Category Archives: Survivalism

Snake? Snake?! SNAAAAAAAAA - Oh, there you are, Snake. This is just a quick Codec to let you know that Konami's stealth blockbuster bundle Metal Gear Solid - Master Collection Volume 1 is now available to buy. Did you ever play Metal Gear Solid, Snake? It's this sprawling philosophical epic about war, surveillance, AI, nationalism and anti-heroism, a baroque metafictional saga spanning generations that is also a complex series of videogame design experiments. I know - it's a lot to take in, Snake, but you can sort of boil the series down to the difference between two varieties of wall. There are the ones you hide behind, so as to get the drop on your foes, and there are the ones you break, because they're fourth walls, Snake. Do you see?

Right, that's quite enough of that. Available on Steam or Humble, The Master Collection Vol 1 contains the original Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake for MSX2, the breakthrough PS1 title Metal Gear Solid and the PS2 sequels, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. You'll also get a bunch of bonus SE gubbins, including the non-Kojima-developed standalone sequel Snake's Revenge for NES, a couple of Metal Gear digital graphics novels and a soundtrack. It'll set you back 50 or $60. Here's a promotional image with more.

The standout here is MGS3 - this is the first time it's been released for PC, and it's the HD remaster to boot, so hopefully it'll scrub up nicely on your desk and/or laptop. Konami are also working on a full Metal Gear Solid 3 remake, which you might consider either an incentive to replay the original or an incentive to steer away from it, so as to go into the remake fresh.

If you're thinking of buying, be warned that the Master Collections have their share of technical troubles, some of which have been detailed in advance by Konami (thanks, IGN). The company have yet to patch in windowed and full-screen switching for Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2, and they're working on some bug fixes for the three MGS games. In Metal Gear Solid 2, you can expect slow performance in certain cutscenes, and delayed timing for one particular visual effect (they don't specify). Konami are also still working on fullscreen-windowed mode switching for MGS3, together with fixes for smaller blemishes such as a disconnect between one cutscene and the background music, and some rogue typos in the English, French, Italian, German and Spanish scripts.

Many and ferocious are the battles fought over which Metal Gear Solid is bestest (the first two games tend to get left out of the discussion, because they don't have 3D graphics and as such, are no longer considered to be Real Videogames). Purists will of course favour MGS1, which I adore for being a free-wheeling experiment with 3D spaces and perspectives. Metal Gear Solid 3 is great for people who love survivalism and relatively unfussy (relatively, mind you) storylines: it also has my favourite "villain" of the series in the shape of Big Boss's mentor, the Boss. Sons of Liberty is your go-to for unpleasantly enduring cautionary tales about global politics and digital technology. It also has Raiden in it, who didn't go down well with fans at first, but who would later star in the awesome, Platinum-helmed Revengeance.

And then there's MGS4, which sort of goes to war with the fans by giving them exactly what they want, and MGS5, which is one of the few open world games I've played that makes me actively curious about what I can accomplish with all the tools. It seems likely they'll get the Master Collection treatment too. As Alice0 noted back in May, the "Volume 1" part is a bit of a hint.

Continue reading here:

Metal Gear Solid - Master Collection Vol 1 is out, bringing MGS3 to ... - Rock Paper Shotgun

Irving (Yitz) Greenberg once said about talking or writing about the Holocaust, Dont say anything that you wouldnt say in front of burning children. Its an ominous comment, emotionally charged, and deeply felt. But as Michael Wyschogrod once said to me, referring to this comment, Yitz then wrote hundreds of pages about the Holocaust. Yitz did so, I assume, because he couldnt stay silent, even as he advocated silence. I say this not to compare the Holocaust in any way to the atrocity of October 7th, for which there is no comparison, but only to express the anguish and pain of what one cannot do, and at the same time, in that same moment, what one cannot not do. I now understand Yitzs choice.

Words of comfort (nechama) are permitted, even welcomed. But any attempt at reflection or analysis; any attempt to insert contextanything suggesting that, as horrible as October 7th was, it didnt begin on October 7th; that, like every human atrocity, it too has a historyis met with raging accusations of justification. But of course, October 7th is not the beginning, nor the end, but as with most things, somewhere in the horrifying middle. Maybe the accusation of justification is inevitable and thus any writing that moves outside pure comfort can only be written against the forceful tide of condemnation.

I will not justify a massacre, in any form. But I will not justify viewing a massacre as if it happened in a vacuum, either. I am no martyr, nor do I aspire to be one. I am a Jew, a Jew in pain and mourning with my people and for my people, but I cannot step away, I cannot be silent, and I cannot offer only comfort, even as the riptide of collective emotion compels me to do so. Or perhaps, I choose not to.

October 7th was an atrocity of unspeakable magnitude and brutality for which there is no justification. But it was even more than that, if something can even be more than that. It jolted two peoples, Israelis and Palestinians, already both in states of internal crisis, into a new state of crisis. Atrocities of this magnitude, and the retribution that has and will follow, are not limited to the human pain they produce, but can also break a societyboth the perpetrators and the victimsinto pieces.

Hamas and its supporters think the attack was justified. I think they are wrong. Many in Israel and its supporters think that the attack was sui generis and thus any response, however brutal, however bloody and rooted in vengeance, is not only justified, but necessary. I think they are wrong. But I prefer to focus on the brokenness of both sides; not only broken by one another, but broken to themselves.

Its well-known within the Jewish tradition that one should not rebuke the Jewish people at a time when they are in danger. Rather, say the sources, the only thing one can do is pray for their safety and protect ones life and property. I agree. But today, praying for the Jewish people also requires praying for innocent Palestinian people. Not only because its the right thing to do, but also because, in the intricate web that is the state of Israel, or Palestine, the well-being of one is dependent on the well-being of the other.

I stand in solidarity with my people. But I do not condemn the Palestinian people. I only ask that we view this tragedy as an event that has broken both sides, all sides, in unprecedented waysnot because the act has any equivalence, but because the long-standing deteriorated relationship that precedes it has left both sides weakened, vulnerable, and susceptible to a tragedy that has no justification. But that, of course, doesnt mean that it has no explanation.

Responsibility isnt guiltbut neither is it innocence

The great poet and politician Aim Csaire begins his short but powerful work Discourse on Colonialism with the following lines:

A civilization that proves incapable of solving the problems it creates is a decadent civilization.

A civilization that chooses to close its eyes to its most crucial problems is a sick civilization.

A civilization that plays fast and loose with its principles is a dying civilization.

Decadent, sick, and dying. We are witnessing all three in real time. It is not a comparison to say, nor a moral equivalence to suggest (nor is it blasphemous to imply), that in different ways, very different ways, this is true of both sides of the conflict.

The head of the IDF stated that Gaza will never be the same. What they did not state, but which is equally true, is that Israel will never be the same. I do not argue that both are in crisis in order to draw equivalence where there is none, but to try to interrogate some of the contours of both sides under the rubric of Csaires framing of civilization.

The horrific brutality and unjustifiable butchery of Hamason any termsis unquestionable and irrefutable. I have no idea how one can dehumanize the other to the extent that they can slaughter them in their homes. Yes, we human beings have done this before, many times, but it is still unfathomable.

Having said that, nothing exists in a vacuum, all human endeavors have context, and to deny that is itself an act of dehumanization. The problem here is that there is almost no space between explanation and justificationon either side. One is thus being forced to choose sides and express empathy only for one. Any gesture of empathy for innocents on the other side quickly evokes the accusation of moral equivalency at the very leastself-hatred and treason at most.

So it must be said, decades of humiliation, domination, and the deaths of many men, women and children, must be part of the equation of mourning. Because innocents die at the hands of terrorists does not by extension mean that we are all innocent. As Abraham Joshua Heschel said regarding Vietnam, in a free society, some are guilty but all are responsible. Responsibility isnt guilt. But neither is it innocence.

In the aftermath of the events of October 7, both Israeli and Palestinian societies were thrown into a new state of crisis. Israel was already in a state of internal crisis around questions of democracy, as the unprecedented protests have shown. And Palestinians were also in a state of crisis over their unwillingness, or inability, to recognize that armed resistance will not achieve the goals they justifiably seek: the right of national determination. But on October 7 things were put into an entirely different register. Hamas brutal attack demonstrated that, although the organization may have formally amended its call for Israels destruction, it continues to assert that Israel has no right to exist in this region. And in doing so, it sows the seeds of its own destruction.

On the other side, on October 7 the last vestige of Israels myth of invincibility was shattered as a result of its failed intelligence and tragically slow response, resulting in many more deaths than there otherwise might have been. And many Israelis felt that they were no longer safe within the borders of their own countryprecisely what Zionism sought to address. No doubt Israel will continue to respond with terrifying force. But that force will not reinstate Israels invincibility. That, Im afraid, has been lost. Theres no moral equivalency here: Hamas attacked Israel. But the result of that attack changed both.A civilization that proves incapable of solving the problems it creates is a decadent civilization.

We can see this in the Hamas incursion. There was no human mechanism to contain the violence that exploded there. It was human beings at their most carnal selves. How does someone dehumanize the other enough to slaughter them with no guilt? Perhaps its only possible if one is in a state where all external constraints vanish. When life becomes a video game. And while the barbarism we witnessed is unimaginable, the killing of civilians by Israels stealth weapons is still barbaric and dehumanizing, just as the lesser of two evils is still evil. Yes, Hamass hatred existed before, no doubt, and I dont mean to take away agency (and therefore responsibility) from the actors. But still. There was something unleashed in those who acted as they did, something collapsed in the very core of humanity, and some dangerous part of the human condition emerged unchecked by anything that could restrain it.

Its no accident that this happened in the midst of probably the largest internal crisis in Israels history. Something in the elections and resulting protest movement opened a fissure in Israeli culture and society that previously existed largely underground. In some way, I think the entire Zionist project was on trial. Jewish and democratic, labels only attached to Israel in the 1980s, were always fragile and precarious. What is Jewish? And democratic for everyone, equallyreally? And so it went. But the dam mostly held. Until earlier this year when a newly energized far-right government decided to fortify its power by weakening its great liberal challenge, the Supreme Court. And the country exploded.

The breach of the populations trust in its government, the settler narrative becoming the narrative of the country, and many Israelis simply getting sick and tired of the occupation (to say nothing of the secular/religious divide), put Israel in a place where various sets of interlocking problems threatened to paralyze the country, all the while believing Hamas was not an imminent threat. And then the problem that Israel didnt even think was such a problem suddenly burst into the world and stuck a dagger in its heart.A civilization that proves incapable of solving the problems it creates is a decadent civilization.

Theres often talk of Hamas as being in a death spiral. I dont think thats true. I think Hamas has a different definition of what it is to win and to lose. In a 2012 documentary called The Gatekeepers, former head of Shin Bet Ami Ayalon tells a great story about talking with a Palestinian acquaintance at a meeting in London in 2002, right in the middle of the Second Intifada:

At some point, I was making myself a cup of coffee and I was approached by a Palestinian acquaintance named wad Satay, a Doctor of Psychiatry. He said, Ami, we finally defeated you.

I said to him, Are you mad? What do you mean, defeated us? Hundreds of youare getting killed. At this rate thousands of you will get killed. Youre about to lose whatever tiny bit of a state you have and youll lose your dream of statehood. What kind of victory is that?

He said to me, Ami, I dont understand you. You still dontunderstand us. For us, victory is seeing you suffer. Thats all we want. The more we suffer, the more youll suffer.

Ayalon understood something about the Palestinian resistance that he hadnt before. Israel is entering a stage where its remaining founders are few. A second and third generation Israeli society is living in a first world country. It has accomplished an enormous amount in a short time. But the Arab Question or the Palestinian Problem as it used to be called, remains. And given Israels political inclinations, its becoming less relevant because the Right has essentially crushed Palestinian aspirations, or pushed them to a breaking point. It wrongly thinks the Palestinians will be wrestled into submission. That they will give up. But zero-sum games are rarely successful as long as people remain alive (which may be why many observers, Israeli scholars among them, believe the government is threatening genocide).

Yad Vashem with an air force

And thats not all. Theres something that continues to haunt Israels collective psyche, so to speak; its unwillingness to abandon the position of victimhood, despite its tremendous power and years of sovereignty. This is certainly understandable in this moment of crisis. I ask, however, echoing Hannah Arendts skepticism over the potential for a state founded in the shadow of the Holocaust, whether its constructive toward a productive Jewish future. This comes to the fore most alarmingly in the use of Holocaust analogies. The swiftness with which the Holocaust was invoked to describe the atrocities was both shocking and totally predictable. It was also wrong.

Nazi Germany was a country with an army, a police, and an economy. Hamas is a violent terrorist organization born in occupation with no formal military and relatively few resources. Israel is a first-world country with a high-powered military and nuclear weapons. Even if they were brutally victimized, Israelis in Tel Aviv are not the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto and theyre not living in concentration camps. Holocaust parallels only illustrate the extent to which Zionism is in a deep crisis of identity.

Thomas Friedman famously claimed Israel had become, or is susceptible to become, Yad Vashem with an air force. He was criticized, and the remark was overly provocative, but when one hears Israels president and prime minister openly make Holocaust comparisons, they simply affirm Friedmans remark. The problem with the comparison is that it flattens everything down to survivalism; and when you have a gun to your head you have no moral obligations. None.

So when Israels defense minister declared I have released all the restraints [on soldiers entering Gaza], I wondered what that could mean. Executions? Liquidation of civilian homes? No one yet knows the full extent. But we will. Thats what survivalism produces. So both sides claim theyre fighting for survival; not victory, not deterrence, not even security, but survival.A civilization that chooses to close its eyes to its most crucial problems is a sick civilization.

Shooting and crying

But what about dying? Arent all civilizations slowly dying? Perhaps, but playing fast and loose with ones principles just expedites the process. And dont all societies play fast and loose with their principles? Indeed, it was the Golda Meir character in Munich who said, Every civilization finds it necessary to negotiate compromises with its own values.

Hasan al-Banah founded the Muslim brotherhood in the 1920s as a protest against British colonialism with the saying Islam is the answer. But what happened to Hamas early commitment to fight corruption, to provide social services to its people, like soup kitchens, medical care, etc.? It was founded to undermine the corrupt PLO, which it very likely has done, but its commitment to commit acts of terror threaten its people, undermined its social vision. In that sense, it seems to have largely abandoned its people who are now refugees from their homes in an open-air prison. Doubly displaced. but it seems to me something inside Hamas has died because its lost contact with many of its principles and substituted unadulterated hatred in its place. Destroying Israel, itself an impossible task, became more important than feeding its people, which is a more realizable goal, or even seeking a viable path to liberation.

Like many (maybe all) countries, Israel is accountable for being fast and loose with its principles too. A society founded on the principles of solidarity and cooperation, a social safety net, and the aspiration to be the most moral army in the world. Remember the old IDF adage shooting and crying, (yorim u bokim) to illustrate the necessity of war and the moral conscience that remains. A democracy, albeit flawed, but one that included a meaningful movement with a sincere belief that coexistence was possible.

Peace Now, founded in 1978 to promote a genuine and just peace between Israel and Palestine, was a real, forceful movement in the 1980s, with some political power. No more. In fact, its todays protest movement, a mostly centrist movement, thats taught us that Israel has transformed into a more ethnocentric, illiberal, even autocratic, right-wing society. Many are against this, but the mere fact that they are means that its real. As Alon Pinkus wrote in his open letter to American rabbis before Yom Yippur, The Israel you thought you knew is a relic of the past.A civilization that plays fast and loose with its principles is a dying civilization.

One can say this about many, maybe even all, countriesthough each in a different way. But viewing how it becomes manifest in a particular situation, in context, in situ, can be helpful. I ask those who are in any way justifying Hamas actions: setting aside the legality or morality of Israels methods, what country would not be shocked and traumatized, and react with force, by such barbarism perpetrated against its citizens? And I ask those who refuse to see any culpability by Israel: Gaza is also a society in trauma, where almost every single family has had a family member killed or imprisoned by Israela territory under a 16-year siege. Decades of humiliation, domination, and inequality. Not to justify, but to recognize.

Israel is mourning the deaths of its loved ones, innocent civilians brutally murdered thinking they were safe in their homes in their own state. Palestinian civilians are also mourning their loved ones, victims of retribution, trapped in a world from which they cannot easily escape. No moral equivalency here: people need to mourn their dead.

And what about those of us who, like it or not, have to find a way to live on this planet together? If we cant we will all die, our last words being only the other side is to blame.

Link:

Decadence, Sickness, and Death: Mourning and the Israel-Hamas ... - Religion Dispatches

As expected, acting public protector Kholeka Gcaleka was voted in as the new head of the chapter 9 institution by the National Assembly on Thursday. As expected too, proceedings were fractious as opposition parties argued that she was an unsuitable candidate who would rob the institution of public respect.

The African National Congress prevailed with 244 votes in the debate, where the minimum was 240 votes, or a 60 percent margin. It did so because of the support of the Inkatha Freedom Party.

The tumult began with the speech of Democratic Alliance MP Glynnis Breytenbach, who told the chamber that Gcaleka did not meet the constitutional requirement of fitness for the office.

Breytenbach was ordered out of the chamber by Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula who held that she fell foul of rule 88, which forbids members from reflecting on the competence of someone holding public office.

Breytenbach obliged, but DA chief whip Siviwe Gwarube said the ruling was plainly wrong as the house could not meaningfully reflect on Gcalekas fitness if the rule were enforced in this manner, while MPs were obliged to do precisely that.

In protest at the ruling, she then led a walkout of the official opposition.

In the Speakers incorrect interpretation and application of Rule 88, she suppressed dissenting voices from the opposition and unjustly removed the Honourable Breytenbach from the House (relying on the incorrect rule) preventing her from fulfilling her constitutional obligation to interrogate the candidate up for election, Gwarube said.

As a candidate and not a sitting office bearer of the Office of the Public Protector, Adv. Gcaleka is not protected by Rule 88 for the purposes of todays debate, and the Speakers incorrect application of the rule marred this crucial vote and collapsed the sitting.

More protest followed from the Economic Freedom Fighters, whose newest MP Mzwanele Manyi, accused Gcaleka of whitewashing transgressions by President Cyril Ramaphosa in her report on the Phala Phala controversy.

This is not an honest person, said Manyi, who is also the spokesperson for former president Jacob Zumas eponymous foundation.

Gcaleka inherited the investigation into a complaint lodged by the African Transformation Movement when her predecessor Busisiwe Mkhwebane was suspended by Ramaphosa pending the outcome of an impeachment process.

The ATM, to which Manyi has been closely affiliated, has asked the Pretoria high court to set aside her report on the Phala Phala saga for irrationality, arguing that she failed to interview key witnesses and to obtain the presidents tax records when these came within reach.

From the other end of the political spectrum, the African Christian Democratic Party too raised strong objections to Gcalekas appointment. It too argued that she was not fit and proper, and said it deeply regretted supporting the ANCs nomination of Mkhwebane.

The ANC had called a three-line whip to make sure it got Gcalekas appointment across the line, though privately long-standing members of the party voiced reservations.

A member of the opposition remarked though that the reservations many parties held about her appointment possibly also pointed to salutary survivalism on the part of the new public protector.

She came through state capture. She is clearly wise to factionalism within the ANC and a survivor, the source said, adding that pragmatism may not be a bad attribute for the incumbent.

The DAs objection to Gcaleka related to her role in the National Prosecuting Authority and her support of former national director of public prosecutions Menzi Simelane, as well as her role as advisor to disgraced former home affairs, public enterprises and finance minister, Malusi Gigaba.

Gcaleka becomes the countrys fifth and, at just over 40, the youngest ever public protector. Her youth seemed a political selling point for some ANC MPs, who said it would be a nod to the need for fresh, young leadership in the country.

Excerpt from:

Gcaleka voted in as new public protector - Mail and Guardian

Blood is on the hands of some in American journalism for their complete failure to sort out fact from terrorist propaganda in the Gaza hospital explosion. It was a shocking collapse of journalistic process, and its impacts were devastating. A correction is not enough. It demands an apology.

Anyone reading or listening to virtually any media on Tuesday afternoon would have been immediately told that at least 500 Palestinians at a hospital in Gaza had been killed by an Israeli airstrike. It was featured with huge online headlines on CNN, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, among others.

The impact of this story, endorsed by much of the mainstream media as credible, was swift: A critical meeting between President Joe Biden and neighboring Arab leaders in Jordan was immediately canceled in protest; riots explodedin cities andcapitalsaround the world. The potential for peace took a backseat to protest over an alleged Israeli atrocity.

But there it finally was the moral equivalency which too many journalists had been seeking yet were unable to find ever since Hamas carried out the murder of more than 1,200 Israelis on Oct. 7, slaughtering families, beheading infants, and mowing down more than 200 people attending a peace concert.

See here, this story implied, Israel is no better: It murders people in hospital beds by the hundreds. And, once it was in print, people likeCongresswoman Rashida Tlaib(D-Mich.) and the entire global Hamas propaganda machine will cling to the original storyline and continue to spread it, no matter what the facts.

The true story, as we know it now, is Errant Islamic Jihad Rocket Explodes in Gaza Hospital Parking Lot. Search the internet and you will not find a single story with that headline. Instead, you see a slow hour-by-hour walking back of responsibility for the attack, from fingering Israel to making it about what each side says, culminating finally in the Wall Street Journals U.S., Experts Say Evidence Suggests Palestinian Militants Rocket Hit Gaza Hospital.

I love the use of the word suggest to soften the blow. Im not sure U.S. intelligence has a finding with that grading. Remember, they sent outthe president of the United States himself to saywhat they have found, which indicates a lot of confidence since you get fired for suggestions like that if they are wrong.

Anyone can now go through themountain of photographic, audio and intercepted phone call evidencethat this was not an airstrike, but a falling rocket fired within Gaza by terrorists with fuel to burn. And anyone can find a picture of the hospital that was supposedly destroyed but is still standing. The misfiring rocket actually appears to havelanded in a parking lot, destroying cars, according to Israeli military analyses. Seems odd that there would be 500 people standing in the parking lot at night. Seems strange that an Israeli airstrike wouldnt have leveled the building completely or left a huge crater in the ground.

In reality, the entire story appears to be dangerous propaganda engineered to inflame the region, to serve as a pretext for Iran and Hezbollah to increase their attacks, and to try to intimidate the U.S. from supporting Israel.

Lets examine a lot of the terminology used to shade the news. The source of the story was attributed to the Palestinian Heath Ministry. In fact, if you search for the ministry, up pop stories a day later, still in the lead position of many internet searches, with some version of this headline: Israeli airstrike hits Gaza hospital killing 500, says Palestinian Health Ministry.

Who exactly is this health ministry? Hamas. The organization that runs all government agencies in Gaza is Hamas. Not a single story says that the claim is without evidence as is routinely added for all stories about Donald Trumps 2020 election claims, or questions about Joe Biden and his sons laptop even though they had no evidence to support the Hamas claim and had no reporters on the ground to observe first-hand.

Then lets note how many in the media refer to Islamic Jihad as an armed Palestinian group. Since 1997, the U.S. State Department hasdesignated PIJ Palestinian Islamic Jihad as a foreign terrorist group. In fact, it has no purpose other than terrorism and isfamous for its suicide bombings. It seeks the destruction of Israel and its replacement with an Islamist state. PIJ is the very definition ofa terrorist group yet, because its targets are Jews in Israel, it appears to qualify in some media style books as just a plain old armed group. No wonder some college kids at Harvard cant tell the difference between Hamas and Israel, between terrorism and survivalism.

Almost everything that is wrong with and needs to be improved in todays journalism was on display with the coverage of the Gaza hospital incident. The media is more powerful than ever, as amplification on social media can create global riots overnight. Too many of its reporters and editors favor an anti-Israel narrative over facts. It is slow to acknowledge its mistakes. And it complains about misinformation when the media itself is often one of the primary sources of truly powerful and lasting misinformation.

Perhaps this episode will finally cause more editors and publishers to look at how they could have been so disastrously wrong and start to reform their newsrooms. A lot of lives depend on it.

Mark Penn is a former adviser and pollster to President Clinton and Hillary Clinton, the chairman of The Harris Poll, and CEO of Stagwell Inc., which is an investor in The Messenger. Penn is also a former CEO of Burson-Marsteller, one of theworldslargest communications companies.

Originally posted here:

Turning the Gaza Hospital Blast into Propaganda Instead of News - The Messenger

Sibling order can be broken down into three groups: eldest, middle, and youngest. The eldest children are the most like their parents and typically more traditional, wereas the middle children are the wild ones and more comfortable in their own decisions. Youngest siblings are often the most spoiled and most distant from their elder siblings. Though these descriptions are fairly straightforward, families with more or less than three children fill in the gaps, like the Tobin family in The Great North.

Beef Tobin is the father to four children, Wolf, Ham, Judy, and Moon. The youngest of these four children, Moon, is the most unique of his siblings. Hes 10 years old, just a little over a decade younger than his brother Wolf. As the youngest, Moon is still the baby of the family but is trying to prove hes mature like the rest of his family. Whether he is adopting a coconut or denying his crush on a classmate, Moon is the funniest Tobin.

Being 10 years old is a transitional era. Adults dont treat 10-year-olds like babies, school becomes more complex, and its the beginning of the double-digit ages. Some children will develop crushes, but to remain cool in front of peers and family, they deny any feelings. Moon has had, at this point, two crushes on two of his classmates.

Children typically go through phases with their interests. Whether its animals like horses or inanimate objects like roller coasters, children are particularly fascinated by the world. Growing up in Alaska has some peculiarities, one being the produce available. Moon finds a coconut whom he names Dagmar. Yet after some time, Dagmar begins to smell, so he is buried in an empty lot along with his brother Hams favorite tractor magazine.

Comfort is the first step towards relaxing. Whether its cozying up with a blanket and a good book or wearing a favorite clothing item, relaxation is an inner feeling affected by the outside world. Since Moon lives in Alaska where its cold a majority of the year, Moon is often in a bear onesie and fuzzy brown boots. Hell wear other outfits, but the onesie is his main outfit.

Related: The Great North: 12 Times Ham Tobin was Super Relatable

Another unique aspect of living in Alaska is its one of a few places where a mythological creature is said to live. A close cousin to the Yeti, people in North America are more familiar with Big Foot. One of Moons main interests is Bigfoot as he is the Tobin familys leading expert on all the lore.

While many people have taken up survivalism for a plethora of reasons, the Tobin family makes it a rite of passage. Yet instead of trying to survive in the woods, at 10 years old, Beef takes each child on an adventure to survive in a city. Every step of the way, Moon struggles to figure out how to survive in a city. He protests the exercise, admitting he would prefer to be lost in the woods.

Alaska is famous for many animals, both fictional and real. Yet one of their most infamous animals is the legendary moose. The Tobin family encounters one and in order to tame it, Moon jumps on top of the moose. He rides the moose as it calms down. Though its physically possible to ride a moose, Living The Outdoor Life advises that doing so could be extremely dangerous.

Related: How Fox's The Great North Is Silly Yet Heartwarming Television

Moons fascination with wild animals doesnt stop with moose or the fabled Big Foot. His woodsman survivalist mentality leads him to believe he can befriend any wild animal. While his sister Judy tries to force her father to date again, Moon is preoccupied with a stubborn animal. He encounters a flightless grouse, a ground-dwelling bird, whom he attempts to teach to fly. Moon also names the bird Timothy and insists everyone refer to the grouse as such.

Passing the time for families varies. Some families read together while others watch movies. But the Tobins are no ordinary family. They pass the time by playing board games, which Moon is notorious for cheating at. He even invents games with his siblings. One of the games is called Monster Brothers, where he and Ham wear their mothers fur coats and scare the rest of the family. According to Cambridge, play is crucial to childrens ability to learn as they can explore what they know and what they dont.

A major part of childhood is discovering the identity of oneself in the world, in the family structure, and finally in thyself. Typically, by age 10, children are confronted with all of these identities and begin questioning them. Moon displays feelings of doubt that he is Beefs son. Children have an amazing knack for comprehension but if they see others excel in places they dont, the doubt settles in. For Moon, his struggles with math compared to his fathers ability to do math with ease, causes Moon to question his real father.

Method acting might be one of the great dividers among actors. Those who practice this form of getting into character can wreak havoc on a production set. While the dedication to the craft is admirable, it can lead to some unfortunate circumstances. For instance, Moon is chosen to portray a corpse and is so convincing in his portrayal that he earns the nickname "Daniel Dead Lewis."

Moon is a unique child. As the youngest Tobin, his interests are indulged by his family. Whether he is denying a crush on a classmate or attempting to tame a wild animal, Moon is fairly confident in his abilities. Although it should be noted that Moons uniqueness stems from his attention to detail. He has quite the collection of insects and organizes his closet and trash in a particular way. Clothes are organized by season, color, and style. While trash has its own categories.

Go here to read the rest:

The Great North: 11 Times Moon Tobin Was the Funniest Tobin - MovieWeb

Alcova at the former slaughterhouseAlcovaPorta Vittorias former slaughterhouseviale Molise 62, MilanApril 17th-23rd 2023, h. 11a.m.-7p.m.Photo Daniele Ratti At its fifth edition, Alcova is once again an interesting stop for both its container (the previous slaughterhouse in Porta Vittoria, which has been abandoned for the past 20 years) and its content: a delicate but sturdy balance between independent designers, schools, and businesses, selected by the curators Joseph Grima and Valentina Ciuffi. There are too many events to list them all, so heres a recommendation of what to not miss: the OTO Chair, the chair in recycled plastic designed by Alessandro Stabile and Martinelli Venezia (L6); the 15 Danish brands of This is Denmark (C16); the IED Ecocentrico (Ecocentric) exhibition, with Giacimenti Urbani, an association that focuses on reducing resource waste (M15a); the graphic self-sufficiency experiment of the Dutch designer Mark van Wageningen (R11), who tried to produce everything by himself, from the paper to the soap he used to wash his hands after work; and the collection in Acron, a cement-based composited, coordinated by Stormo Studio for the Venetian brand Pulkra (C17).E.S. Alcova at the former slaughterhouseAlcovaPorta Vittorias former slaughterhouseviale Molise 62, MilanApril 17th-23rd 2023, h. 11a.m.-7p.m.Photo Daniele Ratti Alcova at the former slaughterhouseAlcovaPorta Vittorias former slaughterhouseviale Molise 62, MilanApril 17th-23rd 2023, h. 11a.m.-7p.m.Photo Daniele Ratti 2023 Dropcity Convention Spazi dei Magazzini Raccordati, Via Sammartini15-23 April 2023Photo Daniele Ratti Dropcity is once again the experimental collector of the former warehouse tunnels of the Stazione Centrale. The program was curated by the founder of the architecture and design center Andrea Caputo and it includes a series of exhibitions and panels with international designers until April 23rd, with a strong participation from Asian countries. The daily events will be hosted in Tunnel 60 and are curated by Anneke Abhelakh.The exhibitions include Tunnel Evangelion, featuring the ten finalist projects of the contest for the recovery of the former warehouse, and an interpretation of the spaces by the SCI-Arc students. Dont miss Preppers Pantry: Objects That Save Lives, an astonishing installation on Survivalism, and The Last Pencil, a sneak peek of Lausanne's Mudac program. Many Asian countries participated; we recommend the metallic chairs of Daisuke Yamamoto, a space for Nero Editions and Freitag, the historical brand that portrays the past and future of their bags and circular economy.G.R. Spazi dei Magazzini Raccordati, Via Sammartini15-23 April 2023Photo Daniele Ratti Spazi dei Magazzini Raccordati, Via Sammartini15-23 April 2023Photo Daniele Ratti Gaetano Pesce is everywhereBottega VenetaVia Montenapoleone 27/AApril15th-22nd 2023Photo Daniele Ratti Once again on the throne of coolness thanks to last years collaboration with Bottega Veneta, the volcanic doyen of the Italian designed based in Brooklyn dominates Milan. He returns to Cassina after last years collaboration, he illuminates Bottega Ghianda, while at Luisa Delle Piane, his namesake new lamp (Gaetana) joins the classical Osso, Spaghetti, and Quadrata. The main star is once again Bottega Veneta, for which he designed a set of bags with a bucolic theme (mountains and prairies) and a carefully created, site-specific installation that you can visit at the Montenapoleone boutique before it will flood your Instagram feed.A.S. Gaetano Pesce is everywhereBottega VenetaVia Montenapoleone 27/AApril15th-22nd 2023Photo Daniele Ratti Gaetano Pesce is everywhereBottega VenetaVia Montenapoleone 27/AApril15th-22nd 2023Photo Daniele Ratti Clay Court Club by Cristina CelestinoTennis Club Milano Alberto BonacossaVia Giuseppe Arimondi 15April 14th-23rd 23, 10 a.m. 8 a.m.Photo Daniele Ratti Cristina Celestino enters the Milan Design Week and chooses a place that might as well be the most original of this edition of the Fuorisalone for her Clay Court Club: the historical tennis club, designed by a young Giovanni Muzio for the Bonacossa count between 1922-1930. Here, her furniture just like the seats for Billiani, the carpet by Besana Carpet Lab, and the bench with a canopy for Skillmax play and converse with classical elegance and Muzios slightly metaphysical architecture, which Celestino valorizes by exalting every minimal detail. Its also worth taking a walk outdoors among the tennis courts and to the pool surrounded by a long, blue colonnade.E.S. Clay Court Club by Cristina CelestinoTennis Club Milano Alberto BonacossaVia Giuseppe Arimondi 15April 14th-23rd 23, 10 a.m. 8 a.m.Photo Daniele Ratti Clay Court Club by Cristina CelestinoTennis Club Milano Alberto BonacossaVia Giuseppe Arimondi 15April 14th-23rd 23, 10 a.m. 8 a.m.Photo Daniele Ratti Flos PerformanceFlos Professional SpaceCorso Monforte 15, Milan18-23 April 202310.00 am 7.00 pmWed 19 April: 10.00 am 5.00 pmPhoto Daniele Ratti Under the vaults of the brands urban space, overlooking a 17th-century courtyard, Flos is hosting Six Acts, the installation blending the versatility of flexible track lighting elementsMy Circuit by Michael Anastassiades with a six-act performance cycle, curated by Fabio Cherstich. The time-based practice of a group of performers interacting with lights and domestic elements enhances the temporal flexibility of Anastassiades' design, "an ephemeral and dynamic scene that can change in the shortest time" generated by a ceiling design that conceptually could evoke Baroque moldings, as the designer himself has remarked. Flos PerformanceFlos Professional SpaceCorso Monforte 15, Milan18-23 April 202310.00 am 7.00 pmWed 19 April: 10.00 am 5.00 pmPhoto Daniele Ratti Flos PerformanceFlos Professional SpaceCorso Monforte 15, Milan18-23 April 202310.00 am 7.00 pmWed 19 April: 10.00 am 5.00 pmPhoto Daniele Ratti

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Milano Design Week, 5 things not to be missed today - Domus IT

What unites us is that we actively prepare for emergencies. But how did survivalism begin?

When and why did the term prepper come about and whats the difference between a prepper and a survivalist?

There are many reasons why understanding our own history is of value to us. It is important to know yourself, but to us, perhaps the most relevant is that it helps us to adapt to future disasters and volatility by learning from the past.

While theroots of the modern survivalism movement grew from financial instability in thelate 1800s, the Second Boer War, the Spanish flu, the great depression, andtwo world wars followed by the specter of global thermonuclear war, they are inturn rooted in traditions of agriculture which required farmers to store foodthroughout winter and spring to the next harvest and also to protect againstlean years.

These are inturn predated by still earlier traditions of preparedness that can arguably betraced back for thousands of years. When tzi the Iceman was foundpreserved in the tztal Alps between Austria and Italy, he was carrying abow, a knife, a copper axe and iron pyrite and tinder fungus which where usedwith his flint blade as the copper age predecessor of flint and steel,preserved by the cold, dry environment since 3100-3400BC. If you carry thisequipment today, youre a survivalist, but carrying it before the 1900s didntmake you a survivalist. It made you normal.

By the year1900, people living in the rural American West were the descendants of pioneers,miners and trappers and it was their grandparents who settled the West. Gunownership, gardening, canning and hunting were simply their way of life.However, urbanization had people moving to cities in record numbers and withina couple of generations, camping, hunting and gardening became recreationalactivities instead of a way of life.

The earlyinfluences noted above resulted in the establishment of the National ParksService, Scouting and the implementation of food storage practice by the LDSchurch, all of which influenced the early survivalist movement.

The 1960ssaw the first writers of the modern survivalism movement such as Harry Browneand Don Stephens. The nuclear threat and the civil defense program developed inresponse to it now had Americans building fallout shelters in addition toarming themselves and storing food.

The late1960s and early 1970s also saw the birth of the primitive survival movementwith the establishment of the Boulder Outdoor Survival School in Boulder UT.Originally established as program of BYU, led by Larry Dean Olsen, theuniversity ran into problems insuring such a program and cut it loose. BOSSchanged hands over years and resulted in the establishment of primitive skillsgatherings such as Rabbit Stick and Winter Count by David Wescott, an earlyowner of the school. Olsen, Wescott and BOSS chief instructor David Holladaybecame some of the grandfathers of the modern primitive skills movement. Manyof the instructors who would later star in survival TV shows trained at BOSS orwith former BOSS instructors, such as Cody Lundin, Matt Graham of Dual Survivaland Les Stroud of Survivorman. According to Holladay, instructors trained byTom Brown Jr. or his schools can also trace their lineage back to the BOSScrowd as Brown Jr. first learned primitive skills with them. Brown Jr. maintainsthat he was trained by an Apache named Stalking Wolf who relocated from Arizonaor New Mexico to New York, however, the author is inclined to believe Mr.Holladays version of these events.

In the1970s, a number of survival writers who would influence the modern survivalistmovement came onto the scene such as Bruce D. Clayton, C.J. Cobb, Jeff Cooper, KarlHess, Dan Ing, Howard Ruff, Kurt Saxon, Joel Skousen, Mel Tappan and others. Soldierof Fortune Magazine was founded in 1975 and while it was not specifically asurvivalist magazine, it did cater to them and was one of few choices. In 1976,the International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC) was established and JeffCooper founded the American Pistol Institute in Paulden, AZ, which would laterbecome Gunsite Academy. Massad Ayoob published his first book in 1979.

The 1980ssaw more publications by the same writers from the 70s, with Bruce D. Claytonpublishing Life After Doomsday in 1980, plus new writers like RagnarBenson. Lofty Wiseman published the SAS Survival Guide in 1986. I alsorecall seeing and reading American Survival Guide Magazine around this time.Backwoods Home Magazine was also first published in 1989. Massad and Dorothy Ayoobestablished the Lethal Force Institute in 1981. The Urban Firearms Institutewas established in Mesa, AZ in 1988.

In the early 90s I read a copy of a shareware screenplay called Triple Ought by James Wesley, Rawles which would later become the book: Patriots: A Novel of Survival in the Coming Collapse. This book was widely read and came to strongly influence the commonly held perception of what a survival group should be. The late 90s saw additional growth in firearms training schools with Clint and Heidi Smith founded Thunder Ranch in 1993. Front Sight Was Established in 1996.

During the 1990s, the Clinton administration launched a massive propaganda campaign that vilified the survivalist movement, attempting to brand us as racists, white supremacists, and domestic terrorists. Under the direction of the Clinton Administration, the FBI and ATF paid informants to infiltrate survivalist and militia groups, befriend lone survivalists and attempt to get them to break the law. Several such cases were dismissed as entrapment. Other informants successfully entrapped militia members. Survivalists have paraded around in handcuffs and their preparations were displayed on their front lawns. Their gun collections were deemed arsenals and owning food storage, waterproof primers, or purchasing army surplus gear were determined to be sound reasons to report neighbors to the FBI.

The attack on the survivalist movement resulted in atrocities at Ruby Ridge and Waco and provoked the tragic Oklahoma City bombing. The result of the Clintons massive propaganda campaign for the survivalism movement was that militia members were driven underground and that the term survivalist was turned into a pejorative. In the aftermath, although dedicated survivalists still prepared, most ceased to advertise the fact. Most militias disbanded or broke down into independent rifle cells. They were largely driven underground, melting into a leaderless resistance.

2000-2010

By the early 2000s nobody wanted to be called a survivalist but with 9-11, the Indian Ocean Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, earthquakes in Haiti, Kashmir, and Sichuan, and multiple hurricanes and tornadoes and the 2008 financial crisis, people were flooding into the survivalism movement in hordes and droves. They need something to call themselves that distanced them from being a survivalist, because now the world believed that all survivalists were racist, child-molesting, domestic terrorist and the label prepper came into usage. Those formerly known as survivalists now identified as preppers.

Midway through this decade, survival TV shows and survival blogs came about, and the survival/preparedness industry began a growth phase. In the 70s, 80s, and 90s, a market that could barely support a magazine or two now had more than one TV show and was growing fast. SurvivalBlog.com by James Wesley, Rawles came online in 2005, and Survivorman by Les Stroud also first aired in 2005.

During thefirst half of this decade, both the survivalism movement and the market itdrives kept growing. It seemed there was a new survival TV show every couple ofmonths, the number of survival-related internet content ballooned, the numberand quality of survival expositions grew, and preparedness-related volunteerismreached levels not seen since the height of the Cold War. Disasters kepthappening and the disasters of the previous decade were too recent to forget.

The continued growth of social media and connectivity brought survivalists together as never before and the popularity of survival TV shows brought survivalism into the mainstream. On the upside, this meant an infusion of new blood that brought new talents and innovation. The influx of people into the movement also means that today, 70-80% of survivalists identify as newbies.

With survival gone mainstream, it became cool to be a survivalist for a while. Many of the new folks hadnt lived through the 90s and some who had forgotten, so some militias once again began to operate openly. Sometimes even brazenly. The 2013 revelations that resulted from the Snowden leaks did little to dissuade them to operate underground as a leaderless resistance as so many learned so painfully in the 1990s.

In 2011, Hollywood did its level best to poke fun of the survivalist movement with the Doomsday Preppers reality TV series. The model of the program was that each prepper was preparing for some singular threat to the exclusion of all others the more ridiculous the better. Preppers who appeared on the show reported that production staff bribed them to say things that they were unwilling to say because they were untrue and cast them in an unfavorable light. In the end, enough people saw past the producers motives that the show eventually changed strategy, and instead of convincing the public that preppers were all crazy and paranoid, it ended up swelling the ranks of the survivalist movement.

However, theshows initial negative portrayal of preppers now turned the term prepperinto the pejorative and now many of us once again began to identify assurvivalists instead of preppers. Eventually, writers began to attempt todifferentiate between the definition of the two labels and although the OGsurvivalists who were the same people they had been for decades, they tried toseparate the definition of survivalists from that of preppers. Bloggers andYoutubers also attempted to segment bushcrafters from primitive skillspractitioners, although I can assure you that many of these are one and thesame and have been doing what they do long before the Mors Kochanski fistpublished the term in 1986. Before then, it was fieldcraft, but I can appreciatethe need for a writer to differentiate their work from that of others.

Sheeple being who they are, poor coverage of emergencies and the election of President Trump combined to devastating effect for both the Survivalist Movement and the survival/preparedness market. Politically oriented websites that had received users covering the threat posed by President Obama and Hillary Clinton saw up to an 80% reduction in traffic. Personally, I fail to see how the POTUS can prevent pandemics, solar flares, or even financial meltdown. After all, the government has as little to do with the generation of wealth as it does with solar cycles and pathogens. Unfortunately, with the infusion of all this new blood, theres now no shortage of sheeple in the survivalist movement.

We cantpredict the future and our world is steadily growing more complicated andtherefore more fragile. By looking to our roots and understanding our past tothe end of becoming more self-reliant, we can become more resilient and even moreantifragile meaning that we can grow stronger in some way in response to thevolatility and change we face instead of letting it damage us.

Ourancestors stored food and carried weapons and the tools they needed to makeshelter and fire for sound reasons. They knew where their food came from andhow to get more. I think most folks could use a little more of that these days.After all, our food doesnt really come from the grocery store.

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How The Survivalism Movement Started - Survivopedia

At first glance, Robert Eggers latest movie doesnt appear to be the directors typical period piece horror fare.

Eggers The Witch (2015) and The Lighthouse (2019) established the filmmakers reputation for making strong genre films. Both titles bend and play with categories lumped under the horror umbrella The Lighthouse in survivalism and psychological thriller, The Witch in religious and patriarchal extremism but none take the risk of Eggers third indie arthouse masterpiece, The Northman (2022).

Now streaming on Amazon Prime, The Northman is, at its harsh and cold Nordic surface, a gnarly tale of revenge, with a brawny berserker (Alexander Skarsgrd) taking us through grisly Viking adventures of the body and mind to accomplish one last gory mission before reaching the pearly Gates of Valhalla. To seek justice for his murdered father (Ethan Hawke) and entrapped mother (Nicole Kidman), he must first survive the fires of Hel.

But look deeper at its motifs and youll find that The Northman is a perfect addition to your spooky season watchlist. Chock-full of Norse magic and sinister hallucinations, tense pacing and engrossing surrealist cinematography, and scored with an eerie soundtrack by Robin Carolan and Sebastian Gainsborough, The Northman is just as worthy of the horror label as Eggers earlier films.

At its heart, The Northman is a fresh re-imagination of a well-known tale, imbued with folklore that the average American viewer may not be familiar with, and enough optic and narrative complexity to keep you guessing. Its based primarily on the 12th-century legend of Amleth, as recorded by Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus, which also inspired Hamlet.

Alexander Skarsgrd was attached to another Viking-themed project for over five years before it was canceled. The Swede finally got his chance to tackle Norse mythology with The Northman. Focus Features

Eggers has also confirmed that Conan the Barbarian served as source material.

Prince Amleth (Oscar Novak, later Skarsgrd) has his privileged world turned upside-down when his father, King Aurvandill (Hawke) of the fictional island of Hrafnsey, is beheaded by his bastard brother, Fjlnir (Claes Bang). Fjlnir stages a coup, claiming Queen Gudrn (Kidman) as his own, and orders his legion to hunt down the young prince.

Amleth escapes, but remains haunted by the image of his fathers murder and vows to avenge him and rescue his mother. Years later, Amleth is incognito as a furious berserker, but is recognized by a prophetess. She tells him:

On his journey to reclaim his birthright by any means necessary (i.e. juggernaut savagery and volcanic sword fights), Amleth must reckon with the truth behind his trauma and move forward to obtain justice. His guides include witches (Willem Dafoe) and sorceresses (Anya Taylor-Joy), who help Amleth seal his chilling fate.

Most of the filming for The Northman took place in Northern Ireland. Focus Features

While The Northman received rave reviews from critics and a mostly positive reception from audiences, it only grossed $69.6 million worldwide. In short, the film while praised for its uninhibited viciousness and visual intricacy was a theatrical flop. But Eggers isnt disappointed in it, noting to The Daily Beast that The Northman was a home success.

Focus Features verified that The Northman had become profitable, and perhaps it would have done better in theaters had Focus just held out a little longer and released the Viking feature during October rather than April. Bursting with macabre and malevolence, and set against a dreary expanse, The Northman gets just spooky enough to appease horror junkies and fraidy cats alike, while staying true to its Nordic action-adventure label. Luckily, it can be streamed right on time for Halloween.

The Northman is streaming now on Amazon Prime Video.

LEARN SOMETHING NEW EVERY DAY.

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You need to watch the bloodiest Viking thriller on Amazon Prime ASAP - Inverse

What children love about Roald Dahls books is the very thing other writers tend to dodge when adapting them: that icy, unapologetic streak of misanthropy, so exhilarating to kids who have been instructed to see the good in everyone, opening their eyes to the nastier, more ironic adult world that awaits them. Even the craftiest, classiest Dahl adaptations tend to mollify that cruelty somewhat: Nicolas Roegs The Witches is viciously frightening but tacks on an unmitigatedly happy ending, while Wes Andersons Fantastic Mr. Fox muffles the violent survivalism of its source tale with its directors more gently quirky world-building. Already based on one of his kindlier stories, Roald Dahls Matilda the Musical further softens matters by pruning the presence of its funniest adult grotesques to accommodate more childs-eye exuberance. The long-late author probably would have grumbled; young viewers will be delighted nonetheless.

And yet, even as its script dictates otherwise, grownups still get the upper hand in director Matthew Warchus bouncy screen transfer of his hit stage musical. 12-year-old Alisha Weirs agreeably precocious title character and a large, eager ensemble of self-proclaimed revolting children fill the screen in one busy number after another, as they vocally stand up for kids right to be kids in the face of authoritarian adult opposition only for Emma Thompsons towering, truck-jawed antagonist to rather greedily pull focus from them with each rancorous line reading. The film, on balance, is cheery, sherbet-colored stuff, bursting with goodwill for all good people. What you remember from it, however, is each scene in which elder malevolence deliciously spoils the party.

That balance, correct or otherwise, isnt likely to diminish the cross-family appeal of this years London Film Festival opener when it reaches audiences in December via Sony in the U.K., and Netflix elsewhere. When it cannily hits the streaming platform on Christmas Day, Matilda could well grow into a phenomenon especially in Britain, to which the film has been uncompromisingly tailored. (That makes sense, given that with a four-year Broadway run, the musical was merely a success Stateside; still going in the West End after 11 years, its an institution at home.) Thatll come as a relief to any purists who objected to Danny DeVitos brashly Americanized 1996 film of Dahls book. This Matilda Wormwood drinks tea and eats Cadbury Curly-Wurlies in a corner of suburban England that is updated in its social diversity but otherwise carefully era-non-specific. No cellphones or computers in sight here: all the better to encourage our heroines prodigious book-reading.

Cutting the long, episodic setup of Dahls story and hewing close to his own Tony-winning stage book, screenwriter Dennis Kelly skips right past Matildas life-changing discovery of literature, instead taking her advanced genius as, well, read. Also getting short shrift here are her gleefully vulgar, anti-intellectual parents, to the extent that all their numbers have been excised from Tim Minchins fizzy song score a shame, really, given how riotously theyre played by an ideally cast Stephen Graham and Andrea Riseborough, who at least luridly make off with the few scenes theyre given.

But theres little time to waste in this restless two-hour movie, with Matilda soon bundled off to school (years overdue, not that her parents care) at the appropriately named Crunchem Hall. There, her extraordinary smarts immediately attract the admiration of nurturing teacher Miss Honey (a lovely Lashana Lynch, suitably sweet but never cloying) and the hostile ire of child-loathing, athletics-loving principal Miss Trunchbull (Thompson, perma-clad in a tank-shaped wax jacket that represents the peak of Rob Howells playful costuming). Those familiar with the stage show arent in for any great surprises from here on, as Matildas overly foreshadowed discovery of telekinetic powers upends the Trunchbulls reign of terror, while Kellys ornate story-within-a-story exposition framework one of the shows wobblier innovations makes a somewhat clunky return. Only the gaudily elaborate CGI of the climax veers from expectations.

Thats no complaint, since Warchus film mostly thrives on what already worked on stage: the speedy lyrical wordplay and energetically shouty delivery of Minchins songs, the deliberately heavy-footed stompiness of Peter Darlings choreography and the booming pantomime presence of its villain and, lets be honest, star attraction. Relishing a role conventionally played in drag on stage, hulking into each of her scenes with enhanced arms akimbo, Thompson is entirely a scream, whether throwing herself into grand-scale slapstick or putting a snide, venomous spin on kid-targeted putdowns like, He should have thought of that before he made a pact with Satan.

If that sounds less funny written down, Thompsons eccentric physical and verbal tics provide the bulk of the laughs in an adaptation that goes light on Dahls more raucous humor. Irish-born Weirs Matilda is an appealingly serious, watchful presence, though the film stresses the characters earnestness over her more wry impulses. Indeed, even as large collective numbers like Naughty and Revolting Children espouse the virtues of stepping out of line, the enthusiastic, exactingly on-their-marks young ensemble could have been directed to be a little more unruly.

The filmmaking, too, wants for a bit of anarchy, or at least some itchy verve. Tat Radcliffes lensing looks airbrushed and a little over-bright; Melanie Ann Olivers editing moves at a brisk, even pace, but never quite kicks to the rhythm of the music. A gifted stage director who brought tactile period texture to his last film Pride, Warchus here doesnt demonstrate quite the cinematic ingenuity to make a great screen musical: Bar the odd glittery switch between inner and outer consciousness la Rob Marshalls treatment of Chicago, the showpiece numbers here arent vitally reimagined for simultaneously widescreen and close-up possibilities.

Still, it feels churlish to carp too much about a lively, likable film that sincerely celebrates youthful imagination and joy, and is surely to spark those qualities in a large proportion of its audience even if its most fun when its least inspirational. Title notwithstanding, Roald Dahls Matilda the Musical isnt really Dahls at all, but a good-humored, humane and appropriately accommodating update of a story that, now to a few generations of readers and viewers, feels very much like their own. If it leaves some feeling that, multiple adaptations later, the book still tells it best, Matilda Wormwood would surely agree.

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Roald Dahls Matilda the Musical Review: Kids Win the Day in This Perky Adaptation, but Emma Thompsons Trunchbull Is the Real Triumph - Variety

Last months third annual National Conservative Conferencethe now yearly convention of the academics and public intellectuals trying to build an ideological structure inside the MAGA movementwas notable, at first blush, for two things. First, its relocation from Orlando to Miami, the New Right mecca for crypto-friendly, vax-skeptical, post-Trump futurists. And second, its bewildering fusion of isolationists and neocons, evangelicals, homosexuals, and, yes, a few monarchists, all united against a common enemy: the libs.

The future of Trumpism, after all, begins with coalition-building to articulate an agenda that can survive Trump, himself. So far, its more dark vibes than uplifting policy. A video promo for the NatCon event, which opened with footage of cars on fire and protesters tearing down Confederate statues, declared woke neo-Marxism is destroying the values and principles America, Britain, and other Western nations have held dear for centuries. Not exactly Morning in America.

But the most important, and least-covered, element behind NatCon 3 may have been its sponsorship list. While mainstream headlines zeroed in on the high-profile keynotes from Peter Thiel, Josh Hawley, and Ron DeSantis (Florida is a Model for America), the attendees I spoke to afterward couldnt help but notice that the events patrons included not just the far-right Claremont Institute and American Conservative, but also Washingtons most old-school and patrician conservative think tank: the Heritage Foundation, the historically buttoned-up, Reagan-era sinecure. There might have been a time that the people in the movement would have been inclined to fight Heritage, explained Will Chamberlain, the editor-in-chief of Human Events and a panelist at this years NatCon, rather than to fight alongside them.

These days, of course, the 50-year-old think tank is as likely to take its cues from Tucker Carlson as from Reagans legacy. Such is the nature of cold-hearted realpolitik survivalism in the modern G.O.P. No one rolls their eyes anymore in public. Indeed, any skepticism surrounding Heritages presence at NatCon was put to rest when the groups new chairman, Kevin Roberts, delivered a thundering, Biblical diatribe laying out Heritages political commitment to fighting Big Tech, the Chinese Communist Party, and the Stalinist agenda of woke culture. I come not to invite national conservatives to join our conservative movement, but to acknowledge the plain truth: that Heritage is already part of yours, he said to enthusiastic applause.

Beholding the future of the G.O.P increasingly requires probing the minds of the national conservatives, or natcons, as they call themselves. Its a group of outsider thinkers that is more intellectual and ideological than MAGA, as Chamberlain described them to me. A good shorthand would be the school of thought backed by Thiel, embodied by his protgs J.D. Vance and Blake Masters, now running for Senate in Ohio and Arizona, respectively, both of whom have made appearances at NatCon. For the past six years, this group has been trying to articulate a vision of what Trumpismin all of its isolationist, Big Tech-fighting, pro-Christian, anti-woke, and anti-establishment glorymight look like without its figurehead, though they were quick to point out that they still supported Trump himself. (For an in-depth primer of the movements policy goals, I point you towards this article from attendee Josh Hammer.)

In past years, the multi-day NatCon forum attracted an eclectic group of speakers like Carlson, John Bolton, and a then-lesser-known Vance, who notably stayed for the entire conference, rather than bouncing immediately after giving his keynote address in 2021. Giorgia Meloni, the new hyper-nationalist (some would say post-fascist) prime minister of Italy, gave an address, entitled God, Homeland and Family, at NatCon 2020 in Rome, the European iteration of the American NatCon.

This year, there was a palpable sense among the NatCons that they had finally achieved a critical mass of political forces to successfully put their ideasarticulated this summer in their Statement of Principles, a right-wing Port Huron Statement of sorts for the survival of Western valuesinto action. Heritages footprint was certainly one factor. But they were also heartened by the presence of multiple staffers for governors and members of Congress, ex-Trump aides, and other rising stars of the Republican professional classattending breakout panels, milling about with wealthy donors and online MAGA personalities with millions of followersa notable break from more stratified events like CPAC and the Faith and Freedom Conference. The one V.I.P. event was, notably, a donors-only fundraiser for Masters, now within striking distance of the U.S. Senate.

For a party that struggles to speak with one voice, these were positive data points that the Bethesda Brooks Brothers chinstrokers have given up the fight to reclaim the party and are merely just looking for their lane in the new world. This really was the breakthrough conference for us, Yoram Hazony, the chairman of the Edmund Burke Foundation, which hosts NatCon, told me, delighted that Heritage had made their mark. I mean, I think at this point, people can understand that this set of ideas, and policies that flow from themthis is going to be the future of conservatism in America, the United Kingdom, and other democratic countries.

Naturally, this being the Republican party of 2022, not everyone is entirely sold on this new direction, or the natcons potential to coalesce all the factitious splinter groups around their core ideological framework. Darren Beattie, a former Trump speechwriter and speaker at NatCon, said he was concerned that the natcons, for all their intellectual posturing and desire to write policy white papers, were still missing the point of Trumpism. I think the cult of personality is far more important to the Trump phenomenon than the fixed ideological agenda, he told me, echoing the observation of many who have wondered if this all evaporates after Trump. Within reasonable parameters, you tell people Trump said X, and Trump supporters will support that. The support is a function of Trump being for it and not the other way around.

Post-Trump Trumpism is, obviously, the long term goaland one that was clearly embodied in the presence of DeSantis, the natcons favorite culture war tactician. In his speech, which ran an hour long, DeSantis laid out his putative MAGA-friendly accomplishmentsfighting wokeism in the culture, dismantling LGBT-friendly policies in Florida schools, keeping the state open during Covid, among othersand railed against the woke mind virus infecting every level of society, from governments to business to the elites at Davos.

Hazony told me that NatCon would never endorse a political candidate, but those I spoke to indicated that the conferences wonkish attendees seemed more inclined to DeSantis as a vehicle for their ideas than a wild card like Trump. Unlike Trump, who might not have stronger ideological limits, or surround himself with people who disagree with them, Im not worried about that at all with DeSantis, said Chamberlain. If the speech he gave at NatCon is any indication, he just agrees with us, flat out.

Trump, everyone I spoke to predicted, could one day speak at NatCon, but if there was a contested primary between him and DeSantis in 2024, the group would likely be evenly split down the middle. The camp leaning toward Trump argues that hes more instinctually nationalist (though crass and norm-shattering) and can survive, as Beattie described it, the pain box of being attacked by the global establishment on a minute-by-minute basis. Meanwhile, the camp championing DeSantis emphasizes his ability to shapeshift within the rightward boundaries of movement conservatism, and perhaps to redraw those boundaries altogether. I think people will want to set it up as like, oh, DeSantis is like the more establishment friendly version of Trump and its not really that, said Chamberlain, negating the now age-old conventional argument. DeSantis would be the more ideological of the two.

Not to say that the natcons wouldnt support Trump if he were the 24 presidential nominee. On the contrary, they would surely throw their entire weight behind Trump in a general election, even if theyre unsure about his ideological purity, and work to place multiple allies within his administrationonce again proving that even the most vehement Trumpism-after-Trumpers are still very satisfied with the Real McCoy, himself. But either way, the natcons hope to set themselves up for success under either future Republican administration, enabling them to steer policy, set the agenda, and, with their Heritage alliance, to become the new establishment in Washington.

At the heart of this project, of course, is the question of whether MAGA can be tamed. Beattie, for one, has his doubts. The project of building a Trumpism after Trump, he told me, is appealing to peoples intellectual pretensions, and appealing to their fears [of irrelevance]. The combination of that is very powerful. And thats a combination that, I think, accounts for how attractive Trumpism after Trump is for a lot of people.

Continued here:

The Brooks Brothers Insurrection - Puck