Keanu Reeves is a man of many talents. FromBill and Ted,The Matrix,John Wick, and as of lately he is a featured character in the upcomingCyberpunk 2077 video game. We finally get a better look at not only Keanu reeves character Johnny Silverhand but the character Mule as McFarlane Toys announced their first wave of action figures. These figures are highly detailed and come with a nice set of accesories and a display base. Keanu does come with two figures in the first wave though, the first one is a 7 action figure that has a guitar, rock out hand, and a beer bottle. He is the action hero we all need not the one we deserve samurai. The second one is a 12 Johnny Silverhand statue, they classify it as a figure but it is stuck in a single position. Keanu Reeves is shredding on the guitar in his Cyberpunk 2077 outfit and any fan should own these figures.

The Cyberpunk 2077 Johnny Silverhand and Mule McFarlane Toys Figures are priced at $29.99 and are set to release in Spring 2020. The 12 Keanu Reeves Johnny Silverhand Statue is priced at $39.99 and is also set for a Spring 2020 release. All three figures are available for pre-order at GameStop or you can find them here.

Wake the f**k up, samurai. Weve got a city to burn.

Male V 7 Figure

Cyberpunk 2077 is an open-world, action-adventure story set in Night City, a megalopolis obsessed with power, glamour and body modification. You play as V, a mercenary outlaw going after a one-of-a-kind implant that is the key to immortality. You can customize your characterscyberware, skillset and playstyle, and explore a vast city where the choices you make shape the story and the world around you.

Product Features:

Features V in his Default Setting from the Cyberpunk 2077 Video Game

Designed with Ultra Articulation with 22 Moving Parts

7-Inch scale figure comes with a Base, Katana, Kang Tao-Dian SMG andMilitechSaratoga Pistol

Figure showcased in Cyberpunk 2077 themed window box packaging

Johnny Silverhand 7 Figure

Cyberpunk 2077 is an open-world, action-adventure story set in Night City, a megalopolis obsessed with power, glamour and body modification. You play as V, a mercenary outlaw going after a one-of-a-kind implant that is the key to immortality. You can customize your characterscyberware, skillset and playstyle, and explore a vast city where the choices you make shape the story and the world around you.

Product Features:

Features Keanu Reeves as JohnnySilverhandin his iconic outfit from the Cyberpunk 2077 Video Game

Designed with Ultra Articulation with 22 Moving Parts

7-Inch scale figure comes with a Base, Johnnys Guitar with strap and a Bottle

Includes bonus Rock-On Hand

Figure showcased in Cyberpunk 2077 themed window box packaging

Johnny Silverhand 12 Figure

Cyberpunk 2077 is an open-world, action-adventure story set in Night City, a megalopolis obsessed with power, glamour and body modification. You play as V, a mercenary outlaw going after a one-of-a-kind implant that is the key to immortality. You can customize your characters cyberware, skillset, and playstyle, and explore a vast city where the choices you make shape the story and the world around you.

Product Features:

Features Keanu Reeves as JohnnySilverhandin his Chrome Rock Concert pose from the Cyberpunk 2077 Video Game

12-Inch scale figure comes with a base and Johnnys Guitar

Figure showcased in Cyberpunk 2077 themed window box packaging

loves Marvel and the MCU. Has all of the Funko Pops for the MCU. He loves Tobey Spider-Man and insists The Phantom Menace is pure gold. He is still recovering from the aftermath of Avengers Endgame.

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Keanu Reeves is a Badass Cyberpunk Rockstar with McFarlane Toys - Bleeding Cool News

Futurists must be off their game. Were entering 2020, and nice round numbers are supposed to invite dazzling, spooky predictions for the decade ahead.

But lately all I see are Wall Street forecasts about stuff like interest rates and demographics. Apparently, if you like low stock returns and crowded cities, youll love the 2020s. There is a risk of something called monetary impotence, and not even Pfizer has a cure for it.

But wait: What about airborne robo-taxis and disease-curing nanobots? Im worried that the current prognosticatory lull means our best futurists have reached peak holy mackerel.

Take Ray Kurzweil, author of the 2005 book The Singularity Is Near, which predicts that humans and machines will merge by 2045. He has been right about many things related to computing power and connectivity, and early, perhaps, on some other things. Wearable computers should rule by now, for example, but unless that means cramming 6-inch smartphones into 5-inch pockets, were not there.

In 2016, Kurzweil told PBS NewsHour, Were going to get to a point, 10, 15 years from now, where were adding more time than is going by to our remaining life expectancy. He was talking about immortality. Im skeptical, because I recently threw my back out sneezing, which doesnt feel like something an immortal would do. But the point is, I dont know how you top a forecast like that.

Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musk seems to be trying. In 2018, he said there is a 70% chance hell move to Mars. Back in 2016, he said were all probably living in a simulation. At least that should make his move to Mars easier.

With heavyweights like Kurzweil and Musk having already gone full-Matrix, aspiring futurists like me will have to go big to get noticed. I predict that electric socks will become self-aware in 2023. There is a 70% chance Ill accidentally learn Mandarin from all of the robo-calls Ive been getting. The singularity is near? Too cautiousI say its the Thursday after next.

While were waiting for tech seers to work up their next big ideas, lets look at what market strategists are saying about the decade ahead, just in case this isnt all a simulation.

UBS points to 790 million more people expected to move to cities by 2030, the number of internet users expanding to 7.5 billion from 4.3 billion, and connected devices numbering 46 billion, up from 10 billion. That should be excellent news for semiconductor companies, like chip roll-up Broadcom (ticker: AVGO) and equipment maker Applied Materials (AMAT).

Barry Bannister at Stifel estimates that the S&P 500 index will offer just 3% a year in compound average returns during the 2020s, based on high starting valuations. He predicts a major rotation from growth stocks to value, which sounds harmless enough, but he also points out that in the past, those have started with the S&P 500 dropping by half over two years.

Dont panic yet. Near the end of the decade, Bannister expects us to enter a long period of runaway price growth in commodities. Now panic.

OK, time to breathe easier. Credit Suisses Jonathan Golub would like you to know that even though price/earnings ratios for stocks are one standard deviation above normal (which is to say, high), prices relative to free cash flow are at long-term averages. Valuations have further to run, he wrote on Dec. 18.

Bank of Americas strategy team calls the 2020s a decade of megatrends unlike any before it. Globalization will wane, and consumer prices will rise. Worldwide interest rates begin the decade at the lowest level in 5,000 years of recorded references to the cost of money, so central banks will struggle to stoke growth with monetary policy. On the other hand, Generation Z, or todays teens, will overtake millennials as the biggest generation globally, and the middle class will expand in emerging marketsgood for e-commerce.

By 2035, up to half of the worlds jobs could be at risk of replacement by robots, BofA says. From now until 2040, $20 trillion, or roughly three-quarters the market value of the S&P 500, will flood into morality-based stock strategies. Who will judge which companies are virtuous? I say, let people who have lost their jobs to robots take a crack.

The rest of the themes include climate change (good for electric cars), space tourism (good for aerospace and defense), smart everything (bad for privacy), and China overtaking the U.S. in artificial intelligence by 2030. (Is Musk looking for roommates on Mars?)

That is a daunting swirl of possibilities. I recommend preparing for this brave new world with tactics that are neither brave nor new. Stick with stocks and stock indexes. They represent companies run by clever people who can react quickly to the predictions that come true, and the ones that flop.

Im partial to U.S. stocks. Thats called home-country bias, and too much of it isnt good, so put some in other markets, too. Dont bail out of bonds. They are woefully overpriced, but theyll prove a bargain if stocks tank. Remember commodities? They were popular back when there used to be something called inflation. Add just a smidgen, for old times sake.

And just in case theres something to this singularity stuff, stay on good terms with anything with a silicon chip. As a futurist, Ive been saying thank you to vending machines for years.

Write to Jack Hough at jack.hough@barrons.com

Link:

The 2020s May Be a Doozy. Stick With the Tried and True in Investing. - Barron's

A curious event in 2018 when Facebooks AI robots started communicating among themselves with their own language which programming experts on Facebook could not understand had the company shutting down their bots and no news of having opened it yet again.

This happening with Facebook is not isolated. The AlphaGo incident where a professional human player of the game was beaten by a robot sent alarm to human beings concerned. AlphaGo is a computer program that plays the Chinese board game called Go. It was in March 2016 that AlphaGo beat Gos Best Player Lee Sedol in the game where combinations of moves are said to be as many as the stars in the universe.

A workshop called Sprit, Science, and Artificial Intelligence, facilitated by social scientist and activist Nicanor Perlas, discusses why these leaps on technology and the seemingly subsequent surrender of humans to it should be something that must be met with our full consciousness and wakefulness. With the technologys lure of conveniences and perfection, we human beings are slowly giving up our inherent capacities.

While we are so out to believe that technology is neutral, we need to dig deeper to come face to face with its inner logic. I used to say, and these days, I hear many say often, that technology is neither good or bad. That it is up to us to make it advantageous or otherwise. It sure looks like that on the surface level. But just beneath it, lies the inner logic of technology: if we look deeper, technology makes us give up our inherent capacities as human beings.

So then, it is best to ask ourselves: IF we have been created in the Divines image and likeness, what could be our inherent capacities? What could have been planted in us if we are to be the true and full human beings that the Divine intends us to be?

Technology tycoon Elon Musk has been very vocal about the threats to humanity that pervade with the proliferation of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Recently, Tesla, Musks company, released all its patents to help humanity survive. In first world countries, it is said that teachers are being replaced by robots and computers. If you have seen Jimmy Falons interview with the robot named Sophia, it looks amusing at a glance, but if given a thought, one might think of the danger with human resources being replaced by these technological devices that seem to supersede us in terms of intelligence.

The lure of technology in the name of AI (now gearing up to be Artificial Super Intelligence, [ASI]) has three facets: Super Health, Super Intelligence, and Immortality. This has been created by AI companies to counter human imperfections. People get sick, so they offer super health, people often think at a very slow pace and what poor memory, so they offer super intelligence. Finally, people die, so they offer immortality. The proponents of these ideas think that consciousness resides on the brain, and so by creating artificial bodies that can accommodate the consciousness in the brain, thus making immortality at hand. They call this Transhumanism.

This Transhumanism gear of AI is slowly leading the human being to mass extinction as this would mean no more reproduction as humans. Are we, as humanity, moving like the sleeping children who were led by the Pied Piper of Hamelin to the abyss?

We will be convinced of this technology hype if we do not stop and discern over this lures. But taking time to contemplate over these things, it will be revealed that all these lures are become effective once we deviate from the path of nature. Mother Nature has been cradling our humanity.

For our super health, we have the plants and the four elements to take care of us. For our super intelligence, our thoughts and capacity to create has been inherent in us, provided that we commune with her. It is almost forgotten but our ancestors showed super intelligence. There were documents that tell of our ancestors being capable of telepathy and teleportation. Yes, truth is stranger than fiction. And finally, for our concern of death. We only need to be assured that we no longer die. A Spiritual Being in the name of Christ had long defeated death for us. But if we only look at it in a materialist perspective, we cannot have the faculties to understand it. Nonetheless, it still needs to be said.

While AI poses an abominable threat to the existence of humanity, there is no need to fear. The call is to face this task wide awake and conscious. The AI has become a dragon to defeat because we have not been living up to who were truly are. Now, this dragon wants us to show our courage and together brave this challenge for the future of our humanity. Many, I, myself included, believe that by going back to nature, the human being will make manifest once more that no one is stronger than us except God. Simply because, we are the summit of His creations His own image and likeness.

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Close to Home | Artificial Intelligence and us - Mindanao Times

Editors note: If you havent already experienced aging in the senior citizen sense, yourself or with loved ones, you will at some point wish there was a clearly written manual. With his weekly column, Mark Harvey has been writing the rough draft for many years and this newspaper is grateful.

Im fighting off the urge to begin with The time has come, the walrus said

But, the time has come: Im retiring.

After 772 weeks of us meeting here, Im stepping away. I will be forever grateful to Doug Barker and all the good folks at The Daily World for their patience and encouragement, and for the amazing opportunity to meet so many of you.

How does one say goodbye after 772 weeks? I have no idea, so I wont even try. I think what I will do, however, is attempt to sum up what are, in my opinion, the most important aspects of this whole aging thing. And that usually begins with a question that goes something like this: How smooth is the road ahead likely to be?

Answer: About as smooth as the road behind. And if you take the time to think about it, I just told you a whole lot more than you think I did.

Folks in my business tend to spend an inordinate amount of time contemplating the question What do Elders want? in the same general tone of voice and inflection as the question What do Martians eat?

As though, at some magic age (60? 65? 79? 98? whatever), all those normal people stepped into the Elder Machine and were duly processed and homogenized into an anomalous species called Elders emerging with unfathomable habits, preferences, tastes, predilections, abilities, challenges and destinies.

Alas, allow me to be the bearer of thought-provoking tidings: There is no Elder Machine.

When you hit that magic age, heres what will be magically different: nothing. You will still be the same old you, with the same foibles, opinions, tastes, talents and beliefs. The same preferences and the same politics, the same joys and the same sorrows, and the same old body that got you here, more or less.

Oops.

Now, close your eyes for 30 seconds and visualize what you want your life to look like in 10, 15 or 40 years. Go ahead, well wait.

OK? Heres the picture most of us saw: a life that looks, more or less, like it looks right now colored by a few hopes, dreams, fears and the tyranny of genetics, certainly but we want life to continue to be life, as we have chosen to define it. We do not want to be less. We want to be us to continue.

Heres the only thing that really changes in that Elder Machine is the sudden realization that none of us will achieve immortality.

So, in my opinion and in my world, the game becomes: How can we keep life looking as much as possible the way it looks right now?

Ill offer these points:

Think health and health care, but think about it in terms of what you can do, not in terms of any diagnosis. We want to be able to get up and get going, and spend our days and our nights on our own terms, with as little help (think: interference) as possible.

So

1. Stop doing stupid stuff! We all know what we do that we shouldnt do, so stop doing it! (Or, at least, do less of it.)

2. Move! Use it or lose it applies so, unless youre done with it, use it!

3. Find a health care professional you trust and tell them the truth! Listen and talk! Then do what you need to do, as though it were your responsibility to be responsible for yourself because it is.

4. Figure out your health insurance or find someone who has, and make friends.

This is America; money counts. Like it or not, thats how it is, so figure it out and do the best you can. Plan! Get out of debt! Figure out Social Security! It is absolutely true that money cant buy happiness, but it does buy heat, food, medicine and underwear So, think about it!

Im often asked some derivation of the question: Whats the worst thing that is likely to happen to me as I get older? and people expect to hear something like falls or Alzheimers or stroke but heres whats more likely to get us:

Fear.

Ignorance.

Isolation.

Not knowing theres help out there, or being too proud to ask for it.

Being afraid that if they knew how much help I really needed, they would put me in a nursing home, so I isolate myself and go downhill fast, and pretty soon the self-fulfilling prophecy is fulfilled.

A little help on the front end can change everything.

I could bury you alive in programs, services and acronyms! I could put you into a coma with strategies, resources, advance directives and durable powers of attorney. I could drive you screaming from the room with health insurance nuance. But I cant give you the one thing that will do you the most good, because we all have to find it for ourselves: a sense of purpose. A mission. A reason to be.

The belief that there is a reason to continue. That there are still opportunities to contribute to be part of the solution to make things better to help. And that it truly is not over, until it is.

That every day is the next opportunity to begin again to get it right to do better.

I want you to hear that aging is not an affliction; its an achievement!

Be careful. Strive to be happy.

Love is all there is.

Thank you.

Mark Harvey is retiring this week as director of information and assistance for the Olympic Area Agency on Aging.

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Longtime columnist Mark Harvey bids adieu - The Daily World

While the historical authenticity of the Christmas story, as traditionally told, can be debated, the focus and point of the story is at the very heart of what it means to be Christian. We celebrate a whole series of events (The Holy Family, The Baptism of the Lord and the Epiphany) in these weeks, each a part of the Christmas story. This narrative is at the centre of our self-understanding. All that comes before it and all that flows from it reveals to us that Jesus is chosen to be God's representative in history. The incarnation means that God is active and present in the person of Jesus. This is the transformative power of the Christmas story: it tells us that God is present and active in the life and being of Jesus and, through the Spirit that Jesus gives us, God is present and active in our lives now.

But there is more. The doctrine of the incarnation of Jesus teaches us about the significance of God's immanence within and presence to all creation in a personal way. God came into the world to save the world and not just the people in it. Many people believe that Jesus came into the world to save humanity, those of us with self-awareness and consciousness. But, God's saving action in Jesus goes beyond humanity and reaches all of creation - animals, oceans, mountains, deserts etc. How often don't we get this wrong? Even our catechesis has failed to highlight this fact: The incarnation has meaning for humanity and the cosmos.

If you take time to look at the narrative in these Christmas days you will notice that it is not just human beings who are involved in the story of Jesus' birth, the cosmos too has its role: light and darkness, cold and warmth, beasts in a stable witness the birth, heavenly hosts and stars.

Just as we know and experience our human frailty, our immortality, so too creation (we are fast learning in the age of climate change!) is fragile and immortal. Science tells us that the earth is struggling, the sun is slowly burning out and water is becoming a scarce commodity. We, in South Africa, have experienced drought and floods. We have seen changing weather patterns and the inability of some forms of life to continue to exist. There is a long list of species which are extinct or in danger of becoming extinct.

The cosmos too is mortal and needs salvation. The Christmas story reveals who will save the whole of creation: The God who becomes human in the person of Jesus.

Whatever you think of Pope Francis one thing is clear. His encyclical Laudato Si' is a prophetic document which calls us into a renewed relationship with God, others and creation. It reminds us that we are to care for everything - humans, animals, the earth, the seas and the air that we breathe. Our salvation is not just about right relationship with God and other people. It is about right relationship with the cosmos.

As we celebrate the Christmas story and take a time of well-earned rest, we might also want to ask ourselves the uncomfortable question: Does my lifestyle cherish and care for the cosmos the baby Jesus came to save?

Follow The Jesuit Institute on Twitter @JesuitInstitute

Tags: Jesuit Institute, South Africa, Russell Pollitt, Laudato Si

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South African Reflection: Christmas is about humanity AND the cosmos - Independent Catholic News

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20191226005036/en/

NMN PURE VIP 9000 (Photo: Business Wire)

Washington University in St. Louis, (State of Missouri) has received grants for Scientific Research from the United States Department of Defense. Shinkowa Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. signed a contract with Washington University in St. Louis, Material Donation Agreement, for donation of NMN products used for the clinical researches named Effect of NMN Supplementation on Organ System Biology.

In the clinical researches, Professor Shin-Ichiro Imai (Washington University in St. Louis, School of Medicine, Department of Developmental Biology/Department of Medicine(joint), and Samuel KleinMD, (William H. Danforth Professor of Medicine and Nutritional Science,Director Center for Human Nutrition, Chief, Division of Geriatrics and Nutritional Science, Director, Center for Applied Research Sciences ,Director, Weight Management Program) will play a central part and verify the benefits of NMN via oral administration. NMN provided by Shinkowa Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. is highly regarded and so the products will be used officially in the researches.

NMN products provided by Shinkowa Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. contains more than 99% overwhelmingly high purity NMN. In order to keep its quality and safety, 1) we manufacture the product by natural synthesis, not by chemical synthesis, 2) we have conducted and completed 24 weeks of human safety trial with National University. We hold scientific evidences and results (Appearance of SIRT1 longevity gene and increase in each growth hormone including melatonin) related to NMN only in the world.We also conduct researches, Elucidation of NMNs intracellular mechanism of action by Multi-Omics Analysis with the non-profit organization The Systems Biology Institute (SBI)(Representative: Dr Hiroaki Kitano) to elucidate NMN mechanism of action, and also Dogs Longevity and Anti-aging Effects by Medication of NMN : Confirmations of Positive Effects on Blood Component and Intestinal Flora with ,Activation of Longevity gene with National University of Yamaguchi, Joint Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (Professor Toru Kimura : Biofunction Course, Laboratory Zoology). It will be completed the analysis and announced its results.

Our 3rd Lecture was held and organized by Shinkowa Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. The lecture Thinking about Health Realization of Productive Aging from the Vanguard of Aging and Lifespan was held at Hilton Hotel in Osaka, and the lecturer was Professor. Shin-Ichiro Imai from Washington University in St. Louis. This was the continuation of the lecture in Shanghai, China, held on 2nd of May 2019 and the chairman of which was Dr. Ryuji Hiramatsu who is an executive coordinator of Foundation for Biomedical Research and Innovation at Kobe. The lecture included Qs and As sessions and we had over 150 attendees including the customers and the parties.We will continue to aim to achieve productive aging worldwide and will hold more lectures.* the 1st lecture: Tokyo, the 2nd lecture: Shanghai, China, the 3rd lecture: Osaka

In 1989:

Graduated from Keio University School of Medicine; Obtained a medical license

In 1993:

Finished masters degree in The Graduate Keio University School of Medicine

In 1995:

Obtained Ph.D.

1993-1997:

Assistant Professor, Microbiology, Keio University School of Medicine (Dr. Toshiya Takano)

1997-2001:

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Leonard Guarente Laboratory)

From July 2001:

Assistant Professor, Washington University School of Medicine Department of Molecular Biology and Pharmacology

From July 2008:

Associate Professor (Tenured on 3rd October), Washington University School of Medicine,

Department of Developmental Biology (Renamed from 2008),

Department of Medicine (Joint)

From May 2013:

Professor, Washington University School of Medicine,

Department of Developmental Biology,

Department of Medicine (Joint)

Started cellular aging and immortality researches while in Medical School of Keio University.Continued researches to elucidate molecular mechanism of aging and longevity. In 1998, published Heterochromatin Island Hypothesis regarding aging and immortality mechanism. To prove the hypothesis, started yeast and mammal Sir2 researches at Guarente Laboratory in Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 2000, discovered that Sir2 is NAD-dependent protein deacetylase and its activation is important for controlling longevity. Since 2001, as a principal of laboratory in Washington University, engaged in mechanism of metabolism, aging and control of longevity researches focusing on mammal Sir1 and NAD synthesis.Encouraging on the importance of hypothalamus for aging and longevity control, the proof of importance of NAD synthetic intermediate, pursuit of NAD World that considers metabolism, aging and longevity as generalized control system, and establishment of anti-aging methodology to aim to Productive Aging.

Chairman: Dr. Ryuji HiramatsuDoctor of AgricultureDirector of Research,Industry-academia Collaboration of Institute of Biomedical Research and InnovationExecutive coordinator,Cooperation and Business promotion groupFoundation for Biomedical Research and Innovation at Kobe

With our NMN researches, under the theme The Science of Wellness, we aim to achieve productive aging worldwide. We will strengthen, extend, and publicize our researches, sales and efficacy of NMN to contribute to the improvement of humans Quality Of Life (QOL)Our NMN products are available via the following links.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20191226005036/en/

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Shinkowa Pharmaceutical: Notice for the Conclusion of NMN Product's Material Donation Agreement (MDA) with Washington University in St. Louis -...

ALAMEDA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AgeX Therapeutics, Inc. (AgeX; NYSE American: AGE), a biotechnology company focused on developing therapeutics for human aging and regeneration, announced the drawdown of a $1.3 million tranche of financing pursuant to its unsecured loan facility from Juvenescence Limited.

Juvenescence is pleased to continue its commitment to AgeX through this additional drawdown under the loan facility, commented Gregory Bailey, MD, Chairman of AgeX and CEO of Juvenescence. Juvenescence remains committed to funding the future development plans of AgeX through further advancements under the loan facility or otherwise. Since Juvenescences initial investment in AgeX in June 2018, AgeX has been an important element in the Juvenescence mission and strategy. Juvenescence is also investing its time and personnel to support AgeXs business development initiatives which have impressive potential. We look forward to AgeX announcing its plans for 2020 as it pursues tissue regeneration in Reverse Bioengineering, while advancing the development of BAT and VASC 1, the coupling of HLA-G with PureStem-derived cells for transplant therapies, and exploring partnerships with third parties.

This round of funding will allow us to continue to execute on our strategic plan to provide therapies for certain chronic and degenerative diseases through cellular regeneration and replacement, commented AgeXs founder and CEO Michael D. West, PhD.

As announced in the companys news release on August 14, 2019, AgeX has obtained a $2 million credit facility from Juvenescence to finance AgeXs operations and advance its product development programs.

About AgeX Therapeutics

AgeX Therapeutics, Inc. (NYSE American: AGE) is focused on developing and commercializing innovative therapeutics for human aging. Its PureStem and UniverCyte manufacturing and immunotolerance technologies are designed to work together to generate highly-defined, universal, allogeneic, off-the-shelf pluripotent stem cell-derived young cells of any type for application in a variety of diseases with a high unmet medical need. AgeX has two preclinical cell therapy programs: AGEX-VASC1 (vascular progenitor cells) for tissue ischemia and AGEX-BAT1 (brown fat cells) for Type II diabetes. AgeXs revolutionary longevity platform induced Tissue Regeneration (iTR) aims to unlock cellular immortality and regenerative capacity to reverse age-related changes within tissues. AGEX-iTR1547 is an iTR-based formulation in preclinical development. HyStem is AgeXs delivery technology to stably engraft PureStem cell therapies in the body. AgeX is developing its core product pipeline for use in the clinic to extend human healthspan and is seeking opportunities to establish licensing and collaboration agreements around its broad IP estate and proprietary technology platforms.

For more information, please visit http://www.agexinc.com or connect with the company on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any statements that are not historical fact including, but not limited to statements that contain words such as will, believes, plans, anticipates, expects, estimates should also be considered forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from the results anticipated in these forward-looking statements and as such should be evaluated together with the many uncertainties that affect the business of AgeX Therapeutics, Inc. and its subsidiaries, particularly those mentioned in the cautionary statements found in more detail in the Risk Factors section of AgeXs Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commissions (copies of which may be obtained at http://www.sec.gov). Subsequent events and developments may cause these forward-looking statements to change. AgeX specifically disclaims any obligation or intention to update or revise these forward-looking statements as a result of changed events or circumstances that occur after the date of this release, except as required by applicable law.

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AgeX Therapeutics Announces Drawdown of Second Tranche of Loan Facility from Juvenescence Ltd. - Business Wire

Join the Bee Gees on Facebook - http://facebook.com/beegees Twitter - http://twitter.com/beegeesInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/beegees/

From the album & film 'BEE GEES - ONE NIGHT ONLY'

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Bee Gees - Immortality (Live in Las Vegas, 1997 - One Night Only)

While the late Paul Walker is remembered primarily for his role in the long-running Fast & Furious action franchise, his contributions to the cinematic canon don't end there. All the way back in 1994, when he was right at the start of his career, Walker appeared in a bizarre science-fiction-comedy mashup alongside fellow rising star Denise Richards.

Its title? Tammy and the T-Rex.

The premise was simple. Tammy (Richards) is a teenage cheerleader who boyfriend Michael (Walker) is injured and ends up in a coma. A series of perfectly reasonable events results in Michael's brain being transplanted into the body of a robotic tyrannosaurus rex by a mad scientist as part of an experiment designed to achieve immortality. When the newly dino-fied Michael crashes a party, Tammy realizes it's her beau, and must race against time to find him a new, more suitable body.

"A guy came to me who owned theatres in South America and he said, 'I have a T-Rex,'" says screenwriter and director Stewart Raffill. "It was animatronic and was going to a park in Texas. The eyes worked. The arms moved. The head moved. He had it for two weeks before it was going to be shipped to Texas and he came to me and said, 'We can make a movie with it!' I said, 'Whats the story?' and he said, 'I dont have a story, but we have to start filming within the month!' and so I wrote the story in a week. You obviously couldnt play it as an actual monster, because it wasnt that good of an animatronic beast and I had to work with what was available, so that was the concept I came up with... I was just trying to do a film for people that like wacky movies."

It might have been forgotten, but Tammy and the T-Rex was actually the first movie either Walker or Richards had ever starred in. "The casting was interesting because we had two young cast members in Paul Walker and Denise Richards," says Raffill. "It was Pauls first film and he so adorable and friendly. He was 17 years old and had the most amazing smile. Denise hadnt done anything either."

While the wacky hijinks are to be expected from a movie riding on the coattails of the era that brought us Drop Dead Fred and Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead, the tone of Tammy and the T-Rex was originally intended to be darker, but the gory scenes were removed in the United States so the movie would appeal to a family audience.

This year, however, disribution company Vinegar Syndrome acquired the rights to the movie and released the "gore cut" in theaters, with ten extra minutes of footage. And come January, Tammy and the T-Rex will be available to stream on horror platform Shudder, in all its bizarre, gory glory.

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A 1994 Movie in Which Paul Walker's Brain Gets Transplanted Into a T-Rex Is Getting a 'Gory' Streaming Re-Release - menshealth.com

If youre going to play a super-powered humanoid being with near-immortality, it helps to look the part. Actor Kumail Nanjiani did just that. At this point weve all seen how shredded the Stuber and Silicon Valley actor got to play Kingo in the MCUs Phase 4 film Eternals. Now we know part of how he did it, because a new video has revealed Kumail Nanjianis intense Eternals workout. Check it out:

The Eternals received a massive genetic assist from the Celestials to look the way they do and have their abilities, but the rest of us have to work for it, including actor Kumail Nanjiani. This video from TMZ gives us a sample of the intense workouts the actor went through in order to attain the physique that broke the internet and completely changed our perceptions of an actor who is known for playing the kind of characters that dont usually have six-packs.

Although this is certainly only a small portion of Kumail Nanjianis Eternals training program, as you can see above, he wasnt necessarily doing anything fancy. These arent Olympic lifts or compound exercises. The first exercise looks like a cable lower chest raise, which is isolating his chest and also working his shoulders that looked so well-defined in his widely circulated Instagram post.

After that you see Kumail Nanjiani using a machine to work on his biceps and back. It may not look special, but if you see the weight on that stack, hes clearly working out hard and putting a lot of effort into achieving the desired result. And thats what weve heard from his personal trainer, that Kumail Nanjiani drank the Kool-Aid and really committed to the process.

Hes not just going through the motions, every rep is a real effort and you can see it on his face. Kumail Nanjiani isnt wearing lifting gloves either. Hes earning his calluses.

Now of course, Kumail Nanjiani himself has noted that he was only able to achieve what he did thanks to having the resources of time and money at his disposal. It was his job to get into the shape he did. But, at least here, he was also working out on machines that you can find at most gyms, so an approximation of an Eternal-like physique may not be so out of reach.

In addition, having some musical motivation is always helpful. While to my knowledge Kumail Nanjiani has yet to release his workout playlist, hes got a little Kendrick Lamar playing in the background here to help power him through.

Kumail Nanjiani will need to be in great shape as Kingo, who along with the rest of the Eternals will face off with the Deviants in Marvels weird and risky Phase Four film. Eternals opens in theaters on November 6, 2020. Thats just one of a slew of exciting films headed to theaters next year. Check them all out with CinemaBlend's 2020 release schedule.

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Video Reveals The Intense Eternals Workout That Got Kumail Nanjiani So Dang Fit - CinemaBlend

The moment Darth Vader looms over Luke Skywalker in the climax of The Empire Strikes Back and declares that he is Luke's father is one of the greatest twists in cinema history. Paternity reveals weren't a new concept when The Empire Strikes Back came out, but Vader's confession remains the most enduring example of the trope because its near-perfect execution ensures that audiences focus on what it means for the story instead of the awkward reality that Darth Vader got someone pregnant.

That's the bar any "I am your father" reveal has to clear. Its narrative implications have to be stronger than the base fact that characters bone. Long-running franchises like Star Wars should have enough built-up emotional resonance to clear that bar easily, but The Rise of Skywalker's paternity (or rather, grand-paternity) twist that Rey is Palpatine's granddaughter doesn't come close and it's not the first mega-franchise to run its story to the ground with a similar failure.

The stage play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child premiered in June 2016 and functions as a canon sequel to the beloved children's books that inspired a generation, and also hedges its plot on the uncomfortable surprise that Voldemort had a daughter with Bellatrix Lestrange. His daughter Delphini unveils herself towards the end of the show and is supposed to come off as a threat, but the mere idea of Voldemort having an orgasm is scarier than any spell Delphini can cast.

Part of the reason Voldemort's bedroom activities dominate the mind after seeing or reading Cursed Child is how little it makes sense given what Harry Potter fans know about Voldemort. He's a narcissist, a barely-human husk of a person who eschews human connection in favor of pursuing power. His evil is rooted in self-hatred and entitlement not the looming suspicion that he's trying to fuck your wife. To say Voldemort had sex even once is to recontextualize his character in a way that's icky at best and deeply uncomfortable at its worst.

Similarly, Rey being Palpatine's granddaughter lacks impact on the greater story of Star Wars beyond the fact that fans can't unsee their mental images of Palpatine making the beast with two backs at any point on his quest for galactic domination. The Rise of Skywalker could have skipped that entire plot point and still ended exactly the way it did, except it didn't and the only real takeaway from the twist is the enduring knowledge that Emperor Palpatine was horny. Palpatine, like Voldemort, is at the end of his series a half-dead, decaying corpse of a man whose sacrifices in pursuit of immortality should definitely have nuked his dick game, but Star Wars insists that the Emperor's physical and mental corruption by the dark side was no obstacle when it came time to sling it.

Cursed Child and The Rise of Skywalker make the exact same mistake in assuming that the continued genetic legacy of a character no one wants to think about naked is more interesting than any of their extant themes about war, loss, and heroism. Star Wars and Harry Potter are both about fighting totalitarian regimes, but their sequels insist that fascism isn't nearly as bad as what happens when evil wizards nut. It's lazy storytelling to extend the shelf life of a villain because no one has any better ideas, and that laziness becomes egregious when that shortcut comes packaged with inescapable visions of unthinkably weird sex.

Cursed Child and The Rise of Skywalker are allegedly the last we'll hear from these particular characters in their respective franchises, which is both a relief (please, for the love of god, don't tell us Peter Pettigrew or Grand Moff Tarkin had kids in a sequel series twenty years down the line) and a disappointment. The last words in both of these iconic stories are forever written as they are, with Voldemort and Palpatine screwing their way to continued relevance, and no Jedi mind trick or obliviate spell can fix it.

Originally posted here:

'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker' has a 'Harry Potter Cursed Child' problem - Mashable

This weeks ZUMO Performance of the Week goes toDaiya Setoof Energy Standard and Japan as he broke the world record in the 400 IM in short course meters on Friday at the final of the International Swimming League in Las Vegas. Seto was making his debut for the Energy Standard team as he signed on to the team before the season started but didnt swim in a meet for the team until the Vegas final.

Seto swam the 400 IM at 3:54.81, loweringRyan Lochtesworld record of 3:55.50 that had stood since 2010 as Seto was miles in front of second placeDuncan Scott. Seto came up huge for Energy Standard as he won the 400 IM, 200 IM and 200 butterfly as Energy Standard defeated the London Roar by 9.5 points. He lowered his personal best in the 400 IM by less than a second as he was 0.03 off Lochtes world record earlier this year, showing he was in prime condition to take another stab at the world record.

Lochtes record was good for the world title back in 2010 and included a killer last 100m freestyle. Seto was between 2-3secs up on Lochtes pace throughout the first three strokes, felt the heat and pain on freestyle but had done enough:

Seto will be one of the faces of the 2020 Olympic Games this coming summer in Tokyo as he is coming off a summer where he won both IM gold medals at the World Championships. The 25-year-old has been on fire as he will be looking to improve on his bronze medal from Rio in the 400 IM. He also was fifth in the 200 fly final in Rio and will have a chance to win a medal in that event in Tokyo next summer. If Seto can win a gold medal in front of the Tokyo crowd in the Olympics, then he will launch himself into swimming immortality.

Congrats to Daiya Seto on winning this weeks ZUMO Performance of the Week!

All-Time Top Ten Mens 400 IM (SCM)

ZUMO Performance of the Week: Arno Kamminga Solidifies Olympic Berth With 58.6 100 Breast at Amsterdam Cup

ZUMO Performance of the Week: Danas Rapsys Nearly Cracks World Record in 400 Free at European SC Championships

ZUMO Performance of the Week: Anna Hopkin Nearly Breaks 21 Seconds in 50 Free at Mizzou Invite

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ZUMO Performance of the Week: Daiya Seto Breaks Ryan Lochte's SCM 400 IM World Record at ISL Vegas Final - Swimming World Magazine

Christmas is around the corner and it's hard to miss the city immersedinfestive colours and decorations and cherishing the holiday spirit. According to reports, however, both red and green colourswere initially used to celebrate a different festival. People used to grow red and green coloured holly plants with the belief that they were meant to keep the earth a beautiful place in the winter season. Ancient Celtic people decorated their houses with the holly plants to bring good luck upon their families for the entire year. They also decorated their homes with small figures known as sigillaria present on the boughs of evergreen trees.

According to reports, the pairing of both the colours dates back to before the 14th century and continued well into the 14th century when both the colours were used in painting rood screens used in ancient church architectures. The screens were used to separate the area of the congregation and the priest. A research scientist was of the opinion that the separation of the areas could have led people to relate the colours with a different boundary, probably the mark of a year ending and the beginning of a new year on the day of Christmas. There are many Christians who are of the belief that the colours red and green were based on the life of Jesus, whose birth is celebrated on Christmas. According to reports, Green represents the immortality of Jesus and red showcases the bloodshed by the holy figure during his crucifixion.

Read:Sri Lankan Cardinal Calls For Moderate Christmas Amid High Security

For many people, the festival of Christmas is incomplete without listening to or singing atmospheric and angelic carols. There are some cult favourite songs and carols that are played every year. But little did one know about the origin of the melodious songs. Here are a few fascinating backstories of popular Christmas carols.

Read:Queen Elizabeth II, Close Family Celebrate Christmas

This song has an interesting history attached to it. On Christmas Eve 1818, St. Nicholas church experienced an ill-fortune as the organ had stopped functioning and there was no possibility it could work again for the liturgy. However, Fr Joseph Mohr did not just give up and sing out a poem he had written many years ago. It was then that the carol Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht (Silent Night! Holy Night) was heard for the first time in a village church in Oberndorflocated in Austria.

Read:Deepika Padukone And Ranveer Singh Get Cozy This Christmas, Sends Fans Into A Tizzy

This song brings in a lot of nostalgia as this song is every childs favourite. It invokes a feeling of hope that Santa Claus along with his team of reindeer, would be coming to place presents under the Christmas tree. 'Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer' was composed by the department store chain Montgomery Ward as an option to save money for their annual Christmas promotions.

Read:Christmas Rush Leads To Traffic Snarls In Delhi

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Wonder why colors red and green are associated with Christmas? Find out here - Republic World - Republic World

Google thought it might be a fun idea to let the world know the top ten things people in different countries have searched for over the past year. Well, it wasnt. It was a terrible idea. It might be fine for countries that have citizens who spend their days searching for truth, happiness and the meaning of life, but for a country like ours, its just downright embarrassing.

South Africas top trending question of 2019 was, Why were cornflakes invented? Look, I think its healthy that people ask questions. Dont take anything for granted. Keep asking until you get answers. But cornflakes above what happens when you die? Or is there a god? Or why cant you get a decent bunny chow in Cape Town?

Why were cornflakes invented? doesnt strike me as a question that a mentally sound adult would ask the global hive mind. Please let it not be. I can only imagine that every ten-year-old with a smartphone has googled this question at least once. If I had had a magical device that answered everything at that age, I might have also wanted to know why my mother was feeding me cornflakes for breakfast rather than, say, a plate of chips covered in bacon and cheese and why it was even necessary to invent this abominable cereal killer.

A lot of children in our country are lucky to get a pebble to suck on in the morning and they wouldnt have been among those asking this ridiculous question. Anyway, a pebble is probably healthier. Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsantos yummy weedkiller Roundup, has been found in corn-based products made by Kelloggs and other companies. Sugar disguises the taste of the cancer, but still. Perhaps it is understandable why so many people wanted to know why this crunchy poison was invented. I dont know what the answer is and Im not going to google it because then Ill be just like the rest of you and, quite frankly, Id sooner eat cornflakes.

Third on the list was, How many votes for a seat in parliament? This was googled multiple times with increasing frequency by Kanthan Pillay in May this year. The question is unlikely to trend again until the next general election.

Number 4 on the list was, How did Cameron Boyce die? I would have imagined that #5 would have been, Who is Cameron Boyce? But no. It was, How long is a rugby match? Guys, you might think your women are quite happy playing with their phones while you watch the game, but theyre trying to find out if they have enough time to slip out for a quickie with Dave who doesnt have a telly. Please dont google Who the fuck is Dave?

Question 9 was, What is media? I presume this was asked by people who live in caves and have never seen a newspaper or any kind of electronic device. Id like to meet them some day. If youre one of them and you are reading this, send a smoke signal. Ill be along shortly with a bottle of tequila. And maybe a shotgun.

Coming in at #10 is this gem. What is teenage pregnancy? Quite frankly, I dont know how all these people managed to type this into Google given the amount of drool that must have been dripping onto their device.

Bumping cornflakes into second spot, the top search of the entire decade was, How to make slime. I thought it would be obvious. Chop politicians up and feed the bits into a blender.

Countless South Africans also wanted to know How to lose weight in 3 days. My lifestyle is predicated upon leaving things until the last minute, but this is on another level altogether. Who looks in the mirror on a Tuesday and realises that terrible things will happen if they dont lose 30kg by Friday?

Our troglodytes who struggle to grasp concepts like media and teenage pregnancies also wanted to know How to grow hair fast? and How to draw eyebrows. Making me slightly less ashamed to be South African, the 5th most asked question of the decade was, Where am I? Its a question that frequently crosses my mind, but never to an extent that I have thought to google it. Perhaps I have never been drunk enough. No, thats not it.

Topping the trending searches list for not only the year but also the decade is load shedding. No surprises there, then. It used to be that people were curious to know more about this fresh hell lurching into their lives. Now we know. And yet, we dont. Schrodingers power station.

Thanos, too, features on both lists. Derived from Thanatos, the personification of death and immortality. South Africans are not complete morons after all. They want to know about Greek mythology. No, wait. This Thanos is a comic-book anti-hero. Sigh.

Coming in at #9 for the decade is Teachers Day, presumably searched by teachers under the impression that this is the one day of the year when they are legally entitled to come to work drunk and engage in sex-for-marks orgies with teenage girls who havent yet got around to googling what pregnancy means.

Its hard to believe that nothing related to genitalia made it into the top ten searches. Its just not possible. Not for South Africans. We are endlessly fascinated with our and other peoples bits. I imagine if youre not very bright and you eventually manage to find out what teenage pregnancy means, you will sooner or later stumble upon PornHub and go blind in a relatively short space of time. This can only be a good thing.

For more news your way, download The Citizens app foriOSandAndroid.

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Our top Google searches of the decade were just plain embarrassing - Citizen

The Witcher finally dropped on Netflix last night to fill that Game of Thrones-shaped void in our lives, and amid all the magic, medieval costumes and mud of the first season, viewers are still left with a pretty big question: What is a Witcher, exactly?

Within the world of Andrzej Sapkowski's novels on which the series is based, a Witcher is a warrior imbued with abilities that make them particularly adept at fighting supernatural predators. Witchers begin their training as children: they are taken to specialist schools, where they undergo alchemical "mutations" which grant them advantageous traits.

For example, Geralt of Rivia (Henry Cavill) has golden, catlike eyes: these are the result of one such mutation, which enables him to see exceptionally well, even in the dark. When needed, with the help of a "cat potion," he can enhance his vision so well that it expands his pupils completely, so that his entire eyes appear black. It is said that the process it takes to achieve such vision is incredibly painful.

Witchers are also notoriously hard to kill, a pretty handy quality considering their line of work. In addition to superior strength, speed and reflexes, they are highly impervious to disease, immune to a great many poisons and potions, and possess accelerated healing. This grants Witchers with a prolonged lifespan: while it is unclear how old Geralt is in the show, it's highly likely he has lived far longer and seen much more than his outer appearance would suggest. (This extended life expectancy also means there is the potential for near-endless seasons of The Witcher).

In addition to their physical abilities, Witchers are also adept at "combat magic", such as repelling an opponent and creating force field-like barriers.

In case this is all sounding too good to be true (immortality and superpowers are tempting, after all) there is a downside to being a Witcher. With magic and monsters not as common as they once were on the Continent, there's not a lot of work out there for demon hunters. Demand is low for Witchers, and though they travel from place to place, ridding villages of terrifying beasts in exchange for coin, they are ultimately outcasts.

Not only that, but the transformation Witchers go through when they are young leaves them sterile; while this was by design, to ensure their powers could not be passed onto anybody else, this inability to create a family also serves to further compound the lonely existence of being a Witcher.

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What Is a Witcher? Geralt of Rivia and His Powers, Explained - menshealth.com

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CANTON, OH AUGUST 3: The exterior of the Pro Football Hall of Fame prior to the NFL Class of 2013 Enshrinement Ceremony at Fawcett Stadium on Aug. 3, 2013, in Canton, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)

The NFL has gone all out for its 100th season, announcing earlier this year that the Pro Football Hall of Fame wouldinclude as many as 20 inductees in their 2020 class. That got Philadelphia Eagles fans to thinking.

Seeing as how theyre long overdue, might this finally be the year that the likes of Randall Cunningham, Eric Allen, Al Wistert, and Harold Carmichael get their due?

All of them were given the nod as semifinalists, along with the likes of Donovan McNabb and Troy Vincent. Well, theres been an announcement from the Hall, and we now know who the finalists are. Take a look!

Congrats to Eagles legends Harold Carmichael, Dick Vermeil, Bucko Kilroy, and Al Wistert for coming one step closer to football immortality! Here are three reactions.

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4 Philadelphia Eagles legends named among HOF finalists: 3 Reactions - Inside the Iggles

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Published - Dec 23, 2019 6:00 pm Updated - Dec 23, 2019 9:03 pm

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There are some dates that proceed to etch themselves in the folklore for the coming years. Year-by-year we celebrate the memories relate to these days, reminisce about the good times, social media gets flooded with hashtags while writers churn out editorials in a bid to recreate and relive that entire saga.

If we talk about Indian cricket, there are a lot of dates that have impinged themselves in immortality, and no matter how many years or centuries pass away, theyll continue to be remembered or talked about.

One of those dates is 24th December. This was the very date on which Mahendra Singh Dhoni turned out for the first time for the Men in Blue. The former Indian captain, who went on to win almost every single trophy there is in International or franchise cricket, MS Dhoni is celebrating his 15th anniversary as an Indian cricketer today. And, on this occasion, the champion cricketer revealed as to what he told himself ahead of his India debut way back in 2004.

I slept very well, I still remember that day. I was not under a lot of pressure, just wanted to be myself. What I told myself was that I have done really well in all the matches that I have played so far for my state team and India A team that I represented. I have to be myself whatever the situation may be. I have to go in and be expressive on the field, Dhoni said in a video shared by Chennai Super Kings.

Dhonis debut game came in the series opener between Bangladesh and India in the winter of 2004. And, not only did his maiden outing with the bat [where he was run-out for a first-ball duck] but also the overall series [India lost their first-ever ODI to Bangladesh in that series] didnt turn out to be a fairytale affair for the champion cricketer.

However, the then skipper Sourav Ganguly persisted with Dhoni, and in the home series against Pakistan promoted him to the No.3 spot. Dhoni grabbed the opportunity with both hands by shellacking 148 in the second ODI at Vizag, the rest, as they say, is history.

Watch the video here:

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MS Dhoni reveals the advice he gave himself ahead of his debut game against Bangladesh - CricTracker

This article contains spoilers for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

When the first teaser trailer for Star Wars: Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker dropped earlier this year, it left fans with a whole lot of questions. First and foremost: was that really the voice of Emperor Palpatine laughing villainously? The arch-villain of the original trilogy was killed in an act of redemption by Darth Vader in 1983's Return of the Jedi, and while Ian McDiarmid reprised the role in the prequels, he was presumed dead for good in the current timeline.

Men's Health

Of course, maybe that was naive. This is, after all, a fictional universe in which clones and glowy blue Force Ghosts exist. Palpatine wastes no time in making an entrance in The Rise of Skywalker, and while he remains somewhat frustratingly vague about how he is still walking and talking and cackling after all these years, he drops enough details for the viewer to be able to infer what happened.

"The dark side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities, some considered to be unnatural," leers Palpatine, taunting Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and echoing a line he first uttered in Revenge of the Sith. While plenty of fans have scoured all memory of the prequels from their minds, some of Palpatine's dialogue from those movies is pertinent here. In a key scene with Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen), Palpatine recounts "the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise," a Sith Lord who just so happened to be his master.

As the story tells it, through studying the forbidden secrets of the dark side, Darth Plaguis found a way to conquer death and achieve immortality. How he was able to do this exactly, whether through mysticism or technology, is unclear. But it stands to reason that he would have passed this secret onto his student Palpatine, who was fast ascending from Senator to Emperor, as a means of ensuring the Sith's stranglehold on the galaxy.

It is suggested that this secret involves the "dark science" of cloning, in a line of dialogue by Beaumont Kin (Dominic Monaghan), and that theory certainly holds up against everything else we know about Palpatine. In Attack of the Clones, he seemed very interested indeed in the possibilities of cloning technology, and he has been known to deploy it on at least one occasion. Many fans had already speculated that Supreme Leader Snoke, the antagonist of The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, was somehow connected to Palpatine, and they were correct. Snoke was a puppetor a clone, to be exactwhich Palpatine used to control the First Order after his "death," leaving him free to continue his own dark designs in the shadows of Exegol.

Another explanation ties back to a key plot point in The Rise of Skywalker: the Jedi ability to heal somebody via a transfer of energy (or regenerate oneself by stealing the life force from others, as Palpatine does to Rey and Ben).

So, long story short, Palpatine survived being thrown down a pit and the explosion of the second Death Star by either sucking the life out of the nearest stormtrooper and hotfooting it out of there in a ship, or he backed up his consciousness in a clone of himself. Either way, you'd think he'd have invested in some skincare over the last 30 years or so man is looking gross.

Originally posted here:

Explaining How the Hell Palpatine Is Still Alive in 'The Rise of Skywalker' - menshealth.com

How to deal with times of intense change? Let Anna Karina show you the way to a life beyond language and moral certainty.

Anna Karina was a Danish-French actress who burst onto the independent French scene just as a bunch of critics broke free of classical aesthetics and invoked a decisively new sensibility. It was called The New Wave, with a bunch of masculine heroes like Godard and Truffaut. Karina was an icon of the era.

Billions of words have probably been written about this, which few of us are equipped to understand. Let's just say that it broke free of wartime trauma, and allowed us to feel a different way of being alive. Fluid, spontaneous, guiltless, young and very, very cool.

Anna Karina was a living, breathing embodiment of that freedom, based on consummate skill in the relationship with her body.

She was fated to die young on a motor scooter or old, of cancer. She made it to 79 and died on December 14.

She worked mostly for Godard, her husband in the early sixties, though she was important in more traditional cinema as well. One of her most delicious scenes comes from Bande a Part, in which the narrative broke open with a dance scene which is full of insouciant joy.

Art is the dream to which we must surrender.

And we have this untranslated clip of the shoot. Bear with the Alpha Godard in the middle.

And a New Yorker article from Richard Brophy discussing the scene.

While the cineastes like to concentrate on the distilled essence of their sense of self in the people, the clothes, the streets and the offhand disintegration of narrative, I love the way these films took advantage of new lighter equipment, with better blimps and faster film. They were made by very skilful people.

Here is cinematographer Raoul Coutard, who shot the dance scene, talking about Alphaville. [There is more on youtube if you get sucked in.]

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Karina, Christmas and the immortality of grace - ArtsHub

SHOUT IT OUT: THE ISLEY BROTHERS

It has been six, count em, six decades since the Isley Brothers achieved pop immortality with Shout, the wedding-dance staple that put them on the global map in 1959. Ronald Isley can barely believe it. Everything we do now, its not like starting all over again, but its just such a great thing, the legendary singer and Shout co-writer said by phone recently. The crowds are incredible, all the sellouts. And the people, its just fantastic to make them see and feel everything that were doing. The Isley Brothers have put together one of the most influential careers of all time, shaping everyone from the Beatles (whose cover of Twist and Shout was inspired by theirs) to Kendrick Lamar (who put Isley on To Pimp a Butterfly), Jimi Hendrix (their onetime guitarist) and the Notorious B.I.G. (who sampled Between the Sheets on Big Poppa). Isley and his brother Ernie are the only brothers left in the band, but theyre still drawing crowds of all ages eager to hear hits like That Lady, Fight the Power and Its Your Thing. Even Shout can still get them all up and dancing. $35 and up. 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Mahaffey Theater, 400 First St. S, St. Petersburg. (727) 893-7832. themahaffey.com.

A fun footnote in Tampa Bays musical history: In 1973, the Grateful Dead played a concert at Curtis Hixon Hall; 20 years later the show became the first release in their Dicks Picks line of official bootlegs. The album featured stereo recordings of favorites like Truckin and Hes Gone, plus a rare cover of Blind Willie Johnsons Nobodys Fault But Mine. Earlier this spring, longtime local Dead cover band Uncle Johns Band served up tasty selections from the show at the Gasparilla Music Festival in Curtis Hixon Park, near where the Dead stood in 1973. Now, in a holiday treat for fans, theyll revive the concept in St. Petersburg in an attempt to play the whole show, start to finish. $20. 8 p.m. Friday. Palladium, 253 Fifth Ave. N, St. Petersburg. (727) 822-3590. mypalladium.org.

You cant talk Tampa death metal without talking Morbid Angel. Along with Obituary, Deicide and later Cannibal Corpse, theyve been slinging sludgy brutality out of the 813 since the early 80s. The lineup around reclusive guitarist and songwriter Trey Azagthoth has changed over the years longtime singer-bassist David Vincent, influential drummer Pete Sandoval and Hate Eternals Erik Rutan are all long gone but theyre still in demand around the globe. Theyre headlining this falls USA Sickness Tour alongside Swedish death metal lords Watain and New York group Incantation, both respected veterans in their own right. $25 and up. 7 p.m. Friday. Orpheum, 1915 E Seventh Ave., Tampa. (813) 248-9500. theorpheum.com.

The Outlaws are in the discussion for biggest Tampa Bay band of all time, rising to Southern rock hero status in the 70s and 80s on the strength of their hits Green Grass and High Tides and There Goes Another Love Song. Over the last few years, theyve started a successful local tradition with their annual Green Grass and Yuletide Jam shows, where Henry Paul, Monte Yoho and friends blast out hits by the Outlaws, Blackhawk and other projects. This year theyve expanded it to a two-night stand, with special guests Firefall (You Are the Woman) opening both nights. $39.50 and up. 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Nancy and David Bilheimer Capitol Theatre, 405 Cleveland St., Clearwater. (727) 791-7400. atthecap.com.

If you like your holiday parties with a little bit of edge, this is the show for you. Psychobilly punk survivor the Reverend Horton Heat returns to St. Petersburg for the 2019 edition of his Hortons Holiday Hayride tour, mixing spiky Christmas tunes in alongside his own popular tunes. Hell be joined by a bundle of similarly retro-minded acts, including the Blasters Dave Alvin, ska-punk vets Voodoo Glow Skulls and Japanese surf-rockers the 5.6.7.8s, arguably best known as that house band from the massacre scene in Kill Bill Vol. 1. Put a little peppermint in your Pomade, slick it back and duck-walk this way. $27.50 and up. 7 p.m. Saturday. Jannus Live, 200 First Ave. N, St. Petersburg. (727) 565-0550. jannuslive.com.

Tampa label and promo honchos New Granada have a lot of reasons to amplify this years annual Christmas night concert. For one thing, its the 25th edition. (Maybe a cover of Silver Bells is in order?) For another, its been an epic year for Pohgoh (pronounced pogo), the band featuring New Granadas Keith Ulrey on drums and his wife, Susie Ulrey, writing songs and singing. Since releasing their long-awaited comeback album Secret Club last year, Pohgoh have gone on tour with Jawbreaker and Mineral and even played shows in Japan. New Granadas got another much-anticipated album coming next year by local faves DieAlps!, and theyll play this show, too. So will the aptly titled Wreath, featuring veterans of punk outfits like Awkward Age and Vacancy. $10. 7 p.m. Wednesday. Crowbar, 1812 N 17th St., Tampa. (813) 241-8600. facebook.com/crowbarlive.

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This weekends best Tampa Bay concerts: Isley Brothers, local favorites - Tampa Bay Times