#11/19/1986

[remembertheplunge]

The painting I mentioned in my March 30,2024 blog re: Daryl Speicher.

On the back of the painting I wrote the following 2 notes:

Note 1 written on 11/19/1986

“Striking the set” 11/19/1986. A reaction to first weekend of Hand to Hand (volunteer AIDS victim support organization). The AIDS Plague hits.

Note 2: written on 11/29/1987

I later felt this was a picture of Daryl in his last days here. It was a good likeness painted before I met him. He of course was not a couch person ( he was bed ridden the entire time I knew him). But did die 2/3/1987. He was my first match. 11/29/1987. A day of reflection.

[paul-archibald]

Classical Music At The Movies

Classical music in films has long been a staple of the cinema experience and for good reason: music is integral to our emotional experience of film. We’ll look at a few examples where classical music that has made great films even greater and perhaps used in ways that give us a different perspective of the story being told Raging Bull (1980)Pietro Mascagni (1863-1945)Intermezzo from Cavelleria…

[doyoulikethissong-poll]

Nightwish - The Phantom of the Opera 2002

"The Phantom of the Opera" is a song from the 1986 stage musical of the same name, based on the 1910 French novel of the same name by Gaston Leroux, which tells the tragic story of a beautiful soprano, Christine Daaé, who becomes the obsession of a mysterious, masked musical genius living in the subterranean labyrinth beneath the Paris Opéra House. The song was composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with lyrics written by Charles Hart and Richard Stilgoe, and additional lyrics by Mike Batt. The song was originally recorded by Sarah Brightman and Steve Harley, which became a UK hit single in 1986, prior to the musical. Listen to it here! In its theatrical debut, it was sung by Brightman and Michael Crawford in their roles as Christine Daaé and the Phantom. Listen to it here! The Phantom of the Opera was the longest running show in Broadway history, and celebrated its 10,000th performance on February 11, 2012, becoming the first Broadway production in history to do so. It is the second longest-running West End musical, after Les Misérables, and the third longest-running West End show overall, after The Mousetrap. The original West End production at Her Majesty's Theatre, London, ended its run in 2020, its run cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nightwish is a Finnish symphonic metal band from Kitee. The band was formed in 1996 by lead songwriter and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, and former lead singer Tarja Turunen. The band soon picked up drummer Jukka Nevalainen, and then bassist Sami Vänskä after the release of their debut album, Angels Fall First (1997). In 2001, Vänskä was replaced by Marko Hietala, who also took over the male vocalist role previously filled by Holopainen or guest singers.

In 2002, Nightwish released Century Child, along with the singles "Ever Dream" and "Bless the Child". Century Child was certified gold two hours after its release, and platinum two weeks afterwards. It set a record on the Finnish album charts of most distance between a first place album and the second place. An enduring favorite of fans is the band's version of "The Phantom of the Opera". The song was routinely played in concerts until October 21, 2005, when vocalist Tarja Turunen was fired from the band and later replaced with Anette Olzon, whereupon the band announced that they would never play the song live again. This would hold true for 17 years until November 27 and 28, 2022, when Nightwish was joined by Dutch singer Henk Poort on stage at the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam to perform the song. Marko Hietala joined Tarja Turunen at a couple of her solo shows in 2023 to sing "The Phantom of the Opera" with her. They are set to tour together in Spring 2024 in Latin America on Tarja's "Living The Dream – The Hits Tour".

"The Phantom of the Opera" recieved a total of 82,7% yes votes!

[vechter]

jla/titans (1998) #3 // the kids aren't alright, fall out boy // new teen titans (1984) #19 // tales of the teen titans (1984) #59 // outsiders (2003) #16 // outsiders (2003) #1 // stand by me (1986) // titans/young justice: graduation day (2003) #3 // unknown // dc special: the return of donna troy (2005) #2 // titans (1999) #1 // nightwing (2016) #90 // titans (2016) #15 // ivy, frank ocean // teen titans (1996) #12 // titans (2008) #15 // batman chronicles (1995) #7 // outsiders (2003) #11 // a working list of things i will never tell you, jon sands // flash (1987) #210 // flash (1987) #214 // nightwing secret files and origins (1999) #1 // the firm, john grisham // jla/titans (1998) #3

dick + core titans (donna, garth, roy, wally)

[hard--headed--woman]

I know I spent two days without posting any lesbian pride post lol but I swear I'm gonna post two posts per day in the following days to make up for it. I am again going to talk about an artist, but from a different period this time.

Rosa Bohneur !

(I love her name by the way... Bohneur means happiness in french and that's such a pretty name to have)

Marie-Rosalie Bonheur, known as Rosa Bonheur, was born in 1822 in Bordeaux and died in 1899 in Thomery. She was a French painter and sculptor specialising in representations of animals.

She has kind of an interesting family story (mother adopted by a rich guy who found out later who was her real father, siblings all artists, father who met a lot of interesting people, links with many famous people...) but it would be too long to talk about it and I want to focus on Rosa herself. Do check it up if you're interested!

During her youth, Rosa Bonheur had a reputation for being a tomboy, a reputation that followed her throughout her life and which she made no attempt to deny, wearing her hair short and later smoking cigarettes and cigars. Her emancipated lifestyle never caused a scandal, even though she lived in an era that was very concerned with convention. Like all women of her time, Rosa Bonheur had to apply to the Prefecture of Paris for a cross-dressing permit, renewable every six months, in order to wear trousers, in particular to attend livestock fairs, travel or ride horses.

Here's one of her permits, from 1857 :

And though many historians tried to deny the fact that she was a lesbian, she always refused to marry a man, has only ever had relationships with women and literally wrote that she never felt any sort of love, attraction or tenderness for men, "besides a frank and good friendship for those who had all my esteem". After the death of the woman she loved, she also wrote "If I'd been a man, I'd have married her, and they wouldn't have made up all those silly stories..." You got it : even if she didn't shout it from the rooftops, Rosa was very probaby a homosexual woman.

Rosa Bohneur grew up in a fairly wealthy family, thanks to the financial support of her mother's adoptive father. But when her mother's father died, the family was left without any such support, and fell into dire poverty. When Rosa was 11, her mother died, which deeply traumatised her. She kept a lifelong admiration for her mother.

In 1836, at the age of 14, she met Nathalie Micas, who became her lover. Only Nathalie's death 53 years later separated them.

Her father remarried in 1842 to Marguerite Peyrol, with whom he had a last son, Germain, who would also become a painter. Rosa Bonheur did not get on well with her stepmother and when her father died in 1849, she left the family home to live with the Micas.

After her mother's death, Rosa Bonheur went to primary schools, was apprenticed as a dressmaker and then went to boarding school. Eventually her father took her into his workshop, where her artistic talents were revealed. He was her one and only teacher. Gradually, she developed a passion for animal art, which became her speciality.

She exhibited for the first time, at the age of 19, at the Salon of 1841. She won a 3rd class medal at the Salon of 1845, and a 1st class medal (gold) at the Salon of 1848. This award enabled her, at the age of 26, to obtain a commission from the State to produce an agrarian painting (paid 3,000 francs). The painting resulting from this state commission, "Labourage nivernais" was supposed to go to the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Lyon. But it was so successful at the 1849 Salon that the Beaux-Arts department decided to keep it in Paris, at the Musée du Luxembourg. After Rosa Bonheur's death, the work went to the Louvre, before being transferred to the Musée d'Orsay in 1986.

When her father died in March 1849, Rosa Bonheur replaced him as director of the École impériale gratuite de dessin pour demoiselles (or École gratuite de dessin pour jeunes filles). She remained in this position until 1860: ‘Follow my advice and I'll turn you into Leonardo da Vinci in skirts’, she often told her pupils.

In 1860, she moved to a huge house in By, where she had a huge workshop built, and ample space for her animals. One of her relatives wrote: “She had a complete menagerie in her house: a lion and a lioness, a deer, a wild sheep, a gazelle, horses, etc. One of her pets was a young lion she let run around. My mind was freer when this leonine animal died".

In June 1864, Rosa was visited by Empress Eugenie, who invited her to lunch at the Château de Fontainebleau with her husband. The following year, Eugenie returned to see her, to present her with the Legion d'honneur herself. Rosa is the ninth woman and the first artist to receive this distinction. About this, The Empress said :

“At last, you've been knighted. I am delighted to be the godmother of the first woman artist to receive this high distinction. I wanted the last act of my regency to be devoted to showing that, in my eyes, genius has no sex."

She was also the first woman to be made an officer in this order, in April 1894 (first female officer of the Legion d'honneur).

Rosa traveled extensively with her lover Nathalie, herself a painter and mechanical enthusiast (she invented and patented a railway braking system), and painted many pictures inspired by her travels.

In 1889, Nathalie died after some 50 years together. It was then that Rosa expressed her regret at not having been able to marry her.

After Nathalie's death, Rosa met Anna Klumpe, a talented American painter. The two women moved in together some time later.

Rosa Bohneur died of pulmonary congestion in 1899, without having completed her last painting, “La foulaison du blé en Camargue”, a monumental canvas she had planned to exhibit at the 1900 Universal Exhibition.

She is buried in Père Lachaise cemetery, alongside Nathalie, her parents and Anna (who died years after her). She left her entire fortune to Anna, who, in 1908, published a biography of Rosa Bonheur and created a Rosa-Bonheur prize at the Société des artistes français. The Société des Artistes français posthumously awarded her the Medal of Honor shortly after her death.

Rosa could have had military honors at her funeral, but she specified in her will that she did not wish this.

There's a lot of interesting things to say about Rosa, her art and her history, so I suggest you do some research on her! She was a very talented and strong-willed woman who had a huge impact on French art and left a considerable cultural legacy.

Here are some of her paintings :

I personally love them ! I am not a painting expert, I just find them sooo pretty.

See you tomorrow :)

[justbelievinginmagic]

˗ˏˋariadne's threadˎˊ˗ series masterlist

pairing(s): hyunjin x fem!reader, hints of jisung x reader, hints of jisung x hyunjin if you read between the lines; all of the characters are intrigued by the reader tbh

series summary: The tale of the LABYRINTH was by far your favorite book to read - even now in adulthood. Wishing for the goblin king to steal you away was your favorite past-time growing up. Everything changes one stormy night when your wish to be stolen away by the Goblin King comes true and a honeyed blonde fae man appears in your bedroom to whisk you away to be his - body, mind, and soul. Do you take his fantasied offer or shall you fight through his Labyrinth in order to reclaim your humanity & free will?

OR - When tempted by an intoxicating offer by Hyunjin the Goblin King, you fight against him to find your own sense of self once more while in the Labyrinth.

warnings/tags: inspired by the 1986' movie Labyrinth, follows majority of the movie's plot points with divergence, 3rd person POV, use of Y/N, mature topics, strong language, faerie lore!!, all of skz show up, txt cameo that i love, tension, slow burn enemies to lovers, unequal power dynamics, manipulation, fear, faerie drugging, labyrinth runner!reader, goblin king!hyunjin, banished!jisung, hunter!chan, knight!changbin, junkland boss!jeongin, sluagh!minho, boggart!seungmin, gancanagh!felix, selkie!yeonjun, changeling!soobin, knight!hoseok, knight!seokjin, war generals!ateez, more tags to be added.

word count: 75k written; ongoing

part 1 - a deal, a deal, a deal!!! (posted 4/12/24) part 2 - never go that way. (posted 4/15/24) part 3 - onwards & downwards. (posted 4/28/24) part 4 - the oubliette. (posted 5/7/24) part 5 - forwards is backwards. (posted 5/12/24) part 6 - the hunter and the hunted. (posted 5/29/24) part 7 - the wild hunt. (posted 6/5/24) part 8 - a green-eyed monster. (posted 7/30/24) part 9 - the bog. (posted 11/19/24) part 10 - betrayal. (posted 11/22/24) part 11 - as the world falls down. (posted 11/24/24) part 12 - tba!!

extra content for ariadne's thread: how i visualize skz in the world --- (will be updated as more boys are revealed in the story!)

[nightmareinfloral]

Jericho- Where to Read?

Joseph William Wilson (Jericho) is the youngest son of Slade Wilson (Deathstroke) and Adeline Kane. Beneath the cut is a complete list of Joey’s major appearances updated as of January 2024. Most important issues are in bold.

The 1980s:

Tales of the Teen Titans (1984) 42-44, Annual 3, 45-48, 50-52, 56-57, 58

The New Teen Titans (1984) 1-2, 3-5

Crisis on infinite Earths (1985) 3-5, 9, 11

Who’s Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe (1985) 11

The New Teen Titans (1984) 6-10, Annual 1, 11-13, 14-15

The Omega Men (1983) 34-35

The New Teen Titans (1984) 16-17, 18, 22, 24-31

Action Comics (1938) 584

Teen Titans Spotlight (1986) 3-6

Secret Origins (1986) 13

History of the DC Universe (1986) 2

The New Teen Titans (1984) 33-34

Blue Beetle (1986) 11-14

The New Teen Titans (1984) 35-37, Annual 3, 39-49, Annual 4

The New Titans (1988) 50-55

Secret Origins (1986) Annual 3

The New Titans (1988) Annual 5, 57-59

Batman (1940) 440

The New Titans (1988) 60-61

Secret Origins (1986) 46

The New Titans (1988) 62-63

The 1990s:

The New Titans (1988) 64-67

Hawk & Dove (1989) 11-12

The New Titans (1988) 68-69

Who’s Who in the DC Universe (1990) 1

The New Titans (1988) Annual 6

Wonder Woman (1987) 47, 49

The New Titans (1988) 71, 75-79, Annual 7, 80-85. 86

Deathstroke the Terminator (1991) 1-7, 9, 11, Annual 1

Showcase ‘93 (1993) 2

Batman Shadow of the Bat (1992) 34

Deathstroke (1991) 48

JLA/Titans (1998) 1

Nightwing Secret Files and Origins (1999) 1

The Titans (1999) 10

The 2000s:

The Titans (1999) 25, 46

Teen Titans (2003) 2

Batman Gotham Knights (2000) 44

Teen Titans (2003) 3-5, 7-8

Avengers/JLA (2003) 4

Teen Titans (2003) 9, 11-12, 21

Nightwing (1995) 106

DC Special The Return of Donna Troy (2005) 1

Teen Titans/Outsiders Secret Files and Origins (2005) 1

Teen Titans (2003) 33, 39-47, 52

Countdown to Final Crisis (2007) 36

DC Universe: Last Will and Testament (2008) 1

DC Universe Decisions (2008) 3-4

Titans (2008) 6-12

Teen Titans (2003) Annual 1, 69

Vigilante (2008) 5

Teen Titans (2003) 70

Titans (2008) 13

Vigilante (2008) 6

Teen Titans (2003) 77-78

The 2010s:

DC Universe Legacies (2010) 5

Titans (2008) 37-38, Annual 1

Deathstroke (2011) 0, 13, 19-20

New Teen Titans: Games (2011)

Deathstroke (2014) 2-6, 17-20

Convergence New Teen Titans (2015) 1-2

Deathstroke: Rebirth (2016) 1

Deathstroke (2016) 1-3, 6-10, 12-16, 18

Teen Titans (2016) 8

Deathstroke (2016) 19

Teen Titans The Lazarus Contract Special (2017) 1

Deathstroke (2016) 20-25

DC Holiday Special (2017) 1

Deathstroke (2016) 26-27, Annual 1, 28 -32, 34-50

The 2020s:

Dark Knights: Death Metal: The Last Stories of the DC Universe (2020) 1

Batman Black and White (2020) 5

Deathstroke Inc. (2021) 1, 5, 7

Future State Gotham (2021) 12

Tales of the Titans (2023) 2

Thank you to @jerichogender for helping me compile!

[lexi7654]

Reading list #1: Lian Harper (aka: Shoes/Cheshire Cat)

A list of every appearance of Lian Harper. The daughter of Roy Harper and Jade Nguyen. She first appeared in the 80s and has recently made a come back as Cheshire Cat in Gotham!!

Pre-Flashpoint

New Teen Titans (1984): #21

Action Comics (1938): #615, 618, 627-631, 634, 636-637, 639 (Stories: tracks of a killer, the Cheshire Contract, Rocks and Hard Places, Exiles)

Secret Origins (1986): #38

Green Arrow (1988): #75

Batman Plus: Arsenal (1997)

Teen Titans (1996): #20

Arsenal (1998): #1-4

The Titans (1999): #1

The Titans: Secret Files and Origins (1999): #1

The Titans (1999): #5-7, 9-10, 13, 17-19, 21-27, 30-32, 34-35, 37, 39

Teen Titans/Outsiders Secret Files & Origins (2003) (story: Who Was Donna Troy?)

Outsiders (2003): 11, 17-19

DC Special: The Return of Donna Troy (2005): #2

Justice League of America (2006) #1, 12, 17

Green Arrow and Black Canary (2009): #25 (story: Bedtime Stories)

Titans (2008): #19

Justice League: Cry for Justice

Rise and Fall (Crossover storyline)

Convergence: Titans (2015): 1-2

Infinite Frontier

Catwoman (2018): 25-28, 30-32

DC Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration (2021): (Story: Masks)

Catwoman (2018): 35-38, 50

Detective Comics (2016): 1069-1070, 1077-1079

Green Arrow (2023)

[finkuldunkulboydetective]

On Siblings

After Abel - Dante Émile//2. alain robbe-grill it @negaversace//3. A Brother Named Gethsemane - Natalie Diaz//4. Rudo y Cursi (Carlos Cuarón, 2009)//5. Antigone - Sophocles//6. Cain Killing Abel - Pietro Novelli//7. ritika jyala/8. Homecoming (Mark Jean, 1996)//9. My Sister's Keeper - Judi Picoult//10. The Silent Twins (Agnieszka Smoczynska, 2022)//11. Fleabag S2E3//12. When the Curious Girl Realizes She is Under Glass - Bright Eyes//13. Ragnarok S2E6//14. Weight - Jacqueline Woodson//15 Unknown//16. Promise (Glenn Jordan, 1986)//17. Another Travellin' Song - Bright Eyes//18. cupidswurld//19. Blaineunderstudy//20. A Statue of Vincent and Theo Van Gogh By Ossip Zadkine

[remembertheplunge]

Striking the set

On the back of a drawing  of a man on a couch that I “painted”in 1986, I wrote the following;

Over “Striking the Set” November 19, 2086: a reaction to the first weekend Hand to Hand, The Aids Plague hits.

_________________

I later felt this was a picture of Daryl Speicher in his last days here. It was a good likeness painted before I met him. He, of course, was not a couch person. But he did die 2/3/1987.

He was my first match.

11/29/1987 a day of reflection—

________________________________________

June 27, 1987

This is actually a painting of Glen Miller. His beauty so overwhelmed me. His tragic truth so shocked me, and later, his courage in death’s parlor so inspired me.

His mother called today “Glen passed away at 7 or so last night."

The angel of energy visits the couch. The final curtain descends. 

Of the four men on the couch that November day, Glenn is the first to go.

John Hickman died 10/25/1987

Al Adami died July 3, 1987

Joel,still alive and doing very well. Still with life energy.

God Bless them always.

End of entry

Note:

I have had this painting which I entitled “striking the Set” hanging for over 30 years. I took it down today to relocate it, and realized that I had written notes about it on the back of the painting. 

Those notes are included above.

I lived in Sacramento, California from about may of 1986 to August 1987.

While there, I applied to work in an Aids support group called Hand to Hand. I had to be interviewed prior to acceptance. Al Adami interviewed me. I later learned that Al had Aids. I was shocked as the first person I knew who had it. During the training for Hand to Hand, a Doctor who ran the training named Elizabeth and Al did a dying scene for we 15 or so trainees. Elizabeth helped Al “die”.Powerful experience. As Hand to Hand volunteers, we would help people with Aids through their illness and death. 

I am including a photo of the “Striking the Set” painting and what I wrote on the back in the next blog post.

I had been in three plays in 1985-1986. When a play ends, the stage set is dismantled and taken away. This is called “striking the set”.I borrowed  the term for my painting, since Aids in 1986-1987 usually meant striking the set of a life.

Glen Miller’s tragic truth was that  at maybe age 30, he had Aids and was dying. John Hickman and Al Adami were also about my age then, early 30’s.

Glen Miller wanted to live to see his June birthday in 1987.

A group of we Hand to Hand volunteers went to his house. We brought champagne and cake. We sat around his bed once floor and laughed and talked. Glen drank some champagne, ate some cake and seemed to be happy.

As I was arriving at his house someone from in side was playing the song “Michael Row Your Boat Ashore” by the Highwaymen. When I hear that song now, I think of that haunting moment.

[thepastisalreadywritten]

Zhiying Zeng’s eyes begin to sparkle and her gestures become more animated as she recounts the day her lifelong Olympic dream came true.

She had to wait longer than most athletes, too: At 58 years old, Zeng will be one of the oldest Olympians at Paris 2024.

But for Zeng, whose Olympic journey began in China in the 1970s and culminated in qualification for Chile’s table tennis team earlier this year, it was worth the wait.

She had even retired from professional table tennis aged 20 – something which allowed her the opportunity to uproot her life in Asia and move across the Pacific Ocean to Chile – and at one stage went almost 20 years without playing.

“It was the biggest dream of my life,” she tells CNN Sport with a thick, unmistakable Chilean lilt.

“Even when I was a little girl and they would ask me what my dream was, I would say: ‘Become an Olympian.’”

Chile has now been Zeng’s home for 35 years and she is as Chilean as they come.

She is known in her adopted country as ‘Tania’ – because Chileans struggle pronouncing the Z in her name – and her favorite dish is pantruca, a kind of dumpling soup.

She also eats beans, a staple of the Chilean diet, every week.

Zeng loves empanadas, too, but doesn’t indulge too much now that she’s an elite athlete again. “Too many calories,” she laughs.

From China to Chile

Zeng was born in Guangzhou in 1966 and picked up a paddle almost as soon as she was physically able.

Her mother was a table tennis coach, which meant the then-government housed the family next to a sports complex, allowing Zeng to train every day and surround herself with professional players.

She was trained by her mother until the age of nine when, Zeng says, she became a typical grumpy child that didn’t want to be coached by a parent.

So her mother enrolled her in a school that employed a table tennis coach and after nearly two years, aged 11, she entered an elite sports academy.

Even in China, by far the world’s most dominant table tennis nation, Zeng’s talents were evident from an early age.

She became a national junior champion and won several regional tournaments before turning professional at the age of 12.

When she was 16, she was called up to the Chinese table tennis team for the first time.

“So many players in China have that dream because it’s so hard to achieve,” she says.

However, in 1986, two years before table tennis made its Olympic debut at the Games in Seoul, the “two color rule” was introduced, meaning the two sides of the paddle now had to be different colors instead of both black.

Zeng explains that the two faces of the paddle produce different types of effects on the ball and she would regularly rotate it in her hand to confuse opponents.

The different colored faces meant opponents could better predict her shots.

“The change of rules affected my game a lot,” she recalls. “That’s when I had a big downturn and left the national team.”

It was a painful moment for Zeng, who says she idolized players who were not much older than her that had already become Asian or world champions, and she was desperate to follow in their footsteps.

But the rule change paved the way for the next chapter in Zeng’s remarkable story.

In 1989, she received an invitation to coach schoolchildren in Arica, a city in northernmost Chile.

It was a job she adored, but it wasn’t until 2003 that she picked up the paddle to play competitive table tennis again.

She wanted to introduce her son, who was 13 at the time, to the sport in order to drag him away from playing too many video games and watching too much television.

In 2004 and 2005, Zeng comfortably won two national tournaments but once again stopped playing when her son was old enough to go to training on his own and travel with the team’s coach.

Third time’s a charm

Zeng only picked up a paddle again when the Covid-19 pandemic struck.

“More than anything, just to exercise because we weren’t doing anything locked down in the house except eating!” she laughs.

“I got the bug and, once we were able to leave, I immediately wanted to play against someone to see what level I was at – and see if I could I still run or not.”

She contacted the federation in Iquique, where she lives today and owns a furniture business, and was soon playing – and winning – regional tournaments against mostly men given there were few female players.

“That gave me a lot of confidence,” she says.

“I had no problems with running, with fatigue or anything. I wanted to know how much more I could do.”

In 2022, the Chilean Table Tennis Federation sent an announcement to the regional associations that it was hosting a tournament to put together a team for the 2023 South American Table Tennis Championships.

Despite her success, Zeng was skeptical about going.

All of the best players in the country would be there and she doubted that she would be able to keep up.

In the end, she only went because a friend managed to convince her.

“‘Go and find out if you can compete or not. If not, at least you’ll be left with no doubts,’” she recalls her friend telling her. “I thought she had a point.”

Zeng qualified for the team, of course, and led Chile to first place in the team tournament, while also coming second in the singles and women’s doubles.

“I forgot what I was afraid of and what I was worried about,” she says.

But it wasn’t until the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago that her life really changed.

After her first appearance at the tournament, Zeng became a national icon overnight.

After losing the first two sets in her opening match, Zeng rattled off four straight to win 4-2 in front of her new adoring fans.

Chileans gave her the nickname ‘Tia Tania’ – Auntie Tania – and the AP reported that one young fan said he had gone just to watch the “table tennis grandma.”

Even Chilean President Gabriel Boric became a fan and congratulated her on a “tremendous” victory.

Zeng, who will play Lebanon’s Mariana Sahakian in the preliminary rounds of Paris 2024 on Saturday, says being in Santiago as an athlete during the Pan Am Games was a surreal experience.

She spent much of her time with other athletes, going out to dinner and taking photos.

“I lived like that when I was 15,” she says, recalling her time as a professional in China.

“It had been a long time since I experienced something like this. I was like an excited teenager again. I forgot I was 56!”

It proved to be a successful tournament on the table, too, as Zeng won team bronze for Chile alongside Daniela Ortega and Paulina Vega.

Zeng’s sons also noticed that her Instagram following had grown by almost 10,000 in a matter of days and had to teach her how to use social media, so she could keep her hordes of new fans updated.

Finally, 38 years after she gave up on her Olympic dream, Zeng qualified for Paris 2024 at a pre-Olympic qualifying tournament in Lima, Peru, in May this year.

Zeng says she didn’t sleep at all the night before the deciding game as she played out every imaginable scenario in her head.

On match point, when she went to collect the ball, her mind again began to run wild.

“Calm, calm,” Zeng, who says mental fortitude is her biggest asset in table tennis, repeated to herself. “You’ve got one more point.”

After winning match point, the emotion of everything she had experienced in the sport came flooding out.

Her father, who is 92 and regularly visits her in Chile, and her brother stayed up until 5 a.m. in China to watch the match, while her husband and friends were in Lima to celebrate the moment with her.

“My dad was able to see his daughter qualify for the Olympics,” she says, visibly emotional.

“He used to take me to training and to matches when I was a girl and now at 57, I made it. I made it.”

[zahri-melitor]

How old are the bats supposed to be?

During which period? There are variations depending on what time period you're reading.

Pre-Crisis? As at COIE, characters are roughly these ages:

Bruce is in his early 30s

Barbara is in her mid 20s

Dick is 19 or just 20 (depends which side of Crisis you put NTT18)

Jason is 13ish years old

Post-Crisis? (1986-2011) This is the clearest and most consistent period, with regular markers of the progress of time. As at Flashpoint, characters are about these ages:-

Bruce is probably 42

Barbara is in her mid-late 20s

Helena B. is in her mid-late 20s

Kate Kane is in her mid-late 20s (at MOST. Her timeline doesn't make sense otherwise)

If JPV was alive, he'd be 25ish

Dick is about 24-25

Cass is 20 years old

Jason is 19 years old

Steph is 18 years old

Tim is 17 years old and probably about to turn 18

Damian is 10 years old

(the middle kids' ages are all based on Tim being close to a birthday. Cass is 6 months older than Jason, Jason's birthday is a month after Tim's. If Tim's a long way from a birthday, Cass may still be 19)

Then we get the New 52 (2011-2016) and everyone's ages are indeterminate but young! This is my best approximation from not enough age markers and the entire period being about a year in-universe.

Bruce is somewhere between 28-32 (deep sigh)

Kate Kane is probably about 28 years old (it depends on how old Bruce is and how old he was when his parents died; she's younger than he is but not by much)

Julia Pennyworth is in her mid 20s

Barbara is 22-23 years old

Dick is 22 years old

Jason is 20-21 years old, and definitely 21 by the end of the period (SIGH)

Luke Fox is about 20 years old

Tim is 16 years old

Cass is an indeterminate teenage age, probably 16-17

Steph is 16 years old

Harper is 16-17 years old

Duke is, you guessed it, 16ish years old

Damian is 10-11 years old

This is why I don't like New 52 ages.

As of Rebirth (2016 to date), the timeline gets about 10-12 years reinserted in it and some sanity in terms of ages and age gaps starts to re-emerge (though it's clumpy and there's a lot of varying indications). At present characters are approximately these ages:-

Bruce is in his mid 40s

Kate Kane sure is An Age. She's probably about 28-30, unless she's in her late 30s/early 40s (look. Kate's age makes absolutely no sense. Do not look at it too closely. Her timeline is not coherent matched against anyone else's, given the requirement she was kicked out of West Point)

Barbara is probably around 30ish

Dick is about 28-30 years old

Jason is probably about 23-25 years old depending on timeline and writing.

Luke Fox? I haven't sussed out what they've done to all the Fox Kid Ages again in the wake of John Ridley's retcons. He appears to be in his 20s right now.

Cass is supposed to be 23-24 years old but may be written anywhere down to 16.

Steph is somewhere between 19-22, depending on if the writers remember she's not 16 today

Tim is probably anywhere between 18/19 (practical lower limit) and 21 years old

Duke is probably still around 17-19 years old

Damian is 14.

This whole section is messy as the only definite age we have at the moment is Damian being 14. It's mostly assumed that ages have returned to the Post-Crisis gaps, except where noted otherwise (Tim probably lost 1-2 years in his age gap to Damian as of Rebirth, as he is definitely 16 years old at the start of Rebirth. Jason seems to have kept a extra year or few in his gap to Tim, rather than it being 2 years)

[will80sbyers]

STRANGER THINGS 5 PRODUCTION MASTERPOST

Links to 001 and 002 and 004

Part 003:

April 10 / 2024

They were filming at the Hawkins school again

April 11 / 2024

Filming in a new location & again

April 12 / 2024

New pictures around the mansion and of the van ( Joyce is driving it ) and Steve's car with the antenna + the radio station

Hints that the song Boys don't cry by The Cure is being used in s5 ? Or maybe Will is there on set?

New pictures of the mansion

New post from Ross Duffer - they are completing the writing of the last episode

April 13 / 2024

Shawn Levy will direct one of the last episodes but not the finale

New picture of Will on the roof of one of the buildings at the radio station, during the night - he seems to have the same shirt he had when he was at the mansion

My speculation about this scene

New pictures from the radio station

April 14 / 2024

New pictures from almost inside the mansion, the extra/standins are involved

Linda Hamilton's character will be in the first episode of season 5

April 15 / 2024

New video of the mansion during filming and pictures, it seems there's an action scene, ( maybe Joyce brings down the pole with her car while she speeds ??? )

I slowed down the video and I think those are Jonathan and Nancy's doubles

More screenshots of Joyce and Jonathan's doubles & maybe Nancy's

Ted Wheeler's actor talks about Ted in s5

April 17 / 2024

The St official Instagram channel posts pictures from the set, a picture of Mike that seems to have the frame broken, with two records under it of The swiss family Robinson and Treasure Island + some VHS movies in Mike's basement, a picture of all the bikes they are using, a picturw of Hawkins map and a walkie talkie + someone of the crew inside the Radio station bunker

April 18 / 2024

One of the writers talks about Season 5 in a podcast

April 19 / 2024

New pictures from the Hawkins memorial hospital

The picture of the person that's injured on their leg was taken inside the hospital

April 20 / 2024

Pictures from inside Hawkins lab after the crew left and removed the vines

Pictures of downtown Hawkins

April 22 / 2024

Video from a youtuber that went to look in various locations of filming

Pictures from that video

The production is painting the Creel house so maybe we'll have flashbacks there again

There's rumours that Holly has been recasted with the actress Nell Fisher, Holly will have a more active role and has even a stunt actor

April was probably the audition for Holly with a fake name

My interpretation of the possible timeline from what we have now from all the leaks

April 23 / 2024

The Instagram channel posts a video of the crew transporting vines of the upside down

They are filming at Hawkins school but they will go back to the radio station

April 25 / 2024

The possible Episode titles of season 5!! (Not 100% confirmed because they have fake names sometimes) Ep. 2 is possibly called The vanishing of _____ Wheeler, I think that if this is a real name for the episode then it's Holly because she's been recasted and has a action scenes

They were filming at the radio station for night shoots with action

April 26/ 2024

They were filming at the radio station

Pictures from the set: 1 / 2

The Instagram Channel posts a video of the make up crew having fun and in the background it looks like they have wigs that may be for flashbacks to 1986 at rink o mania

A video of a recording of the night shoots (probably from the 25th of April ) with someone (they say it was Will - but it could also sound like Jonathan or Dustin) screaming at someone else ( they say Steve, but it could be Mike ) to Run!!!! - seems like they are being attacked

Another video

Speculation + a new monster being spotted ?

April 28 / 2024

Maya(Robin) talks about Robin in season 5, she will have a mentor relationship with one of the younger kids etc

Video of Maya saying he'll have interactions with new people in s5 and mentoring one of the kids (Will)

April 29 / 2024

The ST channel on iG posts a video of Max on set, dressed in her hospital gown

Tate100t posts pictures from the Hawkins high ST location

April 30 / 2024

We get 100% confirmation that part of season 5 will be set in 1997 from this prop fount on set from people that broke in the hospital set

Pictures from inside the hospital set

Video from inside the hospital set

Second video from the hospital set

Screenshots from the video

May 2 / 2024

They are preparing the Creel house set and there's a big mirror in it

May 4 / 2024

Pictures from the farm set

BIG (POSSIBLE) SPOILER FOR THE PLOT OF SEASON 5 READ AT YOUR OWN RISK - A character gets hurt - the spoiler MAY be fake but idk

May 8 / 2024

TateBrookins7 on twitter posts pictures and a video of (possibly) Joyce on the farm set

Tate posts pictures from inside the Hawkins high school set

Other pictures from the set, maybe a new house for the Byers?

May 11 / 2024

Filming at the Hawkins downtown set

May 12 / 2024

ST channel on ig post a picture of Joyce's set chair lmao

Random pics of the blue wsqk van and the creel house plus UD pictures (?)

New pics from the Hawkins high school always from Tate

May 13 / 2023

People that broke in the school set found a backpack that had a patch from 1988

Video of it

Tate's video of the school

What I found interesting from the video

Video of Joyce(?) walking and maybe Will (?) on the farm set

Steve was inside the radio station set in the first episode

May 14 / 2024

Various news from production, maybe they are making a documentary about st5

May 15 / 2024

Casting is looking for people experts in hematology to play nurses, may be connected to a blood infection that may be spreading from the UD

Extras filming at the school + military

May 17 / 2024

Ross posts a FIRST LOOK AT JONATHAN BYERS, plus Nancy and Steve + Robin at the farm set + that random new character called Derek that's supposedly a 10yo child with the colorful sweater, the shoe picture it's him, but the person in the background is a double for the real actor - transformers stuff, GIjoe stuff, WSQK van, pictures from ep. 4 when Nancy and Steve and Dustin etc end up in the UD somehow

UpsideDownPictures on ig posts pics of the writers in a place that looks like it could be part of the Tunnels from s2 or new tunnels

May 20 / 2024

Tate posts new pics from the Hospital set

May 21 / 2024

ST channel on ig posts this and I think at this point a Will & Robin interaction is confirmed

Maya leaks part of the script and some people online have posted their ''deciphering'' of it:

version one

version two

in any case, Mike and Robin interaction is confirmed, tunnels are involved!

May 22 / 2024

Hawkinsfamilyphoto leak video of the set, a battle is going on

May 23 / 2024

New set of a church is being used for something + they are making the Creel playground again probably for either flashbacks or visions

The UD is taking over Hawkins maybe?

Next aka part 004

Go back to Part 001 / 002

[suddenlymicah]

death note birthdates(dd/mm/yyyy)

for most of these i used aliases, but for characters commonly known as otherwise (jack neylon/kal saydar) i used the more common of the two. these were all retrieved from volume 13: how to read, as well as being in the order they are stated. please please please tell me if i got something wrong!!!

Light Yagami, 28/02/1986

L, 31/10/1979

Mello, 13/12/1989

Near, 24/08/1991

Misa Amane, 25/12/1984

Teru Mikami, 07/06/1982

Kiyomi Takada, 12/07/1985

Soichiro Yagami, 12/07/1955

Touta Matsuda, 14/12/1978

Shuichi Aizawa, 11/05/1969

Kanzo Mogi, 12/07/1973

Hideki Ide, 29/09/1969

Hirokazu Ukita, 09/11/1977

Sayu Yagami, 18/06/1989

Sachiko Yagami, 10/10/1962

Raye Penber, 31/12/1974

Naomi Misora, 11/02/1976

Aiber, 17/07/1969

Wedy, 02/11/1974

Watari, 01/05/1933

Matt, 01/02/1990

Roger Ruvie, 29/04/1939

Kyosuke Higuchi, 06/06/1972

Reiji Namikawa, 03/08/1974

Takeshi Ooi, 31/03/1961

Shingo Mido, 25/01/1972

Eiichi Takahashi, 19/12/1963

Suguru Shimura, 21/07/1968

Masahiko Kida, 20/10/1971

Arayoshi Hatori, 22/03/1971

Anthony Rester, 06/01/1968

Stephen Gevanni, 01/09/1982

Halle Lidner, 18/02/1980

Rod Ross, 13/04/1968

Kal Saydar, 23/02/1973

Hitoshi Demegawa, 04/04/1966

[idontwanttospoiltheparty]

Preliminary Paul album ranking

INCLUDING Wings and cover albums, not including Broad Street, classical stuff, whatever you count The Family Way and Thrillington as, or The Fireman.

I will be relistening to the whole damn thing between now and December and may revise this but here's what I'm feeling right now. Again, there's recency bias here but Whatever.

I don't hate any of these btw please don't come at me – however I would be excited to discuss and debate.

25. CHOBA B CCCR (1988)

24. Run Devil Run (1999)

23. McCartney III (2020) (← probably my hottest take + most likely to be subject to change but it's how I feel right now)

22. Press To Play (1986)

21. Driving Rain (2001)

20. Off The Ground (1993)

19. Wild Life (1971)

18. Wings at the Speed of Sound (1976)

17. Kisses on the Bottom (2012)

16. London Town (1978)

15. Pipes of Peace (1983)

14. Red Rose Speedway (1973)

13. Back To The Egg (1979)

12. Flaming Pie (1997)

11. Flowers in the Dirt (1989)

10. McCartney (1970)

9. Memory Almost Full (2007)

8. New (2013)

7. Egypt Station (2018)

6. McCartney II (1980)

5. Venus & Mars (1975)

4. Tug of War (1982)

3. Ram (1971)

2. Chaos and Creation in the Backyard (2005)

1. Band on the Run (1973)

[morbidology]

Over a span of just 10 days in August 2013, Nikko Jenkins unleashed a wave of violence that left four people dead in Omaha, Nebraska. His crimes, which he claimed were carried out under the influence of an Egyptian serpent god, have sparked intense debate about the criminal justice system, mental health, and the death penalty.

Nikko Allen Jenkins was born on September 16, 1986, into a family with a long history of criminal activity. Raised in a chaotic and often violent environment in Omaha, Jenkins was exposed to crime and dysfunction from a young age. By the time he was a teenager, Jenkins had already begun his journey into the criminal justice system, with numerous arrests and convictions for robbery, assault, and weapons charges.

Jenkins' time in prison only seemed to deepen his violent tendencies. During his incarceration, he became known for his erratic behavior, frequent outbursts, and disturbing beliefs, including his purported devotion to the Egyptian serpent god Apophis. He spent significant time in solitary confinement, where his mental health reportedly deteriorated further.

After serving more than a decade in prison, Jenkins was released on July 30, 2013. Less than a month later, he would begin his brutal killing spree.

On August 11, 2013, Jenkins committed his first murders. The victims, Juan Uribe-Pena and Jorge C. Cajiga-Ruiz, were lured to a park in Omaha under the pretense of meeting women. Once there, Jenkins shot and killed them both, leaving their bodies in a white pickup truck. The crime shocked the community, but it was only the beginning of Jenkins' rampage.

On August 19, Jenkins struck again, murdering Curtis Bradford, a man he had met in prison and briefly reunited with after his release. Jenkins lured Bradford to a location where he shot him in the back of the head. The next day, on August 21, Jenkins committed his final and most high-profile murder, killing Andrea Kruger, a 33-year-old mother of three. Kruger was abducted at a traffic intersection, and Jenkins later shot her multiple times before leaving her body on a rural road. He then stole her car, which was found abandoned a short time later.

Jenkins was arrested on August 30, 2013, during an investigation into a separate assault. Once in custody, Jenkins quickly confessed to all four murders. His confessions were chilling, as he claimed that he had been commanded to kill by the serpent god Apophis, whom he believed required human sacrifices. He described the murders in graphic detail, showing no remorse for his actions.

During his interrogation, Jenkins also made disturbing statements about his intentions to continue killing if he were released. These confessions, coupled with the brutality of his crimes, led to widespread calls for the harshest possible punishment.

Jenkins' case quickly became a lightning rod for controversy, particularly regarding his mental state and the handling of his incarceration. His defense team argued that Jenkins suffered from severe mental illness, including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and that he was not competent to stand trial. They contended that his prolonged time in solitary confinement exacerbated his mental health issues, leading to the violent delusions that fueled his crimes.

Despite these arguments, Jenkins was found competent to stand trial. In 2014, he was convicted of four counts of first-degree murder, along with several other charges related to his killing spree. The trial was marked by bizarre and unsettling behavior from Jenkins, who repeatedly insisted that he was acting on the orders of Apophis. He even attempted to mutilate himself in court. Jenkins carved 666 into his forehead, and sliced his penis and tongue up the middle, believing it would make him appear more serpent-like.

In May 2017, Jenkins was sentenced to death by a three-judge panel.