#furman

[awesomecoyote337]

Simon Furman named a type of energy in Beast Wars 'Furmanite'

[assorted-aesthetics]

babe are u okay youve been listening to god lifts up the lowly by liz furman on loop for a while now. yeah and ur getting really really into it during the "i pray for plagues to come down on this egypt and i dream of blood fire and lice" part

[jessieraves]

IDW transformers era 1 thoughts (Furman, AHM, 09)

so finished the first “era”, phase, season, what have you of IDW transformers - which going by the reading guide I followed is the earlier stuff headed by Furman (Infiltration, Devastation, Spotlights / Revelation, Dinobots) ; All Hail Megatron / Megatron Origin as an interlude between that and the 09 Costa run and some of its minis. Liked a lot of it! Furman > Costa > AHM to me

Thoughts! Liked the beginning the most, mid point Rly disappointed me and end stage got me interested and invested again but lost the plot and focus at the end trying to stuff too much

Whuch, I guess is a microcosm of the issues I had throughout - too little focus, too much stuff.

Instead of focusing on one major plotline at a time they’re constantly trying to write over eachother and competing for space, and even when things get more focused again in 09 they lose themselves when they try and reintroduce and stuff back in the dead universe stuff

I like all 3 chapters of this era on their own but together they’re very flawed Imo, the early stuff is my favorite but the rushed ending and dropped plot lines and characters is an incredible error - the all hail Megatron stuff is a fine and fun action story with a couple good plot points on its own but is terrible as a followup to the earlier plot lines and fails to set up 09 as that comes with a timeskip and recap anyways; and the 09 I quite liked but even then they decide at 2/3 through to drop what they were going with to do something different .

The first impressions I had about the early stuff is that I liked the slightly but not overboard more mature g1 vibe, a pg 13 to its pg, but kept the heart and humor of it - and liked the alternate focus on autobots like Ratchet and Sunstreaker: and the new human characters had great premises and personalities! Some interesting lore and plot line setup.

But All Hail Megatron virtually dropped all of it - dropped the main human characters and killed one off incredibly distastefuly too to make room for a Spike and Sparkplug that are just awful depictions of the characters imo and feel like 2000s stereotypes than real characters

All Hail Megatron had some MOMENTS I liked, and great art ofc, but overall took more than it gave - a speed bump on the highway, and just reminded me of Ultimatum from the ultimate universe of marvel.

The 09 stuff I felt didn’t have great setup because it was coming from the dropped plot lines and whiplash of AHM, but it did invest me - I liked seeing autobots have to prove themselves to humanity, and them in desperate positions as the decepitcons are all but gone.

I liked seeing Bumblebee step up as autobot leader, of Hot Rod introducing a group uniting autobots and ex deceptions post war towards a common goal, of seeing humanity close the gap of tech and an arms race / hysteria as a result, and Thundercracker’s arc.

Plus other plot elements were good too, and sometimes the voices of the characters were off but it was all generally solid stuff

But even then, it ended up losing confidence in itself Imo by making the decepitocns betray Hot Rod and becoming villains again, Optimus reasserting himself as leader above Bumblebee, dropping the earth political stuff cuz they decided to use the dead universe plotline they rushed an ending to bring it back in a clumsy and short lived way , all this happening at the 2/3 mark.

When it comes to the dead universe stuff they kept trying to do - probably their most unique stamp on it all so far - meh. I do like the idea of having Galvatron and co as unique characters to utilize , depending on how they’re done. Like the super early chbertron lore / the split between self reflection and galctuc colonization, Nova Prime, etc. but the idea of a dead dark evil dark dead anti villain group / universe is just kinda bland in how it’s done to me, and ends up detracting from the more interesting plots a lot of the time and then is sloppy in how it’s done that makes it’s inclusion hard to justify imo

The run overall It has a really lovely ending, that for transformers in general I think is a great one - but I think the clumsiness and at times poor taste of the runs didn’t earn it.

But as critical as im being I did really like it, I think having the right expectations would’ve improved my opinion a lot and will appreciate it all more in a reread.

Because there is a ton of great stuff in there! It’s just that it also is it’s own worst enemy in how it’s constantly talking over itself. I’m sure there was some behind the scenes editorial shennagins. Also, the miniseries upon miniseries format was just a pain.

But that being said, there are some great stories, characters and ideas in this first era of IDW transformers that make it worthwhile and then some - some rly great pieces I’m sure I’ll post about.

I’m told that ahead of me is the best stuff, a consistently good and focused dual runs that were very successful and acclaimed. I’m looking forward to that, and this hasn’t deterred me from continuing fear not! Knew what I was getting to to an extent.

“Growing pains” is how I feel about a lot of it, and to sum up : the first stuff is my favorite, super disappointed in how that ended, all hail megatron is good but clumsy within the stories, and the 09 run is solid but loses itself in the last third. The oc human trio form early we’re great and my biggest complaint is how cruelly they’re discarded for a terrible iteration on Spike. Only using Arcee as a feral murderer was weird. Great job at distinguishing the wider cast and blending lore between shows in a natural way.

Also, not my ideal origin for megatron - too soft on him, justifies him too much , makes pre war cyberton too irredeemable etc. My ideal for him is a snake in Eden, someone who is a failure in a utopia where he has no moral or emotional contributions to the greater good, discontent in living by “their way” if it is not “THE way”, throw in some crisis he can radicalize others with for the purposes of giving himself power over others - the one thing a good society cannot provide. A paragon of evil to match Optimus’s paragon of good. but I appreciate it as an alternate take, another flavor in the stew for a sympathic megatron

But I definitley recomend it to a transformers fan! Just know what you’re getting into , know how things are dropped with plot lines and get a solid reading order . Definitley worthwhile - but if you’re deciding between spending your time reading a transformers comic and are only going to choose one?

Well I hear the run ahead of me is the best of IDW so if only reading one might be worth skipping ahead, otherwise I will continue to recomend the great great current and young Skybound image run!

Looking forward to getting into the next IDW transformers comics era after a little break! The Transformers and More than meets the eye 👀

[roughridingrednecks]

Furman

[2egress]

The shelf at an 20 degree angle is nested nicely on our triple bay studio equipment rack with its hexagon shaped design for @nohumans ::: #2egress #recordingstudiofurniture #studioequipmentrack #cablemanagement #musicproduction #modularig #nohumans #eurorack #modularsynth #moog #arturia #polyend #roland #akai #uaudio #ioconnectivity #furman #pedals #eurorackmodularcase #cablehanger #customfurniture #cncwoodworking #hexagon https://www.instagram.com/p/CqDegnfu3q4/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[elflovin]

Wow toons dec 2020

[creepychippy]

Entries of Sarah’s Notebook (about Ghost-Sonas Part 3)

Spike: 

- really energetic 

(Sticky Note:

- Has almost the same Name as the one I always give to my first Starter Pokemon (Spyk) )

- has Dog-like Tendencies (Perhaps Half-Dog?)

- Fluffy Hair 

- gets easily distracted by Shiny Stuff 

- Note: Do not give him too much sugary Food, or else he enters a Sugar Rush-like State (experienced that firsthand) 

- What could his Abilities be? 

(Sticky Note: Possible Abilities

- Transform into a Dog 

- Emit deafening Sounds 

- Unusual Strength) 

- has a good Relationship with Poltergeist

Poltergeist: 

- intelligent 

- can play the Piano (Possible Friends with Amadeus Wolfgeist?)

- reads a lot 

- has a good Relationship with Spike 

(Sticky Note: He seems intimidating)

- can levitate Objects 

- comes apparently from a Place called “Gloomy Manor” 

- tends to regularly stare towards the Nightsky

(Sticky Note: 

- I found a Book about the Gloomy Manor, where a “Dark Moon” is being mentioned. Said Moon gives off pacifying Effects, so perhaps that is why Poltergeist stares towards the Nightsky a lot of times.) 

(Scratched out Sticky Note: 

Would he actually like playing Tetris? I need someone to play against on my Switch.) 

Skippy: 

- very nervous 

- can throw Bombs on Accident 

(Note: Be careful around him) 

- his “Hair-Tail” has a different Colouration than other Bomb Oozers 

(Does it have that Colour naturally or is it dyed?) 

- likes Music 

- is Friends with Spike and Poltergeist

Furman/Merton: 

- apparently has two different Personalities, one of which is shy and nervous (Furman), while the other one is more loud and bold (Merton) 

(Note: Important to remember. Don’t forget) 

(Sticky Note: 

Maybe will attempt to ask if one Personality knows about the other one)

- has Facial Hair unlike other Slinkers and also wears Clothes

- prefers to walk instead of floating 

(Note: Perhaps ask him why he does that)

- has a good Relationship with Poltergeist

( @lm3poltergeist )

[melmothblog]

Ask Responses: Vaganova

I’m wondering how Natasha Furman is studying in the Academy? I saw the posts on Instagram that she danced little Maria in the Nutcracker and it seems that teachers like her very much.

Have you seen clips of Natalie furman in the last nutcracker? Heard that she’s a promising young student, but she was prominent in the US/competitive ballet circuit so I wonder how she fairs at VBA

Natasha is, obviously, very young, and it’s too early to make any assessments or predictions. For now, she’s at VBA and she appears to be doing very well and enjoying herself. You can also follow her on YouTube for some extra videos from the Academy.

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More on the weight topic. I saw in a video that one girl in Sharova's 4th class was dismissed because of weight. Yet, there are a lot of girls in the upper classes, especially year 7 and 8, that don't exactly have the slimmest bodies. However, Vaganova allows them to stay. Why is this?

Some of the older girls experience weight gain due to puberty, which tends to hit around the time of their final year. As this is a natural process, and not something the girls can control, the Academy tends to be more lenient, especially since the weight gained due to the onset of puberty tends to go away with time.

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Thanks for posting the Bunkamura VBA video! I'm really excited about Anastasia Smirnova. Physically, she reminds me so much of Zakharova, with some Lopatkina tones as well. Of course, she will have her own dancing style. But she has a regal, mature quality to her that brings a lot of refinement to her dancing. She has a lot of potential and I'm excited to see it develop, I hope at Mariinsky as she's perfect for that theater!

A lot of people think that she looks like Zakharova, and that’s a huge compliment. I’ve been watching Anastasia since she won the Diana Vishneva award at Vaganova Prix a few years back, and I hope she goes on to have an amazing career. She studies under Professor Kovaleva (who graduated Diana Vishneva and Olga Smirnova, among others), which is also very exciting.

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Are the Vaganova teachers friendly toward one another, or are they competitive. For example, do you think that in 2015, Kovaleva was unhappy that Udalenkova's student Shakirova was portrayed as the star of the class rather than her Nika or Anastasia Lukina? Is there a hierarchy of teachers, like the older ones get to make demands of the younger teachers like Kasenkova or Sitnikova?

Naturally, there’s a hierarchy of teachers at VBA. It’s impossible to say, as an outsider, but I imagine that there would be some healthy competition among the teachers. That being said, I don’t think senior professors like Udalenkova and Kovaleva would fight over their students. I also don’t think that Shakirova was necessarily presented as her year’s star. I remember the attention being pretty evenly spread between her and Lukina. 

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What is behind the two doors at the back of the main Vaganova studio? One big room? Or two separate rooms? Or two connected rooms so that students can come out of one door and go in through the other? Or something else?

You can see the space in this video:

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Why does Tsiskaridze not like Khoreva as much as Elya? Elya's just as good, but doesn't he see that Khoreva is a once in a generation talent? He only allowed her to debut as Masha in Nutcracker after Elya graduated, whereas he allowed Lizi and Anastasia to debut as Masha while Alexandra Khiteeva was still dancing it at Vaganova. And, in her graduating year, it was the 280th anniversary of the school, but he could've still let Maria dance Paquita instead of calling Elya back. She'd had her shot.

I don’t think it’s fair to say that Tsiskaridze disliked Khoreva. Masha was Professor Kovaleva’s student, and Kovaleva is particular about how her students are represented publicly. Tsiskaridze was very vocal about how great Elya was (which she really was) and it did her no favours; he overexposed her.

A student’s debut in a particular role is not determined by the rector alone. The student’s teacher has a lot of say in this. Plus, the student in question must typically audition to get the part.

Elya was called back for a special performance, which brought together past VBA graduates, including Zakharova, Obraztsova and Smirnova; it wan’t a normal graduation performance.

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What is happening with the Vladivostok school?

The short answer is: no one knows. No one on the outside, that is. The Vladivostok campus was handed over to BBA a few years ago and, curiously, Leonova’s interviews at the time suggested that the campus had always belonged to the Moscow academy. It’s been suggested that Tsiskaridze was forced to take on the Vladivostok campus, and had never really wanted it because it was a drain on VBA’s resources. Regardless of this, he had set the campus up and ran it successfully for over a year. It’s all rather bizarre. 

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An interesting video of a masterclass with Tsiskaridze has just been uploaded to YouTube by Anya V. Do you have any more info about this class?

Tsiskaridze taught a master class for the 4th grade girls at VBA a few days ago. I believe that the class was part of the many conferences / educational events the Academy runs, and was open to the public (by “public” I mean ballet insiders, teachers and dancers). Thank you for the link, by the way. I have this recording in bits but not as a whole.

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