Henny

ches

1. Port Elizabeth (South Africa)

2. Unknown

3. Nairobi (Kenya)

4. Pretoria (South Africa)

5. Aburi Botanical Gardens (Ghana)

6. Cape Town (South Africa)

7. Pretoria (South Africa)

8. Harare (Zimbabwe)

9. Windhoek (Namibia)

10. Windhoek (Namibia)

To @kushandwizdom this is a rather unfair portrayal of Africa as a whole since half of these are literally just South Africa.  So Instead to add to this post and better dispel the myth of Africa as the vast wasteland of poverty most people think, I found a much more mixed collection of pics from various countries.

Luanda, Angola

Agadir, Morocco

Lagos, Nigeria

Cairo, Egypt

Port Louis, Mauritius

Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire

Algiers, Algeria

Tripoli, Libya

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Tunis, Tunisia

A redneck neighbor once asked my mom (in the 80s) if they had cars in Peru. Sigh.

Hartford, Connecticut

New Orleans, Louisiana

Camden, New Jersey

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

McDowell County, West Virginia

Flint, Michigan

Washington, D.C.

Ever see something so cute it’s painful? But wait, there’s more. 

Apparently, in the early to mid 1980s, Ringo Starr and his wife Barbara Bach had a serious problem with drugs and alcohol, that escalated into frightening violence. In 1988 (the year I was born) Ringo woke up to find Barbara beaten so badly that he “thought she was dead.” And he realized it could only be himself who was responsible. The couple checked into rehab, and miraculously wound up pulling a Robert Downey Jr. They’ve reportedly had a strong and sober marriage ever since. 

What’s this got to do with Mr. Conductor and Thomas? Well, I just looked up the years. As mentioned, Ringo entered rehab in 1988. He began to play Mr. Conductor on “Shining Time Station” the following year, 1989. I don’t know whether Thomas specifically helped with Ringo’s recovery, but the point is, Mr. Conductor was Ringo at the start of his recovery years. So I’m now thinking of Mr. Conductor as the Iron Man to Ringo’s RDJ. And now my heart’s just exploded. 

Thor: Ragnarok, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame have something in common: they destroy Thor into oblivion. To the point he isn’t standing straight by the end, having lost literally everything, though with an acceptance of it all. The idea that started in Thor3 effectively spiraled out of control by Avengers4, with Avengers3 serving as the perfect balance.

But there is a significant difference in how Taika Waititi did it in Thor3 and how the Russo brothers – Anthony and Joe – along with writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely did the same in Avengers3 and 4. While Thor3 had all kinds of terrible things happen to Thor with 0 impact or payoff – leaving it feeling unfulfilled, Avengers4 doubled down on his misery – eventually tripping over itself and forgetting that trauma isn’t something to be made fun of. Avengers3, however, was the perfect storm. It did everything right and more.

Whenever something bad happens to a character – it should ideally have a reaction, reflection, and an overall impact (payoff) to serve its purpose. For example, back in Thor1, when Thor is kicked out of Asgard, his immediate reaction is disbelief, even denial, asking Heimdall to teleport him back.

Later, we see him reflect when he admits that he was wrong in his ways and his father had been trying to teach him something. And the overall impact is of course the culmination of his arc with him learning valuable life lessons and earning the worthiness of Mjolnir. So there you have it – reaction, reflection, and payoff.

Cut to Thor3 onwards, a plethora of shitty things happen to Thor here on out. While both Avengers films painstakingly show us the impact they have on him and how he really is losing himself with each blow, Thor3 just doesn’t have any of it. Things happen, they are usually followed by a joke, and then life moves on. Thor never reacts or reflects on any of it. It’s honestly bizarre. The payoff, if any, is in the Avengers films that creates the illustration of wholesomeness when it actually isn’t that way

This is why it irks me when people collectively praise Waititi and Russos for “breaking” Thor when it couldn’t be more untrue. Waititi didn’t put any of the leg work Russos did. He had a good idea and he should be praised for that. But that’s about it.

I put together a list of all the tragedy my guy encounters in the 3 films:

Well, that is a lot of tragedy for one person to go through in their 1500-year-old life. No wonder he was a depressed alcoholic in Avengers4.

1. Odin dies

Quite early on in Thor3, Odin Allfather dies in one of the most awkward scenes in MCU history. Nonetheless, we get a reaction from his son:

He is about to confront Loki for being the cause of Odin’s death, which could have been a great exchange but is conveniently interrupted by the arrival of their sister, Hela. He does have a moment of reflection when he offers his prayers for Odin to rest in peace:

(this was written a few years ago-I added an update to it in italics below)

Chris is the first actor I’ve ever been this drawn too. Yes, his looks are a big draw-it’s no use denying that. But looks don’t “hold” me. There are a lot of hot actors (none as hot as Chris for sure) but looks are a “dime a dozen.”

There is just something special about him.

First, he is just an amazing actor. Chris disappears and you only see the character he’s playing-that’s so rare,esp with someone so attractive-but he has that ability to so completely immerse himself into who he’s portraying.

Secondly, he brought me to Thor. :) My love for Thor and Chris are now separate. I never read comics before I was exposed to Thor thanks to the talents of Mr. Hemsworth but after I saw him in The Avengers, I needed to know more about the god of Thunder and now I am a full fledged comic nerd with a vast knowledge of the comic book world of the Thor and I never would have had that if it hadn’t been for Chris-and he was BORN to play Thor. :)

Third-his personality. As I said earlier-there are a lot of good looking dudes-but if you don’t have a personality behind it, then you don’t hold my attention. First and foremost I love his sense of humor. I love that he’s a big goober and just silly and goofy-that’s my favorite kind of humor-silliness. I love that he’s so in love with his wife and so respectful of her. I love that he loves his family and that he’s close to his brothers. I love his respect for animals/ocean life.

Chris is a rare breed of man. He is an all around class act. In some ways I think that “hinders” him-because he has no scandals attached to him so he has no “draw” the way people crave these days but that’s just fine with me and I’m sure that’s fine with him too.

In this new era of #MeToo, my appreciation for Chris has grown. He is an outspoken feminist. He respects women. He understands the importance of gender equality in his field and in general. There are no scandals surrounding him.

He is an ambassador for the Australian Childhood Foundation. (This is very close to my heart as a CSA survivor myself.)

He speaks up about mental health and has talked about his own struggles with anxiety. (Again, also speaks to me on a personal level.)

And on another personal level, I use him and his movies to “keep going” when I feel like I can’t or don’t want to anymore. I remind myself that I’ll miss the next Chris movie if I’m not here. (Anyone struggling with mental illness/suicidal thoughts understands how important it is to hold on to whatever it is you can when you are in a dark place.) He is one of my anchors that I hold onto when i don’t have anything else left.