least we still have Raised by Wolves.

Lost amid all the Disney-related announcements were substantive updates about the film studio formerly known as Fox Searchlight (now Searchlight Pictures). All that the Investor Day could offer was a single tweet confirming that many films from Searchlightas well as 20th Century Studios, or what was once 20th Century Foxwill be making their way onto Hulu.

Searchlight is basically the Lets get some Oscars! arm of Fox, responsible for distributing recent Best Picture winners like 12 Years a Slave, Birdman, and The Shape of Waterto say nothing of buzzy nominees like The Favourite, Black Swan, and The Tree of Life. Searchlight is, in other words, one of the few areas of the Disney empire that is still committed to making nonfranchise films. (In a nonpandemic timeline, the studio would have already brought us Wes Andersons star-studded latest, The French Dispatch.) The lack of Searchlight-related updates isnt necessarily a death knellDisney knows that its investors are there to learn more about Marvel and Star Wars, not less-bankable-but-mostly-better moviesbut on the heels of Warner Bros. announcing that theyre dumping their entire 2021 movie slate onto HBO Max, the studio becoming a feeder system for Hulu isnt exactly a reassuring alternative for champions of the theatrical experience and nonfranchise cinema.

Not only does Disney+ have a subscriber base that dwarfs that of HBO Max, but the Mouse House is also sticking with theatrical runs for 2021 releases like Black Widow and Jungle Cruiseand will almost assuredly do the same with future movies from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and a fifth (and supposedly final) Indiana Jones entry from James Mangold.

A week after Warner Bros. put the future of the theatrical experience on blast, some huge-ass blockbusters being confirmed to make it to theaters counts as a bit of good news. (Hopefully movie theaters will be able to accommodate more than just $200 milliondollar blockbusters so that all other films arent dumped onto streaming services in our uncertain future, but thats a worry for another day.) Meanwhile, in the middle of Disneys showboating presentation, Dune director Denis Villeneuve published an op-ed in Variety slamming the Warner Bros. deal. This is fine.

In the event that I ever become a famous actor, Id like to follow Will Smiths and Chris Hemsworths lead. Both A-listers will be leading their own shows on National Geographic: In Welcome to Earth, Smith will take viewers on an awe-inspiring journey to unlock the secrets of this planets most extraordinary, unexplained phenomena that is, for some reason, executive produced by Darren Aronofsky; in Limitless, Hemsworth travels the world on Disneys dime to explore the limits of the human body. (No relation to the brain-enhancing pills from the Bradley Cooper movieas far as we know.)

The way I see it, Will Smith is getting paid to travel the globe and maybe take off-screen hallucinogens with the guy who made Mother!, and Hemsworth, who already looks like a Norse god, is trying to find the secret to immortality. We will all be watching with envy.

See the article here:
The Winners and Losers of Disneys Investor Day - The Ringer

The DeanBeat: What Ready Player Two tells us about the metaverse – VentureBeat

Posted on January 22, 2021 by Danzig

I was a fanboy for Ernest Clines Ready Player One book and the 2018 Steven Spielberg movie based on it. And so when the sequel novel Ready Player Two came out in December, I was all over it. Critics panned it, and I understand this sequel isnt as innovative as the first book. But amid the bleak reality of the pandemic, I enjoyed reading how Cline envisioned the evolution of technology and the eventual creation of the metaverse, or the Oasis, the universe of virtual worlds that are all interconnected. It fascinates me to see how technology, games, and science fiction are all intertwined in a creative vortex that generates faster progress in each of these disciplines.

And next week, our own conference about the metaverse (you can sign up here) takes place, inspired by books like Clines as well as Neal Stephensons 1992 novel Snow Crash and William Gibsons 1984 book Neuromancer, which defined the metaverse-like experience as a consensual hallucination.

Roblox CEO Dave Baszucki will speak at our event about his own dreams for the Oasis, which users have imagined inside Roblox in a treasure hunt promotion based on the new book. Millions of players have gone through that. Warner Bros. is in the early stages of making a movie based on Ready Player Two, though its not clear if Spielberg will come back for it. It may occur to Cline that, while Hollywood has been stalled by the pandemic, the video game industry is not, and making a Ready Player Two video game would make a lot more sense.

[This story has some book spoilers Ed.]

The first movie made more than $582 million at the box office. And just last month, Roblox raised more than $520 million at a valuation of $29.5 billion ahead of a public offering, and that means that Baszucki has a pretty good war chest to build a kind of Oasis or metaverse as he wishes. And he has said he wishes to do so.

Above: A scene from Steven Spielbergs 2018 movie Ready Player One.

Image Credit: Warner Bros.

When Ready Player One debuted in 2011, it was a prescient look at how virtual reality could become pervasive through society as everybody logs into a single online environment, the Oasis, where they live, work, and play. The book inspired people like Palmer Luckey, then a 19-year-old who had been building VR headsets as a hobby. Luckey envisioned how VR could be used in real life, and he went on to create the Oculus Rift. Facebook bought Oculus VR for $3 billion in 2014, and Luckey netted more than $700 million. Before Facebook made the acquisition, Cline visited Oculus and did book signings there. He saw that the conference rooms were named The Oasis, The Matrix, and The Metaverse. Facebook has spent billions more taking the Oculus tech to new levels and developing augmented reality glasses. And so, by the time Cline wrote his second book, the VR headsets he predicted were readily available.

In an interview with Baszucki in December, Cline said he was a fan of the Oculus Quest headset and watched films with his friends on an application called Bigscreen, a social VR app. Clines daughter is also a fan of Roblox, and she used it to stay in touch with friends during the pandemic, Cline said. Clines own enormous success with the books Ready Player Two debuted at No. 1 on the New York Times Bestseller List after Ready Player One spent more than 100 weeks on that list has helped him live out his fantasies. He owns multiple DeLoreans, the cars used in Spielbergs Back to the Future films.

All of this mutual inspiration reminds me of what Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, has told me multiple times: Were living in science fiction. Huang refers to advances such as artificial intelligence, but his own company created a metaverse for engineers dubbed the Omniverse. With full physics simulations, engineers can use it to remotely design products together today, as the Omniverse is in beta testing.

While Clines books can be criticized as fan service, they provide us with cultural touchstones that gives us a common vision for how our future could unfold. Just as we loved Back to the Futures DeLorean time machine, hoverboards, and sneakers that tied their own laces, we now share the hope that something like Roblox or Fortnite will turn into the metaverse. Playing World of Warcraft, Cline was inspired by the fact that people fell in love inside the virtual world, and got married in real life.

In the novels, Cline depicts the Oasis as built by a single entrepreneur, James Halliday, a kind of Willy Wonka mogul, who builds the virtual universe with his friend Ogden Morrow. The Oasis is a walled garden, and Cline said it was built by a company that was Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Amazon all rolled into one. This company controls our collective imagination, and the Easter egg hunt that Halliday launches for his would-be successors triggers a race to control the Oasis. The sequel continues this, but with new technologies added.

Above: Ready Player Two is coming on November 24.

Image Credit: Ballantine

With Ready Player Two, I reveled in the pop culture references. I thought it was cool you could visit a world based on J.R.R. Tolkiens universe. The book didnt dwell on the popular The Lord of the Rings novels. Rather, it focused on The Silmarillion, the prequel to LotR that I liked better. No one envisioned a virtual world as well as Tolkien did, and here it was simply a tiny part of a vast Oasis universe where fans could spend all of their time if they wished. That reminded me of one thing I want the metaverse to be: vast. If the huge world of The Silmarillion could exist on a single planet within the Oasis, which had so many planets within it, the scale of the whole universe would be astounding.

Ready Player One takes place in 2045, just shy of 25 years from now. Thats enough time to imagine much cooler technology than we have today, but nothing totally magical like we see in other science fiction worlds. While physical reality has become apocalyptic, people escape to the Oasis. (This reminds me of our own troubles today.) Ready Player Two happens in the same time frame, but this time Cline introduces a new way of interfacing with the Oasis a new VR headset with a brain-computer interface dubbed the ONI. This device wires into your brain and your body, making it so that you cant tell the difference between physical reality and virtual reality. You can feel touch feedback, smell things, taste things, and such. It is the logical destination of the VR technologies that we see today, from haptic touch that lets you feel virtual sex to virtual impersonation of other people so you can really feel like what its like to walk in someone elses shoes.

Above: A haptic suit enables Wade to feel touch in the Ready Player One trailer.

Image Credit: Ready Player One

Cline envisions streamers providing a service to people, who shared their own .oni files that other people could play. If they went traveling to some great place with forehead-mounted cameras, the followers could play that experience and see what it was like to be another person on a tourism journey. Cline predicted vast improvements in education as a result, as well as an improvement in empathy. You could, for instance, truly understand what its like walking a mile in someone elses shoes. The flip side of this is that your actions in the ONI could always be recorded by someone else observing you, and so mutual surveillance could produce huge invasions of privacy, as you would never know if a streamer was recording you and revealing your actions to millions of followers.

Cline included plenty of warnings about the technology, similar to issues today like video game addiction and obsession, as well as relationship challenges that emerge when one partner is in love with the ONI and another isnt. If you spend more than a dozen hours in the ONI at once, you can start suffering severe health effects. And so the technology forces you to get out of it if you exceed half a day. Yet these tools could also help people who are missing limbs feel what its like to have all of their body parts in VR.

Cline showed how deadly rogue AI could become, particularly if it could control an army of drones. And he gave us a peek into the future of real combat as ONI users operated war machines virtually so that they didnt have to risk their own bodies as they hurtled into battle while operating drone controls.

Above: Aechs Garage in Ready Player One.

Image Credit: Sansar

Perhaps the most intriguing technology that Cline talks about is being able to make a digital copy of a person. The ONI can scan your entire brain and capture all of your memories, experiences, and knowledge. You can take this digital copy and put it into the mind of a virtual character, who lives only in the Oasis. That virtual person would behave the same way as the real person it is based on, but the virtual persons life would diverge from the real persons, as time goes on. As such, it can move people into the post-human world, where our minds are freed from our bodies. We could meet a clone based on a certain point in our lives.

This notion of digital immortality and the post-human life is also explored in the plot of the recent video game Cyberpunk 2077, which Cline said he was itching to play on a PC.

This raises the prospect of digital immortality, a concept explored in other science fiction such as Black Mirrors mind-blowing San Junipero episode (Season 3, Episode 4 of the Netflix TV show series), as well as Frank Herberts Dune series, and Ramez Naams Nexus trilogy (Im going to moderate a talk with Naam and Tim Chang on February 17.) Cline explores the ethics of creepy behavior like capturing someones identity without permission and then re-creating some kind of digital plaything, as well as the question of whether AI characters who have someone elses memories have the same right to exist as people living in the physical universe.

Edward Saatchi, the head of Fable Studio, operates a Virtual Beings Summit that explores topics like bringing back a dead James Dean to act in movies and other uses for artificial people. These kinds of visions raise the kind of moral questions that well have to figure out before we unleash the worlds and peoples who could turn out to be far more real than we could ever imagine.

I look forward to exploring these questions and talking about these technologies next week, at our Into the Metaverse/Driving Game Growth event with many of the players who have been inspired by Cline and are in a position to build some of the technologies that hes talking about.

And for me, as long as were stuck in a world with an accursed pandemic and a Zoomverse, that future cant come soon enough.

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The DeanBeat: What Ready Player Two tells us about the metaverse - VentureBeat

Our Lord, King of the Universe prayer after communion – The Catholic Spirit

Posted on November 20, 2020 by Danzig

Christ the KingHoly Rosary Catholic Church, Graceville, Minnesota

The Exclamation Point. As an exclamation point gives emphasis to the end of a sentence, the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, gives emphasis to the end of the Church year. The celebration brings eight and a half months of Ordinary Time to a grand and glorious conclusion. It saves the best for last!

Spiritual Significance. The spiritual meaning underlying liturgical feasts such as Christ the King is found in the special Mass prayers in the Roman Missal: the Collect, the Prayer over the Offerings, the Preface, and the Prayer after Communion. The final oration of the Mass is given below followed by explanations of the key phrases.

Text of the Prayer after Communion. Having received the food of immortality, we ask, O Lord, that, glorying in obedience to the commands of Christ, the King of the universe, we may live with him eternally in the heavenly Kingdom (Roman Missal, 362).

Having received. The prayer begins by acknowledging that the congregation, the people who are the Body of Christ, have just received the Eucharist, the Body and Blood of Christ.

The food of immortality. The food is the Eucharist. Immortality is endless existence, to live forever, to continue in being for all eternity. Jesus promised, Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life (Jn 6:54), whoever eats this bread will live forever (Jn 6:58).

We ask, O Lord. The prayer has an element of petition, a special request made to almighty God by the priest on behalf of all who are present for the Mass.

Glorying in obedience to commands. Jesus obeyed the commands of his heavenly Father. He was obedient even unto death on the cross, and because of this God glorified him with his place in heaven for all eternity (see Phil 2:8-10). Likewise, every person who obeys the commands of Jesus will be glorified by the Son and join him in heaven in everlasting grandeur.

The commands of Christ. Every person is obliged to respect Jesus as king and to obey his commands. Before Jesus ascended to heaven he stated, All power in heaven and earth has been given to me (Mt 28:18). Likewise, on Holy Thursday night he prayed to his Father, You gave [me] authority over all people (Jn 17:2) with the intention that he may give eternal life to all (Jn 17:2). The citizens of the kingdom willingly submit to the commands of their King.

The heavenly kingdom. Jesus told Pilate, My kingdom does not belong to this world, My kingdom is not here (Jn 18:36). The heavenly kingdom is where God reigns, paradise (Gn 2:15), the eternal banquet (Is 25:6; Lk 14:15-24), the Fathers house (Jn 14:2), our homeland (Heb 11:16), the New Jerusalem (Rv 3:12; 21:2-3,10), where Jesus is enthroned, surrounded by the angels and a great multitude of saints so numerous that they cannot be counted (Rv 7:9).

May we live with him eternally. On the glorious Solemnity of Christ the King, it is the prayer of every believer to join Christ in heaven and to live with him for all eternity.

Tags: King of the Universe, Our Lord Jesus Christ, Prayer after communion

Category: Catholic Hotdish

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Our Lord, King of the Universe prayer after communion - The Catholic Spirit

Does Spider-Man Have What It Takes To Kill Zombie Mary Jane? – Screen Rant

Posted on October 18, 2020 by Danzig

Spider-Man has the unenviable choice of whether or not to kill his zombified partner, Mary Jane in the latest issue of Marvel Zombies Resurrection.

This article contains spoilers forMarvel Zombies: Resurrection #3

Peter Parker and Mary Jane go together like zombies and decapitation. Or maybe its like peanut butter and jelly, except Spider-Mans peanut butter is an ax and Mary Janes jelly is her head, because Spider-Man may have to kill his zombified life partner.

Spider-Man has been aiding Reed and Sue Richards children in their quest to find a cure to the infection that has turned all superheroes - and the remaining human population that hasnt already become food - into zombies. Thezombie disease came from Galactus corpse, which crash landed on earth and its revealed in Marvel Zombies: Resurrection #3 that the infected can travel the multiverse via portals into Limbo thanks to a zombified Magik. As Spider-Mans crew of zombie killers/would-be infection healers arrive at the hives central location in the underwater city of Atlantis, they are surrounded by a legion of zombie superheroes and none other than the love of Peter Parkers life.

Related: Marvel's Deadliest Version of Punisher Joins The Zombie Apocalypse

Now undead, Mary Jane offers immortality to Spider-Man via infection. Creative team Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Leonard Kirk offer up an unenvious choice to Peter Parker: kill M.J. or turn into a zombie. The everlasting life of a zombie could seem a romantic notion to Peter, who could spend eternity with his partner. An immortality marred by the grim prospect of killing to eat and watching his girl devour everyone in sight, but immortality nonetheless.

Peter has spent every issue of this seriesrevisiting his past mistakes through horrid nightmares that play out at the beginning of each comic. In his flashbacks, Spider-Man relives the early days of the infection. Most heroes fell quickly and Spider-Man was stuck caring for Valeria and Franklin Richards after their parents turned. He couldnt kill Reed and Sue then but he certainly wasnt going to let the kids join the family business of brain eating. But now faced with the option to finally stop running and living in constant fear, does Spider-man have what it takes to kill?

Spider-Man is one of the more altruistic heroes and has often sacrificed himself for the greater good. But there is no greater good option here; its just kill or turn. Spider-Man and Mary Jane are meant for each other, but does that love extend into the afterlife? Will Spider-Man be able to stomach the remains of dead flesh as well as the regretful choice of turning zombie to be with his love? It seems unlikely that Spider-Man would give up his mortal life to be with M.J. when he still has the Richards kids to keep care of. Though it surely has to be tempting.

The alternatives to becoming a zombie are not ideal. Spider-Man and his cohorts are surrounded by super-powered undead and are trapped in the sunken city of Atlantis. Its down to fight, flight or become a feast for the undead fiends. The limited series is set to wrap up with the next issue, so Spider-Mans impossible choice will probably lead up to the conclusion of the story. And in a series rife with bleak choices it only makes sense that Spider-Man is faced with the ultimate one.

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Does Spider-Man Have What It Takes To Kill Zombie Mary Jane? - Screen Rant

Free Will Astrology: October 7, 2020 – River Cities Reader

Posted on October 9, 2020 by Danzig

ARIES (March 21-April 19): "A persons best ally is someone who takes care of herself," says actress Susan Clark. I heartily agree. The people with whom you can cultivate the most resilient bonds and most interesting synergy are those who have a high degree of self-sufficiency those who take rigorous responsibility for themselves and treat themselves with tender compassion. In the coming weeks, Aries, I think it's especially important for you to emphasize relationships with allies who fit that description. Bonus! Their exemplary self-care will influence you to vigorously attend to your own self-care.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): According to my reading of the astrological potentials, the coming weeks will be an excellent time for you to take a vacation in reverse. What's that? It's when you devote yourself to renewing and reinvigorating your relationship with the work you love. You intensify your excitement for the vocation or job or long-term quest that teaches you important life lessons. You apply yourself with sublime enthusiasm to honing the discipline you need to fulfill the assignments you came to earth to accomplish.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): "If you are not having fun you are doing something wrong," said comedian Groucho Marx. He was exaggerating so as to drive home his humorous point, but his idea contains some truth and will be especially applicable to you in the immediate future. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, you have a temporary exemption from feeling frantically dour and unpleasantly dutiful. As crazy as the world is right now, you have a cosmic mandate to enjoy more playtime and amusement than usual. The rest of us are depending on you to provide us with doses of casual cheer.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): "Leave the door open for the unknown, the door into the dark," writes Cancerian author Rebecca Solnit, adding, "Thats where the most important things come from." I think this is good advice for you in the coming weeks. What exactly does it mean? How and why should you do what she advises? My first suggestion is to re-frame your conception of the unknown and the dark. Imagine them as the source of everything new; as the place from which the future comes; as the origin of creative changes. Then instruct your imagination to be adventurous as it explores brewing possibilities in the dark and the unknown.

LEO (July 23-August 22): "If something comes to life in others because of you, then you have made an approach to immortality," wrote author Norman Cousins. Whether or not you believe the "immortality" part of his formulation, I'm sure you understand how fabulous it is when you help activate beauty and vitality in someone. You may even feel that inspiring people to unleash their dormant potential is one of the most noble pleasures possible. I bring these thoughts to your attention, Leo, because I suspect that you now have exceptional power to perform services like these for your allies, friends, and loved ones. I dare you to make it one of your top priorities.

VIRGO (August 23-September 22): "The messiah will come when we don't need him any more," said author Franz Kafka. In that spirit, and in alignment with current astrological omens, I will tell you that the precise help you wish you could attract into your life will show up as soon as you make initial efforts to provide that help to yourself. Here are some additional nuances: The gift or blessing you think you need most will be offered to you by fate once you begin giving that gift or blessing to yourself. A rescuer will arrive not too long after you take steps to rescue yourself. You'll finally figure out how to make practical use of a key lesson as you're teaching that lesson to someone you care for.

LIBRA (September 23-October 22): Libran author Ursula K. Le Guin said that we don't just naturally know how to create our destinies. It takes research and hard work. "All of us have to learn how to invent our lives, make them up, imagine them," she wrote. "We need to be taught these skills; we need guides to show us how. If we don't, our lives get made up for us by other people." I bring this to your attention, Libra, because the coming weeks will be an excellent time to upgrade and refine your mastery of these essential powers. What can you do to enhance your capacity to invent your life? Which teachers and information sources might be helpful?

SCORPIO (October 23-November 21): In 1984, hip hop group Run-DMC was the first to achieve a gold record in their genre, meaning they sold more than 500,000 albums. Their next album sold over a million. They were pioneers. In 1986, legendary producer Rick Rubin encouraged them to do a remake of "Walk This Way," a song by the hard rock band Aerosomith. The members of Run-DMC didn't want to do it; they felt the tune was in a genre too unlike their own. But Rubin eventually convinced them, and the cross-pollination was phenomenally successful. The Run-DMC-meets-Aerosmith collaboration launched a new genre that sold very well. The song was later voted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In this spirit, and in accordance with current cosmic rhythms, I urge you to try a bold hybrid or two yourself, Scorpio: blends of elements or influences that may seem a bit improbable. They could ultimately yield big dividends.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 21): You Sagittarians periodically go through phases when you specialize in stirring up fresh intuitions. I mean, you're always one of the zodiac's Intuition Champions, but during these special times, your flow becomes an overflow. You have a knack for seeking and finding visions of the interesting future; you get excited by possibilities that are on the frontiers of your confidence. From what I can tell, your life in recent weeks has been bringing you these delights and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Take maximum advantage. Aggressively gather in the gifts being offered by your inner teacher.

CAPRICORN (December 22-January 19): Calling on my expert knowledge of healing language and imaginative psychology, I have formulated a mantra for you to use in the next six weeks. I suggest you say it five times after you wake up, and again at mid-day, and before dinner, and before sleep. It should help keep you intimately aligned with the dynamic groove that the cosmos will be conspiring to provide for you. For best results, picture yourself as glowing inside with the qualities named in the mantra. Here it is: StrongBrightFree ClearBoldBrisk DeepNimbleKind AdroitSteadyWarm.

AQUARIUS (January 20-February 18): The Grammy Museum in Los Angeles features displays that extol the musicians who've won Grammy Awards over the years. A few years ago, a distinctly un-famous musician named Paz Dylan made professional-looking fake posters touting his own magnificent accomplishments, and managed to sneakily hang them on the museum walls. They remained there for a month before anyone noticed. I'm going to encourage you to engage in similar gamesmanship in the coming weeks, Aquarius. It'll be a favorable time to use ingenuity and unconventional approaches to boost your confidence and enhance your reputation.

PISCES (February 19-March 20): "Relationships never stop being a work in progress," writes author Nora Roberts. That's bad news and good news. It's bad news because even for the most loving bond, you must tirelessly persist in the challenging task of reinventing the ways the two of you fit together. It's good news because few activities can make you more emotionally intelligent and soulfully wise than continually reinventing the ways the two of you fit together. I bring these thoughts to your attention because the coming weeks will be a fertile time for such daunting and rewarding work.

Homework: What's the most interesting and transformative action you could take right now? Testify at FreeWillAstrology.com.

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Free Will Astrology: October 7, 2020 - River Cities Reader

Altered Carbon fans need to do this after watching show – Looper

Posted on October 18, 2020 by Danzig

Altered Carbon is based on the 2002 novel of the same name by author Richard K. Morgan. That book is followed by the sequels Broken Angels and Woken Furies. Although there will always be the requisite book versus adaptation arguments, the Altered Carbon fan base appears to be happy with Morgan's series.

In a Reddit threadentitled "Are the books worth it?," u/IssueAcrobatic starts the conversation by writing, "So Altered Carbon s1 is probably my favorite piece of cinematic work ever, the world and the concepts are just f***ing perfect. I love Kovac' [sic] character and all of the small really well thought out details (Kovac [sic] poisoning himself to lower his body temp and get past a scanner) and stuff like that. My question is, are the books good? Are they worth a read?"

Suffice it to say, other users would agree that the books are, in fact, worth the read. "The books are amazing," another user responded. "So gritty and visceral. Richard Morgan is an all around amazing author." In case fans of the show still aren't convinced, another user said, "All the books are worth reading. They're all really good. The world is more fleshed out and there are plenty of those little details. The books handle Envoys better than the show. Kovacs feels way more op."

As can be expected, the TV show contains some different elements than the book series. Another user mentions, "The biggest difference is Quell and Quellism it's a completely different philosophy in the books and I think the show makes it worse. Also, the Envoy Corps are not the Quellist Black Brigades in the books, they are an elite version of Protectorate forces."

While there are other differences such as the Elders already being extinct in the booksas opposed to the last remaining Elder appearing in the second season of the TV series fans appear to appreciate the literature just as much as the show, if not more.

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Altered Carbon fans need to do this after watching show - Looper

50 years old | Ainos daughter has been the most demanding coworker of illustrator Ville Tietvinen Nothing suited her without negotiation – Pledge…

Posted on October 18, 2020 by Danzig

The conscious does not believe that anything digital will last very long.

Cartoon artist and illustrator Ville Tietvinen turns 50, but his thoughts revolve on three time levels within a radius of 5,000 years, from the Bronze Age to the present.

Iiro Kttnerin scripted cartoon work Spacing is nearing completion.

Its based on the earliest found Aramaic scroll that tells a version of a 5,000-year-old flood story, Tietvinen says.

An archaeological detective story in modern times explores what really happened in the days of Noah and how history was rewritten in 450 BC when book scrolls were burned in the Jerusalem temple.

Spacing will be released next fall. Knowledgeable and known as a screenwriter, Kttner has used the University of Helsinkis Old Testament Exegesis Lecturer as an expert. Kirsi Valkamaatawho, according to Tietvinen, knows the Bronze Age very well.

The Dead Sea the scrolls have made the Knowledgeable think modern digital. There are still mostly parts of them, but something has survived.

SpacingWhen making the book, the belief in anything permanent has faltered. But if anything about us survives, then books. I dont think anything digital will last very long. I cling to analog and as old ways as possible to tell new stories.

Culture and art have traditionally been seen to represent the mortal mans desire for immortality, a means to leave a mark on the world of itself.

Immortality was also discussed by the photographer Maija Tammen made with Immortal (2020), a combination of art and non-fiction. It tells of a Hydra polyp that does not age and could live forever unless external factors kill it.

Known with Kttner has done the same Tree stories trilogy, picture books for adults. Thinning was supposed to be the next part of the series, but the Knowledgeable liked the idea by asking Kttner to expand the comic script from it.

About thinning becomes more than 140 pages long, the most extensive work of the conscious then Invisible hands comic book work (2011).

The book about a paperless Moroccan immigrant received tremendous publicity, was taken in four editions, and translated into German, French, Swedish, and Arabic.

Invisible hands i did five years, drawing took three years. Thinning Ive done a couple of years. A cartoon is a cumbersome way of telling stories, so its not worth using for day flies. But I miss that dialogue of image and word.

Knowledgeable especially to draw his comics in a laborious, almost as laborious style as his illustrations. Many cartoonists use lighter techniques.

Invisible hands after the conscious artistic burden has been lightened by collaborators, Kttner and Tammi, but also Aino Tietvinen, his own daughter, with whom Tietvinen made a book mixing comics and picture books Just a bad dream (2013) Ainos dreams.

I thought I was a perfectionist, but Maija was interested in all the steps of making a book. It is enjoyable to work with Iiro because he knows everything about the structures of the stories and is therefore able to break them.

But Aino has definitely been the most demanding partner. Nothing suited him without negotiation. But I had to illustrate his imagination.

At the time of writing, Aino Tietvinen was 67 years old.

Ville Tietvinen became interested in making comics only as an adult, while studying. He studied architecture. First-born Smiling moon (1995) was born then Harri Hannulan with.

We started making the best cartoon in the world. Now I hope the publisher has rejected it. I graduated as an architect, but I havent done those jobs in a single day. I am not formally valid for anything I do.

In addition to his own books, Tietvinen has made layouts, stamps, posters and more for other books. After comics, he is best known for magazine illustrations. He has done journalistic illustration Ville Hnninen with book Narrative image (2018).

Even in illustrating magazines, the Knowledgeable is more fascinated by paper than the web, even though he uses digital aids in drawing. He says the golden age of newspaper illustration is ten years behind. Before, more than half of Knights work was in it, now about a quarter.

Illustration can deepen the news in a different way than photography, but the savings have struck and it is being used less all the time. Images increase but content does not. It is claimed that we live in visual time, but this does not always seem to be the case.

Who?

Born in Helsinki in 1970.

Graduated as an architect from the Helsinki University of Technology in 2000.

Illustrations from the 1990s to Helsingin Sanomat, Yliopisto magazine and Suomen Kuvalehti, among others.

Comic books: Smiling Moon (1995), Birds and Seas (2003), Invisible Hands (2011), Only Bad Dream (2013).

Storybook series Trees of Trees (20142015) with Iiro Kttner.

Picture book Invisible (2016) with Elina Hirvonen.

Narrative image non-fiction book (2018) on journalistic illustration with Ville Hnninen.

Art book Immortal Lost Memoirs of Cornelia Dulac Concerning the Freshwater Polyp Hydra (2020) with Maija Tammi.

Awards include: Finnish Critics Associations Criticism Incentives for Birds and the Sea 2004, Finnish Cultural Foundations Invisible Hands Award 2011.

Turns 50 on Tuesday 20.10.

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50 years old | Ainos daughter has been the most demanding coworker of illustrator Ville Tietvinen Nothing suited her without negotiation - Pledge...

Immortality concepts: Awareness is released right into deep space after death claim – Entertainment Overdose

Posted on October 5, 2020 by Danzig

Following complications during surgery, a woman called Emil temporarily died. While Emis heart only stopped beating for a matter of moments, Emi feels like she spent a lifetime in what she believes was the afterlife. According to Emi, she believes the afterlife consisted of flying through the Universe and gaining an understanding of how everything in the cosmos is connected.

Writing on the Near Death Experience Research Foundation, Emi said: I had the sense that I was floating in the universe. It was like a long journey, while I flying in the universe.

I didnt feel my body. I was only my consciousness or my spirit. I really liked this happy journey. The place was completely dark. I attained a nturl buoyncy, like I ws scub diving.

I ws floting in the universe without my body. It ws like I ws floting in my mothers womb.

I ws free. All the while, I ws surrounded by feeling of tremendous love.

I felt connection with everyones spirit nd ll energy. I wsnt frid nd I felt so hppy.

Then, I understood tht we re ll connected to ech other nd I revelled in this knowledge.

I felt comfortble nd lso united with the world. I thought tht I wnted to sty here forever.

Some experts do believe tht the consciousness is freed unto the Universe following deth.

Former University of Oxford professor Peter Russell, uthor of The Globl Brin, told Conscious Lifestyle Mg: It would seem tht one wy of understnding it is tht the individul consciousness is dissolving bck into the infinite consciousness.

The consciousness tht I experience hs this individul limittion becuse it is functioning in the world through my body, through my nervous system, through my eyes nd ers.

Thts where our sense of being unique individul comes from.

When we begin to die nd let go of our ttchment to the body, consciousness lets go of tht identity which it gined from its worldly functioning nd reconnects with greter infinite identity.

Those whove hd ner-deth experiences often report there seems to be this dissolving of the senses, nd moving into light. Everything becomes light fter deth.

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Immortality concepts: Awareness is released right into deep space after death claim - Entertainment Overdose

Teche Sketches: ‘Mostly it is loss which teaches us about the worth of things’ – The Daily Iberian

Posted on October 5, 2020 by Danzig

Not too long ago I lost much of my family...photographically at least.

This unusual incident began about four months earlier when one of my cousins asked if she could borrow one of my photo albums that contained images of her mother while young.

It turned out to be a blunder on my part to lend it to her.

When she returned it recently the once-pristine book was unrecognizable. It was crumbling in my hands. As she mumbled apologies while looking down at the floor, she then explained that after showing it to her children she had put it in a damp, seldom-used closet and forgotten about it. She reluctantly confessed that around that time she had dealt with a serious termite problem in that part of her home.

I was heartbroken when I realized that those insects had feasted on the images of my loved ones, most of whom were now deceased.

After issuing an endless chorus of Im sorry, she finally left while I held the disintegrating remnants of a pictorial album depicting people who had lived, loved, laughed, wept and eventually withered away. Even though some of these individuals were still alive today, I felt that my cousins carelessness had, in a way, deprived those that had passed from their own small slice of immortality that any photograph bestows on its subject.

I walked over to a table, spread some newspapers and laid the corpse of the album. It was in bad shape. While I carefully opened up the pages to see what might be salvageable, I recalled what Karl Lagerfeld, the fashion designer, had once said: What I like about photographs is that they capture a moment...impossible to reproduce.

He was right. Now, due to a family members negligence, those captured moments were likely gone forever.

Unfortunately, the insects were masters of destruction. They bored several entrances into the book and devoured as much as possible. Oddly, just a handful of pictures on the outer edges were left untouched while the majority were eaten away.

Holes, gashes, and emptiness now remained where there had once been beautiful portraits and embracing couples. It was eerie to see diverse fragments of relatives as the sole survivors of lives that had been so meaningful.This was particularly painful to me because I remembered the original photographs.

I decided to cut out and save whatever I could. And in spite of the damage to them I would keep some of the better portraits. But there was a greater challenge ahead: restoring my relationship with my cousin.

After calling her, she apologized again and we talked for a good while. That week we had supper and then together we looked at albums. Cordiality returned.

Later that same night I remembered part of a quotation about loss. To verify it I searched through a notebook and found the words I was seeking. Arthur Schopenhauer, the philosopher, wrote: Mostly it is loss which teaches us about the worth of things.

O.J. GONZALEZ is a native and resident of Jeanerette. He graduated from USL in printmaking and photography and his photographs have appeared in publications in Louisiana, Alaska, Canada, New Zealand and England.

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Teche Sketches: 'Mostly it is loss which teaches us about the worth of things' - The Daily Iberian

Ten equations that rule the world – could they work for you? – IDG Connect

Posted on October 9, 2020 by Danzig

Algorithms help the rich get richer through automated trading, and make the poor get poorer through online betting. Meanwhile self-esteem is stripped from our children, one Snapchat at a time, by social media publishers who take great pains to shield their own kids from such cynical exploitation. All this might make you rage at the calculating minds driving societys race to the bottom.

It doesnt have to be like that, says Maths Professor David Sumpter in a new book, The Ten Equations That Rule The World. By examining these cunning calculations Sumpter aims to let daylight in on these dark arts and empower us. Understanding the equations probably wont make us rich or influential, but it might bring us the most elusive human resources of all: confidence, health and wellbeing. Or so he claims.

Can a self-help maths book really increase your chance of success and help you see through scaremongering?

It did whet my appetite for more knowledge on this subject. I read some chapters several times and Im no closer to achieving my ambition to command an army of machines. However, I am less nervous about the automated class system thats developing now. But only slightly.

Each chapter sets the scene for the equation under discussion with an anecdote. So, in that vein, here is my anecdote. I once worked in a betting shop and was horrified at seeing the poor stripped of their money by the rich.

So Chapter 1, The Betting Equation, makes a horrible introduction. But it gets better.

Sumpter uses betting to illustrate how the budding maths modeller can assemble lifes variables, make assumptions, and create models. Then you sanity check your original assumptions using Logistic Regression, which improves your original guess time with incremental corrections. This is the basis of how you make machines learn to make better predictions. Gives you a good overview of the subject if you need to bluff your way through a meeting.

Ready to start an online trading system yet? Me neither, but I do feel like Ive inched closer to understanding.

Can we work out a day to day calculation like is this book going to be any use to you? Lets assume you are 90 per cent more likely than me to pick things up quickly. Then - if I understand the book correctly we must assign a value of 0.9 to multiply against the other as yet unidentified variables of your choice, that will determine whether this is a good use of your time.

I think what Im trying to say is that each chapter explains the relationship between all the shifting values that underpin elusive human qualities, such as Judgement (Chapter 2), Confidence (3) and Skill (4).

Some might want to skip to the money chapters that describe how global corporations use equations to weigh up Influencers, Advertising and the Market.

For me, Sumpters best work was the 15 years he spent in anthropology, watching animals and calculating formulae to describe their behaviour. There is something for everyone here though.

Are you, for example, unsettled by artificial intelligence? If so Sumpters chapter on The Learning Equation could really help.

It describes how three Google engineers helped its subsidiary YouTube to become profitable by adapting the Learning Equation in order to optimise our YouTube watch time.

They had to work out what material we like and cue it up, in order to keep us watching. So Paul Covington, Jay Adams and Emre Sargin created The Funnel, using neural networking techniques. This simple story exemplifies in an easy digest one of the most important principles of artificial intelligence. Which is something few explainers are able to pull off.

Sumpter shows how maths allows you to assess the value of footballers and whether social media can rig the American election. On current form, his predictions seem wildly wrong about the value of French international footballer, Paul Pogba. But hes better on dogma. Sumpter was judged a trusted source for a US Senate Committee that was investigating the American election.

I dont believe that politics is decided by political advertising on Facebook and fake news, says Sumpter, It is caused by an increasing inequality between those who know the code and those who dont.

The book is an attempt to empower people who are left impotently raging at the constant pitiless automation of our lives, where machines make snap judgements about our health and credit worthiness, while social media makes everyone miserable.

In an ideal world, wed all have a machine we could boss around, but power is all concentrated in a few hands. Worse still, the priorities of top mathematicians seem to have changed. Mathematics used to be synonymous with philosophies both WesternandEastern. The likes of Pythagoras,Plato andAristotle used their phenomenal talents to help humanity to examine its views, questioned the immortality of the soul and pioneered deductive reasoning. Now theyre helping horrible corporations to control us.

I think that there is a way which maths controls our life and this is both on a personal level. We need to sharpen our thinking. And it is on a society level. A small number of people do have that edge, says Sumpter.

Sumpters gift is to witness events and interpret them into the language of maths. The most illuminating sections were related to anthropology. Ants use two pheromones to create a system that describes the likely yield from following a particular food trail. Each pheromone is a positive sign, but one is powerful and decays rapidly while the other is less pungent but with a longer half life. Used in combination the pheromones can send a coded message, which works to create an intelligence report. Which ant worked out that system? These ant algorithms are a hallmark of insect genius but Sumpter is a hero for cracking their code and explaining it to the rest of humanity.

Anyone can be a Disruptor these days. Its the Demystifiers that could empower the masses.

Reading this book is a bit like that moment when the underground train driver comes on the tannoy and explains why weve all been stuck in the dark for ten minutes. Youre no less powerless but a bit less fearful now youve got a vague idea of whats going on.

Im glad I have rescued you from the dark, says Sumpter.

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Ten equations that rule the world - could they work for you? - IDG Connect

‘Getting old doesn’t scare me’: Jon Bon Jovi on aging, legacy and knowing ‘when it’s time to go’ – USA TODAY

Posted on October 5, 2020 by Danzig

Jon Bon Jovi urges people to volunteer in his band's new single "Do What You Can" from the album "2020." USA TODAY

NEW YORK Jon Bon Jovi has done and seen it all in his nearly four-decade career. He's got the coiffed silver locks to prove it.

Let me tell you, I've earned this gray hair, the rock legend says with a laugh. I've been through enoughhurting and healingto be here. Professionally, I've survived trends that have come and gone, and I've even had to mourn the loss of a bandmatewho just couldn't effectively keep up anymore. And that was tough.

Hes referring to longtime Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora, who publicly struggled with substance abuse problems for years and abruptly left the band in 2013. Bon Jovi, 58, says he last spoke to Sambora at the band's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 2018. Since his departure, the remaining members have only grown closer and stronger, says drummer Tico Torres.

Echoes keyboardist David Bryan: Our bond is unbreakable. Jon has grown, like us, as a person, and he has definitely grown as a songwriter.

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Thats evident on Bon Jovis topical 15th album 2020,released Oct. 2, where the "Livin' on a Prayer" chart-toppersings frankly about our current president, gun violence and the Black Lives Matter movement. The albums title alludes to election year, but also the 20/20 hindsight that comes with experience.

"This (album) is saying, I have clear vision, Ive come through the pain and now that new day starts,' " Bon Jovi says. Thirty-six years after the band's self-titled 1984 debut, he talks to USA TODAY about longevity, approaching 60and revisiting past hits.

Jon Bon Jovi of rock band Bon Jovi, which released its 15th studio album "2020" on Friday.(Photo: Anne-Marie Caruso, USA TODAY NETWORK)

Question: Youve had the hits, the sales, the awards what motivates you now?

Jon Bon Jovi: I'm not driven by numbers; I really don't think I ever was. When you're just starting out, they're so beyond your reach. The only thing I care about in my career at this point is when I write a song. Writing is the closest thing that anyone will ever feel to immortality, it'll outlive you.Writing it is all I can really give a darn about. Recording it is second because you want to see if it was worth it. And touring is third. Its last because that is wonderful and all, but I don't live to tour. I dont live to hear people applaud. That's a byproduct of writing the song.

Q: So there are no more milestones youd like to check off?

Bon Jovi: Honestly, at this point, what I'm hoping to do is to first and foremost enjoy it, and then keep integrity.I don't ever want to be on the "Where are they now?" pile. I jokingly say, no one loved the Fat Elvis. I mean that with the utmost respect, but you got to know when it's time to go. I can still write a song and that's what matters to me most. The rest of it, I'll do it as I see fit.

Q: Is there a song or album youre proudest of?

Bon Jovi:One of the things that happened in the boredom of COVID was I started to listen to a couple of our older records, which I just wouldn't naturally do. Someone said it's the 25th anniversary of These Days, so I thought, 25 years, my God. I should put that record on. So I started doing these joking one-minute record reviews (on Twitter). Some I love more than I remember, some I hate more than I remember. And yet I look back on the catalog of music and I'm very proud of it. Are there songs Ill be remembered for? Sure, your casual reader is going to go, Livin on a Prayer, thats my life, and theyll go down the litany of hits. But the body of works stands up to me and thats pretty cool.

Jon Bon Jovi, 58, poses for portraits during a socially distanced photo shoot in New York.(Photo: Anne-Marie Caruso, USA TODAY NETWORK)

Q: Why do you think the band has had such longevity?

Bon Jovi: We've connected to generations of people, and I've never tried to be anything morethan what I was.I've evolved, I've grown up in public and I'm certainly not trying to write the same song we did in 1984, 85, 86. It was my desire to progress and evolve into who I am today, and so I couldnt rewrite You Give Love a Bad Name, Blaze of Glory or Always. The band's legacyis cemented.These songs mean a lot to a lot of people and I am grateful for that. Its a gift that God gives you the job you wanted when you were a kid, and that I get to do it still.I'm the luckiest man in the world.

Q: I know youre still a couple of years off, but how do you feel about turning 60?

Bon Jovi: I'm OK with getting older, I really am. I'm drawn to elders. The guys I look up to are older than I: when I talk (music) with Paul McCartney and Bruce Springsteen, when I talk football with Robert Kraft and Jerry Jones, when I talk politics with President Clinton. Getting old doesn't scare me. It sort of just makes me realize that its worth staying in good health to be able towrite about more experiences.

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Good grief! ‘Peanuts’ celebrates 70th anniversary with art – HNGnews.com

Posted on October 5, 2020 by Danzig

NEW YORK (AP) The virus pandemic won't stop Charlie Brown, Snoopy or the Peanuts gang from marking an important birthday and they're hoping to raise the spirits of sick kids while they celebrate.

The beloved comic celebrates its 70th anniversary this week with new lesson plans, the announcement of a new TV show and a philanthropic push that includes donating Peanuts murals for kids to paint in 70 children's hospitals around the globe, from Brooklyn to Brazil.

When kids see the familiar face of Snoopy, they feel like they are at home watching the cartoon," said Dr. Kusum Viswanathan, who heads the pediatrics department atBrookdale University Hospital Medical Centerin New York. "I think itll really help in positive coping and distraction. It makes the environment very comfortable, as opposed to being very stiff and professional.

The 4-foot-8-inch wide by 4-foot-1-inch high murals have been sent to participating hospitals in six pieces, along with smocks, brushes and paints in 13 colors. Children and hospital staffers are encouraged to paint the easy-to-follow templates, a diversion that gains even more importance during coronavirus restrictions.

The initiative is being welcomed at theCHOC Childrens Hospitalin Orange, California, where the virus pandemic has shut down the playrooms and cut back on starry, well-wishing visitors, like baseball star Mike Trout.

Theres really nothing to look forward to so I thought even just painting something like this at bedside is going to really truly mean something, especially during this time, said Amber Chavez, the special programs coordinator.

The finished murals show an image of Snoopy and Woodstock sharing a laugh atop his red doghouse. It's co-sponsored by Peanuts Worldwide andthe Foundation for Hospital Art.They hope the custom murals bring a smile to worried families.

Art is always very therapeutic, Viswanathan said. Any child who comes even if a child comes for a regular check-up its always a slightly scary event and I think it helps patients feel a sense of normalcy.

Jeannie Schulz, the widow of the comic strips creator, Charles Schulz, said the initiative hopes to lower the fear level in hospitals: If you can have a little bit of levity a little smile we know that lowers your blood pressure. It's almost as good as patting a dog.

How each hospital deploys the murals has been left to the local administrators. Brookdale let lots of children paint them in its auditorium, while the California hospital wants to give one panel each to four patients and two nurses. The hope is the finished murals will offer children a chance to leave a permanent mark on the facility.

"They could come to the hospital for their next check-up and see their mural is out there and they provided the painting maybe for the head or the stomach or whatever part of Snoopy that they did, Viswanathan said.

Scott Feight, the executive director, of the Foundation for Hospital Art, said the murals represent a chance to celebrate humanity and our ability to overcome and fight this virus. The nonprofit over the years has donated more than 49,000 paintings to 7,500 hospitals in 195 countries.

Other initiatives launching to celebrate the Peanuts anniversary include an animated video campaign on social media urging viewers to be kind to each other, Earth and themselves. There's also a new Apple TV+ animated show debuting in February called The Snoopy Show.

Peanuts made its debut Oct. 2, 1950. The travails of the little round-headed kid Charlie Brown and his pals eventually ran in more than 2,600 newspapers, reaching millions of readers in 75 countries.

The 1965 CBS special A Charlie Brown Christmas won an Emmy and rerun immortality, and many other specials followed. There was a hit stage musical, Youre a Good Man, Charlie Brown. The characters also appeared on sheets, stationery, amusement park attractions and countless other products. Apple TV+ debuted Snoopy in Space in 2019.

Jeannie Schulz said her husband managed to create recognizable characters that express the humanity of each of us. It hits on a lot of cylinders.

The strip offered enduring images of kites in trees, Charlie Brown trying to kick a football, tart-tongued Lucy handing out advice for a nickel at what looked like a lemonade stand and Snoopy taking the occasional flight of fancy to the skies of World War I. Phrases such as security blanket and good grief are a part of the global vernacular. Schulz died in 2000.

The hospital administrators say that Peanuts teaches children that the world is big enough for everybody, appreciate the small things and embrace friendships. Those lessons, they say, fit with their mission.

It teaches about kindness and friendship," Viswanathan said. "It teaches our children that life has challenges but with support from friends, you can solve problems. I think it teaches them not to give up.

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Five reasons why Enable will win a historic third Arc and five why she won’t – Racing TV

Posted on September 30, 2020 by Danzig

It is a plan which has been a year in the making and the curtain looks certain to finally come down on Enables glittering career following Sundays Prix de lArc de Triomphe on Sunday.

John Gosdens superstar is attempting to make history by landing three runnings of the iconic autumn final at ParisLongchamp, a year after she finished second to Waldgeist.

Will she recapture the past glories of 2017 and 2018 by etching her name into sporting folklore, or will she come up short in her quest for immortality?

Below are five reasons why she can deliver a third Arc win under Frankie Dettori on what seems certain to be her farewell appearance and also five reasons why the final chapter of her wonderful story may not have a fairy-tale ending.

1. She is the Queen of Racing

Enable has captured the hearts and minds of racing fans for myriad reasons, but none more so than the fact she is one of the best racehorses of all time. She has won 15 of her 18 starts, has never finished outside of the first three, is a dual Classic winner, a two-time Arc heroine and an 11-time Group One scorer.

22 runners remain in contention for this years Arc and on ratings, she is also the best horse in the race. Officially rated 128, she is 3lb clear of stable companion and three-time Gold Cup hero Stradivarius, and 2020 Oaks heroine Love who has an official rating of 122.

Enable has also only been beaten once when racing beyond a mile-and-a-quarter in last years Arc to Waldgeist and whilst she was beaten on testing ground in 2019, she goes better on it than others in the race will, particularly her main market rival Love.

2. Shes already won the race twice

Its an old clich, but Enable clearly has the Arc t-shirt, having been there and won the contest twice before. Whilst she only narrowly held off Sea Of Class in 2018, what perhaps is more notable is her facile two and a half-length win in the 2017 renewal. Always prominent, she shot clear in the straight and sluiced through soft ground to score.

Despite the heartbreak etched on the face of Frankie Dettori in last years Arc, things did not go as smoothly during the race. Given the conditions, it was arguable that Dettori had to commit sooner than he would have liked on Enable and that left the duo vulnerable to a stayer.

Whilst ground conditions were blamed, it has to be remembered that she finished two lengths in front of Waldgeist earlier that season on ground described as Good to Soft, but which was clearly more testing, in the King George at Ascot.

Therefore, tactics are clearly going to be important. With plenty more rain forecast and the ground already very soft at Longchamp, Dettori may play his hand slightly later on Enable this time around. Simultaneously, the ground looks a major negative for Love, Mogul and Raabihah. Stradivarius, given he stays further, and potentially Sottsass, third in last years Arc, may enjoy the ground, but Enable handles soft ground and if she handles it better than her main rivals in the betting, she wins.

3. The best prep since 2017

Enable warmed up for this year's Arc in the September Stakes

Another pivotal factor could be her preparation for this years race, which to all intents and purposes, has gone very smoothly. We never thought Enable would still be racing as a six-year-old and the sport owes a debt of gratitude to Prince Khalid Abdullah by allowing us to witness her greatness for another season. However, unlike other years, she has essentially been kept in training for one race only, the Prix de lArc de Triomphe. Even last year, Enable won a Coral-Eclipse, King George and a Yorkshire Oaks before running in the Arc. She was originally scheduled to return in the Coronation Cup or the Prince Of Waless Stakes, but took up neither of those engagements having been slow to come to hand, something which was also evident in her 2018 campaign.

By contrast, 2020 has gone like clockwork for team Enable. John Gosden remarked that she had taken a little while to get fit given she has been going up the Newmarket gallops since she was two years of age. Most shrewd punters and experts believed that a race-fit Ghaiyyath would have her measure in the Coral-Eclipse, and so it proved. However, Enable showed the benefit of this cautious approach with easy wins in the King George and September Stakes since. Frankie Dettori was delighted with her piece of work last weekend and Enable, given the form she has shown again this summer, should be fully fit and firing for her date with destiny.

4. The Gosden and Dettori factor

There are some sporting greats who can turn it on for the big occasion. Paul Gascoigne, Tiger Woods, Roger Federer, Cristian Ronaldo, Michael Jordan, Lionel Messi, Kevin Pietersen, Mo Farah and Sir Chris Hoy among them. However, is there a sportsman who relishes the big occasion quite as much as Frankie Dettori. 24 years on this week from his Magnificent Seven at Ascot, the 49-year-old is the ultimate big-race player.

Dettori is of course human and will feel the nerves just as much as the jockey in the stall next to him. However, he is able to transfer those nerves into an unsatiable will to win, something shared by Enables trainer.

To use a boxing analogy, Enable has the right people in her corner. Dettori with six and Gosden with three wins in the Arc with Dettori aboard on all three occasions highlights their prolific record in the race and why this attempt at history has clear potential.

5. Her talent and will to win

Enable, as she has demonstrated to devastating effect in races like the Oaks, can outclass her opposition, but she also boasts the courage to match her class.

Between her second win in the Arc and runner-up effort in the 2019 renewal at Longchamp, she won five G1s by a margin of a short-neck (2018 Arc), three-quarters of a length (Breeders Cup Filly & Mare Turf), three-quarters of a length (Coral-Eclipse), neck (King George) and two and three-quarter lengths (Yorkshire Oaks)

Enable has an innate desire and will to win. Whether she would prefer quicker ground or wherever she is drawn, it is that desire to come out on top which will again be on show on Sunday.

1. The weight of history

The Arc was first run in 1920 and since then there have been eight dual winners, but there has never been a triple victor.

Treve in 2015 is the only horse to seek a third win in the race and Enable will become the first horse to run four times in an Arc, having already won two renewals.

Treve also raced three times in the build-up to that years Arc but was only third to another Gosden-Dettori superstar, Golden Horn.

Enable shares a current place in history with the likes of Alleged, Tantieme, Corrida and the aforementioned Treve as a two-time winner. However, poetic justice would be secured with a third success and maybe on this occasion, history is there to be broken.

2. It must be Love or Stradivarius or Sottsass or something else?

At one point, this years Arc looked like being the race of the season. However, with Mishriff, Ghaiyyath and Magical now heading elsewhere, the quality on show has taken a slight dip. Despite that, Love looks the most formidable threat to face Enable. She has looked every inch a superstar with three successive Group One victories this term in the 1000 Guineas, Oaks and Yorkshire Oaks. The very soft ground is clearly a concern for Love with Aidan OBrien suggesting on numerous occasions this year that it would dent her ability, but she is just one of the dangers.

Stable companion Stradivarius will be partnered by Olivier Peslier and would also prefer a quicker surface. However, he stays at least another mile and his stamina-laden qualities look sure to come into play, despite finishing second to Anthony Van Dyck in the Prix Foy over course and distance last time out.

The progressive In Swoop, a winner on soft ground, last years Arc third Sottsass and of course Moulin hero Persian King, a fascinating runner given he represents eight-time Arc winner Andre Fabre, are all dangers highlighting that this will be no easy feat for Enable.

3. No six-year-old has won the Arc

A quite phenomenal statistic and yet another piece of history which Enable will have to overcome. No horse in the history of the Prix de lArc de Triomphe has ever won the 12-furlong contest as a six-year-old. Motirco was seven in 1932 and Waldgeist was five last year. However, Walgeist was one of just four horses since 1975 to win the contest aged five.

With that in mind, history is clearly not on Enables side and it does not augur well for this years contest.

4. Could tactics play a part?

For the first time, arguably since Found won the Arc in 2016, Aidan OBrien has a horse running in the race with a favourites chance.

The master of Ballydoyle has only won the race twice, with Dylan Thomas his other winner in 2007 and he could launch a five-pronged assault on Longchamp. Japan, who has disappointed this term, recent Grand Prix de Paris hero Serpentine, 2019 Irish Derby winner Sovereign and Love all look set to run. However, team Ballydoyle could also supplement Serpentine who add a different flavour to the race. Compared to his runaway win in the Derby at Epsom, he was ridden with greater restraint off an extended break in the Grand Prix de Paris last time out when only fourth.

It looks very likely that Serpentine or Sovereign will be ridden positively to make this a stiff test of stamina, something which suited Love when stablemate Passion took the field along at a good clip in the Oaks. Thus, with Serpentine perhaps gifted an early lead up front, could be tough to peg back or will he force Dettori into committing too early. The ability for this race to get very tactical is therefore something to be mindful of.

5. Ground and possible nerves from Dettori?

As alluded to in this piece already, testing ground conditions will clearly be a concern for Enable, given it looks likely to blunt her devastating finishing speed. However, perhaps a more interesting factor is the pressure on the shoulders of Frankie Dettori.

Enable means everything to Dettori. Having resurrected his career in recent years, John Gosdens superstars such as Golden Horn, Stradivarius and Enable provided the Italian with a new lease of life and Dettori has clearly relished every minute.

However, the pressure has clearly started to tell more on Dettori of late. The exultation matched by relief on his face after the 2019 King George was twinged with the anguish after Enables defeat in last years Arc.

Dettori is a man who transcends the sport and is truly racings biggest superstar. He knows the weight of expectation on his shoulders on Sunday. Whilst he has been channelling those nerves in a positive way up to now, the stakes have never been higher and with Ballydoyle also looking to make life difficult, Enable could also meet trouble in-running. Dettori will probably view this as the biggest ride of his career.

One things for sure it promises to be a thrilling climax to the career of a wonderful racemare.

There's some top-drawer action coming up on Racing TV over the next few weeks and we're offering you a front row seat to enjoy it all. Watch every race live from more than 100 meetings with a free month of Racing TV. Click here for more details

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Five reasons why Enable will win a historic third Arc and five why she won't - Racing TV

These Bodies of Ours and These Places Called Church Buildings – Atlantic Highlands Herald

Posted on October 5, 2020 by Danzig

Sometimes ideas from meetings, reading, radio, tv, and podcasts coalesce, and deepen my thinking. Over the past few weeks, I have read articles about people who I consider ultra-spiritual, and met with some of them online. They talk about their own spirituality and some talk about the great work that the Holy Spirit is doing in their lives. I am very appreciative of their emphasis, but I think they overemphasize their spirituality to the detriment of their bodies and the work that God is doing through them.

During the same period, I participated in several internet meetings about the future of the church. The discussion inevitably arrives at the idea that we will no longer need these imposing, expensive church buildings in the future. We are reminded that the authentic church is not the building, but the fellowship of the believers, the body of Christ. The climactic verse for many is when Jesus said that he will build his church. He did not mean these buildings that one sees on so many corners in our villages, towns, and cities. I agree with the idea, yet I think that they are going overboard with their ecclesiology (understanding of the church).

Why do I think that they are going overboard?

In the Old Testament, we are commanded to love God holistically with our bodies, minds, and spirits. In the New Testament, Apostle Paul writes in Romans 12 that we should offer our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to Godas spiritual sacrifices. He also tells us that we should live holy lives because we are the temples of the Holy Spirit. Even when Paul talks about our inner man being renewed and our outer man decaying, he does not eliminate the body (2 Cor. 4:16). It is still important. It is indeed this decaying, old body that will experience both mortality and immortality. Blessed are those who die in the Lord, we read in Revelation 14:13. If the spirit does not die, it means that God will bring those mortal bodies back to life transformed and eternalized.

In those recent meetings, several people mentioned that we will move away from church buildings in the future and worship the Lord in different ways. I am appreciative of that concept; when Jesus spoke with the Samaritan woman, he said that the time will come when the true worshippers will worship the Lord not in Samaria or Jerusalem, but in spirit and in truth. Yet, we see the Lord Jesus Christ doing lots of teaching in synagogues and temples and in the book of Acts, we find that the new apostolic church worked quickly to find places to meet in temples, rented spaces, and in the homes of affluent men and women.

A number of years ago, I was at the dedication of a new church building. There were many homilies (short sermons) for this occasion and one pastor reminded the congregation that the true church is not this building, but us worshipping together as the body of Christ. The pastor of the church, who had built the church himself, leaned toward me and said, It is easy to say those words unless you spent three years building this place brick by brick! I am aware that there are many small congregations that can hardly afford to maintain their church buildings, and an excess of church buildings in other communities.

What intrigues me and revolts me are people who talk against the church while taking a salary from it. I find this almost unethical! If one no longer believes in the church, then one should not make their living there. If the future of the church is no longer in the church buildings, why do we still ask churches and church members to support this ineffectual work?

No matter how spiritual we may become, we humans will never be strictly spiritual beings, even in heaven. No matter what the church looks like in the post-pandemic future, there will be both buildings where Gods people will worship and new, evolving ways to gather. The future cannot avoid the past, and the past cannot declare that it is the only reality.

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