richardmurray

Title: A special secret - video 
Artist: 0ne0nlylarry

 

https://www.deviantart.com/0ne0nlylarry/art/A-Special-Secret-911599972

 

Posts for 0ne0nlyLarry

Showing results for '0ne0nlylarry' in status updates. - AALBC.com’s Discussion Forums

NOPE trailer, my thoughts, article

 

 

MY THOUGHTS
ok... What did i see... the main characters, kaaluya and keke palmer live in some western usa area, black cowboy heritage ok.. this is a financially base area. From a simple glance this is the intercontinental railroad movie, black horse riders, an asian with a cowboy hat on  so that is the human side... what is unnatural three things: a cloud that is very thick, and is being influenced. Dust clouds exists but they don't come absent a slow growth of dust. So a thick cloud on a sunny day at ground level at speed absent dust around is unnatural. Next is a body lifting from the ground straight into space. This reminds me of a film with julianne moore about a woman who is trying to remember her child and creatures foreign to earth actually control humanity and use it for experiments. In the film's case to see if the love of a child occurs before or after a child exits the womb. In the film whenever anyone became a threat the aliens lifted them into the sky like they are on a string. functionally a specific while potent  gravitional field is being generated. In my mind maybe a neutron array. but the kind of device to house such a system, right now escapes me. Last is the two fingered fist of a creature under a blanket/cloth/cover bumping fist to a human being. ... A sense of surveillance and a robotic system is present. ... so putting all these things I saw together... I think what we have here is humanity is under the control of creatures, whose descendency is unknown, maybe they are ancient pre humanity , like the guyver , or they are truly extraterrestrial. These creatures are looking for another creature, maybe it is related to them , maybe it is not , but it is also not human. And I think it travels by a cloud... in my mind I think of cowboys and aliens a little as well.  A story where the influence of the alien is one and done, no Nope 2 and Nope the return or Nope Nope. 

ARTICLE
'Nope': Jordan Peele explains meaning behind his mysterious new movie's title

LAS VEGAS – Jordan Peele is doling out a few more details about his cryptic new thriller. 

The comedian-turned-filmmaker behind "Get Out" and "Us" returns to multiplexes this summer with "Nope" (in theaters July 22), a sci-fi/horror flick starring Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer and Steven Yeun.

After premiering a terrifying teaser during this year's Super Bowl, Peele gave convention-goers at CinemaCon a clearer look at what's in store with the debut of the movie's first full-length trailer Wednesday.

Given that it won't be released to the public for "several more weeks," Peele asked the room full of theater owners and journalists to keep the trailer's secrets to themselves. But it's safe to say the new footage earned raves on social media, with people calling it "super cool," "ominous and creepy," and that Kaluuya and Palmer – playing scheming siblings who train horses – are "absolute stars." 

Introducing the trailer, Peele said he wants to "retain some mystery" around "Nope," whose plot fans have feverishly tried to decipher online.

"Some (theories) get kind of close," while others "are nonsense," Peele said. But he would allow that it's "definitely a ride," describing it as a movie for "the person who thinks they don't like horror movies." 

As for the film's monosyllabic title, Peele explained that it was inspired by the reactions he hopes "Nope" elicits. 

"I love titles that reflect what the audience is thinking and feeling in the theater," he said. "Especially Black audiences: We love horror, but there's a skepticism, like, 'You're not gonna scare me, right?' I'm personally going to thrive on the times I hear 'Nope!' in our theater (when the film is released)." 

Peele, who won the best original screenplay Oscar for "Get Out" in 2018, said he sees it as his "privilege and responsibility to try and make new films and tell original stories.

"Until someone tells me I can't, my plan is to bring these new ideas and new dreams and new nightmares to the big screen." 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/movies/2022/04/27/nope-jordan-peele-trailer-cinemacon/9561322002/

I enjoy Danny Glover in age of dragons
Anyone else a fan of the old syfy channel original movies , age of dragons is my favorite and not merely cause danny glover is having the time of his life, but cause, it isn't trying to sell anything more than the fun of this little story

I Ask this cause when people talk about tyler perry's movie studios and the movie studio the black women is making and them not being utilized I remind people someone has to pay for the movies to be made in these studios and a lot of movie making is small budget films, with little chance of making their money back.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_the_Dragons

 

I quote JohnRys Davies about another syfy channel original film
You understand we're not comparing ... Dragon Storm with Lord of the Rings. Stephen directed this in god knows how many days – I think it was only like 21 days. It's a low-budget, rapidly made, and rather delightful little sci-fi squib

 

LIST of scifi channel original films
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Sci_Fi_Pictures_original_films

 

People of the Tumblr multiverse: 
You are invited to a very special Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness Answer Time with Benedict Cumberbatch and Elizabeth Olsen on May 5th at 12pm PT/3pm ET.
Submit your questions here < http://marvelstudios.tumblr.com/ask > , and prepare to be spellbound.  
 

My Monna Lisa fixed!

Art link

https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/MonaLisaFixed-Invitation-914435955

Audio
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/audiobook/monna-lisa

 

A statistic says that in the usa since 2020 more and more parents are financially supporting children 18 and over, but statistics from labor say jobs are in surplus....

A statistics from the NYPD says that black hate crimes has gone up 100%, like jeiwsh hate crime, and asian hate crime went down from last year, but nyc media never shows a person not white incarcerated or in police custody after a hate crime to black people...

The party of andrew jackson tried to gerrymander a map and was found unconstitutional by ny state constitution while state laws in texas or elsewhere allow for gerrymandering, but people keep saying one party or another are decent...

The lies... amazing:) 

     

Troy  made a comment in reply to me

they wouldn’t even need to scarifce it, just continue some of it   Actually more of this is actually happening; for example there are many efforts today to support Black entrepreneurs. 
 

Racism will end one day. It is ending now. Racism is a relatively, short bump in the road In the evolution humanity. We just had the unfortunate experience of living through the tail end of it. It could have been worse; Imagine living in 1822 rather than 2022.

https://aalbc.com/tc/topic/9354-theres-no-white-supremacy-anymore-huh/?do=findComment&comment=52136

 

My Reply

well, Black people in the usa, have gained without killing a people for their land, without enslaving another people. It is slower gaining without those negativities, but all plans are by default purposeful. 

I don't think racism is ending, but I don't think racism is a problem. I don't think bias is a problem as well. Racism isn't inhuman, bias isn't inhuman.. If a human or a human group want to be classified/ranked/ordered as different from another human or human group they are free too in my book. It is up to each human group or being to find their community or where they feel comfortable. And the earth is big enough for humans plus all the other children of earth to have their own corners. And if a human or a human group want to influence negatively or positively another they are free too in my book. It is up to each human group or being to keep themselves safe from outside influence... or fail too. 

From Set Killing Osiris to Caine killing Abel to Gilgamesh killing Enkidu human mythology proves humans had racism or bias from the onset and will always have it when we are on mars and way beyond earth but that is ok

      

The following is spike lee's list of films to watch, he provide to his students. 
How many have you seen? What are your favorites? 
I reply below

I saw: Rashomon<one of my favorite kurosawa>, Yojimbo, Ran, Rear Window<jimmy stewart>, Vertigo<the woman who loves jimmy stewart when she dresses as the love interest>, North by Northwest<stuntwork>, Bonnie and Clyde<>, Ace in the hole<one of my favorite newspaper movies, kirk douglass is great:)>, Bridge on the river kwai<a great period piece, a little untrue but...>, lawrence of arabia<what happened to lawrence in that turkish officer's camp>, On the waterfront<I could had been a contender>, La Strada <anthony quinn:)>, godfather I and II, PAtton <george c scott is his character actor best>, MAd MAx I And II<I am surprised for this entry, but the action is lovely, and the fiction is a genre starter, how many apocalyptic movies is merely mad max, the Night rider!!!>, The battle of algiers <this is what river kwai isn't, much rawer>, The Last Detail <very few films deal with the military police like this film, honest end too, very honest>, West Side Story <Anita, stick with your own kind, if only the world heard her>, The Train <Jon VOigt and Eric Roberts, the end is a painting, the film is very visual, you feel the environment>, The Maltese Falcon <The stuff dreams are made of>, The treasure of sierra madre <this is one of my favorite films and in terms of mineral movies, put this next to there will be blood and they both ring very true>, MArathon man <Not a fan , but the performances are strong>, Boyz in the hood <the first film he placed that has a majority black cast, wouldn't be my first choice and I am not a fan of the film but ok, for me, daughters of the dust has to be near first as a mandatory, I think ceddo as well from sembene, but ok again>, Black Orpheus <it is a film in portuguese , and in brasil it is not as well known, though the soundtrack reverberated all over the world, white man wrote it but it is a fantasy film, and that is underrated>Raging bull <not a fan, but loved the performance by the brother who played sugar ray robinson>, apocalypto <still one of the most honest films about indigenous people in the american continent and the coming doom of their world at the hands of immigrants>, casablanca <here's looking at you kid, campy at some level, nice romance>, thief<like rollerball, this movie was ahead of its time, the thief character and the environment is just never before seen and immitated after>, cooley high <the third majority black cast on his list, a comedy, Many black people in the usa love comedy, I am neutral>, I Am cuba <who is betty:) it is in spanish, the shot for the revolutionary procession, taken without breaking from that distance is magic>, one flew over the cuckoo's nest<a 70's classic, the look inside insane asylums is blunt and honest>, district 9 <south african, but white not black... it will make you think a little of alien nation but a twist in that it deals with an extra challenge of immigration but in a way you may not expect>, in the heat of the night <some honesty, the detective story is the best part, at the end, both cops are united as cops which in itself is interesting>, white heat <I saw it but I have forgotten>, to kill a mockingbird <when you see brock peters in this compared to the pawn broker it is revealing to his greatness as a thespian>, chinatown <how many ships can you buy? what is it you want you don't already have?.. the answer is magic>, Black Rain <it is rare japan is viewed from this angle in a hollywood film, reminds you of japanese films, dealing with law enforcement>, singing in the rain <lovely dance numbers, and the female lead was in her first film i think >, PAths of glory <one of my personal favorite military movies, wonder if das boot is in this, paths of glory is still blunt in a way few military films are>, spartacus <I'll tell him who his father was, that voice:) >, Dr STrangelove <its a screwball parady on war movies that is quietly serious, that is the pary that makes it a rare gem, it is trying to be funny, but it is also trying to be serious>,  kung fu hustle <when helen of troy screams:) you will know what I mean if you saw this film>, Close encounters of the third kind <open hand, tilt hand, close hand, open hand, tilt hand>, empire of the sun <not a fan of this film , but a rare appearance of japanese>, Cool hand luke <the chain gang sheriff in this film has become a standard parody character, the penal system in the usa is dirty though and this film does reflect some of it and also the connection many have in it, as they are poor or desperate or destitute>, badlands <Like a baby between silence of the lambs and bonny and clyde, the end is shocking at some level, makes perfect sense in the usa, but also alittle shocking in some ways>, the wizard of oz <funny it came out the same year as gone with the wind and harvey and a host of others.. was adud until t.v showed it to families, judy garland's voice, magic>, an american in paris <the dance routines, lovely>, lust for life <I oppose this film as an artist, I have nothing against van gogh but I oppose this film and it is brilliant, the performances, the honesty about artists loneliness, frictions with other artists, but I oppose this film >... my final assessment is no daughters of the dust. No Ceddo. No Oscar Micheaux. Wow! Spike, no micheaux. "Body and Soul" is a must for black cinema. "City of Joy" can get a shout, love om puri. his choices but I say ahh, I think he gave some directors too much or repeated too much. No horror in there. Where is "eyes without a face" or "diabolique" I think "Mississippi MAssala" deserves a shout. but hmmm 
https://likewise.com/list/Spike-Lees-Watch-List-The-Greatest-Films-Ever-Made-5c4788b29d2f4319981925af

Boost or leverage backlist from kobo

 

 

MY COMMENTS

The reason why black people in the usa are unable to act as whites is because of white people, this is a historic as well as modern fact, so joining white organizations in the usa which is dominated throughout its entire history by whites,  is a double hindrance. 

 

@Stefan thank you for your reply, my only addition is the notion has been around since circa 1865 but White financed Black Leaders , to be blunt, opposed it functionally. 

Sequentially, a black party of governance will have to oppose Black leadership in nearly all sectors. NEarly all black elected officials in the USA will oppose it. NEarly all black fiscally wealthy will oppose it. 

I think we all know a Black party of governance hasn't been tried with vigor cause it represents a challenge for most Black people who are deemed successful in the usa. 

To your points about finance or agenda, both will be interesting challenges. 

 

@Stefan not a fantasy , but a difficulty, nothing is impossible, but the question is, how many black people are willing to do whatever it takes. 

 

How many Black people circa 1865 were willing to kill black people who didn't vote for a black party? Is it right or wrong, I don't know about that. Is it difficult, 100%. Circa 1865 these are death by the hands. But,  In the war between the states, many white families hurt their own household members. Whites were willing to kill each other for an agenda. Was it right or wrong?  I don't know. Was it difficult? 100% 

 

Historically, your very correct. From the infancy of the usa the Black community has disagreed on what tomorrow needs to be, when one section of free black people fought for england, aside the other section of free black people who fought for the colonies, aside the final section of black people who were completely enslaved and is the largest group. All three groups wanted freedom.

The enslaved blacks, 90% of us:) , didn't want the colonies of england to win,they didn't want the english crown to win,  they wanted to kill or somebody to kill that white master and all other whites around them and flee far enough to be away from whites forever. 

The blacks who fought for the usa, wanted the colonies to win, figuring the whites they fought next too would invalidate slavery. Sadly for them, benjamin franklin and company re-enslaved most of them. 

The blacks who fought for england , wanted the english crown to win, figuring the whites they fought next too would invalidate slavery. In defense of the british, they did give their loyalist freedom, hard freedom, bootless freedom, but freedom, 

So, your point is correct, but the problem is greater than acknowledgement. It is that from circa 1865 Black leaders in the church and elected made individual accountability the majority accepted opinion on how to accomplish, one black person at a time as citizens of the USA.

The advantages of individual accountability by Black people in the USA is: nonviolence thus whites can't use simple legal means to harm  or blackade or ostracize,less to no communal activity thus whites can't use black communal activity to spur on their communal activity which is better financed, freedom for blacks to act anywhere in the usa thus black people can be president of the usa or ceo's of whites firms or in the various occupations or places or positions in the usa that don't benefit black people in a direct way but can benefit a black person alone, Black individuals are free to be themselves thus a Black person can harm other black people and it is not up to the community to erase that individual but it is up to other black individuals to decide how they want to relate to that person. 

The disadvantages are many, but the most potent is lack of speed. It moves to slow and thus, while trickles of black people slowly become better from 1865 to today, the majority of black people are unable as individuals to succeed. Thus it means, the black community in the usa, with the current plan started in 1865 by black leadership will take a very very long time to reach a place where a majority of black people will be positive. 

 

@ProfD @Stefan any ideas on an agenda? I concur that a Black party of governance needs to have an agenda first. 

 

@Stefan great link, I still wonder what you think , but thank you. I can't imagine you don't think anything.

 

@ProfD the following link will take you to an article where you will note many ukranians dissenting. If anything your prose prove that black people take too much stock in how white owned media presents us. Black people in the usa don't own white owned media but live in a white country.

https://aalbc.com/tc/profile/6477-richardmurray/?status=1883&type=status

@Troy I will be blunt, many a black person I know older than you or me by distance said the same thing about their time when our age, referencing a book written by a black person. .... What do you want Troy for the Black community in the USA? Do you want Black owned book publishing firms to dominate the market? what goal do you want for the black community in the USA? 

 

@ProfDI want to amend your statement, not just russian counterparts their russian kin/family/clan. That article's primary point , in my view, is the lack of comprehension or media admittance on the relationship between ukraine side russia. 

 

I bet most ukranians have russian ancestry. You think so professor? I think so. This russian/ukranian war is a intra-clan war. That is being sold as two separate peoples, by the usa goverment who has an agenda to offer other news than the fiscal downturns or virus and wants to push the european union into something. 

 

of course, most people from the USA who didn't fight in the vietnam war,living in canada or somewhere outside the usa, who are alive still feel a similar guilt or shame to ukranians who have not fought in the russian ukranian war. Same to whites who didn't fight in the war between the states, based on what was spoken through transcription in my memory.  Humanity loves to make men feel bad when they don't fight in wars, as if wars are ever as straight or simple as advertised. They never are.  

 

In my view, the russian ukranian was is inevitable or necessary. I will defend my position professor, with the following, i wonder how my defense holds up.

1st. the russian government was already installed in two regions in ukraine that the current ukranian government never officially accepted. The eastern border provinces of ukraine that border russia, I think called the donks. And Crimea was under russian suzerainty, like guantanemo is to the usa. So, the russian government saw a need to control crimea which is the biggest seaport in the region and support plus liberate the donks, which is the pro russian , east section of ukraine. Based on the western kiev based ukranina reply to current events, russia acted in fair necessity. 

2nd. The ukranian goverment before the current was pro russian and the usa side other western european countries, manipulated things in ukraine to overtunr said government. Thus, the usa meddled in ukraine to place a pro usa government. But the pro usa government in ukraine didn't seem to realize that all their neighbors had a military alliance but them. bellarus has a military alliance with russia, poland and west of ukraine are all in nato for the most part. so...the ukrainian government foolishly thought it could evade being a proper neutral country while not joining a military alliance. they performed a dangerous dance between two powers and any time a government does that they make war in their land inevitable. 

 

@Stefan for the record, the black party of governance in the usa isn't my agenda. I want to see it, I advocate for it, but on a simple grounds, it has never been done. 

Black people starting business, supporting black businesses, going to college, having educational pushes gardless of college in the usa have been done multiple times ias collective pushes in the black community in the usa. But the black community in the usa has never , ever , had a black party of governance. I advocate doing new things when you have tried the same old things multiple times. 

Black people i know in south africa, tell me about, voting, and I inform them. over 95% of black people voted for mandela and company, and in the first eight years, over 90% of black people participated in voting. The fact that the percentage of black vote is lower now can't be blamed on black voters when in my lifetime black people voted over 90% in south africa. I tell them, do new things, forget about black parties of governance, ala ANC forget them. 

To the usa, I have never been a member of the donkeys or the elephants and I have no intention of joining a black party of governance in the usa , but I know it is something that hasn't been done and so instead of hearing ten more years of black people complain about the party of andrew jackson or abaraham lincoln, i advocate those complainers making a new party. 

You know the forums in this community, you read the comments, this forum is full of black folk, at the least people I think are black,  complaining  about the two parties, so leave both of them and start a new one. 

 

To your point about soliciting information from others , fair enough

 

@Troy   for men of the sun, that may be the hardest achievement for our rocks to make 

as you said, the individualism has to go... the day most black individuals have an idea of where they want the black community to go, will be the day , communalism is stronger in the black community

 

@ProfD is power for nothing? is the path made from power unnecessary? I argue the history of the USA , at the least the white european people in it, proves using violence/war/getting the death of millions/being barbaric/having greed is for everything, not for nothing. Without said negativities the white european community in the usa has little to nothing of what they have, thus said negativities are the most necessary to those who have the most. If anything, the questions are, what value is peace? is peace for nothing?  Is peace unnecessary? Are native americans living peacefully in the USA necessary to native american betterment , growth? What has living peacefully brought the native american? 

I think whites know history very well, and they know that those who are in control have the forebears who acted negatively without shame, for they comprehended their descendants will be better off inheriting more, by any means, not less. 

 

well said @ProfD and fair enough

 

@Stefan @ProfDI  concur that all humans beings can do negative or positive things, the words sin/evil/good/wicked  I don't know about all that. 

People do negative things for reasons. 

 

Rwanda or Tigray didn't happen cause of evil or wickendess or badness, they were inevitable because of the situation that two groups of people were set up in. Again, I can take White european examples, to show it isn't about Black people, it is a merely human thing. Ireland was dominated by the english for thousands of years and with all the miscegenation, intermarrying, in the end, the irish still wanted freedom from the english. the tigray/ oromo/eritreans/the falasha have been fighting each other since ancient times. And they never had a set of leaders at the same time who wanted a peaceful union. The tutsi and hutu before the english got to tanganyika were not one people and battled each other. the british got their and they still didn't like each other. The british made rwanda, and absent leaders who wanted to merge, they eventually had it out. The Black community in the USA has over 150 years of a majority of its leaders, dysfunctionally or functionally, stating they peacefully or positively embrace whites. Not all leaders, but most. That is how you get multiracial peace. 

 

And that is why Black folks argue over this issue Stefan. The question is what do you want the Black community to be tomorrow. The white community is still battling over what they want the white community in the usa to be or the usa itself to be. For any group to improve they need consensus, but consensus can be hard to achieve without violence. Cause with violence, you can kill the people in the group who aren't in consensus and thus consensus is reached. Is it a sin or evil? I don't know, but I know it is very functional. Can every community do it? clearly not, but absent consensus in a group , what canany group positively  change for itself? 

 

 

JAda pinkett may get 175 million dollars...

 

I quote eddie murphy 

 

I don't know if any rumours are true, but it amazes me why men still get married and live in calfiornia.

 

https://twitter.com/OK_Magazine/status/1516677717403521024

 

 

I Learned About This From Someone Who Checked It And Confirmed It Is Still Open

I checked the Tapas website to see the stories they like. They are into stories of love, their biggest sellers seem to be from a distance commonly constructed stories of love. GO FOR IT!

 

BIPOC WRITERS ! If you have comic or screen writing experience and are interested in writing for comics, DM me or email zohra@tapasmedia.co (include your email, website, writing samples). I edit for a webcomic company, Tapas Media + do all genres w/focus on romance and fantasy!
Tweet source

 

 

this is their website
https://tapas.io/

 

Title: AfroxViolets
Artist: GDBee < https://gdbee.store/ >  
prior entry
https://aalbc.com/tc/profile/6477-richardmurray/?status=1886&type=status
GDBee entries
https://aalbc.com/tc/search/?q=gdbee&quick=1&type=core_statuses_status

 

 

 

Title: Coloring pages
Artist: GDBee < https://gdbee.store/ >   

Enjoy coloring pages , free to print out from GDBee and lastly from me:) please cite either of us if you share

GDBee Coloring pages 01
https://gdbee.gumroad.com/l/pxWab
GDBee Coloring pages 02
https://gdbee.gumroad.com/l/klhiq
My comics and coloring gallery
https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/gallery/47013691/comic-coloring-pages

 

prior entry
https://aalbc.com/tc/profile/6477-richardmurray/?status=1885&type=status
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Title: Swordgirl
Artist: GDBee < https://gdbee.store/ >  
prior entry
https://aalbc.com/tc/profile/6477-richardmurray/?status=1878&type=status
GDBee entries
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Maryland Gives Up on Its Library E-book Law
By Andrew Albanese | Apr 11, 2022

Maryland’s library e-book law is effectively dead. In a recent court filing, Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh said the state would present no new evidence in a legal challenge filed by the Association of American Publishers, allowing the court’s recently issued preliminary injunction blocking the law to stand, and paving the way for it to be converted into a permanent injunction. < https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/libraries/article/88550-court-blocks-maryland-s-library-e-book-law.html >  

“The State acknowledges that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and that the Court may grant or deny further relief in this matter without a further hearing or trial,” the filing states. < https://www.publishersweekly.com/binary-data/ARTICLE_ATTACHMENT/file/000/005/5846-1.pdf > However, rather than convert Judge Deborah L. Boardman’s preliminary injunction into a permanent injunction, state attorneys argued that a less burdensome declaratory judgment would suffice. 

“The State’s conduct shows that injunctive relief is not necessary here. At no time from January 1, 2022, has Maryland attempted to enforce the Maryland Act. And, after the Court issued the preliminary injunction, the State did not appeal that decision,” Maryland attorneys argue. “The State has taken no action to reshape how publishers distribute their works and how the marketplace for e-books and audiobooks operates. Nor has the State taken any action to interfere with Plaintiff’s or its members’ business decisions. Because the State is not enforcing the Maryland Act and has no intention to do so, the threat identified by the plaintiff will not come to pass. Accordingly, the Court need not resort to the coercive powers of a permanent injunction to compel the States’ compliance with its decision.”

The AAP, which has until April 25 to respond, said it is reviewing the filing.

Maryland's action comes after federal judge Deborah L. Boardman on February 16 ruled that Maryland’s library e-book law is, as critics had argued, preempted by the federal Copyright Act, holding that the threat of civil and criminal penalties for non-compliance with the act amounts to “a forced transaction” that would “effectively strip publishers of their exclusive right to distribute.”

First introduced in January 2021, the Maryland law required any publisher offering to license "an electronic literary product" to consumers in the state to also offer to license the content to public libraries "on reasonable terms" that would enable library users to have access. The bill passed the Maryland General Assembly unanimously on March 10, and went into effect on January 1, 2022.

The law emerged after a decade of tension in the digital library market, with libraries long complaining of unsustainable, non-negotiated high prices and restrictions. More specifically, however, the law emerged as a direct response to Macmillan's (since abandoned) 2019 embargo on frontlist e-book titles, which prompted numerous appeals to both federal and state legislators to protect basic access to digital works in libraries.

The Association of American Publishers filed suit on December 9, 2021 arguing that the Maryland law infringed on the exclusive rights granted to publishers and authors under copyright. A week later, on December 16, AAP attorneys moved for a preliminary injunction < https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/libraries/article/88151-aap-seeks-preliminary-injunction-to-stop-maryland-s-e-book-law.html >  blocking the law. Just days after a February 7 hearing Boardman enjoined the law. 

"Libraries face unique challenges as they sit at the intersection of public service and the private marketplace in an evolving society that is increasingly reliant on digital media," the judge concluded in her 28 page opinion. "Striking the balance between the critical functions of libraries and the importance of preserving the exclusive rights of copyright holders, however, is squarely in the province of Congress and not this Court or a state legislature."

Similar bills are currently still pending in half a dozen other states—although bills in at least three of those states (Missouri, Tennessee, and Illinois) appear to be all but dead. In late December, New York governor Kathy Hochul vetoed New York's library e-book bill. < https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/copyright/article/88205-hochul-vetoes-new-york-s-library-e-book-bill.html >  

ARTICLE LINK
https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/libraries/article/89017-maryland-gives-up-on-its-library-e-book-law.html

Why So Many Blogs and Newsletters Aren’t Worth the Writer’s Effort
April 12, 2022 by Jane Friedman 
https://www.janefriedman.com/why-so-many-blogs-and-newsletters-arent-worth-the-writers-effort/

 

Et Tu War
My Thoughts To The Article Below

The great Ali once asked, I paraphrase, why should I go fight vietkong for you when you my poser when I want a job, you my poser when I want rights, you my poser when I try to be happy.
I recall in a documentary on Public Broadcasting Station concerning the Vietnam war a man who fought for Vietnam against the proxy government set up by the USA in vietnam, that he was the only person in his building to return from going to the war.
What is the point? 
Any government that has to force or ask people who live under it to fight for it proves that government is failed. 
The reason why Black people had to be drafted is cause most Black people couldn't stand the USA and would never willingly take a bullet for a government that oppresses Black people. 
To the article below, I have never lived in Ukraine or Russia. I know no one in Ukraine or Russia. The article below can be a complete lie. 

But, if the article below has truth. 
It makes three things clear. 
The Ukrainian people are kin to Russian People. They are not distant. These two peoples are in the same way like the Union side the Confederacy.
The Ukrainian government has forced Ukranian people, especially men: to deny themselves, to deny their personal relationships to Russia, to deny their right to choose.
A segment of the Ukranian plus Russian people in the USA have a combined agenda that they promote which is telling a lie about the realities of this war, which the USA government supports for global order reasonings.

Some may suggest I am stating a civil war. I am not. No war is ever civil and that includes the war between the states. I am stating the russian-ukranian war is an intracommunal war, a war within one community. Sequentially, while the Russian sector is the agressor plus the Ukrainian is the subjected. Neither side is absent the other. It is the same thing when Hindus side Muslims fight in India. It is the same with the people of Hong Kong or Taiwan aside the People of Mainland china. It is the same with the people of north korea side south korea. One community can have striking parts and still be one community. The people of ireland are still british even though they bombed everywhere possible in belfast or england they could.

Now, why have I posted this in a Black communal online group. The question is how Black people see themselves under any government, but especially the USA. How many Black people if they had to choose will fight for the USA? I argue far less. Many Black people talk about enslaved forebears fighting to have the legal rights or communal equality to whites.  But I argue, for each enslaved forebear that wanted equality to all was ten forebears who wanted to merely break the skull of someone not black. 
When Black people speak of anger or violence being a problem in the Black community, I hope anyone reading this will ask themselves, how many Black people are happy? And if unhappiness is merely a potential reality, not a sign that the mind is unhealthy, then the solution to unhappiness isn't some pharmaceutical product or some talk with someone saying to another they are wrong, but an process that leads to what will make a Black person happy.

Last question, when the war between ukraine side russia is over, will Ukraine have to give up the weapons they were given by various countries? 

 

Photo description

Volodymyr Danuliv, a Ukrainian evacuee, at a center for asylum seekers and refugees in Chisinau, Moldova’s capital. He has relatives in the Russian Army and is determined not to join the fight for Ukraine.

 

Article

 

Ukraine’s Draft Dodgers Face Guilt, Shame and Reproach

April 10, 2022, 1:57 p.m. ETApril 10, 2022
April 10, 2022
Jeffrey Gettleman and Monika Pronczuk

CHISINAU, Moldova – Vova Klever, a young, successful fashion photographer from Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, did not see himself in this war.

“Violence is not my weapon,” he said.

So shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in late February and Ukraine prohibited men of military age from leaving the country, Mr. Klever sneaked out to London.

His mistake, which would bring devastating consequences, was writing to a friend about it.

The friend and his wife then shared the contents of that conversation on social media. It sparked an online fight that went viral, and Ukrainians all over the internet exploded with anger and resentment.

“You are a walking dead person,” one Twitter message said. “I’m going to find you in any corner in the world.”

The notion of people — especially men — leaving war-torn Ukraine for safe and comfortable lives abroad has provoked a moral dilemma among Ukrainians that turns on one of the most elemental decisions humans can make: fight or flee.

Thousands of Ukrainian men of military age have left the country to avoid participating in the war, according to records from regional law enforcement officials and interviews with people inside and outside Ukraine. Smuggling rings in Moldova, and possibly other European countries, have been doing a brisk business. Some people have paid up to $15,000 for a secret night-time ride out of Ukraine, Moldovan officials said.

The draft dodgers are the vast exception. That makes it all the more complicated for them — morally, socially and practically. Ukrainian society has been mobilized for war against a much bigger enemy, and countless Ukrainians without military experience have volunteered for the fight. To maximize its forces, the Ukrainian government has taken the extreme step of prohibiting men 18 to 60 from leaving, with few exceptions.

All this has forced many Ukrainian men who don’t want to serve into taking illegal routes into Hungary, Moldova and Poland and other neighboring countries. Even among those convinced they fled for the right reasons, some said they felt guilty and ashamed.

“I don’t think I can be a good soldier right now in this war,” said a Ukrainian computer programmer named Volodymyr, who left shortly after the war began and did not want to disclose his last name, fearing repercussions for avoiding military service.

“Look at me,” Volodymyr said, as he sat in a pub in Warsaw drinking a beer. “I wear glasses. I am 46. I don’t look like a classic fighter, some Rambo who can fight Russian troops.”

He took another sip and stared into his glass.

“Yes, I am ashamed,” he said. “I ran away from this war, and it is probably my crime.”

Ukrainian politicians have threatened to put draft dodgers in prison and confiscate their homes. But within Ukrainian society, even as cities continue to be pummeled by Russian bombs, the sentiments are more divided.

A meme recently popped up with the refrain, “Do what you can, where you are.” It’s clearly meant to counter negative feelings toward those who left and assure them they can still contribute to the war effort. And Ukrainian women and children, the vast majority of the refugees, face little backlash.

But that’s not the case for young men, and this is what blew up on the young photographer.

In mid-March, Olga Lepina, a modeling agent, said Mr. Klever disclosed in a text message to her husband that he had paid $5,000 to be smuggled out of Ukraine, and from earlier conversations she knew he had wanted to go to London.

Ms. Lepina said she and Mr. Klever had been friends for years. She even went to his wedding. But as the war drew near, she said, Mr. Klever became intensely patriotic and anti-Russian, and said rude things to her husband, who is Russian. When she found out he had avoided service, she was so outraged that she posted on Instagram the comments Mr. Klever made insulting her husband, and said he had spent $5,000 to be smuggled out of Ukraine.

“For me, it was a hypocrisy to leave the country and pay money for this,” she explained, adding, “He needs to be responsible for his words.”

Mr. Klever, who is in his 20s, fell deeper into an online spat with Ms. Lepina. She and others said he had made insensitive comments about the town of Bucha, the site of major violence and the town she was from. (The comments were made before the atrocities in Bucha were revealed). Mr. Klever was then bombarded with death threats. Some Ukrainians also resented that he used his wealth to get out and called it “cheating.”

Responding to emailed questions, Mr. Klever did not deny skipping out on his service and said that he had poor eyesight and had “been through a lot lately."

“You can’t even imagine the hatred,” he said.

Mr. Klever gave conflicting accounts of how exactly he exited the country and declined to provide details. But for many other Ukrainian men, Moldova has become the favorite trap door.

Moldova shares a nearly 800-mile border with western Ukraine. And unlike Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, Moldova is not part of the European Union, which means it has significantly fewer resources to control its frontiers. It is one of Europe’s poorest countries and has been a hub of human trafficking and organized crime.

Within days of the war erupting, Moldovan officials said, Moldovan gangs posted advertisements on Telegram, a popular messaging service in Eastern Europe, offering to arrange cars, even minibuses, to spirit out draft dodgers.

Law enforcement officials said the typical method was for the smugglers and the Ukrainians to select a rendezvous point along Moldova’s “green border,” the term used for the unfenced border areas, and meet late at night.

On a recent night, a squad of Moldovan border guards trudged across a flat, endless wheat field, their boots sinking in the mud, looking for draft dodgers. There was no border post on the horizon, just the faint lights of a Ukrainian village and the sounds of dogs barking in the darkness.

Out here, one can just walk into and out of Ukraine.

Moldovan officials said that since late February they had broken up more than 20 smuggling rings, including a few well-known criminal enterprises. In turn, they have apprehended 1,091 people crossing the border illegally. Officials said all were Ukrainian men.

Once caught, these men have a choice. If they don’t want to be sent back, they can apply for asylum in Moldova, and cannot be deported.

But if they do not apply for asylum, they can be turned over to the Ukrainian authorities, who, Moldovan officials said, have been pressuring them to send the men back. The vast majority of those who entered illegally, around 1,000, have sought asylum, and fewer than 100 have been returned, Moldovan officials said. Two thousand other Ukrainian men who have entered Moldova legally have also applied for asylum.

Volodymyr Danuliv is one of them. He refuses to fight in the war, though it’s not the prospect of dying that worries him, he said. It is the killing.

“I can’t shoot Russian people,” said Mr. Danuliv, 50.

He explained that his siblings had married Russians and that two of his nephews were serving in the Russian Army — in Ukraine.

“How can I fight in this war?” he asked. “I might kill my own family.”

Myroslav Hai, an official with Ukraine’s military reserve, conceded, “There are people who evade mobilization, but their share in comparison with volunteers is not so large.” Other Ukrainian officials said men ideologically or religiously opposed to war could serve in another way, for example as cooks or drivers.

But none of the more than a dozen men interviewed for this article seemed interested. Mr. Danuliv, a businessman from western Ukraine, said he wanted no part in the war. When asked if he feared being ostracized or shamed, he shook his head.

“I didn’t kill anyone. That’s what’s important to me,” he said. “I don’t care what people say.”

What happens when the war ends? How much resentment will surface toward those who left? These are questions Ukrainians, men and women, are beginning to ask.

When Ms. Lepina shamed Mr. Klever, she was no longer in Ukraine herself. She had left, too, for France, with her husband. Every day, she said, she wrestles with guilt.

“People are suffering in Ukraine, and I want to be there to help them, to support them,” she said. “But at the same time I’m safe and I want to be here.”

“It’s a very ambiguous, complicated feeling,” she said.

And she knows she will be judged.

“Of course there will be some people who divide Ukrainian nationals between those who left and those who stayed,” she said. “I am ready for that.”

Siergiej Greczuszkin contributed reporting from Warsaw, and Daria Mychkovska from Przemysl, Poland.

Correction: April 10, 2022
An earlier version of this article referred incompletely to the online dispute between Vova Klever and Olga Lupina. In addition to writing a social media post describing Mr. Klever’s avoidance of military service in Ukraine, Ms. Lupina also posted comments she considered insensitive that he made about her husband’s Russian heritage and about Bucha, her hometown.

 

Article Link

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/10/world/asia/ukraine-draft-dodgers.html

 

I don't know if Frank James was the shooter in the subway, but if he was, he offers an interesting query challenge.

NYC's black community always had black people in it, who love to suggest a usage of violence is incorrect. The reason why is complicated, it isn't merely about right or wrong. But, one of the juxtaposes between white controlled media of nyc /the black church in the black community of NYC/black employed class in NYC is the idea of gun violence in the Black community as something of youth. The narrative is, the youth must get the violence out of them. But, Frank James is sixty something years old. Frank James was an elder teen in the 1970s. So Frank James is not a Black person who is without a decades long look at the Black community in NYC, in NYS, in the USA and with that a high potential for a very honest while negative appraisal of many things in this area. 

Many will suggest mental imbalance, as in NYC that is suggested for anyone who is violent. From white media to many or most black homes in NYC, mental dysfunction or imbalance is always the reason behind any violence as if, being violent can not be from a mentally sane person, which of course is a lie. 
 

A FORUM POST

 

The Wild Seeds Writers Retreat for Writers of Color (formerly the North Country Institute & Retreat for Writers of Color), is a collaboration with the Center for Black Literature, the English Department at SUNY, Plattsburgh, and the Paden Institute and Retreat for Writers. It provides a writing community where established and emerging writers of color can focus on the craft of writing and create cross-cultural conversations around the literature created by writers of the African diaspora.

Writing fellows have an opportunity to draw upon their experiences as writers in a racialized society; to become knowledgeable about the issues facing other writers of color; and to study with a professional in the genres of fiction, memoir, and poetry.

Recognizing that the Writers Retreat should not be limited to a specific geographical region, the Center renamed the Retreat in honor of Octavia E. Butler, a speculative fiction writer known globally for blending science fiction with African American spiritualism. Butler's writing crossed many boundaries and represented varying diverse voices.

The Goal

The Retreat strives to provide writers of color with an opportunity to meet other writers; to workshop their writing among peers; and to engage with published writers about concerns and issues related to writing and publishing. Through its writing workshops leaders, the Retreat provides the public with an opportunity to become knowledgeable about the range and diversity of the work produced by writers of color.

A Look Back

The first Writers' Retreat, held in 2004, was highly successful and featured the internationally acclaimed poet Sonia Sanchez, author Tony Medina, and writer Indira Ganesan. Subsequent faculty workshop leaders have been nonfiction writer Patrice Gaines; poets Martin Espada, E. Ethelbert Miller, Aracelis Girmay, and Patricia Spears Jones; and writers Jeffery Renard Allen, Marita Golden, Victor LaValle, and Bernice McFadden, among many others.

Typically, the Retreat alternates between the Valcour Educational and Conference Center in Plattsburgh, New York, and the campus of Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, New York. Venues are subject to change.

NEW LOCATION for SUMMER 2022

The new location for the Retreat will be determined soon. It will be a scenic location Upstate New York as in previous years. As of early April 2022, the summer retreat will no longer be held at SUNY, New Paltz (The State University of New York, New Paltz) as previously announced.

Previous Poetry, Fiction, and Playwriting Workshop Leaders

Jeffery Renard Allen

Mo Beasley

Martin Espada

Patrice Gaines

Indira Ganesan

Aracelis Girmay

Marita Golden

Tonya Cherie Hegamin

Donna Hill

Major Jackson

Sandra Jackson-Opoku

Patricia Spears Jones

Victor LaValle

E. Ethelbert Miller

Bernice McFadden

Shaun Neblett

Greg Pardlo

Willie Perdomo

Ernesto Quiñonez

Sonia Sanchez

Ravi Shankar

PLEASE NOTE:

Applications < https://centerforblackliterature.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/WSWR_AppSummer2022_REVISED11April.pdf  >  are available now. The deadline to apply is Monday, May 16, 2022.

The cost of the Retreat is $600 and there is a one-time non-refundable $25 application fee. Scholarships are made available only when sponsorship gifts permit and are not necessarily applicable for each Retreat.

Please direct inquiries to Director of Literary Programs Clarence V. Reynolds at reynolds@centerforblackliterature.org

 

Why You Should Consider a University Press for Your Book
Updated: April 5, 2022
First Published: April 5, 2022 by Adam Rosen < https://www.janefriedman.com/author/adam-rosen/ >  

Today’s guest post is by Adam Rosen (@adammmmmrosen).

 

For many authors, there’s a certain template for book publishing “success”: signing with an agent, getting a decent advance, and watching the awards and social media followers roll in. Achieving this fantasy, as you no doubt know, is famously challenging—and arguably getting more so every year as Big Publishing continues to consolidate (to say nothing of recent employee turmoil).

While it’s an oversimplification to declare that the big houses stake too much on celebrity memoirs, former Trump staffer tell-alls, IPs, and other supposed sure bets, there’s more than a kernel of truth here. Platform and brand arguably matter now more than ever, especially when it comes to nonfiction.

Despair not, though. If you have a small platform and a big idea (and strong writing skills), there are other options. Enter the humble, often overlooked university press.

Within the past few years university presses have been publishing some of the most exciting, critically acclaimed trade books around. Last year, for instance, three out of the ten books longlisted for a National Book Award for Nonfiction were published by university presses. West Virginia University Press, which puts out 18 to 20 books a year and is the state of West Virginia’s only book publisher, has earned the sort of recognition and media attention you’d typically expect from a hip new indie press or house ten times its size. In 2020, Deesha Philyaw’s The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, a short story collection published by the four-person WVUP staff (now five), was named a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction and earned a PEN/Faulkner Award, among several other prestigious accolades; last October it was announced that a TV adaptation of the book was in the works for HBO Max. The next month, Ghosts of New York by Jim Lewis, another West Virginia release, made the New York Times list of 100 Notable Books of 2021.

University presses have carved out a unique place in the trade publishing landscape, says Kristen Elias Rowley, editor in chief of Ohio State University Press, by providing an opportunity for “books that can’t find a home elsewhere.” This often translates to “projects that are either pushing boundaries in terms of form or content or voice. Projects that a larger press is going to say, ‘You know, we can’t sell 50,000 copies of this, so we’re not going to do it’ or ‘We don’t think this is mainstream enough.’” She points to two upcoming titles on OSUP’s catalog, cultural critic Negesti Kaudo’s collection of personal essays, Ripe (a Lit Hub Most Anticipated Book of 2022), and Finding Querencia: Essays from In-Between by Harrison Candelaria Fletcher, as examples. Both collections will be released through OSUP’s trade imprint, Mad Creek, this month.

Elias Rowley estimates that at least half of all university presses publish books by non-academics. While the core mandate of UPs is to advance scholarship through journals and scholarly monographs, they also have a mission to “put important literary or other general public or regional works out into the world,” she says. Of the 40 to 60 books a year OSUP publishes, roughly a dozen are trade books released through Mad Creek.

“It never seemed like the point was to be insular,” says Derek Krissoff, director of West Virginia University Press. “Part of the value proposition for [UPs] is building bridges that go out to other communities” beyond the confines of academia. In Krissoff’s view, this larger purpose gives university presses leeway to make decisions that are less commercially driven. “We’re very concerned about being thoughtful stewards of people’s resources, because we are part of the state of West Virginia. But we don’t have shareholders who need to be rewarded, and we can be a little bit freer in terms of what we choose to invest in,” says Krissoff. In light of WVU’s recent wave of success, this (winning) strategy feels more than a little ironic.

The backbone of many university presses’ trade programs is probably familiar: local and regional history, cookbooks, photography books, and other sorts of consumer-friendly titles with an obvious connection to the area or university. But many also offer a home for books that are niche, experimental, challenging in various ways, and/or just kind of weird.

I’d like to think of my own as an example of the latter. In February 2018 I put the finishing touches on my proposal: a collection of essays, from various contributors, on the cult film The Room, widely considered “the worst movie of all time” and a personal obsession of mine. My prototype was the Indiana University Press series The Year’s Work: Studies in Fan Culture and Cultural Theory, a heady series devoted to dissecting pop culture bric-a-brac. Its topics of focus ranged from the straightforward (The Worlds of John Wick) to the strange (Household Horror: Cinematic Fear and the Secret Life of Everyday Objects).

I discovered the series after coming across a 2009 entrant, The Year’s Work in Lebowski Studies, a deconstruction of, you guessed it, The Big Lebowski. The essay collection felt revelatory, offering enlightening historical and critical analysis that helped less-savvy viewers (such as myself) uncover the layers upon layers of meaning in the film, whether related to the Gulf War, the failures of the New Left, or the influence of literary critic Paul de Man on the Coen brothers (and, of course, nihilists and white Russians). It was often hilarious, but it took its subject matter seriously. For its efforts it snagged reviews in the New York Times and Washington Post.

A few of the agents I submitted my proposal to told me they liked my idea but the scope felt too narrow; one suggested I expand the focus to bad films in general. Alternatively, it was too academic. The bottom line was that they didn’t think they could sell it in its current form.

After several dozen rejections, I changed tacks and started submitting directly to university presses, who I knew were open to unsolicited queries and proposals. This time the feedback was more encouraging, but I still ran into the same problem, just from a different side: several editors said they liked my idea, but it felt too trade-y—they wouldn’t know how to sell it.

The sweet spot, it turned it out, was with an academic press with a strong trade arm who published on pop culture: Indiana University Press, i.e., the publisher who put out the very book I was meticulously, and possibly shamelessly, modeling my own book on. I ended up exactly where I began. 

Initially I was a bit surprised that they’d have me. I have a BA in political science, and while as a freelance writer I’ve written about pop culture (including a piece on The Room), I don’t have a film beat. And yet, four years later, I’m the editor of and contributor to a collection of essays about a film, a book whose vast majority of contributors are academics. Another, related data point: an author whose book proposal and sample chapters I recently edited has received an encouraging amount of initial interest from her first-choice publisher, a university press in her geographic area, despite not having a bachelor’s. But she does have excellent research skills and deep professional expertise in a field related to the topic of her book, an iconic bridge.

All of which is to say that (a) university presses are not just for scholars; and (b) many are far more open-minded than you may think—as I once thought.

If you are interested in submitting to a university press, Elias Rowley and Krissoff have a few suggestions. Given the unique focus areas and track record of each press, any place you contact should be a good match for your topic. Proposing a book about birding in Maine probably isn’t a great fit for, say, University of Nevada Press. That said, “fit” can be expansive, thematic as much as geographic. “I think what our books have in common is that they are grounded in place,” says Krissoff. “And it doesn’t always mean they’re grounded in our place, although a lot of our books are about Appalachia or about Appalachian topics.”

While having a decent platform doesn’t hurt, says Krissoff, it’s not necessary; he says he doesn’t look for an author’s metrics when he’s reviewing a project. If he likes their idea, it’s much more important that the author is willing to truly commit to the writing, revising, and marketing processes. “Platform is always a bonus and can really make a difference in the outcome for a book, but it’s not going to be the thing that makes me decide not to do a project,” says Elias Rowley. “I’m not looking for a bare minimum of certain kinds of requirements. I’m looking for [if] this is a book that should be out there in the world.”

To that end, Elias Rowley says that it’s rarely too early to get on an editor’s radar. She advises authors to reach out and connect with editors early on, whether it’s through email or in-person events like the Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP) conference. She’ll even respond to queries that are submitted before the proposal’s been written. This way, if she likes an idea and thinks it might be a good fit, she can help develop it from the beginning. “We’re interested in forging those relationships and having it be a collaborative partnership,” she says.

The downsides? University presses typically don’t offer an advance, and if they do, it’s probably going to be pretty modest. That said, if your book sells well, you earn royalties immediately, since you don’t need to “earn out.” As Belt publisher Anne Trubek puts it, “Advances are royalties. They just come sooner.” It’s also expected that authors supply their own index, which means either using software to do a bad job or hiring someone to make one (what I did). I also gave each essay contributor an honorarium.

So when my book publishes this October, technically I’ll already be in the hole. Will I sell enough books to break even? Hard to say. I do think it could be a strong backlist contender. As I argue in my book, The Room has become The Rocky Horror Picture Show for the millennial generation. There are (or were, before Covid) monthly Saturday night screenings of it around the world, each replete with a set of established viewing rituals. The film’s notoriety continues to grow alongside that of its eccentric creator, Tommy Wiseau. But this may be wishful thinking.

On the other hand, I already consider my journey a success. Having a book title under my name with a well-respected university press has brought me a level of professional prestige, boosting my credibility as freelance book editor and opening doors for various writing projects. I also have the satisfaction of having taken the germ of an idea, turned it into a proposal, wrangled together 16 smart (and, blessedly, easy to work with) contributors, and executed the entire thing into the form of a book I will eventually hold in my hands. And, certainly last but not least, I’d like to think I’ve played a small part in furthering the world’s knowledge of the worst movie of all time, which surely counts for something.

It’s not the typical publishing success template, much less a show on HBO Max. But it just may be good enough.

IN AMENDMENT

Why Your Amazing Writing Group Might Be Failing You
https://www.janefriedman.com/why-your-amazing-writing-group-might-be-failing-you/

 

Title: Knitting near jupiter 
Artist: GDBee < https://gdbee.store/ >  

 

name the song she is listening to:) or add a lyric , be imaginative... be creative

 

Courtney Evers wrote: 
Now that she's back in the atmosphere,
With drops of Jupiter in her hair
I continued
the solar flares dry young moons - tears,  beyond antares days sweet sweet air

 

Beyond Antares song from Star Trek the original series
The skies are green and glowing,
Where my heart is, where my heart is,
Where the scented lunar flower is blooming:
Somewhere, beyond the stars...
Beyond Antares.

I'll be back, though it takes forever.
Forever is just a day.
Forever is just another journey.
Tomorrow a stop along the way.

Then let the years go fading,
Where my heart is, where my heart is,
Where my love eternally is waiting
Somewhere, beyond the stars...
Beyond Antares.

 

prior entry
https://aalbc.com/tc/profile/6477-richardmurray/?status=1877&type=status

 

 

GDBee entries
https://aalbc.com/tc/search/?q=gdbee&quick=1&type=core_statuses_status

 

Title: Sisters
Artist: GDBee < https://gdbee.store/ >   

 

prior entry
https://aalbc.com/tc/profile/6477-richardmurray/?status=1876&type=status

 

 

GDBee entries
https://aalbc.com/tc/search/?q=gdbee&quick=1&type=core_statuses_status

 

Title:Wish
Artist: GDBee < https://gdbee.store/ >   

 

prior entry
https://aalbc.com/tc/profile/6477-richardmurray/?status=1875&type=status

 

 

GDBee entries
https://aalbc.com/tc/search/?q=gdbee&quick=1&type=core_statuses_status

 

Title: breeze
Artist: GDBee < https://gdbee.store/ >   

 

prior entry
https://aalbc.com/tc/profile/6477-richardmurray/?status=1859&type=status

 

 

GDBee entries
https://aalbc.com/tc/search/?q=gdbee&quick=1&type=core_statuses_status