Writing tip: let’s talk about the INACTIVE PROTAGONIST. I’ve seen a lot of amazing books lately with incredible plots, intricate worlds, and just really great writing with one recurring issue, which is the inactive protagonist. I think it can get tough when you’re writing (1/10)

a big world, making sure your world building is there, your minor characters don’t fall flat, etc, & we can get an amazing story with one key component missing: an active protagonist. A lot of times, these protagonists will have motivations and they’ll be great characters (2/10)

but instead of moving the plot, they’re reacting to it. I read a great synopsis thread once that talked about your synopsis shouldn’t be a series of “and then’sit should be a series of “because,” and that because needs to come primarily from your protagonist. (3/10)

They react to the inciting incident, and then the plot needs to be reacting to them. They are your protagonist for a reason. This is their story, and in order for it to feel like its theirs, in order for your reader to fall into it headfirst—they have to own it. (4/10)

It’s not enough to want something; the protagonist needs to be actively seeking it. And I see a lot of this in the form of “oh they’re just looking for a sense of belonging” (trust me, I’ve done it too) and that leads to a very internal, borderline stagnant story (5/10)

Just how dangerous and cunning is A@mir Khan
:An Observation
A@mir Khan claimed his movies Dangal,Secret Superstar made tonnes of money in China.The claim was Dangal made so much money in China that it's bigger hit than Bahubali 2 & therefore India’s biggest blockbuster movie.

Bahubali 2 hardly made any money in China. Chinese distribution is very funny.We don't know who those guys are,how they calculate the collections and how they share it with Indians.A@mir Khan said his movie made 1500 crores and more than 700 crores in China we have to take his

words.
Dangal made 538 crores (gross) in India while Bahubali 2 made 1429 crores (gross) in India.
Aamir claims even his Secret Superstar, where he played a guest role, collected 863 crores in China while it’s India collection is just 64 crore.

So with these collections he is 20 times biggest superstar in China than in India.
A@mir is a very intelligent operator. Unlike Salman Khan or Shah Rukh Khan, he played it very well from the beginning. He made super-patriotic movies like Sarfarosh, Lagaan and Mangal Pandey,

gaining the acceptance,trust of patriotic Indians.Then he surreptitiously and subtly started inserting his agenda into his movies.Take the example of Rang De Basanti. Everyone who saw it hated George Fernandes and BJP govt for making a quick buck with corruption in Defence deals.

It's time for a thread of (my) editions of Alan Garner's "The Owl Service" & related books. I'd love to hear what you think, and all about your own copies. And do, please, share if you enjoy it.

Anyway, off to the magical Shelf of Garner...
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#OwlService 1/22

"The Owl Service", Alan Garner, Collins, 1967
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Starting at the beginning, here's the first edition of "The Owl Service", with a jacket design by Kenneth Farnhill.
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#OwlService 2/22

"The Owl Service", Alan Garner, Collins, 1967
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Here's the plate design, created by Griselda Greaves from the original plates belonging to her mother, Betty, and now in print for the first time on the paste-down and free endpapers of the hardback.
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#OwlService 3/22

"The Owl Service", Alan Garner, Collins, 1967
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Alan & Griselda signed this copy for me. (I've pixelated Griselda's signature as it's not already on the internet.) A note from Griselda which might be of interest. I like the red binding, even if it's a mistake.
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#OwlService 4/22

"The Owl Service", Alan Garner, Peacock Books, 1969
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The television adapatation of "The Owl Service" was broadcast in late 1969. This is the edition which accompanied the series. I'm fairly sure that this is the first paperback edition.
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#OwlService 5/22

Thread: A 12-year flashback to the first time I ever heard of the Oath Keepers. It happened in 2009 when I was monitoring ‘Patriot’ movement chatter and came across a YouTube video by this man: An ex-Marine named Charles Dyer. You can see why it caught my attention.

2) Dyer’s style was disturbing—combining a skull-mask imposed digitally and his fondness for ‘inspirational,’ anthemic music in the background—but his incendiary, violent rhetoric was especially worrisome. Watch this one to the end: ‘You’re damn right I’m a threat.’

3) This video and others I was seeing float around on the fringes of the suddenly burgeoning ‘Patriot’/militia far right made me concerned about their recruitment of military veterans. There were good reasons to be

4) As it happened, I raised the alarm at @crooksandliars only a month or so before Homeland Security issued its ill-fate warning about precisely that problem—which set off months of hysterical hyperbole from Fox News and the far right

5) You may remember how that all turned out: The projection-fueled attack on DHS’s domestic-terrorism-monitoring section ended up gutting the section and sending the Obama administration into hunker-down/failure mode when it came to the radical

Figuring out who to listen to and what's right/wrong in the world of social media, podcasters, and experts of everything is difficult.

As a scientist and writer here's1 trick & 6 lessons on figuring out if a writer, podcaster, or expert should be listened to or not. 👇👇👇

First, the quick way:
See what an expert says about something in an area you have expertise in.

For example, I search for where they talk about exercise or athletic performance.

If they are wrong but confident in it. It tells you that something is wrong in their thinking

They overindex on superficial understanding and don't do the deep work.

It doesn't mean they'll be wrong on everything, but it should make you question whenever the person ventures away from an area where they've had 'skin in the game' success in.

Let me say a few word’s about the Trueman article.

It presents itself as dealing with Critical Race Theology (CRT) but it really is trying to deal with evangelicals and race. Which is a need, but the way the article is structured it is not helpful, it misconstrues CRT and misunderstands the present call to address the race issue.

Trueman asserts “the issue of race has played Banquo’s ghost...an unsettling, unwelcome, somewhat passive guest.” If Trueman truly sees race as the unwanted “guest” at our evangelical feast, why not address the topic of race rather than jumping on the bandwagon to attack CRT?

Does he think that CRT is the issue causing the race problem? Is he really turning a deaf ear to the Black Christian Community who have said all along this is not about CRT? But he must think that CRT is the problem. Yet he shows a misconstrued version of this academic discipline

Even before addressing CRT, he misrepresents the power of CRT with the dramatic statement, it “has become the shibboleth: Are you for it? Or are you against it?” This is a misinterpreting of the issue. Those on the side of racial justice are not seeking to make CRT a shibboleth.

A thread on cricket history books.
This is @rohithaashv's idea which came to me via @ovshake42.
A few on general cricket history and then some more on the history in the major cricket playing countries.
One thread is not enough but will try to cover as much as possible.

Harry Altham's 'A History of Cricket' was first published in 1926, after it was serialised in The Cricketer.
A 2nd edition came out in 1938.
This time EW swanton co-authored it with Altham.
Two more editions in 1947 and 1948.
And a final one in 1962 ( two volumes).

In 1950, Eric Parker's 672-page 'The History of cricket' was published.
Then in 1960, Roy Webber's 'Phoenix History of Cricket' was published.
And five years later, John Arlott's 'Rothman's History of Cricket'.
They had their merits but none really comprehensive.

In 1970, after seven years of producing 'The Cricket Quarterly', Rowland Bowen wrote the definitive history of the game.
It concentrated beyond the game in Britain and Bowen was not one to indulge in romantic fan fiction....

Gordon Ross' book came out in 1972 but added very little.
Trevor Bailey wrote one ( out in 1979) but, like some of his other books, was a touch drab and hardly gave any new information.
In the same year Robin Marlar's book on cricket came out too and failed to make an impression

"Music, Sense and Nonsense: Collected Essays and Lectures", por Alfred Brendel.

Capítulo: “Thanking the Critics - London Critic’s Circle Award

Alfred Brendel ganó en 2003 el London Critic’s Circle Award, el cual que se otorga a quienes han prestado por un largo tiempo un servicio distinguido a las artes. Este premio se ha entregado a Ninette de Valois, Alicia Markova, Judi Dench, Ian McKellen, Helen Mirren, entre otros.

En su discurso, Brendel confiesa que aún en ese punto en su vida y con el gran éxito alcanzado, sigue teniendo algo de la aprehensión que tenía en un principio cuanto trataba de consolidar su prestigio con la ayuda con la prensa, y a veces sin ella.

Brendel agradece en particular a los críticos que después de su primer recital en Graz, Austria, le predijeron un futuro brillante, y a William Mann, quien lo describió en “The Times” uno de sus primeros conciertos como “un recital en mil”.

Brendel también agradece en retrospectiva al “New York Times” que por varios años lo menospreció, por demostrarle que es posible ganar admiradores y establecer una reputación a pesar de él.

This is a thread I have been wanting to write, but it needed to come from a place of logic and truth and not just words. It is yet another one of my Christianity threads. However, this one will really focus on politicians that use Christianity to attain power.

We have politicians who in one tweet say very divisive words like “radical left” and their next tweet is a Bible quote, think Rubio. I have explained in the past that many Americans call themselves Christians based upon the fact that that they are white and American only. “I am

an American and a proud Christian.” This is Christian nationalism. They don’t actually follow Jesus or what he represents. It’s the same as someone who is born in Iraq, they are Muslim based upon it being the predominant religion of the country. There are those that practice

their religion and others that do not.
But what I want to highlight is the evil that comes from those who only use a religion for power. And it really highlights two things.
1. Evil using religion
2. The literal meaning of the Bible.
Now theologians and Biblical scholars

state that the Bible isn’t literal. It’s what they study. But we have evangelicals who say that it is a literal word of God. But there are issues here. They don’t take the whole Bible literal, they choose parts to take literally. But here’s the issue. If these people say we must

A Christmas Eve Confession & Absolution

Holy God, as Christmas Eve dawns
we find little joy in our hearts.
We have lost so many things
and given up so much
in trying to protect the world around us
and the loved ones we hold so dear
but cannot hold.

None of us are at our best.
We are frustrated with ourselves,
with our family, with all our fellow children of God.
Our spirits are faint and fraying.
Yet still, you are on your way.
Just as you came at Christmas,
you will now not leave us
without mercy and comfort.

We cry out:
Come, O come, Immanuel!

Holy God,
Our holiday meals are made with tears
and our gifts wrapped with tired hands.
We are struggling to stay connected
in this time when the safety of all
requires distance from each other.
All around your beloved world, too many tables
will have empty seats at Christmas.

What should be a time of celebration
only feels like mourning.
Yet still, you are on your way.
Just as you were born and laid in a manger,
you will find us not where we think we should be
but right where we are.

The SBC is headed for an unnecessary "civil war", all in the name of a pseudo-conservative resurgence. In the meantime, baptisms are down. For those outside or inside the SBC who are not aware of the Conservative resurgence please read this book (https://t.co/fTcR6dJuzj)

1/

The Conservative resurgence sought to purge the SBC of legit liberalism (but still had blindspots w/ sins of its leaders). The book (in post 1) explains how the "SBC" works, & the process of leadership position appointments produce transformation inside the convention.

2/

Inside the SBC Seminaries were Professors who denied the Inspiration and Inerrancy of Scripture, the literal resurrection of Jesus, and all other essentials of the Christian faith. Liberals were in key leadership positions and the Conservative resurgence took them head on.

3/

Today, there’s an expressed fear the SBC is once again under attack by Liberals, Communists, Marxists, et al. In order for a war to be justified there must be an enemy, thus the identified enemy of the SBC is none other than Critical Race Theory (CRT).

4/

In a time of war, two existing enemies who, put their differences on hold, in order to form an alliance to defeat a common enemy is called “Co-Belligerence”. An easy example of this is the USA & USSR, putting aside beef, to form an alliance & defeat Nazi Germany in WWII.

5/

It’s thirty years since The KLF’s 3am Eternal hit Number One so I suppose it must also be about thirty years since 13-year-old me met The KLF at Top Of The Pops.

I’d decided they were my favourite band a couple of years earlier and at that point I hadn’t really grasped the fact that most of the music they were making in 1989/1990 was for people either at raves or coming down after raves.

To be frank I made a complete nuisance of myself. Often after school I’d phone their PRs Mick and Pam, or their radio plugger Scott, or their distributor James, and later on Cress and Sallie at their office in Brixton.

I must have been extremely annoying but they’d make time for a chat and sometimes send me photos and white labels and merch. Sometimes they even phoned me. I once came home from school to find my dad on the phone to Bill Drummond.

At one point someone mentioned in passing that on my 13th birthday the band had toyed with the idea of driving their famous but increasingly dilapidated car, Ford Timelord, to my house in East Grinstead and dumping it outside. (?)

Steps on how to order a book via

https://t.co/M6J2AdfTO5 website

@NuriaStore
#NuriaStore #books #read #ShopAtNuriaBookStore

Thread

1/

My new book, Prey: Immigration, Islam, and the Erosion of Women’s Rights, addresses a problem that few Europeans are willing to discuss: the undermining of women’s rights in multiple countries in the wake of mass migration.

In recent years, Europe has experienced a large influx of migrants. Approximately 3 million have arrived illegally since 2009, the majority of whom have applied for asylum. Two-thirds of the newcomers were male. Eighty percent of asylum applicants are under the age of 35.

The increase in numbers of young men, mostly from Muslim-majority countries, has brought to the surface a problem: their regressive attitudes to women. At their worst, these attitudes have caused a spike in sexual violence and harassment.

The arrival of a vaccine means that Europe will eventually return to normal. Unfortunately, for many women across Europe, normal means fending off sexual harassment and assault which has significantly increased in recent years.

Even COVID lockdowns have not managed to put an end to these assaults. In May 2020, a 48-year-old Naples woman was raped while waiting for a bus. With the city in lockdown and few people about, a Senegalese man allegedly sexually abused her for 45 minutes.

There are those who claim that rock music is blessed and dedicated to the devil, so we should not listen to it. The reality is that even a lot of Christian music and all other types are as well. The recording industry has leaders in it that are bad.

So what to do with it?

The movie and television industry is plagued as well with such problems.

So what can we do about that?

The reality is that not all music or media need be avoided. Honestly someone may dedicate a Mozart recording to the devil, but this does not mean we then are tricked into

inviting in bad spirits because we listen to Mozart. We cannot control or know for sure what music is or is not blessed with dark rituals with certainty. We can know the content of the music or movies though.

What emotions do they convey? What type of spirit do we feel?

Take rap music for the most part. Do you feel that the Eternal society is pleased with is as a genre, not talking about any one song?

Not in the least. The genre as a whole has been used to intentionally divide and conquer. It is meant for bad purposes.

So what will happen is those in the industry who are the problems will go. The industry will have a lot of people cleared out. There will be big changes to it.

There is no way you can avoind everything that has had rites, rituals and dark blessings put on it

#taekookau

“Get off me.”

Jungkook groans in annoyance as he pushes the angel away, his rough skin accidentally scraping the latter.

“Chill— fuck you cut me.”

The angel growls through gritted teeth, eyebrows furrowed, eyes burning with rage.

“You’re the one who attacked me first.”

The demon dusts the ash off his tight suit, the fabric having turned gray and a tad bit looser— they used to hug his muscles more tightly, tracing every line.

“I fell, you don’t need to be so aggressive.”

Taehyung scowls at him again, this time taking a step closer to threaten him further.

“I don’t give a fuck, don’t fall on me.”

The demon remains arrogant and displeased with the collusion; the accident having occurred due to an experiment gone wrong.

His witch best friend created an explosion that blasted him to the other side of the city— Jungkook’s stupid side.

“You’re such a moron.”

The angel scoffs as he touches the bruise, hissing when the pad of his fingers meet his red flesh.

“I’m the moron? You’re the one who decided to fall from the sky—why didn’t you use your wings?”

Jungkook looks genuinely annoyed, he always carries hate for Taehyung, but today is rather worse.

“It was an accident, okay? I’m sorry, damn, chill.”

Hey @caroljsroth, I was just listening to your podcast with @JesseKellyDC and I wanted correct some errors concerning the Dickinson/Jackson duel of 1806. I am working on my PhD thesis related to Jackson and host the @AgeofJacksonPod. 1/

The origins of their feud begin not with Rachel Jackson’s honor, but rather over horseracing. Jackson was a horseracing enthusiast, as were most southern gentlemen of the planter class. Cutting a long story short, it comes down to money. 2/

Basically, Dickinson was in on a bet against Jackson’s horse but withdrew and paid the forfeit. The problem is rumors began to fly that Jackson wasn’t thrilled about this, because they apparently wanted to use promissory notes as payment. 3/

Things start to get very testy between the two men are insults are exchanged and circulate around Nashville. Eventfully things get even more public when all this gets published in the newspapers, with the two calling each other cowards more or less. 4/

So, what about Rachel? That’s the funny thing, Rachel is not mentioned in any of the newspapers and in the letters between the men and their associates leading up to the duel. I’m not saying it was not a contributing factor, but it hard to find solid evidence for it. 5/

10 Most Impactful Books Of My Life

1. Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends On It by @kamalravikant

Kamal is honest, open, and authentic. But what I love most about this book is that it actually works.

2. Conscious Living by @GayHendricks

My life changed dramatically from August 2019 to August 2020. This book helps explain why: I started to follow the principles in this book without even realizing it.

3. A New Earth: Awakening To Your Life’s Purpose by @EckhartTolle

Recommended to me by an Uber driver in October 2019. Couldn’t put it down. The first “spiritual” book that clicked for me.

4. Resilience by @EricGreitens

Incredible writing, timeless lessons, historical examples. I can’t remember the last time I annotated this much in a book. Wisdom from so many different sources. Highly, highly recommended.