I'm getting a lot out of watching backgrounds at the first party.
That said, I'm wondering -
WHERE DID THIS GUY AND HIS LADY GO? (At Left)
They dance into the door and just disappear.
One interpretation is the first party is a dream.
Is there a better one?
Long time watcher, long time reader, long time poster here ...
The previous post's insight into the first party had me rewatch it.
In particular, I was looking at the blackground actors in the first part. Yes, obviously, there is the whole theory with the guys who (maybe) take Helena at the end, but also there is another theory that the first party itself starts with old guys dancing with old ladies, then there is a transition, and old guys are dancing with younger girls. I wanted to check it. And, of course, there is the epstein-looking guy, which I take with a grain of salt, as the movie came out in 1999, and the guy looks more like Epstein in 2018. (There is a picture of Epstein in a tux from 1999 at the top of this article - https://news.sky.com/story/all-you-need-to-know-about-jeffrey-epstein-court-documents-being-unsealed-from-today-13040790 - there is some resemblance)
ANYHOW
What I found really interesting is what happens after the musicians announce a break. Everyone is going to the right - like everyone. A couple of women in the middle foreground are being, apparently, pushed or guided by the men behind them, all in the same direction. Alice suddenly announces she needs to go to the bathroom. NeoEpstein is with a woman, sometimes called a young woman, though zooming in and looking carefully I'd say early 30's. While Bill and Alice talk, the camera is looking straight at them. When NeoEpstein passes, youngWoman looks back, and Alice looks at her (first image). It could be a look of recognition, or of fear (second image). Bill doesn't notice and is off to talk to his buddy; Alice moves to the right and the camera suddenly moves with them, quickly.
When the scene ends we next see Alice walking through double doors, with NeoEpstein behind and someone who might be called NeoMaxwell in the middle on the right. (Picture 3) Alice has one glass of wine. The next time we see her, she is already drunk.
Many people here have pointed out it is odd, where did YoungWoman go, was Kubrik trying to signal something?
I wonder.
The entire first party is 17:07 of running time. Given that for most of hat time we are following two different stories (bill is here, alice there), that means 10 to 12 minutes of time at the party.
Of course they stayed longer than 12 minutes. Simple politeness would have them stay more like an hour, much more if they were actually enjoying themselves. Unless we say party number one is a dream (there is some weird freudian lighting), we need the alcohol to have time to get into Alice's system and get her drunk. I think she's proper enough to not be drinking in the car on the way over.
EWS came out in 1999. Pulp Fiction came out in 1994, and did both Temporal Ellipsis (skipping time, where the runtime is shorter than the elapsed time of the characters) but also non-linear chronology - actually putting scenes in the movie out of order of how they occurred for the character in Diegentic time (the time the characters would have experienced if it were the real world.)
This is what I am wondering: What appears to us as a simple scene transition, with Alice walking through a doorway then appearing on the other side - what if it isn't? What if she recognizes the woman and it is some sort of sex scene? There would have been members of the cult here -- she drinks to forget it.
One indicator that time passed, and this is a real weak one - but when bill is talking to nick nightingale, and we have the "how are you buddy" / "you haven't changed a bit" dialogue, toward the end, you'll see NeoEpstein at right. If he just walked through the door, he can't be there. Unless the time-splicing for the cast is experienced differently than the audience. Of course that is weak, he might just be an extra, they did a million takes, etc, etc.
Still ...
Adam Neumann, founder of WeWork, created a company that was never profitable and according to Scott Galloway (and myself) new could be profitable ( https://www.profgalloway.com/wewtf/ https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/10/marketing-expert-scott-galloway-on-wework-and-adam-neumann.html ) left the company somewhat disgraced, only to reinvent himself with a carbon blockchain startup (CarbonFlow) and a Community co-living Company (Flow).
CarbonFlow never delivered anything ( https://www.forbes.com.au/news/innovation/adam-neumanns-climate-company-is-issuing-refunds-after-failing-to-launch-crypto-token/ )
Flow is in serious trouble ( https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/hymn2bnqzl https://www.apartmentratings.com/fl/miami/flow-miami_9199332346275177821/#ratingsReviews ).
Yet Adam Neumann is presented non-ironically! I can't wait to dig into the episode ( On Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQ4JVWdj4Q0 On apple podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/adam-neumann-the-real-story-behind-wework-a-%244/id1291423644?i=1000791962211 )
The /title/ of the episode is "Billionaire's WARNING: His $47 Billion Empire Collapsed!" Yet every indicator we have is that he learned nothing from the episode.
I say this not to "bash" on a podcast, just to consider the purpose of the podcast. Steven Bartlett made his initial million running a PR firm; I wonder if the podcast itself is, de facto, more a PR outlet than anything else.
At the first party.
When bill gets to the bathroom, Zeigler is just now getting his suspenders on. So you have the time to call security, find bill, go upstairs, and he’s just getting dressed.
Was Zeigler goofing around with knocked out Mandy?
Do you think he planned the mild OD and it was worse than he planned?
Some have posited that Zeigler directly planned the whole thing so Bill would actually take advantage of Mandy - it’s a test. If he has a “little fun” (gross), then Bill is corruptible. In this read, alllll the women throwing themselves at bill are part of a plot to get blackmail material on bill. It seems far fetched, but it would explain some things.
What do you think?
My ex partner has a rare name. She was named after a 1970's song by the band bread. What I find is the lyrics shockingly resemble the relationship.
I mean to say -
She was different and special and I fell hard
Yet I never really knew her
We were not really a good fit
When I think about 'us', something didn't make sense. Really at all.
The relationship is over, and I know its for the best, yet I am sad.
We were together almost two decades, it has been half a decade since the divorce was final, more since I started to take the incremental expressions of will, assertions that I mattered, refusals to obey, and eventual move-outs that ended the relationship. I am okay.
But I am still sad. And I think that is okay, too. I can grieve what I thought would have been, even if it could never have been.
Name removed to maintain anonymity. I'm sure you can look it up if you'd like to.
And (rare name) was her name
A not so very ordinary girl or name
But who's to blame?
For a love that wouldn't bloom
For the hearts that never played in tune
Like a lovely melody that everyone can sing
Take away the words that rhyme, it doesn't mean a thing
And (rare name) was her name
We tripped the light and danced together to the moon
But where was June?
No, it never came around
If it did it never made a sound
Maybe I was absent or was listening too fast
Catching all the words, but then the meaning going past
But God, I miss the girl
And I'd go a thousand times around the world just to be
Closer to her than to me
And (rare name) was her name
I never knew her, but I loved her just the same
I loved her name
Wish that I had found the way
And the reasons that would make her stay
I have learned to lead a life apart from all the rest
If I can't have the one I want, I'll do without the best
But how I miss the girl
And I'd go a million times around the world just to say
She had been mine for a day
I've had the $0.00 PDFs from DriveThruRPG in my cart for a long time now, and the game is finally out. I don't want to spend $350.00 US (probably plus shipping) but I really like physical products and there's a BUNCH of gamebooks and ...
What's the easiest way to get started? Help me pick a bundle or items off DriveThroughRPG?
https://sonofoak.com/pages/legend-in-the-mist-rpg-launch-fest#bundle
The actor who plays Matsson, Alexander Skarsgård, is in the HBO Mini Series "Generation Kill" as a sergeant (Brad something).
I am watching S1E5 "A burning dog" about 1/3rd of the way in when Suddenly Matsson shows up. I had not noticed prior due to the uniforms, him hiding his accent, the helmets, but it's Matsson, for sure.
I just thought Succession fans might appreciate it. If you have HBO Max, you've got it.
I am 31 minutes in and Sean stone seems to have a very strange way of talking, I guess I would call it conspiratorial talk. One might reply to far to his claims -
- huh? What are you saying exactly?
- really? Is any of this true?
- so? If it is true, what does that mean?
- and? What should we do?
As I missing something or is this not a person Tucker should take seriously? Maybe it gets better, but shouldn’t he lead with his best stuff?
Looks like they touched on Candace Owens April 2025 -
Not sure if I was listening yet back then. Still, it was only obliquely. I think after the loss of Charlie Kirk her status within the Grift-o-verse has reached nigh on, or even dare I say past, Weinsteinien levels.
From proifteering to conspiratory thinking to indignation to griftiness to revolutionary theories, I think she'd score highly enough to rate, no?
What say you, fellow decoder rings?
I'm an old school d&d player. I played a medium bit of D&D and read a lot. Yes, novels, rules, campaign settings, and modules. Lots and lots of modules - little adventures from 32 pages to 128 pages with maps and planned encounters.
I recently got 5E. Besides the starter sets ... where are the modules? They used to have a code like "B2" and tell you what they are: An introductory adventure for level 1-3 characters, and mid-level adventure for characters level 5-9 etc. I like physical books.
I see the starter packs. Heroes of the borderlands is pretty cool. My characters will leave the borderlands level 3, level 4 TOPS. I do not think they are ready to descend into avernas, I don't need a book with Tiamat, Vencna, or Strahd on the cover. And I sure don't want to pay $14.99 for three online, digital one-shot adventures ( https://marketplace.dndbeyond.com/adventures/M9C2LVQ?pid=DBM9C2LVQ )
A little secret of TSR is that they sold a LOT of modules, and most modules were not played, they were read. I'm sure I could get a better feel for D&D 5.5 if there were official WOTC adventures for me to read.
Where are the official modules? It seems odd. I checked my look bookstore and my local big-box retail bookstore. Some 3rd party stuff, but the WOTC stuff was like ... a cookbook. A deck of cookbook things. A backstory deck. A bunch of accessory-like things. A few campaign-setting things that tie into Forgotten Realms and BG3 No, like, MODULES. Has the time for that come and gone?
This is what I see as a prof. I am about to take 2 semesters off for the summer.
If you finished strong, be proud. If you are starting anew, get to it! 😄
