Category Archives: Immortality

NEW YORK His day has finally arrived.

One of the most deserving days in franchise history, Keith Hernandezs no. 17 was retired by the Mets on Saturday, July 9.

This means no other Met will ever share a number with Hernandez moving forward and rightfully so.

Hernandez spoke in the Mets' press conference room at Citi Field on Saturday afternoon prior to his on-field ceremony/speech in front of fans. And as expected, an emotional Hernandez, who played for the Mets from 1983-1989, got a bit choked up.

Hernandez is easily one of the most important players in franchise history. After winning their first World Series title in 1969, the Mets eventually reverted back to being lovable losers in the late 70s and early 80s. But in the summer of 1983, everything changed when the team acquired the St. Louis Cardinals MVP caliber first baseman.

This shocking acquisition was a result of Hernandez getting in the doghouse with the Cardinals. So despite helping St. Louis capture the 1982 World Series, they sent him packing to the lowly Mets.

And the rest is history as trading for Hernandez proved to be a franchise altering move for the Mets. Once Hernandezs father convinced him to re-sign with the Mets on a long-term deal in the 1984 offseason, everything changed forever.

It didnt take long afterward for Hernandez to become a cornerstone player for the franchise and lead them back to glory. In 1986, the Mets were champs again, capturing their second World Series title in club history.

Scroll to Continue

While Hernandez, a former Mets team captain, is in both the Mets and Cardinals Hall of Fame, he has yet to be inducted into Cooperstown. This could change at some point down the road if he eventually gets back on the ballot.

As highlighted by his former agent Scott Boras, Hernandez is the only player not in the Hall of Fame to lead their respective position in total Gold Glove Awards, among many other accolades. Its evident that Hernandez was a game-changer wherever he went, a leader, fiery competitor, and not only one of the best first basemen of his era, but one of the best players of his generation, specifically throughout the span of his prime from 1979-1988 (won co-NL MVP in 79, runner up in '84).

Although Hernandez will have to wait a bit longer to be re-considered for the Hall of Fame, his number retirement will only further ingrain him in Mets immortality.

The Mets are wearing a No. 17 patch on their jerseys on Saturday in honor of Hernandez. When the man of the afternoon stepped to the podium during his pregame ceremony on the field, he was showered with "Keith Hernandez" chants from the Citi Field faithful.

Hernandez became the fourth player in Mets history to have their number retired, joiningTom Seaver (41), Mike Piazza (31) and Jerry Koosman (36).

-Mets' Jacob deGrom Expected to Make 3rd Rehab Start for Triple-A Syracuse

- Rival Teams View Trey Mancini as Mets' 'Top Option' Ahead of Trade Deadline

- Mets Have Scouted Reliever David Robertson

Follow Pat Ragazzo on Twitter (@ragazzoreport), be sure to bookmark Inside The Mets and check back daily for news, analysis and more.

See the rest here:

Emotional Keith Hernandez Further Ingrained in New York Mets' History With Jersey Retirement - Sports Illustrated

While some movies will die in the court of public opinion during their time in the cinema, that doesnt mean they cannot come back to life on a streaming service. If anything, the ability to pick from a vast library of films without investing more than your monthly subscription has allowed films to reach much bigger audiences than were otherwise possible. It certainly seems to be paying off for The Mummy (2017), which is finding a whole new audience on Amazon Prime after crashing and burning with critics and audiences alike when it was first released.

According to FlixPatrol, this shambling corpse of cinematic ambition has managed to claw its way out of the grave and all the way to the number one spot in Primes movie section. Directed by Alex Kurtzman (The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Star Trek Into Darkness), the movie rebooted the popular Mummy series that had won over audiences in the late 90s, with Brendan Fraiser and Rachel Weisz leading a charming cast through hilarious tales of action and adventure that channeled the soul of Indiana Jones. The reboot set the story in a modern-day setting with a gritty tone and was planned to kickstart Universals Dark Universe series that would see a return to the screen of some of their most famous monsters.

Despite struggling in preproduction and seeing a number of directors leave the project before Kurtzmans arrival, the project managed to attract Hollywood heavyweight Tom Cruise to play the lead character, U.S. Army Sergeant Nick Morton. Morton accidentally releases Ahmanet, played by Sofia Boutella, and is thrown into a series of disastrous events that see him teaming up with Jenny Halsey, played by Annabelle Wallis, in an attempt to put the mummy back in the coffin. Nick ends up being possessed by Ahmanet, granting him immortality. After that, the movie becomes a confused and ill-paced mess as Universal attempts to cram in enough twists and turns to establish the world they needed to launch yet more monster movies.

Sadly, the movie fell flat with the public, as critics awarded it just a sixteen percent score on Rotten Tomatoes, with audiences giving it a score of just thirty-five percent. Streaming audiences dont seem to mind, as The Mummy has been embraced in multiple countries, rising to the number one spot on Prime worldwide. Interestingly, the movie saw a similar box office take with an almost identical budget to the original film but was considered a financial failure by most. In a world of billion-dollar superhero movies, the entire Dark Universe was shelved, and we havent heard anything about it since.

It seems unlikely that this success on Amazon Prime will be enough to resurrect the Dark Universe, which is a shame as it would have been great to see modern takes on The Invisible Man, Frankenstein, the Werewolf, and more, but at least fans of terrible movies have something to indulge themselves with.

- This article was updated on July 12th, 2022

More on Attack of the Fanboy :

Read more:

An Appalling Reboot Better Left Dead is Coming Back to Life on Streaming - Attack of the Fanboy

Welcome to our coverage of Whos Who! For this summer, well be focusing exclusively on the 26-issue 1985-1987 series, without any of the updates. Those will, hopefully, follow next year.

Today, we dive into the fifth installment, which continues the Legionnaire focus and brings us some of the kookiest villains DC has to offer.

Best overall entry: Crime Doctor

While I maintain that the Flash has the best villains at DC, there are some Batman villains that are just perfect. Created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane back in 1943, the Crime Doctor is such a fun idea. Hes the doctor to the underworld, and collects a portion of their loot for his fee, but still upholds the Hippocratic Oath. It also has the perfect comic book copout ending, where someone who knows that Bruce Wayne is Batman winds up in a vegetative state with no memory.

Best non-character: The Construct

Now, maybe youll argue that this is a character. Im not going to argue that its debatable, but Id say that a collection of radio waves that became sentient is not, actually, a character.

Marquee character: Cyborg

We are still in the midst of the New Teen Titans being one of DCs most popular comics, and so Cyborg is front and center on this cover.

Most obscure character: Colonel Future

Col. Future may be the most obscure character yet in Whos Who. Aside from a Superman Sourcebook and this issue, he was only in two other pre-Flashpoint comics. There was a Superman villain on Earth-2 with the same name, but he is only in 5 issues. And, there was a reboot in the the Americas Best Comics imprint, but he was only in five issues there, too. 12 issues across three different timelines is an impressive and small footprint.

Also, the dude got a full page! Some pretty major characters got the half page treatment, but not Colonel Future!

Most incomprehensible entry: The Controllers

This is the perfect storm of incomprehensibility: 30th Century, Green Lantern, pre-historic, alien, and monolithic. This all (mostly) made sense to me, but Rao help someone without a brain rotted by comics.

Most bizarre entry: Composite Superman

This is such a fun character, but everything about it, from the look to the origin (Legion statues struck by lightning while a janitor walks by) make this a nutty concept, even for hardened comics guys to embrace.

Most Surprising Entry: Clayface

Now, I knew that there were multiple Clayfaces (Claysface?), but I wasnt aware that, pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths, that Basil Karlo didnt have any shape shifting abilities.

Top three pieces of art:

3. Colonel Computron

Carmine Infantino and Klaus Janson absolutely kill this boxy weirdo.

2. Cyborg

All hail George Prez (and Romeo Tanghal) for all of this, but especially the transformation in the top background.

1. Creeper

Dave Gibbons is so associated with Watchmen that I think he gets looked over for just how great his other work is. I mean, just marvel at this for a moment. Hot damn, son.

Best lines/details per entry:

Chronos: Clinton, admiring the clockwork precision with which everything was run in prison, decided he would make time work for him rather than against him.

Brians commentary: Irony is an overused term, but it is borderline ironic to do crimes inspired by prison.

Cinnamon: Known relatives: Unnamed Father (deceased)

Brians commentary: I know that her father plays into her origin, but the fact that hes dead and unnamed means that you can probably not mention him and still be ok.

Circe: During the most recent of their encounters, Wonder Woman was indeed responsible for the destruction of Circles precious herbs of immortality, so that the enchantress is now aging normally.

Brians commentary: Herbs of immortality? Sounds like Circe is 420 friendly, no?

The Citadel: With the technology in place, the First Citadelin forcibly ejected his Psion allies (making war even on them), creating the Citadel race but the clones were imperfect and retarded.

Brians commentary: Uhhhmay want to rephrase that, bro.

Claw: The Unconquered:

Brians commentary: This is some of the most stringent anti-fap action weve ever seen in a DC comic.

Clayface(s): His flesh now malleable, Payne transformed himself into an Adonis and stepped out on the town.

Brians commentary: If youre blue and you dont know where to go to, why dont you go where fashion sits?!

Clock King:

Brians commentary: Sometimes, these villain origins are torture porn. My goodness.

Cluemaster: Convinced the very knowledge that they were facing the Batman was a psychological handicap that gave the Masked Manhunter an edge over his foes, the Cluemaster was determined to lean the Batmans true identity so that he could sneak-attack and dispose of the Batman in his civilian guise.

Brians commentary: Is Masked Manhunter a common name for Batman? Also, this acts like Cluemaster is the first person to realize that if you could solve Batmans secret identity, that youd have a leg up on Batman.

Colonel Computron: Though it has been speculated that Colonel Computron is in fact either Basil Nurblin, the actual inventor of the Captain Computron toy, his wife Francine, an electronic wizard in her own right, or their genius daughter, Luna.

Brians commentary: Electronic wizard sounds like either an early 80s MCs name or a toy that Radio Shack sold.

Colonel Future:

Brians commentary: This power is pretty cool, but it sounds like no one would want to have the physical effects of getting to that power.

Color Kid: His power to alter the color of objects, a result of a laboratory accident that bathed in a multidemensional light, was considered nearly useless and he was rejected.

Brians commentary: I meanyeah.

Colossal Boy: When the true identity of Yera (the Durlans stage name) was revealed, Gim realized he had fallen in love with her, and reaffirmed his marriage.

Brians commentary: Sometimes, the best marriages are the ones that begin with deception.

Commander Steel: As of this writing, the details of Commander Steels exploits between 1941 and the present have not been officially recorded.

Brians commentary: Then why, pray tell, would you even mention that?

Composite Superman: When possessing these powers, the Composite Superman is an extraordinary athlete and superior hand-to-hand combatant. Plain Joe Meach is neither of those things.

Brians commentary: Sick burn.

Computo: A now-tamed version of Computo is contained in an energized circuit globe that serves as majordomo for the LSH headquarters under Brainiac Fives watchful supervision, and the suspicious lances of other Legionnaires.

Brians commentary: Im highlighting this just for the use of the word majordomo, which is a lovely word we dont use nearly enough.

Congorilla: Explorer, Big-Game Trapper, Naturalist, Corporate President

Brians commentary: Donald Trump Jr. wants this exact bio for his Truth Social bio.

The Construct:

Brians commentary: This is some sci-fi bullshit, but exactly my kind of sci-fi bullshit.

Controllers: The Legionnaires also confronted the Controller, who died of an apparent heart attack that may or may not have been caused by the presence of Ferro Lads ghost.

Brians commentary: I love to hear that near-indestructible alien races can still suffer from the effects of heart disease.

Copperhead: Constructed from a unique weave of experimental metallic and elastic fibers, the snake-suit is coated with a polymer film that enables Copperhead to slither through impossibly small spaces and makes him almost untouchable.

Brians commentary: So his suit allows his bones to shrink or go limp?

Cosmic Boy: Recently, Rokks mother, Ewa, was killed in a fireballing incident.

Brians commentary: I feel like we need more context for what, exactly, a fireballing incident entails.

Cosmic King: He has demonstrated no skill at physical combat.

Brians commentary: Whos Who values two things above all else: are you an Olympic-level athlete, and can you throw a punch? If there answer to either is no, get the fuck out.

The Council: The Council values secrecy above all else and does all it can to avoid attracting attention to itself. Thus, at this writing, the world is generally unaware of the Councils existence.

Brians commentary: Seems like writing this exact entry would make them impossibly mad.

Count Vertigo: Alter Ego: Count Werner Vertigo

Brians commentary: I know that he wasnt exactly looking for a secret identity, but cmon dude.

Crazy Quilt: After murdering Kinski during an argument, Crazy-Quilt managed to lure Robin into an alley and, beating him mercilessly, left the boy for dead, not knowing that this was Jason Todd, the new Robin.

Brians commentary: Dont you hate it when you beat the wrong boy and nearly kill him?

The Creature Commandos:

Brians commentary: The idea of a Frankenstein called Taylor is never not funny to me.

The Creeper: In order to infiltrate a costume party where the kidnappers were rumored to be fathering, Jack threw together a makeshift out from from old odds and ends, including yellow makeup and a shaggy sheepskinrug.

Brians commentary: I like that Jacks costume also involved some red gogo boots and a green striped pair of briefs. Lets go to this party!

Crime Doctor: Occupation: Physician and Part-time criminal

Brians commentary: Shouldnt his name be Doctor Crime then? You lead with the title thats most a part of you, no?

Crime Syndicate:

Brians commentary: Please, give us more ridiculous examples!

Crimson Avenger: The Crimson Avengers calling card was a cloud of crimson smoke through which he made a most dramatic entrance.

Brians commentary: Ive known people who appear through a cloud of verdant smoke, if you catch my drift.

Croc: Born in a Florida slum to an unwed mother who died giving birth to him, Waylon Jones was raised by a deadbeat alcoholic aunt.

Brians commentary: Jesus, why not just slander the whole family while youre at it?

Cyborg: The morose young athlete was virtually rebuilt from scratch and given a body far more powerful than that of any normal human being.

Brians commentary: Wouldnt you be morose if you were almost killed and now was half machine? Way to judge, Whos Who.

Cyclotron: Though ultimately cured of her radiation poisoning in an as-yet-disclosed manner, Terri Curtis passed the effects of the radiation on to her own son, Albert, with led to his becoming the super-hero known as Nuklon.

Brians commentary: If you think this is confusing, wait until you see how Nuklon was retconned into being the Atoms son.

Go here to see the original:

Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe Vol. V - Multiversity Comics

About a half-hour after Evgeni Malkin scored 50 goals for the first time, Mike Kadar walked into Ray Sheros office astonished.

Shero asked Kadar, the man whod helped Malkin rehab his surgically repaired knee the previous summer, what was wrong. Kadar left the office and returned a few minutes later with a puck that was cut in half.

It was the puck from Malkins 50th goal.

Ray, he told me it was mine as much as it was his, said Kadar, then the Penguins conditioning coach. I dont know what to say. Have you ever seen something like this before?

Shero had not. Nor did he have much advice. He had only this observation: Thats so Geno!

That is one of my favorite Malkin stories. There are so many others, but this is the one I like best: Despite a fairly fraught few months of negotiations, Malkin, who signed a four-year contract with the Penguins on Tuesday night, will be able to follow through on the goal he told me about way back during his rookie year. With his good friend Sergei Gonchar as an interpreter, Malkin said he wanted to play only for Pittsburgh, always with Sid.

Congrats, Evgeni your wish came true in the waning hours of what what was looking like it might be your last day as a Penguin.

Congrats, too, to general manager Ron Hextall your word was your bond, and after repeatedly saying you wanted to keep Geno, you did with not much time to spare.

It doesnt matter how it happened. It did. And everybody from Malkin to Hextall to the Penguins and Pittsburgh is better for it.

Malkin is as beloved as any player in franchise history. Hes earned that devotion from Penguins fans because hes been brilliant over the course of 16 years, if not the entirety of every season, always in moments that defied belief.

There was his record goal-scoring surge to begin a future Hall-of-Fame career.

Or The Geno Goal against the Hurricanes in the 2009 Eastern Conference final, only to follow it up by becoming the first Russian-born NHL player to win the Conn Smythe as MVP of the Penguins first of three Stanley Cup titles in the Sidney Crosby/Malkin era.

Oh, by the way, congrats are also due to Sidney Crosby. As The Athletic reported, as Malkin was discouraged a few weeks ago, Crosby visited Malkins home in Florida. Crosby also stepped in Tuesday to bring the Penguins and Malkin back from the brink a day after Malkin, feeling insulted and unwanted during negotiations, told his agent, J.P. Barry, the Penguins had waited too long to start talking about his desired four-year deal.

Malkin was set on testing the free-agent waters.

Or was he?

The Penguins hadnt been willing to firmly offer a four-year contract at the point when Malkin appeared to pull the plug on his Pittsburgh tenure. However, after talking to sources close to Malkin late Tuesday, Im convinced Malkin and Barry essentially called the Penguins bluff and played the only hand they had remaining to get a deal done in Pittsburgh: threatening to blow out of town as an unrestricted free agent.

If public reaction to Malkins possible departure was any indication, a divorce would have gone down as the most unpopular personnel decision in over 50 years of Penguins hockey. And thats saying a lot wounds have still not healed over the way former icons Jaromir Jagr and Marc-Andre Fleury left Pittsburgh. A big hole remains in Penguins fans souls because those players wont finish their careers the way Malkin, Crosby and Kris Letang will.

Malkin is staying, though.

Hes back to finish what hes always said he wanted to do: win at least one more title with Crosby and Letang, his self-described Canadian and French brothers.

This is as it should be, and not for nostalgia.

The Penguins havent lost four consecutive opening-round playoff series because those three werent good enough. They were done in by other roster deficiencies, and now Malkin has followed Letangs lead and signed a franchise-friendly final contract that will allow the Penguins to build a club better situated to contend for the Cup.

He wants to be the first Russian to win four Cup titles.

He also likes the idea of doing what the Steelers of the 1970s did tethering themselves to all future generations of fans in sports-mad Pittsburgh by adding a fourth title that would be, as Joe Greene said of the Steelers then, an invitation to immortality.

Will it happen? Who knows.

There will be an opportunity, and thats all anybody could have hoped for going into this seismic offseason. Hextall saved enough cap space to still do some work when free agency opens at noon Wednesday.

Unlike so many stars who are flipped for so many prospects, draft picks and spare parts, Malkin will get to go out on his own terms. Like Letang, Malkin got a full no-trade clause in his new contract. Neither player can be moved without his respective approval over the next four years.

And if youre thinking that Crosby is signed for only three years well, dont sweat that detail. He told The Athletic he wants to play at least another six, so hell be re-upping in a couple of summers too.

As a topsy-turvy Tuesday played out, I spent time working on a column of my favorite Malkin memories. The concept was to honor his time in Pittsburgh by peeling back the curtain on our unique professional relationship. I was struggling to wrap my head around the column because I didnt want to write it.

I will one day.

But that day is four years off.

Still, Ill share one more anecdote that shows the Evgeni who exists behind the Geno character that has so enraptured the Pittsburgh public for the past 16 years.

On my last trip to Moscow in 2019, Malkin sat at a restaurant table above the sparse facility where he trained and thanked me for again coming to meet him in his adopted Russian hometown. He explained that it meant a lot that over the years that Id made a point to speak directly to him as opposed to at him, that I took time to know his family and customs, that I helped him through early interviews when he wasnt comfortable with language, and that I write Geno stories when everybody else always writes Sid.

The journalist in me was uncomfortable. The person I am was stunned. This was a genuine moment between two people, but it was brief before I quickly moved on to something else.

So I asked Malkin if he remembered a particular week during his second season when I asked him every day what he had eaten for breakfast. He nodded.

Jelly toast, he said, smiling. You didnt believe me. But I like jelly toast. And I dont like to change what I like.

Evgeni Malkin loves playing for the Penguins.

And now that doesnt have to change for him.

(Photo: Kirk Irwin / Getty Images)

Read more:

Rossi: Penguins grant Evgeni Malkins wish, and Pittsburgh is better for it - The Athletic

During my hands-on demo of Immortality, the upcoming release from Her Story and Telling Lies creator Sam Barlow, I find myself closely studying the face of actor Marissa Marcel. In the movie scene I'm observing, she sits at a table in an interrogation room with a tape recorder and some files in front of her. As she smokes a cigarette, one actor leaves while another enters the scene and for just a moment, Marissa appears to break character and look out beyond the camera. Appearing to lock eyes with someone out of shot, the actor briefly smiles and I become fixated on this fleeting moment. By rewinding the reel to watch the scene play out again, I freeze the frame on her expression. Who is she smiling at? Is this just part of the act? Or I am seeing a brief glimpse of the real Marissa Marcel? With no way of knowing, I have to move on, but I'm already intrigued to find out more.

Since I only get to spend a limited amount of time with Immorality before the Tribeca demo comes to close, I'm left with more questions than answers. But its presentation, unique mechanics, and puzzling concept have already sold me on the idea of diving in deeper.

As an "interactive restoration of three movies", the mechanics of Immortality emulate Moviola machines that were originally used by filmmakers to review and edit footage. While it's not directly mentioned in my demo, it is said that the three movies starring Marissa Marcel were never released and that the actress mysteriously disappeared. In Immortality, my role is to dig a little deeper into these bizarre circumstances.

My session begins on a film grid that shows rows of footage from Marissa Marcel's career. By zooming and selecting a scene, I watch as Marissa talks to a chat show host. At any point, I can pause the sequence and enter into 'image mode'. Here, I move the cursor over key images in the footage such as a person's face, or a noticeable prop or decorative feature. By honing in on something within the scene, it then transitions or 'match cuts' into another scene that features the same prop or actor I've highlighted.

As I move over to another scene through these key images, new footage gets added to the grid to create a more complete picture of the movies. What's most striking right away is just how real and authentic it feels in both its presentation and the way you engage with it. The live-action sequences you watch have a grainy look, with outfits that make them look every bit the part of footage captured during the '60s, '70s, and '90s, and all of the performances really draw you in. The Moviola emulation also adds to the realism, as though you really have found lost footage and you're trying to make sense of it all. As I play and watch scenes and scrub the footage for notable features, I never quite know what I'll be watching next. From behind-the-scenes moments such as table reads, to snippets of different movies, and even a celebratory toast to one of the directors, I get to see snapshots of several different, disjointed moments in the timeline of each film.

What's so interesting about being drawn into different scenes is the way you may interpret them without having the whole picture. On one occasion, for example, I'm taken into what turns out to be a rehearsal sequence that begins part way through. I at first mistook it for a real confrontation between Marissa and another actor until I heard stage directions being given, but it again brought to mind that small moment when she appeared to break character during a scene. Since you're watching actors at work, it can be tricky to discern what's real and what's not as you move from one scene to the next. I find myself questioning everything and scrutinizing every action and expression to see if I can isolate when the actors are being themselves.

In another instance, I watch a movie scene being captured as it's happening before transitioning over to a different movie entirely. From the sets to the actor's costumes, and the performances themselves, it's very easy to get wrapped up in what you're watching, even when I'm not entirely sure what's happening. I feel like I only got to scratch the surface of Immortality and its mysteries before the demo ends, but I was surprised by just how invested I became in such a short amount of time. I can already see myself spending a lot of time getting lost in all of the little details and nuances of each scene in Immortality, and I can't wait to get to the root of it all when it releases on July 26, 2022, on PC and Xbox Series X/S.

For more impressions from the Tribeca Games demo lineup, check out our American Arcadia preview and our As Dusk Falls preview.

See the article here:

I only got a taste of Immortality, but I'm already in love with its concept and sense of mystery - Gamesradar

After not matching her own lofty standards at the 2019 Worlds and Tokyo Olympics she still won three gold medals the American swimmer was unstoppable in Budapest. She added four World titles to take her tally to 19, a number bettered only by Michael Phelps

After not matching her own lofty standards at the 2019 Worlds and Tokyo Olympics she still won three gold medals the American swimmer was unstoppable in Budapest. She added four World titles to take her tally to 19, a number bettered only by Michael Phelps

When you win two gold and two silver medals at an Olympics, you are entitled to indulge in a cheat meal of choice and relive memories of a legacy-establishing performance.

Katie Ledecky allowed herself a hamburger, savoured the time gainfully spent in the Tokyo water and ensured that the people who supported her knew how much she valued them.

But and perhaps this is one of the things that separate the greatest from the great she felt it was time for a reset. After a difficult World Championships in 2019, when she won just one gold and struggled with illness, and last years Games, where she was beaten for the first time in an individual event in three editions, Ledecky knew she had to evolve to reassert her dominance.

Seven Olympic titles and 15 World crowns werent enough; she wanted everlasting superiority in the freestyle.

Im starting to shift my mindset toward the future, but also just kind of trying to let these past five years sink in, and Tokyo especially, and my whole career up to this point, she told The Stanford Daily. Im planning on 2024. I think each Olympic cycle brings new and different challenges.

So Ledecky decided to shift base from California to Florida last October to work with Anthony Nesty, who won the 1988 Olympic butterfly gold for Suriname. An assistant for Team USA at Tokyo, Nesty had guided Bobby Finke to 800m and 1500m freestyle golds and Kieran Smith to the 400m freestyle bronze; his expertise in the distance freestyle events appealed to Ledecky.

Up for it: Ledecky says she enjoys the thrill of being chased.| Photo Credit: Getty Images

The move to Florida also offered Ledecky the valuable opportunity to train with competitors who would push her Americas top male mid-distance and distance swimmers.

I was training with a college team [Stanford University], and Im older than most of the other swimmers, she said. I didnt have too many mid-distance, distance people to train with. Im excited to be a part of the University of Floridas world-class programme and train with coach Nesty and the top-tier mid-distance and distance training group.

Ledecky, 25, had two specific challenges to counter. One was historic: she was seeking to become the oldest female World and Olympic champion in the mid-distance events over the next three years; these stamina events have long been a stronghold of the youngsters, which in swimming terms has been 23 and under. The other challenge was her own greatness: when you are already the best-ever at what you do, how much room do you have for progress?

We talk a lot about improvement, Ledecky told NBC. Of course, improvement looks a little different for me than some other people, given that my times are really hard to improve. Ive acknowledged that, and Ive learned that over the years.

So the interest in Ledeckys performance at the recent World Championships in Budapest was at an all-time high. She wouldnt face Ariarne Titmus, the woman who beat her in the 400m freestyle in Tokyo, because the Australian had decided to concentrate on the Commonwealth Games, but could Ledecky prove that her best domination wasnt behind her?

She did just that, showing that some old swimmers dont fade away as fast as they used to and that a few prodigies stay prodigious ten years into their career.

Unique style: Ledeckys pull underwater is exemplary: her early vertical forearm pull is efficient and less susceptible to injury.| Photo Credit: Getty Images

When she won the 800m freestyle at the 2012 Olympics at 15, Ledecky was a teenage sensation. Her 800m freestyle gold last Friday was a record fifth straight World title in that event, something nobody else, not even Michael Phelps, has achieved. It was also an eight consecutive triumph, across the Worlds and the Olympics, in the 800m freestyle!

I think back to London, Ledecky said. I made it a goal to not be a one-hit wonder and here we are 10 years later, so Im really proud of that and still excited for the future as well.

Ledeckys time of 8:8.04 was under four seconds off the world record she set at the 2016 Olympics. Im happy with that, she said. Fastest Ive been in a couple of years.

The timing, the fifth quickest ever, also means Ledecky has swum the 27 fastest races in the history of the womens 800m freestyle a sports monopoly, if ever there was one.

It was also her 19th gold at the Worlds, second only to Phelps 26, and her fourth at Budapest. She earlier helped USA win the 4x200 freestyle relay, two days after she won the 1500m freestyle, which came two days after she won the 400m freestyle.

She completed the 400/800/1500 triple for the fourth time at a single Worlds, more than all the other swimmers who managed the feat combined. Germanys Hannah Stockbauer, Australias Grant Hackett and Chinas Sun Yang each managed it only once.

At 25, Ledecky is older than any woman to win a World Championships distance freestyle race (400m, 800m and 1500m).

And shes not finished yet. This is just the start, which is tremendously exciting for me, said Ledecky, who said the changes to her approach are paying off. There have been a couple of things that are a little different training with the men, to try to keep up as much as I can and they push me. I hope that they feel that theyve benefited from me being there, and just a lot of work on my stroke and my rhythm.

Ledeckys stroke and rhythm are unique described as a gallop or a giddy-up, she has a slightly longer right stroke than left, in part because she breathes exclusively to her right. Her pull underwater is exemplary: her early vertical forearm pull is efficient and less susceptible to injury. She kicks less in longer races, only using a strong kick in the final stages and in shorter races.

In addition to focusing on her stroke and rhythm, Ledecky is also monitoring her competitive workload. When Phelps won eight gold medals at the 2008 Games, he swam about 3,300 metres; Ledecky swam 6,200 metres at the Olympics last year. She is looking to reduce it to the mid-5,000s in major events by dropping the 200m.

It isnt merely the total distance, although that is a major factor. The more events she enters, the less time she has to recover between races, which leaves her vulnerable to younger rivals the most formidable among them at the moment being Titmus, four years Ledeckys junior.

Titmus has had the measure of Ledecky over 400m, beating her at both the 2019 Worlds and the 2020 Olympics. The Australian also recently bettered Ledeckys world record in the 400m freestyle, which the American had set at the 2016 Olympics. Titmus thus became the first swimmer other than Ledecky to break a Ledecky world record!

Ledecky, however, retains her superiority over 800m and Titmus doesnt swim anything longer.

The rivalry has pushed both women to their best, and although they arent scheduled at this moment to compete against each other this year, they are likely to go head to head in two World Championships and the Olympics over the next two years.

I cant put myself up next to her, Titmus said of her rival. What she has done for female swimming has been insane. Shes been at this level for 10 years. To be in the conversation with her, I feel completely honoured. I wouldnt be here without her. I hope this is going to keep the battle going, give her some drive, hopefully, we can see how much faster we can keep going.

Ledecky, for her part, said she enjoys the thrill of being chased as much as she enjoyed the thrill of the chase. Its great for the sport, great to have somebody like [Titmus] to race, she said. And I know that there are other swimmers as well that are coming up that are going to be very competitive over the next couple of years. So that definitely keeps me on my toes. And I think well continue to have some great races.

The rest is here:

Swimming | Freestyle queen Katie Ledecky closer than ever to immortality - The Hindu

BROOMFIELD, Colo., July 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- How would you like to live forever? Maybe you'd like to be stronger, faster, and more agile while on this journey of immortality. If so, plants might be able to help you get there! Here's some steps on how plants can help you reach your goals from Backyard Farming Supply.

Solutions where you might not expectWhile no, you obviously can't live forever, consuming certain organically grown foods may be able to help you live a healthier life and cut your chances of contracting serious illnesses, like cancer. With all these health benefits, it seems like getting some organic produce into your diet isn't just another craze it's a way to protect yourself against disease and illness. If you're worried about where to start, start with what's most available in your area. Apples are always abundant in fall, so they're an easy place to start adding more fruit into your diet. Eating plant-based dishes is also a great option that many people don't take advantage of but are happy when they do.

Longevity is better understood in insectsBy better understanding insect longevity, scientists hope to unlock insights into extending human life. For example, some genetic components have been discovered that extend lifespan by up to 50 percent in some species. Some research points to plants being responsible for extended life spans in insects such as fruit fliesbut whether similar plant compounds can slow aging in humans.

A plant-based diet extends lifeNew studies show that a plant-based diet can extend life by giving animals better heart health and even helping repair DNA. Specifically, there's evidence that animal-based fats (found in red meat) have a negative effect on our heart health and DNA when consumed in large quantities. In contrast, plant-based fats (found in nuts, seeds, avocados, and coconut oil) do not appear to damage our hearts or DNA. One study at Harvard University compared two groups of subjects, one with a vegan diet and one with an omnivorous diet. The study found that those who were vegan had lower blood pressure, cholesterol levels, body weight, and risk of diabetes than those who followed an omnivorous diet.

Additionally, a separate study found that following a plant-based lifestyle may also slow down the effects of aging in cellscausing them to function like they were much younger! Scientists believe this may be due to the plants' antioxidant qualities, which reduce cell damage over time. These results suggest we should rethink how we treat cardiovascular disease and diabetes as more people choose vegetarian diets over their carnivorous counterparts.

Come learn with the Backyard Farming family how to grow your own organic food! They can help you reduce costs and ensure you have access to the healthiest food for you and your family. If you are curious about organic fertilizers and learning which would be best for your garden, check out backyardfarmingsupply.com. Please follow us on Instagram and Facebook @backyardfarmingtips for helpful fun facts and tips.

SOURCE Backyard Farming Supply

More:

The Search for the Fountain of Youth: Can Plants Make You Live Forever? - PR Newswire

Microsoft has announced the Xbox Game Pass lineup for July, 2022, with Far Cry 5 and Matchpoint: Tennis Champions headlining the list of new games to be featured on the subscription service.

Other games to be added to the Xbox Game Pass lineup for July, 2022 include Last Call: BBS, As Dusk Falls, and Immortality.

The full list of Xbox Game Pass titles for the month of June 2022 are as follows:

The day one Xbox Game Pass release of the cooperative escape room game Escape Academy was initially planned for June 28, however it had since been postponed. Escape Academy will now launch in July, making it one of the titles that Game Pass members can look forward to enjoying this month.

As of writing, Microsoft hasnt officially revealed all of the new Xbox Game Pass titles for July 2022. However, based on early reports, four titles that are set to be added to the catalog are mentioned above along with the respective platforms on which theyll be available. Last Call: BBS will be added to Xbox Game Pass on July 5, while Matchpoint: Tennis Championships will be available on July 7. After that, As Dusk Falls will be added to the Game Pass lineup on July 19 on the day of its release, and Immortality will follow on July 26.

Far Cry 5 was developed by Ubisoft Montreal and Ubisoft Toronto, and released in the year 2018. It is the follow-up to Far Cry 4 from 2014 and the fifth main entry in the series. The game is set in the fictitional Montanan county of Hope County, and focuses on a doomsday cult that has gained control of the area under the direction of its charismatic leader, Joseph Seed.

Players take control of an anonymous junior deputy sheriff who becomes stuck in Hope County and has to cooperate with several resistance groups to free the area from the Seeds and Edens Gates dictatorial authority. The gameplay focuses on exploration and combat; players use a variety of weaponry to engage hostile soldiers and potentially deadly wildlife. The game has numerous components common to role-playing games, including side missions and a branching plot. A map editor and both cooperative and competitive multiplayer modes round up the games modes.

Facebook Twitter Reddit Pinterest

Originally posted here:

Xbox Game Pass July 2022 Lineup Includes Far Cry 5, And More - Twisted Voxel

The Goo Goo Dolls, consisting of vocalist and guitarist John Rzeznik, bassist and vocalist Robby Takac, and drummer George Tutuska, originated in Buffalo, New York. The band, which formed in 1986, didnt see large success until 1995 with the release of their breakout single Name. Three years later, they delivered their most recognized songIris.

Iris is one of those songs that would appear on the best love songs of all time list or the biggest heartbreak songs ever playlist. The songs melancholic guitar intro makes you feel like youve really lost something and are searching to get it back.

With nearly one billion listens today, Iris, released in 1998, was featured on the album Dizzy Up the Girl, which churned out other well-known songs like Slide, and Black Balloon. But, Iris wasnt originally written for Dizzy Up the Girl.

If Iris wasnt written for the album, what was it written for? Whats the story behind one of the greatest love songs of all time? We are here to answer those questions. Lets dive into the meaning of The Goo Goo Dolls Iris.

The songs meaning largely has to do with Rzezniks journey to writing the track. Rzeznik told American Songwriter in a 2010 interview that he was going through a great deal of writers block. He struggled with his identity as they made five albums, and then all of the sudden we had this hit song, Name. I got this feeling I think a lot of artists get: that I am a complete phony, that was just luck, and I dont know how to do it again.

Rzeznik continued, I felt like I had just won the lottery and everyone was standing around going, Wow! You won the Lottery! Thats amazing! Do it again! So it really kind of froze me up. I think it was the period where I finally had to come to terms with the fact that songwriting was now my job.

With the pressures of stardom, Rzeznik felt like he couldnt produce another hit. He felt lost, not only in his musical life but in his personal life, as well.

The Goo Goo Dolls frontman told Louder Sound in a 2019 interview that in 1997, I was feeling kinda schizophrenic, Rzeznik recalls. My wife and I had just broken up, and Id met another girl who I was really into. Id moved from my home in Buffalo, New York, and was living in this hotel. So it was a really manic time in my life. I was looking for something to hold on to.

Luckily, an opportunity to dig Rzeznik out of his hole came.

The beautiful love song Iris came at the exact moment that Rzeznik needed. He was asked to write a song for the 1998 romantic movie City of Angels with Nicolas Cage and Meg Ryan. He agreed to work on it because prominent artists like U2 and Peter Gabriel were also on the soundtrack.

After an early screening of the movie, Rzeznik returned to his hotel room to work on the song that would later become Iris.

Most of the time, for me, writing involves procrastination, fear, doubt, criticism Most songs I write I have to torture myself; be a prima donna for about an hour, said Rzeznik. But Iris came so easy. Id broken two strings on my guitar, so Id started winding all the strings up and down in these weird configurations, and that song just came out. It was like a gift like: Oh, thanks God!

In LA Weekly magazine, seeing that Iris DeMent was playing in town, he liked the name and chose it as the title.

The songs meaning directly correlates to the plot of the movie, City of Angels. In the movie, Cages character is an immortal angel but throws away his immortality for love. He becomes human so he can be with the one he loves.

Rzeznik explained that When I wrote it, I was thinking about the situation of the Nicolas Cage character in the movie. This guy is completely willing to give up his own immortality, just to be able to feel something very human. And I think, Wow! What an amazing thing it must be like to love someone so much that you give up everything to be with them. Thats a pretty heavy thought.

So, when he writes, And Id give up forever / to touch you / Cause I know that you / feel me somehow / Youre the closest to / heaven that Ill ever be / And I dont wanna go / home right now Rzeznik is speaking from Cages characters point of view. He give[s] up forever, or his immortality. Since hes an angel, the true heaven isnt where he dwells, but is with his loved one. The loved one is the closest to / heaven that Ill ever be.

The track led the City of Angels soundtrack to the top of the charts in June 1998. It also landed on the bands Dizzy Up The Girl album after a five-week streak at number nine on the chart.

The song received several grammy nominations, including Record of the Year, Pop Performance by a Duo or Group, and Song of the Year. In 2018, the song went quadruple platinum.

Photo by Maxine Evans / BBgun Press

Read the original post:

The Meaning Behind the Song Iris by The Goo Goo Dolls - American Songwriter

Wings of Desire (1987) is an ambitious, poetic work about an angels desire to become human in West Berlin. Damiel (Bruno Ganz) spends his days eavesdropping on the thoughts of Berliners with fellow angel Cassiel (Otto Sander), looking down at teeming humanity from atop churches and walking among the despairing and the hopeful. When Damiel discovers lonely trapeze artist Marion (Solveig Dommartin) and falls in love, he knows he must exchange immortality forhumanity.

German director Wim Wenders 14th feature and the first in his home country after eight years in America, where he made films such as Paris, Texas (1984) it examines ineffable themes, including what it is to be human, love and ageing, as we delve into the average thoughts and dreams of everyday folk. A powerful, beautiful work shot mostly in gorgeous monochrome, it also has a mischievous sense of fun, largely due to Peter Falk, who plays a version ofhimself.

To tie in with the UK release of the restored film, Wenders sat down with us in London to reflect on the unscripted making of the film, how his beloved Berlin has changed, and Nick Caves part in the film. An open, thoughtful interviewee, Wenders was in good humour, having been in Oxford the night before, where he enjoyed hanging out with Lenny Henry (A good man, according to Wenders) the pair among nine of the great and the good to receive honorary degrees from OxfordUniversity.

I missed my own language. I was starting to dream in English and realised that wasnt a good thing to happen to me. So I started to read more in my own language, and what I consider the most beautiful German are the poems by Rainer Maria Rilke. Seen from the US, I really wanted to go back to Europe, and from all the possible cities I picked Berlin, which was the city closest to myheart.

As I walked around Berlin, I saw angels all over, as monuments or sculptures or reliefs in public places, more than in any other city. I was really looking for a story that could help me to tell the citys story. I certainly didnt want to make a documentary about Berlin. I was looking for a character through whom I could tell the city the best. Eventually my night reading being populated by angels, and the angels I photographed and encountered all over the city, led me to the realisation that I wouldnt find any better characters for my project. So I started to come up with a story that had guardian angels asprotagonists.

The more I thought about it, the more I thought I was crazy. You want to make a movie with angels!? But the idea opened so many possibilities to look into so many different lives, because these angels could be anywhere. They could cross the bloody wall. They could meet anybody and be perfect witnesses of life in the city of Berlin. I finally had a point of view that was all-encompassing. Not that I really believed in angels, but I liked them as ametaphor.

I loved their ability to listen to peoples thoughts. I imagined their huge love for people. I wanted a loving look at this city that in 87 was divided, suffering, quite grey, quite down. It was a place like nowhere else in the world. There was no other city with a wall running through it. And there was no city that was the capital of twocountries.

It was a unique place. There was so much history and, at the same time, so many open wounds. Berlin was one of the cities that still showed its wounds and even showed them proudly in its no mans lands, its firewall facades. History was an open book in Berlin. Most other German cities were rebuilt and had no traces of the past left. My own city, where I was born, Dsseldorf, had been destroyed by 80%. You couldnt see the past anymore. And as Berlin was divided, it was also showing the state of the world. There was still a cold war. Berlin was, in a strange way, the centre of the world a little miserable sometimes but, at the same time, an island for amazing people from all over the world. Even some crazy punks from Australia decided it was a great place. There were lots of musicians, painters and writers, and it was quite a free city; also a city without arms basically. In Berlin you couldnt have any arms; you couldnt get in and out of the city with them. You would be caught, anyway. There was not much violence in Berlin then. It was a very peacefulcity.

You slowly get used to this, 35 years since we made it. The wall is gone. They had to rebuild parts of it because tourists wanted to see it. At the time we shot, in 1987, it was a completely different place. A few years afterwards, it was different again; a complete, total mystery to us that the city of the film no longer existed. That was something we never thought wed see happen in our own lives. When the wall went down, it became the only city in the world that had a no mans land as its centre. Potsdamer Platz was a prairie, a fantastic place for birds. Children loved it, and there was always some sort of circus on it because it was empty. We didnt think that would change so drastically when the film wasreleased.

In this no mans land we wandered and stumbled around with Curt Bois, our old actor, who had lived in Berlin when Potsdamer Platz was the centre of the roaring 20s, the Times Square of Berlin of the time. Now he was looking for any sign of recognition, and he just couldnt find any. And then only a few years later there were skyscrapers and there was a city centre again. It was mind-blowing. The film is a document of a place that doesnt exist anymore. I didnt want it to be that, but it becamethat.

That is correct. The wall was two walls and a minefield of 50 yards in between. You had to climb over two walls and cross the deadly stretch in between, so the wall was off limits for us. We could shoot it from the west side, but we couldnt go into that no mans land. Thats what I was mostly interested in that open land with lots of rabbits and other wildlife. I was always attracted by the idea of crossing it. But, of course, it wasntpossible.

I also tried hard to get a permit to shoot at Brandenburg Gate, which was in the east. It was my dream for the angels to convene on top of the Brandenburg Gate, in that strange little stretch of no mans land between east and west, but of course I didnt get a permit. No way. I even went to the state minister of cinema. He had seen my films before and actually invited me a few years earlier to show Paris, Texas in East Berlin. It was one of the few German films that was shown to East Germans, because for some reason they decided it was an anti-capitalistmovie.

We wrote some of the angels dialogue, but none of the interior thoughts. Peter didnt write a script. Peter tried to help me when I told him the story and asked him if we could work together on a script. He said, Im in the middle of the process of writing my own novel. That story that you just told about the two angels and one of them falling in love with a trapeze artist, you got to handle it yourself. Thats out of my range. So, he sent me home, but a couple of weeks later I started getting letters from him and he wrote: Im so sorry that I had to let you down. I realised from the story that you were going to need a number of dialogues anyway. Peter wrote them just from the memory of the story. I told him some situations, and the rest I had to just fill up on my own, especially what people werethinking.

I stole from lots of funny conversations I overheard, and I also used The Weight of the World, for instance, a beautiful book which Peter wrote. Its just short notes and observations that I used for Marions thoughts. All over the film, you hear little pieces of peoples thoughts as the camera passes them. Especially in the library you have all these people thinking. Every person is a universe all by itself, if you listen to their thoughts. It was so much fun to come up with that part of thefilm.

I didnt know anything when we were starting because the film was largely done without a script. We did it from one day to another. The script was a huge wall in my office with all the places in Berlin I wanted to shoot. On the other side of the room, I had all the scenes that we could possibly shoot. Every night I was picking a scene, and then I was looking for the place where it couldhappen.

I didnt know much what to tell Bruno and Otto about their angel characters. Actors always want to know motivations and want to have biographies: Who am I? Whats my story? But if somebody plays an angel, he didnt have an unhappy childhood and he doesnt have a mean father or whatever, and he didnt ever want to kill either father or mother. So theres littlepsychology.

Bruno and Otto reacted so differently to that state of not having a past. Bruno really got into it and into the idea that he was all kindness and all love. Otto was dreaming of becoming a human and could finally be nasty, and curse and do bad things. He said so much goodness is too much for me. Ottos character was almost the rejection of being anangel.

Claire Denis was with me when we stood one night in front of these walls in the office and I said, Do you realise our movie is not really funny? Angels being what they are, theyre not really comedians. We have nobody whos going to make this a little more amusing. Dont you think we have to add a character? She said, Yeah. And I said: Well, dont you think the most fun would be if there was somebody who was an ex-angel and had the same experience that Damiel was having? I thought, wouldnt that make the whole film lessserious?

It was. Peter understood exactly what he was supposed to do. The part wasnt written. And thats why he accepted the role. I got him on the phone in the middle of the night, a few hours after Claire and I had said we needed to add a character. By deduction, we came to the funniest guy we could imagine as an ex-angel. I got Falks number from John Cassavetes. Amazingly, he answered himself, so I said: You dont know me, Im a director from Germany making a movie in Berlin. We need to add a character and I thought of you. Peter laughed for a while and said, You are making a movie and youre calling me to tell me that I should join you because there is an unwritten part? What is it? I said An ex-angel. He laughed for another long while and then he said, Ill do it. I did my best work thisway.

Well, hes a great singer. He is a masterful poet now, and one of the great living singers. Im a subscriber to his Q&A web-dialogue The Red Hand Files I love them. At the time, of course, he was more of a rebel. His image was quite rowdy: the Bad Seeds only lived at night, and they were heavily into drugs. I saw them so often in the middle of the night; they never played before midnight, or lets say before two oclock. If you wanted to talk to Nick, you had to go to a certain bar at three oclock at night; then he might show up. I finally got hold of him and he liked my proposition. Making a movie in Berlin at that time without Nick Cave was a sin of omission. He really symbolised the spirit of the city. Adventurous, dark, unique. That was Berlin. Nick was gorgeous, and we struck up afriendship.

Any time. I would do anything to work with Nick again and we will. Ihope.

The 4k digital restoration of Wings of Desire is currently in cinemas, including BFI Southbank.

See the article here:

Every person is a universe: Wim Wenders on Wings of Desire - British Film Institute