Category Archives: Immortality

One of the time-honored traditions in sports is carving the names of members of Stanley Cup-winning teams onto the iconic trophy, and theNational Hockey Leagueteamed up with Twitter to enable some fans to have their shot at immortality, as well.

According to a new press release from the NHL, fans can tweet directly to the @StanleyCup account with the hashtag #StanleyTweets, and up to 52 of those tweets will be engraved into a first-of-its kind installation at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, featured alongside the Stanley Cup and other official NHL trophies.

The goal is to pick 52 tweets in multiple languages to correspond to the 52 names the winning team gets on the Cup each season. NHL social media director Sean Dennison said the hope is for tweets that evoke emotion and sentimentality with some humor mixed in.

We want this to be as symbolic of the Cup as possible and since 52 names get put on the Cup, lets recognize 52 fans, he said. The modern day fan experience really does take place on social media and especially on Twitter. It captures what people are saying, and I think thats an important part of the story for our sport and for a Stanley Cup win.

Tweets in Czech, English, Finnish, French, German, Russian, Slovak, Spanish and Swedish will be considered.

The thought was really finding a way to give fans recognition for their commitment the same way that we would with the players themselves, NHL executive vice president and chief marketing officer Heidi Browning said.

The social media endeavor launches on the day of Game 1 of the final between the Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning. While the Lightning are trying to win back to back, the Canadiens are looking for their first championship since 1993.

Excerpt from:

NHL to Engrave Fan Tweets at Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto - iPhone in Canada

Her Story and Telling Lies are effective, thrilling stories told using video footage of real actors. Still, developer Sam Barlow chafes at the idea that his two previous games are interactive movies.

I, as a movie fan, was like, Theyre not really movies. Movies are about editing, and cuts, and montage, and this very specific presentation of images by the director to tell you the story. We kind of went in a different direction, Barlow says. Yes, its filmed footage, but there is no cut. And certainly, in Telling Lies, we were trying to expand that and have images that were very uncinematic in terms of just sitting and watching people and thinking about them.

Now, Barlow is leaning into the comparison. This time, he and his team at Half Mermaid are making an interactive movie about movies. Immortality is the story of Marissa Marcel, an actress who starred in three films, Ambrosio, Minsky and Two of Everything, between 1968 and 1999. Then she disappeared. None of the films were ever released.

Barlows previous games have asked the player to solve mysteries using databases, fast-forwarding, rewinding, and searching keywords until they felt satisfied that they had thoroughly discovered the storys twists and turns. In this game, Half Mermaid is eschewing the database for a mechanic that, Barlow teases, has something to say about movies.

Weve come up with a mechanic that I wont super explain at this point but, we got rid of the text-searching idea and the idea of there being this database software and really wanted to come up with some mechanics that were cinematic, that were visual and were about the magic of being cut, and the various tools of cinema, and weve come up with something pretty neat, Barlow says. I still get excited by it when I play around with it.

Well have to wait and see what exactly that means. For now though, Bloody Disgusting had the chance to dig deep on Barlows cinematic influences, his love of David Lynch films and the spiritual successor to Silent Hill: Shattered Memories that is currently in pre-production at Half Mermaid.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

BD: Until the E3 reveal, Immortality was known only as Project Ambrosio and had a heavily redacted Steam page. And going through the trailer, we can see that Ambrosio is one of the Marissa Marcel movies thats lost to time. So Im curious what does Ambrosio signify to you as a working title, and what do you think it suggests about the games themes?

SB: We tried to come up with a codename that we could use externally that doesnt ruin things. Its not like Codename This Is Exactly What the Game Is About. One of the fun things about this project [as opposed to] Telling Lies and to some extent Her Story is that [those games were] really hard to talk about because giving any details of the plot, the characters, or setting was kind of ruining the gameplay. Her Story definitely benefits from, in this very high-level way, its just about, did this person murder her husband? And then you start to get more details. It was definitely hard for Telling Lies because the premise of the game, the genre we were subverting, how the characters were related to each other was kind of fun for people to figure out in the first hour of the game or something, and we were kind of reticent there. Here, theres a lot to dig into, so we can be pretty explicit about what this is about, who these people are, and these movies they made. And with Ambrosio, its even easier because this movie Ambrosio is an adaptation of an existing book that was written in the late 1700s, The Monk, which was one of the great page-turning, pulpy, dark gothic novels. It just has everything you want out of that kind of book: satanic rituals, all sorts of violence, and gothic nonsense. So I think pinning ourselves onto that aspect, which was already out there, felt like a fun thing. And to some extent, when you dig into the three movies, Ambrosio is this movie that Marcel kind of debuts in and is cast very much from obscurity to be in this thing and so its kind of the making of her. And theres definitely a way you can look at it where the other movies feel like iterations on that story or are kind of refinements of some of the elements of it. Its a cool word as well.

BD: Youve talked about Immortality being 10 times more ambitious than your previous work. One of the clear markers of increasing ambition from Her Story to Telling Lies was the expansion of the cast. Her Story had one actress, Telling Lies had a core cast of four characters plus some bit parts. Does the ambition on this extend to a larger cast than what youve done before?

SB: Yeah, I think the ambition is two-fold. We have dug up these three movies, so thats three movies worth of story and cast and characters and locations and everything, and theres a lot of stuff in there. But the ambition is also the scale of the questions were asking. Lets do something with movies ended up being Lets use this as a means to questionwhat even are movies, why do we make movies, how does one make a movie? And then it becomes about looking at these decades. Thats almost the second half-century of cinema. What does that progression look like? And you find between Ambrosio in 68, and what theyre doing on Minsky [in 72] its this leap from kind of the studio system and the remnants of that, to New Hollywood and these very different movies where suddenly you have the directors leading things, these movies become more organic and personal, and the way theyre shot is very different. Suddenly theyre shooting on location, and everything is much more natural and the types of stories that get told. Then, tracking to the end of the 90s where, like 1999 was, for obvious reasons, a fascinating year for movies. Youre at the end of the millennium, and everyone was just sort of getting their stuff out. Coming out of the decadence of the 80s, in the 90s, there was a correction where you had these directors coming up who revered the 70s and were looking back and attempting to create everything had to have a bit more cleverness to it or a little bit of a twist, and it was a lot of referential stuff. Basic Instinct is heavily quoting Vertigo, and Lost Highway is doubly applicable here because its living in this weird Lynchian timelessness where its definitely the 90s but a lot of it has this noir feel but then you have Trent Reznor on the soundtrack. So theres a very interesting fusion at that point. That definitely plugs into the ambitions of the questions that were trying to use this material to explore, get quite big and ambitious and chunky.

BD: Its interesting that you bring up the New Hollywood because I just finished reading Peter Biskinds Easy Riders, Raging Bulls a few weeks ago. Im very interested to see how you dig into those differences, from the end of the studio system, as such, into the directors pictures of the 70s.

SB: That book was quite a trip because I think when I first read it I kind of assumed that, Oh I get the studio system was bad and the way they created and sculpted their stars. Some of the power dynamics. And in my head, it was, And then you get to the 70s, and youre making these wonderful works of art, and everythings cool. And then when you dig into it, youre like, Actually, you just kind of shifted the power to the director, and a lot of those power dynamics were still in play. There are definitely some darker stories dredged up in that book.

BD: Right, and it seems like having that power may have had some scarring effects on some of those people. Like you look at, in that book, they say multiple times that Coppola, after he went to shoot Apocalypse Now, was never the same. You look at where the directors are in 1980 when that era is coming to a close, and most of them are not doing so hot. Except for the golden boys, like Spielberg, who learned to work within the studio system.

SB: I think even Spielberg had the quote in that book that was like, by 1972, the 70s were over. [laughs] Theres this kind of inertia to it all. Theres this trajectory to it all, and then everything falls off.

BD: You mentioned Lynch earlier, and I know that youre a fan of Inland Empire. Its the Lynch film that I find the most frustrating because I love the premise so much: that Jeremy Irons, Justin Theroux, and Laura Dern are working on a movie that is supposed to have been cursed as the previous leads were killed while they were working on it. Immortality, similarly, is about movies that were never released. What do you think is captivating about that idea of the unreleased film?

SB: I could talk about lost movies for a long time Theres definitely the excitement of having a work, especially if it touches on genius or something, that is not lessened by reality. You dont have to sit and watch them and see if they actually work; you can just imagine. I was a huge fan of the novel Dead Calm. They eventually made the movie with Nicole Kidman. But Orson Welles was obsessed with this book, and he was directing a version of it that he never finished. That whole kind of, Orson Welles, at a certain point, is just trying hard to make movies, and hes just pulling scraps together. I think even just beyond lost movies, something that we were able to explore on this project is just the process and the fluidity of things. Everyone loves to read those Buzzfeed articles that are like, Famous Roles that Were Almost Cast Differently. Oh, Tom Selleck was almost Indiana Jones. The one that blows my mind from the art house end is that Andie MacDowell was going to be the star of The Double Life of Veronique and Kielowski was really, really into that idea. And all these things that could have gone differently, all these choices that could have been made. People love to talk about Jodorowskys Dune and be like Oh look at the concept art, I can imagine it. And obviously, the movie you are imagining when you look at that art and think about it, Im almost guaranteeing, is better than the movie would have been if it had actually gone through, right? Your imagination can really go places.

And then I think theres also a charge to the idea of all that effort to put something on camera to create a performance to conjure up these stories that, when left in the darkroom, festers to some extent. It gains a slightly sinister charm. Its something that is endlessly fascinating to me, which is weird because there are enough movies that do exist that I have not watched that I could go watch right now. But the idea of the road not taken Maybe its that as well. It plugs into your awareness of the many alternate realities that are floating around.

I think when you dig into the careers of artists, you realize the extent to which these random little decisions are instrumental. You take Lynch. I think probably the world agrees that Dune is not the best Lynch movie, and its probably the one that you could leave behind if you were traveling to a desert island. But if he had not made that movie, he would not have then been owed Blue Velvet by Dino De Laurentiis, and you would not have the entire catalog of Lynch movies that we have had since. And even rewinding a little bit more, there you have The Elephant Man because Mel Brooks has watched Eraserhead and decides this guy is the one I want to come make this movie and has to convince the execs. So when you start thinking about these missing projects and every director or star has a bunch of these in their history, things that didnt quite happen it kind of makes you then pay attention to what did happen and the machinations of it all.

And I probably would say Inland Empire is my favorite Lynch. I might be slightly biased because when I saw it,, I lived in this little town in England where we didnt have a cool cinema. It was just the one multiplex that would show big blockbuster movies. But, we had a museum that was a naval museum that was essentially a recruiting tool for the navy. But they had an incredible cinema that they used just to show recruitment videos and documentaries about battleships. So there was a couple in the town that started renting it in the evenings when the museum was shut to put on arthouse movies and horror movies and the cooler stuff. And we went to see Inland Empire there, and we were the only people in the entire audience that showed up. And to get to it, you had to walk through the museum after hours, so youre walking through this empty dark museum to get to go see your movie and so sitting in a giant empty movie theater in a museum thats been closed watching that movie was a real mind trip. At every point where the movie was really futzing with what was really going on, what was real, all these layers, I started being like, Is this movie affecting my brain? Such a weird, surreal setting watching this movie. And theres a shot in that movie and I wont ruin it for people that havent seen it thats in my top five horror moments. And its not gory or intense; it just uses a boom mic. And for me because it was a moment in the film, about two-thirds of the way through the movie, and it was like, Oh, maybe were settling in on whats really happening. Its this scene where you think, Maybe this is building to giving some solid footing in this crazy nightmare with all these competing, layered realities. and just when you think thats happening, its ripped away from you. Youre cast back into this maelstrom of unsettling, weird, different set-ups and that in itself, in a very abstract, Lynch-y way, was so terrifying.

I think sometimes thats whats cool about Lynch, hell cut to something very inoffensive, hell cut to a ceiling fan, and then hell slow things down a bit, and the soundtrack kicks in, and its like, Damn, this ceiling fan is terrifying. I dont think we immediately related things to Inland Empire [on Immortality], but when I made Her Story, part of locking in the [creative direction] was me watching that and being like, Shit, David Lynch is running round filming things with a cheap video camera. I guess I could do that, too. If thats what hes up to, why dont I embrace this kind of aesthetic? Its definitely one of the better movies about the darkness behind the glamor of Hollywood and what does it mean for an actress to lose herself in a role; to become so emotionally [invested] in that, and with the other forces swirling around her, where does that push her? Its very intense and cool, and Laura Dern is incredible.

BD: The cheapness of the camera is definitely part of what makes Inland Empire feel as unsettling as it does. That early scene with Grace Zabriskie coming in and speaking to Laura Dern in the sitting room of her house sets the tone for the rest of the movie. Laura Derns character is very confused by whats happening and you are very confused about whats happening and the camera that Lynch is using to shoot that is a big part of why it feels as unsettling as it does. The cheapness gives it a sort of found footage feeling.

SB: He got excited by what happens when you blow it up on a big screen. It becomes dreamy, thats his favorite word. Thats what I was digging into on Her Story. I watched Inland Empire. I watched a bunch of things, like real-life footage from investigation and interrogations that had been released into the public domain. And then, I watched the casting tapes from Basic Instinct, which had the same texture. It was all shot on a little dinky video camera with very little cinematic flair. Theres a different edge to it thats interesting. There are a few things were playing with here, not entirely similar, but getting to interrogate what is the difference between cinematic reality and real reality in a deliberate way.

BD: So, weve been talking a lot about Lynch without mentioning that one of the writers on this game is Barry Gifford, who wrote the book Wild at Heart is based on and the screenplay for Lost Highway. Weve sort of talked about Inland Empires connection to Her Story, but do you see there being a Lynchian flavor to what youre doing on Immortality and what Barry Giffords work is doing in it?

SB: Yeah, I want to be specific because Lynchs name gets thrown around a lot in video games. Oh yeah, were going for like a Lynch thing. And youre like, What you mean its going to be slightly weird? I think the most weve referenced him on this project is in understanding some of the more horror aspects and what types of horror do I like playing with and what is more disturbing. Some of his movies you wouldnt out and out call horror movies, but there are always moments in Lynchs movies that are upsetting and horrific and dig into those textures as deep as anyone does. Certainly understanding his toolkit and how he crafts those things has been on my mind.

As far as Barry and [co-writer] Allan [Scott], part of the research of digging into this was going back and speaking to people who were working in movies at this time and producing the great works at the time amongst the various creative pairings and things. And so, for us to make this, figuring out which bits are real well lets speak to the people, lets pull in the people that actually did this work. So we spoke to a bunch of people. Is this research or is this me having a fanboy moment digging into all these stories? But then yeah bringing them in so we could pull in those textures and have those things. And theres some fun stuff with Barry that well probably get to later. But the very long phone conversations with Barry have definitely been a highlight for everybody on the team.

BD: In the fiction, are all three American made movies?

SB: So, Ambrosio is a European co-production, has a British director, and was shot in Italy, as many movies were back then. Then, when you get to Minsky, the interesting thing about Minsky is that the director of photography on Ambrosio is the director of that movie. Hes an American director, and that is shot in New York. And then the third of the movies, also shot by the same director but many years later, is shot in L.A. and New York, so yeah, it kind of starts in Europe and then moves to the twin cities of New York and L.A. It was an interesting angle on the second half of movies in the 20th century and the post-war reinvention of movies in a bunch of European countries that then seeds the New Wave and then inspires what happens in the 70s, initially in New York, you have that very kind of New York thrust of New Hollywood but then that stuff kind of spreads over to Hollywood as well.

BD: So, we are a horror website, and youve said that Immortality is spooky. Can you talk about the genres of horror that youre interested in tapping into here?

SB: I will say, no one knows what happened to Marissa Marcel and the initial thrust of the game is figuring that out. There are a lot of dark and violent theories around what happened, why these movies didnt come out. Back then, we didnt have the internet and gossip sites, so it was easier to shut down rumors and have things just become vague bits of hearsay. So, were really interested in having players cooperate with us in digging into this. But if youve played Shattered Memories, were putting both feet back into that world. Her Story and Telling Lies were the format was so explicitly banal, that was part of the provocation of Her Story: imagine anything less interesting than a database program from the 1990s. And you boot up the game, and its there, its a database program, and its a Windows desktop, and theres nothing less evocative or Gothic than that. But that then is a perfect frame to then take people in that direction. So theyre expecting it less and it freshens things up a bit. So both of those projects were then rigidly defined by having to behave themselves because they had this real-world kind of framework, and its probably fair to say that we dont have those same requirements this time around. And I have a personal love for when you sit and watch a Hitchcock movie; you know that Hitchcock is, in some cases, trying to push your buttons. And is trying to set you up so that youre more vulnerable to then him coming back on the attack. So a lot of my favorite horror stuff in any medium is the stuff that gets inside your head [I remember reading] the idea that when youre watching a movie or reading a book, youre sort of letting something bad inside your head Its not just scary and upsetting but its what is even going on here?

BD: In addition to Immortality, youve said that youre pitching a spiritual successor to Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. Can you tell us anything about that pitch? Or what elements of Silent Hill youre still interested in exploring?

SB: Yeah, its slightly less pitchy and slightly more in early pre-production. So, yeah, the interesting thing was, when I made Her Story, I was slightly reacting to, All right, Ive spent three years making a Legacy of Kain game that was then canceled. Theres a chance that would have been a very cool game, but there was lots about it that was challenging. Part of it was, when I made Shattered Memories, it was a lot of me digging into a lot of my favorite games growing up were exploratory immersive sims and then getting into making Silent Hill games where you have a story emphasis on exploring these atmospheric locations. I kind of started to wonder, to question walking a character around a 3D space, is it too easy? You just naturally get this level of immersion and involvement, but then questioning, how does that specifically drive the story?

And at that time, you were seeing games like Gone Home and stuff that were doing this subtractive thing of taking out gameplay elements. Gone Home very much feels like them taking the BioShock and survival horror vibes but then removing combat and inventory and all these things. So when I made Her Story, it was somewhat out of frustration and somewhat just wanting to push further in a direction, knowing that progress is very slow and incremental in AAA games. So I was excited to explore with Her Story, What does a game look like if I dont have the prop of walking a character around a 3D space? What happens if me being the protagonist doesnt necessarily mean Im the star of the story? And it was still taking at the purest level, what is interesting about games: exploration, expression, challenge, and just translating those to something that wasnt an avatar in a 3D space.

And now Ive had sufficient time away from that world that I notice myself, at the end of every year, Ill be on a couple of juries, and so Ill play through every big game coming out. Ill play through all the third-person story games and horror-adjacent games or action games. I just notice myself more vocally being like, Theyre doing it wrong! They should do this! And then Im like, oh, okay, maybe it would be fun to come back I realized that with Shattered Memories I had not exhausted all of my ideas as to how to mix up the conventional third-person horror game.

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[Interview] Sam Barlow Talks Movie Mystery Game 'Immortality', 'Inland Empire' Inspiration, and the Spiritual Successor to His 'Silent Hill' Game -...

Giannis Antetokounmpos mission is clear: win an NBA title. After dominating the defending Eastern Conference Champions with ease and surpassing the Brooklyn Nets in a hard-fought, come-from-behind series, the Milwaukee Bucks have one last hurdle to clear before they make the first Finals appearance since 1974. The Hawks are no walk in the park as theyve posted one of the best records in the league since coach Nate McMillan took the helm part-way into the season, but the back-to-back MVP winner and crew are ready for the challenge and he might do so sporting some new sneakers.

That new shoe? The Nike Giannis Immortality. Already releasing in Asia in select colorways, this lower-priced option now appears in a clean white base with hits of aqua teal and bright crimson for that summer-time hooping energy that we just saw in the Nike KD 14. There are already rumblings that the Zoom Freak 3 could see a debut as weve been notified by retailers of a potential June release, but well wait and see exactly what Nike has in store as the Playoffs progress.

Expect the Giannis Immortality to hit more retailers in Asia and well notify you if and when these hit the US market. In other hoops news, the KD 14 has just been revealed in primary colors.

Where to Buy

Make sure to follow @kicksfinder for live tweets during the release date.

Mens: N/AStyle Code: DH4528-100

See the article here:

Nike Giannis Immortality Revealed In Aqua And Crimson As The Greek Freaks Title Run Continues - Sneaker News

It was the moment Liverpool supporters the world over had been yearning for and dreaming of for three long decades.

For most clubs, the trophies which arrived at Anfield in between the 18th top flight league championship in 1990 and what turned into the holy grail of the 19th thirty years later - namely, two Champions League titles, three FA Cups, three League Cups, three UEFA Super Cups and two Charity Shields - would be regarded as more than adequate and in some cases would constitute a golden era.

But Liverpool FC arent most clubs. The dynasty began by Bill Shankly in 1959 and developed by Bob Paisley, Joe Fagan and Kenny Dalglish established the Reds as Englands most successful side and was founded on repeatedly winning what Shanks called our bread and butter, the league title.

For all the glory and prestige of the continental conquests which saw LFC become the countrys pre-eminent side in Europe, it was the continued dominance of domestic league competition which meant Liverpool were for so long seen as the nations top club, with the 13 top-flight titles won between 1964 and 1990 putting the Reds way out in front with 18 in total ahead of closest rivals Everton and Arsenal, who then had nine each.

Kenny Dalglishs champions of 1989/90 were never likely to be placed in the pantheon of Anfields greatest sides but they had appeared to cope with the emotional weight of what the club had endured the previous season and ultimately finished on top of the First Division by a comfortable nine points and were only denied another crack at the-then hallowed Double by a shock FA Cup semi-final defeat to Crystal Palace.

There was little on the surface to indicate the longest title drought in the clubs history was imminent but six months into the defence of their crown in February 1991 the unbearable pressure Kenny Dalglish had been under in the wake of the Hillsborough disaster coupled with his own and the club's relentless drive to be successful led to him resigning his post as team manager.

With the English game about to undergo fundamental change with the advent of the Premier League, Liverpool were thrust into a seemingly endless cycle of boom and bust which time and again saw Kopites hopes and dreams of a nineteenth title rise then fall as their team would show their ability to compete with the best at home and abroad while bringing silverware back to Anfield, yet somehow always fail to take that final and most meaningful step when it came to the league championship.

Roy Evans, Gerard Houllier, Rafa Benitez and Brendan Rodgers all managed to build teams which seriously threatened to end the interminable drought but every time the fates appeared to conspire against them, most heartbreakingly of all in the case of Rodgers in the spring of 2014 whose attacking but defensively flawed side were on the cusp of glory and required only seven points from their final three games to be crowned champions before stumbling with the finishing line desperately close but tantalisingly out of reach.

With Manchester United, who only had seven league titles in 1990 but under Alex Ferguson had won 13 without reply from Anfield to overtake Liverpool by a score of 20-18, now beginning their own transition following the Scots retirement the previous season - and with the other major contenders Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal in a state of flux (terminally in the latters case) - 2013/14 felt for many like the Reds best opportunity for years and much of the anguish felt in the wake of that nearest of near-misses centred on a fear the stars had aligned in a way they may not again for quite some time.

Some Liverpudlians began to genuinely fear their team might never win another league championship and who could blame them, given how the weight of history and expectation had continually saddled talented crops of players and managers with an onerous burden they were unable to fully shoulder.

That was until a man from Germanys Black Forest by the name of Jrgen Norbert Klopp arrived at Anfield in October 2015.

From the very beginning, he identified the psychological impact the quarter-of-a-century wait for another league title had made on the club and its legions of fans, and made it abundantly clear his primary mission was to restore that unshakeable conviction which had characterised many of the great Liverpool sides of the past and turn doubters into believers.

Klopps values and personality immediately seemed made to measure for a club still stuck in the funk of the failed title bid from 18 months previous and by the end of his first part-season in charge he had led Liverpool into two finals, in the Capital One Cup and the Europa League.

Both may have ended in defeat but by this stage it was rapidly becoming evident to a rejuvenated Liverpool fanbase that their new manager got the club and the city, knew what was required to make the team winners again, and had the determination and perseverance required to take the Reds back to the top as evidenced by his coaching successes in Germany with Mainz 05 and Borussia Dortmund which only came to pass after some initial failures.

Sure enough, after Champions League qualification was secured on the final day of his first full campaign in the charge, Klopps Reds rapidly evolved into a serious force to be reckoned with, surpassing expectations by reaching the European Cup final in 2017/18 with a serious of swashbuckling attacking performances led by the triumvirate of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane.

They fell short in Kiev against Real Madrid but went one better the following year once Alisson Becker and Fabinho had joined Virgil van Dijk to gave the side a defensive spine on par with their formidable frontline , producing Anfields greatest ever fightback by recovering from three goals down after the first leg of the semi final against Catalan giants Barcelona before beating Tottenham Hotspur in the Madrid final to win the clubs sixth European Cup and crucially securing the first trophy of Klopps tenure.

That same, astonishing 2018/19 campaign also saw Liverpool make their strongest tilt yet at the Premier League title, matching the previous seasons 100-point champions Manchester City blow-for-blow in arguably the highest quality championship race ever seen over the final months but still manage to agonisingly fall just short despite losing only league match all season (to City) and racking up 97 points, the third-highest top flight points tally of all time.

Breaking that glass ceiling in Madrid however proved to all watching - and most crucially to Klopps players themselves - that this was now a winning team and a champion team which would not rest until they had finally laid to rest the ghost of nearly three decades without a league title.

From the earliest weeks of the season, Klopps men looked like Premier League champions-elect and, having opened up an early points lead at the top of the table which only grew and grew, they marched inexorably and remorselessly towards title glory, winning a mind-boggling and most likely never-to-be-repeated 26 out of the first 27 league fixtures, with a draw at Old Trafford in October being the only blip.

Manchester Citys defeat to their city rivals at the same venue in early March 2020, the day after Liverpool had beaten Bournemouth at home, left the Reds 25 points clear at the top with nine matches still to play meaning Klopps men could be crowned champions before their next match - at Goodison Park of all places the following Monday night - if Guardiolas side lost their next two matches.

But then the looming threat of the coronavirus pandemic struck, causing life as we knew it to grind to a halt across the planet in a manner not seen since the Second World War.

The season inevitably was suspended and, while the severity of the public health situation put everything including football into perspective, for a time the fears of those fans who worried Liverpool were cursed never to win another league championship seemed to have a chance of playing out as top-flight campaigns in countries like France and Holland were null and voided with the results expunged from history with self-serving voices within the English game calling for the same to happen here.

Eventually it was decided the Premier League would resume behind closed doors on 17 June and Manchester City beat Arsenal at the Etihad on that first evening of footballs resumption to ensure Evertonians nightmare scenario of Liverpool winning the title at Goodison could no longer happen.

Four nights later, the Reds returned to action after a three-month hiatus by grinding out a goalless draw in a surreal 236th Merseyside derby played in front of empty stands on a sun-kissed late June evening, reducing their lead at the top to a mere 23 points, but the following Wednesday night Crystal Palace were hammered 4-0 at Anfield to leave Klopps men at match point and on the brink of destiny, with Manchester City now having to take all three points away at Chelsea the following evening to prevent confirmation of Liverpools 19th league title.

Heres how that never-to-be-forgotten day and night unfolded:

THURSDAY 25 JUNE 2020

Early morning -The morning papers wax lyrical over Liverpools recapturing of their champions-elect swagger against Palace following a slight slump in form by their own sky-high standards of the previous 18 months, only two of the previous seven matches in all competitions having resulting in victories prior to the arrival of Roy Hodgsons side.

Klopp and his team now need just two more points from the final seven matches to become champions of England, wrote the ECHOs Paul Gorst.

Immortality is beckoning and Liverpool are marching forward. Klopp knows, like everyone else, that Liverpool's name will be on the trophy. Now, it is simply a matter of where and when.

There has never been a more worthy champion. Over to you, Chelsea.

12:12pm - The Premier League confirm Liverpools next match, away at Manchester City of all places, will be played at the Etihad Stadium.

With there being a possibility that Klopps men could clinch the league against their closest title rivals, there had been a suggestion the game could have taken place at a neutral venue because of safety fears over fans gathering outside.

But a Manchester City Council safety advisory group agree it can be played at City's home ground, irrespective of what may or may not happen at Stamford Bridge later that evening.

3:05pm - With Red flags, banners and mementos appearing in ever-increasing numbers across the city as Liverpudlians get ready to celebrate, the club announce somewhat poignantly that the man who scored the goal which brought Klopps first win as Liverpool manager - Nathaniel Clyne in a 1-0 win over Bournemouth in the Capital One Cup back in November 2015 - is to leave the club at the end of the month upon the expiry of his contract.

Around 6pm - Klopp and his Liverpool players begin to arrive at Formby Hall Golf Resort, on the outskirts of Liverpool, some 13 miles from Anfield. Despite the manager telling reporters after the Palace game the night before he was not involved in such a gathering so as to shield the club from unnecessary headlines should City keep the title race going, a decision to stay overnight in the four-star resort had been taken earlier in the week (provided Palace were duly beaten and with an 8-day gap before the next match at the Etihad) just in case Guardiolas side stumbled.

Klopp later explained on LFC TVs superb documentary Golden Sky - Jrgen Klopp's Champions, We did what we thought was right. We have to be together, this will be forever and if something happens we have to be together otherwise we call each other and say oh congratulations.. thats not possible.

It started really relaxed, there was another game as well so we watched with one eye, we were eating barbecue then Chelsea and City started.

7:15pm - An hour before kick off at Stamford Bridge the teams are announced and, despite some suggestions Manchester City may rest players given their continued involvement in the Champions League and FA Cup before this marathon season would end, Guardiola names a strong side with De Bruyne, Sterling and captain Fernandinho all named in the starting XI.

The home side, still needing points themselves to try and secure Champions League qualification, also hold no-one back with their attacking trio of Willian, Giroud and Pulisic holding Liverpudlians dreams in their hands.

8:15pm - With Reds across the city and the planet putting aside fifteen years of fierce rivalry for one night and one night only, the game gets underway with everyone who has LFC at heart rooting for Chelsea.

8:21pm - The visitors, in their lurid yellow and orange away colours, start the brighter with Bernard Silva getting an early shooting chance but scuffing his shot tamely at Kepa.

8:34pm - After Gundogan turns Willians cross behind for a corner and then Mason Mount blazes over for Chelsea, City go close when Fernandinho has a free header from Mendys left wing free kick but Kepa tips over.

8:49pm - Two chances in quick succession for former Everton midfielder Ross Barkley as Chelsea begin to take command, Liverpool may not have been able to win the league at the home of their oldest rivals but Kopites begin to wonder if this most bizarre of seasons might see a former Blue deliver the coup de grace.

8:51pm - CHELSEA 1-0 MANCHESTER CITY (Pulisic 36)

The roars of delight can be heard all over Merseyside as City go behind! Benjamin Mendy loses possession to one time Anfield target Christian Pulisic - who joined Borussia Dortmund during Klopps time in charge there - then compounds his error by rashly diving in to give the American international the opportunity to race clear and calmly slot home beyond Ederson. City must now score twice or the title is coming home to Anfield.

Klopp at Formby Hall: Chelsea scored the first goal and there was celebration like I only usually saw when we score. I didnt like that too much, its too early, its Man City and why we celebrate like this, its good, they need a goal obviously for a draw.

9:02pm - The half time whistle blows at Stamford Bridge and Liverpool know they are just 45 minutes away from thirty years of hurt being over.

9:27pm - CHELSEA 1-1 MANCHESTER CITY (De Bruyne 55)

The champagne goes (temporarily) back in the fridge as Kevin de Bruyne thunders a 30-yard free kick into the top corner to remind everyone what talent remains in this City side and how remarkably Liverpool have performed over the last ten months to open up such a huge lead over them.

Klopp at Formby Hall: De Bruyne scores the free kick and it looks like ah of course. Some people were angry with the Chelsea goalkeeper a little bit, like Jump! Or 'catch the ball' or whatever!

9.30pm - Suddenly City are right on top and former Anfield flyer Raheem Sterling races through before hitting the post as Liverpool fans start trying to convince themselves theyd prefer to win the title by getting a result at the Etihad.

9:37pm - Chelsea should be back in front as Ederson makes an uncharacteristic error by shanking a simple clearance straight to Mason Mount who advances on goal but slams his shot into the side-netting.

9:41pm - The nerve-shredding tension shows no sign of abating as City again go close to taking the lead through Sterling who curls an effort from the edge of the box inches away from the top corner. Reds around the world can barely watch as the game passes the three-quarter way mark with City still needing a goal to stop Liverpool being crowned champions tonight.

9:44pm - Chelsea go agonisingly close to retaking the lead as Pulisic goes through again, rounds Ederson but Kyle Walker scrambles it off the goal-line with millimetres to spare, then the rebound is almost poked home but more desperate City defending somehow sees the ball scrambled clear. How did that not go in?!

9:49pm - City seem to have escaped another mad scramble on their own goal-line but no.. PENALTY TO CHELSEA! Ederson denied Tammy Abrahams effort from Willians cross and Pulisic poked the rebound goalwards only for Fernandinho to divert the ball off the line. Amid the confusion with many watching Liverpudlians wondering if it had gone over the line and why the refs watched hadnt beeped, the television replay clearly shows the City captain had used his hand to keep the ball out of the net, VAR confirms a penalty to Chelsea and Fernandinho is shown the red card!

9:51pm - CHELSEA 2-1 MANCHESTER CITY (Willian 78, pen)

With millions of Liverpool fans across the world holding the breath, Willian steps up for Chelsea, gives a tiny stutter and lifts the ball high into the net to Edersons right as the City keeper dives the wrong way. Chelsea are back in front and Liverpool are a dozen minutes plus stoppage time away from being league champions for the first time in thirty years!

Klopp at Formby Hall: The situation around the penalty for Chelsea, they had before a big chance with a block on the goal-line or whatever so then the situation again and its like bam, the ball is in, no its not, the ball is out and in the moment when they didnt score in that situation Ali(sson Becker) gets up and says I cannot watch it any more and gets up and leaves.

A second later, someone says it was handball! and they show the replay and the whole place.. everybody shouts HANDBALL!

Then someone says Its a red card! and everybody shouts RED CARD!

So we wait for VAR.. handball.. red card, the penalty goes in.. celebration.. and then just counting the minutes, it was just incredible.

9:53pm - Pulisic has a chance to put things to bed once and for all but last-ditch David Silva defending denies him.

9:55pm - Zinchenko breaks forward and puts in a dangerous cross but theres no-one in a City shirt there to convert. The soon-to-be-deposed champions are not throwing the towel in but look a beaten side now.

10:03pm - The referee signals there will be six minutes of stoppage time and some Liverpudlian minds immediately switch back to the six added minutes at the end of the Reds epic Champions League semi final second leg against Chelsea in 2005. But this time the fear and tension is gone..

10:06pm - Chelsea substitute Pedro combines with Billy Gilmour whos also just come on and curls just wide but no-one on Merseyside cares any more as fireworks and car horns get louder and louder, we just want to hear that final whistle..

10:09pm - And it finally sounds like a clarion call across the ages, City have been beaten and LIVERPOOL ARE CHAMPIONS FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 1990! There is an explosion of noise, joy and pure emotion across the city and around the world amongst the legions of Reds whove waited what seemed several lifetimes (11,016 days and 1,151 league matches to be precise) for a moment it seemed would never arrive, tears and sheer unbridled ecstasy everywhere.

Klopp at Formby Hall: I called my family ten seconds before the end of the game and said Ok I love you all, I put the phone now on the table, leave your phone on and you can see what happens here..

Absolutely one of the best football moments I ever had in my life, it was absolutely exceptional. You have no idea how it would feel before it happens. It was pure joy, massive relief in the next second and then I started crying. Then I wanted to speak to Ulla (his wife) and couldnt, I had her on the phone and I couldnt speak, I just was crying. I didnt know why it happened, I had no idea why, I couldnt stop, I never had a situation in my life when I couldnt stop crying and didnt know exactly why."

Fans are already beginning to congregate at Anfield with flares, banners and songs in full effect as the city gets ready to party like its.. well 1990!

10:12pm - The messages and tributes begin to pour in from across the globe. BT Sport who have been showing the Chelsea-City game live cross to an emotional Kenny Dalglish - the last man remember to bring the league title to Anfield - bedecked in red and white back home in Southport who says (in-between his phone going off left, right and centre!), "The last two years and since Jurgen's come in has been very positive. He's been fantastic and epitomises everything Liverpool Football Club stands for. Whatever they got, they have deserved it.

"Onwards and upwards. We have a lot more happy days to look forward to as long as Jurgen is here.

"I remember Bob Paisley said once after winning the European Cup, he never had a drink because he wanted to remember the occasion.

"Well, I never took his advice!" he adds as he raises a big glass of champagne to the camera!

10:15pm - LFC principle owner John W. Henry who took over a club a crisis and on the brink of bankruptcy a little under ten years ago writes on Twitter: This was a season for the ages and for the faithful of Liverpool Football Club. It has been an incredible year of magnificent achievement culminating tonight in capturing the Premier League title.

The world has watched the fierce determination of this club on the field for every single match the preparation, the resolve and the talent of those who put together perhaps the greatest league performance ever in any country's history.

This in addition to winning a European championship, a Super Cup and a world championship -- the totality of this accomplishment has brought respite and joy to so many in a year filled with so much tragedy. LFC has made the beautiful game more beautiful than ever.

It is said, We are Liverpool. You, the supporters are Liverpool in every sense and you continue to drive the club forward -- a historic club making history once again.

10:25pm - Sky Sports have gone live with a special Liverpool title winners programme and have former Reds league (and European Cup winning captains) Phil Thompson and Graeme Souness but they are the first to go live with the manager of the newly-crowned Premier League champions and what an interview it is with Jrgen Klopp having to cut it short at the end such is the deep of emotion he is feeling.

Replying to a question from Souness praising the astonishing consistency his side have shown over a long period of time, Klopp says: We all do that together, look its a mix of the history you created which is what we are compared with, rightly so. I think we found a good way to get a little bit rid of it because we had to right our own story but anyways on the other side that gives us a lot of power.

Its the atmosphere in and around the club, the intensity level, how everybody lives football in this club and then its 100% we had a really good hand in choosing the players, the ones we kept here and the ones we brought in, its a wonderful mix, there are all winners without winning fifty times in the past, we have them here now and we can start winning together, its so incredibly difficult in the competitions we are in and its only possible with consistency but thats what drives us.

We knew three years ago we played a really good season and finished fourth and it was clear we lacked consistency but you cannot ask for that, you have to work on that and create that, you have to convince people and thats what we all did.

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Without the players I could do nothing but of course from time to time you have to help them a little bit with a few words and thats what we do as well.

"It's very important to celebrate because these moments are unforgettable. We have pictures from the season and now we have pictures of the celebrations and we will create pictures in the future with the parade with our supporters.

"The boys have time together tonight. It's difficult out there still for a lot of people but tonight we couldn't hold back, we had to come together.

The game at Chelsea was really tense tonight, it was unbelievable. I didnt want to be involved really. But when you watch it, you are anyway really. There was big chances at both ends. It was intense, the penalty situation

But its an incredible achievement of my players. What they did over the last two or three years is exceptional. It is a pure joy for me to coach them.

"This is for Kenny you had to wait. Stevie you too. I know how much this means to everyone."

Its quite an achievement, but I feel overall relief. The big three-month gap, I did not know how wed come back. Theres no easy games in the Premier League.

I was very happy last night and that gave me the 100% feeling we will be fine. That was important for the players and tonight is for the fans.

This is for you. I hope you stay at home and celebrate. Its all here. Weve done it together. Its a joy to do it for you.

I could not be more proud of my coaching staff. Ever since we arrived its been an amazing ride. Its more than I ever dreamed of.

"This is a big moment, I have no real words to be honest. I am completely overwhelmed. I never thought it would feel like this, I had no idea.. its just.. big, sorry gentlemen, see you, all the best..

10:32pm - The cheers, tears and messages keep flowing as Sean Cox is among the Reds and non-Reds showing their happiness at the night's events

10:40pm - Gracious words from Man City boss Pep Guardiola as he praises the newly-crowned champs, "Congratulations to Liverpool for this great season. We still have five or six weeks to play but we won a lot in the last few years and of course we want to close the gap.

"Two seasons ago we were 100 points and they finished more than 25 points behind. Last season they didnt recover the distance and this season they went the distance.

"After two seasons the gap is big. We were not consistent like the previous seasons. Liverpool won the Champions League and were given confidence. They played every game like it was their last game. In the beginning, we didn't play like that way.

"We cannot forget we are still second in the league so we are better than a lot of the teams."

Go here to see the original:

Jurgen Klopp in tears, a new Liverpool anthem and the night immortality beckoned - Liverpool Echo

What a ride its been for the The Fast and the Furious franchise. Now spanning 20 years and nine films, this soap opera of motor fuel and melodrama has defied logic, physics and death again and again while weaving an intricate tapestry of a cinematic text thats filled with callbacks, cameos and a deep-rooted lore that always returns to the intertwining values of family and vintage American muscle cars.

Director Justin Lin, who also helmed the third, fourth, fifth and sixth films in the series, and evolved the franchise from minor street racing thrillers into outlandish displays of car ballet, is back behind the camera for F9: The Fast Saga (he also co-wrote the screenplay with Daniel Casey).

Lin ups his own ante with the outrageous vehicular stunts in F9, and its difficult to imagine any future installments exceeding the automobile acrobatics Lin and Casey have concocted. To describe the stunts and set pieces would be to ruin the fun of discovery for audiences; suffice to say there will be moments where youll say, they wont but rest assured: They will, and how.

Narratively, F9 does something no other Fast film has done before: it looks to the past. In a flashback storyline that takes place in 1989, we finally meet young Dominic Toretto (Vinnie Bennett and, of course, later Vin Diesel) and learn more about the infamous vengeful wrench attack that landed him in prison, a crime thats been oft mentioned throughout the series.

The flashback is a way of exploring some of the darker secrets of the Toretto family, specifically regarding prodigal brother Jakob (Finn Cole and John Cena), who resurfaces in Doms life. Turns out hes another freelance precision driver/special agent who frequently works with Doms (many) enemies. What are the odds?

With Jakobs return, Dom has to reckon with his past and the dissolution of his blood family, which he replaced with his chosen family. This motley crew of gearheads weve come to know and love over the years includes the fast-talking Roman (Tyrese Gibson), techy Tej (Chris Ludacris Bridges), Doms love Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), his sister Mia (Jordana Brewster) and, amazingly, against all odds, fan-favorite Han (Sung Kang) is back, returned from the dead, in a spine-tingling resurrection.

Thats not to say the gangs all here, as Paul Walkers tragic 2013 death means Brian is absent, but within the earnest optimism of the Fast franchise, Brian is immortal, unseen but alive and well in this universe. This question of immortality and the familys seemingly invincible nature is explored in a meta way in F9, especially by Roman, who has always served as a bit of an audience surrogate.

He gapes at and complains about the ridiculous stunts, offering sly commentary on the inexplicable occurrences as a way of getting out in front of the inevitable disbelief. In this film, he questions why they always come out of brawls, crashes and explosions unscathed, an apt question to pose after eight spine-crunching installments.

While it is the ridiculous set-pieces in F9 that take the franchise soaring to new heights, its the meta moments and the willingness to dive into the past in a real way that make this movie innovative within its own formula. In fact, the flashbacks are so enjoyable, it makes the argument for any standalone period-set prequel.

In F9: The Fast Saga, all of the Fast franchises soapy narrative peccadilloes come to fruition, from secret siblings and death-defying characters to the stable of Scooby-Doo villains out to get Doms family (Charlize Theron returns as evil hacker Cipher). The absolutely bonkers storyline is the foundation for the absolutely bonkers action, which is what we look for in the Fast franchise. In F9, bonkers on top of bonkers results in a truly delightful and vividly sensorial time at the movies.

See the article here:

'Fast' franchise soars to new heights in 'F9: The Fast Saga' while also looking to the past - The Spokesman-Review

Passchendaele

Being near-immortal means living unconventional lives as these individuals move through the years witness to the best of worst of humankind as we rise and fall again and again Bendis and the team take a moment to examine the idea of these unconventional bonds formed as Andy finds herself in Cleveland in the 1970s after a mission, cleaning up in a restaurant bathroom and bumps into someone she never expected to seeher son. Not her biological son but an orphan of world war one who lost his parents in the small Belgium village of Passchendaele destroyed in the conflict between British and German soldiers. (An historically accurate reference if youre so inclined to look it up!)

Theres a wonderful balance of wistfulness and warmth to the story in the writing from Bendis brought to life by the art. On one hand, Zeus is thrilled to see the woman he calls mother and so is Andy to see him but Zeus is acutely aware that the meeting is happenstance, completely random and lacking no intent on Andys part yet despite that, despite that he has not seen her in decades, their bond remains and that speaks to the idea that she loved this person and raised him, an act of pure selflessness in the long life filled with violence and death. Again it speaks to the idea of how Andromach cannot see the good she and her ilk have brought into the world and the innumerable lives they have touched and made better as they have soldiered through time because they are wrapped up in the doing that they never fully see the good they have done.

I like that the lives that Andy has touched are her living memory even as her memory blurs from so much life lived. The idea that Zeus invented a dish specifically geared to the taste buds of an older than dirt immortal is a clever and original concept that makes you think about things you wouldnt think about like what would the palette of a person who is close to 7000 years old be like?

Artist Michael Oeming rejoins his POWERS collaborator Bendis for this story. At first, I wasnt sure about his style for the story Andy doesnt really look like Andy at first until I realized something I was looking for Andy as I imagined her with a certain look, specifically her black hair. Through the course of the story, we see Andy with no less than three different hairstyles and the longer I thought about it the more it makes sense, to hide her immortality a hair color change would certainly be warranted over the many years of her life. Oeming and Taki Soma work well together to create the feel of a Seventies eatery, and theres attention paid to the clothing of the time as well as the color schemes of the period especially those 70s color stripes. The choice of the sepia brown dominant color palette for the flashback war scenes is a clever touch adding a stronger impact when we see blood against the monochromatic background.

Lacus Solitudinis

Its the eve of the moon landing, in Eagan Minnesota Booker and Nicky confront a careless, homophobic cop whose actions meant a serial killer continued their murderous streak while in San Francisco Joe and Andy drink, discuss revenge, and the idea of the moon landing.

Point of view is a powerful thing and this vignette does point of view very well as it comments on the nature of human beings in all our shining glory and horrible apathetic ugliness. On one hand, Nicky wants to see justice meted out to the cop but his partner and love of his life Joe feels that taking revenge on the cop diminishes Nicky as a person. He refuses to participate and so they arent talking. Robert Mackenzie & Dave Walker juxtapose that opposing view with Joe and Andromachs opposing views of human achievement. Andromach is jaded and cynical of the landing on the Moon while Joe is excited for it. Its a clever way to examine the idea of human achievement and the consequences of it through an individual lens, Joe revels in the moment while Andromach reminds Joe that these glorious moments of human achievement more often than not lead to misery for other humans. Beautiful things dont always carry us to beautiful places, Andy says You dont know until you get there, right? Joe counters. There is a remarkable amount of depth to that small exchange.

Meanwhile, back in Minnesota, the violence gets done and its interesting that Booker does the killing, NOT Nicky, right at the moment of the landing. Its Booker that reminds Nicky that Joes view of the magic of beautiful things is in having someone to share them with.

The art is solid from Justin Greenwood and colorist Daniela Miwa It feels like Greenwood is deliberately paying homage to Leandro Fernndez but in his own style while having Miwa color the story adds to that feeling. It feels deliberate and works very well to feel like you are in the world of the original comics.

See more here:

THE OLD GUARD: TALES THROUGH TIME #3: Unexpected Family and Moon Landings - Comic Watch

One of the oldest pieces of epic literature we have is known as the Epic of Gilgamesh. It's easy to get lost in all the ancient mythology talking animals and heroic battles but at its heart lies one of the most fundamental and universal quests of all time: the search for immortality. It's all about Gilgamesh wanting to live forever.

From Mesopotamian poetry to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, from golden apples to the philosopher's stone, humans, everywhere, have wanted and sought after eternal life.

And yet, perhaps the secret to immortality is not as elusive as we might think. Rather than holy objects or science fiction, we need only look to the animal world to see how nature, that most magical of places, might be able to answer one of the oldest questions there is.

If you ever find yourself at Red Lobster or about to munch into a lobster roll, take a moment to consider that you might just be eating a clue to perpetual youth. To see why, we have to know a tiny bit about aging.

As you get older, it's impossible not to notice how everything creaks a little more, how easy jobs now require great effort, and how hangovers are no longer a laughing matter. Our bodies are designed to degrade and wear away. This deterioration, known as "senescence" in biology, occurs at the cellular level. It's when the cells in our body stop dividing, yet remain in our body, active and alive. We need our cells to divide so that we can grow and repair. For instance, when we cut ourselves or lift weights in the gym, it is cell division that replaces and rebuilds the damage done. But, over time, our cells just stop dividing. They stay around to do the best they can, but like the macroscopic humans they make up, cells get slower and more error-prone and so, we age.

The Fountain of Youth (1546)Credit: Lucas Cranach the Elder via Wikipedia / Public domain

But not lobsters. In normal cases of cell division, the shields at the end of our chromosomes called telomeres are remade a bit smaller, and so a bit less effective after each subsequent cell division at protecting our DNA. When this reaches a certain point, the cell enters senescence and will stop dividing. It won't self-destruct but will just carry on and wallow as it is. Lobsters, though, have a special enzyme (unsurprisingly, called telomerase) which makes sure that their cells' telomeres remain as long and brilliant as they've always been. Their cells will never enter senescence, and so a lobster just won't age.

However, what evolution giveth with one hand, it taketh with another. As crustaceans, their skeleton is on the outside, and having a constantly growing body means they are always outgrowing their exoskeletal homes. They need to abandon their old shells and regrow a new one all the time. This, of course, requires huge reserves of energy, and as the lobster reaches a certain size, it simply cannot consume enough calories to build the shell equivalent of a mansion. Lobsters do not die from old age but exhaustion (as well as disease and New England fisherman).

Although lobsters might not have perfected immortality, perhaps there's something to learn.

But there's another animal that does even better than the lobster, and it's the only creature recognized to be properly immortal. That's the jellyfish known as Turritopsis dohrnii. These jellyfish are tiny about the size of a fly at their biggest but they've mastered one ridiculous trick: they can reverse their life cycle.

An embryonic jellyfish starts as a fertilized egg before hooking onto some kind of surface to then grow up. In this stage, they will stretch out to look like any other jellyfish. Eventually, they will break away from this surface to become a mature, fully developed jellyfish, which is in turn ready to reproduce. So far, so normal.

Yet Turritopsis dohrnii does something remarkable. When things get tough like the environment becomes hostile or there's a conspicuous absence of food they can change back to one of the earlier stages in their lifecycle. It's like a frog becoming a tadpole or a fly becoming a maggot. It's the human equivalent of a mature adult saying, "Right, I've had enough of this job, that mortgage, this stress, and that anxiety, so I'm going to turn back into a toddler.". Or, it's like an old man deciding to become a fetus again, for one more round.

Obviously, a fingernail sized jellyfish is not immortal as we'd probably want the word to mean. They're as squishable and digestible as any animal. But, their ability to change back to earlier forms of life, ones which are better adapted to certain environments or where there are fewer food sources, means that they could, in theory, go on forever.

Although the quest for immortality is as old as humanity itself, it's surprisingly hard to find across the diverse natural world. Truth be told, evolution doesn't care about how long we live, so long as we live long enough to pass on our genes and to make sure our children are vaguely looked after. Anything more than that is redundant, and evolution doesn't have much time for needless longevity.

The more philosophical question, though, is why do we want to live forever? We're all prone to existential anguish, and we all, at least some of the time, fear death. We don't want to leave our loved ones behind, we want to finish our projects, and we much prefer the known life to an unknown afterlife. Yet, death serves a purpose. As the German philosopher Martin Heidegger argued, death is what gives meaning to life.

Having the end makes the journey worthwhile. It's fair to say that playing a game is only fun because it doesn't go on forever, a play will always need its curtain call, and a word only makes sense at its last letter. As philosophy and religion has repeated throughout the ages: memento mori, or "remember you'll die."

Being mortal in this world makes life so much sweeter, which is surely why lobsters and tiny jellyfish have such ennui.

Related Articles Around the Web

The rest is here:

Lobsters, jellyfish, and the foolish quest for immortality - Big Think

Human Immortality Research Can We Achieve It?

Voice of Biotecnika Podcast

Jokingly I always say to my colleagues I am going to live till 2090 and that is when I believe Humanity would have achieved Immortality

Ha ha Everyone smiles but somewhere I know this is possible

Hello & Welcome to the Voice of BioTecNika, I am your host Urmimala, and today we examine this very fact Can Humanity achieve immortality

Ironically, this podcast is getting recorded in the mid of the 2nd wave of Coronavirus Pandemic and millions of people are dying, hence it may sound a little illogical, but so was flying a metallic cylinder in the Air nowadays we call it an Aeroplane. Isnt it

Coming to the point Can we really become immortals? And if yes then what are the research approaches we can adopt? Which Biotech companies are working to achieve this? How big is this Immortality market of the future?

The question is if we manage to UNLOCK THE SECRETS TO ETERNAL YOUTH, WHAT WOULD OUR WORLD LOOK LIKE? There may be chaos, the earth would be burdened, life would be totally different.

On the other hand, if we treat ageing, people can live into their 80s and 90s in a much more productive, healthy way.A lot of money would be saved, which could be put back into medical research, into education, into protecting the environment.

So what do you think? Should humans extend their life expectancy extensively? Will immortality be attainable?

This is a moral dilemma we all think of often, so lets dive in and see what progress the world has made towards Human Immortality Research and probably we can all find an answer to this question!

Tune In to the podcast now!

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Can We Really Become Immortals? Voice of Biotecnika - BioTecNika

Immortality and everlasting youth are the stuff of myths, according to new research which may finally end the eternal debate about whether we can live for ever.

Backed by governments, business, academics and investors in an industry worth $110bn (82.5bn) and estimated to be worth $610bn by 2025 scientists have spent decades attempting to harness the power of genomics and artificial intelligence to find a way to prevent or even reverse ageing.

But an unprecedented study has now confirmed that we probably cannot slow the rate at which we get older because of biological constraints.

The study, by an international collaboration of scientists from 14 countries and including experts from the University of Oxford, set out to test the invariant rate of ageing hypothesis, which says that a species has a relatively fixed rate of ageing from adulthood.

Our findings support the theory that, rather than slowing down death, more people are living much longer due to a reduction in mortality at younger ages, said Jos Manuel Aburto from Oxfords Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science, who analysed age-specific birth and death data spanning centuries and continents.

We compared birth and death data from humans and non-human primates and found this general pattern of mortality was the same in all of them, said Aburto. This suggests that biological, rather than environmental factors, ultimately control longevity.

The statistics confirmed, individuals live longer as health and living conditions improve which leads to increasing longevity across an entire population. Nevertheless, a steep rise in death rates, as years advance into old age, is clear to see in all species.

The debate over how much longer we can live has divided the academic community for decades, with the search for extended life and health particularly active in the UK, where at least 260 companies, 250 investors, 10 non-profits, and 10 research labs are using the most advanced technologies.

The UK government has even prioritised the separate sectors of AI and longevity by including both of them in the four industrial strategy grand challenges, which aim to put Britain at the forefront of the industries of the future.

But what has been missing from the debate is research comparing lifespans of multiple animal populations with humans, to work out what is driving mortality.

This study plugs that gap, said Aburto. This extraordinarily diverse collection of data enabled us to compare mortality differences both within and between species.

David Gems, a professor of biogerontology at UCLs Institute of Healthy Ageing, said that the summary of the report suggested the research was a very high-powered study proving something contentious and surely right.

All the datasets examined by Aburtos teams revealed the same general pattern of mortality: a high risk of death in infancy which rapidly declines in the immature and teenage years, remains low until early adulthood, and then continually rises in advancing age.

Our findings confirm that, in historical populations, life expectancy was low because many people died young, said Aburto. But as medical, social, and environmental improvements continued, life expectancy increased.

More and more people get to live much longer now. However, the trajectory towards death in old age has not changed, he added. This study suggests evolutionary biology trumps everything and, so far, medical advances have been unable to beat these biological constraints.

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Ageing process is unstoppable, finds unprecedented study - The Guardian

The Herald

MAYBE, this was the unique sound produced by emotions, when they are being ruthlessly battered, by the sheer power of the forces of brutality.

When a people have to deal with the emotional torture, which comes with being hammered by a combination of the agents of adversity, and the merchants of calamity.

Thousands of beating hearts, inside the old stadium, enduring a tough examination from hell, concerned by the state of their heroes vulnerability.

And, their teams insecurity.

For the majority of those, crammed inside the place they call their fortress, this was the sum of all their fears, a people buckling under the weight of the possibility of failure.

For 88 minutes, their souls had been tortured by the sheer intensity of this blood-and-thunder showdown, where the two sides had fought a ferocious fight, for every inch, of this hallowed turf.

But, now and again, their spirits had also been cheered by the amazing quality of the fight, which their men had put into this fiery battle, undaunted by its ferocity, each of them a model of reliability.

Every man, in their blue-and-white identity on that field, had fought long and hard, the forwards stretching the opponents with their relentless mobility, the defence repelling the danger, with stubborn rigidity.

There had been no room for stupidity, no desperation for popularity, no individual quest for celebrity status, just collective efficiency, from each of them, in pursuit for the immortality, which would come with success.

With a sense of responsibility, for club and country, they had fought with both maturity and dignity.

For the sake of their nationality, a country desperate for the good old days, and wild nights, exactly 10 years earlier, when it was taken on a merry ride, which reached the gate of paradise.

And, for the sake of the majority, sitting in the stands, united by their cause and demanding the result, which would guarantee a return, to the exclusive group of the elite clubs of the game, on the continent.

Now, only two minutes of regulation time were left, to define everything.

An adventure, which had taken them to Mbabane, Maputo, Paris, Sousse, Cairo and Abidjan, in a marathon campaign covering over 91 000 km, on their travels, rested on these final two minutes.

They had fought battles in Mozambique, Eswatini, Algeria, Egypt and Cote dIvoire, for this cause and, now, all their dreams rested on these final two minutes, in this place, which they called home.

In this poor neighbourhood where they were created, exactly 45 years earlier, before transforming themselves into a giant of an institution, which made a mockery of their humble origins, giving their community something to brag about.

In this Sunshine City, their home, their castle, the heart of the domestic kingdom which they have been ruling since they won their first league title, in the year of their establishment, in 1963.

So, this wasnt the time for faith to disappear, for doubt to creep in, for failure to become acceptable, as an end product to the collective suffering, which they were all enduring, in those final moments of this contest.

The opponents couldnt have come with a bigger profile, five-time champions of African football, and the stakes couldnt have been higher, in this winner-take-all showdown, for a place in the semi-finals of the 2008 CAF Champions League.

Zamalek, also known as the White Knights, were in town.

And, for 88 minutes, they had also fought for their badge, which has five stars, as if to remind everyone, of the number of times they have been crowned champions of Africa.

The crowd knew the stakes, if the Egyptians who brought with them Ghanaian international forward Junior Agogo scored, it was over for their team.

The Challenge, For These Glamour Boys, Was As Simple As It Was Complex

Somehow, even though Dynamos, Zamalek and ASEC Mimosas, had all gone into the final group matches, with a chance to qualify for the semi-finals, the Ivoirians game was pushed back, to start seven hours, after the match in Harare.

A draw, which appeared to be the likely result, with two minutes left, would have meant ASEC would qualify, should they beat Al Ahly, in their final group match.

So, the challenge for the Glamour Boys was simple, try and win the game, and they would be off to the semi-finals, at the expense of Zamalek, at the expense of ASEC and, of course, at the expense of the biased, and pathetic, CAF leadership.

But, time was not on DeMbares side, with only two minutes left.

Then, the Glamour Boys were awarded a free-kick, just outside the Zamalek penalty area.

It appeared everyone knew this was it, the final chance, the one between greatness, and emptiness, between hell and paradise, success and failure and ecstasy and agony.

If ever there was an occasion, David Mandigora would have wanted to smoke a cigarette, to try and reduce the tension, which was exploding inside his body, and the tsunami which was destroying the emotions of those packed inside the stadium, then this was it.

Everything he had worked for that year, in this campaign, now rested on this moment, a swing of the leg by one of his players, hope that the ball beats the wall and, even if it did, hope that it also beat the keeper.

It appeared to be too much of a gamble, especially considering it was against such an organised wall of Zamalek defenders, full of Egyptian internationals, who knew the values of defence.

In the preceding 178 minutes of action, against these Glamour Boys, in Cairo and Harare, this group of defenders had found a way not to concede a goal, including keeping a clean sheet, in the Egyptian capital.

The odds were firmly against the hosts, even with this dead ball opportunity and, as Rufaro held its collective breath, amid a wave of silent prayers, one man appeared to be standing on a secluded island, where everything was fine.

It was Yogi!

Maybe, he knew that, if he showed any signs of panic, it was going to filter on his players, including the man, who would take this dead ball.

During the game, he had made a change, a significant one, to try and give his team an extra dimension, in their attack, by encouraging his namesake, David Shoko, to spend more time, in the attacking phases, of the team.

He had trusted him to add punch to their attacks, and that confidence, from his coach, appeared to filter into Shokos game, and his impact, in those closing stages, became quite pronounced.

But, would David the coach let David the player take this free-kick?

In this team, packed with senior players, at this stage of this contest, when all their dreams could be shattered, by someone, whose ability to deal with the weight of such pressure, had never been tested?

Yogi called one of his players to the touchline, amid the bedlam of the mini conferences, which were going on all over the field, and sent a message to his troops.

Whatever he said, we might never know, given he is a man who was never comfortable with taking any credit, someone who liked to stay in the background, doing his work quietly.

That Free Kick, The David

Connection, The Immortality

So, the Egyptians lined up their wall, Rufaro held its breath and ASEC Mimosas, in their hotel rooms, were probably praying that this opportunity should be missed.

Some, inside the stadium, could barely watch as David, the player started his run, swung his left foot, the connection with the ball appeared perfect, delivering the energy, which powered it, from its base on the surface.

Anyone who claims he, or she saw the balls movement, from the time of its contact, with Davids boot to its destination, somewhere into the top corner of the Zamalek net, is a blatant liar.

Even the television cameras missed its flight.

The Egyptian wall never moved and neither did their goalkeeper.

Then, everyone saw the ball, it had nestled into the back of the Zamalek goal and, the explosion which erupted at Rufaro, must have shaken the Richter scale, used to measure the intensity of earthquakes.

There are moments in football, just like in life, which define heroes.

When time appears to stand still, frozen by the significance of the occasion, when nothing else appears to matter.

And, in the 88th minute, of the eighth month of the eighth year, of the new millennium, for David Yogi Mandigora, and his fearless band of the Glamour Boys Class of 2008, it all came to pass.

In their eighth game, since they first met, and eliminated the holders Etoile du Sahel, they reached out for the stars, and kissed the edges of immortality.

No one, who had the privilege of watching that game, especially what happened, in the 88th minute of that encounter, will ever forget what they saw.

In that moment, Yogis legacy, as a legendary player, and iconic coach, was sealed.

A golden moment frozen in time, preserved for reference to genius, to remind future generations there was a time when good men, capable of superman acts, roamed our football fields.

Maybe, its something that runs, the proud identity of the one who slayed the giant Goliath, in that powerful biblical tale.

Seven years earlier, on October 6, 2001, their namesake, David Beckham, had found himself with similar responsibility, needing to convert a free-kick, in time added on, against Greece at Old Trafford, to take England to the 2002 World Cup finals.

He duly delivered, with that execution completing his transformation, from a man blamed for his countrys World Cup elimination, in 1998, to a national hero.

You can always tell when a genuinely momentous footballing event has taken place, Joe Bernstein wrote in the Daily Mail.

The stadium rocks, literally, with all the noise and sudden movement from fans, and the television cameras consequently shake as they record history.

So, it was when David Beckhams 93rd-minute free-kick at Old Trafford took England to the World Cup finals in Japan and South Korea.

The video footage is extraordinary, you will rarely hear noise, or see a spontaneous outpouring of joy like it.

It elevated Beckham to Goldenballs status and saw him follow Diana, Princess of Wales, as an English icon, who became a global figure.

Until that iconic moment at Rufaro, no one had questioned Yogis legacy, as one of the finest players to emerge in this country, his starring role for Dynamos, had been scripted, a long time ago.

At the age of just 23, he had won the Soccer Star of the Year, back in an age when this award really represented greatness, when winning it was an endorsement of immortality.

Fate had somehow ensured his crowning moment, as a player, would come in 1980, which means no one would forget it because it will forever be associated with the countrys Independence.

But, there were questions about his true credentials, as a coach, and it didnt help that he lived in the shadow of the greatest of them all, when it comes to local coaches, Sunday Chidzambwa.

And, when he was appointed the Dynamos coach, amid the chaos which followed the clubs fight against relegation, in 2005, which culminated in the last-day survival act at Mucheke, this was seen as just another example of the madness, which was prevailing at the club.

With virtually the entire DeMbare team, which had represented the club in 2005, leaving to join newboys, Shooting Stars, at the start of 2006, this looked like Mission Impossible, for Yogi.

Somehow, he rebuilt his team and, by 2007, they won their first championship in 10 years and, the following year, he took his Glamour Boys into the semi-finals of the Champions League.

It couldnt have been done by a more humble servant of the game and, more importantly, by a better man.

Yogi might be dead now but domestic football will never forget its ultimate gentleman.

Its impossible to forget what happened in the 88th minute of that showdown against Zamalek in 2008.

To God Be The Glory!

Peace to the GEPA Chief, the Big Fish, George Norton, Daily Service, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and all the Chakariboys in the struggle.

Come on Warriors!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Khamaldinhoooooooooooooooooo!

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SHARUKO ON SATURDAY : In that moment, Yogis legacy, was sealed - The Herald