Category Archives: Zeitgeist Movement

Five years after the #MeToo movement went viral, Women Talking has found new ground to discuss.

The star-studded ensemble film starsRooney Mara,Claire Foy,Jessie Buckley,Frances McDormand, Judith Ivey, and Sheila McCarthy as members of a remote religious community who are forced to debate next steps after their community is plagued with sexual assault.Based on Miriam Toews novel, Women Talking is written and directed by Sarah Polley.

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I dont think theres ever been a film made like this before, actress Foy told IndieWire during the films New York Film Festival premiere. It exists in its own world. Its a fable. It invites real conversation with an audience. I have never been a part of a film that has such conversation around it, and the conversation is really interesting.

Emmy winner Foy continued, Its not zeitgeist-y. Its not been made because of a particular time. This film could not have been made 10 years ago, but that does not mean that its only been made now because its latching onto something. This story is basically as old as time, unfortunately.

Foy credited writer-director Polley for having a conviction and being so clear-sighted about the films message.

Mara echoed that Women Talking inspires difficult, nuanced discussions and asks a lot of questions that I think some people are maybe scared to ask.

Co-star McCarthy explained, I think a lot of the #MeToo movement is experienced by women alone, and I think what this movie is about is women coming together and sharing their stories together and then being collectively able to change their lives and move forward. That is the important lesson for anybody: We are not alone. This movie is living proof that if you come together and share as a community, change can happen.

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McCarthy praised Polleys vision, calling her a master in directing who was loyal to the story and never compromised.

Polley enlisted sexual assault trauma therapist Dr.Laurie Haskell to be on set at all times since the film deals with sensitive subject matter that could be emotionally triggering.

I think its great if youre dealing with subject matter that can bring up a lot of stuff for a lot of people, like the subject in this film brings up stuff from people of all genders on our set, so just having that container and somebody who really knows how to create a safe space for things to come up and deal with productively I think is a really great idea, Polley said. So my gut would be, its not a bad idea to have a therapist on set generally. On almost every shoot Ive been on, it can definitely be utilized by cast and crew at all times.

Additional reporting by Vincent Perella.

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Claire Foy Doesn't Think 'Women Talking' Could Have Been Made Before #MeToo - Yahoo! Voices

DULUTH As spooky season continues, there are lots of terrifying things to do in the Northland. Check out our features on Halloween happenings and the Haunted Ship for more information; here are six more events to keep in mind this week.

One Week Live at Wussow's

On Monday, Wussow's Concert Cafe in Spirit Valley kicks off its 20th edition of One Week Live, an annual celebration of original music. There will be live music for six nights straight, with each show livestreamed on video if you can't make it out. The lineup includes local favorites like Feeding Leroy (Monday), Teague Alexy (Tuesday), Judas Rose (Friday) and Fenestra Funk (Saturday). The series will also feature out-of-state artists like Jason Dea West (Thursday) and a new local project called Babie Eyes, led by songwriters Heidi Feroe and Ian Alexy. On Wednesday, Ryan Lane hosts a songwriter competition. For the complete lineup, see facebook.com/wussowsconcertcafe.

Stories of 'dis-ease' at Zeitgeist

Contributed / Sod House Theater

On Wednesday night, Zeitgeist is hosting a production by Minneapolis company Sod House Theater. "RARE: Stories of Dis-Ease" was created after the University of Minnesota's Center for Orphan Drug Research contacted the university's Department of Theatre Arts & Dance about the possibility of using the performing arts to raise awareness of the prevalence of rare disease. That may sound like a contradiction in terms, but given that there are over 7,000 rare diseases, more people than you might realize are afflicted. Some of the Twin Cities' top theater artists are involved with the touring show, which was written by beloved storyteller Kevin Kling. Plus, it's free! To reserve seats, see sodhousetheatre.org.

Jay Gabler / Duluth News Tribune

Local history guru Tony Dierckins has a grand new book on "Duluth's Grand Old Architecture." Co-authored with the late Maryanne C. Norton, the 336-page tome chronicles the staggering number of monumental buildings created in the city during the glory years from 1870-1940, when Duluth was a booming industrial city bursting with an influx of money and civic pride. While the money's come and gone, many of the buildings remain, and the book will give you a renewed appreciation of structures from the Medical Arts Building to the Duluth Civic Center ("the nation's best surviving example of the City Beautiful movement") to Glensheen. That's where Dierckins will celebrate the book's publication, with a Thursday presentation and book signing. For information, see facebook.com/glensheenestate.

Contributed / Lisa-Marie Mazzucco

Are those birds singing in Symphony Hall? No, its the recorded sounds of Arctic birds, part of Einojuhani Rautavaaras Cantus Arcticus. The Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra is presenting that piece along with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozarts "Symphony No. 36," Jacques Iberts Homage a Mozart and Florence Prices "Violin Concerto No. 1." Bulgarian American violinist Bella Hristova, praised by the New York Times for impeccable sound and technique, will solo. For tickets and information on Saturdays performance at the DECC (and a Sunday encore in Superior), see dsso.com.

Jay Gabler / Duluth News Tribune

There's a bountiful harvest of fun fall events happening Saturday in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. Choose your own adventure! From 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Duluth Cider is throwing its annual Big Bad Apple Bash with live music, community apple pressing, a dog costume contest, special snacks and of course, cider with four special releases, including one brewed with the outcome of last year's community press. (See facebook.com/duluth.cider.) From 1-4 p.m., the Duluth Art Institute is having its first in-person Free ArtDAI in years, with the public encouraged to drop in for projects including paper flowers and paper puppets. (See duluthartinstitute.org.) Then, from 7-10 p.m., the Duluth Children's Museum is hosting a "Night at the Brewseum" fundraiser: a mini craft beverage festival with 10 local companies contributing samples of beer, cider, spirits and kombucha. (See duluthchildrensmuseum.org.)

Contributed / Maria and the Coins

Ready to rock out this weekend or find space to contemplate? We've got you covered. On Friday, rising Minneapolis pop rockers Maria and the Coins are making their Twin Ports debut with a show at Earth Rider's Festival Field; the stacked lineup also includes the Slamming Doors and AfroGeode & the Gemstones. (See earthrider.beer.) Then, on Saturday at Sacred Heart Music Center, David Huckfelt and Annie Humphrey are bringing their practiced songcraft to one of Duluth's most beloved venues. If you caught them at the recent Water Is Life event at Bayfront Festival Park, this is a chance to change it up. (See sacredheartmusic.org.)

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Best Bets: 6 nights of live music at Wussow's and more - Duluth News Tribune

Like Harry Styles As It Was over on the Billboard Hot 100, global superstar Bad Bunnys Un Verano Sin Ti has essentially been the default No. 1 all summer on the Billboard 200 albums chart the water-level-setting album that any new set needs to rise above to have a chance of topping the listing.

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This week, Verano spends its 13th week at No. 1 on the listing, moving 84,000 equivalent album units. (Slipknots The End, So Far bows one spot below it with 59,000 units, as the metal band joins a club that also includes Post Malone, Lizzo, Luke Combs and myriad other big names who have been blocked from the top spot by Bad Bunnys blockbuster.) Meanwhile, five songs from the set continue to populate the Hot 100 led by the Chencho Corleone collab Me Porto Bonito and solo hit Tit Me Pregunt as a whopping 11 tracks on the album have spent at least 10 weeks on the chart.

How has Verano remained this successful? And will its success be recognized at the upcoming Grammys? Billboard staffers discuss these questions and more below.

1.With its 13thweek on top of the Billboard 200,Veranoofficially moves into biggest-of-the-last-decade discussion with its chart performance. What do you think is the biggest reason behind its continued dominance on the chart?

Griselda Flores: Bad Bunny, overall, is the gift that keeps on giving. He doesnt just drop an album and hope for the best: He continues to develop the project even after its been released by dropping music videos sporadically. (Some with a deeper meaning than others his latest for El Apagn, for instance, really is a documentary that explores gentrification and blackouts in Puerto Rico.) But Id say the biggest force right now that continues to propel the album to No. 1 is his stadium tour. His album literally comes to life during his shows, which are attended by thousands around the country. Now that hes wrapped up his tour in the U.S., itll be interesting to see if theres any sort of shift in streaming numbers.

Lyndsey Havens: Early on, say 10 weeks ago or so, I had a lot of discussions about the albums lack of truly massive singles. It of course has its more popular hits like Tit Me Pregunt, Me Porto Bonito and Moscow Mule near the charts upper echelon, but none or any others dominated the Hot 100s top spots as much as the album itself has dominated the Billboard 200. At first, I wondered if this could or would hurt the albums longevity. But now, I believe that its precisely what helpedVeranoreach this milestone. By not pushing just one or two singles, the entire album as a whole has been able to sustain and by that logic,Veranois arguably one of the bestalbumsin a long while. So good, in fact, it cant be broken apart.

Jason Lipshutz: The biggest album of any year often represents a triangulation of music, stardom and cultural relevance and for Bad Bunny, whos become a stadium-headlining global superstar over the past five years, unveiling his most complete and hits-packed full-length to date (at a time when Spanish-language music is being given greater opportunities than ever before in North America) has yielded a blockbuster. Right project at the right time for the right artist: Thats how you get 13 weeks at No. 1.

Jessica Roiz: Its his most experimental album yet. Meaning, theres a song that just about anyone and everyone can relate to. Not only is Un Verano representative of summers in Puerto Rico, but its a set that easily connects cultures and generations from dembow to merengue to bolero to reggae to perreo. Beyond that, it carries a lot of important social messages, as heard in Andrea and El Apagon, that make it really hard for anyone (whether a Bad Bunny stan or not) to turn away. Simply put, its too good of a varied album to not have on repeat even after summer has ended.

Andrew Unterberger: Has there ever been a bad Bad Bunny headline? Im sure there must have been minor controversies and criticisms hes faced over the course of his career, but it seems to me like its just been a steady crescendo of success for Bad Benito, and one thats getting its loudest at the right time for Verano. Hes the right pop star for this time: open-minded, open-sounded, conscientious, fun, impossibly cool and totally accessible. And the album is by no means the sound of him coasting; its a sprawling, ambitious, and extremely imaginative and energetic set designed to capitalize and expand on the interest hes generated the past five years. Hes made all the right moves, at a level few if any other pop stars this decade can match.

2.While the streaming era has seen plenty of albums stay relevant on the Billboard 200 thanks to one or even two or three hit singles,Veranohas the rare distinction of being an album with double digits worth of tracks that have spent double-digit weeks on the Hot 100. What has allowed the album to remain so prolific with its number of hits?

Griselda Flores: There isnt just one thing that has allowed it but rather a collection of things. For one, Id say that every song has sort of taken a life of its own with standout characters such as Chencho Corleone on Me Porto Bonito or even the lady who comes in the middle of Tit Me Pregunt and whose line Ive completely memorized. Plus, everyone has a song theyve adopted as their very own anthem there isnt just one song that everyone is gravitating toward, which tends to be the case with many albums because theres always that one song. Theres something for everyone on this album and given that theres 23 songs on it, people are still processing it and discovering that a new song they hadnt paid attention to before is now their new favorite one from UVST.

Lyndsey Havens: I feel likeVeranohas adopted the together, we rise mentality. By having so many hits yet none that, to me, standtoofar out as a favorite among the rest theyre all sort of able to sustain without getting in the way of one another. And as a result, I think thats been the secret sauce the albums success as well.

Jason Lipshutz: Verano has benefited incalculably from the proliferation of streaming: none of its biggest songs have become the type of standout that dwarfs other tracks on the album and becomes ubiquitous within popular culture, but because multiple songs continue to dot prominent streaming playlists and rack up millions of streams each week, theyre never too far from the top of the Hot 100. Bad Bunnys voice is so commanding across these songs, and general interest in him is so high, that multiple tracks have become streaming juggernauts.

Jessica Roiz: Not only are they club bangers but the same way five of the tracks on the album are going strong in the Hot 100, they are still going strong on TikTok. Collectively, Me Porto Bonito, Tit Me Pregunt, and Efecto have over seven million video creations on the app (at the time of publishing), further proving why theyve become fan favorites. Not far behind are the focus single Moscow Mule, which gets a lot of radio play, and Neverita, which has a well-received music video and even a new cover from Elvis Crespo, whose Suavemente clip the Neverita visual pays tribute to.

Andrew Unterberger: This has gotta be the question every major artist (and their associated major labels) are asking right now: In a landscape where even new albums by artists like Kendrick Lamar and Beyonc cant seem to sustain massive streaming interest in more than a song or two for a week or two, how did Bad Bunny do it with half his 23-track album?? I dont have a great answer, except to say that the variety of Verano certainly helps: You could poll 15 different listeners and get at least 12 different favorite tracks, and no two of them will sound all that alike, while all remaining high-quality and still sounding like quintessential Bad Bunny. Easier said than done, as most of those other artists would attest.

3. When we discussed the albums likely breakout tracks upon its release nearly half a year ago at this point,few among ustabbed Me Porto Bonito or Tit Me Pregunt as the sets likely breakout tracks yet those are the two songs still hanging around the Hot 100s top 20. Are you surprised that those two songs have proven most enduring, or have they come to make sense as the LPs biggest hits?

Griselda Flores Let the record show I wasnotone of the few that said those two would likely be the sets breakout tracks! (I chose Moscow Mule). But now it makes sense why they would be. The experimental nature of these songs theyre not justanotherurban song makes it hard to get tired of listening to those songs on repeat. They went from soundtracking our summer to now certified, chart-topping anthems.

Lyndsey Havens: Looking back, I appreciate how unclear the would-be hits were. And since I didnt have a strong idea of what would become the stand-outs, I cant say Im that surprised now that Me Porto Bonito and Tit Me Pregunt are the ones to have climbed the highest. For me, as a non-Spanish speaker, so much ofVeranois about the vibe Bad Bunny created through his delivery and the productions. That said, these two songs do make total sense to be the albums biggest hits but then again, so would a handful of others in my opinion.

Jason Lipshutz: I am indeed surprised I would have bet big money on Moscow Mule becoming the breakout hit, and lost that big money! I underestimated the frenetic pace of Tit Me Pregunt as well as the reggaetn haze of Me Porto Bonito, which play off different strengths of Bad Bunny dance floor filler on one track, romantic lead on the other and now sound like slam-dunk singles to me months later.

Jessica Roiz: Its no surprise at all. Both tracks are certified hits. Me Porto Bonito because of its modern-day perreo fused with old-school party de marquesina beats, and its ultra-hyped lyrics about being confident and beautiful. Tit Me Pregunt because of its homage to the growing dembow movement from The Dominican Republics bajo mundo, and, of course, its relatable lyrics about not wanting to find love and settle down.

Andrew Unterberger: Still surprising to me! I like both songs but neither feel like they best represent the bursting-at-the-seams summertime exuberance of the set. However I am heartened by the fact that if you were only judging from at-bat walkup music in the ongoing MLB playoffs, you would think Despus de la Playa was not only the biggest hit on the album, but the biggest hit of the entire decade. As it should be!

4. All summer, the Hot 100 and Billboard 200 have been dominated by Harry Styles As It Was and Bad BunnysUn Verano Sin Ti, respectively. Does one of the two long-running chart-toppers feel more representative to you about the state of pop music in 2022?

Griselda Flores: I think in general, the pair speaks volumes about the fact that pop music is no longer a one-size-fits-all type of style. Its now a much larger spectrum, with Harry Styles on one end and Bad Bunny on the other. The two artists couldnt be more different in sound, but both capture the zeitgeist and fluidity of pop culture today.

Lyndsey Havens: To me, the story of Bad Bunny isthestory of the global music scene right now. To dominate with an entire album versus with one single shows just how strongly the Benitos music is resonating and the fact that hes raking in tens of millions of dollars on his tour right now only bolsters that fact.

Jason Lipshutz: Un Verano Sin Ti represents a landmark moment for Spanish-language music in the United States which has enjoyed several commercial breakthroughs over the past half-decade. But lest we forget, it was less than two years ago that another Bad Bunny album, El ltimo Tour Del Mundo, became the first all-Spanish No. 1 album ever on the Billboard 200! Bad Bunny continues to break down barriers this year, not just for himself, but for all Spanish-language artists with stardom in their sights.

Jessica Roiz: From his beginnings in Latin trap to dipping his toes in other genres, theres no doubt that Bad Bunny has gone from Puerto Rican rapper to Latin musics biggest pop star, without having to compromise his first language and his Latin culture, and also while breaking gender norms. I personally believe, more than anything, that Bad Bunny is where hes at today because of the power his lyricism holds. He navigates topics of love, mental health, heartbreak, sexuality, human rights, domestic violence awareness, and many more, best showcasing how an artist is meant to use their star power. Styles is just as representative of this, and thats why both artists have achieved chart-breaking success.

Andrew Unterberger: Both are very 2022-sounding, but Id give the edge here to Verano. Nothing new, culturally speaking, for the breakout heartthrob of a beloved boy band to have the biggest song of the summer with his most undeniable single to date thats basically happened at least once a generation since The Beatles. But for an almost entirely Spanish-language album to dominate without any concessions to the English-speaking market and without even a true top 40 crossover hit feels like it could only happen in 2022.

5. Weve discussed how one of the few remaining frontiers for Bad Bunny as a global pop star is to land a Grammy nomination in one of the major categories. Do you see that finally coming for him this year with the success ofVeranoand its many hit songs?

Griselda Flores: Absolutely! At least he should. Im thinking at least album of the year for UVSTs runway success. I predict competition would be tough if he gets into that category but Im cautiously optimistic he could even win and if he does, it would be massive.

Lyndsey Havens: Lets just say in a year when Adele and Beyonce both returned with albums, Im still rooting for Bad Bunny to take home the AOTY trophy.

Jason Lipshutz: If Un Verano Sin Ti isnt nominated for the album of the year Grammy, there will be a sizable backlash, since projects with such critical and commercial success are often recognized in the category. I do see Bad Bunny scoring an album of the year nod, and while there will likely be stiff competition in the category projects by Harry Styles, Beyonc, Adele and Ed Sheeran will all be eligible Bad Bunny has as good of a shot at taking home the top prize as anyone.

Jessica Roiz: A million times yes! If his 2022 Latin Grammys album and record of the year nominations are any indication, Un Verano Sin Ti (and any of the tracks) are worthy of a nomination in the major categories at the Grammys. After Bad Bunny become the first Latin artist in MTV VMAs history to win artist of the year, Im very hopeful that he will not only be nominated but also win a major Grammy award.

Andrew Unterberger: Id be really worried if there were still only five or even eight nominations in the category theres just too many voters that will blanch at a Spanish-language album, especially one without a ubiquitous entry point but with 10 now, its sorta hard to see it getting denied. Not unthinkable, though, and if it does the backlash will be swift, loud, and for the most part, deserved.

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Five Burning Questions: Bad Bunny Spends a 13th Week at No. 1 With Un Verano Sin Ti - Billboard

There are ways to use crafting and art as forms of activism, and artist Domonique King continues to master that combination in her work featuring wood, nails and yarn. Her online space, Wood Wool Steel, has allowed her dream of creating uplifting images of Black culture to be realized while sharing her creative, passionate and two-spirited energy with others.

Malcolm X said, If you want something, you had better make some noise. That is my point of view, as an artist who makes noise while Im creating, with what I create, with why I create, she says.

On Friday, shell lead others in finding their creative voice to make their own noise during the Womens Museum of Californias Craftivism Class: Nail Art Portraits workshop at 6 p.m. at the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation. This series is a complement to the museums Crafting Feminism: Textiles of the Womens Movement exhibit and is intended to teach people a crafting skill they can use in their activism. Attendees will get a lesson in creating a nail art portrait of political activist, professor and former member of the Black Panther Party, Angela Davis, and a bit about her work and history.

King, 37, lives in College Area near San Diego State University with her partner and their two sons, a high school junior focused on creative writing and an eighth-grader on the swim team. She took some time to talk about her work, the dualities shes come to embrace in herself, and how her ideal weekend would happen in San Diego circa 1998.

Q: How did you get started in creating visual art?

A: Ive been a creative person, in general, for as long as I can remember. I actually attended the same performing arts school as my son, where I was able to dabble in a variety of artistic expressions, with music and instrumentation being my primary interest. I was also able to experience theater, photography, dance and also visual artistry. Now, I am able to incorporate my experience and understanding of these areas into my yarn art.

Q: How did you develop your current style, using yarn and nails to create portraits?

A: I just went for it. I saw a heart on Pinterest back in 2013, which sparked my interest. I hadnt seen anything like that before, so I tried it and kept trying it. I just kept pushing my boundaries and finally developed a technique unique to my style and vision. It took me a few years, too. Im very proud of my evolution and look forward to the future.

Q: Your website says that your vision is to uplift Black folk through beautiful images of Black faces, bodies and culture. How did this vision begin to take shape for you in your work?

A: The art evolved from the vision. Its always been important to me to show Black culture and life in a deep and enlightening way. In all that I do I want to represent the beauty, intelligence, resilience, determination and creativity of the Black community in America.

My favorite thing about my neighborhood is its access to the freeway, lol. And I live by one of the cheapest gas stations in the city. Thats prime location right now.

Q: And why is it important to you to uplift Black people in this way?

A: Its important because of the centuries of misrepresentation weve experienced. Its important to me to take control of the narrative and the optics. We should determine how we are seen.

Q: Youre leading the Craftivism Class: Nail Art Portraits on Friday. How do you see your work with yarn and nails within the context of activism?

A: My work promotes strategic planning, patience, creativity, focus and especially love. I believe all of those are important contributors to practicing activism.

Q: On your website, you have a video that allows people to see a bit of what goes into creating a piece. Can you walk us through your artistic process for creating and completing a portrait, here?

A: Yes, my art is a step-by-step process; it doesnt allow for much flow. I plan, digitally, what I will create and transfer that idea to the board by painting, sealing, burning the wood, driving nails and, ultimately, weaving the yarn. It takes about 45 hours to complete a decent-sized portrait.

Q: What can people expect at your workshop on Friday?

A: Folks can expect good energy, firstly. I want everyone to laugh, smile and to have a feel-good time. They should also expect to learn something insightful about a Black figure they may not have been privy to before. I love Black history and speak about it with enthusiasm.

Q: Can you talk a bit about why you want to focus on Angela Davis during this session?

A: My aim is to always bring light to and knowledge about Black figures who have participated in the creation of our current zeitgeist. When presented with the opportunity to teach with the Womens Museum, it was important to me to stay that course. Angela Davis is a figure I believe would be a great addition to understanding and appreciating the crafting of feminism.

Q: What do you hope people get from the experience of creating art with you in this way?

A: I hope people get an understanding of my love for history, beauty, culture and most importantly, my craft.

Q: What inspires you in your creativity?

A: Everything inspires me! Music, food, relationships, new places. My everyday life is an inspiration.

Q: Celebrities, including Spike Lee and Andra Day, own some of your pieces. Who are some other famous admirers of your work, and was there anyone you were particularly excited or nervous about creating a piece for?

A: Yes, I was super-excited when those opportunities presented themselves, especially Spike because I learned about Malcolm X from his movie, not in school, and he bought my Malcolm series. There are many public figures who admire my work. (Shameless plug, you can find some of them following my Instagram account @WoodWoolSteel.) It is always nerve-racking to expose yourself as an artist, to show the world what came from your heart. I love when anyone wants a piece of it.

Q: Who are some artists whose work youre a fan of?

A: Im really into this digital artist, X Payne, and an abstract artist named Arnold Butler. You can find them on Instagram. Their work resonates with me because its super bold and culturally relevant. I love the colors they use, the subject matter, and the dope energy that permeates when you see their work.

Q: Whats been challenging about your work as an artist who works in this medium?

A: Honestly, the most challenging part of working with this medium is making sure I still have thumbs, lol. Driving thousands of nails into a board means quite a few accidents happen. Also, theres a challenge in keeping enough nails in stock.

Q: Whats been rewarding about this work?

A: The most rewarding aspect of this work is seeing folks faces when they see my art in person. They look excited, inspired and curious. Peoples minds formulate the most interesting questions, and its always cool to me to expand my explanation of my art.

Q: What has this work taught you about yourself?

A: This work has taught me that I am resilient, focused, talented, masculine and feminine. Im a two-spirited individual, and I love to be able to go to the hardware store for hours, then hit the fabric or textile store and immerse myself in the patterns and textures of fabric. This work has taught me that Im both soft and rough.

Q: What is the best advice youve ever received?

A: The best advice Ive ever received is to stop and breathe. Take deep, big belly breaths. Breathe through every fiber of your being; it may save your life.

Q: What is one thing people would be surprised to find out about you?

A: People would be surprised to find out that I am a lyrical genius. My pen game is phenomenal. I have more bars than the Gaslamp (if you know, you know).

Q: Please describe your ideal San Diego weekend.

A: My ideal weekend in Daygo would be set in 1998, slidin down the (state Route) 94, listening to 90.3 on the radio; a trip to the swap meet to get some fresh cut fruit with some chamoy; head on over to Fam Mart to get my ear pierced for $7, pick up some Triple A T-shirts and a bean pie; hit Robertos #10 by the North Park water tower for a burrito; then get some wood, slide to Ski Beach, and eat by a bonfire.

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San Diego artist uses creativity to uplift Black culture and 'determine how we are seen' - The San Diego Union-Tribune

Its been thirty years since the Premier League launched - arguably the most exciting league in the world. Its provided fans with some of the most emotive and recognisable moments in footballing history, far too many to start reeling off.

Football fans can immediately recall a favourite goal, controversial booking or career-ending foul. Ask them what the logo is and chances are a lion springs to mind. But if you ask a fan to recall the Premier Leagues anthem, they might be a bit slower to respond, despite the fact its heard every time teams walk out at a fixture.

From its inception, The Premier League has behaved like all good challengers should - its experimented with styles and genres - from compositions to popular songs depending on the era. But, as it enters its third decade as an established and grown-up brand, is it time for it to settle on a sonic strategy that is rooted in its values and legacy, and stick with it?

As a music and sound agency that has worked extensively with brands in and out of the world of sport, including the Premier League, were continually asked to replicate something like the Champions League anthem in briefs. Its understandable - its one of the greatest rousing and recognisable sporting anthems ever created and emotionally engages both fans and players as they prepare to take on a game on the greatest stage.

But, whats been refreshing to see is that the Premier League didnt do this.

Instead its provided us with a really varied range of anthems to listen to over the years. From the licensing of Kasabians popular Fire to the electronic dance track which accompanied the 2004-07 seasons, as well as a sprinkling of the more traditional orchestral type pieces here and there. The league should be applauded for its bravery with regards to how it has had fun with its sonic identity over the years in its quest to find a sound which satisfies the plethora of stakeholders and challenges that a brand as all encompassing as the Premier League has to do.

The Premier League is a quintessentially English brand but is also the most watched sports league on any continent at any one time during the season. Its challenge over the past few years, as its become more globally lucrative, is to appeal to a truly global audience. Additionally, in an era of fragmented licensing, the league itself is now having to compete to be foremost in fans minds above an array of broadcasters who now have the rights to matches and who have their own sonic identities. Its critical the Premier League has a sonic identity that uses the insights procured over the last thirty years of experimentation to ensure its sound resonates best with fans and stands out amongst the crowd.

So how can the League achieve this? If the last thirty years of sonic experimentation have taught the Premier League anything, it should be that the anthems that resonate best with fans are those which are heavily focused on reflecting the values and cultural zeitgeist that is the Premier League. Values that were so emphatically defended in the enormous backlash that came in response to the announcement of the launch of the Super League. This passion from fans is the sort of sentiment that its sonic identity should seek to encapsulate. But must also make sure that this sound reflects the genuinely innovative and progressive cultural movement it represents.

This is similar to the challenge MassiveMusic faced when creating the sonic branding for the brand Philips, a brand with a huge number of touchpoints and a presence all over the world. They opted for a sonic strategy to unify the brand experience and catered to all its users without it sounding generic. Together with the brand, we transformed its sonic identity across the board with a future-proof strategy, radically changing the brand recognition and helping to put consumers experience at the core of the business.

So what next for the Premier League? For all the twists and turns we see each year there is an opportunity for the Premier League to properly put down some deeper roots in its sonic brand - one that will encapsulate the emotion, drama, legacy and future, embedding in the hearts and ears of new generations of fans for years to come.

For example, how could it really use all its touchpoints more effectively with sound? How will new generations of football fans experience the game? How could the Premier League sound in the metaverse? There is a great opportunity for the Premier Leagues next sonic identity to be an enduring celebration of the amazing impact that it has had and continues to have on our culture, which has far transcended the sidelines of any stadiums. I know Im excited to see how the next thirty years pans out as we experience the ongoing excitement, anticipation, joy and heartbreak the Premier League offers across new platforms and experiences.

Paul Reynolds is MD EMEA and operations director at global music and sound creative agency MassiveMusic

Read more from the original source:

The Premier League at thirty - what should it sound like next? - Broadcast

The Supreme Court has quashed Ellis' 13 convictions, saying there was a "substantial miscarriage of justice" in the case of the former creche worker who was jailed for child sexual abuse in 1993. Video / Courts of NZ

OPINION: As Peter Ellis' conviction is quashed, Steve Braunias looks at the case which has divided New Zealand for almost 30 years.

There is no comedy as black as criminal justice comedy. The Supreme Court judgment on the long, wretched case of Peter Ellis, quashing his conviction and scorning 30 years of Crown law as a nonsense that was misguided at best and hateful at worst, concludes its report with the droll remark, "As the appellant has died, the issue of a retrial does not arise." Quite.

Ellis ex-appellant, ex-convict, ex-alive is a free ghost, his name cleared, at last. He was convicted at his trial in 1993 of 16 counts of sexual offending against seven children at the Christchurch creche where he worked. We can now regard that conviction, in the delicate language of the judiciary, as unsafe. We can, if we prefer, describe it as bulls***. There is not a single trace of equivocation in the Supreme Court judgment. It lays it out in clean and patient prose. It's a wonderfully readable report, as well as consistently damning.

Few emerge from it unscathed. Not Justice Neil Williamson, judge at Ellis' 1993 trial. Not Dr Karen Zelas, a child sexual abuse expert who gave evidence at that trial. Not Sir Thomas Eichelbaum, who held an inquiry into the Ellis case in 2002 and blithely dismissed his appeal.

It does not have the scope to mention creatures such as former government ministers Jenny Shipley and John Banks, who rejected the first calls for an inquiry, and are damned for the words that came out of their mouths. Shipley: "The matter has now traversed the court system ... I do not consider a further public inquiry into the matter to be necessary." Banks: "I am highly critical of the decision taken to give this individual such work when he openly and often spoke of his perversions."

Well, you could always rely on Banks to say something pathetic. For me, it's the enduring legacy of his many years of public service. And yet even his various assorted foamings lack the sheer craziness that were such a feature of the Crown case against Ellis.

The Supreme Court report is a reminder of some of the fantastical accusations, such as this classic from Complainant 5: "He said he was taken to a house along with other children. People stood around a circle playing guitars and dancing while the children stood naked at the centre ... The unknown group of dancing people had knives and pretended they were cowboys. They all wore white suits and had chains around their necks ... The appellant tied up several children in a 'big ball', put them in the oven and turned it on. There was smoke in the oven. The appellant told complainant 5 he would kill his mother and father."

White suits and smoking ovens! Interesting kid. But the Supreme Court pulls back, rightly, from even the implication of a harsh word against the parents and children at the Christchurch creche. Kids say stuff; the role of parents is to protect. They were caught up in something. Lynley Hood's thesis in her amazing book A City Possessed identified it as a moral panic, or "an epidemic of mass psychogenic illness". The times produced a "zeitgeist" of fear, she wrote, listing organisations such as the Incest Survivors Group and the Child Abuse Prevention Society. Hood's book can sometimes read like the ravings of a threatened right-wing male of advanced years. "Authoritarian feminists set the style and pace of the child sexual abuse prevention movement." And: "The mischief done by PTSD ... turns mentally healthy survivors into victims in need of treatment."

Woah. One of the strangest elements in the defence of Peter Ellis is that it turns back the tide of received thinking about of sexual abuse. We live in an age of trigger warnings and #MeToo. We acknowledge that legislation and the courts make it difficult for victims to come forward.

Sympathy for someone accused of heinous sexual crimes and the charges against Ellis were deeply heinous, detailing sort of abuses that made many people express the wish to see him dead is not par for the course in 2022. No, no one is feeling sorry for Weinstein yet. But Ellis is different. For a start, and we can say this now with all due legal authority, he's innocent.

But there was always something else about him. One of the cardinal sins in our moral age is the perception of the abuse of power. Ellis, though, was just so powerless.

Yes, he had little kids under his control at the creche, and the accusations cast him as monstrous and domineering (the white suit, "he would kill his mother and father"). But co-workers and parents interviewed in A City Possessed talk of him as a hell of a lot of fun. He would run under sprinklers with kids. He would hide in piles of leaves with kids. He would line up kids with a mattress on the floor behind them, throw another mattress at them, and they'd fall back, sandwiched between the two mattresses. The kids would beg him: "Can we play the mattress game again?"

Ellis, with his painted fingernails and his "mincing gait" (Hood's words), his games and his pets, "uninhibited and effervescent" (in his probation officer's words), a former tobacco picker and bakery assistant, arrested on his 34th birthday, was somewhat more than just some sort of big kid. He was complex, silly, eccentric, sensitive, bitchy: His own lawyer, Rob Harrison, described him in the 2019 Supreme Court hearing, "You might say that he had a bit of a mouth on him like a torn pocket." Before his jailing, he'd been in a five-year relationship with a man, a two-year relationship with a woman and a four-year relationship with a man. He drank, sometimes a lot, and smoked, too much.

All of which was just someone going about their business, until a stray comment from a little boy at the creche "I don't like Peter's black penis" became the first line in a story that grew ever more deranged and sent Ellis to prison for seven years, that followed him to his grave in 2019, that only now has been crossed out, and put right.

He was failed by the Court of Appeal in 1994 and again in 1999. He was failed by the Eichelbaum inquiry. This is what happens to the powerless; this is how easily and constantly they are broken on the wheel. The profound application of tikanga that allowed his appeal to be posthumously heard by the Supreme Court in 2019 was the very first sign that restorative justice in the case of Peter Ellis might be possible. The second sign was at the hearing itself; I attended the second week, and came away thinking three things. One, the Crown case was embarrassing. It felt perfunctory, tired, almost ashamed of itself. Two, the judges seemed particularly keen on investigating the defence case that the children's evidence had been contaminated.

Justice Glazebrook, to Rob Harrison: "Is your case that the degree of contact between parents meant that one child's allegation became another child's allegation?"

"Yes, sir."

Justice Glazebrook pondered the answer, and asked, "Is your case that all of the allegations of all of the children is contaminated?"

Harrison pondered the question, and said, "There's a risk, sir."

Contaminated evidence was presented in the Supreme Court judgment yesterday as one of two central reasons why the conviction was overturned. "The jury was not fairly informed of the level of the risk of contamination ... The expert evidence at the trial had given the jury a false sense of reassurance that the contamination risk was low."

Wisdom is easier in hindsight but actually it was just as easy to come to the same wise conclusion even before the 1993 trial. Paragraph 239 of the Supreme Court judgment makes for devastating reading. "Prior to the trial, the judge made a number of rulings, some of which addressed the issue of contamination. On reading these it is striking that the concerns were identified very early in the proceedings they were in the minds of the judge and counsel not only at the trial, but before it." Paragraph 240 shows that these "concerns" only got as far as the moat of their minds. "The appellant ... made a pre-trial application to exclude the evidence of the complainants ... [It] was unsuccessful." Well, it only took 30 years to cross that moat.

The third thing I took away from the 2019 Supreme Court hearing was an interest in the literary work of a Dunedin author. Her name was Karen Zelas, the same Dr Zelas who is of such consuming interest in the Supreme Court judgment that her name appears 240 times (Ellis gets 69 mentions). Example: "The court has found that Dr Zelas' evidence lacked balance." And: "This court has concluded that ... the extent to which Dr Zelas' evidence departed from appropriate standards ... may well have affected the verdicts and thereby caused a miscarriage of justice." Also: "On a number of occasions Dr Zelas gave evidence in which she accepted or appeared to accept the complainants' evidence of abuse as a true account."

Zelas is now the author of poetry ("you/ breached the testosterone citadel") and fiction, including the novel Resolutions, the first in a projected series starring family lawyer Rebecca Eaton: "Her competence is questioned, media hound her," reads the blurb. It has a good review from Gail Ingram who writes that Zelas' main character "wrestles with ... protecting families in distress."

The Supreme Court judgment, too, takes an interest in distressed families. "Dr Zelas ... addressed whether, based on evidence called at trial, each of the complainants had exhibited behaviours that were consistent with the behaviours of a child of that age who had been subject to sexual abuse. Across all of the complainants in respect of whom charges were laid, she described 20 categories of behaviour which the Crown later categorised as follows: Fear or dislike of Mr Ellis; reluctance/fear of attending creche; fear of or obsession with penises; fear of other adult males; fear of intruders/robbers/burglars; clothing problems; eating problems; toileting problems; bathing problems; sleeping problems/nightmares/night terror; headaches/vomiting/stomach aches; vaginal/anal soreness; stealing/taking/hiding objects; withdrawn/scared behaviour; tantrums; masturbation; sexual behaviour; poor co-ordination; fear of animals; and fear of threats of death to themselves/parents.

"She reiterated her stance ... that sexualised behaviour in young children is one of the behavioural indicators most specific to sexual abuse so it is unlikely to be due to other behaviours."

All of which reads like fiction. Fear of intruders sexual abuse. Bathing problems sexual abuse. Tantrums, stomach aches, fear of threats of death to themselves/parents ("he would kill his mother and father") sexual abuse. Who would believe any of this? Not the Supreme Court, which gives it a very bad review indeed: "Much of this evidence should not have been admitted at all."

But it was, and to borrow the imagery of Hood's thesis that the case was a witch-hunt, it burned Peter Ellis at the stake. At the Supreme Court hearing in 2019, Rob Harrison read out depositions given by the parent of the child who said one day that he didn't like "Peter's black penis".

The parent said, "I have a strong belief that secrecy in sexual abuse can keep it happening. I felt it needed to be talked about ...

"When my child first talked to me, because of my work in sexual abuse, I knew it was rare for only one child to be abused and I knew from profiles of abusers that they are attracted to work with children."

Question, at depositions: "So really from when your child made the comments about Peter's 'black penis', in your mind you believed there had been widespread abuse at the creche?"

Answer: "I believed it was highly likely."

Harrison remarked to the Supreme Court, "So that was their mindset."

A mindset, a moral panic, a set of beliefs society functions or malfunctions on all sorts of bad ideas formed with the best of intentions. The problem is when they enter the courts or other citadels of the democratic process. Peter Ellis got taken in for questioning by a zeitgeist but the New Zealand criminal justice system did the rest, and devoted the past 30 years to getting it horribly wrong.

See original here:

Steve Braunias on Peter Ellis case: 'Moral panic, contaminated evidence and an innocent ghost' - New Zealand Herald

ESGenvironmental, social, and governancehas been the new hot topic for the last several years. Yet companies are still trying to come to grips with what it means and how they can address these varying and often competing interests of shareholders and other stakeholders.

Some have questioned how the idea of ESG can be reconciled with the traditional maximizing value for the shareholder or shareholder primacy theory. But many might be surprised to learn that, long before ESG became the acronym du jour, most states had enacted some flavor of a constituency statute that allows a board of directors to consider various other constituencies when making decisions on behalf of the corporation.

For instance, Minnesotas statute provides that directors may consider a broad array of interests, including:

the corporations employees, customers, suppliers, and creditors, the economy of the state and nation, community and societal considerations, and the long-term as well as short-term interests of the corporation and its shareholders including the possibility that these interests may be best served by the continued independence of the corporation.

Minn. Stat. 302A.251, Subd. 5.

Statutes like this appear to give directors wide latitude and cover for decisions that may not fit the primacy of the shareholder model. And indeed, these statutes were enacted at the behest of directors of boards during the 1980s heyday of hostile takeoverswhen the barbarians were at the gates, so to speak. Some directors believed that takeovers were not in a corporations long-term best interest but feared fiduciary-duty claims if they resisted a hostile takeover that would have provided short-term financial gain to the shareholders.

As a result, directors turned to state legislatures and sometimes threatened to incorporate elsewhere if a constituency statute was not passed in the current state of incorporation. Wanting to keep employers in the state, many state legislators passed these lawssometimes rather expeditiously. For example, Pennsylvania was the first state to enact such a statute, in 1983, after Scott Paper Company and Gulf Oil Corporation, both facing potential hostile takeovers, threatened to leave the state if the statute was not passed.

That constituency statutes were meant to benefit directors is perhaps best reflected by the fact that none provide an enforcement mechanism for any of the non-shareholder constituencies. Are you an employee or supplier that believes a companys board is not giving due consideration to how a given decision will affect you? Too bad. Not only are the statutes permissive (the board is not required to give thought to other constituencies), but the statutes have no private right of action and cannot help you. It will only help the director defend against a shareholder who believes its interests must prevail over all others. But some would argue that these laws have done little to benefit directors, either.

And that is because, notwithstanding a majority of states that codified constituency statutes, one state has not: Delaware, the state where the majority of corporations are incorporated. Indeed, Delaware law has established the Revlon standard, which requires that, when a company goes up for sale, the board must maximize the value for the shareholder.

Some have suggested that Delaware has a quasi-constituency statute in the post-Revlon case, Paramount Communications v. Time, Inc., where the Supreme Court of Delaware upheld Times rejection of a highly profitable tender offer from Paramount to instead merge with Warner Brothers in what the board believed would provide better long-term benefits to the corporation. But, even that case did not address the interests of stakeholders other than shareholders. In sum, Delaware is known for its primacy of the shareholder model.

Because of Delawares overwhelming influence in corporate jurisprudence, constituency statutes from other states often are overshadowedor overpoweredby the traditional focus on the interests of the shareholder. Indeed, directors remain reluctant to choose a path financially detrimental to shareholders, even if there may be countervailing benefits to non-shareholder stakeholders. For example, if a company were to put itself up for sale and the highest bidder was an entity with a history of polluting and the next highest bidder promised more environmentally favorable practices, directors in recent years have still been likely to go with the polluting entity, because shareholders can easily quantify their losses and bring a breach-of-fiduciary claim. And directors have been reluctant to rely on constituency statutes when defending fiduciary-duty claims for fear that doing so would result in a lower stock price by suggesting that the companys shareholders are not paramount. Therefore, despite their prolific presence in statute books throughout the country, constituency laws have rarely been litigated and have done little to bolster the interests of non-shareholder stakeholders.

Somewhat surprisingly, its the shareholders whove succeeded in getting companies to consider other constituencies. While the term ESG first appeared in 2004, it was BlackRock CEO Laurence Finks 2016 annual letter to corporate CEOs that catapulted ESG into the corporate zeitgeist, where it remains today. Fink argued that boards needed to be more strategic in creating long-term value for their shareholders and less focused on near-term profits. He stated: Generating sustainable returns over time requires a sharper focus not only on governance, but also on environmental and social factors facing companies today. And further: At companies where ESG issues are handled well, they are often a signal of operational excellence. BlackRock has been undertaking a multi-year effort to integrate ESG considerations into our investment processes, and we expect companies to have strategies to manage these issues.

Going forward, it will be interesting to see if constituency statutes see any revival in light of ESG efforts. Or, as is more likely, will directors instead argue that considering other stakeholders is just another way of providing long-term value to their shareholders?

See the original post:

Constituency Statutes: The Overlooked Predecessor to the ESG Movement - JD Supra

On the Shelf

10 October books for your reading list

If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookstores.

Critic Bethanne Patrick recommends 10 promising titles, fiction and nonfiction, to consider for your October reading list.

Falls books come in hot through the end of September, not unlike an L.A. heat wave. But October is when the dust settles and the meatiest releases often hit late-career tomes from the likes of John Irving; bold departures from authors like Celeste Ng; thoughtful biographies of Bob Dylan and Samuel Adams and others. Open up the windows, steep some tea and dive in.

Our Missing HeartsBy Celeste NgPenguin Press: 352 pages, $29(Oct. 6)

The movement called Preserving American Culture and Traditions (PACT) in Ngs startling and beautiful new novel sounds so plausible readers might suspect for a moment that it actually exists. While a boy known as Bird seeks to find out what happened to his mother, a Chinese American poet and activist who disappeared years ago, he discovers sobering truths about racism and collaboration in a near-future dystopia different from ours only by degrees.

When We Were SistersBy Fatimah AsgharOne World: 336 pages, $27(Oct. 18)

Already longlisted for the National Book Award, Asghars debut shimmers with love in the midst of neglect. Three young Pakistani sisters, Noreen, Aisha and Kausar, wind up with a terrible uncle after they are orphaned in the United States. Over years spent in one cramped bedroom keeping to the uncles strict schedule, their bonds become almost too strong; each must leave to make her way to adulthood.

The Last ChairliftBy John IrvingSimon & Schuster: 912 pages, $38(Oct. 18)

Love Irvings work or not, you have to give him props for his sharp perspective on our countrys modern history in works ranging from Cider House Rules to The World According to Garp. His latest starts in 1941, when a young Aspen ski wiz named Ray falls pregnant with our protagonist, Adam. The plot loosely drapes around Adams quest to find his biological father, but as with most Irving plots, its really about how we form our own sorts of families in the late capitalist age.

Liberation Day: StoriesBy George SaundersRandom House: 256 pages, $28(Oct. 18)

While Saunders has written a novel (Lincoln in the Bardo) and literary essays about favorite short stories (A Swim in the Pond in the Rain) since publishing his 2013 collection, Tenth of December, die-hard fans have spent this near-decade waiting for more of the form in which he is an absolute genius. His new short stories will not disappoint; when it comes to finding the uncanny in the mundane or vice versa Saunders has no peers.

Signal FiresBy Dani ShapiroKnopf: 240 pages, $28(Oct. 18)

Shapiros first novel in 15 years tracks three generations on one suburban street through the prism of a drunk-driving accident that unearths several terrible secrets. The authors attention to craft is so detailed, so invisible, that 250 pages feel simultaneously taut and timeless, especially as a friendship between an elderly man and an adolescent boy allows many of the characters to attain something approaching closure.

Token Black Girl: A MemoirBy Danielle PrescodLittle A: 256 pages, $25(Oct. 1)

As fashion industry insider Prescod knows, toxic beauty standards arent just anti-feminist; theyre also racist. This candid and energetic memoir from the former director of style at BET follows a journey through chemical hair treatments and stringent diet-and-exercise routines and more, all of which was aimed at making herself into the opposite of who she is. But Prescod has come through the other side with wisdom to share about how to come into your true gorgeous self.

Life Is Hard: How Philosophy Can Help Us Find Our WayBy Kieran SetiyaRandom House: 240 pages, $27(Oct. 4)

Setiya teaches philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, so you might think he has the answers to all the existential questions. When it comes to weathering hardship and adversity, however, he readily admits there is no easy fix. Instead, philosophy contains equipment that can help you survive and find renewed hope, if you know how to use it.

Making a Scene: A MemoirBy Constance WuScribner: 336 pages, $29(Oct. 4)

The acclaimed comic actor (Crazy Rich Asians) debunks stereotypes of Asian Americans (and rumors of on-set chilliness) in a memoir about going from a well-behaved Virginia girlhood to Hollywood stardom and its own outsize expectations. It was when Wu channeled her own background into the role of the Taiwanese American mom in Fresh Off the Boat that she found her creative voice and began to understand its importance for others too.

Folk Music: A Bob Dylan Biography in Seven SongsBy Greil MarcusYale: 288 pages, $28(Oct. 11)

No man, not even the famously enigmatic Bob Dylan, can be an enigma to his biographer. From Blowing in the Wind to Murder Most Foul, Marcus mines the music of the artist from Minnesotas Iron Range for its deeply American soul. As in all his books, the heralded rock critic combines interviews, liner notes, research and criticism to provide a cultural biography that shows how closely Dylan has followed the news and the zeitgeist over his seven-decade career.

The Revolutionary: Samuel AdamsBy Stacy SchiffLittle, Brown: 432 pages, $33(Oct. 25)

Step aside, Thomas Jefferson; lets talk about the man whose devotion to resistance behavior makes him, for some, the most essential figure in the American Revolution. Samuel Adams comes to electrifying life through this Pulitzer Prize-winning historians meticulous research and dynamic storytelling as a man of principle and persuasion. There was also Adams devotion to stealth and secrecy, which may be why its taken so long to tease out his unusual story.

Read the original:

10 books to add to your reading list in October 2022 - Los Angeles Times

St. Paul wrote that the Church is one body and one Spirit[with] one Lord, one faith, one baptism (Ephesians 4:4-5); however, someone could be forgiven for believing that we currently have multiple faithsi.e., multiple religionsexisting within the one Catholic Church. Consider our present situation.

The German Synodal Way is on a straight path to schism, while American traditionalists are accused of having a schismatic mentality. A growing number of Catholics are questioning whether Pope Francis is really the pope, while others are cheerleading his every confusing move. Meanwhile, millions of Catholics are just trying to survive this confusing mess with their faithand sanityintact.

Some might say that these types of divisions have always existed in the Church, and theyd be right (see 1 Corinthians). Yet todays divisions are different. They represent not conflicting views on how best to practice Catholicism, but conflicting views on what makes our rule of faith, the kernel of core beliefs and the means by which we receive those beliefs. This, then, makes the various camps within Catholicism in practice different religions, even though they all outwardly belong to the same visible Church.

What are some of these various religious camps uneasily coexisting within the Church today? Lets look at the four most prominent in an attempt to understand todays confusing Catholic Church.

First, there are the hyperpapalists, whose rule of faith in essence has become the pronouncements of The Current Pope, even if those pronouncements clearly contradict previous popes pronouncements or even official teachings of the Church. We know what to believe by simply looking to see what The Current Pope says we should believe.

The hyperpapalistswith or without saying sohave made Lumen Gentium 25 their overriding principle of faith. That Vatican II text states we must give our religious submission of mind and will to the pope, and the hyperpapalists have (mis)interpreted this to mean that, in practice, we must agree with all The Current Popes statements and decisions, even if they are not directly related to faith and morals and even if they are not in any way official magisterial declarations. The pope has become like a modern political party leader, who cannot be questioned. To do so could jeopardize his Catholicism Party.

So if this pope says civilly divorced and remarried Catholics can receive Communion, even though the perennial teaching of the Churchand the explicit teaching of a recent popesays otherwise, we need to shift gears and follow The Current Pope. Only by doing so can we keep to the (ever-changing) rule of faith.

The cousins of the hyperpapalists form another camp, the sedevacantists. Like the hyperpapalists, they also believe we must slavishly follow the popes teachings and opinions on all matters. However, since its clear that our current popes opinions diverge from those of previous pontiffs, they conclude that this pope cannot actually be a pope and therefore the see of Peter is vacant.

For sedevacantists, then, the rule of faith is The Last Legitimate Pope. Everything in the Church after The Last Legitimate Pope is to be condemned and rejected. Typically the sedevacantists look to a certain moment in timeperhaps, the 1950sas the pinnacle of Catholicism that must be regained.

Next are the liberals, who simply want to remake the Church into the image of mainstream Protestantism and make their rule of faith an acceptance of The Current Thing (contraception, abortion, homosexuality, transgenderism, etc.). They want the Church to conform to the world, rather than the other way around. They may at times be confused with hyperpapalists, since Pope Francis often appears to agree with them, but if we get a more conservative pope in the future they will quickly transform into critics of The Current Pope (and maybe even become sedevacantists!).

A final religious camp are the restorationists. The rule of faith for restorationists is that integrated core of teachings and practices that have been handed on from generation to generation in the Church. They accept Francis as the legitimate pope but believe that he often strays in his teachings and opinions from that rule of faith thats been passed on to us, and they are willing to criticize him when that happens.

Unlike the sedevacantists, restorationists do not reject the legitimate application of the development of doctrine. They understand that the liturgy and our understanding of the faith can develop over time, slowly and organically. This development isnt equivalent to the latest papal pronouncements; it reflects the developing sensus fideliumthe sense of the faithful (which never rejects the sensus fidelium of previous generations).

In summary: the hyperpapalists want a Catholicism that is only the current pope; the sedevacantists want a Catholicism that only has a perfect pope; the liberals want a Catholicism where the zeitgeist is the pope; and the restorationists want a Catholicism that includes all the popes, past and present.

How can these four camps be reconciled? To be blunt, they cant. They are, in practice, four different religions, currently contained within one visible Church. When the very rule of faith is different, then so is the religion. This is a situation that cannot hold; eventually, the veneer of unity will wear thin and disappear. And, if we are being honest, none of the above camps can exist for the long-term.

Hyperpapalism cannot last because that religion is founded on menthe popes. While all Catholics should acknowledge that the pope is the visible head of the Church, we should place our faith in the office of the papacy, not on individual popes, even The Current Pope. History has made clear that individual popes can make mistakes, have terrible opinions, and even lead people astray by their public teachings. If you just blindly accept the latest opinions of The Current Pope, you must set aside your reason, rejecting the principle of non-contradiction. Its fideism, not Catholicism. The Catholic religion has always seen faith as building on reason, not rejecting it.

Nor can Sedevacantism last. What happens after 100 years, or 150 years, or 200 years, with no acceptable pope? Who decides who is an acceptable pope? Such a situation devolves into a permanent pope-less Church, which is Protestantism dressed up as Catholicism. Its not sustainable in the long run.

Further, the liberals who want to remake the Church into the image of mainline Protestantism are on a road to nowhere. If they get their wish, they have destroyed the Church: it will no longer be a rock on which we can place our trust, but just another ever-changing human institution chasing the latest Current Thing. We already know how that story ends: just look at todays dying Anglican Church.

And while Id personally argue that restorationism is the most appropriate response in todays Church, it too as a movement also cannot survive long-term. A movement that resists the current direction of the highest officials in the Church must by its very nature be a temporary movement, else it too becomes dressed-up Protestantism.

We know from history that the Church hierarchy can lead the Church down a mistaken path for decades (see: the Arian crisis and the Great Western Schism), but eventually the course is corrected. If restorationists in the 22nd century are still battling with the hierarchy over the same issues as today, then it would be hard not to conclude that the restorationists are wrong, or the Holy Spirit really has stopped guiding the Church.

Of course, millions of confused and struggling Catholics dont always fit neatly into one of the above camps (nor do they want to); they are just trying to make sense of it all. Depending on the issue at hand, they may sympathize with one group over another.

Conservative-leaning Catholics might be receptive to restorationism sometimes and hyperpapalism at other times. Traditionalist Catholics might be restorationists or sedevacantists (which sometimes changes based on how scandalized they are by Pope Francis that day). Liberal Catholics are, well, liberals all the time, but as already noted, they will put on a hyperpapalist mask under a friendly pope like Pope Francis.

Most Catholics, however, likely want to say they are just Catholicsno camps for me, thank you very much. Ultimately, however, they have to deal with todays situation like everyone else. Because of the confusion coming out of Rome, we must pick a camp, temporarily, even while acknowledging that all these camps must one day fade away so that everyone in the Church can again be truly united as one faith.

[Image Credit: Unsplash]

Here is the original post:

The Multiple Religions Coexisting Within the Catholic Church - Crisis Magazine

The Oscars are still months away. This is the moment where the pundits each offer up a picture of how they think they should go. To know their predictions is to know them. How do they go about forming their projections?

Heres the dirty little secret that no one wants to say out loud: a lot of it is wishful thinking disguised as punditry. Some of it is advocacy disguised as punditry and some of it is advocacy to satisfy advertisers.

In the end, it doesnt matter that much what motivates punditry. The end result is the same. If you are worried about whether the game is rigged or not you have to go back to the movie Quiz Show. Was it rigged? Yes. Did that matter? Not really. It was considered small potatoes.

The idea here is that Hollywood has always been a dream factory. They give people what they dont know that they want. Paddy Chayefsky distorts this somewhat in Network. Our worst instincts can be captured and harnessed for profit. Television news no longer serves either purpose for the country at large. Whatever purpose it once served has now been transferred to the internet with user-generated content.

That means if our prurient interests are going to be exploited, some content creator will service that need. We need our dreams to play out so we can live vicariously by watching Herb Stempel win lots of money that is played out when something goes viral on YouTube or TikTok. We also have our little dream factories on our social media platforms. Influencers sell much of what television used to sell.

So what are we all doing here with our very early Oscar predictions? Are we trying to predict the race to come, or are we trying to shape the race to come? I guess it depends on whom you ask, where you look, and what those motives might be. For many of us, at least in the beginning, we just wanted to get it right. We wanted bragging rights. To me, thats still the most fun the Oscar game has to offer.

But a lot of the game now is the SHOULDS. Im as guilty of that as anyone, whether its kicking it old school and thinking Martin Scorsese should win in 2006, or now, wanting Viola Davis to win Best Actress finally. The SHOULDS are either because people have an idea that something is genuinely the best, or the narrative has produced an underdog people are rooting for, OR its some kind of desire to see fairness in a system that is based on the subjective impressions of human beings.

The only hard and fast rule I follow is first, do no harm. Dont wreck a contenders shot at a win. Ive broken this rule a few times, though I regret those times. I was way too angry when Ben Affleck and Argo were about to win because I wanted Steven Spielberg and Lincoln to win. I was not exactly thrilled with Meryl Streep beating Viola Davis in 2011. For much of the time Ive been doing this I have been, on occasion, too emotionally invested in something that isnt, at the end of the day, that important.

Even though we had a Best Picture surprise last year, that was only because most of us dug our heels in both ways. In one direction, many were saying The Power of the Dog SHOULD win. In the other direction, people were saying CODA shouldnt win. I didnt think a movie with only three Oscar nominations could or should win Best Picture. With a ranked-choice ballot, however, the winner isnt a representation of the passionate choice. It still might have won if there were only five Best Picture contenders. But most likely, in that case, its director would have also been nominated and possibly won.

But does it matter that much that CODA won as a streaming film that made no box-office money and had just three Oscar nominations? I mean, not really. Were in the midst of growing pains that are difficult for people who remember the past. Many of us want the Oscars to return to their former glory. The Oscars dont seem to care about that as much as their own pursuit of deeper meaning and purpose with their votes, their history and their legacy.

That makes the Oscars kind of easier to predict than they used to be. We dont really have a wide open race, at least not this year. We have a race that starts to narrow now and only becomes more narrow as we head for the end of the year.

For a fresher take than mine, check out the YouTube predictions by the Oscar experts on Twitter who are really finding an audience and driving up probably more excitement for the Oscars in the YouTube generation than any of the rest of us.

There seems to be a niche audience for the incredibly shrinking Oscars. I dont personally agree with their takes at the moment, at least per this video. And heres why.

They arent factoring in the ranked-choice ballot. Oscar newbies, they remember the most recent wins of Parasite, most specifically, but also CODA last year. Theyre going where the juice is, where the energy is. But Parasite is, as experimental and inventive as it was, still a fairly linear story. Everything Everywhere All at Once is a film that should do better with nominations, where passion is a factor, but might prove too divisive for the top prize. The jury is still out on whether voters will be able to sit through it.

That old rule of Oscar watching applies with the ranked-choice ballot and without it: the Best Picture winner has to be a movie you can sit anyone down in front of and they will get it if not love it. Parasite only really had a barrier of subtitles. But if you followed the story you would get it. Its not that complicated. Its certainly not as visually experimental as Everything Everywhere All at Once which is a mind-bending movie about the multiverse.

If the Academy was comprised of the demographic of the Oscar Experts it would probably be the frontrunner. But the Academy are still mostly boomers. Someone described them once as your typical Eagles fan.

That means 60ish, white, liberal, wealthy, a do-gooder. They are nearly the end of their long lives where they reinvented so much of culture all through the 60s and 70s, got rich in the 80s, wandered looking for deeper meaning in the 90s, found their sense of purpose with Obamas rise and how he reshaped culture, and now are really still riding that wave of enlightenment. Im just not sure that person is an Everything, Everywhere All at Once voter. Maybe. First do no harm. I mean, you never know.

But that is just a way to eliminate one movie from the top prize. Maybe theyd vote for it to seem hip and cool and smart and theyd vote for it without actually watching it. Its a unique and interesting film. Is it an enjoyable film? Well, I guess that depends on whom you ask.

The Best Picture race is in major flux since the Trump election in 2016 and the Green Book implosion of 2018, the Me Too movement, the racial reckoning of 2020, cancel culture, the Black List, etc. That makes it harder to place a frontrunner RIGHT NOW. The frontrunner will be the movie everyone can unite around and for the right reasons. Its different from the old days which really were about King for a Day. Which director, and they were always men, will be anointed King in Hollywood, or as Jim Cameron once said, King of the World.

Its not quite the world anymore and there is no more anointing kings. Thats over. It was partly 2016 but readers of this site know that sentiment was cooking a bit longer. I got into trouble recently on Twitter for suggesting men are uniquely adapted to be better directors because they tend to be more visual.

That is the kind of thing I could have, and did say, years ago. Only now, with the thought police out in force I got slammed for it. Look, I dont care about that. Its small potatoes compared to other tribunals Ive experienced BUT the point still stands: in the attempt to course correct, theyve managed to almost completely eliminate the King for a Day ritual the Oscars used to be.

Good, people will say. Its time to step aside. These dynamics are going to be at play this year, as they were last year and the year before. That is why the Oscar Experts predicting Everything Everywhere is less crazy than it might have been once. That movie addressed the moment probably better than any other. It is very much a zeitgeist time capsule of Hollywood culture in 2022.

One thing to note that I will cover more in depth in a later piece, but several pundits are flirting with the idea that international features non-English language films are going to be a regular feature in the Oscar race, which is what theyre now going to use to fill out the expanded list of ten. I personally think they, like the Left overall, are going to want to move in a more global direction.

Theyve announced as much and seem to be leaning that way. SO it is not out of the realm of possibility, even though they still have a separate category for that very purpose; the Academy Awards used to be about fluffing up the American film industry. I guess they think that industry is dying so why not go more global.

Thats why you see movies like All Quiet on the Western Front and Decision to Leave popping up in predictions here and there. Definitely possible.

The bottom line for Best Picture is this whatever wins is likely either going to also win a Screenplay award or a Directing award. It is also going to be a movie that people are proud to have represent them and everything they stand for in 2022.

Most likely, the film will at least have a screenplay nomination. Once you narrow down Screenplay, you can have a better idea of what movie CAN win. So lets look at Erik Andersons updated Screenplay predictions:

1. Women Talking (UAR/Orion)2. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (Netflix)3. The Whale (A24)4. She Said (Universal Pictures)5. White Noise (Netflix)6. Living (Sony Pictures Classics)7. The Son (Sony Pictures Classics)8. The Wonder (Netflix)9. The Good Nurse (Netflix)10. Top Gun: Maverick (Paramount Pictures)

1. The Fabelmans (Universal Pictures)2. Everything Everywhere All At Once (A24)3. The Banshees of Inisherin (Searchlight Pictures))4. Triangle of Sadness (NEON)5. Bardo, Or False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths (Netflix)6. TR (Focus Features)7. Babylon (Paramount Pictures)8. Nope (Universal Pictures)9. Empire of Light (Searchlight Pictures)10. The Woman King (Sony/Tri-Star)

Here is what we know from the past when it comes to Screenplay. Since we have so many writers/directors who are the same person, those awards must split. Four films since the era of the ranked choice ballot have won all of the top prizes:

The Hurt LockerThe Kings SpeechBirdmanParasite

None of them had a sole writer and director who were the same person winning. How many have won just Picture and Director without Screenplay?

The Shape of WaterNomadland

How many have won just Screenplay without Director?

Argo12 Years a SlaveSpotlightMoonlightGreen BookCODA

Winning Pic and Screenplay seems to be the more common way for a film to win.

Keeping that in mind, let do our crude predictions just for fun:

Best PictureThe FablemansBabylonThe Banshees of InisherinEverything Everywhere All at OnceTRWomen TalkingShe SaidGlass OnionAvatarElvis

Alts: Till, Top Gun: Maverick, Elvis, Empire of Light, The Woman King, White Noise, Wakanda Forever

Best DirectorSarah Polley, Women TalkingSteven Spielberg, The FabelmansThe Daniels, Everything EverywhereTodd Field, TARJim Cameron, Avatar: The Way of Water

Original ScreenplayThe FabelmansBanshees of InershirinBabylonEverything EverywhereTR

Adapted ScreenplayShe SaidWomen TalkingWhite NoiseGlass OnionTill

Best ActressMichelle Yeoh, Everything EverywhereCate Blanchett, TRMargot Robbie, BabylonOlivia Colman, Empire of LightViola Davis, The Woman King

Best ActorAustin Butler, ElvisBrendan Fraser, The WhaleColin Farrell, BansheesHugh Jackman, The SonDiego Calva, Babylon

Supporting ActressJessie Buckley, Women TalkingJanelle Monae, Glass OnionClaire Foy, Women TalkingJamie Lee Curtis, Everything EverywhereJean Smart, Babylon

Supporting ActorJudd Hirsch, The FabelmansMichael Ward, Empire of LightBrad Pitt, BabylonBrendan Gleeson, Banshees of InisherinJeremy Strong, Armageddon Time

Thats it for now. Too long already. Have a great weekend.

The rest is here:

2023 Oscar Predictions The Rules of the Game - Awards Daily