British Royal Family - The Prince of Wales made Paralympian David Ellis, 38, from Loughborough, a visually impaired athlete who won gold in the men's paratriathlon, a Member of the Order of the British Empire at Windsor Castle for services to paratriathalon. (Photo by Jonathan Brady) | February 12, 2025.
“But when you do choose to speak, say what you mean, mean what you say, and be ready to support your points. If you can’t support your point of view, then it wasn’t much of a point of view to begin with.”
Maude Sabourin, “Dying Swan La Mort du Cygne”, choreo by Ivan Cavallari, music by Camille Saint Saëns (Carnival of the Animals, pianist: Nicolas Ellis, cellist: David Ellis), costume by Ivan Cavallari and L’Atelier de costumes des Grands Ballets. As parts of the digital program “At Home with Les Grands Ballets” (“The Talisman”, “Grand Pas Mme Drosselmeyer”, “Dying Swan”, “Crater” and “Complet Brouillé”), Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Salle Wilfrid Pelletier, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Source and more info at:
Les Grands Ballets Canadiens Website
Les Grands Ballets Canadiens on TikTok
Les Grands Ballets Canadiens on Twitter
Les Grands Ballets Canadiens on You Tube
Les Grands Ballets Canadiens on Facebook
Les Grands Ballets Canadiens on Instagram
Photographer Sasha Onyshchenko Website
Photographer Sasha Onyshchenko on 500px
Photographer Sasha Onyshchenko on Twitter
Photographer Sasha Onyshchenko on Threads
Photographer Sasha Onyshchenko on Behance
Photographer Sasha Onyshchenko on Pinterest
Photographer Sasha Onyshchenko on Facebook
Photographer Sasha Onyshchenko on Instagram
Note I: This blog is open to receiving and considering any suggestions, contributions, and/or criticisms that may help correct mistakes or improve its content. Comments are available to any visitor.
Note II: Original quality of photographs might be affected by compression algorithm of the website where they are hosted.
wada sez: Gather 'round, gather 'round, I have two more lost scripts to show ye. These were shared by David Ellis, who wrote just a single Mosaic to be released: "War Story". Not for lack of trying, though! It's shocking to me that nobody picked up either of these scripts, as they're both remarkably good.
"Hobby Time" (Bumblebee) [2010-09-21]
Panel One
Iconic image of Bumblebee's robot mode as seen in the "--ation" trilogy. He's projecting a holomatter image of his holo-driver, the nameless hippy-chick female (and be sure to have her image flicker a bit so make it clear she's a hologram and not an actual human). The look on her face is inert; his is full of concentration.
(Also, leave room for the story's title and credits.)
CAPTION (Bumblebee's narrative): Holograms.
CAPTION: For Autobots and Decepticons alike, it's
functional.
Panel Two
Cut to a view of Bumblebee's vehicle mode driving down the highway with the same holo-female at the wheel. Maybe show another car passing by, to get a sense of the Autobots being seen by others on a regular basis. In fact, would it work for the POV of this panel to be from inside some motorist's car?
CAPTION: It allows us to hide in plain sight on
various worlds, without the natives wondering why we
"vehicles" are moving around without drivers.
CAPTION: Find a native, scan it, make a holo, and take
care of business.
Panel Three
Ideally, this panel should cover the width of the page. It's several versions of the same holo-female, each with a different outfit and hairstyle. The first could be her hippy-chick outfit as seen in the comics; another could be a Goth look; another could be a businesswoman, and so on. Heck, one could be wildly improbable like an heiress with a classy ballroom gown, or something from a Victoria's Secret store window (if that's not too risque), to show that while Bumblebee is aware of the idea of different looks on the same human, he's still experimenting and doesn't yet grasp the subtleties of fashion.
CAPTION: For me, it's something different.
CAPTION: A fascination, for lack of a better word.
CAPTION: The others don't notice, but I see so many
different humans wearing so many different things.
CAPTION: There's a point behind it; I know there is,
and I want my holo-driver to blend in.
Panel Four
We see Ironhide and Jazz watching Bumblebee as he crouches in a corner of their base, projecting his holo and looking for all the world like a boy caught playing with a doll. They look amused; he looks annoyed that they're teasing him.
CAPTION: The others are on my case about it.
CAPTION: Prowl tells me not to waste energy on
holomatter unless I'm on a mission. Jazz and Ironhide
think it's funny.
CAPTION: But they don't get it.
Panel Five
Tight closeup of Bumblebee modifying the holo-girl's hairstyle. His face has the concentration of an artist's, as if this practice is fulfilling some inner creative need.
CAPTION: This war with the Decepticons leaves so much
destruction and chaos, that it's a nice change of pace
just to...
CAPTION: ...create.
CAPTION: And I find myself wondering...
Panel Six
Cut to a police mugshot -- front view and side view, holding a nameplate in each one -- of a woman looking very much like Bumblebee's holo-girl, but she doesn't look much like the happy, idealized image Bumblebee carries around. She has a very weathered expression on her face, as she's not happy with the whole arrest-and-booking procedure; she looks like she's been through some hard living. The name and serial number can be whatever you want to put on there, just make it look like a convincing mugshot.
CAPTION: ...whatever happened to that human I scanned
once?
CAPTION: What's her life like? Is she anything like
the way I imagine her?
CAPTION: Maybe I'll find out one day.
END
wada sez: I'll be perfectly honest, David Ellis is clearly a cut above the vast majority of Mosaic writers. There's a few things here which make me roll my eyes—the rubbish title, the way it zeroes in on this one woman from Infiltration, and the twist of "aha, she was a criminal all along!"—but it's technically competent stuff that feels like it's engaging with actual human emotions through a uniquely Transformers lens. It's the idea of an image of a person as a proxy for the person themself; of idealising someone until the image becomes entirely divorced from the truth of that person. This is made more complex by the fact that this is also a form of self-actualization for Bumblebee; the woman he's fixating on forms the basis of an identity he is constructing for himself on Earth. The sentence "boy caught playing with a doll" evokes gender non-conformity to me—but on a much more direct level, I imagine many online Transformers fans would relate to this in the sense that we're all too old to be playing with toys, from a typical perspective. It's a story that invites interpretation and should resonate with people for different reasons, meaningfully building upon a minor beat from the official comics. For me, it's the final panel that really lets the script down—I think the dramatic irony of knowing the truth about the woman takes us out of Bumblebee's perspective without adding much to the story. Surely the tragedy here is that Bumblebee's life is so completely removed from human experience that he will likely never see this person again, and certainly never understand her! This next script is also thoughtful in its own way...
"Last of the Line" (Optimus Prime) [2010-09-21]
NOTE TO ARTIST AND COLORIST: This story takes place in the "Transformers: War for Cybertron" video game continuity. As such, all character designs and backgrounds should be noticeably in keeping with that game's aesthetic, with the exception of the last panel, which is '80s-era Generation One.
Also, except for the last panel, all characters should be in colors other than those we've come to associate with the canon characters. We're dealing with player-controlled character models from Team Deathmatch, explained here as other 'bots who walked off the same assembly lines as the characters we know.
Panel One
Splashy panel of War for Cybertron's multiplayer Autobots charging into battle on the "Molten" map. We see a dark blue SPEEDSTER SCOUT (Sideswipe's body), a red INTERCEPTOR JET SCIENTIST (Silverbolt's body), a green DEFENDER SOLDIER (Warpath's body), and – most notably – a gold HEAVY RIG LEADER (Optimus' body).
The Leader is bolstering his teammates with a War Cry ability, so it'd be cool to see the glowing effect around the Autobots (likely via computer coloring).
(Also, leave room for the story's title and credits.)
CAPTION (Optimus Prime's narrative): This war has consumed
our entire race.
CAPTION: Not just as a collective…
Panel Two
Reverse-angle shot of four Decepticons, toward whom the Autobots are charging. Bringing up the read is a CRUSHER SOLDIER (Brawl's body); leaping skyward is a STALKER SCIENTIST (Slipstream's body). Charging out in front are two ENFORCER SCOUTS (Barricade's body), distinguishable only by their differing color schemes. Most of the focus should be on the Enforcer Scouts.
CAPTION: …but as individuals as well.
CAPTION: We are born on assembly lines, batches of us,
numbering in the hundreds.
Panel Three
One Enforcer Scout (#1) transforms into his car mode, while the other (#2), continues firing his EMP shotgun.
CAPTION: Hundreds of the same model…
CAPTION: …but each one is distinct.
ENFORCER SCOUT #2: Flank 'em if you want, but I like the direct approach!
Panel Four
The Heavy Rig Leader cleaves #2 in the face with his Energon Axe, causing #2 to drop his shotgun. #1 can be seen in car mode behind Heavy Rig, peppering him with machine-gun fire.
ENFORCER SCOUT #2: Agk!
ENFORCER SCOUT #1: Serves you right!
CAPTION: Each one has become a fighter in this war…
Panel Five
Splashy panel of the CRUSHER SOLDIER in the Autobots' midst, clubbing Heavy Rig and Speedster Scout with his Energon Hammer while using his Whirlwind ability.
CAPTION: …but some are better soldiers than others.
Panel Six
Heavy Rig lies on the craggy magma ground, his armor shredded by Crusher's hammer. It's the instant before the Autobot explodes. Maybe include Crusher's foot in the panel as he walks over Heavy Rig's body.
CAPTION: Very few of us from ANY model line have survived to the present day.
Panel Seven
Cut to OPTIMUS PRIME (the real one, not just a Heavy Rig), G1-style, set against an Earth backdrop, perhaps a forest of trees in the Pacific Northwest – as far away from Cybertron's Molten map as one could get.
His posture is contemplative, as if it bothers him how few of his kind have survived.
CAPTION: Hundreds of thousands of lives lost.
CAPTION: Individual sparks extinguished.
CAPTION: Leaving precious few to carry on the model line, and the Cybertronian race itself.
CAPTION: I fear this war will lead to our extinction.
END
David sez: This one is based on the "Transformers: Warfor Cybertron" video game. It occurred to me that in a way all those multiplayer matches with player-created Transformers could actually be in continuity, since they're products of assembly lines. The multiplayer matches represent early skirmishes in the Autobot/Decepticon war, and that's why we haven't seen the countless iterations of the model lines that must have existed. They were blown to smithereenies.
The time traveling alien known as the Doctor (Doctor 2) and his companions arrived on the Earth in 1966. The Doctor found a race called the Chameleons who had secretly invaded England. Due to nuclear explosions, the Chameleons had lost their identities and faces and were dying off. The Doctor learned that the Chameleons had been stealing people’s identities and miniaturized the originals to be held captive on a space station. At the end of the adventure, the Doctor’s companions Ben and Polly decided to remain on Earth. ("The Faceless Ones" Doctor Who vlm 1, TV)
