Young voters were a key part of Biden's coalition in 2020

An MLB legend. RIP

Our 10 Favorite Matchbox Twenty Songs list focuses on a popular pop/rock band. The band formed in the 90s. Matchbox Twenty consists of members Rob Thomas (lead singer/guitar/keyboards)‚ Brian Yale (bass guitarist)‚ Paul Doucette (drums/rhythm guitar/background vocals)‚ and Kyle Cook (lead guitarist/vocals). Fans love their music because of the infectious pop beats‚ stellar guitar riffs‚ and deep lyrics. The band’s music focuses on relationships and self-discovery. Their successful songs helped redefine pop and rock music in the 90s and 2000s. They became one of the most successful bands in the 90s and 2000s. Matchbox Twenty sold over 40 million records The post Our 10 Favorite Matchbox Twenty Songs appeared first on ClassicRockHistory.com.

Emerging from the heart of the American South in the late 1960s‚ the Allman Brothers Band carved a unique path in the burgeoning rock scene. Their music‚ a potent blend of blues‚ rock‚ jazz‚ and country‚ resonated deeply with audiences seeking a more soulful and improvisational sound compared to the dominant guitar-driven rock of the era. The band‚ formed in Jacksonville‚ Florida in 1969‚ consisted of brothers Duane Allman (slide guitar and lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals‚ organ‚ songwriting)‚ Dickey Betts (lead guitar‚ vocals‚ songwriting)‚ Berry Oakley (bass guitar)‚ Butch Trucks (drums)‚ and Jaimoe Johanson (drums). Their innovative approach‚ The post Complete List Of Allman Brothers Band Members appeared first on ClassicRockHistory.com.

Clackamas County in Oregon‚ which contains the city of Portland‚ has reduced the rate of homelessness by 65% from 2019 to 2023‚ a number that officials say reflects a more comprehensive strategy. According to Clackamas County’s quarterly report on the Supportive Housing Services (SHS) outcomes‚ the county has rehoused 314 people in six months. 429 […] The post Portland County Transcends its Rehousing Goals With 65% Drop in Homelessness appeared first on Good News Network.

Column SFF Bestiary Keeping It Mysterious: Snowbeast (1977) A set of oversized footprints. A massive‚ shaggy forearm with enormous claws. A monster mask with terrifying fangs… By Judith Tarr | Published on February 26‚ 2024 icon-comment 0 Share New Share Twitter Facebook Pinterest RSS Feed I wanted to begin this chapter with an enduring classic‚ The Abominable Snowman. It has Peter Cushing! And Forrest Tucker! Alas‚ I could find no captioned version available to stream‚ and the DVD (which purports to be captioned) is a little bit spendy. I had to go with Plan B‚ which involved some spelunking through the canon of great big hairy cryptoprimates on film. The winner of this week’s toss is twenty years younger and rather lower in star power‚ though it features a major name in its time‚ Yvette Mimieux (who is best known for her role in 1960’s The Time Machine). She plays the lead‚ intrepid television reporter Ellen Seberg‚ and lesser light Bo Svenson stars as her husband‚ Gar. Mimieux‚ who was usually cast as a blonde beauty‚ is a lightly frosted brunette here. She’s the future of journalism‚ we’re told: television is where it’s happening. For further adulting points‚ she’s married to an Olympic skier‚ but the marriage has gone stale and so has Gar‚ who hasn’t stepped on skis since he won his gold medal. Ellen and Gar arrive at the ski resort in Colorado where they both got their start‚ just before the fiftieth annual Winter Carnival. The monster action has already begun. A pair of ski bunnies‚ Jennifer and Heidi‚ skimming down a long‚ deserted slope‚ disagree as to how much longer they should stay out. Pretty blonde Jennifer wants to keep going. Plain brunette Heidi has a bad feeling and wants to go back to the lodge. Suddenly they see a trail of enormous tracks heading toward the trees. Somebody’s playing a practical joke with a set of novelty snowshoes‚ Jennifer declares. They hear a not so distant roaring. Heidi gets the hell out of there. Jennifer lingers‚ peering into the woods. We all know what has to happen next. The look of bland skepticism shifting to horror. The—whatever it is—racing toward her. The camera cutting away to Heidi‚ now out of sight. The scream. Cut to the crowded resort and the getting-ready-for-Winter Carnival montage. Mrs. Rill‚ the grande dame of the resort‚ oversees the festivities. Stalwart grandson Tony gets called out by the ski patrol in the person of equally stalwart Buster‚ to the cabin where Heidi is waiting. Heidi is hysterical‚ but she sticks to her story: Jennifer has been abducted by a monster. The plot unfolds in classic monster-movie fashion. Tony and the ski patrol search in vain for Jennifer. Tony finds her torn and blood-stained jacket‚ but no sign of the rest of her. When she does turn up‚ after assorted subplots and distractions‚ she’s very dead. The Gar and Ellen subplot revolves around Gar’s urgent need for a job‚ Ellen’s deep discontent with him and her marriage‚ and the reason why Gar stopped skiing so abruptly. It’s surprisingly timely. Gar underwent a process similar to the one that caused gymnastics superstar Simone Biles to withdraw from competition during and after the 2020 Olympics. Gar made it through the event to the medal‚ but he hasn’t skied since‚ let alone competed. Part of his journey as a character will require him to get back on skis and perform appropriate Plot Heroics. And‚ of course‚ win back his bride. The resort has its own troubles. It needs the Winter Carnival to be a success‚ and it cannot afford a mass panic over a murderous monster. Mrs. Rill insists on suppressing Heidi’s story and ascribing Jennifer’s death to a rogue grizzly. The Sheriff even manages to produce one‚ suitably deceased‚ to allay any fears among the Carnival-going public. But Heidi isn’t the only person who believes in the monster. Tony has actually seen it‚ at a distance and hidden in trees‚ but he makes out enough to know it’s neither a human nor a bear‚ but something Other. He thinks he knows what it is. It’s Bigfoot. It just so happens that Ellen has done a television special on that very creature. Gar knows all about it‚ and is happy to educate Tony. The heart of Bigfoot’s range may be the Pacific Northwest‚ but Ellen has interviewed people all over the country. There may be hundreds of the cryptids roaming the wilderness of North America. They’re not dangerous‚ Gar maintains. They don’t have a history of attacking humans. He’s not in favor of hunting down and killing it. Jennifer’s mutilated body turns up in an isolated barn‚ and Buster the ski patroller meets the monster on the trail and ends up dead. Gar pivots to Tony and the Sheriff’s view. Like any other animal that attacks humans‚ it has to be destroyed. And then it attacks the Carnival‚ leaving a trail of blood and mayhem. There’s only one thing to do‚ and Gar nerves himself up to do it. He puts on skis. He heads out on the hunt. Gar is on a hero’s journey. The monster is monstering because monster. Maybe it’s a mutant‚ is the best expertise Ellen can offer. (Yep. A man has to ‘splain—er‚ relay her knowledge to another man.) Once it’s taken first blood with Jennifer and Buster‚ it heads for the light and noise of the Carnival‚ terrorizes the Snow Queen by peering in the window of the lodge at her‚ and shreds the driver of the SUV that’s rather cutesily labeled “Snow Queen’s Carriage.” It seems to decide it’s had enough by that point and takes off into the woods. The film gives us monstercam views as it hunts‚ attacks‚ and ultimately is attacked. We watch‚ in blurry‚ shaky bits of footage‚ as it locks on its prey. We don’t know why it’s doing it‚ but we get a good idea as to how. I have to hand it to the makers of the film. Their special effects budget must have been close to zero. The whole thing is done in quick cuts and fragments. A set of oversized footprints. A massive‚ shaggy forearm with enormous claws. A monster mask with terrifying fangs. A hairy shadow looming with outstretched arms. Intermittent roaring‚ sometimes at a distance‚ sometimes horribly close. The monster’s victims are equally fragmentary: a bloodstained jacket‚ a woman’s arm with even more bloodstains‚ a bloody trail in the snow. It’s on the living characters to reflect what they see. We have to extrapolate from their expressions and body language. Great acting it is not‚ but it’s surprisingly effective. It asks the audience to put together the fragments and develop their own conception of the whole. We’re out of the habit of that—Blair Witch and Cloverland notwithstanding. I kind of like it. I’m not a fan of explicit gore anyway‚ and I’ve seen enough Bigfoot footage to have a fair sense of what the cryptid is supposed to look like. This one isn’t the usual dark-pelted Sasquatch. It’s more Yeti-like with its silver-grey coat. In my head canon‚ maybe it actually is a Yeti‚ captured in the Himalayas and brought to North America by a rogue researcher. Somehow it escaped‚ and it’s out for revenge on the humans who imprisoned it. It doesn’t much matter to the humans in the film where it comes from or why it’s doing what it does. This is a monster movie. Monster stalk‚ monster kill‚ monster get killed. That’s how it has to play out‚ by the rules of its game.[end-mark] The post Keeping It Mysterious: <;i>;Snowbeast<;/i>; (1977) appeared first on Reactor.

Featured Essays Dune Adapting Dune to the Screen: Three Different Interpretations of Herbert’s Vision Which of these adaptations is the most faithful to the book—and does that make it the best? By Kara Kennedy | Published on February 26‚ 2024 icon-comment 0 Share New Share Twitter Facebook Pinterest RSS Feed Against all odds‚ Frank Herbert’s 1965 science fiction novel Dune has been adapted to the screen three times‚ though with varying degrees of faithfulness. David Lynch’s penchant for the grotesque shines through in his 1984 film Dune. John Harrison takes a Shakespearean approach in his 2000 television miniseries Frank Herbert’s Dune. Most recently‚ Denis Villeneuve showcases the visual beauty of the desert in his 2021 film Dune: Part One. Although many things have changed in the political‚ social‚ and cultural landscape since the 1960s‚ Herbert’s book remains the same. So‚ directors‚ producers‚ and other cast and crew have had to make numerous decisions about how to adapt this story to their time period and audience. What they choose to keep‚ remove‚ or change impacts how true their adaptation is to the original novel. Even though all of these directors said publicly that they wanted to stay faithful to the source material‚ ultimately each had to make a choice about how strongly to hold to this conviction. Here are a few of the features in each adaptation that either succeed in staying faithful or miss the mark. Dune (1984) In David Lynch’s film Dune (1984)‚ Paul Atreides dismisses his teacher Thufir Hawat’s concern that he has his back to the door‚ while other teachers Gurney Halleck and Dr. Yueh also stand behind Paul. (Credit: Universal Pictures) The script for Dune (1984) includes many lines taken directly from the book‚ especially in the first half of the film. In an early scene where Paul Atreides’ trusted teachers Thufir Hawat‚ Gurney Halleck‚ and Dr. Yueh enter a room with Paul sitting at a desk‚ the conversation is almost identical: PAUL: I know‚ Thufir. I’m sitting with my back to the door. I heard you‚ Dr. Yueh‚ and Gurney coming down the hall.THUFIR: Those sounds could be imitated.PAUL: I’d know the difference. There are many other examples of lines recognizable from the book in Lynch’s Dune. Herbert himself noted that he could hear his dialogue all the way through the movie and thought fans would enjoy tracking down the lines after watching it. Interestingly‚ one iconic line that isn’t in the book is “the spice must flow‚” though this phrase from the film still accurately captures the strong desire for spice that drives the various factions in the Imperium. Lynch’s Dune remains the only adaptation that attempts to stay faithful to the book’s inner monologues by including voice-overs. Throughout the film‚ the camera will hold steady on an actor’s face as they pause silently and a voice-over reveals what they are thinking in that moment. For example‚ after the conversation between Thufir and Paul mentioned above‚ the camera lingers on Thufir’s face as his voice-over says‚ “Yes‚ perhaps he would at that.” This line reflects Thufir’s inner thought from the book and clues the audience in to the idea that Paul has special perceptive abilities and little reason to worry about his personal safety. Later‚ after Jessica shows a hint of concern for Paul before he is left alone with the Reverend Mother Mohiam‚ Paul’s voice-over asks‚ “What does she fear?” Not only does this build suspense for the following scene with the gom jabbar test‚ it helps the audience understand Paul’s thought patterns. The voice-overs align with the book by letting viewers get inside the characters’ heads and experience events alongside them. However‚ Lynch also took liberties with the source material that move his film further from the themes and concepts important to Herbert’s story. The weirding modules are one of the biggest changes. In the book‚ the Atreides’ advantage in combat lies with their strong training by fighters such as Duncan Idaho and Gurney Halleck. Paul has an additional advantage because he was trained in the supreme control of mind and body by his mother‚ a member of the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood. But in the film‚ weirding modules are introduced as the Atreides’ secret advantage. They take the name of the Bene Gesserit’s ‘weirding way’ and appear to work by harnessing the power of sound‚ but these point-and-shoot weapons require no skill to use. In his book A Masterpiece in Disarray: David Lynch’s Dune. An Oral History (2023)‚ Max Evry suggests that they reflect Lynch’s interest in Transcendental Meditation and the power that one word or mantra can access. This may be true‚ but ironically the modules undercut the mental and physical strength and skill of both the Fremen warriors and the Bene Gesserit from the book. They unnecessarily add technological gadgets to a story that originally uplifted humans’ abilities over technology. Frank Herbert’s Dune (2000) In John Harrison’s television miniseries Frank Herbert’s Dune (2000)‚ Jessica and the Fremen perform ritualistic motions of respect including bowing their heads and making gestures with their hands when Reverend Mother Ramallo arrives in the sietch. (Credit: Syfy) Harrison’s miniseries Frank Herbert’s Dune takes special pains to explore the political and religious themes from the book and depict the Fremen as a multi-faceted desert people. The miniseries focuses on the political intrigue between the various factions of House Atreides‚ House Harkonnen‚ the Imperial household‚ and the Guild and Bene Gesserit. In a Shakespearean-influenced style‚ characters frequently reveal their political motives and schemes‚ including at the banquet on Arrakis. The Emperor and Princess Irulan also take on bigger roles‚ though largely in keeping with their descriptions from the book. Religious influence plays a significant role in the story‚ as Paul and Jessica use myths and propaganda to their advantage in order to secure their place among the Fremen. Yet the Fremen are shown to be a strong and culturally vibrant desert people with their own traditions and rituals‚ even though they remain susceptible to Paul’s charisma. Harrison went so far as to hire a choreographer to design the hand gestures and body movements of the Fremen to bring their culture to life on screen. For example‚ Stilgar shows his respect for his crysknife by bringing it up to his forehead in a ritualistic motion before lowering it. Other Fremen bow their heads and make particular hand motions in the presence of Reverend Mother Ramallo and later Paul‚ which indicate their deference to religious figures. Such features provide depth to the Fremen culture‚ while staying firmly grounded in some of their characteristics from the book. One notable deviation in the miniseries is when Paul appears to summon forth a waterfall in the Fremen sietch after proclaiming his right to reclaim his dukedom and cleanse the planet of their enemies. This scene‚ similar to the one at the end of Lynch’s film when Paul makes it rain‚ risks making Paul look like a god who can control the elements. Its purpose was likely to reinforce the religious nature of Paul’s leadership and the Fremen’s view of him as a messiah figure who can perform miracles. Water is certainly an important symbol‚ but it does not appear in this way in the original story. Dune: Part One (2021) In Denis Villeneuve’s film Dune: Part One (2021)‚ Paul and Jessica use the Fremen’s special sandwalk to avoid rhythmic motion on the sand that attracts giant sandworms. (Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures) Villeneuve’s Dune: Part One brings to life the hostile but stunning desert environment in the book through the use of on-location filming in the Middle East (specifically near Abu Dhabi and Wadi Rum in southern Jordan). This gives it the advantage of being able to show off the austere beauty of the desert and its rocks and sand dunes‚ as is appropriate for a story set on a desert planet. The wide vistas of rolling dunes and intense sunlight highlight the moisture-starved environment described in the book. Spice appears as a glittering substance in the air and on the ground‚ much prized and fought over by multiple groups. The film also stays true to a smaller detail relating to the desert setting: how to walk in a non-rhythmic way to avoid attracting the attention of a giant sandworm. A choreographer created a special desert sandwalk that Jessica and Paul use when forced out on into the desert after the Harkonnen attack. In the film‚ as they venture out into the open sand in their stillsuits‚ Paul tells Jessica they must walk like the Fremen do—a practice he learned about in his filmbooks. He shows her how to do the sandwalk‚ taking a wide step with his right leg‚ a wide step with his left leg‚ and then a small step forward before making a sweeping circular motion with his left leg dragging through the sand. The depiction of this movement keeps the film true to the book’s descriptions of how people have learned to survive in the deserts of Arrakis. On the other hand‚ perhaps in an attempt to avoid the excesses of the depiction of the Baron Harkonnen in Lynch’s film‚ Dune: Part One changes this character into a bald monster with few lines. Such a drastic shift neutralizes the Baron’s crafty‚ Machiavellian nature from the book and leans into a more stereotypical views of villains as barely human and animalistic. It makes it impossible to view the Harkonnen and Atreides as mirror images of one another‚ each manipulating those around them to obtain power and wealth. The loss of this interesting‚ articulate character from the book reduces the story’s political depth and the audience’s ability to enjoy watching his plots unfold and ultimately unravel. Comparing Adaptations In terms of how the adaptations compare with each other‚ all three have a few things in common in their approach to translating Herbert’s story to the screen. First‚ all of them feature a female narrator providing a prologue to the story‚ whether Princess Irulan in Dune (1984) and Frank Herbert’s Dune‚ or Chani in Dune: Part One. For the first two adaptations‚ this aligns with Irulan introducing Paul through the excerpt from her writing that begins the book. Yet all of the adaptations then change the start of the main storyline where Reverend Mother Mohiam and Jessica look in on Paul the night before the test of the gom jabbar. After a second short prologue titled “A Secret Report Within The Guild‚” Dune (1984) begins with the Emperor meeting the Guild and planning to kill Paul. The miniseries opens with a sequence of Paul’s visions and Paul waking up in his room with a hologram of Dr. Yueh lecturing about the political structures of the Imperium‚ though this scene is then immediately followed by the gom jabbar test. In Dune: Part One‚ after Chani’s prologue featuring scenes of spice in the air‚ spice harvesting operations‚ and the Fremen and Harkonnen conflict‚ Paul awakes on Caladan after having had visions of Chani and proceeds to have breakfast with his mother.   The adaptations often take quite different approaches to characters‚ sets‚ and costumes‚ giving them a unique look and feel that may be only loosely tied to the book. However‚ they all decided to go with an adult actor for Paul. In the book‚ Paul is 15 years old at the start and described as small for his age. Of the three lead actors‚ Timothée Chalamet is really the only one youthful-looking enough to pull this off—Kyle MacLachlan and Alec Newman look older than a young teenager. All the adaptations also include some effort to capture the blue color in the eyes of the Fremen through different special effects through the years‚ from rotoscoping to UV contact lenses to CGI-enabled blue tinting. In addition‚ the later adaptations pay homage to their predecessor‚ Lynch’s Dune‚ even though they largely try to avoid replicating its specific look and feel. In the miniseries‚ Paul speaks the line “the sleeper has awakened” while discussing his terrible purpose with his mother. This is identical to the line that Paul utters after taking the Water of Life in Lynch’s version. Both the miniseries and Dune: Part One include a large Guild ship with a long‚ tubular structure reminiscent of the ship in Dune (1984). Herbert’s book doesn’t include details about these ships‚ other than the fact that they are very big but that sandworms could be larger‚ so the consistency of the ships’ appearances on screen indicates that the later adaptations are riffing off of the Lynch version’s ship design. Villeneuve’s film also contains several other similarities to Lynch’s film. There is a Soviet influence in the Harkonnen ships and architecture and marks on the Mentats’ lips. The Baron Harkonnen bathes in a dark‚ industrial-looking substance (also recalling a scene from the film Apocalypse Now). There is also a hint of Lynch’s strange preoccupation with animals‚ which popped up in Dune (1984) numerous times through the Harkonnens’ mutilated cow‚ cat/rat antidote set-up‚ and squood device. In Dune: Part One‚ a weird spider-like creature appears eating out of a bowl on the floor in the Harkonnen chambers and is dismissed in disgust by Reverend Mother Mohiam. With no explanation or backstory‚ it appears to be another way of demonstrating the Harkonnens’ animalistic nature and monstrosity‚ similar to how the creatures function in Lynch’s film. Conclusion Herbert’s long‚ multi-layered book has posed many challenges to those who have attempted to adapt it to the screen. Herbert himself couldn’t write a workable screenplay and concluded that he was probably too close to the material to see it as a film. But three directors and their teams have navigated some of the complexities of Herbert’s story successfully enough to bring a screen adaptation to life. Each expressed a desire to be faithful to the source material but also had to try to align their vision with the realities of their time period and the constraints of cinematic production. Some aspects of the resulting films are more faithful than others‚ leaving plenty of room for discussion and debate about how the adaptations stand up against the original‚ unchanging novel. So‚ let’s discuss: Which adaptation do you think was most faithful to the spirit of the book? Are there features you found that aligned closely to Herbert’s vision‚ or perhaps other features that exist only in the cinematic versions that have remained in your mind? And do you think the new film‚ Dune: Part Two‚ will stay more or less faithful to the novel than Part One?[end-mark] The post Adapting <;i>;Dune<;/i>; to the Screen: Three Different Interpretations of Herbert’s Vision appeared first on Reactor.

Read the original post "Should You Start A Homestead Blog?" on A Modern Homestead. Have you wondered if a blog might be right for your homestead‚ farm‚ or ranch? This article will help you decide whether or not it's a good idea for you and your family! Chances are‚ you probably know someone who has started a blog. Or maybe you've just thought about starting one yourself. I wanted... Read More The post "Should You Start A Homestead Blog?" appeared first on A Modern Homestead.

The Day After Hamas

Tripping on psychedelics may give your sex life a boost‚ according to a new analysis of two recent studies. Involving both recreational users and those undergoing psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy for depression‚ the research indicates that a single dose of psilocybin‚ LSD‚ or other mind-altering compounds‚ can provide benefits in the bedroom that last for up to six months.The study authors looked at the results of two separate investigations‚ one of which involved 261 participants who used psychedelics on their own or as part of a ceremony. Those taking part in this study used substances including ayahuasca‚ DMT‚ magic mushrooms‚ and various other substances typically categorized as psychedelic.A second survey involved 59 patients with major depressive disorder who were enrolled on a clinical trial comparing the effectiveness of psilocybin - the psychoactive ingredient in magic mushrooms - and escitalopram‚ a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) that is commonly used to treat depression. In both studies‚ participants answered questionnaires regarding sexual function before their psychedelic experiences‚ as well as four weeks and six months later.Comparing the responses given at these different time points‚ the researchers found that recreational users reported improvements across every domain of sexual function following their psychedelic trips. “Participants… showed significant improvements in their communication with their partners‚ increased frequency of experiencing pleasure during sex‚ as well as increased satisfaction with their partners and their own physical appearance following the psychedelic experience‚” write the authors. “They also appeared to be more open to trying new things in their sex life and were more likely to perceive sex as a spiritual or sacred experience post-use‚” they continue. “These changes were significant both four weeks and six months after the experience.”Moving on to the participants involved in the depression study‚ the researchers explain that 30 were treated with psilocybin while the remaining 29 received escitalopram. Once again‚ those who had a psychedelic experience reported lasting improvements in every sexual domain‚ while those who got the SSRI displayed a slight increase in their satisfaction with their appearance but no other positive changes. “Furthermore‚ patients treated with psilocybin were more likely to report increased sexual interest‚ activity‚ arousal‚ and satisfaction at the six-week endpoint than patients treated with escitalopram‚ who on average‚ reported a worsening in the same domains‚” write the researchers.Significantly‚ only 13 percent of psilocybin recipients complained of sexual dysfunction following their psychedelic experience‚ compared to 59 percent in the escitalopram group. This is a particularly important finding as sexual dysfunction is a common side-effect of SSRIs‚ and this data therefore suggests that psilocybin may offer a favorable alternative for those suffering from depression."Our findings suggest potential implications for conditions that negatively affect sexual health‚ including clinical depression and anxiety‚” explained study author Tomasso Barba in a statement. "This is particularly significant given that sexual dysfunction‚ often induced by antidepressants‚ frequently results in people stopping these medications and subsequently relapsing.”The study is published in the journal Scientific Reports.