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

Anyone by Charles Soule will make you desire and fear the world it builds in equal measure.

At its best, science fiction serves as both a social commentary and a cautionary tale. A good sci-fi story immerses you in a world that looks just familiar enough that you can place yourself in it, while exploring a fundamental change that makes it unrecognizable.

Charles Soule has been acclaimed for his science fiction work in novels and comics alike, so its no surprise that hes mastered the craft. Although I had not picked up any of his works previously, if any of them are penned with the storytelling prowess of Anyone, consider me very interested.

Anyone is centered around an intriguing technology called the Flash. The Flash allows you to temporarily transfer your consciousness into another body. You can hang out in that body for a while, and then when youre ready, Flash back to your own.

While at first glance the Flash seems like a logistical nightmare and like something that would be immediately abused to the point of madness, the people of Anyone have actually managed to make it work for them. The climate crisis has been all but eradicated with fewer planes in the sky and cars on the road, entertainment has been revolutionized, and of course, the elite can achieve virtual immortality by continually Flashing into younger hosts.

The book also makes some great observations about empathy, discrimination, prejudice, and inclusion that I didnt expect. As the Flash continues to impress the books characters, Anyone keeps pace by mesmerizing the reader with its capabilities and potential. What would happen to racism, homophobia, and sexism if you couldnt tell who someone is just by looking at them? This book does its best to answer that in a thought-provoking way.

Anyone takes place over two different timelines, and theyre both a wild ride. Its rare that a book can engage me equally in two storylines as different as those in this book. Yes, both storylines are centered around the Flash, but the stories come at it from completely different angles.

One storyline follows Gabby White, who somewhat accidentally invents the tech that allows the Flash to be realized. This storyline is all big dreams, family dynamics, espionage, and corporate greed. The way it unfolds allows you to dream alongside Gabby, while simultaneously agonizing over her decisions and circumstances.

The second storyline takes place 25 years after the first, in a world where the Flash has been fully integrated into society. With Annami, we fully explore the capabilities of the Flash, including the salacious and less than legal side of things. Were also forced to ask ourselves some tough ethical questions about power and the greater good.

Both storylines are interesting, engaging, and packed with action and mystery! Soule has told two amazing stories with Anyone, intertwining them seamlessly. And theyre definitely intertwined. As the story goes on, you realize just how important Gabbys story is to Annamis, and vice versa.

As much as the book is a cautionary tale about this particular kind of technology, its also a commentary on how quickly weve adapted to other technology in our lives, without really stopping to think about the consequences. We have sacrificed a lot for convenience, and Anyone takes a different approach to showcasing that than Ive seen before.

Pick up a copy of Anyone if youre interested in jumping into this intriguing, thoughtfully crafted world. Fans of sci-fi will be enthralled by the technology, fans of drama will love the corporate edge, and fans of stories will be with these characters from the first page to the last.

Pick up your own copy of Anyone by Charles Soule now at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or your local bookstore. Dont forget to add the book to your Goodreads shelf!

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'Anyone' book review: You'll tear through this sci-fi story in a 'Flash' - Hypable

The final chapter in the nine film Skywalker saga has premiered, andStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalkerhad a tall order to fill. It needed to neatly tie up the plot points of eight previous films, give the legions of Star Wars fans what they wanted, and respectfully send off the franchise that visionary George Lucas created whenStar Warsdebuted in 1977.

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While it does a credible job of expanding on the thematic elements from the eight previous films, it is its duty to do right by the original trilogy fans are most concerned with. Both heroes and villains found themselves playthings at the mercy of the ultimate puppet master, Emperor Palpatine, a character which neatly threads the films together. As certain mysteries were revealed, from the origins of Rey's parents to the origins of Supreme Leader Snoke, their telling created more. Here are 10 Original Trilogy storylines that were never resolved.

InReturn of the Jedi,Palpatine tries to bait Luke in the same way he tries to bate Rey inStar Wars:The Rise of Skywalker."I am defenseless," he croons, gesturing to Luke and his lightsaber. "Strike me down with all of your hatred, then your journey towards the Dark Side will be complete".

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When addressing Rey, he makes it clear that when she does the same, he'll transfer his essence (and the essence of all the Sith) into her and rule as Empress. Was this Palpatine's plan for immortality all along? A common practice of the Sith involved apprentices slaying their masters to gain their power, but perhaps discerning masters did the same to their apprentices.

InStar Wars:The Rise of Skywalker,we hear Anakin Skywalker's voice floating to Rey telling her to "bring Balance to the Force" like he did. Was this really accomplished by the time of the events ofReturn of the Jedi,when he passed away?

Darth Vader couldn't allow Luke Skywalkerto be killed by the Emperor. After destroying the Emperor and saving his son, his body was too weakened. Despite Luke's effort to save him he passed away, but redeemed himself in the end by becoming one with the Force. Was this bringing about balance, and didStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalkernegate his sacrifice?

When last we saw General Calrissian, he had just valiantly helped the Rebel Alliance deliver the final blow to the Empire by destroying the second Death Star inReturn of the Jedi.After that, it was presumed he could have returned to Cloud City because Imperial occupation would be ending.

RELATED:Star Wars: 10 Greatest Lando Calrissian Moments To Get You Excited For His Return

When we run into Lando in Star Wars:The Rise of Skywalker,we don't really know what he was doing.Yes, there were missions with Luke trying to track down the coordinates for Exegol, but Luke became a recluse on Ahch-To for some time, so why did Lando remain on Pasaana? Was he forgotten there, perpetually on his last assignment?

We know from watching the original trilogy that the Imperial Fleet was vast. Destroying two Death Stars wouldn't be enough to cripple it because there were thousands of Star Destroyers, garrisons, bases, and troops occupying every part of the known galaxy.

Where did the Imperial loyalists go? Some would become part ofthe First Order, but others became part of the Final Order, a separate force operated by officers sporting a Sith crest.Why did Palpatine shield himself from the First Order, put his puppet Snoke in charge, and then work on a separate faction? If the Final Order is able to build planet-destroying ships, why allow the First Order to waste time constructing Starkiller Base?

In one of the most emotionally stirring scenes in the entire original trilogy, Darth Vader picks up Emperor Palpatine and throws him down a reactor shaft when he realizes his son might die at the Emperor's hand. Palpatine's jagged black form is seen and heard screaming down into a kinetic abyss of lightning.

When next we meet the great galactic puppet master in Star Wars:The Rise of Skywalker, he's clinging to life, supported by a series of tubes that seem to keep his sagging flesh upright. How are we supposed to believe Palpatine survived what was most certainly his death? Or is this simply another clone? Palpatinewassearching for the path to immortality along with Darth Plagueis.

InThe Empire Strikes Back,Luke loses his lightsaber when he loses his handin the climactic duel with Vaderon Cloud City. His lightsaber (with hand still attached) goes sailing into space, yet somehow got retrieved by Maz Kanata, who kept it safe for Rey.

Star Wars: The Force Awakensmay have concluded where the lightsaber had gone, but when pressed, Kanata simply said that thehowportion was a "story for another time".Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalkerwas evidently never going to be that time, so we'll never know.

Darth Vader marvels at Luke Skywalker's ability to construct a new lightsaber inReturn of the Jedi,pushing the Proud Papa moment a step further by laying on the thick praise, "Indeed you are powerful, as the Emperor has foreseen". There are no canon explanations of how Luke found a green kyber crystal, only that he constructed his saber from parts in Ol' Ben's hut.

RELATED:Star Wars: Every Major Lightsaber Color (And What They Mean)

This mirrors the confusing fact that Rey also appears to randomly have constructed her own yellow-bladed saber at the conclusion ofThe Rise of Skywalker. Kyber crystals are difficult to find (especially yellow ones), which is one of the reasons why it was considered a part of the completion of a Jedi's training to find one and construction their Jedi weapon.

In the original trilogy, Luke is visited by three Force ghosts. One is Obi-Wan Kenobi (most prominently) and the others are Yoda and Anakin Skywalker (after he's redeemed). Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda's bodies became one with the Force, but Anakin's body was physically burned on a funeral pyre.

InStar Wars:The Rise of Skywalker,Rey is visited by Luke and Leia. Yet in the Emperor's throne room on Exegol, we hear the spirits of Qui-Gon Jinn and Mace Windu, Jedi who retained their physical bodies when they passed yet seem able to communicate after death. There is never any clear indication of why some Jedi are able to manifest, despite the presence (or lack) of a corpse.

As Obi-Wan Kenobi's Force ghost famously told Luke, he couldn't "interfere" with Luke's confrontation with Darth Vader on Cloud City. It wasn'tspecificallystated whether or not this was a choice of Ol' Ben's because he disapproved of Luke's impulsive actions, or because as a Force ghost he literally couldn't be of much help.

However, as we see inStar Wars:The Rise of Skywalker,Luke's Force ghost can interact with the corporeal realm, going so far as to hold the lightsaber Rey chucks into the blazes of Kylo Ren's smoldering fighter. And he plenty "interferes" by levitating his X-Wing out of the sea surrounding Ahch-To so Rey has a getaway vehicle.

From the timeStar Warspremiered in 1977 and the world's most lovable droid duo lit up the screen, there's always been a bit of mystery around R2-D2. He's got a lot of personality for a little droid, and some fans have wondered if that isn't because his memory has never been wiped.

The real question is, how was Luke always able to understand him in the original trilogy? Rey is a scavenger and might be familiar with droid language, so her communication with BB-8 isn't as surprising, but Luke has always been able to instinctively know what R2 says, the same way Anakin did in the prequel trilogy.

NEXT:Star Wars Rise of Skywalker: 5 Most Surprising Moments (& 5 We Saw Coming)

Next10 Superheroes Jensen Ackles Should Play (After Supernatural)

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Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: 10 Original Trilogy Storylines That Were Never Resolved - Screen Rant

The Rock has finally, officially announced his retirement from the squared circle and so it is now safe to look back on his career as a whole. A man who experienced the highest of highs and lowest of lows in perhaps the quickest time of anyone, and he had plenty of both. This can also be said of his Wrestlemania matches, achieving moments of unsurpassed immortality and turning in a couple of stinkers as well.

As with his movie career, The Rock is usually fun to watch but sometimes even he can't save things. So let's see which Wrestlemania matches of his were Fast 5 and which ones were The Toothfairy.

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The classic nobody saw com.... oh, it's over? Well, nevermind. The Rock tearing off his pants to reveal his ring gear was cool. There were a few minutes of quality banter, 6 seconds of unblemished action, and a hot crowd.

This one has not aged well. Michael Cole 3 minutes in declares it the greatest main event in Wrestlemania history and it's that type of overblown hype that sums this entire thing up. Watching all these matches close together you see The Rock's badly degraded ring prowess and John Cena's inability to make up the difference. Age comes for everyone and despite his immaculate physique, Rock is either not in 'ring-shape' or has severe 'ring-rust'. Lengthy, boring headlocks, bearhugs (a lying down bearhug at that), and slow plodding action sucks the crowd right down almost from the bell.

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Only Cena's perpetual divisive relationship with the fans keeps them involved when things mildly pick up in the latter stages. Cena's mockery of an STF takes up most of the endgame until a quick flurry of action and finisher spams closes things out. Cole was also in career-low form with the over-praising here. Only crowd volume and bells and whistles can bamboozle this effort into seeming more than what it sadly was. 4/10

The Rock's, or Rocky Maivia's in this case, first Wrestlemania match isn't much to write home about. Hints of the soon-to-be ubiquitous 'Rocky Sucks' chants can be heard every few minutes. Weirdly, a 4-man commentary booth of Vince, JR, The King, and Honky Tonk Man flooded the audio side of things with mostly distracting bickering. Rocky has one of the most hilariously bad punch wind-ups in wrestling history that does his father's version no justice.

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Vince praises Rocky's heritage ironically while his cousin Rikishi is portraying The Sultan right next to him. Finally, it ended on a terrible roll-up that made everyone involved look bad. The biggest cheer this got was the post-match beatdown of The Sheik by Rocky and his dad..... Rocky. 5/10

Once In A Lifetime 2: Electrifying Rapadoo! Well, it holds up better than the first. Rock is clearly in better ring shape for this one and now that they've got the first one out of the way there's some good callbacks and more advanced grappling here. The best parts come when Cena realizes the crowd isn't on his side and he plays it up.

You also can't tell that The Rock detached his abdominal muscles from his hip bones and that's got to count for something. An improved effort and thankfully so for The Rock. His last proper match and not a bad one. 6/10

A hot match with a fast start had Rock and Shamrock brawling up and down the entryway. Once back in the ring Shamrock took out a ref, took a sickening chairshot to the skull, then proceeded to wreck shop. The match ended abruptly with Shamrock tapping The Rock out to his Ankle Lock, but that was far from the end.

For the second year in a row, the post-match outclassed the bell-to-bell action, as Shamrock rampaged through The Nation members, referees, and The Rock a second time leaving him bloody and battered. Unfortunately, it got the match overturned so Rock could keep the Intercontinental championship, but it net-improved the overall rating. 6.5/10

The 'McMahon in every corner' situation that ultimately worked against this match's quality. Big Show is rushed out of the match as if he wasn't needed at all, Mick Foley gets a good moment to shine but is similarly ousted. It was all quite good up to there, but it overloads badly in the endgame.

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Rock and Triple H, amid the looming McMahon shenanigans (hereafter named the all too common 'McManigans'), can't bring it all together. Noteworthy, but because of the complete mess of an ending and big expectations, ultimately disappointing. 6.5/10

Rock teamed with Mick Foley to take on 3/4 of Evolution and it was a lot of fun. A flurry of action from beginning to end, punctuated with hilarious moments from Flair and Rock having something of a 'charisma fight' in between everything else makes it well worth a re-watch.

The ending comes rather abruptly and would lead to the equally good match between Foley and Orton at Backlash, but this fills it's spot on the card well. 7.5/10

The Rock and Austin complete their trilogy with The Rock finally getting to defeat Austin at Wrestlemania. His Hollywood Rock persona now fully realized, he preened his way to the victory while also slyly giving Austin a great match to end his career on. It wasn't quite as good as the others but those are incredibly high bars to hit. The best parts involved Rock indulging in his Hollywood bravado mid-match, stealing Austin's vest and mocking the crowd throughout.

A finisher-fest closed it out and if you look closely you can see it in both Rock and Austin's demeanors that they knew this was their last go-round, Rock as a full-timer and Austin to this day. 7.5/10

The first match of his Wrestlemania trilogy with Stone Cold Steve Austin and it's great stuff. Nobody matched these guys when it came to living their parts and every second they're in the ring together, it's magic. Rock wouldn't even let Austin perform his pre-match ritual without getting in his face, and that heightened everything before the bell even rang.

The match's best element is its constant uptempo pace. It never lets you relax, only taking a short chinlock in the middle almost like a strangely classy intermission. Besides that, it's a wild brawling first half followed by a hardcore feast with just the right amount of McManigans on top to bring it home. 9/10

Still hailed as the 'best' Wrestlemania of all time and a main event that ensures it will always be in that discussion. The Rock and Stone Cold went at it for the second time and used that for all it was worth.

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Callbacks to their first match, to other Wrestlemania matches like Austin's classic with Bret Hart, to the sudden No Disqualification wrinkle all played major parts in this brilliant contest. The McMahon-centric ending may not have been to everyone's liking but it made sense in the grand scheme of things. A momentous sophomore effort from these two. 9/10

For years the talk was all about Hollywood Hogan and Stone Cold coming together, or Goldberg and Stone Cold, but we should've known better. The Rock's now-cemented world-class charisma against Hogan's magnetic presence came together and blew the roof off the Toronto Skydome. Sticklers who cite the lack of technical wrestling hold little sway against the magnitude of Rock and Hogan merely trading stares as the stadium rumbles around them.

Peak JR on commentary provided near-perfect accompaniment to a match that ended exactly when it should've. Hogan's return to Wrestlemania provoked a proper 'Once In A Lifetime' reaction and their reversal of the heel/face dynamic on the fly proved masterful. 9.5/10

NEXT:5 Superstars Who Should Face The Fiend (& 5 Who Shouldn't)

Tags:wrestlemania,The Rock

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Every WrestleMania Match Of The Rock, Ranked From Worst To Best - TheSportster

Sometimes the internet can take you down some odd rabbit holes. In researching why this Xavier team has struggled so much in getting rolling from deep, I stumbled across another team that also struggled from behind the arc. This team also never got going from deep, relied heavily on one sharpshooting guard, and was loaded with the talent that would eventually go on a deep run. That team was Skip Prossers last, the 2000-01 Xavier Musketeers.

The 2000-01 Musketeers were playing a slightly different game from todays Xavier squad. For starters, that team was shooting from a three point that had yet to move back twice and was still the same one that a high schooler would shoot from now. That team shot 30.3%, 1% better than this years squad, against an Atlantic 10 schedule as well. The teams in the A10 that year managed to be ranked nationally a grand total of seven times. None were ranked at the end of the year, only Xavier and conference champ St. Joes were ranked in multiple weeks.

The roots of Xaviers first Elite Eight team were there in Skips boys. Lionel Chalmers and Romain Sato were the starting guards. In Chalmers and David West, the team had two players who would go on to play in the NBA. Sato was also drafted by the Spurs but never appeared. Kevin Frey, Mo Mcafee, Alvin Brown, and Lloyd Price filled out a roster laced with names familiar to Xavier fans. Price and Sato were both top 100 recruits and a fourth player would go on to be drafted in the NBA but not appear. (And huge Xavier fan credit if you know who that was).

Those names may have been familiar, but they didnt shoot themselves into immortality that year. Sato led the team with a perfectly reasonable 37.4% mark from behind the arc as a freshman. Romain took exactly six threes per game and far and away led the team for volume. That fourth player who was drafted into the NBA from the 2001 squad? That would be David Young and he was second on the team in three point shooting at 32.3%. Lionel Chalmers was the only other player to make more than 30% of his three point attempts, and he only shot 30.2%.

After that, it was grim. Mcafee hoisted nearly five threes a game despite making just 26.5%, Kevin Frey took at least two pops a game and made 25.8%, and Lloyd Price, who never did really find his shooting stroke, made just 25%. After those six, no one made a three. Alvin Brown tried three that didnt go, West missed one, and James Baronas missed his only attempt. But for the sharpshooting of Sato, the roster that Skip Prosser put together was actually far worse than this years team. Without Romain, the Musketeers shot 27.3% behind the arc that season. That is, in one word, awful.

What does this tell us about this years team? Not much of anything, really. It is a reminder that things are never quite as bad as they seem and have likely been this bad before. Its also a reminder that David Young existed. More than any of that, its a fun look back into Xaviers history. Now back to your coverage of the season in progress.

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Xavier has shot the three this poorly before - Banners On The Parkway

BN Goswamy

The sun may at times be hidden from us behind the clouds, but that makes no difference to the sun itself. Its own brilliance can never be obscured. Likewise, primordial wisdom and compassion are always present within every sentient being, even when hidden by clouds of hatred, obsession, pride, jealousy, and first and foremost, ignorance. Matthhieu Ricard

Fearful am I to fear itself, with my necklace made of a string of heads, and dancing furiously on a solar disk. Black am I and terrible, a crossed vajra on my head, my body smeared with ashes, and my mouths sending forth the sound HUM. But my inner nature is tranquil, and holding Nairatmya in loving embrace. I am possessed of tranquil bliss. From the Hevajra Tantra

Nepal, 19th century

The piece that I write here has at its base I need to state this sheer ignorance, an inability to reach those levels of thought that lie clearly beyond our, at least my, understanding.

To be certain, mysteries abound, and one finds oneself, almost all the time, at the very periphery, the outermost edge, of comprehension, when it comes to things that are come upon sometimes in our myths or art or philosophy, as in life itself. I, for instance, never cease to be puzzled when it comes to the world of gods and demons as it is treated in our texts. I have lectured sometimes upon the theme, at least as far as represented in our art, but never without confessing that I understand remarkably little of what I am speaking on.

Take the case, as an example, of the birth, those primordial happenings, of beings of all description as detailed in a section of one of the Puranas, the Bhagavata. The great sage, Kashyapa, we read, had many wives and from each of them he fathered many, many children. From the womb of Aditi were born adityas, the shining ones: gods like Surya, Vishnu, Varuna, Agni, among others; Diti, on the other hand, gave birth to daityas, demons, like Hiranyaksha, Hiranyakashipu, Kalanemi; Danu, another wife, gave birth to danavas, demons of a different order; to Muni were born apsaras or female angels; Vinata gave birth to the divine bird called Garuda, while of Kadru were born nagas or snakes. Thus it goes on. One registers from this that gods and demons, birds and snakes, were all step-siblings. Stories then keep unfolding in the texts; rivalries develop; enmities between them surface; accommodations are made; demons meditate upon gods and appease them to gain boons of power or immortality and, having gained those, turn upon them.

Tibet, 18th century

To take a couple of random examples. Hiranyakashipu, one reads, performs great tapas, meditating upon the god Brahma and receives, at the end of it, the boon of virtual immortality, for he, the god decrees, will never perish either in the day or in the night; on the earth or in the sky; at the hands neither of man nor of beast. This fills the demon with a sense of unbridled power, leading to his unleashing untold terrors upon his subjects, subduing them, including his own son, the devout Prahlada, completely to his demonic will. Till of course, as the absorbing tale goes, the great god, Vishnu, incarnates himself as Narasimha who is neither man nor beast, who appears at the time of dusk which is neither day nor night, and who seizes the demon and tears him apart, laying him flat on his knees which are neither the earth nor the sky.

Ravana, the mighty lord of Lanka, similarly performs intense tapas and goes through unheard-of austerities, in the worship of the great god Shiva, to seek his blessings.

However, when Shiva, greatly pleased by the demon kings devotion, blesses him and confers upon him the boon of immeasurable strength, he sets out to test his own powers by shaking, with his bare hands, the great mountain, Kailasha, which is the lofty abode of Shiva. It is another matter that Shiva brings everything under control by simply pressing the shaking mountain down with his toe, thus restoring things back to stability. The tales, as told in the texts, are delightful in themselves, but can easily lead to great puzzlement, for natural questions occur: why, for instance, could the all-knowing gods not have anticipated the evil intent of the demons and denied them the blessings they were seeking? Just one of a myriad questions, born of our avidya, of our inability to penetrate, even peer through, mysteries?

Rubins personal collection, New York

There are times when one reads of the gods themselves taking on frightening aspects. Nowhere does one see this more than in Himalayan art or thought that had its base in regions like Tibet or Nepal or Bhutan. Those infinitely gentle, serene images of the Buddha, or Bodhisattvas, which one so adores, mingle there with images of what have often been called demonic divines that people the world of Vajrayana Buddhism. With their roots in tantra, and their extension to Bon, the indigenous religion of Tibet, one moves into the world of wrathful deities and dangerous protectors: Mahakala and Rakta Yama, Ekjati and Vaishravana, Hevajra and Vajrabhairava. When one sees the thang-kas those paintings on cloth or silk, with their roots going back to a thousand years or more and which are still being made one knows that they serve as aids to meditational practices, and more often than not one gets drawn into their fantastic naturalism, their agitated line and dramatic colour. Psychedelic colour contrasts deep reds glimmering out of a black background, or a black figure silhouetted by an orange backdrop of flames are everywhere. Exaggerated, bulging eyes, gaping mouths, protruding fangs and pointed tongues, crowd the surfaces. Knives and swords, clubs and fetters, lie about, or whirl around in agitated fashion.

There is, in these images, and these practices, a central paradox: that of wrathful compassion. No outsider can really come to terms with this world, but again and again we are reassured in these words which come from the Tibetan Book of the Dead: They (these images) rise manifestly before you, having emerged from within your own brain! Do not fear them! Do not be terrified! Do not hate them! Recognise them as an image of your own awareness. He is your own Archetype Deity, so do not panic! In fact, they are really Lord Vairochana (Buddha) Father and Mother, so do not be afraid! The very moment you recognise them, you will be liberated!

As I said at the beginning: mysteries abound.

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Of uncommon appearances - The Tribune

Gabriel Rochelle, Path of the Spirit Published 2:29 a.m. MT Dec. 15, 2019

Fr. Gabe Rochelle(Photo: Courtesy photo)

Its here again: the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year and, thus, the longest night as well. For obvious reasons, particularly in northern countries, the winter solstice attracted rituals the way a crunchy crust attracts your dog. It is a natural connection. You need some respite from the darkest night of the year, so you light fires. Hence yule logs and bonfires; whats not to like about fire and light and warmth? While youre at it, have a mug of hot chocolate or an ancient drink like mead to warm the cockles of your heart. Gather with others to eat, drink and be warm. Maybe the feasting associated with winter solstice is the natural companion to keeping your ovens on to warm the house.

Not everyone in olden times celebrated the solstices and equinoxes. We know that the Celts celebrate the four corners of the year as fire festivals: these occur on Feb. 1, May 1, Oct. 31, and Aug.1. Their Celtic names are Imbolc, Beltaine, Lammas and Samhain. As with some of the festivals in Christianity and Judaism, the deep origins of such major festivals doubtless revolved originally around agricultural events.

Those who research such matters think that solstice and equinox celebrations originated with the ancestors of the Germans. They may go back in pre-history to Neolithic times, but they are not indigenous to Celtic cultures. Within their orbit, however, falls what we call Christmas and Easter as well, but thats another matter.

Contemporary Christmas is less about Christianity than it is about celebrating winters demise and the onset of the light, hence its a great time to come together in family and community and a wonderful time for gift giving. Most of the stuff wrapped around Christmas comes from our pagan past. Evergreens, ivy, holly, mistletoe? All those symbolic plants and trees originated in pagan ideas about immortality, healing, fertility, and protection of your home. Those ideas came naturally: mistletoe, for example, lives on trees that have ended their growth cycle and gone into winter dress. Because it seems to live between heaven and earth and without sustenance, it was considered magical. Evergreen trees stay green and are not deciduous, so they have been considered a symbol of immortality. Why not bring one into your house as a symbol?

The notion that Christmas is an overlap on a Roman festival called Saturnalia was proposed by Sir James Frazier in The Golden Bough, the first major exploration in the embryonic field of comparative religion, which was published in 1890. The flaws in his proposal have become evident over the years, however, perhaps even from the beginning. Some questions are obvious. Why did the early Christian movement pay little or no attention to the birth of Jesus? Why did Christian writers propose dates earlier in the year, in May or August? Why did early Christian thinkers write with disdain about festivals commemorating the birth of the gods? Constantine the Great made Christianity the legitimate religion of the Roman Empire around 315. Prior to this, there is no indication of Christians co-opting pagan festivals to suit their needs.

So, the reverse of Fraziers view may be true: Emperor Aurelian created the festival of the invincible sun (sol Invictus) somewhere around 275. Did he institute this festival as a counter to the day Christians were beginning to commemorate as the birthday of Jesus? This is what many historians now think. We may never be able to unravel the picture completely, but theres enough here to set aside Fraziers proposal. Meanwhile, celebrate the holidays in whatever way you find appropriate. You need a winter break!

Fr. Gabriel Rochelle is pastor of St Anthony of the Desert Orthodox Mission, Las Cruces. The church web site is http://www.stanthonylc.org. We welcome visitors.

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Deck us all with boughs of holly - Las Cruces Sun-News

The original Gucci Blooms success inspired the house to create additional variations alongside legendary nose Alberto Morillas, includingGucci Bloom Acqua di Fiori, a joyous and youthful eau de toilette, Gucci Bloom Nettare di Fiori, which honed in on femininity with a woodsy twist, and Gucci Bloom Gocce di Fiori, which celebrates the refreshing nature of spring raindrops. Each one explores its floral notes a little deeper to transcend stereotypes and craft the olfactory experiences of our wildest dreams.

Now, the latest addition to the Gucci Bloom family has quite literally hit god tier. Inspired by the sustenance that is storied to have given the Greek gods immortality, Gucci Bloom Ambrosia di Fiori is an intense experience designed to help wearers express the boldest versions of themselves, arriving just in time to celebrate the excitement of a new decade. Eschewing the traditional construction of top, heart, and base notes to instead open fully at once, the new creation employs flowers including jasmine bud, tuberose, and damascena rose for a truly noble experience.

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Gucci Bloom Ambrosia di Fiori is a Garden That Lasts All Year - L'Officiel - L'Officiel

Wassail, one of the oldest holiday drinks, is named after the Anglo-Saxon phrase waes hael or good health. Wassail was originally made with mulled ale, curdled cream, roasted apples, eggs, cloves, ginger, nutmeg and sugar.

Did you know yuletide caroling began 1,000 years before Christmas existed? Or how about the fact that mistletoe was used to represent immortality long before the holiday reached Europe? And before there was eggnog, the medieval English drank wassail made from mulled ale.

Maria Kennedy, an instructor of folklore at Rutgers UniversityNew Brunswicks Department of American Studies in the School of Arts and Sciences, has researched the European holiday traditions that predate and became an inseparable part of Christmas.

She shared her insights with Rutgers Today.

What is the origin of Christmas caroling?

The act of going from house to house during the darkest time of the year to spread hope through song has its origins throughout Europe and takes many forms including the British tradition of Wassail and Mumming, and the Slavic tradition of Koliada, which began before 998 B.C. In many traditions, people would go door to door and ask for permission to perform. They would recite poetry, sing and sometimes perform a skit. The idea was that these acts would bring about good fortune to influence a future harvest.Many of these visiting ritualswere incorporated in the celebration of Christmas and are still performed in modern Ukraine as well as throughout Europe and across the United States.

Why do we associate Christmas with eggnog?

Holiday beverages like eggnog, mulled wine and hot cider often include cinnamon, cloves and/or other spices. In medieval England, these spices were of high value and would have been traded for other goods. They were a sign of wealth, so bringing them out for celebration was equivalent to bringing out the best wine for guests. Drinks with eggs and cream may seem strange to palates today, but these were also common in medieval England.

The ancestor of these drinks is wassail, named after the Anglo-Saxon phrase waes hael or good health. Wassail was originally made with mulled ale, curdled cream, roasted apples, eggs, cloves, ginger, nutmeg and sugar. It was served in huge bowls made of wood, pewter, porcelain, and silver. The act of wassailing would begin on the 12thday of Christmas Jan. 5 or Jan. 6 and included bonfires in the orchards, shooting guns to scare away bad spirits, caroling and pouring hot cider into the roots of trees for a good harvest the following year.

Where did mistletoe and evergreen trees become part of the holiday?

Mistletoe, an evergreen shrub, was used in celebrations dating back to the ancient Druids Celtic religious leaders some 2,000 years ago. Mistletoe represented immortality because it continued to grow in the darkest time of the year and bore white berries when everything else had died. Hanging its sprigs over doorways and windows was supposed to keep the evil spirits of disease from entering a house. Farmers found it easiest to remove parasitic mistletoe from apple trees in winter when the branches were barren.

The decorating of evergreen trees is a German custom that began in the 16thcentury and was popularized in England and America during the reign of Queen Victoria after she married Prince Albert in 1840. Albert would decorate the trees at Windsor Castle with wax candles and sweets. By the 1860s, hundreds of Christmas trees were sold in Covent Garden and eventually the trend made its way into American tradition. Originally, trees would be decorated with oranges stuck with cloves, cinnamon sticks and pine cones. Sometimes, the nut would be removed from a walnut shell and replaced by a small gift or candy before being hung on a tree.

Why is Christmas celebrated in December?

The winter solstice on Dec. 21 or 22 is the longest night of the year, but marks the return of the sun when the days will get longer. Its considered a time of hope.

In pre-industrial Europe, you would have harvested all of your crops and then had three to six months of cold and dark, without the ability to grow food. Many people would slaughter some of their livestock because they would not be able to feed them through the winter, so this is when feasts would happen.

Neither the Bible nor history give a date for Jesus birth, though it was more likely closer to spring. But, because the solstice was already such a celebrated time of year in pre-Christian traditions, Christians came to use it to celebrate the birth of Jesus.

For media inquiries, please contact Cynthia Medina at c.medina@rutgers.edu

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The Surprising History of Christmas Traditions - Rutgers Today

Editors note: Frisco Lone Stars Marvin Mims broke the state record for career receiving yards in the second half of the teams state semifinal against Denton Ryan. You can see the play where he broke the record here.

FRISCO History wouldnt be within Marvin Mims grasp if he hadnt already had a taste of it.

To get to this point, earshot from the states record for most receiving yards in a high school career, Mims had to have an unprecedented senior year. No one in the country had ever broken the 2,500-yard receiving mark in one season until the Frisco Lone Star senior did it last week.

His historic season has brought him here, 66 yards away from breaking the career record, an honor that former Burnet and Texas receiver Jordan Shipley has held for the last 16 years, according to Dave Campbells Texas Footballs record book.

Mims is right on Shipleys tail, but someone else is closer.

Rockwall senior Jaxon Smith-Njigba has an eight-yard lead on Mims as both receivers get set to play this weekend in the state semifinals. Their games will start 30 minutes apart from each other on Saturday, meaning both might pass Shipley before simultaneously racing each other for a spot at the top of Texas high school football history.

This didnt happen by accident. Its not a coincidence that these two childhood friends are both on the verge of breaking a record thats withstood the influx of pass-happy offenses and 7on7 until now. It took a perfect storm of circumstance to create this scenario, and two special players in the eye of it for it to become an imminent reality.

It doesnt even seem real, does it? asked Rockwall head coach Rodney Webb. Its too good to be true, this whole story.

You could start this story on the basketball court. Thats where these two met.

At first, Mims didnt like Smith-Njigba. Mims has always been competitive, so when he and his AAU teammates kept running into Smith-Njigba at the championship game of tournaments back in about fifth grade it stoked his competitive fire.

I had to see him every weekend, Mims said. I mean, we always battled it out.

Soon after, the battle between the two stopped. Smith-Njigba joined Mims AAU team for the next couple of years. Being teammates instead of opponents didnt change how they played, though. They both brought a fearless football player mentality to the court, said Southlake Carroll tight end Blake Smith, a Texas A&M pledge who played AAU basketball with them.

Its a competitive drive they have in each of themselves, Smith said. Especially those two.

Thats something they have in common. Theyre both confident players, who take single-man coverage not as an insult, but as an opportunity to showcase their abilities. They both also felt the need to after this offseason.

Mims noticed this offseason when he dropped in the national recruiting rankings, going from four stars to three, according to 247Sports composite rankings. He also wasnt invited to The Opening, a combine and national showcase for the top recruits in the country, an event that happened in his backyard at The Ford Center in Frisco. Smith-Njigba arguably had the best showing at The Opening, but he was only invited because someone else dropped out and they needed to fill the space. Its cliche for athletes to say they have doubters, but both point to those examples as proof and motivation.

To a certain extent I didnt really care about it, because it was a personal shot at me, said Mims, an Oklahoma pledge who has since become a four-star recruit, once again. But at the same time I was focused on this team.

Thats because Mims knew his team had the potential to be this good. And the truth is both Mims and Smith-Njigba probably wouldnt be on the precipice of history without their teammates.

Webb, the president of the Texas high school coaches association, said a lot has to go into breaking a career receiving record, especially here. A player has to stay healthy, has to have a good quarterback and an offensive line protecting that quarterback, has to play in an offense conducive to passing success and has to be on a team thats good enough to go deep in the playoffs. Special receivers have come through Texas in the last 16 years, but theres a reason Shipleys record has held.

It looks like a very individual he-did-it type of award, Smith-Njigba, an Ohio State pledge, said, but it's really not without the help of others.

So many things could have derailed their pursuits, but nearly-perfect circumstance has led them to the doorstep of state immortality, something that was unimaginable to both until it was within their grasp. On Saturday, nearly simultaneously, both will have the chance to catch history. So let the race begin.

Heres where Mims and Smith-Njigba stack up in the states history for receiving statistics, according to Dave Campbells Texas Footballs record book.

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How childhood friends and star WRs Marvin Mims and Jaxon Smith-Njigba wound up on the doorstep of Texas football immortality - The Dallas Morning News

Novak Djokovic has hailed Andy Murray as an inspirational warrior after learning the full extent of his injury nightmare from the recent Resurfacing documentary.

The Amazon Prime Video movie, which features an interview with Djokovic, covers Murrays two-year battle with his hip injury, in absolutely brutal detail.

Djokovic and Murray are just a week apart in age and have competed against each other since they were 12-years-old, so are very well-acquainted with each other.

However, Djokovic himself has only just seen the documentary, and he says what it chronicles is a remarkable feat of mental strength.

Ive seen his documentary about four, five days and it was tough to watch to be honest, as a tennis player, and as someone that knows him for a long time, said Djokovic.

To see what he has been through, I think it was a great insight into his last couple of years and the struggles he had, mental, emotional, physical.

RELATED:Sporting immortality does not come easy Andy Murray: Resurfacing provides a unique portrait of an icon

Just amazing warrior that he is in life really, to be able not to give up after everything that has happened and all the recovery and preparations and trying to heal and play a couple of matches in the whole season.

And still after everything hes been through in his career and having family at home, not give up on that and have support of the close ones, its really impressive and inspiring.

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'What Andy Murray has done is really inspirational,' says long-term rival Novak Djokovic - Tennis365

Nobody understands Hegel, but we all pretty much live by his ideas. Like most good philosophy, his dialectic gave expression to something everybody intuitively knew, recognizing the fundamental truth that contradiction is present in all things, and all things only exist because of their inherent contradictions.

David Bomberg knew this, so its perhaps unsurprising that the radical, working-class painter, who, in the catalogue to his first solo show in 1914, wrote, I hate the Fat Man of the Renaissance, also spent hours in front of Michelangelos Entombment (c.1500) and Sandro Botticellis Portrait of a Young Man (c.148085).

The latter appears next to a chalk self-portrait Bomberg made in 191314 in Young Bomberg and the Old Masters, an exhibition at Londons National Gallery. While the shirt Bomberg wears is a direct copy of that worn by the young man in Botticellis painting, his use of angular, Euclidean lines drives straight through the Renaissance masters smoky sfumato. Bomberg both dismantles Botticellis painting and makes it live again; advances beyond it into the future, but also confirms its immortality.

In Ju-Jitsu (1913), two sparring fighters are suspended in a pixelated superposition. Each figure is a jumble of pointy triangles, creating an aggressive, confrontational feel, which is enhanced by the blocks of red and blue paint that distinguish them. But on an abstract level, their geometric interlocking gives an overarching sense of active harmony. Without losing their individual assertion, the figures are involved in a collective expression, an overall pictorial eloquence that includes the viewer in its reach.

A preparatory sketch for Ju Jitsu (1912) is shown alongside the finished painting. With more meat and muscle, the figures appear more human but dont interlock quite as well, making their geometric language less convincing. In the final work, the reduction of the figures into block shapes both highlights and undoes their conflict.

Besides the Botticelli portrait and a painting attributed to the Studio of El Greco, the Old Masters in this exhibition are strangely absent. By foregrounding Bomberg, the show highlights the young artists great achievement. Through the medium of paint, he was able to close the rhetorical gap between vs. and us.

'Young Bomberg and the Old Masters' continues at the National Gallery, London, UK, until 1 March 2020.

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'I Hate the Fat Man of the Renaissance': Young Bomberg and the Old Masters Review - frieze.com

In January, an estimated 120 million people gathered at the confluence of three holy rivers in India: the Ganges, the Yamuna, and the mythical Sarasvati. The occasion was the Kumbh Mela, a historic Hindu pilgrimage that occurs just once every 12 years. It is widely considered to be the largest gathering of humans on the planet (and can even be seen from space).

The scale is really something that cant be capturedit has to be experienced, the filmmaker Jeremy Snell told me. He tried anyway, and the results are astounding. Earlier this year, Snell traveled to Prayagraj and Varanasi, in India, to film Pilgrims, an immersive short documentary that depicts the Kumbh Mela in striking 16-mm film. My approach was to look for faces and scenes that exemplified an enactment of faith, Snell said.

According to Hindu tradition, drops of the nectar of immortality fell from an urn (or kumbh) during a fight between Lord Vishnu, the protector of the universe, and a group of demons, forming a pool where the three rivers meet. The Kumbh Mela is marked by a ritual dip in these sacred watersan act that is said to cleanse sins and emancipate followers from the earthly sufferings of the Hindu cycle of birth and death. Festival attendees hail from all aspects of Hindu religious life, from militant ascetics to sadhus, or holy men who remain naked year-round. (For some monks, the pilgrimage is their only reprieve from a life of isolation.) Overall, the festival is a celebration of Hindu community and tradition. At the center of the immense pop-up tent city is a marketplace offering spiritual lectures and blessings from Indias most revered gurus. For this years event, more than 200 miles of new roads were built to accommodate pilgrims traveling from all over India, although many also arrive by boat, carrying their belongings balanced on their head.

Snell said he will never forget the surreal feeling of waking up before dawn in the tent city. The hums and sounds of millions of people are propelling all around you, he said. The energy was palpable and never-ending. For a few days, Snell was able to hire a translator, which enabled him to have personal encounters with pilgrims along the river banks. One day, he met a Hindu ascetic in a boat floating on the Ganges. I asked him why he chose the isolated, lonely life of a holy man, Snell recalled. He told me how he was a career man when his wife and child died during childbirth. He had no family left, so his only answer to the pain was to surrender himself to a life of spiritual discipline.

Pilgrims unfolds entirely wordlessly; its compelling imagery communicates the depth of the spiritual and anthropological experience. Watching thousands dip in and out of the water at sunrise may be the most mesmerizing thing Ill ever see, Snell said. When humans are in search of something beyond themselves, there is a sense of openness and eagerness that is hard to miss. It was an incredibly humbling and eye-opening journey.

We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.

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The Largest Gathering of Humans on the Planet - The Atlantic

The old axiom was that newspapers are the first draft of history. That's not true anymore. Websites carry the first draft. So there I sat in the press box of TD Garden in Boston on June 12, ready for history.

My colleague Jim Thomas would be writing the game story on Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Blues and Bruins for the next morning's Post-Dispatch. My job was to write the story that would go online at STLtoday.com immediately after the game ended. (And then after that, to write a sidebar for the website as well.)

The Blues' loss in Game 6 had afforded me the rare luxury of having three days to think about what I was going to write, and I had written both Blues win and Blues lose stories the night before and had them saved in my computer. I would then adapt those as needed, adding details from the game, for the website.

So on one file in my computer I had a story that began like this:

At last, Blues are first!

BOSTON The 2018-19 Blues, a team once given up for dead, on Wednesday achieved hockey immortality.

The Blues completed the longest road back in hockey history with a x-x win over the Bruins at TD Garden, giving the franchise its first Stanley Cup in its 52-year existence. And they did it an unprecedented way, coming back from having the fewest points in the league on Jan. 3 to being a dominant team the final half of the season.

And I also had one that began like this:

Get all the Blues coverage from Jim Thomas without the pop-ups and surveys. Your subscription also includes access to our daily e-edition.

Party's over. Blues lose Game 7 to Bruins

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Writing St. Louis sports history, win or lose, on deadline, as Blues try to take the Cup - St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Netflix shocked many when it announced its ambitious plan to create a live-action adaptation of Neil Gaimans masterpiece, The Sandman. But exactly how much of a contribution will Neil Gaiman make to the upcoming series?

The Sandman is undoubtedly one of the most beloved comic series of all time, and has for many years has been deemed unfilmable. The critically-acclaimed series follows the adventures of Dream, who is the personification of dreams. He goes by many names: Sandman, Morpheus, the Dream King, Shaper, Oneiros, and more. Dream is one of the seven beings in an anthropomorphic family known as the Endless. Other members include Death, Destiny, Destruction, Desire, Despair, and Delirium (formerly Delight).

In the first volume, Dream is mistakenly captured by Roderick Burgess, from the Order of the Ancient Mysteries, who intended to capture his older sister Death to achieve immortality. In fear of penalty, Burgess keeps Dream imprisoned for 72 years. When Dream finally escapes, he faces the perilous challenge of reclaiming his totems of power: his helm, a ruby, and a pouch of sand.

This is merely the first of 10 incredible volumes. At bottom, The Sandman is a story about stories, interwoven with classic retellings of legend and myth in which Dream takes a starring role.Its so visually imaginative, and it goes on so many fascinating digressions, that someone would have be very brave to take it on.

Neil Gaiman has signed on to serve as an executive producer/writer on the Netflix series, alongsideDavid S. Goyer (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight). Allan Heinberg (Wonder Woman) will act as showrunner. It remains to be seen if Gaiman will have any further involvement in the production, but he gave us a clue on Twitter:

So how involved is he?More involved than with American Gods. Less than with Good Omens.

This is a pretty interesting answer. Gaiman was incredibly involved in the production of Good Omens, which proved to be a worldwide success. The six-part mini-series was adapted by BBC and Amazon from the book of the same name Gaiman wrote with Terry Pratchett. Gaiman wrote both the screenplay for all six episodes and acted as showrunner. It would be difficult to be any more involved in a show than Neil Gaiman was withGood Omens.

American Gods, meanwhile, is adapted from Gaimans well-known novel of the same name. Gaiman worked as an executive producer on seasons one and two and has only cowritten one episode: the season 2 premiere.American Godsis another highly rated TV show and is set to return for a third season Starz next year.

Neil Gaimans work tends to translate well to television, and when the man himself is involved, it only seem to get better. It will be exciting to see howThe Sandmanworks on TV, knowing that there have been failed attempts to adapt it in the past. With Gaiman involved quite heavily, it looks like it already has ahuge head start!

Gaiman also recently revealed that the show he will bring the timeline for the main story forward. Morpheus will escape imprisonment closer to our time, compared to 1988 in the comics.

To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassingFacebook pageand sign up for our exclusive newsletter.

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Exactly how involved is Neil Gaiman with Netflixs Sandman show? - Winter Is Coming

This ComplimentarySSIR Live! Program Will Explore:

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Emerging research in the philanthropic sector raises concerns that donor empathy as a primary cause of giving may be declining, driven by donor burnout, and overtaken by more narcissistic reasons. Is this an actual trend, manifesting across all donor segments? And if so, what might this mean for the foundations of civil society and philanthropy? This complimentarySSIR Live! webinar will explore motivations for giving, changes over time in charitable giving, and possible generational differences in approaches to philanthropy.

Sara Konrath from Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University will be joined by Virginia B Clark, assistant secretary emerita for advancement, Smithsonian Institution and Of Counsel for Marts and Lundy Inc. and theywill discuss what this research potentially means for nonprofits, foundations, fundraisers and those committed to social good. To provide greater context before joining the webinar, we encourage you to read a recently published article by authors from the Lilly School inStanford Social Innovation Review,Eight Myths of US Philanthropy.

Expert Speakers:Sara Konrath is an associate professor of philanthropic studies at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. She is also the director of the interdisciplinary program on Empathy and Altruism Research (iPEAR). She received her Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of Michigan in 2007. Konrath has published dozens of papers in top scientific journals, writes a popular Psychology Today blog, and her research has been featured in national and international media.Virginia B Clark is the assistant secretary emerita for advancement, Smithsonian Institution and Of Counsel for Marts & Lundy Inc. Virginia joined Marts & Lundy Inc. in 2019 after serving over 35 years in development leadership positions in higher education and cultural organizations.Her commitment in supporting the profession and interest in business and her communities has led her to serve onboards of various organizationsincluding CASE, WXPN, Morris Arboretum, and Haverford Trust. She currently serves on the boards of the Eisenhower Fellowships, Salem University, Wings Neck Trust and on the Leadership Council of the Buzzards Bay Coalition.

Interactive Session: This program will be conducted as a lively, interactive session. Youre encouraged to ask the speakers questions during the webinar to explore the topic further.Thespeakerswill answer some additional questions after the broadcast in the Comment Box at the bottom of this page. You are welcome to interact with them.

Real-world Examples:Using compelling scientific research and case studies, panelists will discuss changes in the giving landscape and how organizations can meet changing audiences and motivations in a way that is both persuasive and productive.

Who Should Attend?ThisSSIR Live!program is valuable for all nonprofit practitioners and those interested in donor motivations. A blend of primary research and in-the-field case studies and best practices will be shared.

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For Good or For Ego? Changing Motivations for Philanthropy and Their Impact on Funding - Stanford Social Innovation Review

Editors Note: The Mariners had quite a decade. Three winning seasons to seven losing ones. Three Mariners no-hitters, including a perfect game, and a combined no-no. Countless disappointments, franchise icons coming and going, number retirements, Hall of Fame firsts, restocking the farm for the next decade, and everything in between. Well be recounting some of our staffs favorite moments of the 2010s before the end of year. They wont all be positive, but they wont all be sad, either. We aim to tell the whole story here, as much as were able. Wont you join us for a stroll down (recent) memory lane?

At the outset, the 2016 season had all the markings of a potentially charmed season. A new GM, a new manager, expensive free agents thriving together, and a wild card, mostly unknown slugger from South Korea named Dae-Ho Lee.

Ive written about Dae-Ho at length here and other places. He is my favorite single-season Mariner, without a doubt. In 2017, I wrote about his walk-off home run as the moment the tall-tale took flight and I feel like that statement has only become more true with time. It was so fleeting and so perfect that it has an ephemeral, mythic status in my memory already. There is a sepia-toned, Ken Burns documentary quality to it, even though it was only 3 seasons ago (which feels like a lifetime ago to me).

Dae-Ho Lee in 2016 personified this guy shouldnt be here doing what hes doing right now and yet there he was, in all his dinger-swatting, full-bodied glory, having himself a fine MLB season for a team that stayed mathematically alive until game 161. He lived out one of his dreams for a season, conquered a life goal, and then returned home. Hard to ask for more out of life than that.

The game on April 13, 2016, was tied 2-2 in the bottom of the 10th, but it may as well have been over in the minds of many fans. The Mariners were at risk of ending the opening homestand with back-to-back sweeps at the hands of the As and the Rangers. Jake Diekman and the Rangers were indeed one pitch away from getting another chance at the plate to seal the deal. Those who had stuck around for the entire chilly April day game were probably questioning whether or not to shuffle off back to their lives, but had chosen to stay and witness a pinch-hit at-bat by the tantalizing question mark on the roster, Dae-Ho Lee.

Diekman gave Lee nothing but high 90s sinkers. Lee watched the first one land for a called strike. The second pitch was in that high, above-the-zone, I-dare-you spot that many sluggers find so hard to lay off of. Lee managed to foul it off. Two strikes. Maybe Diekman saw the risk in throwing the same pitch in nearly the same location again, but figured, hey hes a rookie, Im way ahead here, whats the worst that could happen?

One step-in-the-bucket leg kick with hands-moving-faster-than-god swing later and a fleeting moment of immortality is born.

Its everything I love about baseball in one moment. Its snatching victory out of the jaws of sure defeat, when all seems lost. Its Dave Sims relishing in hollering, Dae-Ho Leeeee, babyyyyy!!! Its Lees countrymen losing their ever-living minds on the Korean broadcast of the game. Its a person doing something unbelievable, against type, in a place no one thought hed ever be. Except maybe Dae-Ho. Maybe hed seen it in a dream.

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Defining Mariners Moments of the 2010s: Dae-Ho Lee Takes Flight - Lookout Landing

Inside each of our cells is a genetic hourglass. Every time our cells dividewhich they have to do to keep us alivetheir 23 pairs of chromosomes remain nearly identical. Except for one intentional change: After each division, a cells chromosomes get a little bit shorter.

Ten years ago, a group of scientists won the Nobel Prize in medicine for discovering these ever-shortening DNA sequences at the end of our chromosomes, called telomeres. After a cell has divided a certain number of timesknown as the Hayflick limitits telomeres are so short that the cell knows its time to peacefully shut itself down. When enough cells die off, organs wear out, and eventually, we die, too.

This discovery ushered in decades of aspirational research that set out to understand the role of telomeresand the protein that can rebuild them, called telomerasein aging. Perhaps, if scientists could figure out how to flip our biological hourglasses over, our cells could replicate for longer. Our organs would tire more slowly, and we could delay death.

The Nobel-winning research began way back in the 1970s with the work of biologist Elizabeth Blackburn. But even after four decades, its still not clear if telomeres can safely be manipulated to thwart aging.

That hasnt stopped some scientists from betting on artificially extending telomeres to support longevity: Just last week, Kansas-based biotech startup Libella Gene Therapeutics announced that it would begin early clinical trials testing out a gene therapy that could lengthen telomeres, according to OneZero.

That approach, which as of yet has only been tested in mice, is indicative of humans deep desire to roll back the clock. But the deeper scientists go into the field, the more complicated the story behind telomeres gets: Theres evidence that they may play an important role in other aspects of our health, and that cell division may not be the only reason they shrink over time. Before scientists can try to safely harness telomeres to improve our health, theyll have to answer these questions.

One anti-aging strategy that researchers have investigated involves telomerase, the telomere-building protein that Blackburns colleague Carol Greider discovered on Christmas Day in 1984.

Telomerase is an important tool for cells that divide frequentlylike blood cells, the lining of our digestive systems, or sperm and egg cells. These cells regenerate so often that they need an enzyme to regularly rebuild the caps on the end of their chromosomes.

All the other kinds of cells in our bodies shouldnt have telomerase. But if they did, theoretically, their telomeres would never shrink. They could keep dividing beyond their normal Hayflick limit.

Theres one big problem, though: Cells that have telomerase but arent supposed to often wind up to be cancerous.

In approximately 90% to 95% of cancers, during the process of oncogenesis, telomerase is reactivated, says Masood Shammas, a lead scientist at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. As cancer cells spread, theyre able to build their telomeres back upallowing them to keep dividing and dividing and dividing.

This means that messing with telomerase to somehow extend lifeas Libella is attempting to, by injecting patients with a virus containing the gene that codes for telomeraseis risky business.

On the other hand, it also means that blocking telomerase could be a way to treat cancer. Shammas has worked on clinical trials that have tested telomerase-targeting drugs with a company called Geron. Although their original drug worked in mouse models, it failed in early-stage clinical trials for people, because it had some nasty side effects. As a result, scientists have had to put stopping telomerase on hold until they can figure out how to make it only work in cancer cells.

An alternative strategy focuses not on rebuilding telomeres, but slowing their shrinkage in the first place. Scientists are trying to understand what, in addition to normal cell division, causes telomeres to contract. Maybe limiting these activities could decelerate aging in a way that doesnt accidentally reactivate a cancer pathway.

The activities that can slow telomere degradation are still being researched. It seems, though, that theres a lot of daily living that may play a role in telomere length. Anything that damages DNA will damage telomeres, says Shammas.

Telomeres are particularly vulnerable because theyre more exposed on the ends of the chromosomes. Smoking, drinking, and eating red meats fried in oilswhich all produce molecules that can bind to and distort DNAmay harm your telomeres, too. They also happen to all be known carcinogens.

Of course, this doesnt mean their effects are felt immediately, or that these activities will definitely lead to telomere shortening or cancer. Its their cumulative effect over a lifetime, plus other factors that scientists havent nailed down yet, that we need to watch out for. And clinicians generally advise against these activities anyway.

Perhaps more surprisingly, a life-affirming action may also cause telomeres to shrink: Pregnancy.

Dan Eisenberg, a biological anthropologist at the University of Washington, has studied how telomeres behave over time for people who become pregnant. A large cohort study he and his team published last year looked at women in the Philippines. After controlling for age, they found that the more times someone had been pregnant, the shorter their telomeres were. Each pregnancy seemed to shorten a persons telomeres by the equivalent of as many as four years of life.

This could be because of how taxing pregnancy can be on the body. Developing a fetus takes about twice the energy a person normally uses. Theres less energy available to maintain and repair cells for the long-term, Eisenberg says.

While it seems counterintuitive that evolution would penalize a person for reproducing, it may be a necessary trade-off. Perhaps the benefit of spreading new genes into the world is worth the cost of slightly shorter telomeres, Eisenberg explained. After all, evolution doesnt affect the processes that happen to us after we after our reproductive years. Weve already achieved the goal of immortality by way of our progeny.

So, lifestyle modifications to prevent telomere shortening dont sound too appealing. And so far, the only activity that researchers have found that can naturally extend telomeres in the slightest may be exercise. The only thing that world show that can activate telomerase activity is regular exercise, says Shammas. But its still not clear why this is the case, and it certainly doesnt mean that hitting the gym can stave off all aging.

Which brings us back to the promises made by companies like Libella, the gene therapy outfit currently promoting a telomere therapy. With four decades of telomere research yet to produce better guidance than cut down on red meat and exercise more, its easy to appeal to the insecurities and fears of the aging population with less-than-fully-baked treatments.

As OneZero reported, Libellas study is slated to begin early next year in Colombia. Likely, its running there to skirt the US Food and Drug Administrations (FDA) requirement for an Institutional Review Board, which ensures the safety of clinical research participants. Generally, clinical trials overseen by the FDA have been preceded by trials in at least two animal species to show theyre safe and effective. So far, the studies that have backed Libellas gene therapy are based just in mice.

This study has caused a lot of experts to raise eyebrows, particularly when it comes to the ethical issue of asking participants to pay for a therapy with high risks. The company is charging $1 million for each of its five aging but otherwise healthy participants, as well as five participants who have Alzheimers disease and five who have a form of artery disease.

But the trial also raises the question of whether aging itself is a disease worth treating. With any disease, there has to be a disease-free state, says Suresh Rattan, biogerontologist at Aarhus University. In the case of a situation like aging whose main cause is life itself, when will we say that we have treated it? Evolution didnt design us to live forever.

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Science is still studying how telomeres are linked to longevity - Quartz

Nobody panic, but Drews HATERS GUIDE TO THE WILLIAMS SONOMA CATALOG IS HERE! GO GO GO! (Vice)

100% her year: How Lizzo became the one thing we all loved in 2019. (LA Times)

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This is some BS right here: Academy voter-bros are refusing to even watch free screenings of Little Women. (Celebitchy)

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Thewheelbarrow is trying to fill a void in his reading - books by women who are historians. "Last year, or earlier this year as they run together, I read The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman. Then someone here, maybe Jen K., recommended Paris 1919 by Margaret MacMillan." A couple of people recommended Candice Millard and he found himself reading Hero of the Empire, The River Of Doubt, and Destiny Of the Republic." What other books should he put on his list of histories written by women? (Cannonball Read 11)

Behind the scenes from Little Women:

Ursula is a Staff Contributor for Pajiba. You can follow her on Twitter.

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'Thirst Trap,' As It Pertains to Mark Wahlberg, Doesn't Mean What Some Of You Think It Means - Pajiba

Three years after his departure for immortality, Fidel lives in the affection of his people and the admiration of good people around the world

Cuba is paying tribute on Monday to the historic leader of the Revolution, Fidel Castro, with many tributes dedicated to remembering his legacy on the third anniversary of his physical passing.

Three years after his departure for immortality,Fidel lives in the affection of his people and the admiration of good peoplearound the world,various articles of national media say on the occasionof the anniversary.

Writing on Twitter, Cuban president, MiguelDaz-Canel, said: How to remember Fidel? Assuming his legacy as ours,confronting imperialism with courage and firmness, working and thinking for thepeople, fighting for a better world.

On the steps of the University of Havana, theUniversity Student Federation, the Young Communist League, and people from allwalks of life will participate in a political and cultural evening to rememberFidel.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people are expected to goto the patrimonial cemetery Santa Ifigenia in Santiago de Cuba, where his ashesare interred.

According to data provided by the management ofthe necropolis, during the three years since his passing, more than one million800 thousand people have visited Santa Ifigenia to express in the mostdifferent ways their respect and admiration for the historical leader of theCuban Revolution.

They come alone or in groups, in visitspromoted by work and study centers or by the family, says Juventud Rebeldenewspaper.

They come and go, without worrying if there isa drizzle or if the sun is inclement. Among them are scientists, farmers,soldiers, artists, grandparents, and children, added the paper.

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Cuba Honors Fidel Castro on 3rd Anniversary of His Passing - Escambray