The Statement from Broadcasting Board of Governors CEO John F. Lansing Regarding the Russian Federation's Media Law

BBG CEO and Director John F. Lansing

"President Putin has signed a law under which foreign media organizations can be classified as "foreign agents." Russian officials have indicated that, under this law, even more restrictions may be placed on the BBG's networks, including Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and Voice of America (VOA), and their services, including the Current Time television and digital network.

RFE/RL, VOA, and the other networks of U.S. international media will remain committed to our mission, stipulated by U.S. law, to provide accurate, objective, and comprehensive journalism and other content to our global audiences, including in the Russian Federation.

We will study carefully all communications we may receive from Russian authorities concerning our operations. While we will not speculate as to the effect that any new steps by the Russian government will have on our journalistic work, any characterization of such steps as reciprocity for U.S. actions severely distorts reality. Russian media, including RT and Sputnik, are free to operate in the United States and can be, and are, carried by U.S. cable television outlets and FM radio stations. However, U.S international media, including VOA and RFE/RL, are banned from television and radio in Russia.

In addition, our journalists on assignment are harassed by Russian authorities and face extensive restrictions on their work. RFE/RL contributor Mykola Semena recently was sentenced by a Russian court for an article he wrote, and contributor Stanislav Asayev is being held by Russia-backed separatists in Ukraine. RFE/RL journalists were knocked down and kicked while on assignment in Russia's southern region of Krasnodar in March, and VOA correspondent Daniel Schearf has been denied a visa to re-enter Russia. 

The BBG would be pleased if the current focus on reciprocity between Russian and American media ends by giving U.S. outlets – including U.S. international media such as VOA and RFE/RL – the same rights and opportunities in Russia that Russian networks have in the United States."

SOURCE: Broadcasting Board of Governors

Broadcasting Board of Governors Logo (PRNewsFoto/Broadcasting Board of Governors)

Related Articles:

• On The Detainment Of BBG Chair Jeff Shell
• Countering Disinformation 
• US Broadcasting Exec: We Respond to Russian Propaganda with 'Facts'
• John Lansing Named as New Chief of Broadcasting Board of Governors

Bonus Videos:

"Stranger Things" and Neon Cinematography

⏩ The following is the translation of an article originally published in French. If you would like to read this article in its glorious original version (with all its own pics, links, video-clips included,) just scroll down and you will find it just below the translated one... 

Enjoy this bi-lingual journey👍
Loup Dargent

Stranger Things 2 - Eleven Fanart (via DeviantArt)

Begun in 2016, the Stranger Things series is the surprise hit of the Netflix platform. Oscillating work between fantasy, science fiction and slice of life - the name of these drawer intrigues focusing on the everyday lives of characters living in the same place like Twin Peaks - the series of Matt and Ross Duffer pays tribute to the popular culture of the 1980s by resuscitating some of his past glories such as Winona Ryder (Beetlejuice), Sean Astin (the Goonies) or Matthew Modine (Full Metal Jacket).

In its second season, the series is more ambitious in terms of intrigues and themes but also more referential to the era of his diegetic universe. Yet for many years now, many works have challenged themselves to resurrect the 80s with much tribute but also subterfuges sometimes easy. How then can a series like Stranger Things happen almost after the battle and embark on such a venture without necessarily falling into the pitfalls inherent in our time?

The 1980s seen by the years 2000 and 2010  
It is no coincidence that we are talking about the decade of American media, art and cultural overproduction as "Reagan years". The fortieth president of the United States, former actor, is the very symbol of this excess whose color specters still haunt the minds when we pronounce the fateful expression of the 80s. From furious clips of Cyndi Lauper to Steven Spielberg's adventure films to the escapades of the various rockstars of the time, this maelstrom of popular culture is an inexhaustible reservoir for anyone who today would like to represent these ten orgiastic years. At the moment Denis Villeneuve finally offers a sequel to Blade Runner and where those who made the luster of these years disappear gradually, like George Michael or David Bowie, a series like Stranger Things comes at the right time, offering a different vision of the clichés ginned in recent years in different media artistic.

Because the 80s and 80s are often used. The ingredients often used to define an "eighties" atmosphere are generally reduced to colored lighting, music synthesizer, some standards of the time and obsolete gadgets like huge mobile phones, shoes that blink or the hilarious walkman.

Mike and Eleven (via DeviantArt) 

Do we want to represent the real 80s? What did the films of the day leave us in memory of? Or simply a fantasy version of this decade seen by current artists? Implied who did not know the 80s? For a work, whatever the period of which it speaks, says more about that of its production. David Sandberg's short film Kung Fury is the perfect example: released in 2015, this pastiche of 80s action and sci-fi movies uses the extreme of what we call the "Neon cinematography", representing the Reagan years by misusing its motives, even its clichés. With an avalanche of digital effects, Kung Fury do not deceive and the Canada Dry effect is inevitable: it smells of the 80s, it tastes of the 80s, but it is not the 80s, simply an imitation by the year 2010. It does not remove anything that the film remains a true homage not to the cinema of the time but more to the arcade games like Streets of Rage or Double Dragon.

Other audiovisual productions have abandoned digital effects - a real anachronism for the 80's purists - to focus on other elements. Even if the ever-present neon are almost every David Leitch's Atomic Blonde sequence or Owen Harris's "San Junipero" TV movie, fourth episode of Black Mirror season 3 , this is another process that is used to that the spectator feels immediately transported thirty years back: the music.

If the synthesizer instrument-totem of the decade is actually present, it is often the additional tracks taken here and there in various compilations that feed the general atmosphere of these two works: "Atomic Blonde" opens on "Blue Monday" by New wave band New Order and concludes with "Under Pressure" by David Bowie and Freddie Mercury, while "San Junipero" is "Heaven Is a Place on Earth" by Belinda Carlisle. All these reasons so 80s working diegetic placing these works in a particular context: the fall of the Berlin Wall for the film Leitch and a nostalgic utopia populated by nightclubs and arcades, places to neon obviously, for the episode of Black Mirror.

MAD MAX - Stranger Things (via DeviantArt)

Light, color, frenzied rhythms: everything borders on the spatio-temporal journey to the Reagan years. Yet this decade rich in mass cultural successes can be represented much less frontally, more referenced and ultimately much more faithful to reality.

The 80s as at the time  
For Stranger Things, the Duffer brothers and their directors are going to appeal more to the process of happy few, these references resonating with attentive viewers feeling both nostalgic and rewarded for recognizing them: a looser club reminiscent of Stephen King's It released in 1986, these kids going on an adventure on bikes like in The Goonies by Richard Donner in 1985 or the presence of Sean Astin in the cast of season 2 to support a little more the link with the previous work.

Netflix's new flagship series is a melting pot of references sometimes hidden within the narrative construction or themes sometimes openly assumed as evidenced by the episode "Trick or Treat Freak" in which the festivities of Halloween serve as a pretext for showrunners to loudly shout their love of the Ghostbusters franchise, right down to the final twist. Stranger Things does not play the card of the neon colorimetry to anchor itself in a reality fantasized by dint of clichés but prefers to pay tribute to the culture of the time which amounts, in other words, to assume its fictional dimension and to claim oneself as such. After all, except the Blade Runner from Ridley Scott and Roger Donaldson's Cocktail poster, neon lights are not so present in the 80s.

Stranger Things 2 x Ghost Busters Mashup Poster (via DeviantArt)

Like Andres Muschietti's new adaptation of It, Matt and Ross Duffer's series gives pride of place to naturalistic images, with the exception of purely science-fiction sequences, focusing more on everyday life. a small American city in 1984 between bike rides, Dungeons and Dragons evenings and tasting Eggo waffles. Everything is in the detail and not in the bidding of visual effects as is the case for the parody clip "Through the Night" Grum electro group.

Stranger Things Alternative Poster (via DeviantArt)

Everything happens at the production level, in the choice of accessories, costumes and sets, and not in post-production, with a lot of color filters and musical pieces chosen according to their place in the billboard. If some typical sounds ranging from Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time" to The Police's "Every Breath You Take" sporadically get the characters to dance, so does Anthrax's "Trust" revival in It , Stranger Things abandon the quasi-systematic reflex of the vintage jukebox proper to productions that anchor their diegesis in a predefined time. The two creators will also admit in the second episode of the making-of series "Beyond Stranger Things" that the bulk of the musical budget of the second season focuses on the final scene of the Snowball.

Yet, although particularly naturalistic in its desire to represent, resurrect the popular culture of the 80s, Stranger Things, like the new adaptation of It, do not go to the end of his intentions. Digital is always very present, either in the sequences around the portal leading to the lair of the Mind Flayer, the representations of this creature or even the Demogorgon of the first season. In the 1980s, studio sets and animatronic puppets would have replaced this deluge of special effects generated by computers, as can still be witnessed by Joe Dante's Gremlins or ET from Steven Spielberg, these cocoon works that will soon be resurfacing on our screens as the smoke slowly rises from the cups of hot chocolate and the snow falls peacefully into the night lit by the Christmas lights. Usually neon lights.

11 (Eleven) (via DeviantArt)

« Stranger Things » et la Cinématographie des Néons

Affiche promotionnelle de « Stranger Things » saison 2 (Netflix).

Débutée en 2016, la série Stranger Things est le succès-surprise de la plateforme Netflix. Œuvre oscillant entre le fantastique, la science-fiction et le slice of life – du nom de ces intrigues à tiroir se focalisant sur le quotidien de personnages vivant dans un même lieu à l’instar de Twin Peaks – la série de Matt et Ross Duffer rend hommage à la culture populaire des années 1980 en ressuscitant notamment quelques-unes de ses gloires passées comme Winona Ryder (Beetlejuice), Sean Astin (les Goonies) ou encore Matthew Modine (Full Metal Jacket).

Dans sa deuxième saison, la série se veut plus ambitieuse en terme d’intrigues et de thématiques mais également plus référentielle concernant l’époque de son univers diégétique. Pourtant, depuis bien des années maintenant, de nombreuses œuvres se sont lancé pour défi de ressusciter la décennie 80 à grand renfort d’hommages mais aussi de subterfuges parfois faciles. Comment alors une série comme Stranger Things peut-elle arriver presque après la bataille et se lancer dans une telle entreprise sans nécessairement tomber dans les pièges inhérents à notre époque ?

Les années 1980 vues par les années 2000 et 2010
Ce n’est pas un hasard si on parle de la décennie de la surproduction médiatique, artistique et culturelle américaine comme des « années Reagan ». Le quarantième président des États-Unis, ancien acteur, est le symbole même de cette outrance dont les spectres colorés hantent encore les esprits dès lors que l’on prononce l’expression fatidique d’années 80. Des clips endiablés de Cyndi Lauper aux films d’aventure de Steven Spielberg en passant par les frasques des différentes rockstars de l’époque, ce maelström de culture populaire est un réservoir inépuisable pour quiconque voudrait aujourd’hui représenter ces dix années orgiaques. À l’heure ou Denis Villeneuve offre enfin une suite à Blade Runner et où ceux qui ont fait le lustre de ces années disparaissent progressivement, à l’instar de George Michael ou de David Bowie, une série comme Stranger Things arrive à point nommé, proposant une vision différente des poncifs égrenés ces dernières années dans les différents médias artistiques.

Car il y a années 80 et années 80. Les ingrédients souvent employés pour définir une ambiance « eighties » se réduisent généralement à des éclairages colorés, une musique au synthétiseur, quelques standards de l’époque et des gadgets désuets comme d’énormes téléphones portables, des chaussures qui clignotent ou encore l’inénarrable walkman.

Veut-on représenter les années 80 réelles ? Celles que les films de l’époque nous ont laissé en mémoire ? Ou simplement une version fantasmée de cette décennie vue par les artistes actuels ? Sous-entendu qui n’ont pas connu les années 80 ? Car une œuvre, quelle que soit l’époque dont elle parle, en dit davantage sur celle de sa production. Le court-métrage Kung Fury de David Sandberg en est le parfait exemple: sorti en 2015, ce pastiche des films et animés d’action et de science-fiction des années 80 use à l’extrême de ce que l’on désignera comme la « cinématographie des néons », soit le fait de représenter les années Reagan en abusant de ses motifs, voire de ses clichés. Avec une avalanche d’effets numériques, Kung Fury ne trompe pas et l’effet Canada Dry est inévitable: ça sent les années 80, ça a le goût des années 80, mais ça n’est pas les années 80, simplement une imitation par les années 2010. Cela n’enlève en rien que le film demeure un véritable hommage non pas au cinéma de l’époque mais davantage aux jeux d’arcade comme Streets of Rage ou encore Double Dragon.

D’autres productions audiovisuelles ont su délaisser les effets numériques – véritable anachronisme pour les puristes des 80’s – pour se focaliser sur d’autres éléments. Même si les sempiternels néons se retrouvent presque à chaque séquence d’Atomic Blonde de David Leitch ou du téléfilm « San Junipero » d’Owen Harris, quatrième épisode de la saison 3 de Black Mirror, c’est un autre procédé qui est employé pour que le spectateur se sente aussitôt transporté une trentaine d’années en arrière : la musique.

Si le synthétiseur, instrument-totem de la décennie, est effectivement présent, ce sont bien souvent les pistes additionnelles piochées çà et là dans des compilations diverses qui alimentent l’ambiance générale de ces deux œuvres : « Atomic Blonde » s’ouvre sur « Blue Monday » du groupe new wave New Order et se conclue sur « Under Pressure » de David Bowie et Freddie Mercury, tandis que l’hymne de « San Junipero » est « Heaven Is a Place on Earth » de Belinda Carlisle. Tous ces motifs so 80s travaillent à placer la diégèse de ces œuvres dans un contexte particulier : la chute du mur de Berlin pour le film de Leitch et une utopie nostalgique peuplé de discothèques et de salles d’arcade, des lieux à néons évidemment, pour l’épisode de Black Mirror.

Lumière, couleur, rythmes endiablés: tout confine au voyage spatio-temporel à destination des années Reagan. Pourtant, cette décennie riche en succès culturels de masse peut être représentée de façon bien moins frontale, plus référencée et, finalement bien plus fidèle à la réalité.

Les années 80 comme à l’époque

Black Mirror, saison 3, épisode 4 : « San Junipero » (Netflix).

Pour Stranger Things, les frères Duffer et leurs réalisateurs vont davantage faire appel au processus de happy few, ces références qui résonnent face aux téléspectateurs attentifs se sentant à la fois nostalgiques et récompensés de les reconnaître : un club des loosers rappelant celui du It de Stephen King sorti en 1986, ces gamins partant à l’aventure en vélos comme dans The Goonies de Richard Donner en 1985 ou encore la présence de Sean Astin au casting de la saison 2 pour appuyer un peu plus le lien avec l’œuvre précédente.

La nouvelle série phare de Netflix est un melting pot de références tantôt cachées au sein de la construction narrative ou des thèmes abordés tantôt ouvertement assumées comme en témoigne l’épisode « Trick or Treat Freak » dans lequel les festivités d’Halloween servent de prétexte aux showrunners pour crier haut et fort leur amour de la franchise Ghostbusters, et ce jusque dans le twist final. Stranger Things ne joue pas la carte de la colorimétrie au néon pour s’ancrer dans une réalité fantasmée à force de clichés mais préfère rendre hommage à la culture de l’époque ce qui revient, en d’autres termes, à assumer sa dimension fictionnelle et à se revendiquer comme telle. Après tout, hormis le Blade Runner de Ridley Scott et l’affiche de Cocktail de Roger Donaldson, les néons ne sont pas si présents dans les années 80.

Stranger Things, saison 2, épisode 2 : « Trick or Treat Freak » (Netflix).

À l’instar de la nouvelle adaptation de It par Andrés Muschietti, la série de Matt et Ross Duffer fait la part belle aux images naturalistes, si l’on excepte les séquences purement science-fictionnelles, s’attardant davantage sur le quotidien d’une petite ville américaine en 1984 entre balades à vélo, soirées Donjons et Dragons et dégustation de gaufres Eggo. Tout est dans le détail et non dans la surenchère d’effets visuels comme c’est le cas pour le clip parodique « Through the Night » du groupe électro Grum.

Tout se passe au niveau de la production, dans le choix des accessoires, des costumes et des décors, et non en post-production, à grand renfort de filtres de couleur et de morceaux musicaux choisis selon leur place dans le billboard. Si quelques sons typiques allant de « Time After Time » de Cyndi Lauper à « Every Breath You Take » de The Police viennent sporadiquement faire danser les personnages, tout comme la reprise de « Trust » par Anthrax dans It, Stranger Things délaisse ce réflexe quasiment systématique du juke-box vintage propre aux productions qui ancrent leur diégèse dans une époque prédéfinie. Les deux créateurs avoueront d’ailleurs dans le second épisode de la série making-of « Beyond Stranger Things » que l’essentiel du budget musical de la seconde saison se concentre sur la scène finale du Snowball.

Pourtant, bien que particulièrement naturaliste dans sa volonté de représenter, de ressusciter la culture populaire des années 80, Stranger Things, à l’instar de la nouvelle adaptation de It, ne vas pas au bout de ses intentions. Le numérique est toujours très présent, que ce soit dans les séquences aux abords du portail menant à l’antre du Mind Flayer, les représentations de cette créature ou même du Démogorgon de la première saison. Dans les années 80, des décors de studios et des marionnettes animatroniques auraient remplacé ce déluge d’effet spéciaux générés par ordinateurs, comme peuvent encore en témoigner Gremlins de Joe Dante ou encore E.T. de Steven Spielberg, ces œuvres cocons qui bientôt ressurgiront sur nos écrans alors que la fumée s’élèvera doucement des tasses de chocolat chaud et que la neige tombera paisiblement dans la nuit éclairée par les lumières de Noël. Généralement des néons.

Le duel final de la saison 1 : Eleven face au Démogorgon (Netflix). L’utilisation de stroboscopes, justifiée dans la diégèse par le clignotement des ampoules provoqué en présence du monstre, sert également à masquer les éventuels défauts plastiques de la créature en images de synthèse.

About Today's Contributor:
Guillaume Labrude, Doctorant en études culturelles, Université de Lorraine

This article was originally published on The Conversation. 

Other "Stranger Things" Related Articles:

• Legacy Recordings to Release "Stranger Things" Soundtrack
• Stranger Things: Inventiveness In The Age Of The Netflix Original

14 Year Fox News Contributor Tobin Smith and Filmmaker Jen Senko Launch "FIGHT BACK AGAINST FOX NEWS" Crowdfunding Campaign to Publish Book "Fear & UnBalanced" & Distribute "The Brainwashing of My Dad" Documentary

Fight Back Against Fox News

Tobin Smith, a 14 year weekly Fox News on-air veteran contributor, and filmmaker Jen Senko, the writer/director of the acclaimed documentary film "The Brainwashing of My Dad" have joined forces to launch the "Fight Back Against Fox News NOW" public awareness and crowdfunding campaign to:

• Expose the hidden tactics used by FNC producers and Mr. Smith in over 1500 panel on-air opinion debate segments to orchestrate the outcomes of FNC opinion debate programming for the benefit of conservative commentators
• Build public & legislative awareness for recent public health research reports published by Brigham Young University & UC San Francisco that report lethal 45-50% higher rates of premature death for 60+ aged Americans that report high levels of social estrangement and chronic loneliness. ➧The MEDIAN age of a Fox News viewer age is reported by Nielsen to be 68 and the average 70+ aged American watches 50 HOURS of television a week.

"Fair & Unbalanced: Confessions of a Fox News Hitman" - Book cover

Mr. Smith and Ms. Senko's current Fight Back Against Fox News campaign crowdfunding on Indiegogo has raised nearly $7,000 from 130+ backers since November 2 to finance the publication and pre-sell Mr. Smith's tell-all book "Fair & Unbalanced: Confessions of a Fox News Hitman" which will reveal untold and irrefutable evidence that pulls the curtain back on Fox News' promise of "fair and balanced" opinion programming that Mr. Smith participated in that was in fact a rigged outcome production in favor of the conservative partisan commentators.

The campaign will also widely distribute to campaign donors the acclaimed Fox News addiction documentary "The Brainwashing of My Dad" written/directed by Jen Senko and produced by Matthew Modine and Adam Rackoff which details the family damage caused by her elderly father's addiction to Fox News and his hyper-partisan radicalization that resulted from watching 40-50 hours of Fox News programming per week.

Said Mr. Smith, "I didn't understand the scope and magnitude of what I have come to call "Fox News Derangement Syndrome" until I saw Jen Senko's powerful eye-opening documentary "The Brainwashing of My Dad" in early 2017. Later I published my own "Fear & Unbalanced: Confessions of a Fox News Hitman" book preview on Medium.com which received over 120,000 visitors in May 2017. That viral traffic proved to me how extensive concern is over Fox News based hyper-partisan radicalization that has grown exponentially since the launch of Fox News in 1996."

He continued "But it was only after I read hundreds of emails from estranged sons and daughters, brothers and sisters of radicalized parent(s) or family members addicted to Fox News that I really understood the poisonous effect on previously healthy families that results from Fox News Derangement Syndrome."

➧Part of the funds raised for Fight Back Against Fox News crowdfunding campaign will be allocated to launch a public health research project to measure the degree of direct correlation between senior aged family/friend estrangement and lethal rates of chronic loneliness in 60+ aged seniors who watch more than 20 hours of Fox News a week.

"The Brainwashing of My Dad" - Poster

About "The Brainwashing of My Dad" :
(via thebrainwashingofmydad.com)

WAS HILLARY CLINTON CRAZY WHEN SHE SPOKE OF THE “VAST RIGHT-WING CONSPIRACY,” RESPONSIBLE FOR THE RELENTLESS AND COSTLY ATTACKS AGAINST HER HUSBAND, PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON?

As filmmaker, Jen Senko, tries to understand the transformation of her father from a non political, life-long Democrat to an angry, right-wing fanatic, she uncovers the forces behind the media that changed him completely: a plan by Roger Ailes under Nixon for a media takeover by the GOP, The Powell Memo urging business leaders to influence institutions of public opinion -especially the universities, the media and the courts, and under Reagan, the dismantling of the Fairness Doctrine, and The Telecommunications 'Reform' Act signed by Bill Clinton.

As her journey continues, we discover that her father is part of a much broader demographic, and that the story is one that affects us all.

Through interviews with media luminaries, cognitive linguists, grassroots activist groups such as: Noam Chomsky, Steve Rendall, Jeff Cohen, Eric Boehlert, George Lakoff, Carol Wallin from STOP RUSH, HearYourselfThink, Claire Conner and others, “Brainwashing” unravels the plan to shift the country to the Right over the last 30 years, largely through media manipulation. The result has lead to fewer voices, less diversity of opinion, massive intentional misinformation and greater division of our country.

This documentary shines a light on how it happened (and is still happening) and leads to questions about who owns the airwaves, what rights we have as listeners/watchers and what responsibility does our government have to keep the airwaves truly fair, accurate and accountable to the truth.

SOURCE: Fight Back Against Fox News

Bonus Videos:

New Book for 25th Anniversary of X-Men: The Animated Series Reveals Struggle Which Launched One of TV's Most Successful Saturday Morning Superhero Shows.

'Previously On X-Men' - book cover.

X-Men, which ran five seasons on Fox-TV (1992-95), garnered exceptionally high ratings for a Saturday morning cartoon, and earned worldwide critical praise for its dark, serious nature. 

➧The new book Previously on X-Men celebrates the 25th anniversary of the show. 

Co-developer and head writer Eric Lewald provides an in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at the struggles to launch the series and maintain both the quality and themes of the comic books.

X-Men: The Animated Series -  promotional image.

According to Lewald, X-Men: TAS was "the single most successful animated action-adventure series of the last 25 years," both in America and throughout the world. 

He adds, "The series has played in syndication nearly non-stop over the 20 years since it finished its network run, and all five [seasons] of its DVDs are Amazon bestsellers."

But it was not an easy sell to television. "Even a modest-budgeted 'kids show' is a multi-million-dollar risk," Lewald explains. "Network executives must believe they can get a large audience to be profitable, or their jobs – or even the existence of a smaller network – could be in jeopardy. From 1966 to 1989, there had been 11 attempts at Marvel TV series; none were hits. On top of that, the networks' recent successes had been young, light, and funny. X-Men: TAS was older, dark, and intense."

The X-Men Reading 'Previously on X-Men' (Image via xmentas.com)

➧Despite this, Fox-TV decided to take a chance with X-Men. The creative staff's biggest challenge was to remain faithful to the comic books. 

According to Lewald, "For a century, Hollywood told heroic comic-book stories as cheap, short kiddie diversions. As comics evolved in the '70s and '80s into a far more serious storytelling form, Hollywood hadn't noticed. Like Star Trek or Sherlock Holmes, the X-Men had millions of fans, so Mark Edens – who laid out the first 26 stories with me – and I felt a duty to the world of the X-Men to retain its spirit. Luckily, the people with the most say on the project backed us, allowing us to keep the integrity of our vision. Without their support, X-Men could have ended up being X-Babies!

We showed superheroes as realistic adult characters in serious dramas. This was a risk, but the resulting worldwide success helped expand the audience who appreciated the comic books into the hundreds of millions who watched our show.

There were no Marvel movies before our series, despite their success as comics. In the 20 years since we finished our network run in 1997, 'Marvel superhero' has become the most successful category of movies in the world – jumpstarted, appropriately, by the first X-Men movie in 2000. Much as westerns, musicals, and crime dramas had been for decades, 'superhero' is now its own movie and TV genre. X-Men: TAS blazed that trail."

• The new 450-page hardback, Previously on X-Men, is published by Jacobs/Brown Press.

SOURCE: Jacobs/Brown Press

The 'Previously on X-Men' Matching Bookmarkers (image via jacobsbrownmediagroup.com)

Bonus Video:

UK: Let's Stop that Heartless Animal Vote!

A Lamb (image via Avaaz.org)

Dear friends across Britain,

MPs just voted that animals can't feel emotions or pain. It's our government at its most cruel and heartless -- but a massive outcry from the public can overturn this outrage.

EU law protects animal welfare, but as we fumble towards Brexit Britain, MPs just voted to remove this vital safeguard, reducing animals to deaf and dumb creatures that exist purely for our benefit.

The vote narrowly passed in parliament and will go to the Lords -- that’s our chance. If we can create a massive outcry from right across the country, we can give the Lords the backing they need to reject this heartless amendment. 

Add your name, with one click, and tell everyone: 

⏩Lords: Stop the Heartless Animal Vote!⏪

To the House of Lords:

"As citizens across Britain, we are horrified by the parliamentary vote that animals aren’t sentient beings. The vote strips animals of the rights they had under EU law -- and so we urge you to amend the EU Withdrawal Bill when it comes to the House of Lords." 

⏩Lords: Stop the Heartless Animal Vote!⏪

Wagging tails, excited little lambs, cats that nuzzle your arm -- it’s obvious to everyone that animals have feelings and are aware of their surroundings. It’s been proven in over 2,500 scientific studies.

There can only be one reason to deny animal sentience, and that’s to exploit them. Strip away that recognition and there’s no reason to worry about animal testing, barbaric hunting games, and gruesome slaughterhouses. But we won’t have it.

When this bill arrives at the Lords, let’s make sure they have the backing they need to overturn this outrage -- we need to make it massive! Let’s show our government want compassion and humanity looks like -- sign now with one click!

⏩Lords: Stop the Heartless Animal Vote!⏪

There are many beliefs that unite our community across the world, but surely one of the most beautiful is the understanding that we don’t own or rule the planet -- we share it with every other being. It’s why time and again we’ve risen to the challenge of defending animals around the world. Let’s make sure this time isn’t any different.

With hope and determination,

Loup Dargent

On behalf of Mike, Alex, Antonia, Bert and the whole team at Avaaz

One cute baby fox (image via cornwalllive.com)

More information:

• MPs vote 'that animals cannot feel pain or emotions' into the Brexit bill (Independent)
• Yes, Animals Think And Feel. Here's How We Know (National Geographic)
• After 2,500 Studies, It's Time to Declare Animal Sentience Proven (Live Science)

In An Extraordinary Event, Eight Eurythmics Albums Will Be Released On Vinyl In 2018

Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams (Photo Credit: Lewis Ziolek)

One of the most revered and respected pop groups of the 1980s, Eurythmics, with over 20 international hits and 80 million albums sold, is in the spotlight once again, both for their nomination for the 2018 induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the impending re-release of their eight studio albums on vinyl. 

Spanning their entire career, the albums will be released by RCA/Legacy Recordings, the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment between April and October 2018, starting with In The Garden (1981), Sweet Dreams (1983) and Touch (1983) on April 13, 2018, followed by Be Yourself Tonight (1985), Revenge (1986) and Savage (1987) in July 2018 and We Too Are One (1989) and Peace (1999) in October 2018. 

• This will be the first time that Peace will be available on vinyl, as the original release was only available in two formats: CD and cassette.

➧These vinyl titles are available for pre-order now: smarturl.it/EU_Vinylamz

Also new from Eurythmics: an 11-minute unique video "Eurythmix" retrospective compiled and mixed by DJ Earworm and sourced from 23 Eurythmics videos from 1983 to 2005. 

The songs included are: 

• "Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)" 
• "Who's That Girl?" 
• "I Need a Man" 
• "(I Love to Listen to) Beethoven" 
• "Sexcrime (Nineteen Eighty-Four)" 
• "Julia" 
• "Thorn In My Side" 
• "Love Is a Stranger" 
• "It's Alright (Baby's Coming Back)" 
• "Revival" 
• "I Saved the World Today" 
• "Here Comes The Rain Again" 
• "Would I Lie to You?" 
• "There Must Be an Angel (Playing With My Heart)" 
• "Angel" 
• "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves"
• "Missionary Man" 
• "When Tomorrow Comes" 
• "The King and Queen of America" 
• "17 Again" 
• "You Have Placed a Chill in My Heart" 
• "Don't Ask Me Why" 
• "I've Got a Life" 
• and a reprise of "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)"

"In the early '80s, videos were a new and innovative phenomena, offering musical artists the possibility to feature interpretations of their songs through the combined medium of moving imagery and sound," says Lennox. Eurythmics embraced this concept wholeheartedly as a fresh expression of the creative process which came naturally and easily to them. 

EURYTHMIX by EURYTHMICS is a brand-new long form video piece, using excerpts from their prolific creative outpouring throughout the years, representing the broadly eclectic range of the musical and visual legacy created by the duo. It is classic, timeless and visionary.

The Video:

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Dave Stewart and Annie Lennox both have a long relationship with the vinyl format. 

"My dad blew my mind when I was six years old because he built his own Gramophone," says Stewart. "He had the albums for every Rodgers & Hammerstein musical and he switched his homebuilt record player on and you heard this crackling sound and then, 'Boom!' I remember walking to school singing 'I Enjoy Being a Girl.'"

"We had a pink, plastic Dansette record player," recalls Lennox. "Someone gave me some birthday money and the first record I bought was Mary Poppins. It was magical and wonderful. Before that, I used to visit my grandparents and they had a 78rpm record player. I'd go in the attic and find their box of records. I was entranced by The Merry Widow."

➧As for the release of the eight Eurythmics albums on vinyl, Annie calls the event "extraordinary." 

Dave adds, "To buy a vinyl album, you have to have a record player and you have to have speakers, and this is a great thing because that means people are going to listen to your music not on a cell phone, but they're going to listen to it out of a sound system, which is what we all did when we were growing up. The important thing about vinyl releases is that people buy them and actually put them on the turntable and listen to a side, because we chose the tracks to be played in a particular order, and that was really important."

"If you're doing a concert, it has to have a shape," Annie elaborates. "Otherwise, it's just disparate. So we gave a lot of thought to the order of the songs. Dave would write his order and I would write mine. We might shift a song but we would come to an agreement so the listening experience had a continuum on one side and then you would flip the album over."

As for the new vinyl releases, Stewart assures, "They will sound better. In the archives, we have the original half-inch masters, which have a fantastic sound. That's what we're going from, not the digital remasters where the sound has been compressed."

• Listening to the career-spanning set of eight albums, one realizes why Eurythmics were so acclaimed by critics and fans alike, and why they won so many awards, including an MTV Music Video Award for Best New Artist in 1984, a Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group in 1987, three Ivor Novello Awards, a Brit Award in 1999 for Outstanding Contribution to British music (plus 10 more Brit Awards for Stewart and Lennox), a Silver Clef Award in 2000, as well as the duo's 2005 induction into the U.K. Music Hall of Fame and 26 ASCAP Awards to "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" for most performed song of the year.

Now, Dave and Annie are enjoying their nomination for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in America. 

"Being British, we never thought that the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame had anything to do with us," says Stewart. "So when we were nominated, we thought, 'What?!' And then we saw there were other British acts, like Depeche Mode and Dire Straits. They are incredible legends, and we're honored to be nominated." 

"It's lovely and flattering," adds Lennox. 

➧Fans can vote Eurythmics into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame at: bit.ly/1-FanVote

➧The eight Eurythmics studio albums being released on vinyl in 2018 will all feature the original artwork, illustrations and liner notes.

SOURCE: Legacy Recordings

Bonus Videos:

"I Am So Sick Of White Guys: The Coloring Book Experience" Launches In Time For Christmas

“I am So Sick of White Guys: The Coloring Book Experience” launches in time for Christmas

"I am So Sick of White Guys: The Coloring Book Experience" has launched just in time to hit the Christmas stockings of frustrated Americans everywhere. In fact, the political and social situation has become so confounding that even white guys are now sick of white guys!

Authors Jim Corbett and Tim Jones worked with artist Steve Hartley (all from just north of Seattle) to create a collection of cleverly rendered images that clearly capture the current cultural climate and skewer some sacred cows from history, as well.

Each image is accompanied by witty, sarcastic and, yes, sometimes even snarky comments that just might be the elixir you need to help you cope with what is happening to the greatest democracy the world has ever known. (Remember when our elections were decided by that insane thing called the 'Electoral College,' instead of that even more insane thing called, 'Russia?')

Are you tired of whiny white guys complaining that their gigantic piece of the pie is now being nibbled away by interlopers of other colors, races, creeds, non-creeds and even by people from an entirely different gender altogether? Well, it's about time! Are you offended by the 'Pedophiles for Jesus' wing of the Alabama Republican party? So are we! If you agree that the world is ready to hear from the many other voices that make up our multi-ethnic, multi-faceted society, and if you are getting less and less satisfaction from screaming at your TV, then I am So Sick of White Guys could be for you.

Some people have suggested this might not be a good time for a book such as this, but co-author Corbett disagrees saying, "There is a long and healthy tradition of political satire and parody in the United States, and we believe there is no better time than right now to make sure the voices of hatred and exclusivity are turned back."

Jones supported that sentiment pointing out that, "In order to make sure this book is not mistaken for a vehicle of intolerance, ten percent of the profits are being donated to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which devotes its efforts to opposing hate groups."

• The coloring book can be purchased for $10 on Amazon

SOURCE: Sick of White Guys, LLC