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At first I thought this would be a fun book to read but after getting into it, it just becomes one big pain in the ass.
Sure people want to know the appealing aspects of doing drag but this book goes nowhere fast. In fact, there were times I thought I was reading a term paper on the subject.
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For the first 94 pages the author poses many questions and backs up the arguments, but at the bottom of EVERY page there’s a running interview with some of New York’s admired drag queens: The “Lady” Bunny, Chicklet, Hapi Phace, Miss Understood and Linda Simpson. Had the author placed these interviews as a section of the book I think the interviews would have been more effective.
Running the interviews at the bottom of the page was a clever idea at first but then it gets pretty annoying. However, the interviews were a good idea and it shows how the queens really are. Snobby, conceited and a “look at me, I’m better than you” attitude. The claws really come out during the interviews.
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Once you get past these pages the rest of the book becomes nothing but a showcase for some of the “top” queens in the city. While some of the profiles are interesting you can’t help ask yourself, “Why?”
And that’s exactly what I kept asking myself.
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Written by EricT - Visit Website
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Guest Post by: Allen
Another Impact is here! Has it already been a week? Last week, Team Christian (only containing the champ, Christian Cage and AJ Styles) had to face off against Sting and Abyss. Team 3D offered their legacy up in a match against LAX, but were countered with electric steel cage of doom. The Fallen Angel Christopher Daniels beat down Jerry Lynn again. One eyed, Chris Harris attacked ex partner James Storm. And mama Abyss shows up to interrupt the match and steals Abyss away, leaving Sting to get beaten down by Christian, AJ Styles, and newest member of Team Christian, Scott Steiner! Now onto this week’s Impact!
We start with Sting and James Mitchell talking at a restaurant. It is revealed that Abyss’ mother is the one who shot his father, and that Abyss is the one who took the jail time instead. Mitchell says that Abyss will do whatever he wants him to do, since otherwise he will tell the authorities what Abyss’ mom did and she will go to prison. Mitchell leaves and says he has a meeting with Christian. I just loved the way it looked so normal and out of place seeing the two talking in a restaurant about something so outrageous!
We go to the ring for he first match and it’s a six man X Division elimination cage match (can the name of the mach be any longer?). The contestants are Jerry Lynn, Sonjay Dutt, THE Austin Starr, Alex Shelley, Shark Boy, and Petey Williams.
The rules are such, everyone in the ring at the same time, you are eliminated via pin fall or submission, once there are only two left, first man out wins. Seems a bit too much but here we go. Everyone pairs off as chaos ensues. Dutt hits a big flip off the ropes onto Alex Shelley for a two count. Lynn hits a hip toss on every last person in the match. Shelley drills him in the back of the head with his leg. Shark Boy and Shelley go at it, hits Shelley with the Deep Sea Drop and pins Alex Shelley for a three count? Shark Boy just pinned someone! The deep blue sea has just frozen over! With Shelley now out of the match, it carries on.
Shark Boy attacks Sonjay Dutt, Dutt works over Shark Boy with some fancy flips. Dutt and Lynn go at it, attempt at a hurricarana by Dutt, and Lynn throws him against the cage! Cradle Piledriver by Lynn and Dutt is pinned and eliminated. Austin Starr attacks Lynn before he can gully get up, raking his back. Shark Boy attacks Starr from behind, sets him up for the Dead Sea Driver…Brainbuster on Shark Boy by Starr, for the three count!
Petey Williams and Jerry Lynn team up on Starr. Lynn lets Williams hit the Canadian Destroyer on Starr for the pin. Now it’s just Lynn and Williams, first one to escape wins! Lynn attacks Williams, knocking him down then climbs up the cage.
Williams follows, and there is a brief fight on top of the cage and then on their way down the other side. Lynn is the first to land and gets the win. While celebrating, The Fallen Angel, Christopher Daniels comes from behind and hits him HARD with a baseball bat to the back of his head. Daniels does a last rite motion then walks away slowly. The match I felt was way to short and I really don’t understand the point of it really. It was a cage match/elimination/random X Division match up. And really it felt like it sadly. We further push the Daniels/Lynn feud though which should be damn good!
Out back, Tomko is just arriving and before he can be asked a question, Christian shows up to talk to him. Before Tomko can say a word, Christian takes a phone call, during the call Tomko leaves, when he turns back to talk to Tomko he shrugs it off. Obviously there is the big tension between the two, which can work. But I don’t see Tomko being able to really compete for the world title, so it will be for nothing in the end, but damn if it won’t be fun to watch! Commercial break time.
(more…)
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Written by Guest Bloggers - Visit Website
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A mix of work by writers who have written for Literary Illusions over the years.If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed! |
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One of the most popular and celebrated stations on cable television is Cartoon Network. This makes the characters of the long running station perfect for the creation of a computer game. “Cartoon Network All Stars” is four unique games in one awesome package! Even the most simple of games creates hours upon hours of fun as you and/or your child work to raise your score and move on to the next level.
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[eminimall products="Cartoon Network, PC Game" height="600" width="120"]
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The first game is a mini-game. It features everyone’s favorite dirty, scamming trio, Ed, Edd, & Eddy. This game, known as to the Eds-treme was my favorite of the four. Of course, that being said I have one major pet peeve with this game. It is too short! Nevertheless, I have found that I constantly go back to play this game and try to improve my score in each level.
In To the Eds-treme, you play three short levels as Ed, Edd, and Eddy. In the first round, you play as Eddy. He is shorter than Double D and Ed so he goes faster and it is easier to get a large amount of points. You will race back and forth on a skateboard. You get points while doing tricks while air born. You can do single tricks and combination tricks for points.
Depending on each trick you do, you win a certain amount of points. However, cracks in the floor and both Edd and Ed appear randomly trying to trip up Eddy. If you trip, you lose the momentum you have been gaining from each successful trick run. Additionally, the more momentum you have, the more tricks you can do in one air born moment without tripping on the edge of the skate track.
The game continues this way through two more rounds, the second with a slightly slower, taller, and gawky, Edd (Double D), and the last round is the tall, sluggish Ed. Each level provides more cracks, blockers, and the need to win more points to advance. For the first round, you must clear 3,000 pts., round two is 4,000 pts, and round three is 5,000 pts. For each round, I was eventually able to earn over 8,000 points though the need to score higher and the addictive nature of this game keeps me coming back for more.
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The second game you can play in the “Cartoon Network All Stars” game pack is called Dropple. Dropple has four different levels with various methods of performing the same task. You have so many drops of a paint-like substance in your eyedropper. With each drop, a bubble pops and sends more drops flying in different directions.
The color of the drop determines how many drops splash and what direction they go in when the bubbles are popped. Most colors are the same throughout a level though you can get yellow bubbles, which splash in every direction including diagonal and white bubbles, which splash two drops in horizontal and vertical directions.
The four levels you can play include the World Tour (Features all your favorite Cartoon Network Characters as you travel around levels. If you lose a round you do not have to start completely over), puzzle mode (You are given a limited amount of drops and bubbles placed in puzzle formations. If you lose, you can replay the level and continue onward.), Arcade Mode (You are given bubbles and half-formed bubbles in each round with a fair amount of drops to start. How many drops you keep depends on what you have left in the previous round. If you lose, you have to start the entire game over. This game has endless levels, new puzzles, obstacles, and changes every game you play.), and Classic mode (Similar to the Arcade Mode, as you try the same set boards repeatedly. Your game ends if you lose and you only get as many drops as you had the round before.).
Dropple features unlimited rounds, plenty of play, challenging boards, and obstacles such as boulders/blocks that can help or hinder you. This game is fun for the whole family. Even smaller children can get the hang of this game with little difficulty. This is one of the most addicting games “Cartoon Network All Stars” offers. With so many levels, some that change with every round you play, this game is paid for many times over in the time you will spend playing Dropple.
The third “Cartoon Network All Stars” game is Cartoon Cove Mini Golf. This is golf with a cartoon network twist to it. Each level is designed after a Cartoon Network show. Dexter has his own level, as does Ed, Edd, and Eddy (you will get to check out plank in all his glory). As you travel around laser beams, morph from different levels of a course hole, and navigate around obstacles that stand in your way, you will travel through nine exciting holes.
Cartoon Cove lets you chose your own ball color so you can choose a different ball each time. You also have some difficult challenges to try to get around including a suction tube, which puts your ball back at the starting point after it sucks it up, and a laser beam surrounded hole, which may block your balls entrance to score.
This was not the best game on “Cartoon Network All Stars”. I recommend only playing two or three games unless you really like miniature golf. If you do, you will love Cartoon Cove. Otherwise, the other games will definitely make up for the lack of interest you will have with Cartoon Cove Mini Golf.
The final game, Fast and Flurrious, is not only exciting it is so much fun to play. Join Mojo and the Power Puff Girls on the ultimate downhill skiing adventure. Getting the hang of skiing is a little difficult at first, but once you figure it out, you will be doing tricks and moving on to new levels in no time. Of course, once you master the slopes with the beginning level Power Puff Girl you have to move on to intermediate, advanced, and Mojo (we will just call it crazy) play.
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The three Powerpuff Girls, Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup each have their own difficulty level. You can also choose from different boards and unlock new ones with new levels. Mojo is on a level all his own. As you ski down various slopes, (you can choose from bunny slopes to ones with dangerous curves) you navigate over snow piles and avoid trees. The goal is to get so many points to advance and unlock new boards and levels.
The Fast and the Flurrious was my second favorite game. Of all the games, my son, who is 12, enjoyed this one the most. You have the opportunity to pick up bonuses and perform tricks for points. If you do not make enough points, you can try the round again. Since this game has so many difficulty levels with different boards and skiing slopes there is an unlimited amount of time you can spend playing this game.
Overall “Cartoon Network All Stars” offers three highly addictive family-friendly games in one great package. With all of this fun you could be having, why wait to purchase this game, which was developed in part by Brighter Minds Media? Even the fourth game is fun to play at least a few times every few months, after you have beaten different rounds in the other three games.
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As a family, we rate this game a 4.5 out of 5 with minimum negatives including too short a game for To the Eds-treme and a lack of enjoyable playing time (once you play the first time) for Cartoon Cove Mini Golf. Otherwise, “Cartoon Network All Stars” is the perfect family game you can enjoy together or on your own.
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Written by Dom and Ash - Visit Website
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One doesn’t generally associate the great hallmarks of English literature with hot, juicy gossip or tales of intrigue, deception and rebellion. It sounds more like the plot of a Shakespearian play.
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[eminimall products="Shakespeare, books" height="600" width="120"]
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To my mind, one could view the Shakespearian authorship question in precisely these terms in order for the non-academic world to understand the relevance of this mystery (and its ongoing lack of resolution) to not just English literature and the language, but to other world literatures as well.
It might be a fanciful idea, but try to imagine it from the following point of view. This requires that you are open to the notion that the man known as William Shakespeare was not the author of the plays we’ve come to identify him with.
For all our knowledge and technological advancements, we still cannot confirm the true identity of one of the seminal figures in English literature. Indeed, we have a name, a body of work attached to that name, but there is a lot of doubt as to how the named person could have produced such work given his social standing in the Elizabethan reign. Does this strike you as odd? It should: normally one believes that it is beneficial to have one’s name attached to one’s work and to be identified as the rightful producer.
William Shakespeare of Stratford was the son of an illiterate man, who was skilled in trades and rose to prosperity, as is evidenced by his being briefly active in his local council. Given that William’s father was forced to relinquish this position, it is very unlikely that he could have ensured his son got the sort of education that would allow him to produce works of the valour that is currently attributed to him.
It is possible that William attended the local grammar school, but very unlikely that he went on to further and necessary study. He eventually went to London and became an actor for the Lord Chamberlain’s Men.
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It is at this point that the authorship plot thickens. What if the true author of the works we generally attribute to Shakespeare did not wish his or her identity to be known? What reasons would inspire an author to do this?
Brenda James, enlisting the help of Professor W. D. Rubinstein, devoted time and energy to try and come up with definitive answers to these questions, even though in certain academic circles this was not always approved of. The fruit of her research is this book, in which she poses that the actual author of the works attributed to Shakespeare was in fact Sir Henry Neville, an English courtier and sometime diplomat.
However, Sir Henry Neville is not the first person thought to have been the true author of Shakespeare’s work. James and Rubinstein do address this and give a cursory glance as to why some of the more illustrious candidates (such as Christopher Marlowe, Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, and Sir Francis Bacon) should be ignored.
In order to examine why Shakespeare’s work should be rightfully attributed to Sir Neville, it is necessary to also examine Sir Neville’s life and ancestry in great detail. The Truth Will Out most definitely does this, and in keeping with the highest academic standards. The research is thorough and presented in a manner that engages the reader’s interest.
There are, however, some issues with the arguments given in order that we accept Neville as the true Shakespeare. The main one is that there is a heavy reliance upon the correlation between the events of Neville’s life and of the actual artistic output produced. To boil this down to its basest level, the authors at times suggest that when Neville’s life is rosy, this corresponds roughly to the dates of the Shakespearian comedies being written and premiered.
This is a work of academic research and criticism and may be heavy-going for the non-academic reader. It does presuppose a good amount of knowledge of Shakespearian literary history, but in fairness it is intended for an academic audience. The lay reader may need to bear that in mind, but should not at all be discouraged by this fact.
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I cannot honestly say whether I fully accept Neville as the author of Shakespeare’s work because the book relies too much on the assumption that Neville’s output was almost solely determined by his personal and professional circumstances. There is some excellent evidence presented that Neville had access to other literary sources quoted as well as possessing the degree of learning needed to write such work.
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But anyone with an interest in the Shakespearian authorship question is heartily encouraged to read this absorbing, informative book. No doubt, it has contributed to the debate by forcing the literary community to accept that there is now a new possible author to the Bard’s work.
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Written by gem_mahadeo - Visit Website
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G. E. Mahadeo came to Melbourne, Australia in 1987 from London, UK. She haswritten for the online magazine Blogcritics (http://blogcritics.org), has been published in Words-Myth Quarterly Poetry Journal, and in the Istanbul Literature Review. Primarily trained as a classical musician, she is active in the Melbourne early music community.If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed! |
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Within the first five minutes this erotic thriller queer soap opera grabs you and holds your attention.
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Dante’s Cove begins in the year 1840 with the upcoming nuptials of Ambrosius (William Gregory Lee) and Grace (Tracy Scoggins). They meet on a street and when a young woman smiles at Ambrosius and gives him a friendly “hello” Grace turns her head around eyes glaring (literally) and kills the woman right there on the street.
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Next at Ambrosisus’ home the two have a minor fight and off she goes. When the coast is clear he calls for his manservant and he in fact does a little servicing of his own on the butler (Earl McDougle aka Jourdain Dion).
Realizing she’s left her gloves behind, she goes back to get them catching the two in the throes of getting it on. She never could figure it out why he wasn’t sexually interested in her before the wedding night and now the truth comes out.
Grace vents her wrath on the nude butler (and after a little digging it’s not a prosthetic device which was applied) killing him and then puts a curse on the young Ambrosius. Through her powers she turns him into an old man chained in the basement of his house. The curse will be broken once a young man kisses him.
Fast forward to modern day where we meet happy couple Kevin (Gregory Michael) and Toby (Charlie David). The two spend one last day together before Toby has to head back to his home in Dante’s Cove.
After an argument they decide to break up leaving both men hurt and upset. It’s not until later when Kevin returns home and after an argument with his stepfather he moves out and heads to Dante’s Cove to live with the love of his life.
When Kevin arrives in the middle of the night he heads to Dante Hotel where the nightlife is still going strong. The first person he meets is Cory (Josh Berresford) who’s been expecting Kevin. He introduces him to the residents at Ambrosius’ former home.
Toby’s best friend Van (Nadine Heimann) can hardly wait to meet Kevin and she nonchantly mentions a few odd facts about the place. When Toby finally gets home from work the two can’t get enough of each other.
At this hotel the only thing these residents seem to do is party and most of the remainder of the first disc is devoted to the party and getting to know the ton of characters (which is hard to keep up with). Finding some alone time our boy heroes go to the beach for some much needed TLC.
Since they forgot to bring libations Kevin goes back to the hotel and while in the basement keeps hearing his name being called through the cellar. He opens it and after going downstairs discovers the old Ambrosius who kisses him.
With having the spell broken he can force Kevin to do anything just by using his glaing eyes. Kevin slices his wrist open and manages to escape. Bloody Toby finds him and takes him immediately to the hospital allowing Ambrosius to walk the streets freely.
Most of the second disc revolves around Kevin being in the hospital and fighting off the voice of Ambrosius, who is now in love with Kevin.
While Kevin can’t fight off the voices in his head he walks to the lighthouse where Ambrosius has set up shop and the two go at it all night. (Kevin’s in a catatonic state and doesn’t remember any of this since the doctors at the hospital insist he was trying to commit suicide).
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But wait! Van is walking her girlfriend home when she sees the catatonic Kevin wondering around and the next morning mentions something to Toby about seeing him. She also visits Kevin at the hospital and tells him about what she saw. Kevin, of course, can’t remember a thing.
Ambrosius picks up Cory and turns him into a zombie of sorts so he can have him break up Toby and Kevin. Cory goes to the hospital and makes up stories about Toby to make Kevin mad. Then he visits Toby at the bar he works at and tells him stories about Kevin that are false as well. Keep in mind that this is all while hearing Ambrosius in his head.
It gets even better as Grace returns to confront Ambrosius. She ends up killing Kevin who comes back to life after Ambrosius kisses him.
Toby and Van, in the meantime, are at the historical society when they discover that Grace has powers. It is then that they get the news when they go to the hospital that Kevin killed himself.
Confused? Me too.
Even though there are two discs to the set I think this should have been one big pilot for the series. Sure there are unanswered questions (the second season will be coming out shortly) and I think after watching this a couple of more times I may be able to get into this series.
The plot is certainly fresh in this reality television age and it looks like there are more characters in the second season. (Thea Gill from Queer As Folk is one of the new characters).
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[eminimall products="Queer as Folk, gay" height="600" width="120"]
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If the writers were able to flesh out some of the confusion for the second season this may be better than Queer As Folk but then again the only thing we can do is wait until the second season comes out.
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Written by EricT - Visit Website
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March 29, 2007 @
11:43 pm |
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Jewel Quest Solitaire by I Win games is a mixture of the popular Jewel Quest franchise and a version of Solitaire that is much like playing mahjongg with playing cards.
While that does capitalize on two types of play instead of just one, I didn’t particularly care for the two tied together. I would rather play one or the other, not bounce back and forth between the two. They do give you the option to play with all the “game-enhancing storyline” - although I kind of liked that part. You are following the storyline of an adventurer through his journals, as narrated by his nephew.
It was a short download considering the decent level of graphics. Again, with most games now you can choose to minimize either the background music or the sound effects.
Overall, I would prefer to play either Jewel Quest or Solitaire, and didn’t care for the marriage of the two. It may well appeal to someone else though, so this one is worth a try.
I’d give this one a 3 out of a possible 5, but recommend that anyone who is a big fan of the Solitaire games give this a try as a nice variation. You can play an trial version of Jewel Quest Solitaire through Arcade Town or you can purchase and download the full version.
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Written by KCHarrison - Visit Website
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Extremely happily married Texas woman with two boys and a baby on the way.If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed! |
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Professor Fizzwizzle is a clever, problem-solving game with several modes of gameplay created by Grubby Games, available on ArcadeTown.
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Reminiscent of Lode Runner from “back in the day” and a bit like Lemmings, the Professor has a series of rules he obeys, and you must navigate him through the increasingly difficult levels by using logic. He won’t do anything on his own, and there are challenges both from the fantastic landscapes and from his enemies, the rage-bots.
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There are 80 regular levels, suitable for adults with 30 advanced levels if those are too easy for your tastes. I liked the fact that you can easily restart any level with just one button “r”. Some of the levels were tricky enough to require more than one attempt.
I also liked that you could see the solution to any level if you wanted to. This was particularly handy on the 90 kid levels, which I played with my twelve-year old. They were easy enough for him to accomplish without my help, but hard enough to keep his attention for a while. There are also 26 alphabet levels that were easy enough for a child, although this would all have been too complicated for an early grade level child.
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There were enough different objects, from barrels to crates to magnets to inflatable version of all of the above, and various types of terrains from grass to ice to sand that change the way each of the objects behave that it was entertaining. The landscapes are the stuff of a child’s fantasy - often shaped like animals. In the child levels, there is an informational window that pops up and tells you little facts about the animal each level was patterned after. My son NEVER ONCE read the little blurb, but it didn’t bother him to just skip past it either.
The download didn’t take too long, although I had trouble initially entering in my password. I imagine that only happens with a review copy though. The graphics are entertaining, though simple. If you leave the professor standing alone for a while, he does various things to entertain himself. When he slides across the ice, he flails around until finally settling in to a surfer-style that appealed to my son quite a bit.
You can adjust the volume to include background music or not as you choose. A little theme song plays at the end of each simple level which my son really liked… and you get a little “pat on the back” statement for each level completed which also appealed to my son.
Overall, once you have completed a level, you aren’t likely to play it again… however, there are loads of levels to compensate for that.
It’s nice to play a game with little to no violence (the Rage-bots aren’t fond of the Professor, but they also don’t hurt him… just hold him up by his collar when they catch him and make him start the level over). The graphics are pleasing, and it’s nice to have to work things out using logic. You even have the ability to create custom levels, although I never played around with this option personally.
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[eminimall products="PC Games" height="600" width="120"]
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For this style of game, I’d give it a 4.5 out of a possible 5. You can play a free trial version of the game or purchase the full version at Arcade Town.
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Written by KCHarrison - Visit Website
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Extremely happily married Texas woman with two boys and a baby on the way.If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed! |
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Guest Post by: Allen
Welcome back to another TNA Impact review! While another company is setting up for it’s big show (with one of the worst cards to ever happen on the “grandest stage of them all”), TNA is getting ready for Lockdown!
Last week, Cornette announced the main event for the upcoming pay per view, it would be Team Angle vs. Team Christian in a five on five man match inside a steel cage with a steel top so no one can escape, it is called Lethal Lockdown.
During an interview with AJ Styles, Rhino ends up beating him until Christian comes in, as we learn that Styles is the first member of team Christian. Jay Lethal beat Jerry Lynn and Kaz of Serotonin (who was later punished by Raven backstage). Christopher Daniels made another attack looking even more like Sting. LAX beat Team 3D again and promised to destroy their legacy.
Finally, though Christian announced Abyss as another member of his team, it wasn’t a sure thing, as Sting says he has changed. To show where Abyss’ loyalty truly lies, this week we get Christian and AJ Styles against Sting and Abyss!
We start with part of team Angle, Samoa Joe and Rhino along with captain Kurt Angle. They say the three of them can easily defeat Christian, AJ Styles, and anyone else they bring along for the ride.
To showcase their ability, the partial team Angle will take on Serotonin tonight. Well really, I don’t think this match is anything but a squash match, and the ending is obvious. Rhino starts it off with Martyr.Beat down, Angle gets in and beats down Kaz. Joe gets tagged in, beats down Havok. Gore by Rhino, Olympic Slam, Muscle Buster and its over. What a twist!
Backstage, AJ Styles is worried that they are outnumbered and that unlike him and Christian, Team Angle seems cohesive. Asks where Tomko and Steiner are, and he’s only helping for the title shot. Christian threatens to take the shot away, and then promises the sides will be equal… he thinks. I so love Styles and Christian together.
They work great off each other, and though Christian is always gold, Styles lacks promo wise. But when together with Christian, he is great; please add him to the Christian Coalition TNA! We go to commercial break as the pimp the Hills Have Eyes 2.
Back from commercial as Raven is pouring hot wax on Martyr I believe. Raven tells of the time he was tied in a desert with scorpions and snakes going over him in the sun. It’s cool, it’s creepy and a bit odd. But hey it’s Raven! Still a fan, but the weird mask thing can go. My biggest question is, when the hell do we get to see Raven wrestle?
Elsewhere we go to the team that shows that “Hell has frozen over” (which they keep saying over and over again), as Sting, sans face paint, and Abyss are with Jeremy Borash. Sting says Hell has frozen over (ok I get it!) and that he has worked for five months on making Abyss change, and he no longer needs the cage. That he has been working for Abyss’ own good, even his own pain.
Apparently Sting nearly lost an eye during a match leaving a scar that looks quite familiar; I swear I’ve seen a certain Fallen Angel with it, hmmm. I wonder if this means that Sting will start his own stable. Maybe Sting has turned evil and we are the last to know it? But hey maybe this just means the whole Sting/Abyss thing is over.
To the ring we see Team 3D with a bunch of cases. They want to have a word with LAX, out comes the team to listen to what they have to say. Bubba Ray says it’s been a long fight, but back and forth they beat the crap out of each other, even though LAX has gotten more wins. That LAX did what they had to do to keep their titles.
Team 3D understands, they have broken a woman’s neck (Beulah in ECW), thrown people through flaming tables (nearly everyone) and thrown an 80 year old woman around (Mae Young in WWE). They bring out all their old titles, the WWE belt, the WCW belt, and most of all, the ECW world tag titles!
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Written by Guest Bloggers - Visit Website
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A mix of work by writers who have written for Literary Illusions over the years.If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed! |
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“The beginning is simple, almost comic – just a pulse … like a rusty squeeze box – and then suddenly, high above it … a single note hanging there, unwavering … sweetened … into a phrase of such delight…”
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Although this quote is taken from the film Amadeus and is uttered by Salieri in reference to Mozart’s ‘Gran Partita’ Serenade for winds K 361, it is an equally fitting description of the beginning of Kurtág’s Kafka fragmente (‘Kafka fragments’), for soprano (Juliane Banse) and violin (András Keller). The violin begins with a folk-like opening as if to set the beat or lull the listener. The soprano comes in, singing lyrics of marching, of steps, of dancing.
Thus begins Kurtág’s cycle of phrases and sentences – snatched and strung together randomly – courtesy of the writer Franz Kafka’s diaries and letters. Kurtág’s music, with the aid of these fragments will take the listener to opposite ends of the human psyche and not always with a smooth transition between the extremes.
Briefly, György Kurtág was born in 1926. He was born in an area of eastern Europe that belonged to Rumania, and studied in Budapest and Paris under masters such as Milhaud and Messiaen. He heard Webern’s work for the first time and returned to Budapest, declaring that his own string quartet (opus 1, 1959) marked his severance from the past. In 2006, the year of his eightieth birthday, recording label ECM decided to release this work as a new recording in honour of this event.
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Numerous prestigious appointments and positions have come his way as a composer and as a performance tutor. Kurtág has also received many music awards. In February 2006 the Budapest Music Centre held a festival in honour of their beloved citizen’s achievements.
For many years throughout his life Kurtág recorded small quotes from Kafka’s writings that struck his fancy in regards to their potential to be set to music. Eventually the chance came to him and he began to work on compositional sketches for the fragments, and his enduring fascination with the work led him to work on it seriously, rather than for his own enjoyment.
The fragments are not ordered according to its thematic content, or to construct some sort of narrative. The primary concern is musical, and the order of the pieces has changed many times – even after its 1987 premiere performance.
Because of the ‘pulse’ mentioned at the beginning, the music has a hypnotic quality when listened to. The melodies echo folk tunes of Kurtág’s native land at certain points, as well as continue the trends established in Western art music at the beginning of the twentieth century. It also hints at the Jewish ancestry that both he and Kafka share.
I personally find various musical phrases haunting for several days after hearing them, indeed as if a pulse is revived and then slips gently into the background of one’s mind. This song cycle commands to be listened to attentively and without disruption, devoid of other distractions.
After repeat listenings, I did eventually succumb to reading the text translations of Kafka’s fragments. They are definitely part of this piece’s continuing allure. They are rarely self-contained and leave one thinking: what on earth were they extracted from? A short story? Kafka’s diary? His correspondence? To whom, if so? They are equally as haunting and unresolved as the music.
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Of course, the performers, soprano Juliane Banse and violinist András Keller, naturally have an awful lot to do with the success of this composition – not just this recording. Both artists worked very closely with the composer and are experienced in its performance and interpretation. Keller showed Kurtág the limitations of his instrument during the compositional process.
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The performers give the impression of being intimately connected with Kurtág’s piece, and clearly revel in their musical relationship. Each performer is keenly attuned to their partner and as a result produce a recording that sounds effortless, pure and considered. This was most evident in parts where either performer would be playing or singing a simple musical phrase and then would suddenly launch into virtuosic contemporary music techniques, as a question-answer device. However, each musician had this occur in their own part so that effectively they would answer their own question, which is trickier than conversing with one another.
Though each musician has a highly demanding part to perform due to the extreme register changes, glissandi, and pitch fluctuations, the violinist’s limits are challenged the most. At certain points, the score dictates that the violinist adopt different string tunings as well as having to physically reposition himself (moving to either side of the soprano when indicated).
There is also a contrapuntal device in several songs, one musical part will be melodic, folk-like and very consonant whereas the second part will be dissonant, fragmented – a stark contrast to its self-contained partner. Again, this only enforces that the composer wants us to feel a juxtaposition of emotions – the earthiness of the folk tradition and the anorexic economy of its counterpart.
This is a work, and a recording, to be savoured over and over again. Anyone with an interest in classical music outside the canon, and in the performing arts generally should relish this release from ECM.
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Written by gem_mahadeo - Visit Website
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G. E. Mahadeo came to Melbourne, Australia in 1987 from London, UK. She haswritten for the online magazine Blogcritics (http://blogcritics.org), has been published in Words-Myth Quarterly Poetry Journal, and in the Istanbul Literature Review. Primarily trained as a classical musician, she is active in the Melbourne early music community.If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed! |
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Starting the episode with the all too familiar chase music, we see Nikki running through the jungle. Is she running from something or someone? Is she trying to warn everybody else of danger? It’s not clear yet but she appears to have something so important that she stops quickly to bury it in the dirt.
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Flashing back to a strip club, we see Nikki come down the stairs and be introduced as Corvette before beginning her routine. While she is strutting her stuff on stage, she notices a suspicious looking man with a briefcase make his way to the back of the club. Investigating, she walks into her boss’s office and witnesses the exchange of money. Noting that this was supposed to be the money for the orphanage she quickly deciphers that her boss, Mr. LaShade must be “The Cobra” (um,….what?). The man with the briefcase draws his gun but “Corvette” kicks the gun out of his hand while shouting “Razzle-dazzle” (…oooooooookay).
But Mr. LaShade shoots Corvette in the chest three times, leaving her dead on the floor. That’s when someone yells, “cut” and everything is revealed to be a scene for a TV show called “Exposé.” Nikki is congratulated for her work on the show and the director walks her out trying to think of a way to bring her back next season. Respectfully, she declines but says that she’s staying in Sydney because she loves him. They kiss.
Back on the island, Sawyer tells Hurley that now they’re going best of seven in ping-pong when they hear something from the jungle. Nikki, clumsily stumbles onto the beach before collapsing. When Hurley asks her what happened, she only makes out a fragmented phrase. Sawyer tells Hurley to get help while he looks through the jungle but Hurley says it’s too late: Nikki’s dead.
Sawyer: “Who the hell is Nikki?”
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84 Days Ago- Nikki and the director, Howie, sit at the dinner table. When Nikki compliments the meal, he tells her it’s his new chef, Paulo, who he calls in to introduce. She thanks him for the excellent meal and playfully tells him he should ask for a raise before he returns to the kitchen. Howie goes on to tell her how Paulo showed his persistence for working for him until he got hired as he passes her the breadbasket.
As she takes a roll, she sees the diamond bracelet that was put there as a gift for her to find. But before he can say anything, he suddenly has what appears to be a heart attack. Nikki calls Paulo in for help but, after feeling his pulse, says that he’s already gone. Reaching out to him, she opens up his shirt and grabs a key he wore around his neck. Making their way to a back room, Paulo asks Nikki if anyone else knows about this hidden safe and she reassures him that it’s off the books. Paulo goes to light up a cigarette but is quickly stopped because ashes are evidence. Using the key, Nikki opens up the safe and takes the matryoshka doll inside and smiles when she sees what’s hidden inside of it.
Saywer, Hurley, Chalrie, Jin and Sun are gathered around Nikki’s body trying to make sense of what happened. They deduce that since she has no visible marks or wounds that it’s possible she could have been poisoined and should check the food supply. Charlie points out that she has dirt under her fingernails. And Hurley, thinking about her last words, realizes that she said “Paulo lies.” Sawyer suggests that they try to get the answers from him.
80 Days Ago- Siting in an airporst restaurant, Paulo reads to Nikki the newspaper article on Howie’s death, saying that he died of heart failure. Laughing about it, they kiss and Nikki notices that he’s chewing gum. He admits to her that he’s quitting smoking and using nicotine gum. They raise their champagne glasses and toast to their new future together. Overhearing a loud argument, they turn and notice Shannon and Boone trying to find a seat. Calmly suggesting to borrow a seat from the restaurant, he asks Paulo if they could use the spare seat from their table. Paulo is about to oblige him but Shannon just yells and says to Boone that they should leave. Boone thanks Paulo anyway and they leave in as much of a scene as they came in. Nikki makes Paulo promise that they’ll never end up like that, which he does and they kiss again.
Suddenly, we’re on the beach at the site of the plane crash. Distraght, Nikki searches through the wreckage trying to find Paulo. She thinks she finds him but it is only Dr. Arzt. Moving on, she is approached by Boone who hastily asks her for a pen. It is then that she sees Paulo standing at the edge of the beach looking out at the ocean. Running up to him, she emotionally asks him if he’s okay. Though in a daze, Paulo tells her that he thinks that he’s okay. Showing extreme concern, she tells him to look at her and when he does she sternly asks him “Where’s the bag?”
Jin, Sawyer and Hurley make their way through the jungle trying to follow what little trail they have when Jin find Paulo lying on the ground, wide-eyed and expressionless. They make the following observations: he has no marks on him exactly like Nikki, his pants are undone and his shoe is stuck in a tree a few yards out. Jin finds water in Paulo’s pack which Sawyer quickly grabs and dumps out of the bottle, despite Hurley claiming that it’s “messing up the crime scene.” Before Sawyer can offer much of a rebuttal, Jin stops them and simply says “monster.”
75 Days Ago- Paulo and Nikki are discussing the sounds they heard coming through the jungle and if it is a monster or not. Nikki, thinking that the Coast Guard is coming soon, says that they need to focus and find the script bag before they’re rescued. A man approaches overhearing their conversation and offers to help them find anything that they might need from the clothes stash. He introduces himself as Ethan and Nikki thanks him and lies saying that they’re looking for Paulo’s nicotine gum. Cleverly, Ethan suggests that they might have better luck finding it in the jungle since the plane split in two. Just then, the near riot over Boone taking the water takes place which leads into Jack’s infamous “live together, die alone” speech.
Bringing Paulo’s body back to the beach, Hurley says that he agrees with Jin about it being the monster, basing it on Eko’s last words of “You’re next” and Nikki and Paulo being there. Sawyer disagrees and says that they need to find out whatever they can about these two to find out what happened and starts to head to their tent.
57 Days Ago- Nikki pays a visit to Dr. Arzt in his tent, where he’s catalouging all the new species of insects he’s found, making particular note of the dangerous Medusa spider he’s found. He even tells her about the spiders powerful phermones to attract the males and makes the comparison to the spider and Nikki. Falling for her coyness, Arzt puts a hold on what he’s doing to help Nikki. She figures that since he’s a teacher/scientist, he knows enough about trajectories to help her find her luggage in the jungle. Happy to help, he draws her up a map and Nikki and Paulo head inland. On their way, they not only find the crashed Beechcraft plane but the door to the Pearl station.
Paulo is eager to investigate the hatch but Nikki sarcastically remarks how the script bag couldn’t have crash landed there, found the door, opened it up and dropped down there. They continue moving on their path.
Investigating their tent, they find that they had Arzt’s collection of bugs when Chalie appraoches to tell them that the food supply is fine. Looking in a bag, Charlie finds a script for “Exposé,” which Hurley fills them in on since he was a fan. But the biggest discovery is when Sawyer finds a working walkie-talkie they were holding out on. Sawyer also notes that the Others had ones exactly like that one on the other side of the island and that Nikki and Paulo must have been working with them.
48 Days Ago- Shannon and Arzt are in a debate with Kate about the recent discovery of the gun case when Nikki and Paulo overhear and become interested in where they found it. At the waterfall, they get into an argument which prompts Paulo to ask Nikki if they would still be together if she didn’t need him to find the bag. She just simply tells him that it’s 8 million dollars and to just dive in. Looking around underwater, Paulo does find the script bag but when he surfaces he lies and says that there’s nothing down there but dead bodies. And when Nikki walks away frustrated, Paulo dives down again.
Regrouping, the team of CSI: The Island (Sawyer, Hurley, Charlie, Jin and Sun) begin to think out the connection between Nikki/Paulo and the Others. When Hurley questions the connection since they’re on the other side of the island, Sun reminds everyone of the time that she was grabbed and pulled into the jungle. Charlie and Sawyer exhange an awkward glance when Sawyer takes out a gun and goes to do a “perimeter sweep.” Hurley makes his suspicions known when he asks Sawyer where he got the gun and when he was going to tell the rest of them. He gruffly replies that he got it off of one of the Others and supposes he was going to tell them right now. Sun and Charlie begin to cover the bodies.
32 Days Ago- Paulo takes a piece of his nicotine gum as he begins to dig a hole in the sand. When Locke approaches him and asks him what he’s doing, he hides the doll behind him and claims he’s doing nothing. Surprisingly (or maybe not), Locke doesn’t pry any further, instead saying that everyone’s entitled to their secrets but advises him that things don’t stay buried here and to pick a spot where the tide won’t get to whatever he’s burying. Taking Locke’s advice, Paulo ventures down into the Pearl station and finds the bathroom.
He hides the doll inside the top of the toilet when suddenly voices are heard. It’s Ben and Juliet. Turning on one of the monitors, they look to see Jack on the screen and Juliet says that he’ll never get him to do the surgery. Ben begs to differ saying that he will exploit what he’s emotionally invested in, exactly how he gets everyone else to do what he wants. After explaining that he’ll use Micheal to bring Jack, Kate and Sawyer to them, they both leave and Paulo takes the walkie talkie that was left behind.
Seeking supernatural help, Hurley asks Desmond if he’s “seen” anything. He explains that he can only see flashes and doesn’t know anything except that Sawyer was talking with Nikki right before she died. Hurley says that Sawyer didn’t know her to which Desmond wonders why she was yelling at him then.
Relaying his new discovery to Charlie and Sun, Hurley says that they have to start wondering what angle Sawyer might have in possibly killing Nikki and Paulo. Sun, however, insists that Sawyer isn’t a murderer and that it has to be the Others. When Hurley goes to get Desmond to clarify everything, Charlie confesses to Sun that it was him that pulled her into the jungle and not the Others. He explains how Sawyer told him how he could get even with Locke if he helped him steal the guns and that he didn’t mean to hurt her. Sun walks away without saying a word.
9 Days Ago- Recreating the time when Nikki and Paulo went with Locke and the others to the Pearl station, we now see what Paulo was really doing in the bathroom: taking out what was hidden in the doll out of fear of Nikki finding it. After breaking it open, he takes the small black sack and puts it down his pants. Covering up why he was in there, he flushes and tell the rest of them that the toilet still works.
At “Boone Hill,” they’re preparing the graves when Sawyer approaches. Taking authority, Hurley demands that Sawyer give him the gun. Sawyer takes out the clip to show him that the gun isn’t even loaded which backfires when Hurley asks him how he could have swept the perimeter with an empty gun. Asked point blank if he killed them, Sawyer says that he didn’t and that Nikki fought with him this morning because she wanted a gun. Answering why he didn’t say this before, he said because he suspected she was digging something before she died because of the dirt under her nails and wanted to see what was so important to bury before you die. Surprisingly, Sawyer tosses the black sack he found to Sun, who opens it to find diamonds, telling her to keep them because he had nothing to do with killing Nikki and Paulo.
12 Hours Ago- Nikki sits sad on the beach when Paulo meets up with her. Upset with the realization that they may never be rescued, Nikki is comforted by Paulo who says that it’s all about how you look at things, mentioning the bag as an example: if they had found it, it might have torn them apart. Nikki agrees and feels much better from his kind words as Paulo goes to get them some breakfast. Her happiness doesn’t last long however, when she finds a packet of nicotine gum next to her on the beach. Visibly angry, she approaches Sawyer and demands a gun. Sawyer claims he doesn’t have any and said he wouldn’t anyway based on how mad she is. Nikki thanks him for nothing and storms off. Sawyer shouts out “And who the hell are you?” before he goes back to reading.
The sun goes up to Sawyer who is continuing the work started on the graves and confronts him about the “kidnapping” plan. Wondering if she is going to tell Jin, Sawyer is told that she won’t because then they’d have to dig another grave. Sun gives Sawyer the diamonds back saying that they’re worthless on the island and catches him off guard with a slap to the face before walking away. Later, at the funeral, Hurley does his best to say a few words of respect for the dead. Right before they start to fill the grave, Sawyer stops them and scatters the diamonds on both of them telling them to rest in peace.
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8 Hours Ago- Pretending to bring him to a “surprise,” Nikki lures Paulo into the jungle to confront him about the diamonds. After Paulo tries to play dumb, Nikki tells him to give them to her. Paulo tries to explain himself but Nikki grabs a container, unscrews the top and throws the contents at him. It was one of Arzt’s Medusa spiders. Nikki starts to explain how it got it’s name: it causes severe paralysis for about 8 hours, much like Medusa’s stare could turn a man to stone. Feeling the effects, Paulo collapses on the ground and Nikki begins to search for the diamonds on his person. She checks his shoes and throws them in a nearby tree before finding them in his pants.
Tearfully, Paulo tells her that he was afraid that if she found the diamonds, she wouldn’t need him anymore. Nikki is taken aback by this revelation. So much so that she doesn’t notice the swarm of male spiders crawling their way towards her. Paulo tries to warn her with his eyes but one bites her on the leg. Realizing what happened, she runs off to get help but not before burying the diamonds. Running into Sawyer and Hurley and collapsing on the beach, she tries to tell them “I’m paralyzed.”
Back at the funeral, Sawyer and Hurley begin filling up the graves with the shovels as the crowd disperses. They continue to shovel the dirt in. And just before her face gets covered, Nikki opens her eyes. This remains unnoticed, however, and Nikki and Paulo, the ones that not many of the survivors (or the audience) knew too well, are buried alive.
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This is why I watch this show. The plain and simple truth is that the people responsible for putting this show together are absolute genius’s of storytelling and structure and “Exposé” showcases it greatly. Firstly, this is an extremely rare instance where an episode of “Lost” tackles one mystery and solves it in it’s entirety in just one shot. Not only that but it was handled with so many interesting twists and turns that played nicely with the audience (the reveal of the tacky “Exposé” was priceless). Also, having the two most hated characters on the show get their own episode and have it kick this much ass shows so much style and class on the part of the producers. It allows the haters to either keep hating them and pleased that they’re now dead or change their minds and say “they weren’t so bad.” Absolutley knocked it out of the park. Keep it up, please!
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Written by OwenJones - Visit Website
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