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Extreme transformation into #DarthMaul character. 😱❤️ I was completely defeated by PicAsssHole 🖌️🎨 enormous lightsaber!🤩 Link for full in bio✅ THE XXL MEN - ONLY BIG COCK GUYS 💪🏻🍆🤤 Global Delicious 320K 𝗗𝗘𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗢𝗨𝗦 𝗠𝗘𝗡 𝗫𝗫𝗫 PacoJonesFL1

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🔥NATHAN ADAMS 🔥 (TOP 3% on JFF)

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302,141 Aufrufe • vor 2 Jahren •via X (Twitter)

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You asked for Puerto Vallarta... so here it is. ❤️🇲🇽 You already know what happened to the YouTube channel, but one thing it didn't take away was these trips. Instead of one long travel guide, I'm breaking Puerto Vallarta, and all the Season 3 videos, into short episodes here on Instagram. That way we can dive deeper into every topic and, by the end of this series, you'll know exactly how to plan your own trip. The full video will be available on my Patreon. And trust me... Puerto Vallarta deserves it. Let's be honest... nobody flies all the way to Puerto Vallarta just for the beach. 😂 You come for the energy, the beach clubs, the parties, and the men. You come for walking through the Romantic Zone and feeling like the entire neighbourhood is filled with gay men. You come for meeting people who are keen to grab a drink, dance until sunrise, or take the conversation somewhere a little more private. Puerto Vallarta has a way of turning complete strangers into unforgettable memories, and that's why people keep coming back. I also have to give a huge shoutout to Tryst Puerto Vallarta for making this trip even more unforgettable. Almost everyone staying there was gay, mostly men, and that completely changes your holiday. Not even to mention how beautiful the hotel and its location were. It had one of the most amazing sunsets I've ever seen in my life, right from my room or from the rooftop pool. To every single member of the Tryst team, thank you for making me feel so welcome. I don't recommend it 100%. I recommend it 100000%. ❤️ This Puerto Vallarta series is powered by Sniffies, the best gay app for gay travellers and cruisers like us. Click on the link below and grab one week of Sniffies Pro for free so you can start exploring Puerto Vallarta before you even land. 📍If Puerto Vallarta is on your bucket list, save this reel because this is just the beginning. Tomorrow I'm showing you how to get to Puerto Vallarta and, more importantly, where to stay. #PuertoVallarta #GayPuertoVallarta #GayTravel #GayTraveller
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You asked for Puerto Vallarta... so here it is. ❤️🇲🇽 You already know what happened to the YouTube channel, but one thing it didn't take away was these trips. Instead of one long travel guide, I'm breaking Puerto Vallarta, and all the Season 3 videos, into short episodes here on Instagram. That way we can dive deeper into every topic and, by the end of this series, you'll know exactly how to plan your own trip. The full video will be available on my Patreon. And trust me... Puerto Vallarta deserves it. Let's be honest... nobody flies all the way to Puerto Vallarta just for the beach. 😂 You come for the energy, the beach clubs, the parties, and the men. You come for walking through the Romantic Zone and feeling like the entire neighbourhood is filled with gay men. You come for meeting people who are keen to grab a drink, dance until sunrise, or take the conversation somewhere a little more private. Puerto Vallarta has a way of turning complete strangers into unforgettable memories, and that's why people keep coming back. I also have to give a huge shoutout to Tryst Puerto Vallarta for making this trip even more unforgettable. Almost everyone staying there was gay, mostly men, and that completely changes your holiday. Not even to mention how beautiful the hotel and its location were. It had one of the most amazing sunsets I've ever seen in my life, right from my room or from the rooftop pool. To every single member of the Tryst team, thank you for making me feel so welcome. I don't recommend it 100%. I recommend it 100000%. ❤️ This Puerto Vallarta series is powered by Sniffies, the best gay app for gay travellers and cruisers like us. Click on the link below and grab one week of Sniffies Pro for free so you can start exploring Puerto Vallarta before you even land. 📍If Puerto Vallarta is on your bucket list, save this reel because this is just the beginning. Tomorrow I'm showing you how to get to Puerto Vallarta and, more importantly, where to stay. #PuertoVallarta #GayPuertoVallarta #GayTravel #GayTraveller

Your Gay Guyde

14,247 Aufrufe • vor 1 Monat

There is a delicious irony in the way our governing centrists, in the UK and in the EU, are lamenting the Trump Shock. They wax lyrical about the globalised, financialised capitalist order which they now mourn. They portray it as a golden age, a natural global system of free trade and benign capital flows. Are they truly oblivious to the facts of recent economic history? Do they not know that the grossly imbalanced, extractive, Ponzi-like financialised global capitalism which has spawned the crises that propelled Trump into the White House was also birthed by a major shock? The Nixon shock? Centrists admonish the Trump boys for having turned on their allies but they forget that the Nixon Shock was equally, if not more so, an intentional devastating assault on Europe, Japan and the UK. They seem unaware that precisely because of the economic devastation caused in the 1970s and 1980s, including in America’s heartlands, the Nixon Shock’s architects, men like Paul Volcker, achieved their main long-term objective: to ensure that American hegemony grew alongside America’s trade and government budget deficits, not to mention on the back of financial rents earned at the expense of real value creation. Many seem puzzled that, while the EU and the Britain differ in important ways - mainly in that the EU is running a huge surplus with the US while the UK remains a deficit economy - our centrist regimes on both sides of the Channel seem equally at a loss. There is a reason for this. Since 1971, our economies have been hooked into the same US-centric global surplus recycling mechanism whose deep crisis is steering our politics into the arms of the xenophobic ultra-right – with our electorates increasingly pummelled by nasty undercurrents fuelled by the crisis of this global recycling mechanism that once drove Europe’s and Britain’s growth and relative stability. The essence of this global recycling mechanism (which I once labelled The Global Minotaur) is simple: Since the 1970s, America’s deficits provided Germany, Japan and later China the demand for their factories’ manufactures. In return, the European Union, Japan and later China sent their accumulated profits to Wall Street and its appendage, the City of London, to be recycled into the US rentier sector: private and public debt, some equities, and real estate. A Chinese official once described this mechanism to me as a Dark Deal. “Our Dark Deal with the Americans,” he explained, “turns on the US trade deficit, which keeps demand for our manufactures high. In return, our capitalists invest the bulk of their dollar superprofits into America’s rentier economy - Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate. Once this process got underway”, he concluded, “America shifted much of its industrial production to our shores.” The problem with this global recycling mechanism was that, to function smoothly, it had to generate larger and larger imbalances, greater trade deficits for the US, and more accumulated rents for Northern Europe and East Asia. But, there are limits to how large imbalances can grow, both in terms of trade deficits and in terms of profits versus rents. Ruptures are inevitable. The longer they are delayed the greater the pain they inflict – a truth that centrists never acknowledged, not even when the Crash of 2008 was tearing down their houses. Trump’s boys have dared asked the pressing question that the centrists refuse to countenance: What comes after the Dark Deal once the imbalances built on the US trade deficit proved unsustainably massive? Their proposed solutions may seem wrongheaded, half-baked, even crazy but at least Trump’s team has identified the American ruling class’s problem: How to maintain US hegemony in the face of America’s rapid de-industrialisation, with the Triffin Dilemma hanging over their heads, and now that financial rents are being replaced by what I call cloud rents. In contrast, UK and EU politicians are utterly out of their depth, running around like decapitated chickens, oscillating between vacuous bravado and servility to The Donald. Guy Standing suggested that, today, I focus on how Europe and the UK should respond to the Trump Shock. I could talk endlessly on this. I could, for example, recommend not just a 10% cloud tax by which to clobber Big Tech but also repealing all regulations that we introduced in Europe to comply with Bill Clinton’s despicable ‘anticircumvention’ Act which is why you can’t buy a jailbreaking tool so your printer is able to recognise and use cheaper, generic ink cartridges. I could recommend that our governments rescind all tariffs imposed at the behest of Washington on excellent Chinese solar panels and electric vehicles, while entering into a serious EU-UK-Chinese dialogue with a view to stimulate our economies in a coordinated fashion so as to stem the recessionary wave coming from Trump’s America. I could recommend that Europe starts its own Peace negotiations with Moscow over Ukraine, rejecting the plunder of Ukraine’s underground wealth by Trump’s boys. But, in all honesty, I can’t find the energy to make these recommendations when I know that the Radical Centre in power, in Britain and in the EU, will do everything they can to not do any of that – in exactly the same way they botched the euro crisis or the opportunities offered by the pandemic. Determined to remain wedded to America’s rentier economy, Europe’s and Britain’s elites will not deviate from current policies – not unless we overthrow them first. But for this we need an agenda bolder than Trump’s and Farage’s and, of course, a radically humanist one – an agenda that is not fearful of radical proposals like a public green investment bank, a trust fund for everyone yielding an unconditional personal income, the termination of all quasi-energy markets, the socialisation of housing and, last but not least, a surge in corporations practising one-employee-one-member-one-vote. Meanwhile, as we stuggle to give political representation to such an agenda, all eyes on China – the only country, for better or for worse, that seems willing and able (though not predestined) to counter Trump’s bullies, to boost green energy production, to work toward turning the BRICS into a new Bretton Woods serving the interests of the Global South. For more thoughts on the world’s response to the Trump Shock, watch this space.
7:13

There is a delicious irony in the way our governing centrists, in the UK and in the EU, are lamenting the Trump Shock. They wax lyrical about the globalised, financialised capitalist order which they now mourn. They portray it as a golden age, a natural global system of free trade and benign capital flows. Are they truly oblivious to the facts of recent economic history? Do they not know that the grossly imbalanced, extractive, Ponzi-like financialised global capitalism which has spawned the crises that propelled Trump into the White House was also birthed by a major shock? The Nixon shock? Centrists admonish the Trump boys for having turned on their allies but they forget that the Nixon Shock was equally, if not more so, an intentional devastating assault on Europe, Japan and the UK. They seem unaware that precisely because of the economic devastation caused in the 1970s and 1980s, including in America’s heartlands, the Nixon Shock’s architects, men like Paul Volcker, achieved their main long-term objective: to ensure that American hegemony grew alongside America’s trade and government budget deficits, not to mention on the back of financial rents earned at the expense of real value creation. Many seem puzzled that, while the EU and the Britain differ in important ways - mainly in that the EU is running a huge surplus with the US while the UK remains a deficit economy - our centrist regimes on both sides of the Channel seem equally at a loss. There is a reason for this. Since 1971, our economies have been hooked into the same US-centric global surplus recycling mechanism whose deep crisis is steering our politics into the arms of the xenophobic ultra-right – with our electorates increasingly pummelled by nasty undercurrents fuelled by the crisis of this global recycling mechanism that once drove Europe’s and Britain’s growth and relative stability. The essence of this global recycling mechanism (which I once labelled The Global Minotaur) is simple: Since the 1970s, America’s deficits provided Germany, Japan and later China the demand for their factories’ manufactures. In return, the European Union, Japan and later China sent their accumulated profits to Wall Street and its appendage, the City of London, to be recycled into the US rentier sector: private and public debt, some equities, and real estate. A Chinese official once described this mechanism to me as a Dark Deal. “Our Dark Deal with the Americans,” he explained, “turns on the US trade deficit, which keeps demand for our manufactures high. In return, our capitalists invest the bulk of their dollar superprofits into America’s rentier economy - Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate. Once this process got underway”, he concluded, “America shifted much of its industrial production to our shores.” The problem with this global recycling mechanism was that, to function smoothly, it had to generate larger and larger imbalances, greater trade deficits for the US, and more accumulated rents for Northern Europe and East Asia. But, there are limits to how large imbalances can grow, both in terms of trade deficits and in terms of profits versus rents. Ruptures are inevitable. The longer they are delayed the greater the pain they inflict – a truth that centrists never acknowledged, not even when the Crash of 2008 was tearing down their houses. Trump’s boys have dared asked the pressing question that the centrists refuse to countenance: What comes after the Dark Deal once the imbalances built on the US trade deficit proved unsustainably massive? Their proposed solutions may seem wrongheaded, half-baked, even crazy but at least Trump’s team has identified the American ruling class’s problem: How to maintain US hegemony in the face of America’s rapid de-industrialisation, with the Triffin Dilemma hanging over their heads, and now that financial rents are being replaced by what I call cloud rents. In contrast, UK and EU politicians are utterly out of their depth, running around like decapitated chickens, oscillating between vacuous bravado and servility to The Donald. Guy Standing suggested that, today, I focus on how Europe and the UK should respond to the Trump Shock. I could talk endlessly on this. I could, for example, recommend not just a 10% cloud tax by which to clobber Big Tech but also repealing all regulations that we introduced in Europe to comply with Bill Clinton’s despicable ‘anticircumvention’ Act which is why you can’t buy a jailbreaking tool so your printer is able to recognise and use cheaper, generic ink cartridges. I could recommend that our governments rescind all tariffs imposed at the behest of Washington on excellent Chinese solar panels and electric vehicles, while entering into a serious EU-UK-Chinese dialogue with a view to stimulate our economies in a coordinated fashion so as to stem the recessionary wave coming from Trump’s America. I could recommend that Europe starts its own Peace negotiations with Moscow over Ukraine, rejecting the plunder of Ukraine’s underground wealth by Trump’s boys. But, in all honesty, I can’t find the energy to make these recommendations when I know that the Radical Centre in power, in Britain and in the EU, will do everything they can to not do any of that – in exactly the same way they botched the euro crisis or the opportunities offered by the pandemic. Determined to remain wedded to America’s rentier economy, Europe’s and Britain’s elites will not deviate from current policies – not unless we overthrow them first. But for this we need an agenda bolder than Trump’s and Farage’s and, of course, a radically humanist one – an agenda that is not fearful of radical proposals like a public green investment bank, a trust fund for everyone yielding an unconditional personal income, the termination of all quasi-energy markets, the socialisation of housing and, last but not least, a surge in corporations practising one-employee-one-member-one-vote. Meanwhile, as we stuggle to give political representation to such an agenda, all eyes on China – the only country, for better or for worse, that seems willing and able (though not predestined) to counter Trump’s bullies, to boost green energy production, to work toward turning the BRICS into a new Bretton Woods serving the interests of the Global South. For more thoughts on the world’s response to the Trump Shock, watch this space.

Yanis Varoufakis

78,095 Aufrufe • vor 1 Jahr

NEW: The Exhibit Ep3: Iconic rapper, actor & huge #Jets fan methodman --Presented by: BODYARMOR FULL VID: YT: @TheExhibitConcept Pod: BREAKING: Method Man, Hempstead, NY native and longtime #Jets season-ticket holder tells me he’s learned the #Jets are inducting him into the #JetsFan Hall of Fame in a ceremony next season. But you don’t get better unless you keep it honest, & he does that with his childhood team: “I personally have no arguments with a rebuild. With that being said, the team stinks right now...” On why the teams keeps struggling (in-part): "I don't think it's a locker room issue...I think it's a higher-up issue...." On Aaron Rodgers (in-part): “I was expecting him to come with that leadership role & settle the guys down…I think we’ve gotten that sometimes….no disrespect to Aaron, but it kind of seems like everyone checks out…” On wanting A-Rod back: “I would like to have him back….” He's also big on Davante Adams returning. On Jay-Z (in-part): “Anybody that pays attention to Jay-Z’s character pretty much debunked that whole thing ahead of time….I did personally gave him the benefit of the doubt…but then there are people who just don’t like Jay…or just don’t like black men in power….” He talks about his thoughts on Puffy & whether or not they were ever tight, he does a deeper-dive on his bouts of depression, talks secrets to a long marriage, gives his Super Bowl pick, recreates his grammy award-winning duo "I'll Be There for You/You're All I Need to Get By” with me as Mary J. Blige on my set in-studio.....and so much more. (I don’t come close to Mary btw). :)
6:26

NEW: The Exhibit Ep3: Iconic rapper, actor & huge #Jets fan methodman --Presented by: BODYARMOR FULL VID: YT: @TheExhibitConcept Pod: BREAKING: Method Man, Hempstead, NY native and longtime #Jets season-ticket holder tells me he’s learned the #Jets are inducting him into the #JetsFan Hall of Fame in a ceremony next season. But you don’t get better unless you keep it honest, & he does that with his childhood team: “I personally have no arguments with a rebuild. With that being said, the team stinks right now...” On why the teams keeps struggling (in-part): "I don't think it's a locker room issue...I think it's a higher-up issue...." On Aaron Rodgers (in-part): “I was expecting him to come with that leadership role & settle the guys down…I think we’ve gotten that sometimes….no disrespect to Aaron, but it kind of seems like everyone checks out…” On wanting A-Rod back: “I would like to have him back….” He's also big on Davante Adams returning. On Jay-Z (in-part): “Anybody that pays attention to Jay-Z’s character pretty much debunked that whole thing ahead of time….I did personally gave him the benefit of the doubt…but then there are people who just don’t like Jay…or just don’t like black men in power….” He talks about his thoughts on Puffy & whether or not they were ever tight, he does a deeper-dive on his bouts of depression, talks secrets to a long marriage, gives his Super Bowl pick, recreates his grammy award-winning duo "I'll Be There for You/You're All I Need to Get By” with me as Mary J. Blige on my set in-studio.....and so much more. (I don’t come close to Mary btw). :)

JosinaAnderson

326,776 Aufrufe • vor 1 Jahr

I've built a multiplayer survival game for the browser in 30 days and I didnt write a single line of code 🤯 So I'd like to write my notes about it once the deadline is done now. The last 20% of a project is indeed the hardest part of it all. In the last 2 days i've been working on the final version of Hollowlands for @levelsio's 2026 #vibejam I worked a lot! I fixed a lot of bugs, tested a lot playing with my wife. Fixed more bugs... But now, thank God, I have the final result! The game looks good, yes. I've spent half of the jam just tweaking every single detail of the procedural world generation. And It was worth it! The game still runs well on most devices and still has less than 20MB in size. Which is pretty impressive to me. The process of building was very straighforward: 1. I used Three.js + React to create the game. Before I started I created a huge document defining every rule i'd like the codebase to be implemented upon. It had clean code rules, archtecture decisions, ECS principles (good for games), and so on. This helped a lot constrain the AI to maintain the code maintainable and separated into clear domains (systems). This document was made partially by me given my previous experience building web games (I've made a lot of mistakes in the past and made sure they will not repeat again) and partially AI suggesting best practices. 2. For every feature I prompted the AI, I was very specific on details that I'd like implemented. If I knew what I was doing, I was more specific on the "how" I wanted to be done. If I didnt know what was doing I first asked the AI to brainstorm possibilities with me, based on industry standards, pros and cons, and so on. Then I would decide what path to go. 3. Every single feature I used Leva for tweaking the values. So for example, the size of the trees, colors, distance between objects, animation speed, etc. Everything I have a slider that I can adjust. 4. To make the game look good I used Tripo to create the models. To be honest it's not 100% perfect. If you check the character in game you can notice a few issues here and there (the arms lol), but I believe that it will keep getting better over time. 1 Year ago I tried and it wasnt even close to what it's now. Then I used a few post-processing + shaders + particles techniques to bring the "wow" factor. 5. I did only 1 feature at a time. And every change it was a commit with a clear message of what was done. This helped the AI fetch previous commit to understand what changed and know exactly what happened in the past. If I opened multiple terminals at once and blasted prompts the code and commit history would be a mess in a few days. And for every change the AI did, I asked it to do a Code Review of everything that was changed and look for violations on the document I wrote in the beggining defining the codebase guidelines. I realized that I pretty much applied software engineer principles using AI: Code, review and merge, code, review and merge... 6. On the last week I implemented the multiplayer using Colyseus ⚔️ which was pretty nice. I used AI to fetch the whole documentation and create a skill.md file that helped a lot. The creator of the framework Endel also did a extensive research on how real multiplayer games are implemented. It's open source and it was a gold mine for the AI to come up with the implementation for my game. You can ask him the link :) And that was it I think. I'm extremely tired now. The last 2 days was insane. The game's final version is not what I had in mind in the beginning of the jam. I had to cut a lot of cool features. But given the 30 days deadline I think it was a huge success. Hands down my best game ever made. Now I'll take a few days to rest and come back with more updates on the game. Maybe it can become a big deal in the future with more updates. Who knows. And in the event I win first place in this game jam, I'll use the money to fund my own game studio + cover the expenses of my child that is going to be born in September :) Cheers guys! If you have any question, feel free to reach out. I'll answer every non-bot comment in here haha Note: The link to play is in my profile
1:06

I've built a multiplayer survival game for the browser in 30 days and I didnt write a single line of code 🤯 So I'd like to write my notes about it once the deadline is done now. The last 20% of a project is indeed the hardest part of it all. In the last 2 days i've been working on the final version of Hollowlands for @levelsio's 2026 #vibejam I worked a lot! I fixed a lot of bugs, tested a lot playing with my wife. Fixed more bugs... But now, thank God, I have the final result! The game looks good, yes. I've spent half of the jam just tweaking every single detail of the procedural world generation. And It was worth it! The game still runs well on most devices and still has less than 20MB in size. Which is pretty impressive to me. The process of building was very straighforward: 1. I used Three.js + React to create the game. Before I started I created a huge document defining every rule i'd like the codebase to be implemented upon. It had clean code rules, archtecture decisions, ECS principles (good for games), and so on. This helped a lot constrain the AI to maintain the code maintainable and separated into clear domains (systems). This document was made partially by me given my previous experience building web games (I've made a lot of mistakes in the past and made sure they will not repeat again) and partially AI suggesting best practices. 2. For every feature I prompted the AI, I was very specific on details that I'd like implemented. If I knew what I was doing, I was more specific on the "how" I wanted to be done. If I didnt know what was doing I first asked the AI to brainstorm possibilities with me, based on industry standards, pros and cons, and so on. Then I would decide what path to go. 3. Every single feature I used Leva for tweaking the values. So for example, the size of the trees, colors, distance between objects, animation speed, etc. Everything I have a slider that I can adjust. 4. To make the game look good I used Tripo to create the models. To be honest it's not 100% perfect. If you check the character in game you can notice a few issues here and there (the arms lol), but I believe that it will keep getting better over time. 1 Year ago I tried and it wasnt even close to what it's now. Then I used a few post-processing + shaders + particles techniques to bring the "wow" factor. 5. I did only 1 feature at a time. And every change it was a commit with a clear message of what was done. This helped the AI fetch previous commit to understand what changed and know exactly what happened in the past. If I opened multiple terminals at once and blasted prompts the code and commit history would be a mess in a few days. And for every change the AI did, I asked it to do a Code Review of everything that was changed and look for violations on the document I wrote in the beggining defining the codebase guidelines. I realized that I pretty much applied software engineer principles using AI: Code, review and merge, code, review and merge... 6. On the last week I implemented the multiplayer using Colyseus ⚔️ which was pretty nice. I used AI to fetch the whole documentation and create a skill.md file that helped a lot. The creator of the framework Endel also did a extensive research on how real multiplayer games are implemented. It's open source and it was a gold mine for the AI to come up with the implementation for my game. You can ask him the link :) And that was it I think. I'm extremely tired now. The last 2 days was insane. The game's final version is not what I had in mind in the beginning of the jam. I had to cut a lot of cool features. But given the 30 days deadline I think it was a huge success. Hands down my best game ever made. Now I'll take a few days to rest and come back with more updates on the game. Maybe it can become a big deal in the future with more updates. Who knows. And in the event I win first place in this game jam, I'll use the money to fund my own game studio + cover the expenses of my child that is going to be born in September :) Cheers guys! If you have any question, feel free to reach out. I'll answer every non-bot comment in here haha Note: The link to play is in my profile

André → andreelias.dev

18,190 Aufrufe • vor 4 Monaten

The Nashik #TCS Jihad Case: You know how the women were groomed? One of the victim's family members told me how this woman was slowly manipulated into following Islamic practices. How? 1. This once modern girl, who used to wear jeans and short clothes, started wearing full-sleeve salwar suits. 2. The face cover she used to protect herself from the sun began to be tied like a hijab. 3. During the 40-day Ramadan period, she would tell her family that she would have lunch at the office and would come home only to lock herself in her room. She would then eat at a specific time. 4. She stopped going to the temple, stopped putting a tilak on her forehead, and started using words like "InshaAllah". 5. She goes to the prayer room in the office and allegedly offers Namaz a number of times a day. 6. Offering namaz would get her a raise and not the pooja. Also, she was asked to stop wearing lipstick and follow Islamic practices. Later, it came out that she was being manipulated by Tousif Attar, Danish Sheikh, and Nida Khan in the office. When confronted, she said Danish loved her blindly and that she would do anything for him. It was only after her family showed her pictures with other women that she broke down and complained. Otherwise, she was even okay with converting to Islam. Even after knowing about the marriage of Danish, she was ok with it. She had come to believe that the Shivling was a genital, that Kanha (Krishna) was a womaniser, and that Draupadi was a woman of loose character. Such shallow knowledge of our own religion makes our daughters vulnerable to this propaganda. The strong conviction about Jannat and Jahannum is another such factor. Anyway, the TCS case has triggered so much outrage only because it happened in a big city, in a big corporate office, a place where no one had imagined it could occur. It’s not always the illiterate people who fall for Jihad; it’s the so-called educated elites as well. I spoke at length about the TCS case as well as other such patterns with Prama Times. Attaching the link to the conversation in my next tweet, also watch and share. Sharing a chunk here:
6:11

The Nashik #TCS Jihad Case: You know how the women were groomed? One of the victim's family members told me how this woman was slowly manipulated into following Islamic practices. How? 1. This once modern girl, who used to wear jeans and short clothes, started wearing full-sleeve salwar suits. 2. The face cover she used to protect herself from the sun began to be tied like a hijab. 3. During the 40-day Ramadan period, she would tell her family that she would have lunch at the office and would come home only to lock herself in her room. She would then eat at a specific time. 4. She stopped going to the temple, stopped putting a tilak on her forehead, and started using words like "InshaAllah". 5. She goes to the prayer room in the office and allegedly offers Namaz a number of times a day. 6. Offering namaz would get her a raise and not the pooja. Also, she was asked to stop wearing lipstick and follow Islamic practices. Later, it came out that she was being manipulated by Tousif Attar, Danish Sheikh, and Nida Khan in the office. When confronted, she said Danish loved her blindly and that she would do anything for him. It was only after her family showed her pictures with other women that she broke down and complained. Otherwise, she was even okay with converting to Islam. Even after knowing about the marriage of Danish, she was ok with it. She had come to believe that the Shivling was a genital, that Kanha (Krishna) was a womaniser, and that Draupadi was a woman of loose character. Such shallow knowledge of our own religion makes our daughters vulnerable to this propaganda. The strong conviction about Jannat and Jahannum is another such factor. Anyway, the TCS case has triggered so much outrage only because it happened in a big city, in a big corporate office, a place where no one had imagined it could occur. It’s not always the illiterate people who fall for Jihad; it’s the so-called educated elites as well. I spoke at length about the TCS case as well as other such patterns with Prama Times. Attaching the link to the conversation in my next tweet, also watch and share. Sharing a chunk here:

Subhi Vishwakarma

451,226 Aufrufe • vor 5 Monaten

#TRANSCRIBED : (UNTOLD STORY) 𝗞𝗔𝗚𝗔𝗠𝗘 𝗜𝗦 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗔 𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗢 𝗕𝗨𝗧 𝗔 𝗠𝗔𝗡 𝗪𝗛𝗢 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗠𝗜𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗗 𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗢𝗖𝗜𝗗𝗘 𝗔𝗚𝗔𝗜𝗡𝗦𝗧 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗚𝗢𝗟𝗘𝗦𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗥𝗪𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗔𝗡𝗦 In an explosive and deeply personal address, Canadian investigative journalist Judi Rever took to the stage on the Oslo Freedom Forum to dismantle what she calls “one of the biggest lies of modern times”: the global myth of Rwandan President Paul Kagame as a hero. Rever, who has spent nearly 30 years documenting war crimes in the Great Lakes region, delivered an unflinching indictment of Kagame’s violent legacy, one she claims has been deliberately buried by world powers, global corporations, and the media. READ FULL TRANSCRIBED UNTOLD STORY BELOW. I'm here today to tell you about one of the biggest lies of modern times, and about someone who's been posing as a hero for a very long time, someone who's everywhere in plain sight from Davos to the Olympics, when in reality he's been taking you for a ride. That person is Rwanda's dictator, Paul Kagame. In 1996, as a young Canadian journalist, I landed a dream job in Paris covering the African continent. At the time, I was hungry for life experience and eager to learn. It turned out that Africa was the best teacher. Almost immediately into that job, I was drawn into covering the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide. Paul Kagame, who had been hailed a hero for supposedly stopping the genocide against Tutsis committed by Hutus, was now launching a military invasion of Congo. Ostensibly, his objective was to root out Hutu genocidaires who were living in the refugee camps inside Congo's border. But for those of us who were paying attention, we realised the Paul Kagame's Tutsi troops were systematically massacring Hutu refugees in Congo. In May and June of 1997, I went to Congo, a country the size of Western Europe. With the help of Congolese aid workers, I went into the forest and what I saw was devastating. Hundreds of thousands of Hutu civilians had been chased across the country and hunted down like animals by Paul Kagame's Tutsi forces. I met wounded, traumatised and starving women in the forest. I saw catatonic children emaciated and covered in scabies. The testimony that I collected from the forest of Congo and the pictures I took of mass graves convinced me the Paul Kagame's forces had committed a genocide against Congolese and Rwandan Hutus in 1996 and 97. The United Nations would later classify these crimes as a possible genocide. After Congo, I crossed over on foot into Rwanda and interviewed more Hutu survivors who had just come home. I essentially asked them two questions, the same questions I had asked Rwandans in Congo. Why did you flee Rwanda in the first place in 1994 and decide to stay in Congolese refugee camps, enduring brutal conditions instead of going home, where Paul Kagame had reportedly stopped the genocide in 1994, stopped the violence, and was restoring peace and prosperity to Rwanda? These Hutu survivors told me one after the other that in fact, Paul Kagame's Tutsi army had slaughtered Hutus during the genocide. Their relatives had been massacred. They were afraid of Kagame's army. They also told me that many Hutus who returned from Congo to Rwanda were disappearing. This was astounding to me. Remember, these were early days. I'd never heard these stories before, but I knew that I had to keep researching this story. These interviews were very dangerous to do inside Rwanda. But I realised that the official genocide narrative of one category of perpetrator, one category of victim, was a sham and Kagame was no saviour. I have since spent almost 30 years of my life investigating the crimes that Kagame's forces committed before, during, and after the genocide. I've interviewed hundreds of victims, witnesses, defectors from Kagame's own army, UN officials, and whistleblowers. And one of those whistleblowers leaked to me a confidential UN document which revealed that Kagame's Tutsi commandos actually slaughtered Tutsis during the genocide. These were false flags, staged operations. This evidence, and other types of evidence like this, completely disrupted the established doctrine of the Rwandan genocide. My research reveals that both Hutus and Tutsis were victims of genocide in 1994, and both groups were perpetrators. What's more, powerful insiders at the United Nations knew about these massive atrocities committed by Kagame's army and covered them up for years. I've asked myself, why is it that Kagame's record has been sanitised? Why has he gotten away with committing crimes over 3 decades, egregious crimes? And why has the United Nations granted him de facto immunity? The answer, I believe, lies in Congo, a country that is rich in strategic minerals that are essential for our global economy. Chances are that the cell phone you're using or the Tesla you're driving is made from Congolese minerals that have been laundered by Rwanda. One of the most trafficked and strategic minerals on the market today is tantalum. Tantalum metal is valuable because it can be extremely resistant to high temperatures. Tantalum components are able to store a tremendous amount of energy charge in a small space. Tantalum is used in rockets, satellites, missiles, smart cars, and smart cities. Canada and Australia have reserves of tantalum, but their tantalum is very expensive and they're not producing much of it. Brazil is an exporter and a producer of tantalum, but not in the quantities needed for the global economy. Congo has the richest grade of tantalum. It has the cheapest tantalum; it's the biggest producer. And Congo is Kagame's playground. Kagame and his international mafia launder vast quantities of tantalum, tungsten, tin, and gold from Congo into Rwanda, onto Rwanda's Switzerland-like paved roads, and into the lucrative global supply chain. And when I examined this global supply chain in detail, I discovered that all the major suppliers to big tech and weapons companies source their tantalum in Rwanda. So what's happening is that Paul Kagame is ensuring a cheap, steady supply of strategic minerals that are needed for the global economy. And our thirst for technology is ensuring his criminal longevity. If there's one thing you take away from my talk today, it's that the technology that we're using is tied to Kagame's violence, and the laundered minerals themselves constitute criminal property. Anyone who acquires, possesses, uses or profits from that criminal property is laundering. So, we as consumers, when we purchase devices that contain that criminal property, we are engaging in laundering as well, whether we know it or not. Kagame is currently tightening his grip on Congo. His latest invasion is illegal and a violation of Congolese sovereignty. But unlike Russia's invasion of Ukraine, where the world rallied to condemn Vladimir Putin and sanction him, Kagame has gotten off scot-free, and he is still a rock star and treated so by global elites. We've seen football teams such as Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain continue to sign sponsorship deals with Rwanda. We've seen international sporting bodies such as FIFA and the NBA continue to do business with him. Imagine how Kagame's victims feel. I refuse to be part of this global criminal project. Lobbyists and governments can prop up his regime. Businesses can live the lie because they profit from it. The media can amplify his propaganda. And Kagame can impose his lies on people he controls. But he cannot control me. Paul Kagame, I know who you are, and I know what you've done. In fact, Paul Kagame's regime's crimes and his agents' campaign against me have actually emboldened me to continue this work. More than a decade ago, his agents threatened me and threatened my family. I kept going anyhow because the fear of dying galvanised me into finishing what I had started. In 2018, after my book was launched, I was a victim of smears. I was blacklisted, essentially, and labelled a genocide denier. Remember, I acknowledge that two genocides occurred in Rwanda, one against Tutsis and one against Hutus. I have not buried history with the Rwandan's help, I have unearthed it. None of what I've experienced has compared to what his regime has done to the Congolese and Rwandan people. The rebellions that Kagame has sponsored over 30 years have left more than 6,000,000 Congolese dead. These wars have eviscerated the Congolese nation. Rwandans, meanwhile, live in an open-air prison where history is state property. Any discussion of Hutu suffering is criminalised. Hutus in general, even Hutu children, are branded irredeemable perpetrators. Tutsi genocide survivors are persecuted and, at times, are killed. Kizito Mihigo was a beloved Tutsi genocide survivor and gospel singer who preached reconciliation and denounced crimes by Kagame's regime against Hutus and Tutsis. He was arrested and later found dead in custody. Aimable Kalasira, Yvone Idamange and Deo Mushayidi, all Tutsi genocide survivors who have denounced human rights violations in a country led by Paul Kagame. They have been arrested. They are languishing in jail and effectively silenced. We must break the silence. If you believe that all victims matter. If you believe in the truth, demand accountability. Demand that Paul Kagame once and for all be tried for the crimes he's committed over 3 decades. Demand he be tried in an international court. Demand that corporations stop buying strategic minerals from Rwanda where they are soaked in the blood of Congolese people. I am tied to Paul Kagame. He has made me who I am today. He has brought me here. We are all tied to Paul Kagame, but that doesn't mean we have to be his accomplices. We need to be accountable. We need to be responsible for our consumer choices and ensure that those choices are not fueling wars in Central Africa. I urge accountability, not only for the sake of Rwandans and Congolese, but for our collective integrity. Thank you by Judi Rever
13:43

#TRANSCRIBED : (UNTOLD STORY) 𝗞𝗔𝗚𝗔𝗠𝗘 𝗜𝗦 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗔 𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗢 𝗕𝗨𝗧 𝗔 𝗠𝗔𝗡 𝗪𝗛𝗢 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗠𝗜𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗗 𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗢𝗖𝗜𝗗𝗘 𝗔𝗚𝗔𝗜𝗡𝗦𝗧 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗚𝗢𝗟𝗘𝗦𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗥𝗪𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗔𝗡𝗦 In an explosive and deeply personal address, Canadian investigative journalist Judi Rever took to the stage on the Oslo Freedom Forum to dismantle what she calls “one of the biggest lies of modern times”: the global myth of Rwandan President Paul Kagame as a hero. Rever, who has spent nearly 30 years documenting war crimes in the Great Lakes region, delivered an unflinching indictment of Kagame’s violent legacy, one she claims has been deliberately buried by world powers, global corporations, and the media. READ FULL TRANSCRIBED UNTOLD STORY BELOW. I'm here today to tell you about one of the biggest lies of modern times, and about someone who's been posing as a hero for a very long time, someone who's everywhere in plain sight from Davos to the Olympics, when in reality he's been taking you for a ride. That person is Rwanda's dictator, Paul Kagame. In 1996, as a young Canadian journalist, I landed a dream job in Paris covering the African continent. At the time, I was hungry for life experience and eager to learn. It turned out that Africa was the best teacher. Almost immediately into that job, I was drawn into covering the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide. Paul Kagame, who had been hailed a hero for supposedly stopping the genocide against Tutsis committed by Hutus, was now launching a military invasion of Congo. Ostensibly, his objective was to root out Hutu genocidaires who were living in the refugee camps inside Congo's border. But for those of us who were paying attention, we realised the Paul Kagame's Tutsi troops were systematically massacring Hutu refugees in Congo. In May and June of 1997, I went to Congo, a country the size of Western Europe. With the help of Congolese aid workers, I went into the forest and what I saw was devastating. Hundreds of thousands of Hutu civilians had been chased across the country and hunted down like animals by Paul Kagame's Tutsi forces. I met wounded, traumatised and starving women in the forest. I saw catatonic children emaciated and covered in scabies. The testimony that I collected from the forest of Congo and the pictures I took of mass graves convinced me the Paul Kagame's forces had committed a genocide against Congolese and Rwandan Hutus in 1996 and 97. The United Nations would later classify these crimes as a possible genocide. After Congo, I crossed over on foot into Rwanda and interviewed more Hutu survivors who had just come home. I essentially asked them two questions, the same questions I had asked Rwandans in Congo. Why did you flee Rwanda in the first place in 1994 and decide to stay in Congolese refugee camps, enduring brutal conditions instead of going home, where Paul Kagame had reportedly stopped the genocide in 1994, stopped the violence, and was restoring peace and prosperity to Rwanda? These Hutu survivors told me one after the other that in fact, Paul Kagame's Tutsi army had slaughtered Hutus during the genocide. Their relatives had been massacred. They were afraid of Kagame's army. They also told me that many Hutus who returned from Congo to Rwanda were disappearing. This was astounding to me. Remember, these were early days. I'd never heard these stories before, but I knew that I had to keep researching this story. These interviews were very dangerous to do inside Rwanda. But I realised that the official genocide narrative of one category of perpetrator, one category of victim, was a sham and Kagame was no saviour. I have since spent almost 30 years of my life investigating the crimes that Kagame's forces committed before, during, and after the genocide. I've interviewed hundreds of victims, witnesses, defectors from Kagame's own army, UN officials, and whistleblowers. And one of those whistleblowers leaked to me a confidential UN document which revealed that Kagame's Tutsi commandos actually slaughtered Tutsis during the genocide. These were false flags, staged operations. This evidence, and other types of evidence like this, completely disrupted the established doctrine of the Rwandan genocide. My research reveals that both Hutus and Tutsis were victims of genocide in 1994, and both groups were perpetrators. What's more, powerful insiders at the United Nations knew about these massive atrocities committed by Kagame's army and covered them up for years. I've asked myself, why is it that Kagame's record has been sanitised? Why has he gotten away with committing crimes over 3 decades, egregious crimes? And why has the United Nations granted him de facto immunity? The answer, I believe, lies in Congo, a country that is rich in strategic minerals that are essential for our global economy. Chances are that the cell phone you're using or the Tesla you're driving is made from Congolese minerals that have been laundered by Rwanda. One of the most trafficked and strategic minerals on the market today is tantalum. Tantalum metal is valuable because it can be extremely resistant to high temperatures. Tantalum components are able to store a tremendous amount of energy charge in a small space. Tantalum is used in rockets, satellites, missiles, smart cars, and smart cities. Canada and Australia have reserves of tantalum, but their tantalum is very expensive and they're not producing much of it. Brazil is an exporter and a producer of tantalum, but not in the quantities needed for the global economy. Congo has the richest grade of tantalum. It has the cheapest tantalum; it's the biggest producer. And Congo is Kagame's playground. Kagame and his international mafia launder vast quantities of tantalum, tungsten, tin, and gold from Congo into Rwanda, onto Rwanda's Switzerland-like paved roads, and into the lucrative global supply chain. And when I examined this global supply chain in detail, I discovered that all the major suppliers to big tech and weapons companies source their tantalum in Rwanda. So what's happening is that Paul Kagame is ensuring a cheap, steady supply of strategic minerals that are needed for the global economy. And our thirst for technology is ensuring his criminal longevity. If there's one thing you take away from my talk today, it's that the technology that we're using is tied to Kagame's violence, and the laundered minerals themselves constitute criminal property. Anyone who acquires, possesses, uses or profits from that criminal property is laundering. So, we as consumers, when we purchase devices that contain that criminal property, we are engaging in laundering as well, whether we know it or not. Kagame is currently tightening his grip on Congo. His latest invasion is illegal and a violation of Congolese sovereignty. But unlike Russia's invasion of Ukraine, where the world rallied to condemn Vladimir Putin and sanction him, Kagame has gotten off scot-free, and he is still a rock star and treated so by global elites. We've seen football teams such as Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain continue to sign sponsorship deals with Rwanda. We've seen international sporting bodies such as FIFA and the NBA continue to do business with him. Imagine how Kagame's victims feel. I refuse to be part of this global criminal project. Lobbyists and governments can prop up his regime. Businesses can live the lie because they profit from it. The media can amplify his propaganda. And Kagame can impose his lies on people he controls. But he cannot control me. Paul Kagame, I know who you are, and I know what you've done. In fact, Paul Kagame's regime's crimes and his agents' campaign against me have actually emboldened me to continue this work. More than a decade ago, his agents threatened me and threatened my family. I kept going anyhow because the fear of dying galvanised me into finishing what I had started. In 2018, after my book was launched, I was a victim of smears. I was blacklisted, essentially, and labelled a genocide denier. Remember, I acknowledge that two genocides occurred in Rwanda, one against Tutsis and one against Hutus. I have not buried history with the Rwandan's help, I have unearthed it. None of what I've experienced has compared to what his regime has done to the Congolese and Rwandan people. The rebellions that Kagame has sponsored over 30 years have left more than 6,000,000 Congolese dead. These wars have eviscerated the Congolese nation. Rwandans, meanwhile, live in an open-air prison where history is state property. Any discussion of Hutu suffering is criminalised. Hutus in general, even Hutu children, are branded irredeemable perpetrators. Tutsi genocide survivors are persecuted and, at times, are killed. Kizito Mihigo was a beloved Tutsi genocide survivor and gospel singer who preached reconciliation and denounced crimes by Kagame's regime against Hutus and Tutsis. He was arrested and later found dead in custody. Aimable Kalasira, Yvone Idamange and Deo Mushayidi, all Tutsi genocide survivors who have denounced human rights violations in a country led by Paul Kagame. They have been arrested. They are languishing in jail and effectively silenced. We must break the silence. If you believe that all victims matter. If you believe in the truth, demand accountability. Demand that Paul Kagame once and for all be tried for the crimes he's committed over 3 decades. Demand he be tried in an international court. Demand that corporations stop buying strategic minerals from Rwanda where they are soaked in the blood of Congolese people. I am tied to Paul Kagame. He has made me who I am today. He has brought me here. We are all tied to Paul Kagame, but that doesn't mean we have to be his accomplices. We need to be accountable. We need to be responsible for our consumer choices and ensure that those choices are not fueling wars in Central Africa. I urge accountability, not only for the sake of Rwandans and Congolese, but for our collective integrity. Thank you by Judi Rever

Xtrafrica

12,754 Aufrufe • vor 8 Monaten

I vividly remember the day the American election results were being announced. I was flying from Toronto, Canada, via the United States to Britain. While on the plane, I wrote a number of posts on my social media platforms explaining that Donald Trump would be a tragedy not only for America, but for the rest of the world, particularly Africa. I was insulted by many Africans who supported Donald Trump and who are now remarkably quiet. That experience taught me an important lesson that many of the problems we see today, not only in governments but also in private companies and organisations, stem from a failure to understand the interconnectedness of decision-making and the world we live in. What struck me was that many of the people who attacked me were not uneducated zealots or political sycophants. Some held PhDs. Some had master’s degrees. Some were CEOs and senior executives, and many still occupy positions of significant authority and influence today. If their judgement on Donald Trump could be so profoundly wrong, then one has to ask a troubling question, if they could misjudge something so obvious and so consequential, what other mistakes are they making in the companies they run, the institutions they manage and the government departments they oversee? That is what worries me most. Their support for Donald Trump was not merely a political preference. It revealed a deeper inability to assess character, ideas, consequences and risk. It exposed how easily educated people can become captivated by personalities rather than principles, by rhetoric rather than substance. As Trevor Noah correctly observed, it was always difficult to understand why anyone would view Donald Trump as the ideal person to lead the United States, knowing full well that the President of the United States exercises enormous influence over the global economy, trade, diplomacy and security. Decisions made in Washington do not remain in Washington. They affect the entire world. Most of the things I warned about in November 2024 have come to pass. I did not predict them because I am particularly intelligent. I predicted them because Donald Trump is an open book. He has always been an open book. His worldview, his instincts, his prejudices, his methods and his priorities have never been hidden. You did not need a PhD in political science to understand who he was. You simply needed to pay attention. What concerns me is not Donald Trump himself. He was as clear as water. What concerns me is the number of serious people in serious positions of power who looked at him and saw nothing wrong. They examined the evidence, listened to the rhetoric, observed the behaviour and still concluded that he was the right person for the most powerful office on earth. That should worry all of us. Because if people can get something so fundamental, so consequential and yet so obvious completely wrong, what else are they getting wrong? What decisions are they making in boardrooms, ministries, universities, financial institutions and corporations that are shaping our lives in ways we cannot see? The consequences of poor judgement do not stop at politics. They affect economies, healthcare systems, education, investment decisions, employment opportunities and even the stability of nations. History is often shaped not by a lack of information, but by the inability of otherwise intelligent people to interpret obvious information correctly. Perhaps the greatest lesson here is that education alone is not enough. Degrees do not automatically produce wisdom. Titles do not guarantee judgement. Intelligence does not necessarily lead to discernment. The world is often governed by highly educated people who are still capable of making spectacular errors because they follow personalities instead of ideas and emotions instead of evidence. It is astonishing that there are still Africans today who support Donald Trump primarily because they believe he is a Christian and that Christians should support a Christian president. That, in itself, tells us how often people suspend reason in favour of identity, symbolism and emotion. These are not just reflections about America. They are reflections about human nature, leadership and decision-making. And they force us to ask an uncomfortable question, if so many influential people could be so wrong about something so clear, what other disasters are quietly unfolding around us because those making the decisions cannot see what is right in front of them?
1:26

I vividly remember the day the American election results were being announced. I was flying from Toronto, Canada, via the United States to Britain. While on the plane, I wrote a number of posts on my social media platforms explaining that Donald Trump would be a tragedy not only for America, but for the rest of the world, particularly Africa. I was insulted by many Africans who supported Donald Trump and who are now remarkably quiet. That experience taught me an important lesson that many of the problems we see today, not only in governments but also in private companies and organisations, stem from a failure to understand the interconnectedness of decision-making and the world we live in. What struck me was that many of the people who attacked me were not uneducated zealots or political sycophants. Some held PhDs. Some had master’s degrees. Some were CEOs and senior executives, and many still occupy positions of significant authority and influence today. If their judgement on Donald Trump could be so profoundly wrong, then one has to ask a troubling question, if they could misjudge something so obvious and so consequential, what other mistakes are they making in the companies they run, the institutions they manage and the government departments they oversee? That is what worries me most. Their support for Donald Trump was not merely a political preference. It revealed a deeper inability to assess character, ideas, consequences and risk. It exposed how easily educated people can become captivated by personalities rather than principles, by rhetoric rather than substance. As Trevor Noah correctly observed, it was always difficult to understand why anyone would view Donald Trump as the ideal person to lead the United States, knowing full well that the President of the United States exercises enormous influence over the global economy, trade, diplomacy and security. Decisions made in Washington do not remain in Washington. They affect the entire world. Most of the things I warned about in November 2024 have come to pass. I did not predict them because I am particularly intelligent. I predicted them because Donald Trump is an open book. He has always been an open book. His worldview, his instincts, his prejudices, his methods and his priorities have never been hidden. You did not need a PhD in political science to understand who he was. You simply needed to pay attention. What concerns me is not Donald Trump himself. He was as clear as water. What concerns me is the number of serious people in serious positions of power who looked at him and saw nothing wrong. They examined the evidence, listened to the rhetoric, observed the behaviour and still concluded that he was the right person for the most powerful office on earth. That should worry all of us. Because if people can get something so fundamental, so consequential and yet so obvious completely wrong, what else are they getting wrong? What decisions are they making in boardrooms, ministries, universities, financial institutions and corporations that are shaping our lives in ways we cannot see? The consequences of poor judgement do not stop at politics. They affect economies, healthcare systems, education, investment decisions, employment opportunities and even the stability of nations. History is often shaped not by a lack of information, but by the inability of otherwise intelligent people to interpret obvious information correctly. Perhaps the greatest lesson here is that education alone is not enough. Degrees do not automatically produce wisdom. Titles do not guarantee judgement. Intelligence does not necessarily lead to discernment. The world is often governed by highly educated people who are still capable of making spectacular errors because they follow personalities instead of ideas and emotions instead of evidence. It is astonishing that there are still Africans today who support Donald Trump primarily because they believe he is a Christian and that Christians should support a Christian president. That, in itself, tells us how often people suspend reason in favour of identity, symbolism and emotion. These are not just reflections about America. They are reflections about human nature, leadership and decision-making. And they force us to ask an uncomfortable question, if so many influential people could be so wrong about something so clear, what other disasters are quietly unfolding around us because those making the decisions cannot see what is right in front of them?

Hopewell Chin’ono

34,903 Aufrufe • vor 3 Monaten

Much as I like to have fun on this channel, I do want to address a serious topic. June is Men's Mental Health Month. Men are expected to be strong and bear heavy burdens, but even the strongest person needs reassurance sometimes. Sonic in SatAM is a chill guy who loves to goof around. But the reality is that he's surviving a nightmare. His world has been taken over by a tyrant, his family is gone, and his beloved Uncle Chuck was turned into a robot against his will. As much as Sonic tries to stay strong and maintain a positive outlook, there is only so much one person can bear. Seeing Sonic cry over his uncle humanizes him. It reminds us that there are layers to his character in SatAM that go far beyond his cool attitude and catchphrases. Thankfully, Sonic had friends to help him through it. No one judged him for his sadness, because even strong men need to cry. As much as Sonic saves the world, sometimes he needs to be saved too. Sally may often get annoyed by Sonic's antics, but she loves him enough to provide vital emotional support when he breaks down. We all need people like that in our lives. There is a reason Sonic and Sally’s bond is so strong. They have proven they can depend on each other in their darkest moments. Sonic might be the one fighting SWAT-Bots, but Sally is the one making sure he is mentally able to keep going. Like most men, Sonic doesn't want to admit when he can't carry the weight anymore. Men are often conditioned to just keep moving forward, which makes having a supportive, nurturing circle so vital. A woman's gentle touch means the world to men like that. The point is, if you know a man who is stressed out or going through a lot, reach out to him. As a man myself, I can confirm we're not always willing to admit when something is bothering us. But if you give it time, and if we trust you, we'll open up. And if you're the one struggling, you don't have to broadcast it to the world. If you need to do it in private, that's completely fine. Reach out to someone in real life, in DMs, or a private Discord server. Talk to someone you are close with. It doesn't make you any less of a man to do so. After all, confronting your problems is the true essence of masculinity. Here's to Men's Mental Health Awareness. To all you guys out there: take care of yourselves. ~MR
1:06

Much as I like to have fun on this channel, I do want to address a serious topic. June is Men's Mental Health Month. Men are expected to be strong and bear heavy burdens, but even the strongest person needs reassurance sometimes. Sonic in SatAM is a chill guy who loves to goof around. But the reality is that he's surviving a nightmare. His world has been taken over by a tyrant, his family is gone, and his beloved Uncle Chuck was turned into a robot against his will. As much as Sonic tries to stay strong and maintain a positive outlook, there is only so much one person can bear. Seeing Sonic cry over his uncle humanizes him. It reminds us that there are layers to his character in SatAM that go far beyond his cool attitude and catchphrases. Thankfully, Sonic had friends to help him through it. No one judged him for his sadness, because even strong men need to cry. As much as Sonic saves the world, sometimes he needs to be saved too. Sally may often get annoyed by Sonic's antics, but she loves him enough to provide vital emotional support when he breaks down. We all need people like that in our lives. There is a reason Sonic and Sally’s bond is so strong. They have proven they can depend on each other in their darkest moments. Sonic might be the one fighting SWAT-Bots, but Sally is the one making sure he is mentally able to keep going. Like most men, Sonic doesn't want to admit when he can't carry the weight anymore. Men are often conditioned to just keep moving forward, which makes having a supportive, nurturing circle so vital. A woman's gentle touch means the world to men like that. The point is, if you know a man who is stressed out or going through a lot, reach out to him. As a man myself, I can confirm we're not always willing to admit when something is bothering us. But if you give it time, and if we trust you, we'll open up. And if you're the one struggling, you don't have to broadcast it to the world. If you need to do it in private, that's completely fine. Reach out to someone in real life, in DMs, or a private Discord server. Talk to someone you are close with. It doesn't make you any less of a man to do so. After all, confronting your problems is the true essence of masculinity. Here's to Men's Mental Health Awareness. To all you guys out there: take care of yourselves. ~MR

Sally4All

19,550 Aufrufe • vor 3 Monaten

MONDAY MUSINGS AN ENDURING LEGACY OF GRACE, SERVICE AND PROFESSIONAL STEWARDSHIP : THE OFFICIAL UNVEILING OF THE REGIONAL HEADQUARTERS OF I. C. EJIOFOR & CO. (UGOCHINYERE CHAMBERS), ASABA, DELTA STATE When divine grace follows a man, it often appears as though he alone has been singled out for generational favour and uncommon blessings. Yet, one enduring truth must never be forgotten: a man who walks in the path of his divine mandate and heavenly anointing is never in competition with anyone. His journey is uniquely ordered by God, and his victories are measured not against men, but against the fulfilment of divine purpose. Our entrance into the Big Heart State was heralded by unprecedented accomplishments, remarkable professional milestones, outstanding victories, and an unwavering commitment to the faithful discharge of our professional responsibilities with honesty, integrity, sincerity, and the fear of God. Following the overwhelming confidence reposed in our Chambers, the remarkable successes recorded over the years, and the increasing demand for our professional legal services, it has pleased the Almighty God to enlarge our coast and expand our frontiers across the South-South, South-East, and, by extension, the South-West regions of Nigeria. It is with profound gratitude to God that we unveil this magnificent edifice, which shall henceforth serve as the Regional Office of the esteemed Chambers of I. C. EJIOFOR & CO. (UGOCHINYERE CHAMBERS), strategically situated in the heart of Asaba, Delta State. We have never been given to speaking where God has not first spoken. We understand that promotion comes neither from the east nor from the west, but from the Lord alone. Because it can only be Him—ever faithful to His promises and steadfast in the fulfilment of His Word. He has graciously chosen this moment to reward years of sacrifice in the service of humanity. The journey has not been without enormous cost. It has been marked by immeasurable sacrifices, unquantifiable losses, life-threatening encounters, and countless moments in which death came perilously close, all in the course of our professional engagements and unwavering commitment to justice and service. Yet, through every season and every challenge, God remained faithful. Indeed, it can only be God. Today, I most profoundly salute our indefatigable team of exceptionally erudite legal practitioners in chambers, and our dedicated non-legal staff, whose commitment, diligence, loyalty, and unwavering support have transformed this vision into reality. Your invaluable contributions to the continued growth and success of our Chambers shall never be forgotten. I remain eternally grateful. I equally extend my deepest appreciation to my beloved family, whose steadfast prayers, remarkable endurance, immeasurable sacrifices, and unwavering encouragement have remained an unshakable pillar throughout this journey. My heartfelt gratitude also goes to my formidable Ezigbo Umuchineke, whose unfailing love, unwavering support, and abiding faith have continued to inspire strength and resilience in every season. To our ever-growing clientele, I express profound appreciation for the confidence, trust, and belief you have consistently reposed in our professional competence. Your continued support has contributed immeasurably to this significant milestone, and for that, we remain sincerely grateful. Above all, and most importantly, we return all glory, honour, adoration, and thanksgiving to the Almighty God—the Alpha and the Omega, the Great I AM, the Author and Finisher of our faith, the Mighty Man of War, the Beginning and the End—for yet another remarkable milestone. Truly, it can only be God. To Him alone be all the glory for His endless mercies, unmerited favour, divine protection, unfailing grace, preservation of life, abundant blessings upon my family and our Chambers, and for continually prospering the works of our hands beyond human comprehension. With hearts full of gratitude, we say: Thank You, Lord. Thank you all for being part of this remarkable journey. May God Almighty richly bless you all. Signed Sir Ifeanyi Ejiofor, Esq., KSC Dunu-Ezeugosinachi July 13, 2026
2:52

MONDAY MUSINGS AN ENDURING LEGACY OF GRACE, SERVICE AND PROFESSIONAL STEWARDSHIP : THE OFFICIAL UNVEILING OF THE REGIONAL HEADQUARTERS OF I. C. EJIOFOR & CO. (UGOCHINYERE CHAMBERS), ASABA, DELTA STATE When divine grace follows a man, it often appears as though he alone has been singled out for generational favour and uncommon blessings. Yet, one enduring truth must never be forgotten: a man who walks in the path of his divine mandate and heavenly anointing is never in competition with anyone. His journey is uniquely ordered by God, and his victories are measured not against men, but against the fulfilment of divine purpose. Our entrance into the Big Heart State was heralded by unprecedented accomplishments, remarkable professional milestones, outstanding victories, and an unwavering commitment to the faithful discharge of our professional responsibilities with honesty, integrity, sincerity, and the fear of God. Following the overwhelming confidence reposed in our Chambers, the remarkable successes recorded over the years, and the increasing demand for our professional legal services, it has pleased the Almighty God to enlarge our coast and expand our frontiers across the South-South, South-East, and, by extension, the South-West regions of Nigeria. It is with profound gratitude to God that we unveil this magnificent edifice, which shall henceforth serve as the Regional Office of the esteemed Chambers of I. C. EJIOFOR & CO. (UGOCHINYERE CHAMBERS), strategically situated in the heart of Asaba, Delta State. We have never been given to speaking where God has not first spoken. We understand that promotion comes neither from the east nor from the west, but from the Lord alone. Because it can only be Him—ever faithful to His promises and steadfast in the fulfilment of His Word. He has graciously chosen this moment to reward years of sacrifice in the service of humanity. The journey has not been without enormous cost. It has been marked by immeasurable sacrifices, unquantifiable losses, life-threatening encounters, and countless moments in which death came perilously close, all in the course of our professional engagements and unwavering commitment to justice and service. Yet, through every season and every challenge, God remained faithful. Indeed, it can only be God. Today, I most profoundly salute our indefatigable team of exceptionally erudite legal practitioners in chambers, and our dedicated non-legal staff, whose commitment, diligence, loyalty, and unwavering support have transformed this vision into reality. Your invaluable contributions to the continued growth and success of our Chambers shall never be forgotten. I remain eternally grateful. I equally extend my deepest appreciation to my beloved family, whose steadfast prayers, remarkable endurance, immeasurable sacrifices, and unwavering encouragement have remained an unshakable pillar throughout this journey. My heartfelt gratitude also goes to my formidable Ezigbo Umuchineke, whose unfailing love, unwavering support, and abiding faith have continued to inspire strength and resilience in every season. To our ever-growing clientele, I express profound appreciation for the confidence, trust, and belief you have consistently reposed in our professional competence. Your continued support has contributed immeasurably to this significant milestone, and for that, we remain sincerely grateful. Above all, and most importantly, we return all glory, honour, adoration, and thanksgiving to the Almighty God—the Alpha and the Omega, the Great I AM, the Author and Finisher of our faith, the Mighty Man of War, the Beginning and the End—for yet another remarkable milestone. Truly, it can only be God. To Him alone be all the glory for His endless mercies, unmerited favour, divine protection, unfailing grace, preservation of life, abundant blessings upon my family and our Chambers, and for continually prospering the works of our hands beyond human comprehension. With hearts full of gratitude, we say: Thank You, Lord. Thank you all for being part of this remarkable journey. May God Almighty richly bless you all. Signed Sir Ifeanyi Ejiofor, Esq., KSC Dunu-Ezeugosinachi July 13, 2026

bar ifeanyi ejiofor

179,105 Aufrufe • vor 2 Monaten

Back in the summer of 2023, I drove with my family in a RV to the battle site of Khalkhin-Gol (also known as "Nomonhan") on the border between China and Mongolia proper. I took this video back then 👇 We spent the night right there, on the battle site. Yes, this is our idea of a nice family vacation 😅 It is probably the most important WW2 historical site most people have never heard of: it's where the Soviet Union defeated Japan in 1939, which changed the course of the war. Japan and Nazi Germany may have won WW2 were it not for the battles that happened right here during 135 days. Incredibly, this episode of the war is virtually untaught in the West, which shows how self-centered our version of history is. During WW2 Northeast of China had been invaded and annexed by Japan, transformed into a puppet state called Manchukuo. This place is in the extreme West of this former puppet state (which is now back to being Northeast China), on the border with Mongolia and the former Soviet Union (now the Russian border). At the time, 1939, Japan's basic strategy for the war was "Northward Advance" (Hokushin-ron), i.e. seizing Siberia for its resources as far as Lake Baikal. The USSR obviously begged to differ and Stalin sent General Zhukov, one of his best men (the future Marshal of the Soviet Union) on site to fight the Japanese back. Long story short, the battles that ensued - with 200,000 soldiers on the battlefield - lasted 135 days and were the earliest large-scale 3-dimensional warfare in military history. It ended in a humiliating Japanese defeat which some Japanese historians call "the greatest defeat in the history of the Japanese army", with 54,000 casualties (79% of frontline troops, as mentioned below). The most important consequence of the battles that were fought here is that the Japanese completely shifted their strategy from "Northward Advance" to "Southward Advance", favoring seizing the resources of Southeast Asia instead of those of Siberia. Masanobu Tsuji, the Japanese colonel most instrumental in these battles became "the most determined single protagonist in favor of war with the United States" and one of the strongest proponents of the attack on Pearl Harbor inside the Japanese army (according to postwar testimonies), having been traumatized by his experience of fighting the Soviet Union. The US was of course the biggest power the Japanese would have to confront by pursuing the "Southward Advance" strategy since only the US Pacific Fleet stood in the way of seizing the oil-rich Dutch East Indie. In fact the Khalkhin-Gol battles traumatized the Japanese so much that they didn't dare fight the Soviet Union again for the remainder of WW2. Even when their ally Nazi Germany opened the Eastern front the Japanese army adopted a resolution "not to intervene in German Soviet war for the time being", leaving Hitler to fight the Soviet Union on his own, which would ultimately prove to be his demise. So it's no exaggeration to say that had the battles here not been fought or had the Japanese won, WW2 would have most likely turned out dramatically different. Pearl Harbor wouldn't have happened, and Japan would have likely helped Nazi Germany fight the Soviet Union by opening a front to the East. Khalkhin-Gol may in fact have been the most consequential battles of WW2!
2:33

Back in the summer of 2023, I drove with my family in a RV to the battle site of Khalkhin-Gol (also known as "Nomonhan") on the border between China and Mongolia proper. I took this video back then 👇 We spent the night right there, on the battle site. Yes, this is our idea of a nice family vacation 😅 It is probably the most important WW2 historical site most people have never heard of: it's where the Soviet Union defeated Japan in 1939, which changed the course of the war. Japan and Nazi Germany may have won WW2 were it not for the battles that happened right here during 135 days. Incredibly, this episode of the war is virtually untaught in the West, which shows how self-centered our version of history is. During WW2 Northeast of China had been invaded and annexed by Japan, transformed into a puppet state called Manchukuo. This place is in the extreme West of this former puppet state (which is now back to being Northeast China), on the border with Mongolia and the former Soviet Union (now the Russian border). At the time, 1939, Japan's basic strategy for the war was "Northward Advance" (Hokushin-ron), i.e. seizing Siberia for its resources as far as Lake Baikal. The USSR obviously begged to differ and Stalin sent General Zhukov, one of his best men (the future Marshal of the Soviet Union) on site to fight the Japanese back. Long story short, the battles that ensued - with 200,000 soldiers on the battlefield - lasted 135 days and were the earliest large-scale 3-dimensional warfare in military history. It ended in a humiliating Japanese defeat which some Japanese historians call "the greatest defeat in the history of the Japanese army", with 54,000 casualties (79% of frontline troops, as mentioned below). The most important consequence of the battles that were fought here is that the Japanese completely shifted their strategy from "Northward Advance" to "Southward Advance", favoring seizing the resources of Southeast Asia instead of those of Siberia. Masanobu Tsuji, the Japanese colonel most instrumental in these battles became "the most determined single protagonist in favor of war with the United States" and one of the strongest proponents of the attack on Pearl Harbor inside the Japanese army (according to postwar testimonies), having been traumatized by his experience of fighting the Soviet Union. The US was of course the biggest power the Japanese would have to confront by pursuing the "Southward Advance" strategy since only the US Pacific Fleet stood in the way of seizing the oil-rich Dutch East Indie. In fact the Khalkhin-Gol battles traumatized the Japanese so much that they didn't dare fight the Soviet Union again for the remainder of WW2. Even when their ally Nazi Germany opened the Eastern front the Japanese army adopted a resolution "not to intervene in German Soviet war for the time being", leaving Hitler to fight the Soviet Union on his own, which would ultimately prove to be his demise. So it's no exaggeration to say that had the battles here not been fought or had the Japanese won, WW2 would have most likely turned out dramatically different. Pearl Harbor wouldn't have happened, and Japan would have likely helped Nazi Germany fight the Soviet Union by opening a front to the East. Khalkhin-Gol may in fact have been the most consequential battles of WW2!

Arnaud Bertrand

153,259 Aufrufe • vor 7 Monaten

🎵My Dolly Parton Story🎶 - (Video and additional photos in 🧵 below) Exactly one year before the government shut down the world because of the #CommieVirus — especially killing the live entertainment industry — my bands were firing on all cylinders. My private event band, Bull City Syndicate, was doing especially well. We’d been the headlining entertainment for the past two North Carolina Governor’s Inaugural Balls, and played hundreds of high-end corporate events, charity balls, and top-shelf weddings. On March 2, 2019, we were especially excited to be hired as the featured entertainment for a charity event where Dolly Parton would be the main attraction. Not as a musical performer herself, but to promote her own charity, Imagination Library (Imagination Library), and to do a live poetry reading from her own work. The event was the 25th Anniversary Smart Start Gala. Raleigh’s mayor, the governor of NC, and many other VIPs would be in attendance. While the event planner never suggested that we perform or back up Dolly on any of her tunes, it was, in the back of my mind, something I thought would have been really cool. But not something I’d dare suggest or insinuate on my own. My only preshow contact with Dolly’s organization was with her head of security. The Marble’s Kids Museum in Raleigh, NC is a fabulous venue for fun charity events, but it has only one “green room” next to the staging area. Security informed me that the band would have to completely evacuate that shared space at least 30-minutes before Dolly arrived for her portion of the evening’s proceedings. (Not an unusual or inappropriate request, given her enormous superstar status.) The entire 10-piece band was on stage when Dolly was escorted through the back entrance and into the green room. There was some back-and-forth between VIP speeches and live music, so the band stayed in place throughout. Since the event was completely sold out and standing room only, we knew we’d have the best vantage of Dolly if we just stayed on the stage. Dolly’s presentation was scheduled to be only about 10-15 minutes. While the governor and mayor were delivering remarks just in advance of Dolly taking the stage, I looked back at the green room door, off stage left, and I saw my son, Duncan, in full-on, intense conversation with Dolly! (WHAT?!) Duncan, who was only 20 years old at the time and already a freak-of-nature musician himself, was working on my stage crew that night. I’m the band leader, so I’m having to give full attention to the event host and what’s happening on the speaker’s side of the stage … but only 20 feet away, Duncan and Dolly are chatting away like long-lost friends. Finally, at one of my many glances in their direction, Dolly and Duncan catch my eye and both start waving me over to them. I silently point at my chest, then mouth, “Me?” They both nod, say yes, and wave more insistently. I dart off the stage, over to the dimly lit green room entrance corridor. Duncan, who is much taller than I am, puts his hand on my shoulder and introduces me to “Dolly Parton.” (You can imagine the look on my face. Ha!) He tells me that Dolly has a request. I lean down to put my ear close to Dolly, so that she wouldn’t have to speak too loudly while the governor was talking to the audience. (I can imitate her voice, and I wish you could hear it in her voice and Tennessee mountain accent right now.) She says to me: “I didn’t know there was going to be a band here tonight. If I’d known there would be a band, I’d have had you learn some of my songs.” Then she came right out with it. “Do y’all know any of my songs?” I straightened back up, and over the course of less than five seconds my mind raced through every Top-40 solo and duet hit single of hers I’d ever heard on the radio. Country, pop, and otherwise. I made an immediate band leader decision … and lied my ass off. “Yes, we can play ‘Jolene.’” We’d never performed or rehearsed “Jolene,” or any other Dolly Parton tune, in the 20 years I’d led that band. The conversation continued: DOLLY: “Y’all know ‘Jolene?!’” ME: “Yes, ma’am.” DOLLY: “That’s great! When I finish reading my poem, I’ll tell everyone we’re going to sing ‘Jolene.’” ME: “We’ll be ready. What key do you do ‘Jolene’ in?” DOLLY: “I don’t know.” Dolly’s personal assistant leaned over to me and whispered in my ear, “C minor.” (Cm) The original key for “Jolene” was C-sharp minor (C#m), but I assume at 73 years old she might be lowering keys, as many aging vocalists tend to do. I gave Dolly an assuring look and said, “Thank you.” I looked at Duncan with an eye-raised, “Oh, sh-t” look on my face, then ran to the stage and called an emergency huddle of my rhythm section as Governor Cooper droned on in the background. In whispered, panicked tones, I told them, “Guys, you have 10 minutes to learn ‘Jolene’ … Key of C minor … GO!” The guys immediately took out their phones and pulled up the song, each listening privately through their in-ear monitors or holding the phone speaker close to their heads. They started silently fingering around on the guitar and bass guitar frets, and the keyboards. Our drummer sat quietly and listened to the track on his phone. I darted over to our female lead singer, Danie Ward, and asked her if she knew the words and background harmonies to “Jolene.” She gave me “The Look.” Back story … Danie was with my band for over ten years. She was my all-time favorite female lead vocalist, and we became great friends. She and her husband were very active in their church as pastor and she as worship leader. She and her sisters also performed for many years as a family Gospel group. But Danie, as a Black gospel artist, was immensely versatile, able to sing anything from Aretha Franklin to Lady Gaga and leaving you wanting more. And although a Black Gospel artist, her secret desire and ambition was to be a Country music artist. (I kid you not.) So, when I asked her if she knew the words and harmonies to “Jolene,” THE LOOK she gave me was … “Seriously? You dare ask ME that question?” All I needed in response from Danie was “The Look.” No words spoken, and I slinked away appropriately chastised. My band members were all world-class pros, at every position. Especially that rhythm section. Most of whom had been with me for many years at this point. They ended up with more than 10 minutes to quietly and individually—with no rehearsal—learn “Jolene.” A few more minutes passed before Dolly was introduced and brought onstage; then she took another 20 minutes to deliver her remarks and poetry reading. The guys were ready. Dolly finished her poem to a round of applause and immediately announced she’d be performing “Jolene” for them. They cheered in approval. My drummer clicked a four count with his drumsticks, and they were off. As soon as Dolly began to sing the first words of the song, you can see me — in the video below — walking across the front of the stage with a huge smile on my face. Danie then got the thrill of her life. As soon as she’d finished singing the first round of harmonies behind Dolly’s lead, Dolly turned and looked toward Danie and said loudly into the mic, “Good job!” No one knew how or when Dolly wanted to end the song, so there was no real conclusion. They all just kinda stopped. But the audience was enthusiastically grateful they’d gotten more than what they paid for that night. I do wish the event planner had informed Dolly and her team that a band was at the event. I’d have loved to have learned a handful of her songs for the show. Maybe I’d have even been able to sing with her one of her chart-topping duets that she recorded with Kenny Rogers. Even though I never personally sang or performed a single musical note with Dolly, I’ll always be able to say “My band” performed with Dolly Parton. —— Postscript: A few days after that event, I received a call from Dolly’s personal assistant. (The same guy who whispered “C minor” into my ear.) He said he needed my son's address because Dolly had a gift she wanted to send him. Dolly’s PA explained that Duncan reminded her so much of her late brother, Floyd, when he was Duncan’s age. She wanted to send Duncan something special. For whatever reason, the package never arrived. Whether lost in the shuffle of Dolly’s or her staff’s busy life, or because some porch pirate pilfered it, Duncan never received that gift. But the very thought that was conveyed shows you what kind of person Dolly was. (Photos in thread below.) —— Post Postscript: Later that same year, I was attending the W.C. Handy Music Festival in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. At the time, I was managing a renowned Shoals songwriter and his band, James LeBlanc & The Winchesters. Some members of James’ band were performing a lunchtime show at one of the local Shoals area eateries as part of the 10-day festival’s scheduled events. I arrived a few minutes late, and the place was packed. Seated alone at a table near the stage was a woman with bleached Big Hair. She saw me looking for a spot and waved me over. Before I got to the table, I knew she had to be related to Dolly. Sure enough, it was Stella Parton, Dolly’s sister. Stella has had her own far less notable career in music, so I made sure not to gush over Dolly (just in case, and not knowing the family dynamics), but I did tell her about my band performing with Dolly earlier that year. I will forever and always have that story to tell. ⬇️
3:16

🎵My Dolly Parton Story🎶 - (Video and additional photos in 🧵 below) Exactly one year before the government shut down the world because of the #CommieVirus — especially killing the live entertainment industry — my bands were firing on all cylinders. My private event band, Bull City Syndicate, was doing especially well. We’d been the headlining entertainment for the past two North Carolina Governor’s Inaugural Balls, and played hundreds of high-end corporate events, charity balls, and top-shelf weddings. On March 2, 2019, we were especially excited to be hired as the featured entertainment for a charity event where Dolly Parton would be the main attraction. Not as a musical performer herself, but to promote her own charity, Imagination Library (Imagination Library), and to do a live poetry reading from her own work. The event was the 25th Anniversary Smart Start Gala. Raleigh’s mayor, the governor of NC, and many other VIPs would be in attendance. While the event planner never suggested that we perform or back up Dolly on any of her tunes, it was, in the back of my mind, something I thought would have been really cool. But not something I’d dare suggest or insinuate on my own. My only preshow contact with Dolly’s organization was with her head of security. The Marble’s Kids Museum in Raleigh, NC is a fabulous venue for fun charity events, but it has only one “green room” next to the staging area. Security informed me that the band would have to completely evacuate that shared space at least 30-minutes before Dolly arrived for her portion of the evening’s proceedings. (Not an unusual or inappropriate request, given her enormous superstar status.) The entire 10-piece band was on stage when Dolly was escorted through the back entrance and into the green room. There was some back-and-forth between VIP speeches and live music, so the band stayed in place throughout. Since the event was completely sold out and standing room only, we knew we’d have the best vantage of Dolly if we just stayed on the stage. Dolly’s presentation was scheduled to be only about 10-15 minutes. While the governor and mayor were delivering remarks just in advance of Dolly taking the stage, I looked back at the green room door, off stage left, and I saw my son, Duncan, in full-on, intense conversation with Dolly! (WHAT?!) Duncan, who was only 20 years old at the time and already a freak-of-nature musician himself, was working on my stage crew that night. I’m the band leader, so I’m having to give full attention to the event host and what’s happening on the speaker’s side of the stage … but only 20 feet away, Duncan and Dolly are chatting away like long-lost friends. Finally, at one of my many glances in their direction, Dolly and Duncan catch my eye and both start waving me over to them. I silently point at my chest, then mouth, “Me?” They both nod, say yes, and wave more insistently. I dart off the stage, over to the dimly lit green room entrance corridor. Duncan, who is much taller than I am, puts his hand on my shoulder and introduces me to “Dolly Parton.” (You can imagine the look on my face. Ha!) He tells me that Dolly has a request. I lean down to put my ear close to Dolly, so that she wouldn’t have to speak too loudly while the governor was talking to the audience. (I can imitate her voice, and I wish you could hear it in her voice and Tennessee mountain accent right now.) She says to me: “I didn’t know there was going to be a band here tonight. If I’d known there would be a band, I’d have had you learn some of my songs.” Then she came right out with it. “Do y’all know any of my songs?” I straightened back up, and over the course of less than five seconds my mind raced through every Top-40 solo and duet hit single of hers I’d ever heard on the radio. Country, pop, and otherwise. I made an immediate band leader decision … and lied my ass off. “Yes, we can play ‘Jolene.’” We’d never performed or rehearsed “Jolene,” or any other Dolly Parton tune, in the 20 years I’d led that band. The conversation continued: DOLLY: “Y’all know ‘Jolene?!’” ME: “Yes, ma’am.” DOLLY: “That’s great! When I finish reading my poem, I’ll tell everyone we’re going to sing ‘Jolene.’” ME: “We’ll be ready. What key do you do ‘Jolene’ in?” DOLLY: “I don’t know.” Dolly’s personal assistant leaned over to me and whispered in my ear, “C minor.” (Cm) The original key for “Jolene” was C-sharp minor (C#m), but I assume at 73 years old she might be lowering keys, as many aging vocalists tend to do. I gave Dolly an assuring look and said, “Thank you.” I looked at Duncan with an eye-raised, “Oh, sh-t” look on my face, then ran to the stage and called an emergency huddle of my rhythm section as Governor Cooper droned on in the background. In whispered, panicked tones, I told them, “Guys, you have 10 minutes to learn ‘Jolene’ … Key of C minor … GO!” The guys immediately took out their phones and pulled up the song, each listening privately through their in-ear monitors or holding the phone speaker close to their heads. They started silently fingering around on the guitar and bass guitar frets, and the keyboards. Our drummer sat quietly and listened to the track on his phone. I darted over to our female lead singer, Danie Ward, and asked her if she knew the words and background harmonies to “Jolene.” She gave me “The Look.” Back story … Danie was with my band for over ten years. She was my all-time favorite female lead vocalist, and we became great friends. She and her husband were very active in their church as pastor and she as worship leader. She and her sisters also performed for many years as a family Gospel group. But Danie, as a Black gospel artist, was immensely versatile, able to sing anything from Aretha Franklin to Lady Gaga and leaving you wanting more. And although a Black Gospel artist, her secret desire and ambition was to be a Country music artist. (I kid you not.) So, when I asked her if she knew the words and harmonies to “Jolene,” THE LOOK she gave me was … “Seriously? You dare ask ME that question?” All I needed in response from Danie was “The Look.” No words spoken, and I slinked away appropriately chastised. My band members were all world-class pros, at every position. Especially that rhythm section. Most of whom had been with me for many years at this point. They ended up with more than 10 minutes to quietly and individually—with no rehearsal—learn “Jolene.” A few more minutes passed before Dolly was introduced and brought onstage; then she took another 20 minutes to deliver her remarks and poetry reading. The guys were ready. Dolly finished her poem to a round of applause and immediately announced she’d be performing “Jolene” for them. They cheered in approval. My drummer clicked a four count with his drumsticks, and they were off. As soon as Dolly began to sing the first words of the song, you can see me — in the video below — walking across the front of the stage with a huge smile on my face. Danie then got the thrill of her life. As soon as she’d finished singing the first round of harmonies behind Dolly’s lead, Dolly turned and looked toward Danie and said loudly into the mic, “Good job!” No one knew how or when Dolly wanted to end the song, so there was no real conclusion. They all just kinda stopped. But the audience was enthusiastically grateful they’d gotten more than what they paid for that night. I do wish the event planner had informed Dolly and her team that a band was at the event. I’d have loved to have learned a handful of her songs for the show. Maybe I’d have even been able to sing with her one of her chart-topping duets that she recorded with Kenny Rogers. Even though I never personally sang or performed a single musical note with Dolly, I’ll always be able to say “My band” performed with Dolly Parton. —— Postscript: A few days after that event, I received a call from Dolly’s personal assistant. (The same guy who whispered “C minor” into my ear.) He said he needed my son's address because Dolly had a gift she wanted to send him. Dolly’s PA explained that Duncan reminded her so much of her late brother, Floyd, when he was Duncan’s age. She wanted to send Duncan something special. For whatever reason, the package never arrived. Whether lost in the shuffle of Dolly’s or her staff’s busy life, or because some porch pirate pilfered it, Duncan never received that gift. But the very thought that was conveyed shows you what kind of person Dolly was. (Photos in thread below.) —— Post Postscript: Later that same year, I was attending the W.C. Handy Music Festival in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. At the time, I was managing a renowned Shoals songwriter and his band, James LeBlanc & The Winchesters. Some members of James’ band were performing a lunchtime show at one of the local Shoals area eateries as part of the 10-day festival’s scheduled events. I arrived a few minutes late, and the place was packed. Seated alone at a table near the stage was a woman with bleached Big Hair. She saw me looking for a spot and waved me over. Before I got to the table, I knew she had to be related to Dolly. Sure enough, it was Stella Parton, Dolly’s sister. Stella has had her own far less notable career in music, so I made sure not to gush over Dolly (just in case, and not knowing the family dynamics), but I did tell her about my band performing with Dolly earlier that year. I will forever and always have that story to tell. ⬇️

Steve Baker

50,752 Aufrufe • vor 19 Tagen

I made an ad for GPT Image 2.5, full prompt below. It's yours now. Put your own character in @[image1], your own poster in @[image2], change the city, change what she turns into. Quote this with your version, I want to see what you all make of it. Seedance 2.5 on Higgsfield AI 🧩. Seedance 2.5 Prompt: [GLOBAL] 30-second commercial. Photoreal live-action cinema texture, digital cinema camera, 35mm and 24mm lenses, shallow depth of field, real overcast rain-light, low-contrast cool grade, light film grain. 16:9. The spine of the film is one continuous over-the-shoulder tracking shot; all transitions are hidden inside motion blur and the crystallization effect. [CHARACTER ANCHOR] @[image1] = the protagonist, a Japanese woman in her early twenties with a Tokyo street-fashion look: bleached pale-blonde wolf-cut shag with dark roots and a single mint-green streak in the under-layer; clean Japanese makeup — thin brows, pearlescent eyeshadow, nude lip; an oversized charcoal coach jacket with an original graphic print on the back, a long white tee underneath, baggy black cargo pants, chunky platform sneakers, layered silver jewelry, wired over-ear headphones around her neck, a small crossbody bag. Her face, hair and wardrobe stay 100% identical from 0s to 28s — never altered, never touched by any "generation" effect. She is the only constant in the film until the final beat. Emotional arc: oblivious → noticing → confused → stunned → awestruck → transformed. [ARTWORK REFERENCE] @[image2] = the billboard artwork reference. Used ONLY for the flat graphic displayed on the bus-shelter digital billboard at 11–15s — including its complete typographic lockup ("Higgsfield × OpenAI" in small caps, "GPT IMAGE" in heavy white, the lime-green gradient "2.5", and the wide-tracked "SUNBURST" beneath), along with its layout, palette and composition. @[image2] must appear as a complete flat advertising image inside the billboard screen, carrying correct perspective, screen reflection and rain refraction across the glass surface. The woman pictured in @[image2] must NEVER be used for the protagonist's design, must NEVER leave the billboard screen, and must NEVER appear in the physical space of the scene. @[image1] and the woman in @[image2] are two entirely different people — never conflate them, never let one influence the other. [CORE VISUAL MOTIF — THE ONLY TRANSFORMATION LANGUAGE IN THE FILM] Anything being "regenerated" must follow the exact same three-stage process: ① the original object disintegrates from its edges into a cloud of tens of thousands of small translucent white crystalline beads — like bubble-film or shattered glass pearls, with real volume, specular highlights and real weight; ② the bead cloud hangs briefly and rapidly rearranges; ③ the new form grows outward from inside the cloud, the final layer of beads absorbing into its surface and vanishing. Do NOT use flash cuts, dissolves, particle-dispersal effects, or digital-glitch styling for any transformation. [SETTING] A Midtown Manhattan intersection after rain. Wet asphalt reflections, crosswalk stripes, yellow cabs, dense glass curtain walls and older stone buildings, neon and storefront signage, a fire hydrant, a newsstand, a bus-shelter digital billboard. Overcast diffused light throughout, no direct sun. 0–3s: Over-the-shoulder medium shot, following behind @[image1]. Her back is to camera as she stands on the crosswalk. To frame right, a 1970s green sedan in motion crystallizes entirely and reassembles as a black muscle car; a few frames later it crystallizes again and reassembles as a white wheel-less hover car. She hasn't registered it yet. 3–7s: The camera arcs around to her side. She starts looking around, the ends of her wolf cut swinging with the head turn. A businessman with a briefcase crystallizes mid-stride — the human-shaped bead cloud holds the walking pose for two full steps — and reassembles as a bare-chested barbarian warrior with feathered ornaments, continuing the same stride. Two or three more pedestrians crystallize in the background simultaneously, without pulling focus from her. 7–11s: Handheld tracking accelerates. More and more people on the street are replaced: a purple-skinned alien warrior woman, white-armored robot troopers, an original gold-suited superhero character (all original designs — no real-world recognizable characters, logos or trademarks). She walks faster, keeps turning to look back, her breathing quickening, one hand instinctively gripping her crossbody strap. The replacement frequency keeps rising, but the street's spatial relationships, lighting and wet reflections remain continuous throughout — no jump cuts. 11–15s: She stops in front of the bus shelter. The digital billboard inside cycles rapidly: a photoreal movie poster → a hand-painted concept illustration → a fashion editorial — each refresh executed with the same crystalline bead reassembly. It finally settles on the complete @[image2] artwork filling the entire screen, its typography and palette exactly as in @[image2]. She raises a hand and points at the screen, mouth open, unable to speak. 15–18s: The camera tilts down to her feet. The sidewalk paving crystallizes outward from where she stands in a perfect circle, white beads spreading three meters along the joints between slabs, the manhole cover and the standing water turning crystalline with it. She looks down. The ground gives out beneath her platform sneakers. 18–21s: Wide 24mm. The ground collapses and she falls straight down. The camera falls with her looking up — the entire city contracts above her into a shrinking square opening, the buildings on either side peeling away, tumbling and receding upward like building blocks, the sky turning to deep blue-black void. She throws her arms out, her hair, jacket hem and bag strap lifted by the updraft. 21–24s: During the fall the visual style jumps repeatedly, each jump bridged by one full-frame sweep of crystalline beads. In order: ① rich 1980s film stock — high saturation, heavy halation, heavy grain; ② black-and-white halftone manga panel — the character rendered in ink linework and dot screens against dense radial speed lines; ③ a neon purple-blue digital vortex with long light streaks stretching backward at speed; ④ near-total darkness with extreme motion blur. Her facial structure, hair and wardrobe must remain recognizably the same person in every one of these styles. 24–27s: She lands flat on her back on a smooth white floor. A wide lens pushes in slowly and tilts up to reveal the environment: an infinitely extending pure-white showroom/hangar with a gridded softbox ceiling. Hundreds of black circular pedestals cover the floor, each holding a character statue or a parked vehicle — original-design warriors, mechs, robots, sci-fi troopers, plus large military aircraft and helicopters. A small line of floating white label text sits in front of each pedestal: "FANTASY CHARACTER", "VEHICLE", "MECH" — set at a small point size, present purely as environmental information. 27–28s: She sits up and pushes herself to her feet, turning slowly to take in the hall, eyes widening in awe. The camera settles into a full-body medium-wide, centered, the statue array receding out of focus behind her. 28–30s [THE FINAL TRANSFORMATION]: The instant she stands fully upright, the crystalline beads rise from the floor around her feet and sweep up her body in one continuous wave — and for the first time in the film, SHE is the thing being regenerated. Her streetwear disintegrates into the bead cloud and a magical-girl battle uniform grows outward in its place, following the exact same three-stage motif, generating in a readable order from the torso outward: a white high-collar fitted bodice → a mint-green sailor collar with three silver stripes → a deep mint pleated skirt with silver trim, its pleats opening one by one → long white gloves to the upper arm with mint piping → white knee-high boots with a mid heel and mint cuffs → layered silver jewelry reforming as a silver star brooch at her chest → a large mint-green bow at her back with long ribbons falling to the backs of her knees → a fine silver tiara condensing across her forehead. Her face, hairstyle, hair color, the mint streak and the headphones around her neck remain completely unchanged — only the clothing is regenerated. The last beads absorb into the fabric. She looks down at her own hands, then slowly raises her head, the ribbons still settling behind her, and looks straight past camera with a small, dawning smile. The film cuts on that frame. No end card, no title, no tagline, no subtitle of any kind. [SOUND] Rain and wet-road traffic, urban ambient bed; high-frequency glass/ice shatter-and-rearrange sounds on every crystallization; a short bright locking tone as each reassembly completes; electronic refresh tones from the billboard; low-frequency collapse as the ground gives way; wind through the fall, with a distinct timbre shift for each of the four style jumps (film hiss / paper-and-ink texture / synth sweep / silence); one muffled impact on landing; near-total quiet inside the hall with only faint HVAC room tone; then, over the final transformation, an ascending shimmer of silk and crystal, each garment piece seating with a crisp click, the bow tying with a single sweep of ribbon, and one clear bell tone as the tiara locks in. One escalating electronic music bed ties it together, landing its final hit on her raised head. [HARD RULES] @[image1]'s face, hairstyle, hair color and headphones are absolutely unchanged across all 30 seconds. Her wardrobe is unchanged from 0s to 28s and may be regenerated ONLY in the 28–30s final beat — the transformation affects clothing only and must never alter her face, hair or identity. All other replacements happen only to the people, vehicles, ground and environment around her. The film may use only the single "crystalline bead disintegration → rearrangement → growth" transformation language, including for the final costume change; no other transition effect may be mixed in. From 0–18s the film must hold the logic of one spatially continuous tracking shot — the street's architecture, lighting and wet reflections must never jump. Every character and vehicle in the hall must be an original design; no real-world recognizable characters, brand marks, trademarks or identifiable film properties may appear, and the final magical-girl uniform must be an original design, not any existing anime character's costume. The only brand copy permitted anywhere in the film is the @[image2] artwork on the billboard screen at 11–15s, existing solely as a flat image inside that screen and never repeated elsewhere. No end card, no title card, no subtitles, no watermark, no overlaid text anywhere in the film. Avoid: cartoon rendering, game-CG feel, plastic materials, full-frame bloom, digital-glitch transitions, weightless floating, incorrect finger structure, garbled text, revealing or suggestive posing or camera angles.
0:30

I made an ad for GPT Image 2.5, full prompt below. It's yours now. Put your own character in @[image1], your own poster in @[image2], change the city, change what she turns into. Quote this with your version, I want to see what you all make of it. Seedance 2.5 on Higgsfield AI 🧩. Seedance 2.5 Prompt: [GLOBAL] 30-second commercial. Photoreal live-action cinema texture, digital cinema camera, 35mm and 24mm lenses, shallow depth of field, real overcast rain-light, low-contrast cool grade, light film grain. 16:9. The spine of the film is one continuous over-the-shoulder tracking shot; all transitions are hidden inside motion blur and the crystallization effect. [CHARACTER ANCHOR] @[image1] = the protagonist, a Japanese woman in her early twenties with a Tokyo street-fashion look: bleached pale-blonde wolf-cut shag with dark roots and a single mint-green streak in the under-layer; clean Japanese makeup — thin brows, pearlescent eyeshadow, nude lip; an oversized charcoal coach jacket with an original graphic print on the back, a long white tee underneath, baggy black cargo pants, chunky platform sneakers, layered silver jewelry, wired over-ear headphones around her neck, a small crossbody bag. Her face, hair and wardrobe stay 100% identical from 0s to 28s — never altered, never touched by any "generation" effect. She is the only constant in the film until the final beat. Emotional arc: oblivious → noticing → confused → stunned → awestruck → transformed. [ARTWORK REFERENCE] @[image2] = the billboard artwork reference. Used ONLY for the flat graphic displayed on the bus-shelter digital billboard at 11–15s — including its complete typographic lockup ("Higgsfield × OpenAI" in small caps, "GPT IMAGE" in heavy white, the lime-green gradient "2.5", and the wide-tracked "SUNBURST" beneath), along with its layout, palette and composition. @[image2] must appear as a complete flat advertising image inside the billboard screen, carrying correct perspective, screen reflection and rain refraction across the glass surface. The woman pictured in @[image2] must NEVER be used for the protagonist's design, must NEVER leave the billboard screen, and must NEVER appear in the physical space of the scene. @[image1] and the woman in @[image2] are two entirely different people — never conflate them, never let one influence the other. [CORE VISUAL MOTIF — THE ONLY TRANSFORMATION LANGUAGE IN THE FILM] Anything being "regenerated" must follow the exact same three-stage process: ① the original object disintegrates from its edges into a cloud of tens of thousands of small translucent white crystalline beads — like bubble-film or shattered glass pearls, with real volume, specular highlights and real weight; ② the bead cloud hangs briefly and rapidly rearranges; ③ the new form grows outward from inside the cloud, the final layer of beads absorbing into its surface and vanishing. Do NOT use flash cuts, dissolves, particle-dispersal effects, or digital-glitch styling for any transformation. [SETTING] A Midtown Manhattan intersection after rain. Wet asphalt reflections, crosswalk stripes, yellow cabs, dense glass curtain walls and older stone buildings, neon and storefront signage, a fire hydrant, a newsstand, a bus-shelter digital billboard. Overcast diffused light throughout, no direct sun. 0–3s: Over-the-shoulder medium shot, following behind @[image1]. Her back is to camera as she stands on the crosswalk. To frame right, a 1970s green sedan in motion crystallizes entirely and reassembles as a black muscle car; a few frames later it crystallizes again and reassembles as a white wheel-less hover car. She hasn't registered it yet. 3–7s: The camera arcs around to her side. She starts looking around, the ends of her wolf cut swinging with the head turn. A businessman with a briefcase crystallizes mid-stride — the human-shaped bead cloud holds the walking pose for two full steps — and reassembles as a bare-chested barbarian warrior with feathered ornaments, continuing the same stride. Two or three more pedestrians crystallize in the background simultaneously, without pulling focus from her. 7–11s: Handheld tracking accelerates. More and more people on the street are replaced: a purple-skinned alien warrior woman, white-armored robot troopers, an original gold-suited superhero character (all original designs — no real-world recognizable characters, logos or trademarks). She walks faster, keeps turning to look back, her breathing quickening, one hand instinctively gripping her crossbody strap. The replacement frequency keeps rising, but the street's spatial relationships, lighting and wet reflections remain continuous throughout — no jump cuts. 11–15s: She stops in front of the bus shelter. The digital billboard inside cycles rapidly: a photoreal movie poster → a hand-painted concept illustration → a fashion editorial — each refresh executed with the same crystalline bead reassembly. It finally settles on the complete @[image2] artwork filling the entire screen, its typography and palette exactly as in @[image2]. She raises a hand and points at the screen, mouth open, unable to speak. 15–18s: The camera tilts down to her feet. The sidewalk paving crystallizes outward from where she stands in a perfect circle, white beads spreading three meters along the joints between slabs, the manhole cover and the standing water turning crystalline with it. She looks down. The ground gives out beneath her platform sneakers. 18–21s: Wide 24mm. The ground collapses and she falls straight down. The camera falls with her looking up — the entire city contracts above her into a shrinking square opening, the buildings on either side peeling away, tumbling and receding upward like building blocks, the sky turning to deep blue-black void. She throws her arms out, her hair, jacket hem and bag strap lifted by the updraft. 21–24s: During the fall the visual style jumps repeatedly, each jump bridged by one full-frame sweep of crystalline beads. In order: ① rich 1980s film stock — high saturation, heavy halation, heavy grain; ② black-and-white halftone manga panel — the character rendered in ink linework and dot screens against dense radial speed lines; ③ a neon purple-blue digital vortex with long light streaks stretching backward at speed; ④ near-total darkness with extreme motion blur. Her facial structure, hair and wardrobe must remain recognizably the same person in every one of these styles. 24–27s: She lands flat on her back on a smooth white floor. A wide lens pushes in slowly and tilts up to reveal the environment: an infinitely extending pure-white showroom/hangar with a gridded softbox ceiling. Hundreds of black circular pedestals cover the floor, each holding a character statue or a parked vehicle — original-design warriors, mechs, robots, sci-fi troopers, plus large military aircraft and helicopters. A small line of floating white label text sits in front of each pedestal: "FANTASY CHARACTER", "VEHICLE", "MECH" — set at a small point size, present purely as environmental information. 27–28s: She sits up and pushes herself to her feet, turning slowly to take in the hall, eyes widening in awe. The camera settles into a full-body medium-wide, centered, the statue array receding out of focus behind her. 28–30s [THE FINAL TRANSFORMATION]: The instant she stands fully upright, the crystalline beads rise from the floor around her feet and sweep up her body in one continuous wave — and for the first time in the film, SHE is the thing being regenerated. Her streetwear disintegrates into the bead cloud and a magical-girl battle uniform grows outward in its place, following the exact same three-stage motif, generating in a readable order from the torso outward: a white high-collar fitted bodice → a mint-green sailor collar with three silver stripes → a deep mint pleated skirt with silver trim, its pleats opening one by one → long white gloves to the upper arm with mint piping → white knee-high boots with a mid heel and mint cuffs → layered silver jewelry reforming as a silver star brooch at her chest → a large mint-green bow at her back with long ribbons falling to the backs of her knees → a fine silver tiara condensing across her forehead. Her face, hairstyle, hair color, the mint streak and the headphones around her neck remain completely unchanged — only the clothing is regenerated. The last beads absorb into the fabric. She looks down at her own hands, then slowly raises her head, the ribbons still settling behind her, and looks straight past camera with a small, dawning smile. The film cuts on that frame. No end card, no title, no tagline, no subtitle of any kind. [SOUND] Rain and wet-road traffic, urban ambient bed; high-frequency glass/ice shatter-and-rearrange sounds on every crystallization; a short bright locking tone as each reassembly completes; electronic refresh tones from the billboard; low-frequency collapse as the ground gives way; wind through the fall, with a distinct timbre shift for each of the four style jumps (film hiss / paper-and-ink texture / synth sweep / silence); one muffled impact on landing; near-total quiet inside the hall with only faint HVAC room tone; then, over the final transformation, an ascending shimmer of silk and crystal, each garment piece seating with a crisp click, the bow tying with a single sweep of ribbon, and one clear bell tone as the tiara locks in. One escalating electronic music bed ties it together, landing its final hit on her raised head. [HARD RULES] @[image1]'s face, hairstyle, hair color and headphones are absolutely unchanged across all 30 seconds. Her wardrobe is unchanged from 0s to 28s and may be regenerated ONLY in the 28–30s final beat — the transformation affects clothing only and must never alter her face, hair or identity. All other replacements happen only to the people, vehicles, ground and environment around her. The film may use only the single "crystalline bead disintegration → rearrangement → growth" transformation language, including for the final costume change; no other transition effect may be mixed in. From 0–18s the film must hold the logic of one spatially continuous tracking shot — the street's architecture, lighting and wet reflections must never jump. Every character and vehicle in the hall must be an original design; no real-world recognizable characters, brand marks, trademarks or identifiable film properties may appear, and the final magical-girl uniform must be an original design, not any existing anime character's costume. The only brand copy permitted anywhere in the film is the @[image2] artwork on the billboard screen at 11–15s, existing solely as a flat image inside that screen and never repeated elsewhere. No end card, no title card, no subtitles, no watermark, no overlaid text anywhere in the film. Avoid: cartoon rendering, game-CG feel, plastic materials, full-frame bloom, digital-glitch transitions, weightless floating, incorrect finger structure, garbled text, revealing or suggestive posing or camera angles.

Mr.Iancu

55,619 Aufrufe • vor 5 Tagen

Funny how women get so pissed when guys go full agenda mode on a date. She handled it like a cunt with no class after the guy’s blunder but she was also mirroring where the guy was coming from in terms of energy: If the man is going to be as overtly transactional in his delivery he could have gone for an escort and he could have saved himself time and money. But no he did not and he was indecisive. She does not want to make the decision. “Are you going home with me or no?” And if you wanna bring a girl back home: Don’t give her a choice, lead the way. This is an example of how “nice” he was. Key points - Don’t take her out to a place you can barely afford. Paying for the date is the cost of doing business. - Don’t be fake nice just to try to get the coochie, she will smell it - he revealed himself to be as such by his reaction. She won’t give it up to you because you paid a meal and was nice. - If you invite her for dinner, you are playing on harder mode, because you frame yourself default as the provider, and you will deal with more BS (even non-dinner dates you will deal with more nonsense vs meeting her on a night out or on holidays - her environment will dictate her default rules of engagement). - Don’t respond logically, troll her with what she gives you at this stage when it is completely fucked: instead of “that is how it is supposed to be” - she does not give a fuck about your rules - reply with “Cool, I will message Jessica” / instead of “I am not going to cry home” reply to her verbal jabs with “quite the challenge considering your crying for paying the full bill, but thank you that meal was really nice” Relationships are transactional, but it is not because it is that you have to be so overt about, it only creates resentment for both men and women. This is the male example of agenda mode, that women do often trying to hijack dates into interviews, and amusingly enough, it is hilarious to see how pissed off they are about it.
1:02

Sensitive content

Funny how women get so pissed when guys go full agenda mode on a date. She handled it like a cunt with no class after the guy’s blunder but she was also mirroring where the guy was coming from in terms of energy: If the man is going to be as overtly transactional in his delivery he could have gone for an escort and he could have saved himself time and money. But no he did not and he was indecisive. She does not want to make the decision. “Are you going home with me or no?” And if you wanna bring a girl back home: Don’t give her a choice, lead the way. This is an example of how “nice” he was. Key points - Don’t take her out to a place you can barely afford. Paying for the date is the cost of doing business. - Don’t be fake nice just to try to get the coochie, she will smell it - he revealed himself to be as such by his reaction. She won’t give it up to you because you paid a meal and was nice. - If you invite her for dinner, you are playing on harder mode, because you frame yourself default as the provider, and you will deal with more BS (even non-dinner dates you will deal with more nonsense vs meeting her on a night out or on holidays - her environment will dictate her default rules of engagement). - Don’t respond logically, troll her with what she gives you at this stage when it is completely fucked: instead of “that is how it is supposed to be” - she does not give a fuck about your rules - reply with “Cool, I will message Jessica” / instead of “I am not going to cry home” reply to her verbal jabs with “quite the challenge considering your crying for paying the full bill, but thank you that meal was really nice” Relationships are transactional, but it is not because it is that you have to be so overt about, it only creates resentment for both men and women. This is the male example of agenda mode, that women do often trying to hijack dates into interviews, and amusingly enough, it is hilarious to see how pissed off they are about it.

French OG | Your Dating and Relationship Guide

287,060 Aufrufe • vor 8 Monaten

We know that the incident that happened at present in Zambia has attracted a little attention, but particularly the use of a fraud gang leader, Hopewell Chin’ono, and Emmanuel Mwamba. I think people have seen me in the past, in the last few years. I’ve confronted these two characters on matters that I was able to demonstrate were matters of fact, but there are also matters of accountability in a very big way. They were matters relating to money, movement of money across countries. How many people have seen my documentaries? How many have seen the Gatwick Airport hacking documentary that features a man called Hopewell Chin’ono? In the last two years, I personally, physically recovered over a million British pounds in a property that had been robbed from a British man. Two years ago, in 2024, and the person who was singularly behind that scam is a man called Hopewell Chin’ono. Brian Mundubile, the opposition leader, and Emmanuel Mwamba, the opposition spokesperson — I’m not sure what title he has in Zambia. If you’re watching right now in Zambia, please let me know which title he carries, because I know that there have been entities and institutions that have switched names, switched sides, or switched shape. So I’m not aware what title Emmanuel Mwamba now has, but Emmanuel Mwamba and Brian Mundubile, as the opposition leader, have been using this man who will lead a fraud gang, and is [a] fraudster, I would be [saying]. So I’m going to say it in Zimbabwean English, okay? Accent, Zimbabwean and Zambian, for I would be… [Speaking in a local language.] And on Hopewell Chin’ono… [Speaking in a local language.] A million-pound property from him and his friend and his colleague, called Jennifer Banguré, in East Midlands. I think people have seen him sometimes posting a picture of him dressed in very, very buttoned trousers, boasting that he’s got a house in East Midlands. Right there in East Midlands, two years ago, I had a copy of [the] property, but he himself and the colleague of him had taken off, unlawfully taken away from a British man. And so Hopewell Chin’ono has been used by Mundubile and Mwamba with the two knowing well that he is a fraud gang leader. Some people have been claiming, “Oh, Brian Mundubile,” and the likes of him that this man is a journalist. This person is a fraud gang leader, just using the face in the front of journalism. There is no person who is law-abiding who uses Hopewell Chin’ono for anything. But what was happening was that Brian Mundubile and Emmanuel Mwamba were using this shady character for their communications, which were not factual at all. I mean, people were following over the time, every post that this man has been posting — this character that Brian Mundubile has been using to make communications. In every single post, there’s always been some falsification, some misleading. This is not a character that anyone would want to sit having tea with, because he’s well known for more than 30 years for being dodgy, shady and engaging in some of the most horrible [activities]. I’ve done thorough investigations over the years. I’ve done more investigations on this man than I’ve done on all my other documentaries and stories over the years. And so, what were they discussing? What were they doing? But mainly, — what have they been posting around the elections, not just today? Over several years, by the way: this whole operation didn’t start today. Even during the Edgar Lungu death days last year, I think people remember — how many people remember? There’s a dossier that I presented to South Africa, to the courts, where I was arguing, and I was even taking the SABC, the South Africa Broadcasting Corporation, to court. Very soon I will, for them using this type — this character. And this is a big, big scam. It’s not a small scam. So, what has happened right now, there’s another operation that law enforcement have done in [Zambia]. I’m not going to talk about that because it’ll be sub judice, and I’m not aware of the full circumstances of what that is. But I am aware. I’m fully aware. I think people saw me a few years ago. I was in Lusaka physically, and I was on live camera. I’m fully aware that Brian Mundubile and his crop were cooking some activity. That’s how I was there. I saw it physically. They were doing something there that I can’t say right now because it would be sub judice. People understand what the law says. I am aware of certain things that were happening around that time that were not clean. And that’s how suddenly I was in Lusaka around the same period in August 2023, which was the first time I’d been to Lusaka before, a few years before. My work — I investigate, I investigate, I investigate matters relating to… Excuse me, sorry, I apologise. I’m just getting distracted. Just two seconds here. Those are coming right now live. I am just two seconds, just two seconds, folks. I think it’s me, love. Yes, it’s me. Walter. Yes. Okay, so just two seconds, folks. Okay, so what I was saying was that a few years ago, I was in Lusaka, Zambia. And the things that I witnessed there — I’m not going to talk about the rest and things that have happened today because it’s sub judice. I can’t do that. And I’m not aware of the full circumstances. But there are definitely things that I know, and people have seen over the years. When Edgar Lungu died, there was one character who Emmanuel Mwamba started using. Many of the people started using. And they were firing an algorithm. And if you are in law enforcement here in Zambia, and if you are in law enforcement in any other country, I hope you can hear this tidbit that I’m dropping here. I investigate wrongdoing by notorious people, particularly people who target crowds. And so this person that Brian Mundubile has been using has been fronting the face and the badge of journalism. But, in actual fact, he leads a fraud gang — a whole gang of people, some who were fully convicted and served prison sentences. This is all public record, by the way. So it’s not what I’m saying here, so people listening — it’s not something from a special investigation that I guess, of course, there are things that I’ve done, that I’ve done. But this is public record. There is no person who is law-abiding. There’s no person who follows the law who uses a man called Hopewell Chin’ono for anything. For anything. [Speaking in Shona.] This is a record that is over 30 years old — 30 years running, every year. Every year, this man called Hopewell Chin’ono has a repeating incident, or for high-profile — we’re talking high-profile crime here. And one of them involves a million-pound property that I personally reversed in a documentary called “Gatwick Airport.” “Gatwick Airport.” So if you Google “Gatwick Airport,” you see it. I mean, this is a whole broad, multi-million-pound property, massive property that I investigated and helped to reverse two years ago. And the records are all there. They are replete. There’s also an article that was published that is on the New Statesman website, that is titled “Journalism Rarely Generates Excessive Wealth.” Well, this is not my work now. This is the work of the only investigative journalist of our time by the name Geoffrey Nyarota. It’s a very interesting piece. He died in March last year. And Geoffrey Nyarota published this article, investigated this character called Hopewell Chin’ono, and published this article. If you see it, it audits money that he used — money that he took from the United Kingdom and then used it to buy property in Zimbabwe. This is an article that is over four years, five years, in fact, in the public domain. Five years in the public domain. And the man called Hopewell Chin’ono even responded, so he passed comments on that article in the article. That article is on a publication that I’ve got nothing to do with. It’s another major, major big independent newspaper that publishes in Zimbabwe. It’s on the internet, so if you Google “Journalism Rarely Generates Excessive Wealth,” that’s an article that has been available that Brian Mundubile, the opposition leader of Zambia, knows. And Emmanuel Mwamba, his spokesperson, knows that article. For over five years, he knows that Hopewell Chin’ono is not a practising journalist, that he is doing his practising disguise. He is a disguiser. How does a person who has won an election use a disguiser? How do you go on video and say, “I won this election”? Number one, you don’t show, you don’t present any tabulation. You say that you’ve got a tabulation that you’re reading, but you don’t show people that tabulation. Show people so that they see that you truly have won. Okay, let’s just assume that you are avoiding this disclosure because maybe you don’t want to get into trouble. Certainly, people around you, if you have those millions of followers, certainly those people could just present the tabulation. Not WhatsApp screenshots. No. The tabulation. The tabulation and those forms. Show the tabulation and then you also show the forms, which are a public record. The forms become public record at the polling station. So you don’t even need to wait for the Electoral Commission Chairperson of Zambia to make the announcement. The announcement has already been made at the polling station. You don’t need to record a video and pronounce yourself a leader. Because if you have won the election, that pronouncement has already been made at the polling station. And so the youngest child, a Grade One child, can do their maths. During the first hour of those results being placarded at the polling stations, you don’t need to come out yourself. Because it’s already there. If you have won the election, it’s already there. Why did you do that? Why did you record this video? What’s the point? What’s the game? What’s the hurry? Because it’s already there. It’s a public record. It’s already there. It’s in the forest, it’s there — right at the polling station. So Brian Mundubile did not need to do that. Who was the point? Maybe other people have done it before. But what was the point? I’m trying to ask here. I don’t know how I could say it in Bemba, in Nyanja. I don’t know which language, folks. If those people will see you speak the language in [unclear], in Zambia, please click the video link and talk to me. And maybe say it to people, ask questions: Mr Mundubile, what was the point when you announced yourself, pronouncing yourself, on video? And then you get someone who leads — who practises disguise. Whoa, what’s the point? Does not practise journalism? He practises disguise. Who doesn’t know that if there’s a public record out there? So you used someone who’s engaged in some of the most dodgy things on earth, including election vote-tempering that he has been doing in other jurisdictions. You used that character. For what purpose? For what purpose? Because you didn’t press a vote, Brian Mundubile knew that you did not need to go on video. Because if you won the election, you were already politically — you would have already been proclaimed at the polling station. So any person who has got a small GCSE certificate can do their maths. They would have already known that they would have made the announcement for itself. Where is the regulation? So this is a big investigation because all watching on, as I said, I myself have recovered a million-pound property in the United Kingdom in the last two years, and the documentary…
16:53

We know that the incident that happened at present in Zambia has attracted a little attention, but particularly the use of a fraud gang leader, Hopewell Chin’ono, and Emmanuel Mwamba. I think people have seen me in the past, in the last few years. I’ve confronted these two characters on matters that I was able to demonstrate were matters of fact, but there are also matters of accountability in a very big way. They were matters relating to money, movement of money across countries. How many people have seen my documentaries? How many have seen the Gatwick Airport hacking documentary that features a man called Hopewell Chin’ono? In the last two years, I personally, physically recovered over a million British pounds in a property that had been robbed from a British man. Two years ago, in 2024, and the person who was singularly behind that scam is a man called Hopewell Chin’ono. Brian Mundubile, the opposition leader, and Emmanuel Mwamba, the opposition spokesperson — I’m not sure what title he has in Zambia. If you’re watching right now in Zambia, please let me know which title he carries, because I know that there have been entities and institutions that have switched names, switched sides, or switched shape. So I’m not aware what title Emmanuel Mwamba now has, but Emmanuel Mwamba and Brian Mundubile, as the opposition leader, have been using this man who will lead a fraud gang, and is [a] fraudster, I would be [saying]. So I’m going to say it in Zimbabwean English, okay? Accent, Zimbabwean and Zambian, for I would be… [Speaking in a local language.] And on Hopewell Chin’ono… [Speaking in a local language.] A million-pound property from him and his friend and his colleague, called Jennifer Banguré, in East Midlands. I think people have seen him sometimes posting a picture of him dressed in very, very buttoned trousers, boasting that he’s got a house in East Midlands. Right there in East Midlands, two years ago, I had a copy of [the] property, but he himself and the colleague of him had taken off, unlawfully taken away from a British man. And so Hopewell Chin’ono has been used by Mundubile and Mwamba with the two knowing well that he is a fraud gang leader. Some people have been claiming, “Oh, Brian Mundubile,” and the likes of him that this man is a journalist. This person is a fraud gang leader, just using the face in the front of journalism. There is no person who is law-abiding who uses Hopewell Chin’ono for anything. But what was happening was that Brian Mundubile and Emmanuel Mwamba were using this shady character for their communications, which were not factual at all. I mean, people were following over the time, every post that this man has been posting — this character that Brian Mundubile has been using to make communications. In every single post, there’s always been some falsification, some misleading. This is not a character that anyone would want to sit having tea with, because he’s well known for more than 30 years for being dodgy, shady and engaging in some of the most horrible [activities]. I’ve done thorough investigations over the years. I’ve done more investigations on this man than I’ve done on all my other documentaries and stories over the years. And so, what were they discussing? What were they doing? But mainly, — what have they been posting around the elections, not just today? Over several years, by the way: this whole operation didn’t start today. Even during the Edgar Lungu death days last year, I think people remember — how many people remember? There’s a dossier that I presented to South Africa, to the courts, where I was arguing, and I was even taking the SABC, the South Africa Broadcasting Corporation, to court. Very soon I will, for them using this type — this character. And this is a big, big scam. It’s not a small scam. So, what has happened right now, there’s another operation that law enforcement have done in [Zambia]. I’m not going to talk about that because it’ll be sub judice, and I’m not aware of the full circumstances of what that is. But I am aware. I’m fully aware. I think people saw me a few years ago. I was in Lusaka physically, and I was on live camera. I’m fully aware that Brian Mundubile and his crop were cooking some activity. That’s how I was there. I saw it physically. They were doing something there that I can’t say right now because it would be sub judice. People understand what the law says. I am aware of certain things that were happening around that time that were not clean. And that’s how suddenly I was in Lusaka around the same period in August 2023, which was the first time I’d been to Lusaka before, a few years before. My work — I investigate, I investigate, I investigate matters relating to… Excuse me, sorry, I apologise. I’m just getting distracted. Just two seconds here. Those are coming right now live. I am just two seconds, just two seconds, folks. I think it’s me, love. Yes, it’s me. Walter. Yes. Okay, so just two seconds, folks. Okay, so what I was saying was that a few years ago, I was in Lusaka, Zambia. And the things that I witnessed there — I’m not going to talk about the rest and things that have happened today because it’s sub judice. I can’t do that. And I’m not aware of the full circumstances. But there are definitely things that I know, and people have seen over the years. When Edgar Lungu died, there was one character who Emmanuel Mwamba started using. Many of the people started using. And they were firing an algorithm. And if you are in law enforcement here in Zambia, and if you are in law enforcement in any other country, I hope you can hear this tidbit that I’m dropping here. I investigate wrongdoing by notorious people, particularly people who target crowds. And so this person that Brian Mundubile has been using has been fronting the face and the badge of journalism. But, in actual fact, he leads a fraud gang — a whole gang of people, some who were fully convicted and served prison sentences. This is all public record, by the way. So it’s not what I’m saying here, so people listening — it’s not something from a special investigation that I guess, of course, there are things that I’ve done, that I’ve done. But this is public record. There is no person who is law-abiding. There’s no person who follows the law who uses a man called Hopewell Chin’ono for anything. For anything. [Speaking in Shona.] This is a record that is over 30 years old — 30 years running, every year. Every year, this man called Hopewell Chin’ono has a repeating incident, or for high-profile — we’re talking high-profile crime here. And one of them involves a million-pound property that I personally reversed in a documentary called “Gatwick Airport.” “Gatwick Airport.” So if you Google “Gatwick Airport,” you see it. I mean, this is a whole broad, multi-million-pound property, massive property that I investigated and helped to reverse two years ago. And the records are all there. They are replete. There’s also an article that was published that is on the New Statesman website, that is titled “Journalism Rarely Generates Excessive Wealth.” Well, this is not my work now. This is the work of the only investigative journalist of our time by the name Geoffrey Nyarota. It’s a very interesting piece. He died in March last year. And Geoffrey Nyarota published this article, investigated this character called Hopewell Chin’ono, and published this article. If you see it, it audits money that he used — money that he took from the United Kingdom and then used it to buy property in Zimbabwe. This is an article that is over four years, five years, in fact, in the public domain. Five years in the public domain. And the man called Hopewell Chin’ono even responded, so he passed comments on that article in the article. That article is on a publication that I’ve got nothing to do with. It’s another major, major big independent newspaper that publishes in Zimbabwe. It’s on the internet, so if you Google “Journalism Rarely Generates Excessive Wealth,” that’s an article that has been available that Brian Mundubile, the opposition leader of Zambia, knows. And Emmanuel Mwamba, his spokesperson, knows that article. For over five years, he knows that Hopewell Chin’ono is not a practising journalist, that he is doing his practising disguise. He is a disguiser. How does a person who has won an election use a disguiser? How do you go on video and say, “I won this election”? Number one, you don’t show, you don’t present any tabulation. You say that you’ve got a tabulation that you’re reading, but you don’t show people that tabulation. Show people so that they see that you truly have won. Okay, let’s just assume that you are avoiding this disclosure because maybe you don’t want to get into trouble. Certainly, people around you, if you have those millions of followers, certainly those people could just present the tabulation. Not WhatsApp screenshots. No. The tabulation. The tabulation and those forms. Show the tabulation and then you also show the forms, which are a public record. The forms become public record at the polling station. So you don’t even need to wait for the Electoral Commission Chairperson of Zambia to make the announcement. The announcement has already been made at the polling station. You don’t need to record a video and pronounce yourself a leader. Because if you have won the election, that pronouncement has already been made at the polling station. And so the youngest child, a Grade One child, can do their maths. During the first hour of those results being placarded at the polling stations, you don’t need to come out yourself. Because it’s already there. If you have won the election, it’s already there. Why did you do that? Why did you record this video? What’s the point? What’s the game? What’s the hurry? Because it’s already there. It’s a public record. It’s already there. It’s in the forest, it’s there — right at the polling station. So Brian Mundubile did not need to do that. Who was the point? Maybe other people have done it before. But what was the point? I’m trying to ask here. I don’t know how I could say it in Bemba, in Nyanja. I don’t know which language, folks. If those people will see you speak the language in [unclear], in Zambia, please click the video link and talk to me. And maybe say it to people, ask questions: Mr Mundubile, what was the point when you announced yourself, pronouncing yourself, on video? And then you get someone who leads — who practises disguise. Whoa, what’s the point? Does not practise journalism? He practises disguise. Who doesn’t know that if there’s a public record out there? So you used someone who’s engaged in some of the most dodgy things on earth, including election vote-tempering that he has been doing in other jurisdictions. You used that character. For what purpose? For what purpose? Because you didn’t press a vote, Brian Mundubile knew that you did not need to go on video. Because if you won the election, you were already politically — you would have already been proclaimed at the polling station. So any person who has got a small GCSE certificate can do their maths. They would have already known that they would have made the announcement for itself. Where is the regulation? So this is a big investigation because all watching on, as I said, I myself have recovered a million-pound property in the United Kingdom in the last two years, and the documentary…

ZimEye

22,521 Aufrufe • vor 29 Tagen

Min Hee-jin (NewJeans Producer) NHK Music Interview 🔗 “Meticulously planned debut ‘Attention’” 🧢: When I was preparing to launch NewJeans, I really struggled with deciding what our first piece of content should be. I thought about it for a long time and considered many possibilities. It was a project that came with high expectations, and for me personally, it was also my first opportunity to prove myself. So how I presented it mattered enormously. Even down to the smallest details… like the impression the very first released photo might give, or what kind of impact we could make at launch. I thought hard about what kind of content would be the most effective… should it be a video or a photo? What time of day would be most effective to release it? I consider things like that very carefully. For example, the way a person experiences content at night versus during the day can feel quite different emotionally. So I even thought about those subtle aspects. Eventually, the conclusion I reached was: “Let’s make the most of our situation.” At the time, the members hadn’t been revealed, and no one knew how many of them there were or what kind of group this would be. So I wanted to maximize that curiosity. You know how the more something is concealed, the more curious people become? I wanted to build that curiosity to a peak and then release everything all at once. That’s why we decided not to release a teaser and instead go straight into a full music video. (This was actually inspired by Hyein suggesting we skip teasers.) I didn’t think still images or photos would be enough to fully convey the feeling I wanted to express. I felt that video and music together would evoke the emotional response I was looking for because people experience things synesthetically. When sound, image, and feeling come together, the emotional impact is stronger. I believed the best way to present the members’ images was through music and a moving picture… that’s why we led with a music video. In the debut music video, “Attention,” there’s a scene where the members act out a little drama. I paid very close attention to that moment and created music that would fit it precisely. For me, I don’t just make content… I design the entire process of how it should be shown for the greatest effect. And I believe that’s incredibly important. That first feeling someone gets when they encounter something… that emotion, that spark… is so important to me. I’m very detail-oriented, but I also value fun deeply. So rather than just releasing content, I want to enjoy the process leading up to it. Even when we released our second album, since we shot the entire music video across the country, the sequence of how we released the videos was critical for me. It’s hard to explain all this simply in an interview, but maybe some people noticed: the first content we released that time was actually a teaser for the last track, “ASAP,” and then we followed that with the full music video for “New Jeans,” which was the first track. That order was a carefully calculated strategy. It was designed to guide the audience’s emotional journey. Seeing the audience react just as I had hoped—that whole process was honestly so fun and thrilling for me. I think I really enjoy that kind of thing. ——— “How 'Ditto' was born” 🧢: People often praise the music of NewJeans, and I hear a lot of talk about genres. But actually, I don’t feel bound by genre at all. I love a wide variety of music. I’m not the type to insist on only one particular genre. What I love are songs that blend genres cleverly… those are my personal favorites. So going forward, my focus is not on genre but on whether something feels fresh and whether it can create an emotional moment. I don’t want to define what kind of music we make. And I think you have to experience the flow of the times to really understand what’s meaningful in a given moment. For instance, the song “Ditto” was chosen because it delivered emotion. It matched perfectly with the winter album concept I had envisioned, both in terms of timing and mood. When I hear a song, I tend to trust my gut. I have a pretty strong intuition for which songs will resonate. It’s not about objectively predicting what will be a “hit,” but about whether a song moves your heart… you can just feel it. Of course, my own taste plays a big role. But I think that’s actually my strength as a producer, not as a composer. When I hear a song, I can immediately picture the visual… what kind of story, what kind of vibe it could carry. That allows me to work faster. For example, when expressing something like school uniforms, there are so many possible variations. But I always like to start from the basics… what’s the original idea of a school uniform? I try to return to that. So with “Ditto,” I wanted to tap into something primal… the pure, basic feeling of liking someone. That kind of emotion is universal. Everyone has it; it’s wired into us. When I saw Director Shin Woo-seok’s interpretation of it, I thought, “Yes, that’s it.” That’s the kind of complete interpretation I look for. I believe the completion of a project comes from every person involved thinking about their part down to the final detail… the maximum quality they can bring out. My role is to unify and refine all of that. I draw out the essence of each person’s creativity, trimming away anything unnecessary. So the final product is something that’s polished and high-quality, just the way I envisioned it. That’s my working style. So it’s not like I’m fixated on retro or stuck in a particular style. I don’t think human taste has changed all that much. Things people liked in the past are the same things we like now. It’s just the form of expression that changes with time. I don’t feel bound by “past” or “present.” I don’t even think in those boundaries. To me, it’s all just good taste. You know how kids sometimes have their own little treasure boxes when they’re young? I think my work is kind of like that. I want to make things that never feel dated—that are timelessly enjoyable. ——— “Dance Expression and 'Hype Boy'” 🧢: I had a vision of what kind of girl group I wanted to create. That’s why I chose a song like “Hype Boy.” And to bring out that feeling, we created four different versions of the music video. Every choice had a purpose, everything was designed to maximize the experience of the song. “Hype Boy” is such a unique song. It has this strange, piercing melody that gives people chills in a good way. To emphasize that tingling feeling, I had to break away from the standard K-pop choreography format… you know, the kind where everyone is in perfect formation, doing synchronized moves. But our songs don’t suit that kind of choreography. Our dances are much harder. They require the body to move very naturally with the groove of the melody and beat. So I think our members are incredible. It’s not easy to express naturalness with your body, and you have to really enjoy it to make it look effortless. But they pulled it off so well. They’re still young, but they’re so talented. And through it all, I wanted to avoid making them look like they were performing just for business. I wanted them to show the pure joy and bright spirit that’s natural for people their age… genuine, carefree, radiant. ——— “The difference between NewJeans and conventional K-POP” 🧢: Ah, for me, it’s all about naturalness. And honestly, naturalness isn’t something you can produce or direct into existence. It comes from how I interact with the NewJeans members on a daily basis… what kind of environment they practice in, how they live and work. There are so many things that don’t appear on camera, but those unseen aspects have to be in place in order for true naturalness to come through. That’s why I wanted to create that kind of environment for the girls. And also, I wanted to shape my own working environment in that way too. Only then can something truly natural, something unforced and not overly stimulating, really come out. To begin with, I don’t believe anyone can be completely natural in front of a camera or under the gaze of others. It’s human nature to become self-conscious. That’s why I think naturalness is our strength, but it can’t be our concept. If you try to turn “naturalness” into a concept, it actually becomes incredibly artificial. So why do I place so much importance on naturalness? It’s because the girls are still so young. While other kids their age are going through school and having a wide range of life experiences, these members are living very different lives. Before they officially debuted, I told them, “This is like studying together with me.” Our standard contract is seven years, which is about the same length as going through high school and college in Korea: three years of high school and four years of university. So I told them, “We’re going to school together. We’re learning together.” And in that sense, I want to be a good teacher to them. They’re also surrounded by an incredibly professional team, people they’d never meet even in a traditional school setting. I’ve never really liked the word idol. These days, that word is used more like a job title, something manufactured by the industry, and it’s far from its original meaning. To me, the term idol feels misplaced. It doesn’t really reflect who these artists are or what they represent. And I’m not the kind of person who clings to labels or terminology. In fact, what I really want is to break the stereotypes and preconceptions that come with the idol industry. I want us to show people something different… to challenge those assumptions and redefine what this can look like. That’s the kind of mindset I have. ——— “Isn't it difficult for the members to express "naturalness"?” 🧢: There were a lot of things I considered when forming the group. First and foremost, I think it was important that the members shared a similar vibe… like how I prefer working with staff who align with my taste. It’s important for the crew to be on the same wavelength. And by that, I mean more than just getting along… it also extends to shared values. Of course, people won’t all share identical values, but when we’re facing in a similar direction, everything becomes easier. It’s also just more efficient to work with people who have overlapping tastes. Now, when it comes to our members, they each have their own individual tastes, but those preferences are still in development. Just like we all went through as kids, they’re still growing, still discovering themselves. They’re not in a finished state. So we didn’t cast them based on some complete or polished version of themselves. It wasn’t like, “This person is fully formed, let’s pick her.” It was more like, “Ah, she has potential, there’s something there.” That sense of a spark… those were the kinds of subtleties I paid attention to. I didn’t cast anyone just because they were pretty or could sing well. I don’t work like that. I really value those finer, more delicate aspects. Even the design of the light stick wasn’t something that came from a long strategic planning session… it was actually a spontaneous idea. I didn’t sit down and think, “Let’s make a light stick like this.” NewJeans didn’t have a fixed logo, but I felt we still needed a unifying symbol. So one night, just before going to sleep, I kept thinking about it. Right before dozing off, I started sketching and it turned into a rabbit’s face. When I drew it out, the shape just continued and turned into a bunny. To me, the NewJeans members are like little bunnies… playful, innocent. Their visuals also resemble rabbits in a way. And rabbits symbolize abundance. That made me think: “Ah, maybe our fans will multiply like rabbits. That would be great.” So that bunny face became both a symbol for the members and the fans. The image came to me all at once, and I imagined a venue completely filled with bunny light sticks. That vision led to the creation of the light stick itself. Since I always prioritize fun in everything I do, the next idea that came to mind was making the light stick customizable. I thought, “Wouldn’t it be great if fans could personalize their bunny?” That way, each rabbit would represent a different person’s character. So we included accessories, allowing everyone to customize their own bunny. It’s symbolic of all these different bunnies coming together and enjoying a good time as one. Our light stick has a big head, so when it’s used in a concert hall, it lights up in heart shapes that are very visible. That was the image I really wanted. And that bunny face… it’s also a heart. It represents both the face of NewJeans and our hearts. It’s the love we’re showing to our fans, and the love we want to receive in return. Every time I see it, I feel deeply moved. It’s very emotional for me because it’s a perfect realization of what I envisioned. As someone with a background in creative direction, there’s nothing more satisfying than seeing an idea materialize exactly the way you imagined it. That kind of work holds deep meaning for me. ⸻ 🧢: Looking back, I think in 2023 we were able to achieve almost everything we had hoped for. I’m so incredibly grateful for that. Of course, this is an ongoing challenge… and the better things go, the more pressure there is. That’s why I always try to return to my original mindset. Just like I tell the members, I try to remind myself of the beginning and keep things fun. Back then, when we were first putting out content, planning the music, and working on visuals, I felt this thrill… this rush of excitement. I don’t want to forget that feeling. So I try hard to engrave that emotion into every album we release. I’m constantly working to rediscover the joy in all of it. So for 2024, I hope everyone can look forward to us with fresh anticipation. And even if we come out with something completely new, I hope people will receive it warmly and with excitement. That’s really my deepest wish. 🙏
21:30

Min Hee-jin (NewJeans Producer) NHK Music Interview 🔗 “Meticulously planned debut ‘Attention’” 🧢: When I was preparing to launch NewJeans, I really struggled with deciding what our first piece of content should be. I thought about it for a long time and considered many possibilities. It was a project that came with high expectations, and for me personally, it was also my first opportunity to prove myself. So how I presented it mattered enormously. Even down to the smallest details… like the impression the very first released photo might give, or what kind of impact we could make at launch. I thought hard about what kind of content would be the most effective… should it be a video or a photo? What time of day would be most effective to release it? I consider things like that very carefully. For example, the way a person experiences content at night versus during the day can feel quite different emotionally. So I even thought about those subtle aspects. Eventually, the conclusion I reached was: “Let’s make the most of our situation.” At the time, the members hadn’t been revealed, and no one knew how many of them there were or what kind of group this would be. So I wanted to maximize that curiosity. You know how the more something is concealed, the more curious people become? I wanted to build that curiosity to a peak and then release everything all at once. That’s why we decided not to release a teaser and instead go straight into a full music video. (This was actually inspired by Hyein suggesting we skip teasers.) I didn’t think still images or photos would be enough to fully convey the feeling I wanted to express. I felt that video and music together would evoke the emotional response I was looking for because people experience things synesthetically. When sound, image, and feeling come together, the emotional impact is stronger. I believed the best way to present the members’ images was through music and a moving picture… that’s why we led with a music video. In the debut music video, “Attention,” there’s a scene where the members act out a little drama. I paid very close attention to that moment and created music that would fit it precisely. For me, I don’t just make content… I design the entire process of how it should be shown for the greatest effect. And I believe that’s incredibly important. That first feeling someone gets when they encounter something… that emotion, that spark… is so important to me. I’m very detail-oriented, but I also value fun deeply. So rather than just releasing content, I want to enjoy the process leading up to it. Even when we released our second album, since we shot the entire music video across the country, the sequence of how we released the videos was critical for me. It’s hard to explain all this simply in an interview, but maybe some people noticed: the first content we released that time was actually a teaser for the last track, “ASAP,” and then we followed that with the full music video for “New Jeans,” which was the first track. That order was a carefully calculated strategy. It was designed to guide the audience’s emotional journey. Seeing the audience react just as I had hoped—that whole process was honestly so fun and thrilling for me. I think I really enjoy that kind of thing. ——— “How 'Ditto' was born” 🧢: People often praise the music of NewJeans, and I hear a lot of talk about genres. But actually, I don’t feel bound by genre at all. I love a wide variety of music. I’m not the type to insist on only one particular genre. What I love are songs that blend genres cleverly… those are my personal favorites. So going forward, my focus is not on genre but on whether something feels fresh and whether it can create an emotional moment. I don’t want to define what kind of music we make. And I think you have to experience the flow of the times to really understand what’s meaningful in a given moment. For instance, the song “Ditto” was chosen because it delivered emotion. It matched perfectly with the winter album concept I had envisioned, both in terms of timing and mood. When I hear a song, I tend to trust my gut. I have a pretty strong intuition for which songs will resonate. It’s not about objectively predicting what will be a “hit,” but about whether a song moves your heart… you can just feel it. Of course, my own taste plays a big role. But I think that’s actually my strength as a producer, not as a composer. When I hear a song, I can immediately picture the visual… what kind of story, what kind of vibe it could carry. That allows me to work faster. For example, when expressing something like school uniforms, there are so many possible variations. But I always like to start from the basics… what’s the original idea of a school uniform? I try to return to that. So with “Ditto,” I wanted to tap into something primal… the pure, basic feeling of liking someone. That kind of emotion is universal. Everyone has it; it’s wired into us. When I saw Director Shin Woo-seok’s interpretation of it, I thought, “Yes, that’s it.” That’s the kind of complete interpretation I look for. I believe the completion of a project comes from every person involved thinking about their part down to the final detail… the maximum quality they can bring out. My role is to unify and refine all of that. I draw out the essence of each person’s creativity, trimming away anything unnecessary. So the final product is something that’s polished and high-quality, just the way I envisioned it. That’s my working style. So it’s not like I’m fixated on retro or stuck in a particular style. I don’t think human taste has changed all that much. Things people liked in the past are the same things we like now. It’s just the form of expression that changes with time. I don’t feel bound by “past” or “present.” I don’t even think in those boundaries. To me, it’s all just good taste. You know how kids sometimes have their own little treasure boxes when they’re young? I think my work is kind of like that. I want to make things that never feel dated—that are timelessly enjoyable. ——— “Dance Expression and 'Hype Boy'” 🧢: I had a vision of what kind of girl group I wanted to create. That’s why I chose a song like “Hype Boy.” And to bring out that feeling, we created four different versions of the music video. Every choice had a purpose, everything was designed to maximize the experience of the song. “Hype Boy” is such a unique song. It has this strange, piercing melody that gives people chills in a good way. To emphasize that tingling feeling, I had to break away from the standard K-pop choreography format… you know, the kind where everyone is in perfect formation, doing synchronized moves. But our songs don’t suit that kind of choreography. Our dances are much harder. They require the body to move very naturally with the groove of the melody and beat. So I think our members are incredible. It’s not easy to express naturalness with your body, and you have to really enjoy it to make it look effortless. But they pulled it off so well. They’re still young, but they’re so talented. And through it all, I wanted to avoid making them look like they were performing just for business. I wanted them to show the pure joy and bright spirit that’s natural for people their age… genuine, carefree, radiant. ——— “The difference between NewJeans and conventional K-POP” 🧢: Ah, for me, it’s all about naturalness. And honestly, naturalness isn’t something you can produce or direct into existence. It comes from how I interact with the NewJeans members on a daily basis… what kind of environment they practice in, how they live and work. There are so many things that don’t appear on camera, but those unseen aspects have to be in place in order for true naturalness to come through. That’s why I wanted to create that kind of environment for the girls. And also, I wanted to shape my own working environment in that way too. Only then can something truly natural, something unforced and not overly stimulating, really come out. To begin with, I don’t believe anyone can be completely natural in front of a camera or under the gaze of others. It’s human nature to become self-conscious. That’s why I think naturalness is our strength, but it can’t be our concept. If you try to turn “naturalness” into a concept, it actually becomes incredibly artificial. So why do I place so much importance on naturalness? It’s because the girls are still so young. While other kids their age are going through school and having a wide range of life experiences, these members are living very different lives. Before they officially debuted, I told them, “This is like studying together with me.” Our standard contract is seven years, which is about the same length as going through high school and college in Korea: three years of high school and four years of university. So I told them, “We’re going to school together. We’re learning together.” And in that sense, I want to be a good teacher to them. They’re also surrounded by an incredibly professional team, people they’d never meet even in a traditional school setting. I’ve never really liked the word idol. These days, that word is used more like a job title, something manufactured by the industry, and it’s far from its original meaning. To me, the term idol feels misplaced. It doesn’t really reflect who these artists are or what they represent. And I’m not the kind of person who clings to labels or terminology. In fact, what I really want is to break the stereotypes and preconceptions that come with the idol industry. I want us to show people something different… to challenge those assumptions and redefine what this can look like. That’s the kind of mindset I have. ——— “Isn't it difficult for the members to express "naturalness"?” 🧢: There were a lot of things I considered when forming the group. First and foremost, I think it was important that the members shared a similar vibe… like how I prefer working with staff who align with my taste. It’s important for the crew to be on the same wavelength. And by that, I mean more than just getting along… it also extends to shared values. Of course, people won’t all share identical values, but when we’re facing in a similar direction, everything becomes easier. It’s also just more efficient to work with people who have overlapping tastes. Now, when it comes to our members, they each have their own individual tastes, but those preferences are still in development. Just like we all went through as kids, they’re still growing, still discovering themselves. They’re not in a finished state. So we didn’t cast them based on some complete or polished version of themselves. It wasn’t like, “This person is fully formed, let’s pick her.” It was more like, “Ah, she has potential, there’s something there.” That sense of a spark… those were the kinds of subtleties I paid attention to. I didn’t cast anyone just because they were pretty or could sing well. I don’t work like that. I really value those finer, more delicate aspects. Even the design of the light stick wasn’t something that came from a long strategic planning session… it was actually a spontaneous idea. I didn’t sit down and think, “Let’s make a light stick like this.” NewJeans didn’t have a fixed logo, but I felt we still needed a unifying symbol. So one night, just before going to sleep, I kept thinking about it. Right before dozing off, I started sketching and it turned into a rabbit’s face. When I drew it out, the shape just continued and turned into a bunny. To me, the NewJeans members are like little bunnies… playful, innocent. Their visuals also resemble rabbits in a way. And rabbits symbolize abundance. That made me think: “Ah, maybe our fans will multiply like rabbits. That would be great.” So that bunny face became both a symbol for the members and the fans. The image came to me all at once, and I imagined a venue completely filled with bunny light sticks. That vision led to the creation of the light stick itself. Since I always prioritize fun in everything I do, the next idea that came to mind was making the light stick customizable. I thought, “Wouldn’t it be great if fans could personalize their bunny?” That way, each rabbit would represent a different person’s character. So we included accessories, allowing everyone to customize their own bunny. It’s symbolic of all these different bunnies coming together and enjoying a good time as one. Our light stick has a big head, so when it’s used in a concert hall, it lights up in heart shapes that are very visible. That was the image I really wanted. And that bunny face… it’s also a heart. It represents both the face of NewJeans and our hearts. It’s the love we’re showing to our fans, and the love we want to receive in return. Every time I see it, I feel deeply moved. It’s very emotional for me because it’s a perfect realization of what I envisioned. As someone with a background in creative direction, there’s nothing more satisfying than seeing an idea materialize exactly the way you imagined it. That kind of work holds deep meaning for me. ⸻ 🧢: Looking back, I think in 2023 we were able to achieve almost everything we had hoped for. I’m so incredibly grateful for that. Of course, this is an ongoing challenge… and the better things go, the more pressure there is. That’s why I always try to return to my original mindset. Just like I tell the members, I try to remind myself of the beginning and keep things fun. Back then, when we were first putting out content, planning the music, and working on visuals, I felt this thrill… this rush of excitement. I don’t want to forget that feeling. So I try hard to engrave that emotion into every album we release. I’m constantly working to rediscover the joy in all of it. So for 2024, I hope everyone can look forward to us with fresh anticipation. And even if we come out with something completely new, I hope people will receive it warmly and with excitement. That’s really my deepest wish. 🙏

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Ch. 14 of NITRO: The Inside Story of Hulk Hogan's heel turn - #OTD 30 Years Ago (7/7/96)! AS DAY BECAME NIGHT at the Sullivan home, Bollea deliberated his participation in the pay-per-view. “Everybody was telling him that it was the wrong thing to do,” Kevin Sullivan says. “He was getting booed out of the arena, but they were all saying, ‘this is gonna kill him’.” With no end to the discussion in sight, the wily booker casually suggested that Bollea and Young make use of his two guest rooms until the morning. “I isolated [them],” Sullivan admits. “I was just afraid that at the last minute, he was going to use his creative control [clause] and pull out.” If Sullivan could deliver Bollea to the arena by showtime, the finish of the match called for Hogan to star in the most dramatic of surprise endings. In a sequence devised by Kevin Nash, an unannounced Hulkster would shockingly interfere in the match, but only after the heels gained an unfair advantage through cheating. It would be a brilliant misdirection, Nash thought, as fans would instinctively believe Hogan’s appearance to be in support of the babyface team. “I knew there were gonna be 55 different ideas,” Nash says, thinking back to the eve of the event, “[so] I actually put a lot of thought into it. I called Scott [Hall] two or three days before that, and said ‘what do you think about this?’ “We had to make it a 2-on-2 match with Lex Luger getting injured [during the match] and going out. We would cheat to get Macho [Man] in trouble and all of a sudden Hulk comes down, which of course would mean ‘ok, here comes Hulk to make the save’. [Hall] said, ‘I love it’.” There was, however, the looming possibility that Bollea could reject his turn at the eleventh hour. Thinking ahead, Eric Bischoff developed a contingency plan in which Sting would play the role, ultimately revealing himself - despite not having prior experience with the WWF - as the ‘third man’ instead. “I remember Eric came in to the locker room,” recalls Marcus 'Buff' Bagwell, “and said [to Sting], ‘I wanna talk to you about something’. I could hear them going over the idea, and then when they got done, Sting told me what they were talking about. He said that [Eric said], ‘there are only two guys that could turn heel where it would really matter’. That would be Hogan and Sting.” “He was offering Sting the job first, [as I recall], and Sting didn’t wanna do it. He didn’t really say it wouldn’t work, but he just said, ‘it doesn’t intrigue me. I don’t wanna do it’.” According to Andre Freitas, a special effects artist who worked in costume design and character development for WCW, the proposed Sting swerve was to involve the use of a doppelganger - or ‘phony’ Sting - presumably in an effort to fool fans that the real character had switched sides. “That was their original plan,” says Freitas. “Eric showed me a picture of Jeff Farmer (a lower-card wrestler) and said ‘can you make him Sting?’ I told him that they have similar bodies...then we looked at Sting’s hair and Jeff’s hair...and talked about all that stuff. I did a head cast for [Farmer] and some prosthetic and test make-ups. But when they secured Hogan, we didn’t do [the angle].” ----------- Amazingly, even as Bash at the Beach began, Bischoff continued to consider Plan B. “I remember walking by this perforated wall in the Ocean Center,” divulges Nash, “and Eric said to me, ‘Hulk is with Sullivan, and he’s not sure he’s gonna do it yet’. It was up in the air.” Meanwhile, viewers of the pay-per-view - and, for that matter, WCW’s own production staff - speculated as to the identity of the third man. “They were trying to ‘work’ everyone,” asserts Jason Douglas, a WCW producer backstage at his first pay-per-view event. “‘Rocket’ (staff member Rick Sancher) came up to me - they were kinda testing me because I was new on the road - and said ‘hey, I think it’s gonna be [WWF wrestler] Bret Hart’. I guess it was to see if I would leak something, and so I was just like ‘oh, cool, Bret Hart’.” In reality, aside from Bischoff, Bollea, Young, Hall, Nash and Sullivan, the turn would be concealed from everyone - even the announcers, according to orders from Bischoff - as to ensure their most realistic reactions. With less than an hour before the main event began, production staffer Woody Kearce discovered a revealing clue in the parking lot. A Hulk Hogan motorcycle had appeared mysteriously in one of the spaces, sparking another round of backstage conjecture. Finally, with what Sullivan recalls as “thirty minutes” and Bischoff remembers as “forty-five to sixty minutes” left on the air, Bollea belatedly arrived at the Ocean Center. The mood suddenly changed. Upon realizing that his star had been convinced, Bischoff began to relax. “Once he got to the building, I recall a sense of calm,” he reveals. “All of the anxiety, all of the tension, all of the worry, all of the effort to make sure things stayed quiet...all of that just kind of dissipated. It was like fog lifting when the sun comes out - it all just went away. I was thinking, ‘it is what it is, there’s nothing more I can do...so let’s just roll with it’.” To cement the turn, Bollea knew, he would have to deliver a monumental post-match promo to explain his actions. While typically, he enjoyed using Bischoff as a sounding board to rehearse interviews, the need for complete privacy - on this occasion - was unquestionably paramount. And so, away from prying eyes - and ears - the two met up in the most unglamorous of clandestine locations - a utility closet. In the midst of the run-through, Bischoff stopped to emphasize an important point: When you grab that microphone, I want you to say...‘this is the beginning of the new...world...order’. The phrase - ‘new world order’ - lingered auspiciously in the air. Bischoff surprised himself with the utterance, realizing slowly that the term encapsulated everything that the invasion storyline could represent. In 1990, then-president George H.W. Bush famously utilized the same expression in a speech to Congress, although its origin could actually be traced back to the 28th President, Woodrow Wilson. But if Bischoff was unsure as to the source of his spontaneous inspiration, perhaps the answer could be found closer to home - on the preceding Nitro, just six days earlier, announcer Larry Zybysko serendipitously made the following proclamation: “This Sunday, I promise you, there will be a new world order of wrestling…” Fans at the Ocean Center waited anxiously to see if Zybysko’s prophecy would materialize; for after all the hoopla, it was suddenly time for the main event. Before the opening bell, the audience was already on its feet for ring announcer@Michael_Buffer’s pre-match introductions. As Hall and Nash sauntered to the ring for The Hostile Takeover match, Buffer set the scene with theatrical aplomb: “Ladies and gentleman, at this time, let me introduce the men whose plan and goal is to takeover the WCW with force and hostility. We were told there would be three of these interlopers, and I must apologize as I have been informed - as you can see - there are only two. Ladies and gentleman, introducing...the Outsiiiiiders!” In a moment that played off perfectly on television, Sting’s entrance music began - and quickly ended - as ‘Mean Gene’ Okerlund traipsed cautiously into the ring. After exchanging quizzical looks with Buffer and referee Randy Anderson, Okerlund confronted the Outsiders to get some answers, an inspired plot device designed to build the tension even further. “Gentleman,” began Okerlund, “if I could have your attention...I don’t have police protection with me at this time, but I wanna confront you in front of this full house here at the Ocean Center, and millions of others watching across the country and around the world. I don’t see three men here tonight. Where is your partner?” Responding in a manner consistent with their WWF characters, Hall and Nash assured Okerlund that the third man was present - and ready. “Let me tell you something,” announced a confident Nash, “we got enough to handle it right now, right here.” Once more, Sting’s entrance music blared from the arena speakers, this time preceding the man himself, accompanied by Luger and Savage. “Here we go!” screamed color commentator Bobby Heenan as the wrestlers passed an unusually large contingent of security personnel on the entrance way. “The war is on!” Less than two minutes into the bout, Luger collapsed to the outside, a move in accordance with Nash’s plan to even the sides before the climactic reveal. “Now it’s two against two!” yelled Heenan. After a brief delay, the concerned crowd looked on as Luger left the arena on a stretcher, leaving Sting and Savage alone to fight valiantly for WCW. As the match progressed, the contemptible Outsiders used every trick to stall their opponent’s momentum, until a revitalized Savage began a furious rally at the fifteen-and-a-half minute mark. The invaders were suddenly down, but not out - as with the referee distracted, Nash landed a low-blow to bring the Macho Man to his knees. All four men lay on the canvas, exhausted, as referee Anderson started a ten count. As Anderson yelled ‘ONE’, several rows of spectators rose to their feet. Within seconds, the reaction diffused from section to section, the noise level increasing with each passing beat. On the live broadcast, viewers at home caught glimpse of a familiar figure making his way down the ramp. “Hulkamania!” screamed Dusty Rhodes on commentary while Hogan walked methodically towards the ring. Noticeably, the Hulkster seemed oddly disaffected - even out-of-character - but after exchanging the briefest of glances with the crowd, he continued stride with the din reaching fever pitch. “Whose side is he on?” bellowed Heenan, a question that seemed inexplicable given the history of Hogan’s on-screen persona. “Whose side is he on?” repeated Heenan, who as longtime fans could recall, had opposed Hogan for years as a manager in the WWF. For that reason, the comment flew over the heads of most (but not all) viewers; meanwhile, the live crowd was cheering as if their team had won the World Series. Nash and Hall retreated to the floor as Hogan tore off his shirt, an apparent signal that the archetypal good guy was here to save the day again. “Who’s bad now boys?” taunted play-by-play man Tony Schiavone on commentary, confident that WCW’s honor was no longer in jeopardy. Savage lay prone on the mat as Hogan surveyed the scene. Above the cheapest of cheap seats, peeking through a curtain with palpable anticipation, was Eric Bischoff. “I knew that something big was about to happen,” he recalls. “It was either gonna be a big failure, or a big success.” Seemingly out of nowhere, with his unsuspecting devotees enveloped in celebration, Hulk backed up to the corner. With the coldness of a serial killer, the once-honorable hero shockingly shoved referee Anderson, and executed his patented finishing move - the leg drop - to the helpless Macho Man below. The audience became completely, utterly unglued. “I was standing back with the announcers,” remembers Michelle Baines, newly hired as a production assistant. “One of the producers turned to me and said, ‘you need to go to the back’. “‘I said, ‘what do you mean?’ “She said, ‘it’s gonna get ugly real quick’.” “She was right - the crowd turned ugly quick.” In retrospect, it was clear that even as Hogan’s body approached the canvas - contact with Savage just milliseconds away - the gravity of the assault started to hit home. “What has he done?” questioned a crestfallen Rhodes, “is he the third man? What the hell is going on here?” Heenan was even more direct - “Hulk Hogan has betrayed WCW! He is the third man in this picture!” A breathless Schiavone could barely muster more than three words: Oh My God, he repeated. Oh My God, he continued, as Hogan high-fived a grinning Hall and Nash. The courageous Sting, stumbling to his feet to stop the injustice, was quickly dispatched, and in the coup de grace, Hogan tossed Anderson to the floor. Sardonically, he covered Savage for the pin, the contest now clearly a farce. “I hope you love it,” a disappointed Rhodes wailed on commentary. “You just sold your soul to the devil.” The third man was a mystery no more, and Hall, Nash, and Hogan raised their hands in victory to a genuinely astonished audience. The immediate outrage, which first gave way to shock, was now inspiring unmitigated rage. Simultaneously, the evil trio continued to taunt, pose, and antagonize while the announcers lamented WCW’s future. As Sting and Savage hobbled back to the locker room, a visibly distraught Okerlund returned to conduct an explanatory interview, based around the one Hogan and Bischoff had mapped out earlier. “Mean Gene,” commanded Hogan, “the first thing you need to do is to tell these people to shut up if you wanna hear what I gotta say.” For the next four minutes, Hogan rationalized his turn with remarkable clarity. “The first thing you gotta realize, brother, is this right here is the future of wrestling. You can call this the new...world...order of wrestling. These two men right here came from a great big organization up north, and everybody was wondering who the third man was. Well, who knows more about that organization than me, brother? I made that organization a monster. I made people rich up there. I made the people that ran that organization rich up there. And when it all came to pass, the name Hulk Hogan, the man Hulk Hogan, got bigger than the whole organization!” Bischoff watched from his secretive seat in amazement - he had not seen, nor had anyone, this intensity of emotion on display at a wrestling show before. It was almost as if the assembled masses had lost themselves in the performance, perhaps even forgetting, if only for a moment, that they were witnesses to a pre-determined event. Hogan’s actions had ostensibly interrupted their critical faculties; in other words, they had suspended their disbelief by reacting to the incident as if it were real. Moreover, the shock was manifesting in the most volatile ways imaginable, as in an incident edited out of future showings of the pay-per-view, a rather large man, likely intoxicated, ran into the ring before being knocked down by Hall and Nash. Concurrently, a stream of debris rained down from the stands, with one object hitting Okerlund, and the rest filling the ring in a stunningly unique visual. Hogan continued as the trash piled up around him, even referencing Ted Turner in his diatribe: “Billionaire Ted promised me movies brother. Billionaire Ted promised me millions of dollars. And Billionaire Ted promised me world caliber matches. And as far as Billionaire Ted, Eric Bischoff, and the entire WCW goes, I’m bored brother! That’s why I want these two guys here, these so-called Outsiders. These are the men I want as my friends. They are the new blood of professional wrestling, and not only are we going to take over the whole wrestling business...with Hulk Hogan, the new blood and the monsters with me, we will destroy everything in our path, Mean Gene.” “Look at all the crap in this ring,” responded Okerlund. “This is what’s in the future for you if you want to hang around the likes of this man Hall, and this man Nash.” Hogan raised his finger as if to stop the interviewer midstream, the perfect line instantly coming to mind. “As far as I’m concerned, all this crap in the ring represents these fans out here,” he boomed defiantly. “For two years, I held my head high,” ranted Hogan, alluding to his rather uninspired WCW tenure. “I did everything for the charities. I did everything for the kids. And the reception I got when I came out here, you fans can stick it brother! Because if it wasn’t for Hulk Hogan, you people wouldn’t be here. If it wasn’t for Hulk Hogan, Eric Bischoff would still be selling meat from a truck in Minneapolis. And if it wasn’t for Hulk Hogan, all of these ‘Johnny come latelys’ that you see out here wrestling wouldn’t be here. I was selling the world out, brother, while they were bumming gas to put in their car to get to high school!” In closing, Hogan foreshadowed the future state of affairs in WCW with a prophetic preview of coming storylines: “With Hulk Hogan and the new world organization of wrestling, brother...me and the new blood by my side...whatcha gonna do when the new world organization runs wild on you? Whatcha gonna do? What are you gonna do??” Despite mistakenly bungling the ‘new world order’ phrase at the conclusion of his speech, Hogan still provided the perfect punctuation to a sensational heel turn. His promo, inarguably the most dynamic of his career, came across as strikingly authentic (“it felt real, because it was real’,” offered a proud Eric Bischoff upon reflection years later). On commentary, Schiavone - who most inspiredly suggested that Hogan had planned to double-cross WCW all along, since his debut in 1994 no less - added to the realism with some mournful final comments: “We have seen the end of Hulkamania,” he grieved. “Hulk Hogan, you can go to hell! We’re outta here. Straight to hell.” ---- To the layman, there appeared an obvious explanation for the feverous crowd response that accompanied Hogan’s turn. Clearly, the element of surprise - one of the key elements of Nitro’s success - had been exploited to a masterful degree (“nobody on earth thought that the third man was going to be Hulk Hogan,” highlights Nash). To Kevin Sullivan, however, there were several layers of story at play. “People thought that it was an invasion from the WWF,” he begins, implying that the success of the angle could be correlated to its realism. “They really bought into it, and when Hogan turned heel...they were sure of it. “So while Hogan gets the credit for the reaction, it was [Nash and Hall] who set the whole thing up. Those guys built the foundation of heat, and when Hogan came down, it just blew up.” “We were red hot coming off WWF television,” agrees Nash, “and then you had the biggest turn in the world on top of that. The biggest babyface of all-time finally turned heel!” To the ever-meticulous Sullivan, always a keen observer of the nuances present in a wrestling angle, an often overlooked element was also noteworthy. “He did it to Randy [Savage],” the booker emphasizes, speaking of Hogan’s betrayal. “People knew there was real-life heat there. That helped out too, but everyone played an intricate part. “Lightning...you can’t catch it in a bottle but one time.” The above is an excerpt from the book, NITRO: The Incredible Rise and Inevitable Collapse of Ted Turner's WCW. Amazon USA: Amazon UK: Amazon Canada: Amazon Australia: 17+ Hour Audiobook Available at Audible and Apple Books Audible USA: Audible UK: Audible Canada: Audible Australia: Apple Books: Ultimate NITRO Bundle: Deep Cuts - Wrestling Stories in 60 Seconds! David Penzer AdFreeShows.com 83 Weeks with Eric Bischoff On This Day in WWE Allan Conrad the Mortgage Guy IandrewDiceClay WCW Archive Because WCW WCW4Life ᴀʀᴅᴀ Öᴄᴀʟ 90s WWE Secrets of WCW Nitro #WCW #nWo #HulkHogan #BashattheBeach #HeelTurn #Wrestling #WrestlingBooks #OTD #WWE #WorldChampionshipWrestling #Nitro
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Ch. 14 of NITRO: The Inside Story of Hulk Hogan's heel turn - #OTD 30 Years Ago (7/7/96)! AS DAY BECAME NIGHT at the Sullivan home, Bollea deliberated his participation in the pay-per-view. “Everybody was telling him that it was the wrong thing to do,” Kevin Sullivan says. “He was getting booed out of the arena, but they were all saying, ‘this is gonna kill him’.” With no end to the discussion in sight, the wily booker casually suggested that Bollea and Young make use of his two guest rooms until the morning. “I isolated [them],” Sullivan admits. “I was just afraid that at the last minute, he was going to use his creative control [clause] and pull out.” If Sullivan could deliver Bollea to the arena by showtime, the finish of the match called for Hogan to star in the most dramatic of surprise endings. In a sequence devised by Kevin Nash, an unannounced Hulkster would shockingly interfere in the match, but only after the heels gained an unfair advantage through cheating. It would be a brilliant misdirection, Nash thought, as fans would instinctively believe Hogan’s appearance to be in support of the babyface team. “I knew there were gonna be 55 different ideas,” Nash says, thinking back to the eve of the event, “[so] I actually put a lot of thought into it. I called Scott [Hall] two or three days before that, and said ‘what do you think about this?’ “We had to make it a 2-on-2 match with Lex Luger getting injured [during the match] and going out. We would cheat to get Macho [Man] in trouble and all of a sudden Hulk comes down, which of course would mean ‘ok, here comes Hulk to make the save’. [Hall] said, ‘I love it’.” There was, however, the looming possibility that Bollea could reject his turn at the eleventh hour. Thinking ahead, Eric Bischoff developed a contingency plan in which Sting would play the role, ultimately revealing himself - despite not having prior experience with the WWF - as the ‘third man’ instead. “I remember Eric came in to the locker room,” recalls Marcus 'Buff' Bagwell, “and said [to Sting], ‘I wanna talk to you about something’. I could hear them going over the idea, and then when they got done, Sting told me what they were talking about. He said that [Eric said], ‘there are only two guys that could turn heel where it would really matter’. That would be Hogan and Sting.” “He was offering Sting the job first, [as I recall], and Sting didn’t wanna do it. He didn’t really say it wouldn’t work, but he just said, ‘it doesn’t intrigue me. I don’t wanna do it’.” According to Andre Freitas, a special effects artist who worked in costume design and character development for WCW, the proposed Sting swerve was to involve the use of a doppelganger - or ‘phony’ Sting - presumably in an effort to fool fans that the real character had switched sides. “That was their original plan,” says Freitas. “Eric showed me a picture of Jeff Farmer (a lower-card wrestler) and said ‘can you make him Sting?’ I told him that they have similar bodies...then we looked at Sting’s hair and Jeff’s hair...and talked about all that stuff. I did a head cast for [Farmer] and some prosthetic and test make-ups. But when they secured Hogan, we didn’t do [the angle].” ----------- Amazingly, even as Bash at the Beach began, Bischoff continued to consider Plan B. “I remember walking by this perforated wall in the Ocean Center,” divulges Nash, “and Eric said to me, ‘Hulk is with Sullivan, and he’s not sure he’s gonna do it yet’. It was up in the air.” Meanwhile, viewers of the pay-per-view - and, for that matter, WCW’s own production staff - speculated as to the identity of the third man. “They were trying to ‘work’ everyone,” asserts Jason Douglas, a WCW producer backstage at his first pay-per-view event. “‘Rocket’ (staff member Rick Sancher) came up to me - they were kinda testing me because I was new on the road - and said ‘hey, I think it’s gonna be [WWF wrestler] Bret Hart’. I guess it was to see if I would leak something, and so I was just like ‘oh, cool, Bret Hart’.” In reality, aside from Bischoff, Bollea, Young, Hall, Nash and Sullivan, the turn would be concealed from everyone - even the announcers, according to orders from Bischoff - as to ensure their most realistic reactions. With less than an hour before the main event began, production staffer Woody Kearce discovered a revealing clue in the parking lot. A Hulk Hogan motorcycle had appeared mysteriously in one of the spaces, sparking another round of backstage conjecture. Finally, with what Sullivan recalls as “thirty minutes” and Bischoff remembers as “forty-five to sixty minutes” left on the air, Bollea belatedly arrived at the Ocean Center. The mood suddenly changed. Upon realizing that his star had been convinced, Bischoff began to relax. “Once he got to the building, I recall a sense of calm,” he reveals. “All of the anxiety, all of the tension, all of the worry, all of the effort to make sure things stayed quiet...all of that just kind of dissipated. It was like fog lifting when the sun comes out - it all just went away. I was thinking, ‘it is what it is, there’s nothing more I can do...so let’s just roll with it’.” To cement the turn, Bollea knew, he would have to deliver a monumental post-match promo to explain his actions. While typically, he enjoyed using Bischoff as a sounding board to rehearse interviews, the need for complete privacy - on this occasion - was unquestionably paramount. And so, away from prying eyes - and ears - the two met up in the most unglamorous of clandestine locations - a utility closet. In the midst of the run-through, Bischoff stopped to emphasize an important point: When you grab that microphone, I want you to say...‘this is the beginning of the new...world...order’. The phrase - ‘new world order’ - lingered auspiciously in the air. Bischoff surprised himself with the utterance, realizing slowly that the term encapsulated everything that the invasion storyline could represent. In 1990, then-president George H.W. Bush famously utilized the same expression in a speech to Congress, although its origin could actually be traced back to the 28th President, Woodrow Wilson. But if Bischoff was unsure as to the source of his spontaneous inspiration, perhaps the answer could be found closer to home - on the preceding Nitro, just six days earlier, announcer Larry Zybysko serendipitously made the following proclamation: “This Sunday, I promise you, there will be a new world order of wrestling…” Fans at the Ocean Center waited anxiously to see if Zybysko’s prophecy would materialize; for after all the hoopla, it was suddenly time for the main event. Before the opening bell, the audience was already on its feet for ring announcer@Michael_Buffer’s pre-match introductions. As Hall and Nash sauntered to the ring for The Hostile Takeover match, Buffer set the scene with theatrical aplomb: “Ladies and gentleman, at this time, let me introduce the men whose plan and goal is to takeover the WCW with force and hostility. We were told there would be three of these interlopers, and I must apologize as I have been informed - as you can see - there are only two. Ladies and gentleman, introducing...the Outsiiiiiders!” In a moment that played off perfectly on television, Sting’s entrance music began - and quickly ended - as ‘Mean Gene’ Okerlund traipsed cautiously into the ring. After exchanging quizzical looks with Buffer and referee Randy Anderson, Okerlund confronted the Outsiders to get some answers, an inspired plot device designed to build the tension even further. “Gentleman,” began Okerlund, “if I could have your attention...I don’t have police protection with me at this time, but I wanna confront you in front of this full house here at the Ocean Center, and millions of others watching across the country and around the world. I don’t see three men here tonight. Where is your partner?” Responding in a manner consistent with their WWF characters, Hall and Nash assured Okerlund that the third man was present - and ready. “Let me tell you something,” announced a confident Nash, “we got enough to handle it right now, right here.” Once more, Sting’s entrance music blared from the arena speakers, this time preceding the man himself, accompanied by Luger and Savage. “Here we go!” screamed color commentator Bobby Heenan as the wrestlers passed an unusually large contingent of security personnel on the entrance way. “The war is on!” Less than two minutes into the bout, Luger collapsed to the outside, a move in accordance with Nash’s plan to even the sides before the climactic reveal. “Now it’s two against two!” yelled Heenan. After a brief delay, the concerned crowd looked on as Luger left the arena on a stretcher, leaving Sting and Savage alone to fight valiantly for WCW. As the match progressed, the contemptible Outsiders used every trick to stall their opponent’s momentum, until a revitalized Savage began a furious rally at the fifteen-and-a-half minute mark. The invaders were suddenly down, but not out - as with the referee distracted, Nash landed a low-blow to bring the Macho Man to his knees. All four men lay on the canvas, exhausted, as referee Anderson started a ten count. As Anderson yelled ‘ONE’, several rows of spectators rose to their feet. Within seconds, the reaction diffused from section to section, the noise level increasing with each passing beat. On the live broadcast, viewers at home caught glimpse of a familiar figure making his way down the ramp. “Hulkamania!” screamed Dusty Rhodes on commentary while Hogan walked methodically towards the ring. Noticeably, the Hulkster seemed oddly disaffected - even out-of-character - but after exchanging the briefest of glances with the crowd, he continued stride with the din reaching fever pitch. “Whose side is he on?” bellowed Heenan, a question that seemed inexplicable given the history of Hogan’s on-screen persona. “Whose side is he on?” repeated Heenan, who as longtime fans could recall, had opposed Hogan for years as a manager in the WWF. For that reason, the comment flew over the heads of most (but not all) viewers; meanwhile, the live crowd was cheering as if their team had won the World Series. Nash and Hall retreated to the floor as Hogan tore off his shirt, an apparent signal that the archetypal good guy was here to save the day again. “Who’s bad now boys?” taunted play-by-play man Tony Schiavone on commentary, confident that WCW’s honor was no longer in jeopardy. Savage lay prone on the mat as Hogan surveyed the scene. Above the cheapest of cheap seats, peeking through a curtain with palpable anticipation, was Eric Bischoff. “I knew that something big was about to happen,” he recalls. “It was either gonna be a big failure, or a big success.” Seemingly out of nowhere, with his unsuspecting devotees enveloped in celebration, Hulk backed up to the corner. With the coldness of a serial killer, the once-honorable hero shockingly shoved referee Anderson, and executed his patented finishing move - the leg drop - to the helpless Macho Man below. The audience became completely, utterly unglued. “I was standing back with the announcers,” remembers Michelle Baines, newly hired as a production assistant. “One of the producers turned to me and said, ‘you need to go to the back’. “‘I said, ‘what do you mean?’ “She said, ‘it’s gonna get ugly real quick’.” “She was right - the crowd turned ugly quick.” In retrospect, it was clear that even as Hogan’s body approached the canvas - contact with Savage just milliseconds away - the gravity of the assault started to hit home. “What has he done?” questioned a crestfallen Rhodes, “is he the third man? What the hell is going on here?” Heenan was even more direct - “Hulk Hogan has betrayed WCW! He is the third man in this picture!” A breathless Schiavone could barely muster more than three words: Oh My God, he repeated. Oh My God, he continued, as Hogan high-fived a grinning Hall and Nash. The courageous Sting, stumbling to his feet to stop the injustice, was quickly dispatched, and in the coup de grace, Hogan tossed Anderson to the floor. Sardonically, he covered Savage for the pin, the contest now clearly a farce. “I hope you love it,” a disappointed Rhodes wailed on commentary. “You just sold your soul to the devil.” The third man was a mystery no more, and Hall, Nash, and Hogan raised their hands in victory to a genuinely astonished audience. The immediate outrage, which first gave way to shock, was now inspiring unmitigated rage. Simultaneously, the evil trio continued to taunt, pose, and antagonize while the announcers lamented WCW’s future. As Sting and Savage hobbled back to the locker room, a visibly distraught Okerlund returned to conduct an explanatory interview, based around the one Hogan and Bischoff had mapped out earlier. “Mean Gene,” commanded Hogan, “the first thing you need to do is to tell these people to shut up if you wanna hear what I gotta say.” For the next four minutes, Hogan rationalized his turn with remarkable clarity. “The first thing you gotta realize, brother, is this right here is the future of wrestling. You can call this the new...world...order of wrestling. These two men right here came from a great big organization up north, and everybody was wondering who the third man was. Well, who knows more about that organization than me, brother? I made that organization a monster. I made people rich up there. I made the people that ran that organization rich up there. And when it all came to pass, the name Hulk Hogan, the man Hulk Hogan, got bigger than the whole organization!” Bischoff watched from his secretive seat in amazement - he had not seen, nor had anyone, this intensity of emotion on display at a wrestling show before. It was almost as if the assembled masses had lost themselves in the performance, perhaps even forgetting, if only for a moment, that they were witnesses to a pre-determined event. Hogan’s actions had ostensibly interrupted their critical faculties; in other words, they had suspended their disbelief by reacting to the incident as if it were real. Moreover, the shock was manifesting in the most volatile ways imaginable, as in an incident edited out of future showings of the pay-per-view, a rather large man, likely intoxicated, ran into the ring before being knocked down by Hall and Nash. Concurrently, a stream of debris rained down from the stands, with one object hitting Okerlund, and the rest filling the ring in a stunningly unique visual. Hogan continued as the trash piled up around him, even referencing Ted Turner in his diatribe: “Billionaire Ted promised me movies brother. Billionaire Ted promised me millions of dollars. And Billionaire Ted promised me world caliber matches. And as far as Billionaire Ted, Eric Bischoff, and the entire WCW goes, I’m bored brother! That’s why I want these two guys here, these so-called Outsiders. These are the men I want as my friends. They are the new blood of professional wrestling, and not only are we going to take over the whole wrestling business...with Hulk Hogan, the new blood and the monsters with me, we will destroy everything in our path, Mean Gene.” “Look at all the crap in this ring,” responded Okerlund. “This is what’s in the future for you if you want to hang around the likes of this man Hall, and this man Nash.” Hogan raised his finger as if to stop the interviewer midstream, the perfect line instantly coming to mind. “As far as I’m concerned, all this crap in the ring represents these fans out here,” he boomed defiantly. “For two years, I held my head high,” ranted Hogan, alluding to his rather uninspired WCW tenure. “I did everything for the charities. I did everything for the kids. And the reception I got when I came out here, you fans can stick it brother! Because if it wasn’t for Hulk Hogan, you people wouldn’t be here. If it wasn’t for Hulk Hogan, Eric Bischoff would still be selling meat from a truck in Minneapolis. And if it wasn’t for Hulk Hogan, all of these ‘Johnny come latelys’ that you see out here wrestling wouldn’t be here. I was selling the world out, brother, while they were bumming gas to put in their car to get to high school!” In closing, Hogan foreshadowed the future state of affairs in WCW with a prophetic preview of coming storylines: “With Hulk Hogan and the new world organization of wrestling, brother...me and the new blood by my side...whatcha gonna do when the new world organization runs wild on you? Whatcha gonna do? What are you gonna do??” Despite mistakenly bungling the ‘new world order’ phrase at the conclusion of his speech, Hogan still provided the perfect punctuation to a sensational heel turn. His promo, inarguably the most dynamic of his career, came across as strikingly authentic (“it felt real, because it was real’,” offered a proud Eric Bischoff upon reflection years later). On commentary, Schiavone - who most inspiredly suggested that Hogan had planned to double-cross WCW all along, since his debut in 1994 no less - added to the realism with some mournful final comments: “We have seen the end of Hulkamania,” he grieved. “Hulk Hogan, you can go to hell! We’re outta here. Straight to hell.” ---- To the layman, there appeared an obvious explanation for the feverous crowd response that accompanied Hogan’s turn. Clearly, the element of surprise - one of the key elements of Nitro’s success - had been exploited to a masterful degree (“nobody on earth thought that the third man was going to be Hulk Hogan,” highlights Nash). To Kevin Sullivan, however, there were several layers of story at play. “People thought that it was an invasion from the WWF,” he begins, implying that the success of the angle could be correlated to its realism. “They really bought into it, and when Hogan turned heel...they were sure of it. “So while Hogan gets the credit for the reaction, it was [Nash and Hall] who set the whole thing up. Those guys built the foundation of heat, and when Hogan came down, it just blew up.” “We were red hot coming off WWF television,” agrees Nash, “and then you had the biggest turn in the world on top of that. The biggest babyface of all-time finally turned heel!” To the ever-meticulous Sullivan, always a keen observer of the nuances present in a wrestling angle, an often overlooked element was also noteworthy. “He did it to Randy [Savage],” the booker emphasizes, speaking of Hogan’s betrayal. “People knew there was real-life heat there. That helped out too, but everyone played an intricate part. “Lightning...you can’t catch it in a bottle but one time.” The above is an excerpt from the book, NITRO: The Incredible Rise and Inevitable Collapse of Ted Turner's WCW. Amazon USA: Amazon UK: Amazon Canada: Amazon Australia: 17+ Hour Audiobook Available at Audible and Apple Books Audible USA: Audible UK: Audible Canada: Audible Australia: Apple Books: Ultimate NITRO Bundle: Deep Cuts - Wrestling Stories in 60 Seconds! David Penzer AdFreeShows.com 83 Weeks with Eric Bischoff On This Day in WWE Allan Conrad the Mortgage Guy IandrewDiceClay WCW Archive Because WCW WCW4Life ᴀʀᴅᴀ Öᴄᴀʟ 90s WWE Secrets of WCW Nitro #WCW #nWo #HulkHogan #BashattheBeach #HeelTurn #Wrestling #WrestlingBooks #OTD #WWE #WorldChampionshipWrestling #Nitro

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