Category Archives: Immortality

Photo courtesy of BCEagles.com

Growing up in the Boston area, there have been plenty of athletes who have rolled through the Heights that have been a pleasure to watch. One, being star guard Troy Bell who recently had his own jersey retired by the Men's Basketball program. My first "super hero" was a kid from upstate New York, winger Brian Gionta.

As an 11 year old kid, I was present for David Emma's jersey, number 16, being raised to the Conte Forum rafters, securing his immortality. This happened as the 2000-01 regular season was wrapping up with the Brian Gionta led Eagles that lost to Michigan in the National Championship game. It was this night, it seemed that someday Gionta, who had 62 points that season and cemented himself in BC history, would have his night as well.

His impact for the BC program went beyond the ice, and gave the Boston College faithful a superstar the program needed for another championship run. For a program that was fresh on 3 straight frozen four appearances, a Hobey Baker winner in Mike Mottau, BC only had one championship banner, and that read 1949. Boston College had been a great team that was on the brink of pushing through but up to the 2001 season, continuously came up painfully short.

On a senior laden team that boasted plenty of NHL talent including Brooks Orpik, Chuck Kobesew, Scott Clemenson, and Bobby Allen, Gionta was the captain, the leader and the super star that carried the Eagles to a thrilling overtime victory against North Dakota in the National Title game. For the first time since 1949, the Eagles were National Champions. clearly Jerry York and his leadership was a big part of this, but Gionta was the rock that anchored the program that season.

During his time in maroon and gold, Gionta's success helped usher in a new era of Boston College hockey that included eight Frozen Four appearances and an additional 3 National Championships. Over the past 20 years since Gionta last wore the maroon and gold, there have been countless NHL level talents to grace the ice of Kelly Rink, including a Hobey Baker in Johnny Gaudreau.

Gionta's legacy has withstood time and has only grown, as there are some that believe that he is possibly the best player in Eagle's history. Nearly 20 years later after Emma's jersey went up into the rafters, Gionta's jersey will rise up as well this weekend. Finally, the Boston College star will be honored and immortalized at Kelley Rink.

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After Legendary Career With Boston College, Brian Gionta Will Be Immortalized This Weekend - Sports Illustrated

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation has become a US TV institution (Picture: CBS)

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation became an addictive must-watch for everyone in the early 2000s with theme song Who Are You? by The Who still ringing in our ears with just a mere mention of the shows name.

Still on telly pretty much constantly, alongside its spin-offs CSI: Miami, CSI: New York and CSI: Cyber, its classic TV as we watch the Las Vegas Police Department do what they do best.

And now weve heard the news that they might be making a comeback to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its launch, weve gone all nostalgic for the series and the grisly crimes they helped solve.

But what happened to the gang since we last saw them?

Turns out, a lot of humanitarian work, some landmark career moments and even a couple of run-ins with the law themselves.

Heres what the cast has been up to since the show wrapped in 2015.

If theres one face you think of when you think of CSI, its Gil Grissom the leading man of the squad.

Gil left the show in season nine in order to track down his love, Sara, who had fled to Costa Rica, and wasnt seen until 2015, when he took centre stage once again in the shows final bow, the two-hour Immortality.

William won a Sag award for his portrayal, got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2009, with CSI co-star Marg Helgenberger among those in attendance commemorating his achievements.

Since CSI ended in 2015, he has completely stepped back from the limelight, with no new work beyond his 2015 return as Gil.

He has no social media presence, but fan pages often update with any new snaps of the star.

Night Shift supervisor Catherine was the ultimate right-hand woman, but quit the LVPD and took a job at the FBI at the end of season 12.

She returned for an appearance by Gils side in Immortality in 2015.

Since leaving the series, Marg has had several prominent TV roles including a series adaptation of Stephen Kings novel Under The Dome, and 2014 series Intelligence

Marg can currently be seen on TV drama All Rise, which takes a look at the lives and loves of the lawyers, clerks and staff members of LA County courthouse.

She also often posts photos of the view of her absolutely stunning LA home.

Crime Scene Investigator Nick was Catherines assistant until D.B. Russells arrival in 2015 and he left soon after.

He was one of the most empathetic members of the group, which caused friction a number of times throughout his career as others around him preferred to keep an emotional distance from the cases.

Nicks exit from the series was announced in November 2014 and he made bid farewell in the season 15 finale, leaving Las Vegas for a new job in San Diego.

Following his departure, George starred in CBS action-adventure series MacGyver for three years as Jack Dalton and last year, he featured in the South Korean period film The Battle Of Jangsari.

Captain Jim Brass appeared in a total of 303 episodes and was renowned for adhering to the rules and his witty sarcastic comments when interviewing suspects.

He was written out of the show after the producers decided to end his characters storyline and left in the season 14 finale, but later appeared for the last episode of season 15 and again forCSI: Immortality.

Paul won a Sag award for his portrayal Jim back in 2005 and received three further nominations.

Since his exit, he starred in acclaimed film Spotlight in 2015, and more recently starred in Apple TVs The Morning Show alongside Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston.

Sara, a materials and element analyst who majored in physics at Harvard University, was the longest-running woman on CSI and filmed 296 episodes in total.

She was the assistant supervisor until she left the Crime Lab to join a research team in Costa Rica after marrying former colleague Gil Grissom.

The newlyweds maintained a long-distance relationship while Sara was away, but they broke up in season 13 and eventually reconciled and got back together in the series finale.

Jorja took a step back from acting after CSI, having only appeared in science fiction film 3022 last year alongside Miranda Cosgrove and Kate Walsh.

In 2008, Warrick Brown met a grisly end in season eights finale, when he was shot and killed by bent copper Undersheriff McKeen.

McKeen had framed Warrick for the murder of mob boss Lou Gedda, and so shot him twice to keep him from talking. He was left to bleed out and died in his car.

He had appeared in 185 episodes by the time he was last seen on screen.

Dourdans exit was aired shortly after Dourdan was arrested for drug possession but he had already filmed his final scenes so it was unconnected as to why he left CSI.

Since his appearance on the show, he was arrested again for possession of drug paraphernalia in 2011, and was charged with felony battery on his ex-girlfriend, having to attend domestic violence counseling.

He is now sober and continues to act, with five projects currently in production, as well as music.

Work has included TV series Being Mary Jane in 2015, an episode of Power as Charles Hamilton and starring in action-comedy, All She Wrote, in 2018.

As Chief Medical Examiner at the LVPD, Al wasnt a hyper-clean heavily detailed member of the squad and made for good banter with Gil Grisson.

Appearing in 328 episodes overall, 72-year-old Robert has three, small projects currently in post-production, all of which havent moved since 2018.

After CSI, Robert has been mainly staying out of the limelight.

Robert is a double amputee, losing both his legs after a drunk driver operating an 18-wheeler vehicle ran over his car in 1978, although this was never mentioned in CSI.

As a result, Robert has been a campaigner for disability visibility, and mental health.

Eric has been fairly quiet on the TV front since his time on CSI, with one credit under his belt since the show ended action thriller Shangri-La: Near Extinction in 2018.

He appeared as lab technician Greg in 333 episodes of the crime drama, and gave his voice to his own character in the spin-off video games as well.

Despite not working in the acting world, hes been using his platform to campaign for animal rights, hosting fundraisers to free circus animals.

He also maintains good contact with his former CSI pals reuniting with Marg to watch the Oscars this weekend.

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation airs on Channel 5 in the UK.

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CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: What has the original cast done since? - Metro.co.uk

Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers for Afsos. So, please read it after youve finished watching the show.

I have been watching Gulshan Devaiah since 2011 when he appeared in an incredibly under-appreciated crime thriller called Dum Maaro Dum as Ricky. Since then he has appeared in movies like Shaitan, Hate Story, Goliyon ki Rasleela Ram-Leela, and Death in the Gunj and delivered some brilliant supporting acts. However, I wanted him to see him in more prominent roles and thats when I stumbled across Hunterrr (which is another under-appreciated movie of his which you should definitely watch) and, of course, Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota. All that said, I dont no one as highlighted Devaiahs true potential like Anubhuti Kashyap has done in Afsos.

Devaiah plays a suicidal man, Nakul, who cant seem to kill himself even though he wants to. Hence he hires someone, Heeba Shahs Upadhyay, to do the job for him. However, after doing so he falls in love with his therapist, Anjali Patils Shloka, and hence doesnt want to die. In the meantime, he also gets embroiled in a mystery about the immortal man, which leads to a chaotic journey into the topic of life and death. But amongst all that chaos, Devaiah stands strong while portraying one of the most psychologically weak characters put to screen. Theres not a single frame in the show where youll doubt the fact that Devaiahs Nakul is doubting himself. And although it seems like a pretty simple thing to do, its actually quite integral to the tone of the show and is what gives Afsos its uniquely Indian dark comedy vibe.

If I have to pick my favourite scene out of all the scenes that Devaiah is in, it has to be his conversation with Robin Das Fokatiya Baba when they realise that their captor, Danish Saits Jim, is dead. Devaiahs desperation when he admits that he is not immortal and that he doesnt care about Fokatiyas guruji had told him to do with the immortality potion (amrit) is palpable as f*ck. What we know and have seen of Devaiah throughout his filmography completely vanishes and you can see only and only Nakul trying to negotiate with his fate in a way that will undoubtedly make you laugh your guts out. But wait a second. I know what youre thinking. Youre thinking that this article was supposed to be the meaning of Afsos. However, just like one might feel while watching the show or probably something that the makers must have encountered, we got so engrossed in Deviahs brilliant acting chops that we forgot all about the main point of the show.

SEE ALSO: Afsos Review - Gulshan Devaiahs Suicidal Act Kills It In This Dark Comedy. No Regrets Here!

So, without digressing any further, lets try and understand what Afsos is actually trying to say. And since we are talking about Devaiah, lets start with Nakul. On the surface, Nakul might seem like a one-note guy who wants to end his life but cant. He embodies the frustration most of us feel when nothings going our way in our life. Even the most basic thing like walking out of his house is littered with obstacles and by the time he overcomes them, he has lost the will to live. However, somewhere inside him there is a will to live that involuntarily kicks in his survival instinct, which is in complete contradiction to what Shloka says about the depth of his depression, thereby allowing him to evade death. So, whats the message that comes along with Nakul? That our inherent urge to survive and the hope that maybe theres some light at the end of the dark tunnel, something that is literally spelt out by Inspector Bir Singh, is what makes us immortal. Not in the literal sense of course. But in the metaphorical sense, as in our actions live on in the minds of others. Yes, it might need some fuel but it is there.

Then lets come to Karima Upadhyay, played viscerally by Heeba Shah. She is the embodiment of death itself. She has become death by seeing and delivering so many deaths in her life. She even says that she feels like she is born to kill. During one particular scene involving Ratnabali Bhattacharjees Maria and her daughter at a restaurant where some man misbehaves with the little child, it seems like she has some respect for the concept of life. However, if you have seen the series and the way she treats Maria and her daughter while attempting to kill Nakul, youll notice that she has nothing inside her. And that very nothingness inside her is what makes her immortal. The raging drive that exists within her helps her surpass the pain of being stabbed or the emotional distress of losing her lover (I am guessing Vikram was her lover). Additionally, it is that very rage which helps her stay in her preys mind tax-free. But the drive only comes to an end when she falls into the tricks of the catalyst. Whos the catalyst you ask? Well, its Shloka.

Shloka is another layered son-of-a-b*tch who neither respects life nor respects death. She lies to people to save their life. She lies to people to push them over the edge. She lies to herself to the extent that she doesnt even know (or may she does and we dont know) that her husband is dead or alive. Hence she doesnt have satisfaction in life nor a painless death. I am going to be honest with you, and this might make me look like a douche, but I never felt the chemistry between Shloka and Nakul. It always felt like she was finding the next person who she can control, just like she probably controlled Dibakar (her husband), and she made the mistake of thinking that Nakul was the one. However, in reality it was Upadhyay who had the ability to match her skills and play the same game of life and death that she was playing. Once that was over, you could see the level of disinterest she had on her face while going to meet Nakul. I know these are little details which makes the show worth watching and are much more interesting than the overarching narrative about the amrit and Dr. Goldfish.

So, in my opinion, said overarching narrative actually muddles the intricacies that writers Anirban Dasgupta and Dibya Chatterjee have woven into Nakuls story. I understand that they have delved into the campier aspects of Afsos' story and instilled it with a sense of mythology. However, since it largely feels so haphazard and incomplete by the end of the last episode that I felt like it robbed the show of its comforting, oddball charm. I feel like if the show wouldve stuck to its core messaging about finding the source of your immortality i.e. the thing that will help us stay long after we are gone, it wouldve stuck its landing a little. That said, since Afsos stands on the shoulders of Anubhuti Kashyap, Gulshan Devaiah and more, it deserves your attention and all the deconstruction you can subject it to.

Cover image courtesy: Amazon Prime Video India

The rest is here:

Understanding 'Afsos': What Does This Gulshan Devaiah Dark Comedy Want To Say? - Mashable India

(*This review contains spoilers)

Afsos begins with a man in a hard place. My life story is so poorly written ki mujhe lagta hain ki maine khud likhi hai (that I think Ive written it myself,) says Nakul (Gulshan Devaiah), a struggling writer, who once again finds himself on the precipice of death, cushioning (he quite literally steals a pillow from a homeless persons bedding on the railway bench) his 11th attempt at exiting the world. Will he succeed?

(*The cast and crew have repeatedly emphasized that Nakul doesnt deal with a mental illness such as depression on the show but rather an exaggerated sense of negativity and imagination. Based on a viewing and inferred context, this review treats Nakuls affliction as so too.)

Well, in Amazon Prime Videos latest black comedy/thriller series Afsos, viewers soon come to realize that nobody quite gets what they want.

Created and written by Anirban Dasgupta, Dibya Chatterjee and Sourav Ghosh, the eight-episode series is a delightful exercise in disappointment with a mercurial plot that unfolds at breakneck speed. Director Anubhuti Kashyap chooses a subtle and sardonic lens to portray the outlandishness of the series as it delves into life, death, immortality, ambition and more, constructing a purposefully grounded yet incoherent picture of the grotesque and euphoric realities on the fringes of everyday, urban middle-class existence.

Sulagna Panigrahi as Ayesha Mirani in Afsos. Photo: Amazon Prime Video

Following an it is what it is ethos, characters, who under normal circumstances would never meet (much less cross paths), collide in Afsos. Ayesha Mirani (Sulagna Panigrahi), a journalist, runs into a mad sadhu hailing from an ashram in Harsil, Uttarakhand. He tells her about the amrit or the immortality elixir meant for the chiranjeevi (eternal being). She publishes a story the next day titled The Immortal Man.

Ratnabali Bhattacharjee as Maria and Ujjwal Chopra as Vikram in Afsos.

In the meanwhile, Nakul, seeks the services of Emergency Exit an ethical killing startup run by ex-cons Maria (Ratnabali Bhattacharjee) and Vikram (Ujjwal Chopra) after surviving his 11th suicide attempt (a product of his insufferable imagination and not a mental illness as one may at first surmise). They beset their best assassin, Karima Upadhyay (Heeba Shah), on his trail. Nakul, however, survives Upadhyay too, inadvertently kickstarting a relentless cat and mouse cycle where nobody not even his therapist (Shloka Srinivasan played by Anjali Patil) is safe.

Robin Das as Fokatiya baba in Afsos.

When all the sadhus at the Harsil ashram are murdered and the elixir is discovered to be missing, local police officer Bir Singh (Aakash Dahiya) finds a suspect in the only missing sadhu, Fokatiya baba (Robin Das), and traces him to Mumbai, setting in motion the machinations of fate, law and order while English scientist Dr. Goldfish (Jamie Alter) reads the murderous news headline and makes his way to India, compelled to nab the instrument of immortality, once and for all.

The plot oscillates between surprise and suspense you never know whats going to happen and the characters highs and lows make you root for an ending you already know wont come your way. You know how difficult it is to digest when you think that someone is going to be the main character of their story and he just dies right in front of you? Srinivasan tells Nakul at the tea stall. The only answer she receives is a splatter of blood as Upadhyays failed headshot temporarily incapacitates her victim. This scene is splendid for the simple reason that nobody gets what they want and that subtle but thrice amplified theme of futility neatly ties it all together. This impact is perhaps only fully realized in the final scene of the series where past, present and future unwittingly unite for an unexpected exchange (Ill keep mum on that sweet spoiler).

The director and writers approach the series with an irreverence thats code of the genre and their infusions of absurdity are artfully executed. Theres a scene where Mumbai cop Vitthal (Shyam Bhimsaria) storms Goldfishs lair with his men to rescue Singh. Theyre up against a security detail thats quite trigger happy and also double their number, but in his quest to salvage whats left of his career, inspector Vitthal revels in almost childlike delight as he keeps score of how many men are down on both sides. He takes shots and earns points of his own, sobering only when his eye in the sky is taken down. Preceded by lines borrowed from Singh himself (Kyon dhobi ke rozgaar ke liye apni uniform dhulwa rahe ho? Why are you getting your uniform ironed only so the dhobi can earn a living?), this scene is perhaps the only time in the show when a character gets exactly what they want redemption. As a viewer, you dont realize when the line between reality and the bizarre blurs because the segment is so thick with tension and yet, theres an unmistakable underbite of humor exacerbated only by the irony that the show espouses so generously a couple of well placed calls lead to Goldfishs release later. This is evident in the dialogue too such as when Nakul says, Maine meri maut ka contract diya hai kisiko (Ive contracted my death to a killer,) and the show is packed with many such pithy, wry earworms.

Anjali Patil as Shloka Srinivasan in Afsos. Photo: Amazon Prime Video

Afsos has a host of intriguing characters but perhaps the Trojan horse of the show is Patils Srinivasan. The therapist is the only normal, unsuspecting, chameleon-like figure you never know what ace she has up her sleeve and the writers use foreshadowing well with the character. While addressing her students, she says, Can we dare to look beyond the obvious? and we soon learn that the diagloues context is not just limited to mental health care but a hint at the survival instinct as well. Whether its empathizing with Nakul, Mirani or even Upadhyay, Srinivasan is always looking to come out on top, rationalizing every situation by deconstructing her subject or captor. The therapist who is constantly adapting ultimately in perhaps the greatest stroke of irony doesnt survive the series and her role poses a very interesting moral conundrum to viewers as she skirts the line between truth and lies through deft manipulation. Do we want Srinivasan to incur punishment until we learn her complete truth? Thats the mirror the writers unintentionally hold up in the series, questioning the morality of the moral lens itself.

Heeba Shah as Karima Upadhyay in Afsos. Photo: Amazon Prime Video

What the show does well too is characterization. No one character is ever so well established as to not change Nakul goes from being a loser to a man taking charge of his own destiny to a man in love to being clueless to realizing his nightmare and so onWhew! making their graphs surprising and shocking even after all, Upadhyays final victim was a complete curveball. Character arcs too when abruptly snipped are realized R.I.P Vikram the killer who wanted to turn a new leaf and even the background and supporting performances stun the dark-humor of the emergency room nurse (Swati Sarkar) was an unexpectedly light moment on the show.

Gulshan Devaiah as Nakul in Afsos.

Afsos succeeds because of its experimentative writing and direction but also on account of some stellar performances by the series cast. Devaiah is devastating as Nakul, nailing every nuance of a character who is so gloomy, his continuous existential crisis is a punchline. The actor does a lot with a little, infusing subtle mannerisms to depict the psyche of Nakul which particularly comes out in two scenes when his publisher tells him hell have to pay for a chance at publication and when he picks up the tea tab for Fokatiya baba who tells him, Bhagwan tumko lambi umar de, bete (May God bless you with a long life.) Devaiah indulges Nakul in a sly, barely registrable, sardonic smile because in both cases, the irony is not lost on the character and that measured restraint of expression coupled with other body language intimations, across multiple plot situations, displays an acting prowess that one can only hope Devaiah continues to tap into.

Aakash Dahiya as Bir Singh in Afsos.

Shah is formidable as the unflinching assassin Upadhyay, going from reasonable to relentless in an instant. Dahiya embodies the small town cop morale and impresses particularly in scenes where his character indulges in occupational commentary while Das captivates as Fokatiya baba, employing an understated gravitas that never overwhelms the innocence of his character. Bhattacharjee is delightful as Maria, skirting the line between murderous and courteous in every scene whereas Bhimsaria breaks out with his portrayal of a man at a turning point and Patil turns an oft flat therapist persona into a red herring with her layered performance as Srinivasan.

Ratnabali Bhattacharjee as Maria in Afsos.

A subtle standout in Afsos is Krish Makhijas cinematography which is striking in its mundanity as it romanticizes the balmy cityscape of Mumbai and the whitecast village of Harsil, turning introspective in hue when the camera pans on its denizens. Scenes such as those at the local tea stall and serene ashrams are interspersed with gloomy reflections by characters as well as calm crime sites bearing bullet laden bodies. Its these contradictions that further make the absurd tangible in Afsos. The soundscape of the show too blends well with the narrative and series scorer Neel Adhikaris thematic compositions The Kill (sung by Spanish vocalist Pati Amor) and Afsos Hai (sung by playback singer Arijit Singh) juxtapose the cat and mouse ploy brilliantly over the eight-episodes.

Gulshan Devaiah as Nakul in Afsos. Photo: Amazon Prime Video

Afsos, with its dark underbite and insensibly pragmatic approach, is the thriller that does not deign to make you laugh, but endeavors toward it. Theres an honesty to the narrative that feels refreshing almost making up for the confusing timelines and the series is a breakout commentary on social alienation and urban convention. Endlessly riveting and deliciously deceiving, Afsos just might be Indian dark comedy at its peak.

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'Afsos' Review: Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells the Tale? - - Rolling Stone India

Last month, I wrote about the first leg of Lost Odyssey and how much I was enjoying it. The second disc and first half of the third have been even better. The worldbuilding is mysterious and intriguing, with each new section making me want to know more about the immortals Im playing as. The narrative gets richer with each new set piece, the bond the characters have growing as they face off against enemies that come in a variety of forms.

Lost Odysseys storytelling acts almost like a counter argument against magic and immortality. About halfway into the game, your party enters the great city of Gohtza. Its a technological marvel, revolutionized by magic industry. But when you talk to the citizens, they reveal that many people have lost their jobs due to magic automating their positions. Although the new industries have great benefits, theyve also resulted in a stratified society where those who arent part of the elite are suffering. The contrast between the wealthy aristocrats and the people in Low Town is stark.

Adjacent to Gohtza is the city of Kent. Their people have been decimated by the magical meteor which struck them at the battle in the opening of the game. They are full of hatred at the immortal they blame for their loss (good thing they dont recognize said immortal is the protagonist, Kaim!).

The argument for immortality doesnt fare much better. The burden of long life takes a terrible emotional toll on those who carry it. You learn at the end of Disc 1 that Kaims wife, Sarah, is still alive. During their search for Sarah, the party hears rumors about an Old Sorceress who is very dangerous. You have to confront her since she has sealed off a cave your party needs to cross.

That ends up taking your party to Kaims old house. Within its walls, your party uses a series of magic mirrors to travel from the decrepit state the mansion has become to the past where everything is spick and span.

The dissolution and messy remains are metaphorical for the Old Sorceresss state of mind. She is surrounded by four Bodies of Thought, each utilizing one of the elements. They take turns attacking her from all angles, but never turn their attack against the party. The partys goal is to save her from killing herself. Since each of the Bodies is comprised of a different element, you have to be careful how you fight.

During the battle, the Old Sorceress will unleash a desperate scream. This changes up all the elements so that an approach that worked previously wont be effective anymore and might actually hurt her. Its only after you defeat all the Bodies of Thought that you realize Sarah is underneath the veil of the Old Sorceress. Driven to depression by the realization that her daughter was dead, she had been torturing herself for decades.

Even after destroying the Bodies of Thought, Sarahs depression nearly overwhelms her again. Its only thanks to her grandchildren, Cooke and Mack, singing an old lullaby, that Sarah finds some semblance of serenity. As Sarah realizes Kaim is back, they slowly make their way through the world together, supporting each other through their grief. Kaim is driven by his desire to avenge his daughter, while Sarah finds motivation in the love of her grandchildren.

Having a kid of our own gave this situation much more gravity. More than any of the Dream flashbacks or cutscenes, this battle revealed so much about the plight of immortality. What would seeing the deaths of those dear to them, and the number of them accumulating with the passing centuries, do to their minds? What seems like a boon for Sarah and Kaim is actually a curse. Their desolation increases with every passing year. Theres an understandable reason why Kaim doesnt seem all that eager to retrieve his memories.

Their amnesia takes on an entirely new wrinkle when they confront the man who caused their memory loss, Gongora. Gongora is a fellow immortal and a powerful magician who wants to build a magic engine called the Grand Staff. In your first battle against him in the Experimental Staff, he annihilates your party. Im so grateful for this gameplay/narrative choice. Multiple RPGs come to mind where you confront an ultimate villain for the first time and proceed to give them a spanking. The villain laughs it off and says something along the lines of, Ill be back for you later. But because youve already defeated them, they dont seem as deadly anymore (one of the examples that immediately comes to mind is Seymour from FFX).

In Lost Odyssey, theres no doubt who has the upper hand. But its not just Gongoras physical and magical abilities that make him so powerful. Having retained all his memories, he accuses Kaim and his fellow immortal of being traitors to a noble cause. Their memory loss was a punishment for their misdeeds. This accusation makes them question if their odyssey is even a righteous one. But Gongora seems to be struggling against demons of his own as hes in a mentally fraught state in the Experimental Staff. Its not clear yet whos on the right. It would make for a surprising twist if it turned out that Gongora is actually fighting for a good cause, while Kaim and company, having lost their memories, are actually the villains. As Kaim states, If the record of a thousand years shows that I am really a traitor, then Ill have to accept that, and pay the price.

Magic has obvious positive effects, like being able to heal the people around them. But in the merchant town of Saman, its had a strange influence. The villagers walk around in a zombified state, shrouded in a purple aura, giving free rein to their egos. One of the wealthy merchants in the city openly brags about the wealth hes accumulated through corrupt methods. A man in the Erlio Family House spends all his time talking to a doll. Cant you see Im quite occupied right now? Stop bothering me, he snaps at you. Then to the doll, Darling, I love you so much. You are the one that I love the most in this world. A car called Zak laughs at you and calls you pathetic. Another car called Jack complains, Ugh, every day I go around dealing with rude people and carrying their heavy bags. Then they kick me when Im not running well. If youve ever wondered what your car thinks of you, magic can tell you the truth.

Its these weird encounters in each of the towns that reminds me so much of what I love and have missed about JRPGs. Every city feels like a brand new experience full of quirky denizens. Its been a long time since Ive been this excited about seeing whats next in the journey.

Theres a lot of variety in the gameplay and boss battles. In the Experimental Staff, some of the areas are giant puzzles where youre shifting machines and opening up new pathways. Wind caves, slippery slopes, and thieving enemies, make the ice canyon a grueling trial. The battle preceding the Experimental Staff, which is against a Mantala, can be extremely difficult if you dont plan each step. Thats because every time you attack the Mantala, it hides in the ocean and summons smaller Mantas in its place. You have to time your attacks, defensive maneuvers, and spells to perfectly align the strongest blows on the Mantala. Otherwise, the battle can go forever.

Fortunately, theres not that much grinding to do when it comes to experience points. Any time you enter a new area, your characters will level up quickly to where they should be. The reason you still need to engage in fights is to increase skill link levels from the mortals and get SP from bands to learn new abilities. I did find a way to grind my characters beyond their normal levels at the Numara Atolls. Silver Kelolons dot the beach side (theyre akin to the metal slimes of Dragon Quest in giving you a heck of a lot of EXP). If your party has gained the Gamble spell, which is done by praying at all the Kelolon statues in Tosca Village, it makes beating the Silver Kelelons feasible on a predictable basis. I overpowered my characters within a few battles.

Each of the characters gets their chance to shine in battles and more importantly, the story. In an optional cutscene with Ming when you escape Numara, she sees a monument off the shore and recalls a past battle. She saved the city by turning a huge Arthrosaurus into stone, which was how the monument came to be. But the flashback causes her pain and its not clear why, making me wonder about her past. Cooke and Mack are always getting into trouble, including one scene where they hijack a magical train in the hopes of communicating with their mother again. Their hopefulness through some of the darker moments in the game help the characters cope with their circumstances. Jansen, the comic relief, turns against his benefactor, Gongora, in favor of the immortals. He lifts up the bag of gold Gongora had bribed him with and says hed throw it back out of a sense of outrage, but then decides to keep it since he figures thered be no point in giving up the money. Jansen always remains in character, even in his outrage.

The dreams in the first disc focused on Kaims memories. In the second, there are several dreams that your pirate immortal, Seth, regains, and theyre heartbreaking. That is, if you take the time to read them. As I mentioned in the first part of my Lost Odyssey retrospective, I really wish there could have been a way for these sequences to have been more seamlessly integrated. The way it currently stands, the two things that take me out of the immersion of the gameplay are the long load screens (I know Im playing off disc, but some of these load screens are really distracting) and the dreams. I want to read them as theyre very good, but every time I do, it feels like Im being sucked away from the world. At the same time, I realize theyre an additional layer, meant to add texture to the narrative, and entirely optional. Just their existence is something Im grateful for. Who knew reading the story about a shoemaker could be so emotional?

I know some people, including myself, have described Lost Odyssey as a spiritual successor to Final Fantasy. While theres some truth to that, especially due to the developers being who they are, theres also a lot the game does to weave together its own distinctive identity. This middle act is where the game went from being a lost odyssey to an epic one. I cant wait to see how it all ends.

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Lost Odyssey Brilliantly Explores The Tragedy Of Being Immortal - Kotaku

Mo Isom, a New York Times bestselling author and national speaker, returned to Lee for spring 2020 Convocation and spoke in two separate sermons focused on restoring relationships with Christ through intimacy and discernment.

In college, Isom was an All-American goalkeeper for the Louisiana State University (LSU) womens soccer team. She was also the first woman to try out for an SEC mens football team.

Isom was a favorite speaker among students since she first visited Lee in fall 2018. Because of this, she was invited to return and speak at Convocation. Starting the day with chapel, Isom spoke on the lack of true intimacy in the younger generation.

I think theres a number of different reasons as to why healthy intimacy alludes us. I do think there is a root of seeing few and being involved in very few truly healthy intimate relationships, said Isom. We see imperfect people trying to walk in a very broken world. Inevitably, we wound one another in the process. I think a lot of people in this generation are struggling to understand the fullness of intimacy because it hasnt been modeled well.

Isom currently has two published books Wreck My Life and Sex, Jesus, and the Conversations the Church Forgot. The latter book focuses on conversations about sex, sexuality, immortality and addiction that are often forgotten in the modern-day church.

Isom is currently in the process of writing her third book which takes a deeper look into the messages she spoke at Convocation intimacy with Christ.

It centers around the very things we spoke about [in chapel]. Intimacy with God. To know my God and be known by God what does that really mean? said Isom. It sent me on this beautiful and layered journey where I explored true intimacy with God. He revealed some really beautiful layers of how the physical model of intimacy that Hes given us parallels our model of intimacy with Him.

Isom first began her writing career as a college student blogger. Studying broadcast journalism, Isom did not foresee book publishing in her future. After one of her blog posts reached over 250,000 views, Isom realized the impact of her words.

I just shared when the Lord gave me a word, said Isom. I remember after I got engaged to my husband Jeremiah, I wrote a post called I just got engaged and immediately doubted my decision. Heres why I still said yes. It went, like, psycho-viral. I had a literary agent reach out to me after that post.

Isom accepted a two-book deal with a publishing company, starting her career as a writer. Isom stated that at the beginning of the whole process, she had no grand plan for what was to come. She said it all comes from the faithfulness to just listen and obey.

I think that when we sort of give [God] our faithful obedience and earnest heart, Hes the one who leads the way, said Isom. Its really cool. I never thought I would write books.

Isom did not shy away from the traditionally taboo topic of physical intimacy and the shame which can accompany it. She paralleled the captivity of the Egyptians in the Bible to the lack of intimacy and depth in relationships that enslave this generation.

I believe that the Spirit of the Living God is calling His children out of captivity and back to His heart, said Isom.

To combat this atmosphere of enslavement, Isom often uses jarring and descriptive language in her messages such as adulterous hearts. She uses this language to draw a connection from physical intimacy to connect her audience back to true intimacy with Christ.

The Lord opened my eyes to the prophetic parallel between the physical interactions that we see in the natural, and the same interactions that we see in the spiritual, said Isom. Its really beautiful to me to see that God gave us this physical act that deeply resonates with us. Everyone in the audience jeers and jars at those words because its a very intricate thing that we all recognize and understand in our flesh.

Isom believes using this descriptive language enlivens the ideas and messages she is attempting to portray.

[These words] bring it to life for us. Suddenly, its easier to understand, said Isom.

Isom concluded her Convocation message Tuesday evening with a call to action and a heartfelt prayer for the student body.

Convocation will continue with a concluding message from Mark Walker on Wednesday night.

For more information about Mo Isom, visit her website here.

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Mo Isom speaks on intimacy during Convocation week - Lee Clarion Online

Music festivals celebrate both art and artists of various genres of music. They also provide a platform for veterans and new artists to showcase their talent in front of a dedicated audience. From good food to good company, music festivals are the perfect space for magic to happen for those who dont mind a little bit of crowd. Listed below are some of the best music festivals in the world for anyone who wants to visit them.

Also Read |UK's Health Chief Slams Gwyneth Paltrow's Lifestyle Brand

When compared to other major music festivals, Green Man is quite small and intimate. However, it manages to combine various genres of music with a host of different types of art, which includes painting, poetry, literature, and films. Featuring favoured, talented local artists, this music festival is a beautiful combination of bonfires and secret musical performances.

Also Read |Railways To Run Special Train From Odisha For 'Urs' Festival

Held in the Byron Bay town, this splendid gig in Australia is a perfect mix oftemperate weather, delicious seafood, and dazzling sun. It involves performances by some of the biggestnames in the music industry. The name of the festival has been derived from Wordsworths iconic poem: Ode: Imitations of Immortality.

Also Read |Rihanna's Top Musical Collaborations That Gave Her Worldwide Recognition

One could expect a country with a rich cultural history as Zimbabwe to host one of the most vibrant music festivals in the world. Harare was started in 1999, and since then, it has become one of the central art festivals in the country, including music, dance, and art. It showcases the local culture of the African continent, including genres such as Afro-pop. Some of the biggest names in the African music industry are associated with this music festival.

Also Read |Urvashi Rautela And Other B'Town Actors Who Featured In Yo Yo Honey Singh's Music Videos

The USA has a rich past of country music, and the CMA festival continues to preserve this culture. Not only does the festival include days of awesome concerts, but it also organises meets and greets where the audience members can meet and interact with their favourite artists. Almost anyone associated with country music has performed a gig at the CMA festival.

A unique thing about this music festival is that it never stops. Once the line-up of performances for the day is complete, the audience will not have to go back home;instead, they can go to the after-hour gigs and listen to some more music there. Several big names associated with the pop music industry have played at this music festival, which makes it even more enjoyable.

Music lovers can choose to visit any of the above music festivals, or similar ones held in other countries. Once you visit a new country for the festival, you even get a chance to explore that country as a tourist. Take your pick and get packing!

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Popular music festivals from around the world for music lovers - Republic World - Republic World

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There was a once in a lifetime kind of feeling in the air on Wednesday night in Vancouver. An epic tale of twin brothers, Daniel and Henrik Sedin came to a beautiful close at Rogers Arena when they witnessed the numbers 22 and 33 become officially retired and raised to the rafters forever. Talk about the perfect storybook ending, well deserved for the two best Canucks of all time.

The amount of appreciation and paid respects from former teammates and fans alike was overwhelmingly tremendous, but truly just a fraction of what the Sedins did for the City of Vancouver. They poured their hearts and souls into this city and hockey club both on and off the ice. They were truly the two most iconic top-class NHLers to sport the blue and green. Both equally respected by many, and it showed.

Want your voice heard? Join the The Canuck Way team!

A must-see, the Canucks legends, and former teammates were in attendance to celebrate the successful careers of their idolized and accomplished leaders. Nobody was going to miss this one, even Ryan Keslerbraved the storm and was warmly welcomed back, possibly getting the loudest cheers a smile from ear to ear. Heartfelt speeches and great memories were shared, and it all ended with the twins getting the ultimate honor, immortality in Vancouver, a place for their name to live on forever.

The only way to polish it all off would be a victory against the twins arch-nemesis, the Chicago Blackhawks. They were bound to come out strong, but could the Canucks fend off the hungry hawks and give Sedin Night the perfect cherry on top? Lets take a look at Wednesday nights results.

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Canucks: 3 takeaways from 3-0 shutout win over Blackhawks - The Canuck Way

The new Amazon Prime Video web series Afsos is supposedly based on a novel whose author remains unidentified. Was Golpur Goru Chaande ever committed to the page or is it a joke, like the fake disclaimer that precedes the Coen brothers 1996 cult movie Fargo (This is a true story. The events depicted in this film took place in Minnesota in 1987. At the request of the survivors, the names have been changed. Out of respect for the dead, the rest has been told exactly as it occurred.)

Keep wondering. Meanwhile, there is no ambiguity about who is driving Afsos, which has unusual subject matter that makes it vastly different from other shows on streaming platforms. The irreverent series has been created by Anirban Dasgupta and Dibya Chatterjee and written by them along with Sourav Ghosh. Director Anubhuti Kashyap deftly navigates the peaks and troughs of a black comedy with lashings of existentialism and a penchant for alternative history. The cast is stellar, with the always-watchable Gulshan Devaiah in pole position as the man who doesnt want to live but is simply unable to die.

Devaiahs Nakul is a serial suicide attempter who has failed despite his best efforts. His therapist Shloka (Anjali Patil) ladles out life-affirming cliches (Quitting is not an option, Nakul!), but he is unmoved. Nakul contacts the merciful duo at the Emergency Exit agency to organise a hit on himself. Emergency Exit, which helps people reach their makers faster, is run by Maria (Ratnabali Bhattacharjee) and Vikram (Ujjwal Chopra) out of a trailer somewhere in Mumbai and has Fargo signs all over, presumably as a tribute to the Coens macabre vision.

The task of liberating Nakul from his agony is handed to the single assassin on the agencys payroll (the operation is as lean as it is mean). This grim reaper is better known by her surname, Upadhyay, and she would win the Employee of the Year award hands-down once she takes on an assignment, she will fulfill it, even if the client has a change of heart.

Upadhyay (Heeba Shah) carves notches on her hand representing her kills, but she is somehow unable to finish off Nakul. The answer has everything to do with the quest for immortality represented by Fokatiya (Robin Das), a sadhu from Uttar Pradesh. Fokatiya believes that he holds in his palms amrut, or elixir, the same fluid of eternal life written about in the holy texts. The inspector Bir (Akash Dahiya) from Uttarakhand thinks that Fokatiya is a killer. The suited-booted scientist Goldfish (Jamie Alter) predicts that by 2054, humankind will have conquered death and will live forever.

Nakul, meanwhile, chooses his side of the debate and decides that he wants to live after all. Upadhyay is unmoved. Weapons are discharged. Declarations of love are made. A police investigation gets underway. Fokatiya arrives in Mumbai, as does inspector Bir and a mysterious tourist (Danish Sait).

The game of who gets to live and who dies is a familiar one. The makers of Afsos, which is always meant to be taken lightly despite tackling metaphysical themes, have an added challenge who cares? It helps that the characters are sharply etched and mostly superbly performed, and that the deadpan comedic tone remains more or less consistent throughout the eight-episode run. When Fokatiyas elixir doesnt work as expected, a laidback Mumbai police inspector has an excellent response: its a matter for the consumer court, he says.

Theres no shortage of imagination here, only a familiar tendency to keep the strangeness coming at all costs. A track involving Shloka and the granite-hearted Upadhaya carries on for far too long, just like the series, which expands its scope to include urban legends and conspiracy theories. The regrets include the underutilisation of the talented Akash Dahiya, Danish Saits silly fake Russian number, and the underserviced Nakul-Shloka romance, which is among the reasons Nakul chooses to try living over dying. Gulshan Devaiah and Anjali Patil make a fine pair, but their connection gets lost as the chase for the man who will live forever wanders on, about and off course.

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In Amazon web series Afsos, black humour and a high body count on the road to immortality - Scroll.in

Express News Service

Spring is in the air, and so is love. Valentines Day is around the corner and notwithstanding the moral police and the prissy prudes, love will have its day, a day when love can be expressed in unequivocal terms to those we truly care about.It is so difficult to talk about those we love whereas we have a hundred things to say about those we dont. This is where literature and its bards come to our aid and we find ourselves quoting lines that speak to us directly.

The Bard of all times says in a sonnet: Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks/ But bears it out to the edge of doom. My all-time favourite lines are from W B Yeats: I have spread my dreams under your feet/ Tread softly because you tread upon my dreams. In another poem, he says, Yet one man loved the pilgrim soul in you and loved the sorrows of your changing face.

In The Anniversary, the metaphysical poet John Donne draws us to the immortality of love: All other things to their destruction draw/ Only our love hath no decay/ This no tomorrow hath, nor yesterday. And Christopher Marlowe says, albeit to a vision of Helen, Thou art fairer than the evening air clad in the beauty of a thousand stars. I have yet to come across a more pristine expression of beauty. A good friend wanting to propose to the girl he loved gifted her a book, Of Human Bondage, and the flyleaf said. Leading you to an overwhelming question... Never has Eliot been set to better account. No doubt the question was answered in the affirmative.

In the initial years of love with all its hyperbole and metaphor, Shelley would come to the rescue: The desire of the moth for the star/ the night for the morrow/ The devotion to something afar/ From the sphere of our sorrow. Jalaluddin Rumi, the Sufi mystic, says true love is close to divinity: I am ashamed/ to call this love human/ and afraid of God/ to call it divine. As we get on in years and love has only ripened with the years, we have Walt Whitmans words, There we two content, happy in being together, speaking little, perhaps not a word.

And yet while these lines resonate with their relevance across time, the best words are from oneself from the core of ones being as when my husband said to me, I miss you all the time, I miss you even while you are with me. A paradox I thought at that time but with years I learnt all love is an eternal missing. Happy Valentines Day!

Sudha Devi Nayak Email: sudhadevi_nayak@yahoo.com

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Its that time when love is in the air - The New Indian Express