Category Archives: Immortality

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Born to French-Canadian parents, Jack Kerouac excelled in sports from a very young age. Initially, never interested in literature, Kerouacs athletic pursuits won him a sports scholarship at Columbia University in the early 1940s.

At the same time, Allen Ginsberg, also won a scholarship at Columbia University and then met Lucien Carr. Carr, a well-read academic, was popular for his views and writings, which were infamously anti-establishment.

This is the time when, the core members of the Beat Generation Kerouac, Ginsberg, Carr, Herbert Huncke and William S Burroughs would go on to start a movement that would inspire generations to come. Through their prose and poetry, they would advocate spiritual awakening, purification, and illumination through heightened sensory awareness. This, they argued, might be induced by drugs, jazz, sex, or, in the later years, Zen Buddhism. But it was Kerouacs book titled On the Road, and his friendship with Ginsberg, that made headlines every now and then.

In the 1960s, as their writing gained momentum, adoration was closely followed by denunciation. However, their works, in time, influenced these popular trends, then engulfing the world.

The hippie movement

I was surprised, as always, by how easy the act of leaving was, and how good it felt. The world was suddenly rich with possibility, wrote Kerouac in his seminal work, On The Road. Published in 1957, this part travelogue part novel, took Kerouac only three weeks to write. Written in a single, effortless flow, the book was inspired by Kerouacs travel across the rapidly changing post-war United States.

Cited by legendary artistes including, Bob Dylan, Jim Morrison and David Bowie as an influential read, Kerouacs work inspired a generation of hippie trails. The quest for soul searching, lied in travel, and for him, the journey he underwent before writing the book, was just a start. Unsurprisingly, American teens read the book cover-to-cover and before late, he became a literary icon.

The manuscript of On the Road

In fact, the term hippie was introduced in the 1960s. Before that, the American media coined the term, beatnik, to describe Americans, setting on a long journey inspired by Kerouacs writings. His works, acquired a global reach after hippies became prevalent around the world. The trail, required Americans to fly to Europe, which is where it would start. The final stop, more often than not, being Southern India, the travellers used the passes through pre-revolution Iran, and Afghanistan, before it was invaded, finally crossing over to Pakistan and entering India before settling in the southern states of Goa and Kerala.

Countercultures

Arguably, nothing influenced music and literature the way counterculture did. Constantly associated with liberation, one can see the rise of ideals of pacifism, LGBT acceptance and marijuana legalisation when one reads works like Post Office by Charles Bukowski or Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S Thompson.

Counterculture literature grew with time when authors, notably, used their writings as a tool to critique the establishment that was governing them. Risking imprisonment and sedition charges, Kerouacs contemporary, Allen Ginsberg penned his much acclaimed poem, Howl. Ginsberg regularly mentions Kerouac in his works.

Allen Ginsberg in Banarasin 1963(HT PHOTO)

What is obscenity? And to whom? he wrote in the initial pages of his book, Howl and Other Poems. Ginsberg was frustrated that the rapidly growing American economy was masking the countrys military ventures. He accused the everyday white collar worker of ignoring the countrys atrocities. I saw the best minds of my generation who threw their watches off the roof to cast their ballot for Eternity outside of Time, & alarm clocks fell on their heads every day for the next decade, he wrote about how the US government was fooling them by luring them with jobs, as a way to mask Vietnam Wars atrocities. Subsequently, he had to face sedition charges.

Religion and spirituality

In Kerouacs final days, which would also mark the conclusive years of the Beat Generation, he set out in search of spirituality and was fascinated by Eastern religions. Ginsberg made a historic trip to India and Kerouac published, The Dharma Bums, what is now considered the hippie handbook.

My karma was to be born in America where nobody has any fun or believes in anything, especially freedom, he wrote. Raised a devout Roman Catholic, Kerouac after being introduced to Buddhism, mentions Bodhisattva frequently in his works which followed The Dharma Bums. Moreover, this was the early 1960s, when hippies, in their Volkswagen buses, thronged the beaches of California chanting Hare Rama, Hare Krishna.

First Published:Oct 11, 2019 15:42 IST

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On the road to immortality - Hindustan Times

Just before Texas' Cameron Dicker made the kick to beat Oklahoma last year, FOX Sports announcer Gus Johnson boomed that Dicker was kicking for a place in "Red River immortality."

Really, there are few better ways to describe it. Anyone familiar with the history of the rivalry knows the names that make it arguably the greatest rivalry in college football, from Stoney Clark's stop to Roy Williams' Superman.

And plenty of players in the past decade (2010-on) have made their marks on the Red River Showdown as well. We asked Jeff Howe of Horns247 and Joey Helmer of OUInsider both of whom took in every game between the two schools over that time period for the five best from the school they cover. And to mix things up, we tried to keep it to one player on either side of the ball per year; while it would be easy to pick several Texas defenders from the 2015 game, or Oklahoma offensive players from the following year, we looked for one player who truly swung things in his team's favor.

The result is a reminder of just how good individual Texas and Oklahoma players have been over the past decade; for those who took in these games, they may wind up telling their own children and grandchildren about these players, the way Clark and Williams have already been passed down.

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Best Red River Showdown performances of the decade - 247Sports

The weight of Texas all lied on the shoulders and foot of Cameron Dicker, the kicker from China. The only thing separating the Longhorns from 2018 Red River glory was a freshmanand his 40-yard field goal attempt.

"Cameron Dicker, from 40 yards away, for University of Texas Red River immortality," Fox Sports play-by-play announcer Gus Johnson said on the call.

Dicker's parents, Rachel and Kelly, nervously scanned the field as Kyler Murray led a vicious comeback, overcoming a 45-24 fourth-quarter deficit to tie the ballgame 45-45 with two minutes left.

"We were enjoying the game," Kelly said. "It was an incredible atmosphere ... (With) probably about 10 mintues left is when we started noticing that this might come down to a kick."

Rachel focused on the game, but Kelly was fixated on his son, Cameron, who patiently waited until he was asked to line up for the biggest kick of his career.

This was all relatively new for the Dicker family, not just the pageantry of the Red River Showdown or the scent of corn dogs and deep-fried everything sweeping across the Texas State Fair, but college football and the state of Texasin general.

Cameron didn't grow up like the majority of the players at the Cotton Bowl who anxiously awaited his kick with the Red River Showdown on the line. Home for him was over 7,300 miles away.

Cameron was born in Hong Kong, though Shanghai is where the Dickers called home for the first decade of his life. It's also where he was introduced to sports.

While success in soccer dominated Cameron's early childhood, Kelly decided to introduce him to American football by building a program with a group of fathers who were also expatriates living in China. They had enough numbers to form two teams,the hardest part of forming a league waschecked off the list -- in theory, the plan sounded fine.

Then, Cameron got stuck playing on the offensive line and middle linebacker for his team, the Shanghai Dragons.

"He definitely did not enjoy that position at all," Kelly said. "He did really well at middle linebacker. They made him the center just because of his size."

Cameron wasn't exposed to kicking in China simply because that wasn't an option -- it wasn't part of the version of football they played in Shanghai. That all changed when Cameron got his hands on a tee after a practice.

"One night in a practice, someone threw out the 1980s orange tee that we all grew up with as kids, something that somebody threw out of a bag," Kelly said. "We were messing around. He and a couple of other kids were kicking the ball. It was a very natural swing for him."

That natural swing is exactlywhy Cameron raised his hand when a middle school coach asked, 'Can anybody kick?' after the Dickers moved to Austin due to Kelly's job.

Even in middle school, though, Cameron was less than excited to still be playing on the offensive line.

After a season of playing it, I was like Im done with this. It pushed me away from football. I was about to be done with the sport, Cameron said. Im a soccer player, so I enjoy running around and doing stuff. At O-Line I just stood there and blocked. It wasnt very fun, it just pushed me away from it.

The following year, Dicker decided to shift his focus solely on kicking duties.

As time would tell, this move was a permanent one. Neither Cameron nor his family knew it at the time, but 92,000-plus fans inside the Cotton Bowl would eventually watch his every move,awaiting that same swing for "Red River immortality."

According to Cameron, none of this pressure fazed him. He still managed to ooze the confidence the Longhorn fan base has come to associate with the kicker, even with the crimson half of the Cotton Bowl erupting as the Sooners completed the 21-point comeback.

"When they started coming back, I was like, 'OK, I'll kick the game winner,'" Cameron said after the game. "I knew I was going to, I felt that, and I was ready to go."

Before Cameron got his shot, he watched as Sam Ehlinger led a nearly perfect two-minute drill, converting on a third down to advance the ball to the Oklahoma 32.

"Once they got the first down, I knew it was in the 40 range," Kelly said. "I became more calm because I know Cameron can make that kick."

Kelly continued to read his son's body language from the stands, but what he didn't see was Cameron's facial expression, which went viral in the middle of the game.

Right before Cameron ran out for the field goal, a Fox camera found the freshman with a wide grin and a confident head nod, a moment that quickly turned into one of the most popular GIFs among UT fans and students alike.

"It's a perfect reflection," Ehlinger said. "He's just enjoying the moment and having fun. That's how he is all the time."

"He's goofy," linebacker Joseph Ossai said.

He recently claimed he was unaware the camera was locked in on him, clarifying that the gesture was toward Ossai and not to the millions of viewers watching at home.

"That was our thing," Ossai said. "There's a lot of pressure on those guys. They have such a little job, but it means a lot and everybody is watching. Before and after every kick I would hug him and say, 'No matter what, I love you, bruh.' After a made kick he would just wink at me, and I would wink back."

Ossai says they still do the wink, but it also has evolved into a handshake as well.

With Cameron busy going viral on national television and Kelly calming down a bit, Rachelappeared to be the only onestill trying to get a handle on her nerves.

Rachel and Cameron made their first trip to the Red River Showdown the year prior, though Cameron was just a recruit, not the kicker who lined up for this 40-yard attempt with 14 seconds on the clock.

"It's all on the shoulders of a freshman," Johnson said.

Some players linked arms, others prayed and a few couldn't bring themselves to watch.

"I was sitting next to (Texas safety, Class of 2017) DeShon Elliott, and I ask, 'How do you want to approach this?'" former defensive end Breckyn Hager said. "He (DeShon) said, 'I don't know, bro.'I said, 'Let's look up.' So we're looking up. We're not going to watch it. As we're looking up I was like, 'God told me we were going to win this game, so why would he miss it?' That's when I was like, 'Oh wait, he went to Lake Travis, and I'm from Westlake.'"

Hager's joke dates back to their high school days, which featured a bitter rivalry between Dicker's Lake Travis Cavaliers and Hager's and Ehlinger's Westlake Chaparrals. None of that mattered when Cameron stared down the goal post against the crimson backdrop of Oklahoma fans, did his double heel tap routine and took a deep breath.

"Earthquake! He hit it. Dicker the kicker, 48-45, Texas," Gus Johnson announced in the specific octave he saves for monumental moments.

Cameron said he didn't even watch the kick -- the shot that sent the burnt orange half of the Cotton Bowl into a frenzy -- go through the uprights.

"I remember after he kicked the field goal and he made it through -- I felt weak in the knees," Rachel said. "Literally weak in the knees. I was thrilled for him."

Cameron's game-winner not only came with the Golden Hat, but also a rare appointment with the media.

"I just remember it took him a really long time to come out to where we were waiting," Rachel said. "We were anxious to see him but he was apparently doing all these interviews. He was quite happy. I wouldn't say overwhelmed but it was a lot for him, all the attention he was getting."

Even after last year's kick, or his 57-yarder against Rice this year, Tom Herman still refuses to call Cameron, or any specialist by their name. If former Texas punter, and Texas Bowl MVP, Michael Dickson wasn't able to shake the name "punter," it's tough to expect Cameron to earn such a feat.

He is convinced that Herman enjoys this special teams group more than previous units, though. Herman hasn't gotten around to saying that, and he likely won't, but the compliments Cameron is drawing from the Texas head coach is slowly inching toward the Dickson tier of praise.

"I think our kicker is pretty dang good," Herman said in August. "I'm not afraid to say that. It's a luxury. It's rare to find one that is talented but yet mentally in a really, really good place."

Unlike last year, nothing will be new for the Dickers on Saturday. It looks like it might be 20 degrees cooler, but everything else -- the 50/50 split, the deep fried everything, the tunnel, the specific hatred shared between border states -- will all look familiar.

The attention Dicker received after last year's game is going anywhere, either. The same kicker -- the one who picked up the sport by playing on the offensive line in Shanghai -- will arrive to the Cotton Bowl on Saturday with his name, loved by one half of the stadium and deeply hated by the other, already cemented into the history of the Red River Showdown.

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From China to the Cotton Bowl: How Dicker The Kicker cemented his name in Red River history - The Dallas Morning News

REVIEW DAVID CUSWORTH 4 stars

Murmurs of immortality attended Leanne Glovers premiere of the Iain Grandage cor anglais concerto, Orphee, with WA Symphony Orchestra at Perth Concert Hall.

The legendary hero-musician Orpheus challenged death, embracing love yet failing as mortals must.

Such poignant feelings are riven through the concerto delivered with stunning effect by Glover, a dazzling figure in glittering jade, expressive and alluring throughout.

Shimmering strings and percussion set the scene, rustling over Baroque arpeggios, wavering slightly as Glover drifted eloquently in with a high, keening lament; rueful over a sinister underworld accompaniment, deep drums and funereal bells.

Sinuous playing and gesture cut neatly through antiphonal string ensembles held in perfect balance by Douglas Boyds deft baton.

Ghostly, the title of the first movement, was the leitmotif, while a meditative line emerged to explore the cors distinctive alto voice as drums and strings spoke of death and beyond, from which the hero seeks to lead his lover.

In the finale, what Glover terms curly bars lifted the intensity but never quite left behind the sighing tones of the opening; genuinely virtuosic passages rushing to an all-too-sudden conclusion.

Orpheus plea for his lost love Euridice, Do not separate two loving hearts, inspired this work through the medium of UWA professor emeritus David Tunley, whose affection for French composer Clerambaults telling of the classical myth led Grandage to write the concerto as a 90th birthday present.

Ever the showman, Grandage gave a hint of whats to come in his three-year directorship of the Perth Festival by appearing beforehand with piano accordion to expose the themes of the work.

At the last he sprinted on stage and embraced Glover to applause, cheers and bouquets of all kinds.

Vaughan Williams opened the night with Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis; another borrowing from an archaic source expressed by antiphonal string ensembles, in this case small (quartet), medium and large.

Chords mystic and solemn evoked the ecclesiastical origin of Tallis work, a setting of Psalm 2.

In Vaughan Williams reworking, Greensleeves meets ancient faith and the Reformation, a musical kaleidoscope underpinned by deep pedal notes as if accompanied by organ.

Boyd blended three dozen string voices into one, micro-managing the ebb and flow; lush tones and refined dynamics the hallmark of the climax and cadence.

After the interval, Beethovens Eroica Symphony gave a foretaste of next years 250th anniversary tributes.

Clarity in the opening surging theme was tightly knit with complex rhythm and, again, precise dynamics.

Eroica, Beethovens third symphony, is the precursor of the Romantic revolution he unleashed.

Soaring melody, strident chords and a wealth of passion shone through, woodwind and brass scintillating and sharp.

The funeral march second movement gives a hint of the magnificent seventh symphony to come, the death of earthly glory subtly evoked in Liz Chees oboe.

Horns were especially powerful in the Scherzo, three playing as one over urgent, energetic offbeat entries and embellishments that Boyd clearly relished.

Launching attacca into the finale, all the above returned, challenging orchestra and audience with delicious forebodings of the year to come.

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WASO and Leanne Glover premiere Iain Grandages cor anglais concerto, Orphee. - The West Australian

Captain Tim Ritson, who has died aged 84, brought inexhaustible enthusiasm to his various incarnations as cavalry officer, farmer, fisherman and horseman.

Ritson belonged to that species of Englishman for whom taking part was the thing. Disappointments were not to be dwelt on and he had his share of those. A serious eventer in his younger days, he was selected for Great Britains team at the Mexico Olympics in 1968, only for his horse to go lame, preventing them from competing.

Later, in 2001, he briefly had visions of immortality when he hooked a monster salmon (It was like a shark) on his beloved River Brora in Scotland. After he and his ghillie had played the fish for two hours, the...

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Captain Tim Ritson, cavalry officer who rode the Queen Mothers horse and had a close encounter with a monster salmon obituary - Telegraph.co.uk

Hodder & Stoughton, 17.99

Review by Alastair Mabbott

Mike Pearl used to write a column for Vice entitled How Scared Should I Be?, and seems to have found his answers researching this book, in which he explores the kind of future scenarios most of us dont have to think about.

To be fair, its not all about apocalyptic endings. Chapter titles like The Day Nuclear Bombs Kill Us All, The Day the Next Supervolcano Erupts and The Day Antibiotics Dont Work Anymore are in the minority. Most of his speculations are extrapolated from existing concerns, such as The Day a Tech Billionaire Takes Over the World (a low probability, in Pearls estimation, but Scary? Extremely) and The Day Anyone Can Imitate Anyone Perfectly, which is more or less upon us already.

Pearl admits that The Day Doping is Allowed at the Olympics would probably closely resemble the late-80s/early-90s Olympics, but even the more innocuous titles evoke a slightly queasy feeling, signalling dramatic changes which are not necessarily unwelcome but underline what a strange and foreign place a future like that would be. Like The Day the UK Finally Abolishes its Monarchy (Plausibility rating: 5/5), or The Day the US Finally Bans Guns (what, with all those tooled-up militias out there?).

Pearl has long suffered from anxiety, and putting this book together made an effective coping strategy for him. Now its us who will be kept awake at night by questions we would never have thought of asking. Will our cemeteries eventually run out of room? If every slaughterhouse shut down, would the global economy collapse? Will lunar colonists be contractually obliged to stay childless until Space Health & Safety works up the nerve to greenlight a low-gravity birth?

Given the epic, world-changing nature of the events being considered here, Pearl couldnt be expected to keep a solemn tone for the duration, so theres levity, irony and understatement in the scenarios he devises for each chapter and the ratings he gives them. Pearl believes were right to be both excited and terrified by the future, though the balance of this book tips just a bit to the terrifying side.

But if the future looks frightening, think of the changes weve already weathered in our lifetime. On consumer resistance to laboratory-grown meat, Pearl sensibly remarks, And just as with existing meat products, as long as the stuff tastes good, consumers probably wont spend much time agonizing over how it got in the package. On the other hand, contact with extra-terrestrials would be a mixed blessing. British astronomer Chris Impel tells Pearl, Our tribal world culture is fairly unstable already, and this will just be another destabilizing element coming out of science, which we sort of dont need.

One thing to look forward to is that there are multiple ways in which the human lifespan could be prolonged. The bad news is that if immortality were to be rolled out among the general population humans would quickly fill up the entire solar system. Laboratory-grown meat not sounding so bad now?

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Review: The Day It Finally Happens, by Mike Pearl - HeraldScotland

One of the perennial themes of horror is the idea that death is not the worst fate. Despite our fear of our mortality, the fact that death is an end is in itself a comfort. While many wish for immortality, not being able to die would be truly horrific. Billy Seneses supernatural thriller The Dead Center is a tale about a man who returns from the dead and carries with him a terrible power.

Daniel Forrester (Shane Carruth, Primer) is a dedicated psychiatrist who works in an emergency psych ward. When a catatonic John Doe (Jeremy Childs, Preacher) shows up in the ward after being found in the adjacent hospital, Daniel finds himself drawn to the mysterious man. When the man snaps out of his catatonic state, he is unable to remember who he is, But he claims there is a darkness that spirals within him.

Unbeknownst to Daniel, a medical examiner, Edward Graham (Bill Feehely, Blood Rogues) is looking for the John Doe. The mysterious patient is actually Michael Clark, a suicide victim whose corpse has disappeared from the morgue. While the two men attempt to unravel the mystery behind the patient, there is a spate of deaths in the ward when workers and patients who come in contact with the strange man become sick.

There is an unfortunate trend in mainstream horror to put the monster front and center and to deliver a neat explanation of whatever evil the heroes must face. Fortunately, The Dead Center understands that nothing is more terrifying than the unexplainable, and mostly keeps the horror off-screen and enigmatic. We are rarely shown more than a few flashes of Michaels attacks, making them all the more effective. While there is mercifully no expository scene that tells us exactly whats going on, we are given hints. Michael explains an evil spiral that shows him horrifying things, and when Edward goes to Michaels parents house, we see a wall covered with pictures of demons and corpses that look suspiciously like Michaels victims.

Gore-averse horror fans will be happy to hear that there is little gore in The Dead Center. Michaels evil is more akin to disease than physical violence, and were rarely shown the attacks in full. While this may be frustrating to fans of more extreme horror, it will be a boon to viewers who appreciate subtler scares. You only need a flicker of light and a glimpse of Michael approaching the victim to be creeped out.

Cinematographer Andy Duensing eschews the typical horror movie aesthetic, opting for flat lighting and muted colors. This lack of stereotypically creepy visuals helps keep the film grounded in the psychiatric ward setting, and makes the horror elements feel more realistic. Instead, the film opts to use music and sound design to amp up the chills. Jordan Lehnings score is unobtrusive and mostly consists of ambient sounds that give the scenes an eerie atmosphere.

In addition to the music, the films use of sound also helps to give the audience a sense of unease. This is most noticeable with Michael, who often has tinnitus. When he explains the horrors that haunt him, we hear the ringing in his ears while Daniels dialogue is muffled. It puts the audience in a disoriented mood and helps us empathize with him, even as he causes horrible events to occur.

As far as monsters go, Michael is a sympathetic one. It may not even be fair to call him a monster, as its obvious from the start that he is possessed by some evil force, and doesnt want to hurt people. Childs gives a powerhouse performance, portraying him as tortured without feeling self-pitying. His physical acting is also fantastic. Before attacking his victims, Michael will go into convulsions, and Childs throws himself into these scenes. As he writhes around, his eyes give a dead stare, making the character feel completely inhuman. Its unsettling and escalates the dread before it culminates into terror.

The Dead Center understands that nothing is more terrifying than the unexplainable.

While Childs performance is the lynchpin for the movie, the rest of the cast also play their roles admirably. Carruths Daniel is passionate but vulnerable, and his descent into madness is believable as his desire to help Michael turns into a desire to stop him. Feehely does well as Edward, but his performance is hindered by the blandness of his character. The medical examiner has no quirks and his investigation is only in the film to give the audience a few hints of the evil that is possessing Michael.

Though grounding its horror in the mundane offers a perverse appeal, the unremarkable nature of the characters is maybe the films biggest flaw. While Edward is the worst offender, Daniels characterization also feels uninspired. While he isnt boring, his tragic backstory (his mother committed suicide) and complicated relationship with his boss Sarah (Poorna Jagannathan, Big Little Lies) feel like typical traits of a horror movie psychiatrist. This isnt to say that the characters dont work or detract from enjoying the film, but a little more development would have helped elevate The Dead Center in the crowded field of low-budget horror.

However, even if it doesnt break any new ground in the horror genre, The Dead Center is still worth a watch for fear fans. Its concept is a fresh one, and the chills are deftly handled. There are fates worse than death, and missing out on this fun horror flick may be one of them. (Now, Shane, come back to directing. Its been six years since Upstream Color. We miss you.)

The Dead Center is currently haunting limited theaters and VOD, and comes to DVD October 15th.

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The Dead Center Review: Who Wants to Live Forever? - The Spool

MICHAEL ONEILL watched football immortality come and go in fifteen mad minutes.

Northern Ireland were clinging onto a hard-earned point having taken the lead - only to succumb in injury time.

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Defeat means ONeills team now slip to third place in Group C leaving their Euro 2020 qualifying hopes hanging by a thread.

Boss ONeill reckoned he needed four points from back-to-back qualifiers against the Dutch to stand any chance of making it to next summers finals.

For five minutes his tiny nation were on course for their biggest win since the beating Spain in 2006 after Josh Magennis gave them a shock lead.

The Hull City striker had only been on the pitch for nine minutes when he headed home from inside the box after a cock-up in defence between Daley Blind and Matthijs de Ligt.

With 15 minutes to go it appeared as if ONeills defensive masterplan would hold out - only to see his team crumble.

And it was former Manchester United flop Memphis Depay who made them pay with two goals as they ran out of steam and the sloppy Dutch finally woke up.

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Depay equalised in the 80th minute and scored his countrys third four minutes into injury time to seal what on paper looks like a routine night.

Substitute Luuk de Jong scored in between, one minute into stoppage time as Northern Irish resistance faded.

ONeill knew he faced a huge task to get anything from the team ranked 13 in the world at a stadium where they have won 16 games on the spin.

But for a spell it looked as if he might be able to face Holland at Windsor Park next month with a chance to upset the odds and cling onto the all-important second place.

Magennis goal was Northern Irelands only shot on target all night and it was the forwards first goal of any kind this season.

ONeills plan was to soak up Dutch pressure and hit on the counter attack and it seemed to be working a treat.

Holland dominated possession and the number of chances in front of goal but also missed a string of opportunities to take the lad and make it a more comfortable night.

Liverpool midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum had a thunderous shot black in the first half and he also blazed over the bar in the second.

To make matters worse for Northern Ireland, Holland go to whipping boys Belarus on Sunday where they should stretch their lead even further over ONeills team.

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Holland 3 Northern Ireland 1: Depay inspires Dutch comeback to sink underdogs who were on verge of shock Euro - The Sun

With 'The Eternals', the MCU will add a race of cosmic superheroes to its mix and they'll be unlike anything the world has ever seen. In comics, most characters who are associated with super-powered races, such as the mutants and Inhumans have an ability or two that sets them apart, however, the Eternals come across as a more unique and powerful race of beings. 'Eternals' is part of Phase 4 and revolves around a group of immortal aliens, the Celestials. According to the comics, the Eternals were a creation of these space gods.

The Celestials came to Earth thousands of years ago and experimented with the DNA of the ancient humans resulting in two sets of creations the Eternals and the Deviants. The latter was a more hideous and crude creation while the Eternals came across as the more refined versions who could pass off for humans. Immortality, one of the many powers of the Eternals came from an accident after Chronos, a first-generation Eternal experimented with cosmic energy. Thanks to the explosion, that spread over the city, each Eternal had cosmic energy in them.

In addition to immortality, they also have a string of powers that set them apart from other Marvel races. While mutants and Inhumans have a specific ability, the cosmic energy gives them more than just one ability including superhuman strength, telepathy, teleportation, and manipulation of matter. Among the most unique abilities is the Uni-Mind where a group of Eternals can link up and form the Uni-Mind where they form a single being.

The only common factor between the Inhumans, Mutants and the Eternals are their power levels that vary. All the Eternals slated to appear in the 2020 movie are perfect examples. Each of them comes with their own impressive set of powers and in many ways is a new direction that the MCU is taking by introducing these celestial beings to the world. How the studios explain their origin, their powers, and abilities remains to be seen.

'The Eternals' will hit theatres on November 6, 2020.

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MCU Phase 4: Here's how cosmic superheroes 'The Eternals' differ from the X-Men and the Inhumans - MEAWW

Obi-Wan Kenobi is a badass dude. He chopped Darth Maul clear in half. He ripped all six lightsaber-wielding arms of General Grievous apart. And not even Anakin Skywalker, an angry Sith convert at the height of his youthful vigor and rage, could cut Kenobi down in a one-on-one lightsaber duel.

Of course, Kenobi would eventually yield to his former Padawan in Episode IVA New Hope. But that doesn't mean Vader got the last laugh. As the story goes, by Kenobi allowing Vader to strike him down at the finale of the first Star Wars film, Old Ben was able to become an important spiritual ally to Luke Skywalker, helping to save the Rebellion and finish off the The Empire once and for all (or so they thought). So the question is, why the hell is everybody always saying that Anakin is the "chosen one?" A recent fan theory on Reddit makes the case that Kenobi didn't get the respect he deserved. And, if the theories about Rey's parentage are true, the Kenobi bloodline may serve a wildly very significant purpose in the upcoming Rise of Skywalker.

Reddit user wesskywalker made a post in the r/FanTheories subreddit titled "Obi-Wan Kenobi was the strongest force user and Palpatine knew it." According to the theory, there is evidence in every episode of Star Wars that Kenobinot Yoda, not Sidious, not Anakinwas the most powerful player in the game. This even includes Luke Skywalker as well. The user writes, "In Episode I, he is able to kill Darth Maul after his master was slain by him...In Episode II, Obi-Wan was the only Jedi who sensed that Anakin was not ready for the mission to protect Padme." And, for Revenge of the Sith, he says, "Yoda tells Kenobi that he 'is not powerful enough' to face the Emperor towards the end of the film. Yoda was stuck in the dogmatic Jedi ways and couldnt fathom that a pupil could be more powerful than him. Palpatine knew it." Of course, wesskywalker notes, that Obi-Wan was the first known Jedi to fully achieve immortality at the end of A New Hope too. That's pretty huge.

While it may seem arbitrary to judge the power levels of force users in Star Wars, wesskywalker may be on to something here. Especially because Luke Skywalker tells Rey in The Last Jedi that the whole "chosen one" thing is a bunch of bullshit based on Jedi hubris and religious mumbo jumbo anyway. In fact, regarding Rian Johnson's film, wesskywalker says, "In Episode VIII, the darkness was stronger than ever and it is no coincidence that this is the only film that Kenobi does not appear in. His power was alluded to when Skywalker says that it was a Jedi who was responsible for the creation/training of Darth Vader."

And as per Rogue One, most viewers may not recall, but the whole mission of getting access to the Death Star plans ends with Leia setting up her quest to bring the Empire down in the beginning of A New Hope. And those plans, of course, begin with the Young Princess calling out for the strongest Jedi she ever heard of, saying "Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're our only hope."

For years, fans have been theorizing that Rey is somehow a descendant of Kenobi. It's not clear how, exactly, the new Jedi could share ancestry with the Ewan McGregor / Alec Guinness character (people have many, many ideas), but the idea of Rise of Skywalker concluding the original trilogy's saga with a Kenobi facing down a descendant of Anakin feels very, well, Star Wars. It'd make the nine-episode saga thematically and narratively whole, and bring back the first lightsaber duel that sparked the events of the entire series. But who would win, in the end? Kylo, a Skywalker? Or Rey, a potential descendant of Obi-Wan?

The Rise of Skywalker debuts on December 20, 2019.

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This Obi-Wan Kenobi Fan Theory Reconsiders the Real 'Chosen One' In 'Star Wars' - Esquire.com