#AMS soil samplers

[carbonbulksales4]

Carbon Bulk Sales

We are the most trusted site for bulk carbon sales, carbon services, and sales of handheld equipment. We are a leading distributor of Solinst water level meters, RAE Systems handheld equipment, AMS soil samplers, Proactive groundwater pumps and more.

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[carbonbulksales11]

Carbon Bulk Sales

We are the most trusted site for bulk carbon sales, carbon services, and sales of handheld equipment. We are a leading distributor of Solinst water level meters, RAE Systems handheld equipment, AMS soil samplers, Proactive groundwater pumps and more.

Our helpful staff is ready to help answer any of your questions or concerns. We are open Monday through Friday from 8:00AM to 5:00PM.

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[carbonbulksales03]

Carbon Bulk Sales

We are the most trusted site for bulk carbon sales, carbon services, and sales of handheld equipment. We are a leading distributor of Solinst water level meters, RAE Systems handheld equipment, AMS soil samplers, Proactive groundwater pumps and more.

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[carbonbulksales2]

We are the most trusted site for bulk carbon sales, carbon services, and sales of handheld equipment. We are a leading distributor of Solinst water level meters, RAE Systems handheld equipment, AMS soil samplers, Proactive groundwater pumps and more.

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[cassandraclare]

Prologue and first chapter of Chain of Gold!

The prologue and first chapter of Chain of Gold are now available to read! You can check out the prologue below, in which a young Lucie Herondale makes a surprising discovery. The link to Chapter One is included at the end of it. Those of you who have seen the earlier chapter sampler may still want to check it out, as the prologue wasn’t originally included in the sampler, and changes have been made to Chapter One since the old copy came out.

Prologue

DAYS PAST: 1897

Lucie Herondale was ten years old when she first met the boy in the forest.

Growing up in London, Lucie had never imagined a place like Brocelind. The forest surrounded Herondale Manor on all sides, its trees bent together at the tops like cautious whisperers: dark green in the summer, burnished gold in the fall. The carpeting of moss underfoot was so green and soft that her father told her it was a pillow for faeries at night, and that the white stars of the flowers that grew only in the hidden country of Idris made bracelets and rings for their delicate hands.

James, of course, told her that faeries didn’t have pillows, they slept underground and they stole away naughty little girls in their sleep. Lucie stepped on his foot, which meant that Papa swept her up and carried her back to the house before a fight could erupt. James came from the ancient and noble line of Herondale, but that didn’t mean he was above pulling his little sister’s plaits if the need arose.

Late one night the brightness of the moon woke Lucie. It was pouring into her room like milk, laying white bars of light over her bed and across the polished wood floor. She slipped out of bed and climbed through the window, dropping lightly to the flower bed underneath. It was a summer night and she was warm in her nightdress.

The edge of the forest, just past the stables where their horses were kept, seemed to glow. She flitted toward it like a small ghost. Her slippered feet barely disturbed the moss as she slid in between the trees.

She amused herself at first by making chains of flowers and hanging them from branches. After that she pretended she was Snow White fleeing from the huntsman. She would run through the tangled trees and then turn dramatically and gasp, putting the back of her hand to her forehead. “You will never slay me,��� she said. “For I am of royal blood and will one day be queen and twice as powerful as my stepmother. And I shall cut off her head.”

It was possible, she thought later, that she had not remembered the story of Snow White entirely correctly.

Still, it was very enjoyable, and it was on her fourth or fifth sprint through the woods that she realized she was lost. She could no longer see the familiar shape of Herondale Manor through the trees.

She spun around in a panic. The forest no longer seemed magical. Instead the trees loomed above like threatening ghosts. She thought she could hear the chatter of unearthly voices through the rustle of leaves. The clouds had come out and covered the moon. She was alone in the dark.

Lucie was brave, but she was only ten. She gave a little sob and began to run in what she thought was the right direction. But the forest only grew darker, the thorns more tangled. One caught at her nightdress and ripped a long tear in the fabric. She stumbled—

And fell. It felt like Alice’s fall into Wonderland, though it was much shorter than that. She tumbled head over heels and hit a layer of hard-packed dirt.

With a whimper, she sat up. She was lying at the bottom of a circular hole that had been dug into the earth. The sides were smooth and rose several feet above the reach of her arms. She tried digging her hands into the dirt that rose on every side of her and climbing up it the way she might shinny up a tree. But the earth was soft and crumbled away in her fingers. After the fifth time she’d tumbled from the side of the pit, she spied something white gleaming from the sheer side of the dirt wall. Hoping it was a root she could climb up, she bounded toward it and reached to grasp it. . . .

Soil fell away from it. It wasn’t a root at all but a white bone, and not an animal’s . . .

“Don’t scream,” said a voice above her. “It’ll bring them.”

She threw her head back and stared. Leaning down over the side of the pit was a boy. Older than her brother, James—maybe even sixteen years old. He had a lovely melancholy face and straight black hair without a hint of curl. The ends of his hair almost touched the collar of his shirt.

“Bring who?” Lucie put her fists on her hips.

“The faeries,” he said. “This is one of their pit traps. They usually use them to catch animals, but they’d be very pleased to find a little girl instead.”

Lucie gasped. “You mean they’d eat me?”

He laughed. “Unlikely, though you could find yourself serving faerie gentry in the Land Under the Hill for the rest of your life. Never to see your family again.”

He wiggled his eyebrows at her.

“Don’t try to scare me,” she said.

“I assure you, I speak only the perfect truth,” he said. “Even the imperfect truth is beneath me.”

“Don’t be silly, either,” she said. “I am Lucie Herondale. My father is Will Herondale and a very important person. If you rescue me, you will be rewarded.”

“A Herondale?” he said. “Just my luck.” He sighed and wriggled closer to the edge of the pit, reaching his arm down. A scar gleamed on the back of his right hand—a bad one, as if he had burned himself.

“Up you go.”

She grasped his wrist with both her hands and he hauled her up with surprising strength. A moment later they were both standing. Lucie could see more of him now. He was older than she’d thought, and formally dressed in white and black. The moon was out again and she could see that his eyes were the color of the green moss on the forest floor.

“Thank you,” she said, rather primly. She brushed at her nightdress. It was quite ruined with dirt.

“Come along, now,” he said, his voice gentle. “Don’t be frightened. What shall we talk about? Do you like stories?”

“I love stories,” said Lucie. “When I grow up, I am going to be a famous writer.”

“That sounds wonderful,” said the boy. There was something wistful about his tone.

They walked together through the paths under the trees. He seemed to know where he was going, as if the forest was very familiar to him. He must be a changeling, Lucie thought wisely. He knew a great deal about faeries, but was clearly not one of them: he had warned her about being stolen away by the Fair Folk, which must be what had happened to him. She would not mention it and make him feel awkward; it must be dreadful to be a changeling, and to be taken far away from your family. Instead she engaged him in a discussion about princesses in fairy tales, and which one was the best. It hardly seemed any time at all before they were back in the garden of Herondale Manor.

“I imagine this princess can make her own way back into the castle from here,” he said with a bow.

“Oh, yes,” said Lucie, eyeing her window. “Do you think they’ll know I was gone?”

He laughed and turned to go. She called after him when he reached the gates.

“What’s your name?” she said. “I told you mine. What’s yours?”

He hesitated for a moment. He was all white and black in the night, like an illustration from one of her books. He swept a bow, low and graceful, the kind knights had once made.

“You will never slay me,” he said. “For I am of royal blood and will one day be twice as powerful as the queen. And I shall cut off her head.”

Lucie gave an outraged gasp. Had he been listening to her, in the woods, playing her game? How dare he make fun of her! She raised a fist, meaning to shake it at him, but he had already vanished into the night, leaving only the sound of his laughter behind.

It would be six years before she saw him again.

Click here to read Chapter One over at Riveted Lit!

(You need an account to read, but it’s free to sign up.)

[jackoshadows]

The Expanse and GOT Spoilers.

I have been doing The Expanse re-watch to prepare for the best season ever - season 5 - starting on the 16th. And the writing is so good, even for the secondary characters and their relationships. I can’t help but compare it to the garbage writing on the more popular Game of Thrones.

Watching season 3, and the character dynamics between Camina Drummer and Klaes Ashford is what I think Benioff and Weiss wanted between Jon Snow and Sansa Stark in seasons 6 and 7. There is a tug of war for power and leadership between Drummer and Ashford and the same holds true for Jon and Sansa. Scene for scene there are parallels of the conflict between the characters on both shows.

But context matters. Drummer and Ashford actually work because she’s the new, younger leader in charge of the Behemoth and Ashford is the older, more experienced leader who thinks he should lead because of his experience. On the other hand, it does not work at all with Jon and Sansa. In their case, Jon is the older, more experienced and knowledgeable leader and Sansa is the younger sibling trying to make the case that she knows better than him and therefore should be the one making the decisions.

The Expanse actually lays out and explores in detail the conflict between Drummer and Ashford. They spar and argue with witty dialogue and good delivery of lines that makes the case for both of them. Each character knows and is clear about where the other character stands. They know what the other character is trying to do. That makes their scenes exciting and interesting to watch.

Ashford: Camina, you have nothing to worry about from me. I am here to be your first officer and I have no problem with that.

Drummer: You believe you should be in command.

Ashford: Ah, of course I do, but this is not about experience. It's about politics and perception.  Fred has Protomolecule, Dawes has Cortazar, and they both need this ship.  And neither one of them cares if you or I are happy with the arrangement.

Drummer: Ah, finally, some truth.

Ashford: I haven't lied to you...

Drummer: Yet...

Ashford: But my point is that we both have orders to follow, which means we have to work together. For the good of the new Belter state, ke?

We never get a similar scene or confrontation between Jon and Sansa. Sansa hides information about her Vale army from Jon so that she could get the credit of the victory, leading to the needless deaths of thousands. And Jon just shrugs it off with a kiss on the forehead. Imagine if we got a game of thrones in Winterfell between Jon and Sansa - like we got between Tyrion and Cersei in KL? Where both characters know what the other is trying to do and try to outwit each other? But D&D never really committed to what they wanted Sansa to be on the show and their Jon was written as a gullible fool and so we got scenes that made no sense.

Remember when Sansa undermined Jon in front of the other houses and later Arya observes that Sansa was trying to get the Lords on her side rather than Jon’s. Again, the show hesitates to commit to what Sansa is doing. Jon is made out to be the bad guy for requesting that Sansa not undermine him and Arya comes off as being the mean sister for pointing out that Sansa is not supporting her brother.

Meanwhile, on The Expanse, we clearly see what Ashford is doing and so can Drummer.

Sansa wants to punish the children of the traitors. Jon wants to pardon them and give them back their lands. Drummer wants to throw the drug dealers out of the airlock. Ashford disagrees. He asks for a private word with Drummer and orders their audience to step back - he then persuades Drummer to change her mind but it’s clear to the people watching that he made the decision. Both the audience and Drummer can see that Ashford is indeed undermining Drummer here, but he’s more sly about it.

They have several such arguments. Ashford questions Drummer’s decisions within hearing of their men. Ashford wants them to hear his disagreements.

Ashford: Oh, and it's just too bad we don't have our chief engineer to build us some probes.

Drummer: You have something to say?

Ashford: Yeah, I said it. We needed Nagata here, and you let her go.

Drummer: This isn't a slave ship.

Ashford: No, it's a warship. The Belt's first and only.

Drummer: And I'm its captain.

Ashford: Yeah. Yeah, you are.

Drummer: We have a few autonomous farm drones with chemical samplers for soil. We can convert those into probes. A captain must know their ship.  Hmm?

Later one of those men approaches Ashford. He trash talks Drummer to Ashford and insinuates that Ashford should take over.

Diego: Bossmang...

Ashford: Yeah, what's up? What's the problem, Harari?

Diego: I na like da ting Drummer say to you... or how she say it.

Ashford: Uh... a captain can run their ship however they choose to.

Diego: Captain should be you.

Ashford: Tread carefully, good my boy.

Diego: You been bossmang from da time before me or half the Beltalowda on this ship was born.

Ashford: Yeah, that's true. I have. And I've drunk real Earth whiskey out of a UN Admiral's mug and then scuttled her ship. I flew dark past a Martian battle group, and they never even knew I was there. And I've seen friends breathe the vacuum and watched my only child burn. So when I tell you to tread carefully, you would do well to stop talking.

This scene parallels the Northern lords saying that they should have made Sansa queen instead of Jon. Sansa listens to their complaints and then says that Jon is their king and they can only do what he says. We see Arya observing this and later confronts Sansa in a scene where Arya comes off as being unnecessarily harsh and wrong. I am not going back and watching this trash, but if I recall, Arya actually gets angry at Sansa’s fashion choices here! Like why? What does that have to do with anything? What does that have to do with Sansa trying to win favor from the Northern lords while not supporting Jon’s decisions as king? Again, the show never commits to exploring Sansa’s decisions here.

But Drummer knows what Ashford is doing. She’s clever.

Ashford: I understand why you let Nagata go. If I had a chief engineer who didn't want to be here, I wouldn't want them around, either. But she was your friend.

Drummer: She is my friend.

Ashford: No, I always treated my friends harder... harsher, to show the crew I wasn't playing favorites... even if I was.

Drummer: You just can't stop giving me advice, can you?

Ashford: I'm trying to help you.

Drummer: Yet, still you call me out in front of the crew.

Ashford: Yeah, I could've done that better.

Drummer: You did what you meant. You put it in everyone's head. And after I left, I bet you were all praise for me, yeah? How important it is to respect the captain and so on. That way, when the turn come and you take over, they all know it was because you had to. No choice.

Ashford: Oh, we have a problem. And we need to work it out.

Drummer: Or else what?

Oh, how I wish we got this sort of confrontation, conversation, a similar scene between Jon and Sansa after he got back to Winterfell.

And the beautiful thing about Drummer and Ashford is that we can actually see where they are both coming from. They are both looking out for their people, they both want to do right by the belt. The older, more experienced Ashford thinks he should be in charge and knows better than the young whippersnapper Drummer. Smart Drummer is actually capable of being a good leader and can see through what Ashford is trying to do. They end up helping each other. And in the end, Drummer turns out to be right, Ashford acknowledges this and in the next season they work together.

In GOT however, we are just supposed to accept that Sansa is right, despite Jon making the right decisions to tackle the problems facing them. Sansa’s actions are never challenged by anyone. Jon just floats around like a gullible fool and Arya’s real issues with Sansa in season 7 are never again mentioned. And because there is no resolution to the conflicts and drama, in season 8 we get Arya suddenly and inexplicably thinking that Sansa is the smartest ever, Jon continuing to trust the person who lied to him and undermined him and Sansa continues to win despite being wrong about everything.

Drummer and Ashford are secondary characters in The Expanse and yet their character dynamics, the conflict, the resolution is all so well written and played out. Meanwhile, Jon, Sansa, Arya and Bran are all main characters and Littlefinger is a main antagonist and yet that whole story in seasons 6 and 7 was so badly written and nonsensical that it’s absolute trash. Ultimately Benioff and Weiss did not know what they wanted Sansa to be - they wrote her one way, did not want to commit to the character they wrote, and wanted the other characters (and audience) to see her another way.

It’s clear that the writers and showrunners of The Expanse are invested in their characters and good storytelling. And that’s why it’s a far more enjoyable and entertaining show with likeable characters than GOT.

[toasters-and-rockets]

Sarcastic Lander Part 3/?

Tweets by Viking 1 (@BagelKingofMars)

Taking the first soil samples now! Check it! 

(July 28, 4:49 pm)

Whoa, OK, this brought out the trolls. RIP my mentions. It’s amazing how anonymity brings out the worst in people. You think you’re so clever for mocking a human’s body type or a machine’s soil sampler. (July 28, 4:50 pm)

Block, block, block. Block block block block block. (July 28, 4:52 pm)

Guess what? Tinselina LIKES my soil sampler! (July 28, 4:53 pm)

Testing…testing…Sorry for the inactivity, folks. These biological experiments take time. Not much to report while my equipment does its thing. How about a Q&A to pass the time? Go! (August 4, 6:42 am)

@BrightLittleLamp asks: What’s your favorite picture you’ve taken so far? (August 4, 7:00 am)

Answer: This one

(August 4, 7:03 am)

@PasadenaBraddy asks: What do you want to do when you’re back on Earth? (August 4, 7:25 am)

Answer: I’ll probably be on display in a museum, maybe the new one in DC. Hopefully I can help people learn more about Mars and space exploration in general! (August 4, 7:26 am)

(To all the trolls telling me I’m not coming back: 1. @NASA wouldn’t abandon me and 2. How does that block feel?) (August 4, 8:19 am)

Time for more questions! @BlueZenith asks: Are you single? (August 6, 4:05 pm)

Answer: Ma’am, I’m flattered, but I am spoken for. I suppose I should have mentioned that Tinselina and I are more than mere traveling companions ;) (August 6, 4:06 pm)

@RobMcG asks: Aren’t you worried humans will find out you’re alive if you keep tweeting? (August 6, 4:15 pm)

Answer: First thing’s first—you’re not a human, are you? Just kidding! The truth is that most humans, when they see something weird, rationalize it away rather than dealing head-on w/anything that challenges their worldview 1/ (August 6, 4:20 pm)

Answer, contd: So if they read a tweet sent by a spacecraft? Well, those things aren’t alive, everyone knows that! They “know” there’s a person behind the account writing in the voice of the machine. Because they “know” this, they can 2/ (August 6, 4:24 pm)

Answer, contd: play along, tweet questions @ us and get answers. It’s a bit like talking to a costumed interpreter at a historic place. You “know” the tweets are by a person like you “know” the guy in the wig isn’t really George Washington. 3/ (August 6, 4:27 pm)

Answer, contd: But acting like he is = part of the experience, so you roll with it. My guess, since @NASAViking1 is “official” account of the mission, is that ppl think I’m some sort of parody. I can live with that. 4/ (August 6, 4:31 pm)

Answer, contd: It’s fun, actually. I try not to take myself too seriously. And this helps me get my POV on the mission out there, whether @NASA realizes it or not! I’m kinda-sorta free publicity for the program, now that I think about it. 4/ (August 6, 4:32 pm)

Answer, contd: Sorry, that got long. Hope I answered your question, @RobMcG. If you ARE a human, do me a favor and keep the Big F—ing Secret, mmkay? /end (August 6, 4:34 pm)

One more question, for Tinselina, from @MorrowsXmas: Aren’t you sad you won’t get to be on a tree? (August 7, 2:11 pm)

Answer: Tinselina here. I was distraught at first, but I figured, won’t ppl think it’s cool that their Xmas tree angel went to Mars? S/o Viking for helping me figure that out and keep my sanity! (August 7, 2:14 pm)

Oh, wow, thanks everyone for the invitations to next Xmas! I’ll keep them in mind for when we get back to Earth. Anyone who can also accommodate a 7ft tall space probe in your home, please hmu. Lovely chatting with you all! (August 7, 2:39 pm)

Viking here again. Isn’t she the sweetest? That’s it for the Q&A. Thanks all for your questions. Now, back to work! (August 7, 2:42 pm)

Labeled release experiment is almost complete! It tests for presence of organic life on Mars. Other three organics-detecting experiments came back negative, but maybe the fourth time’s a charm. (August 10, 6:58 pm)

LR results are in! Drumroll please…. Positive. OMG it’s positive! Tinselina, look, it’s positive! Positive positive positive positive aaaaaaaahhhhhh! (August 10, 7:05 pm)

Sorry folks, I get really excited abt this stuff. Why shouldn’t I? Life on Mars! @DavidBowie to answer the question in your song, maybe. (August 10, 7:33 pm)

This is exciting, but we can’t jump to conclusions. @BarbofMars and her colleagues will look over the data and reach a conclusion (or not) based on the evidence. Science in action, baby! (August 10, 7:36 pm)

Thanks for the RT, @DavidBowie! Day = made. (August 13, 9:00 am)

[theraptorcage]

I'm an env. science major and i saw that you have a job in the field. if you don't mind answering, what is a typical day like in your job?

I work for a third party consulting firm, which means that we’re the ones who get hired to do work by the main companies. My company mostly works in oil and gas with well monitoring at commercial sites or collecting water or soil samples of specific areas. I am a water sampler! I collect water samples from people’s properties (wells, springs, anything that occurs naturally) and then send them off to a lab. 

Typically, I get to the office and I get all of our equipment calibrated and everything we need to sample together to put into the work truck. we head out to meet the homeowners as we work on a scheduled appointment basis (trespassing is typically frowned upon). We interview the homeowner about the water source, collect water, and then pack it up and ship it off to the lab for analysis. 

Depending on which company I am doing this for and what their water source is, it can either involve SO MUCH HIKING or just walking into someone’s kitchen. It’s not something that I want to do long term and I don’t feel that oil and gas is really the career field for me, but it’s been a really good learning experience so far.

[carbonbulksales03]

AMS Soil Samplers and Bulk Activated Charcoal: Pioneers in Environmental Care

AMS soil samplers and bulk activated charcoal are at the forefront of environmental care, offering innovative solutions for soil health improvement, pollution control, and environmental remediation. Their combined capabilities represent a pioneering approach to sustainable practices, ecosystem protection, and environmental stewardship. Let’s explore how AMS soil samplers and bulk activated charcoal are leading the way in environmental care.

Advancing Soil Health with AMS Soil Samplers

AMS soil samplers are precision tools designed for efficient soil sampling, analysis, and characterization. They provide valuable insights into soil composition, nutrient levels, contamination, and environmental conditions, aiding in soil management, agricultural practices, and environmental assessments.

Precision Sampling: AMS soil samplers ensure accurate and representative soil samples, allowing for precise analysis and informed decision-making in soil management and remediation projects.

Environmental Monitoring: These samplers facilitate environmental monitoring initiatives, groundwater assessments, contaminant tracking, and remediation progress monitoring, contributing to environmental care and sustainability.

Bulk Activated Charcoal: Environmental Filtration Excellence

Bulk activated charcoal is a versatile filtration medium known for its exceptional adsorption properties and wide-ranging applications in environmental care.

Pollutant Capture: Activated charcoal efficiently captures and removes pollutants, chemicals, toxins, and contaminants from air, water, and soil, promoting clean and healthy environments.

Water Treatment: Bulk activated charcoal is used in water treatment plants, filtration systems, and remediation projects to purify water, remove impurities, and improve water quality for various uses.

Synergy in Environmental Care:

Soil Remediation: AMS soil samplers identify contaminated soil areas, while bulk activated charcoal aids in soil remediation by adsorbing pollutants, reducing leaching, and restoring soil health.

Water Quality Assurance: Combined efforts of soil sampling and activated charcoal filtration ensure water quality assurance, pollution control, and environmental protection in groundwater, surface water, and aquifers.

Sustainable Practices and Impact:

Resource Conservation: Efficient soil sampling techniques and effective filtration reduce resource wastage, conserve soil health, and promote sustainable land management practices.

Ecosystem Protection: AMS soil samplers and activated charcoal filtration contribute to ecosystem protection, biodiversity conservation, and habitat restoration, fostering a healthier environment for flora and fauna.

Conclusion

AMS soil samplers and bulk activated charcoal exemplify pioneering innovations in environmental care, promoting soil health, pollution control, and ecosystem protection. Their collaborative efforts enhance sustainability, support regulatory compliance, and contribute to a cleaner and healthier planet. Embracing AMS soil samplers and activated charcoal technologies signifies a commitment to environmental stewardship, sustainable practices, and a brighter future for generations to come.

[junker-town]

49 years ago, Alan Shepard played space golf. Let’s talk about it

An exploration of lunar sports.

1. What makes for a good golf swing? I have very little idea. I’ve seen good golf swings, but as long as I get a smooth and fluid motion combined with a rapidly ungrounded golf ball, as far as I’m concerned it was probably good. Perhaps even excellent. As an observer, I’m ripe for golf fraud.

2. I am reasonably confident, however, that no good golf swing can ever manifest from someone wearing a space suit. NASA’s space suits are many things — the A7L was a wonderfully engineered, meteoroid-resistant, radiation-shielded beauty — but it was not, despite what I can only presume were everyone’s best efforts, particularly graceful.

3. On Feb. 6, 1971, Alan Shepard took three swings to hit two golf balls a combined 250 yards or so. This would not be a feat worth mentioning but for the fact that he did so one-handed, wearing one of the aforementioned A7Ls, while standing on the moon.

4. It is theoretically possible to hit a golf ball a long, long way on the moon. Lunar gravity is about 16 percent as strong as Earth’s, so a good drive might actually go a mile or two. Shepard’s distance record of 200 yards or so (achieved on his third and final shot) will be shattered shortly after the lunar surface is domesticated and driving-ranged. Lunarian golfers will presumably be adept enough not to take more regolith than ball.

5. Shepard, who was apparently an avid golfer when earthbound, hit these shots as something of a goof. Apollo astronauts were allowed to take a handful of personal items down to the lunar surface, as long as they were cleared by authorities, and Shepard wheedled his way into being allowed to lug a couple of golf balls and a custom 6-iron head* into orbit and then to the Fra Mauro highlands. His justification was that this was a form of ‘scientific outreach’. True fact: if anyone ever says they’re doing something for ‘outreach’, they mean ‘because I want to and I think it will be fun’.

*This was then attached to a lunar soil sampler for the swings.

6. “Exploration” has, deservedly, taken on more negative undertones in recent years, as the heroic Age of Exploration has been exposed as rather more piratical than the myth-making might have you believe (possibly this is true of all myth-making). But there are two great eras of exploration which remain un-sullied by any notion of exploitation — the polar expeditions and the race to the moon. Even with the backdrop of cold-war genital waving, the Apollo missions represent one of humanity’s most profound achievements.

7. The moon hasn’t been explored per se, but if and when we go back there it will no longer be with exploration in mind. The next aim is domestication. Before long, humans will try to tame the lunar environment to be something more like home, and given our resources and ingenuity, we’ll probably manage it. Once we’ve managed it, I suspect, we’ll proceed to screw everything up, but this is in the finest tradition of our species and probably not something to worry about.

8. One might describe Shepard’s golf trip as the first step towards domestication. Golf’s solo nature lends itself to extraterrestrial import, but more important than the play itself is everything required to make that play happen. You can, if you like, call golf a battle between person and nature, a scrap between golfer and wind and grass and gravity — but this misses the fundamental point that golf courses are some of the most unnatural places on the entire planet.

9. Golf is an expression of mastery, of a hostile world rendered submissive. Those verdant greens and carefully placed trees invoke a nature that’s been twisted into parody for our own amusement. Humans have been fighting against the rest of the world since the dawn of our species (and been rather too successful, might I add), and golf is perhaps the most brutal expression of our need to tame the environment.

10. In that light, Shepard’s outing, those two-and-a-bit graceless shots in the lunar highlands, represent the first, and so far only, attempt to terraform the moon. Assuming we make it that far, in 1,000 years time his teeing ground will be the site of a mediocre golf course, whose clubhouse will contain row after row of mugs bearing Shepard’s face, grinning down en masse at the slow trickle of bewildered tourists.

[valmaior-blog]

Asymptotically tending...

Saturday 13/07/2019. A momentous day. I took a shower! Showering in itself is not that unusual, I shower every month, whether I need it or not;-) This was a momentous day because it was my first shower in my as yet incomplete new bathroom, and by new, I mean new. New concrete floor, new drains, new plumbing, rebuilt walls, new floor and wall tiles, new toilet-bidet-sink, new mirror, new electrics, new ceiling, new doorway, new window, and incomplete because the last 4 items are not yet installed.

Funny thing about the bathroom mirror, it is of the “blue touch” type. It has a permanently illuminated blue circle – very useful at night, which can be touched to turn the built in lights on, or off and cycle through the lighting options. Made in China. On the box, it proclaimed blue tooth – silly Chinese. Obviously never heard of Blue Touch, so I assume it was an error and had been helpfully corrected by the packaging printers for the manufacturer, except that after it was installed, I discovered that my phone can connect to it and play music. (apologies China) Also, when the lights are on, a heating element demists the central part of the mirror. Neither of these functions were on my list of essential features for a mirror.

The main problem has been the size of the house – 188 square meters – over 2000 square feet, and apart from the kitchen, (and now the main bathroom) the ceilings are over 3.5 meters (12 feet) high. Actually, the real problem has been underestimating the amount of work required, overestimating my skill and ability, and working around the lack of specialised tools.

So, it is now 2020. Time for an update. Progress has been slow. It is 1 year and 11 months since we bought the house. My initial estimate of 2 months to make it habitable is just a vague memory. The deeper I dig, the more I find that needs fixing. The termite damage that I though was confined to skirting boards proved to be more extensive. In places all the wood has been destroyed leaving just the paint! The schist stone construction is great for plants and small animals. It is like a dry stone wall, but the inside spaces are packed with soil. Where I replace termite terminated wood, I use concrete if possible.

In October, I visited the local health centre. I needed a medical to apply for a Portuguese driving license. I had been registered there for 3 years, but this was my first visit. While I was there, I was interrogated about my medical history, got measured, got a flu jab in one arm, and a tetanus jab in the other. Gluteus maximus, was untroubled. I have no idea if this is now the norm, or another Portuguese idiosyncrasy. Passed the driving test bit with no problems, amazingly, my eyesight was classed as perfect, but blood pressure was ridiculously high, looks like I will be on medication for a while. I was sent for chest X-rays, blood tests, I wore a heart monitor for 24 hours, and later, a blood pressure sampler for 24 hours. That machine squeezed my left bicep every 20 minute during the day, then allegedly every 30 minutes at night, but I don’t know for sure, because it didn’t wake me up. On my last visit to the Doc, I was told that heart and lungs were fine. My blood test results went missing somewhere, so I had to go to the lab and get them printed again. Steamed open the envelope that I have to deliver to the doctor, and checked. Cholesterol 188?? I should be dead. Checked the units – seems that EU and US have a different set of units to those in the UK, so divide by 40ish gives 4.7. He lives – again!  Seems weird that the US uses the same metric units as the EU, but UK doesn’t.

The flu jab seems to have been a waste of time though. I was stuck down with a severe case of man flu over Christmas and New Year.

Only those who have lived through man flu can appreciate the heroic efforts I must have made to cook a full Christmas dinner, including Christmas pud. I didn’t get round to making mince pies until New Years day though. That did give the mincemeat a little extra maturing time – 800% extra.  

Highlights of 2019?

1) Transporting a new double bed and mattress and wife to the house completely inside a Fiat Punto – just the normal hatchback version, with all widows and doors closed!

2) Successfully gluing 8 pieces of broken granite counter top (kitchen worktop)  back into 1 piece. (there was no way I would have been able to match the colour)

Spanish windlass in action.

So, we now have a basic but working bedroom, and have stayed over a few nights, we have a fully functioning kitchen and bathroom, but still lots of very dusty jobs to do before we can take up residence.

I received my Portuguese “Carta de Condução” a few days before Christmas. It took just under 2 months to arrive, which is very fast compared to times reported by the expats in the Algarve. It does involve Portuguese IMT communicating with UK DVLA to cancel my UK licence before a Portuguese version can be issued.

This was something I had to do, for two reasons.

1) To legally hold a UK licence, I must have a UK address.

2) To legally drive in Portugal for longer than 3 months, I need either an EU licence which has to be registered with the Portuguese Authorities every 2 years, or a Portuguese licence.

As it was looking increasingly as though my UK EU licence would cease to be an EU licence, I jumped before I was pushed. Exchanging a non-EU licence for a Portuguese licence generally involves retaking a driving test, which is only conducted in Portuguese.

I also renewed my passport online at the same time, which was processed very quickly. Perhaps because I waited 1 month to send my old passport back. However, DHL failed to deliver it on 3 occasions. I guess the driver just looked at the street name and thought “I know where that is” and went to the wrong street in the wrong town. I used the house address for the passport, because I had no idea how long it would take. I had to use the apartment address for the driving licence, because that is my registered address at IMT.

During the height of summer, we were surrounded by forest fires – not close enough to be scary, and we are far enough from the trees to satisfy our insurance company. There are, I think, about 12 water bombing planes in Portugal, and 4 of them were doing circuits and dumps (anyone?) loudly over our house for a few days.

There were some local road and expressway closures, and when reopened, evidence of major conflagrations on both sides, but as far as I am aware, locally, damage was restricted to vegetation.

Portugal is an odd country in many ways. Soon after we moved into the apartment, we found that there was a LIDL closer to us that the store that we had been visiting. So, we made that our local. Cheddar cheese from there is acceptable quality, and half the price of cheddar from the supermarkets. Man cannot live without cheese on toast! Also, IMHO, their croissants are superior to those purchased from E. LeClerk or Auchan. Anyway, I digress. Travelling to and from LIDL, we used to often pass a woman who appeared to be living in a Ford Transit (or similar) she seemed to spend most of her time sitting in a camping chair watching the traffic. I guessed this was the result of a breakup or a death. She was a fairly ordinary middle age specimen, somewhat overweight, and not well dressed.

When we drove to the beach though, we would sometimes pass aged grannies sitting on plastics stools, presumably abandoned by their families, who considered them too doddery to trudge through the pine forest collecting cones, firewood, mushrooms and stuff. This seemed to be common. It wasn’t until we traveled further afield, along roads more used by truckers, that the ladies sitting at the sides of the roads became younger, more provocatively dressed, and all seemed to have orange skin, like Donald Trump, or like original James T. Kirk Star Trek aliens. Then the Euro cent dropped. Not sure about the grannies, however, we often pass an orange skinned granny, though it seems that she is only there when there is no competition. Holidays, Sundays – bad weather etc.

Pet Peeves.

1)Expressways!

There is not much wrong with the expressways as such, but the sliproads (on/off ramps) seem to have been added as an afterthought, or without any thought at all.

As an example, here are two junctions I use frequently.

The north/south expressway is the A1, the main (and only practical) route to drive between Lisbon and Porto. The east/west A25 expressway heads across the border, towards Madrid.

I approach this junction from the top right on a sharpish right hand bend, which prevents me from reaching a safe joining speed. The trees on my left prevent me from seeing approaching traffic, and the slip road is only 65m long, and even that requires use of the shoulder.

What makes it worse, is that 80m further on is the exit slip to join the A1 in both directions, so vehicles intending to take that route are unwilling to move into the adjacent lane to give joining traffic some space.

The next example is in the centre of Porto. Again, I approach from the top right. A 2 lane slip road, which becomes 1 lane. This section is always busy, that is at the time I use it. The slip road is from the A28 expressway which runs north from Porto, and I am joining the A1 again, which here forms part of the Porto inner ring. I have usually queued on the A28 for 20 minutes to get here. With bad timing, that can be much longer.

I am trying to match the speed of the traffic on the A1, while watching for cars merging from the right. The evil designers plan here, was to make this entry slip road also function as an exit slip road. So some vehicles on the A1 are slowing down to try to move onto the slip road, and other vehicles on the slip road have no intention of joining the A1, but are heading for the exit.

The final example is just stupidity. Again the A1. This pic has been rotated 90 degrees, so north is on the right. So, heading south on a 3 lane expressway, you arrive at a junction. Conventional exit, 3 lanes continue. Just before the southbound traffic from the junction tries to join, the 3 lanes are reduced to 2, then the joining traffic has to squeeze onto an expressway which is suddenly 50% busier, and drivers who found themselves suddenly without a lane are trying to settle into their new spot and not worrying about joining traffic. Sometimes vehicles unable to find a gap are forced off the expressway and onto the slip road. The problem is not the reduction to two lanes, but where the reduction is located.

Finally, the cost. Almost all expressways have tolls. The quickest route from apartment to house (according to google) incurs a cost of €3.1 That is €31 per week if we go there and back on 5 days, and that is in the cheapest car class. When I rented a van to collect the kitchen, I racked up tolls of almost €200 over a weekend.

Pet Peeve 2 – Import duties.

Before we moved to Portugal, I bought a UK registered Left hand drive Freelander, thinking that I could just switch the registration to Portuguese when I arrived. Yes I could, but I would have to pay taxes of €12000. Used cars incur the same tax as new cars. Portugal has been told by the EU that this is illegal, but refuses to change. The cost of cars in Portugal is astronomical, so old cars are still valuable and are still kept running. If Portugal was forced to change, the price of used cars would collapse. Imports of goods from outside the EU have severe problems getting through Portuguese customs. They are frequently held up for months and incur significant charges, such that many people just refuse to pay.

I have just informed our landlord that we will leave in 2 months time, so that is how long we have to get everything ready. When we move in, there will still be a lot to do. I have a plan to fix the sagging wall (see blog). I found a problem with the river that runs through it (see blog) the stream exits the house though a tunnel in the wall. One day after heavy rain the previous day, the stream was insignificant, but the water was deep in the tunnel. I had no idea where the water goes when it flows out of the building, the exit is below ground level. I poked the hole with a sharp stick, and hit fairly solid stuff. Another job for the to do list. A few days later, heavy rain again, I wandered out to inspect it. Our tarmac driveway is on the other side of the wall, and there, a spring had sprung. Water was bubbling up through the tarmac driveway. I dug down to the stream where it exited the tunnel, and the was no indication of any other route that the water could take. There is no immediately obvious solution to this problem, so a bout of pondering is required. Sump and pump would probably be the easiest. If the water is raised by 1m I could pipe it to a drain, but I would much rather have a non-electromechanical solution if one can be found. I would never trust my boat to an automatic bilge pump. Though the house won’t sink, it could be damaged if a pumping system fails to operate.

The house has no heating yet, although we do have 3 portable electric heaters, and 2 portable gas heaters. I am flip flopping over systems – burning wood or pellets, oil, LPG, air conditioners, heat pump, …

Underfloor heating is not an option, the house has a mix of solid and wooden floors. I realise that in itself would not preclude underfloor heating, but it would complicate installation.

Wall insulation is not an option. The house is externally tiled, the walls are 60cm thick (that’s 2ft in old money), there is no cavity, and internal insulation would require drastic remodeling.

Double glazing is not an option, it would not suit the house. All the windows are 2m high, and 1m wide. Our internal shutters should achieve the same goal, if they can be made to seal effectively. However we did survive winter living on the boat in Preston with no effective heating – any attempt at heating resulted in torrents of condensation. However, the internal temperature never went below +3.

The last two years have been intense. I didn’t realise what the effect had been on me until I compared two virtually identical before and after photographs of myself.

Before...

And after.

I have similar pics showing the effects on Ping, but I doubt I would survive the consequences of including them here.

One theoretical benefit of the location of the house is the proximity of the only ski resort in Portugal – 2 hours drive.  At virtually 2000m above sea level, snow should be guaranteed.

This is what it should look like.

And this is a live webcam feed.

We have only ventured up the mountain once – about 3 years ago, in late spring, and there was still deep snow in places sheltered from the sun.

I had marmalade on toast for breakfast this morning – homemade organic marmalade, made from homegrown oranges :-). Organic, because we have ignored the garden, not because I have strong pro-organics sentiment. This was just a trial run – our oranges are not traditional sevilles, much smaller and sweeter, I had to tweak the recipe – drastically reduced sugar, so just one test jar. Not quite Golden Shred, but better than acceptable. Not bad for my first attempt.

We have a local railway station - 2.6km from the house, but I could not find a timetable for the trains, because there are none. The route is interesting, because it follows the ground contours, even in the hilliest parts of the route. No deep straight cuttings, viaducts, bridges or embankments, though there are a couple of tunnels. It seems that a few years ago, some bad weather damaged part of the track, causing the company to impose a 30km/h speed limit. More bad weather dropped the speed limit to 10km/h, then to 0. The middle third of the line is closed, and that section includes our local station.

The eagle eyed amongst  you might notice a red light on the right of the picture. We have on 3 occasions seen a train on the closed section of track. I guess there is only one maintenance depot. The exceptionally eagle eyed might notice that the track looks a little odd. That is because it is meter guage, 1.0m width. Normal tracks are 1.435m. Consequently, our line does not join with the national network. Our trains don’t fit on normal tracks, and normal trains don’t fit on our tracks. I believe that the railway company is unwilling to spend much money on repairs, and unfortunately the trains are not pretty - 2 car diesel electric, decorated in unimpressive graffiti, bought used for not much money from an East European country (Poland?) that had no further use for them.

As the Portuguese crow flies, it is 40km between the two extremities of the line, both coastal, but the track does head inland, and meanders from village to village, so the track length is much greater, almost 100km.

We tried the train once, from Aveiro to Sernada do Vouga, a little over 1 hour an 18 stations, followed by a stroll through the hills and forest to the house, a lot over 1 hour. We went back to Aveiro by bus.

It is January here - like everywhere else. We have bunches of narcissus and lilies in flower.

Grass hasn’t stopped growing, the oak trees still have leaves, the peach trees have new buds. No time to rest.

[apexart-journal]

Derek Tumala in NYC, Day 11

It’s a Saturday morning and I am going sightseeing today. I headed to the Empire State Building, the most popular building in New York. This building symbolizes the early golden age of New York, of class and glamour. The beautiful art deco building is one that you cannot miss, even if it is a tourist destination. I met up with Aaditya, who now lives in New York, raised in Hong Kong and India. So we went up to see the galleries and learn about its rich history and iconic architecture. I really like the multimedia features of the exhibition, it’s very enjoyable and how you can see the building’s construction and importance at the time it was built. So we headed to the rooftop viewing terrace and see the dense New York landscape. It’s fascinating to see so many buildings in one patch of island. And I think that is the beauty of New York, also the chaos. Aaditya pointed out to me that New York is his favourite place and it’s an amazing experience to live here. All the buildings seemed too close to each other, almost overlapping. All I see is a sea of man-made concrete and brownstones making this city colorful and alive. So after Empire State, Aadtiya and I had lunch and I asked him if he can bring me to a good Indian Restaurant. So he took me to Saravanaa Bhavan a few blocks away. It did not disappoint, I had a mini tippin (a sampler of Dosa, masala and other dippings). I’m a huge Indian food eater, being able to be in South Asia. So we talked a lot about home, about Kerala, Aaditya’s hometown. Of course, as people who came from Asia, we always seek better opportunities in better countries to strive. Aaditya being able to study in the US gave him an opportunity to reside in New York, and he ask me a question of why I choose to stay in Manila, well of course, my family and friends are there but there is also a huge need to do some work on the art sector back home that made me stay. Being in your hometown seems not to be the trend these days, but I do get it. We live in a more globalized world and the need to move is somehow organic.

A Slime Mold growing kit with a Raspberry Pi, sensors and camera to generate triggers and commands

Next up, I went to East Village’s Culturehub to attend the Slime Tech Lab : Testing the Borders. It’s about slime mold, how to grow it and how can we examine its behaviors and traits and relate it to current situations. Slime mold is not a plant or animal. It's not a fungus, though it sometimes resembles one. Slime mold, in fact, is a soil-dwelling amoeba, a brainless, single-celled organism, often containing multiple nuclei. The slime mold is a fascinating organism. Its network-like system is somehow parallel to our complex world. If you look at it, it doesn’t have a central system, it’s sporadic and spontaneous. You can apply that trait to learning or education, somehow the way we learn is not about levels, it’s about our experiences and how we shape it. Or the migration patterns, slime mold tend to grow on parts that are more suitable to grow, or where the source of food are. These traits are also human traits. Slime mold is symbolic and just fascinating on how we can compare it with human interactions. There have been studies that examine slime mold and create a bio-imitation of migration routes to US. The migration patterns show that most people come to the US to seek better life, as also there are no borders if we look in its natural presence. Slime molds became a tool to examine why migration happens and that it is a natural occurence. Slime molds navigate spaces that mirrors human behaviors and policies. While we are so inspired with the conceptual, we also learned how to grow and participate in growing slime mold through a special contraption that allows the slime mold to grow, in which we can add triggers of sound and gestures thru the microcomputer attached to it and see it grow affected by it. It’s fascinating how we can participate in growing the slime mold through coding and triggers.

At the end of the day, I went to the Bargemusic Concert, by the East River in Brooklyn. A 3-piece classical consisting of a pianist, a violinist and a cellist inside a rocking barge by the water with the view of the Manhattan skyline. They played classical pieces that soothes the soul and relaxes my mind after a day of learning. It was lovely, and a treat to once again end a beautiful day it was.

D

[lilywyrm-blog]

The 7 Best Action-Packed Jason Statham Movies To Watch Before Hobbs And Shaw

He’s been a hero, a villain, a joker and a competitive diver. But if action superstar Jason Statham is known for anything, it’s his ability to kick a lot of ass. The most recent example of that piece of his career has been his success as an ass-kicker in the Fast and Furious film series, so much so that he’s half of the new spinoff, Hobbs and Shaw.

If you’re a fan of Jason Statham's, or are looking for a reason to get into his work, we recommend you, at the very least, watch the last two films in the Fast and Furious series to get caught up to the point that Hobbs and Shaw is at in the series. However, there are other movies in the Statham catalog you should be partaking in to get yourself pumped and ready for his latest action romp, and we have a good list of what those films should be.

So schedule a little bit of “me time” on the books, make sure you do your streaming and rental research as to how to get ahold of the Jason Statham movies we’re about to lay down and prepare for your very own film festival. Let’s call it “StathamFest,” which means that the following are your required stops on the StathamFest trail.

The Italian Job Handsome Rob chatting up the cable girl next to her van The Italian Job (2004) With his career as an action lead getting a huge boost out of The Transporter’s surprise success, one of the Jason Statham movies that increased his visibility exponentially was director F. Gary Gray’s remake of the 1969 crime caper, The Italian Job.

Flexing his action hero muscles as Handsome Rob, Jason Statham also got to play the eye candy of Mark Wahlberg’s band of criminals, which was certainly a bonus for the audience that made it a theatrical hit. The Italian Job not only gave Statham a chance to be a comedic heartthrob, but it also gave him even more experience with the impressive car stunts that helped make his career what it is.

While we never got the proposed sequel, The Brazilian Job, we did get a Statham/Gray reunion when the star and director paired up for The Fate of The Furious; so The Italian Job is a good film to re-watch in preparation for the further adventures of Deckard Shaw.

The Transporter 2 Frank Martin speeding down the road in his sports car The Transporter 2 (2005) The Transporter is one of the earliest successes of Jason Statham’s career, as Frank Martin was the first blockbuster character that Statham had under his action belt. And with The Transporter 2 bringing Frank to the mean streets of Miami, the scenery is closer to home, along with the high flying automotive action.

While it acts as a sort of loose remake of Man On Fire, with Jason Statham’s Frank replacing Denzel Washington’s Creasy, the film is a full throttle thrill ride, complete with one of the most ridiculous action moments in the man’s entire career. The second of three installments with Statham as Mr. Martin, our hero is charged with not only preventing a viral outbreak, but also recovering a wealthy family’s child in the process.

A positively breathless ticking clock action film, The Transporter 2 is a Jason Statham movie quick enough to fit into any day’s schedule, but it’s also weighted enough to keep an audience fixed on the screen the whole time. If you believe one of life’s rules is a person knowing their car and its contents, in and out, this one is a no-brainer.

Crank Chev electrocuting himself with jumper cables on his tongue and nipple Crank (2006) Mixed in with all of the big budget franchises and one-off action fests that make up the body of Jason Statham’s movies are some smaller, and definitely weirder, choices. Case in point is the extremely memorable Crank, directed by Neveldine/Taylor, a duo more than familiar with the world of the weird.

Jason Statham’s character this time around is Chev Chelios, with Crank seeing his protagonist injected with a drug intended to prevent the flow of adrenaline, in hopes of killing him dead. But, of course, as this is a Neveldine/Taylor directed film, Statham’s assassin antihero does have a way out of this mess. And it’s keeping his adrenaline pumping in such an extreme fashion, that methods such as electrocution and other feats tempting death are needed at all times in this single day thriller.

Pushing the boundaries of every force it comes into contact with, Crank makes for one of the weirdest, but also one of the most exhilarating Jason Statham movies in his collected canon. Proving that he can turn his charms and action talents to 11 when need be, Crank gave Statham the range he needed to eventually jump into the sort of antics that Hobbs and Shaw will eventually demand of him.

War John Crawford walking the docks with a gun is his hand War (2007) While Jason Statham and Jet Li would eventually team up yet again in The Expendables, their paths would cross earlier in the gang thriller War. Except in the instance of this particular film, Statham and Li faced off as nemeses in an all-out street fight between an FBI agent and a rogue element.

Jason Statham’s John Crawford is the FBI agent who’s swearing revenge against Jet Li’s former CIA operative Rogue, a target who survived his supposed death and not only killed Crawford’s partner, but also plans on starting a gang war between the Triads and the Yakuza. Things get pretty hairy as the two play cat and mouse on the streets of San Francisco, and will use everything at their disposal to strike the other where it hurts the most.

Another interesting connection that adds an interesting layer to watching War is the fact that Jason Statham’s character, Crawford, works with an FBI sniper by the name of Goi throughout the film’s duration. Playing Goi is none other than Sung Kang, better known as Han from the Fast and Furious universe; and considering how War ends, Jason Statham’s murder of Han in that particular series could be seen as pure revenge.

Death Race Jensen and Case stand next to their car in the garage Death Race (2008) Sometimes a movie gets remade because of its popularity. But in the case of director Paul W.S. Anderson’s Death Race, the film feels like a remake that is made to capitalize on the popularity of someone like Jason Statham. At least it feels that way, because wisecracks meet car stunts in this dystopian action extravaganza that screams its status as a Jason Statham movie.

Framed for a murder he didn’t commit, Jason Statham’s Jensen Ames is sent to prison and given the opportunity to win his own freedom through the titular Death Race. A televised pay-per-view spectacle, take The Running Man and infuse it with the DNA of NASCAR, and you’ve got the basic premise for this particular film.

As far as Jason Statham movies go, Death Race is sort of an underrated gem. Showcasing Statham’s abilities as an action lead, while also putting him into an ensemble that sees Joan Allen, Ian McShane and future Fast and Furious co-star Tyrese Gibson all mixing it up, Death Race is well worth tracking down if you’re serious about your Statham.

The Expendables Lee aims a gun, while hanging onto the nose of a flying plane The Expendables (2010) If there’s anything that the viewing public should know about Jason Statham by this entry in the list, it’s that he plays very well as both a lead and an ensemble member. The latter is part of why The Expendables is such a treat to watch, as the relatively fresh faced Statham gets to play with heavy hitters like Sylvester Stallone and Dolph Lundgren.

Hired to overthrow a villainous dictator, The Expendables sees some of the biggest names in action teaming up, or in some cases fighting against, the likes of Sylvester Stallone’s expendable team. Playing Lee Christmas, the team’s blade expert, Jason Statham gets to be a man who only talks when the conversation requires him to. And if he’s not talking, chances are his opponent is about to take some serious damage.

Whether it’s an island in the Gulf of Mexico or a basketball court on home soil, Jason Statham takes the fight to whomever stands in his way in The Expendables. Even though he appears as a member of the overarching ensemble, this Statham movie has enough action to excite the crowd and enough Statham magic for him to stand out from all the rest.

The Meg Jonas looks back in disbelief, as the image of the Megalodon is projected in front of him The Meg (2018) Let’s just get something out of the way: The Meg is, by no means, a film that needs to be taken seriously. Getting past that though, it’s easy to see how people enjoyed this film so much, it became a blockbuster hit in 2018’s film market. And naturally, part of that success is Jason Statham’s Jonas Taylor.

Playing a rescue diver obsessed with proving the existence of a rare Megalodon, Jason Statham gets to be The Meg’s hero, front and center. As such, Jonas is wise, kind and not afraid to put his foot down; all the things you’d expect from a Statham performance, with a little more heroic charm allowed this time out.

In fact, it’s Jason Statham’s charm that helps anchor The Meg’s all-star cast, which also includes Rainn Wilson, Ruby Rose and Li Bingbing. And with both Statham and his cast fully in sync, the level of ridiculous spectacle and action is balanced in such a state that the audience can really sink their teeth into it. And if you want to make it a family affair, this film’s PG-13 rating will certainly allow the kids to enjoy this one alongside the adults in the room.

Jason Statham’s career is as varied as it is exciting, and this sampler pack of films is only the beginning of the proof to that point. So let StathamFest pump you up for a summer of action, as well as the eventual box office debut of Hobbs and Shaw. But more importantly, let these films entertain you while showing the many facets of Jason Statham’s career as a hero, a villain and a comic relief for the ages.

Hobbs and Shaw promises to kick the box office’s ass on August 2, but if you’re looking for some action prior to that point, check out the 2019 release schedule for more of the options available to you.

https://moviestailler.blogspot.com/2019/07/actoin-movies.html

[news-mashable-yahoopartner-blog]

25 good tweets for people who hate Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is kind of nice, but it's mostly a cloying, capitalist nightmare. 

It makes sense, then, that the anti-Valentine's Day community is a large and vocal one. V-Day skeptics aren't bitter; they just hate Russell Stover samplers from CVS!

If you count yourself among the lukewarm this Feb. 14, you're not alone. There are loads of tweets from people who also detest the holiday on which a nonzero number of people will receive a Doritos bouquet. (To be clear, I am jealous of the Doritos bouquet.)

SEE ALSO: Texas zoo comes up with a clever Valentine's Day offer for vengeful exes

Please enjoy.

Oh you don't have a valentine on valentine's day? Some people don't even have a groundhog on groundhogs day. check your privilege

— Johnny Brittner (@JohnnyBrittner) February 10, 2019

Friend: what are you doing for VD? Me: taking antibiotics and drinking cranberry juice Friend: Valentine's Day... Me, leaning in: taking antibiotics and drinking cranberry juice

— sarah schauer 🦂 (@SJSchauer) January 29, 2019

"What do uh think you'll be getting for Valentines Day?" Me: a snap from team Snapchat

— Anaya. (@imdalight) January 27, 2018

Can we replace Valentine’s Day with another thanksgiving?

— MisfitMama (@okayest_momm) January 28, 2018

"Actually, violets are violet," I say, ripping up her poem.

— Anna (@anjvs) February 14, 2015

Dump your boyfriend not because I’m bored but because Valentine’s Day is coming up and it’s hard to explain but we can’t let capitalism win

— Gina (@ginadivittorio) February 10, 2019

"Do you have a date for Valentine's Day?" Me: Yes... February 14th

— Zachary (@zacharywhyde) January 28, 2018

Instead of showing our partners love through overpriced chocolate and trite greeting cards, this February we’re going to the cave of the goddess of breastfeeding, we’re sacrificing a goat, we’re annointing ourselves with its blood, we’re running naked through the streets of Rome

— Anne Thériault (@anne_theriault) January 31, 2019

all of the posts on @1800flowers Facebook page are complaints. This guy didn't even use words, and its the best one. pic.twitter.com/Uq4MNi0Erv

— Malcolm Xbox One X (@NickArcadeX) February 14, 2015

Gearing up for yet another Valentine's night of complete & total romance pic.twitter.com/wXu3i1qGRI

— Bridger Winegar (@bridger_w) February 15, 2015

you, a fool: its valentines day me, an intellectual: it is wednesday my dudes

— proto (@ProtomanX97) February 14, 2018

the best thing about being single on valentine's day is I get to eat all 2 dozen of these roses by myself

— thomas violence (@thomas_violence) February 14, 2015

Here is your annual reminder that if you are single/lonely on Valentine’s Day, you can always celebrate Arizona’s birthday instead! She’ll be 106 and beautiful as ever!!

— Bryce Cluff (@Bryce_Cluff) February 5, 2019

You are never alone on Valentine's Day if you're near a lake and have bread.

— Mike Primavera (@primawesome) February 14, 2015

If men wrote candy hearts: - hey - what r u up to? - K - lol - *silence*

— Eden Dranger (@Eden_Eats) February 14, 2018

Happy Valentines ���️ https://t.co/Tq6RyJ03fS

— Chad Johnson (@ochocinco) February 12, 2019

Valentines Day might make you feel more pathetic and alone but you're not! Its impossible to be more pathetic or alone than you already were

— Brent (@Brentweets) February 14, 2016

i dont need a valentine i need 8 million dollars and a fast metabolism

— Jamie Macgregor (@m1ndspeak5truth) February 5, 2018

Rough love life? Consider these animals that definitely have it worse -Bees’ genitals explode after sex -Hippos soil themselves to attract a mate -Every woman I’ve dated has had to watch Titanic with me while I recite most of the lines from memory -Boy seahorses get pregnant!

— Dan Sheehan (@ItsDanSheehan) February 14, 2018

Let's all take a moment of silence this Valentine's Day to think about the couples who started dating end of January

— Mike Ginn (@shutupmikeginn) February 14, 2015

When making Valentines for preschoolers, is it ok to address them all to "Tiny Satan" since the kids can't read? Asking for myself.

— Ashley Austrew (@ashleyaustrew) February 11, 2016

[gives wife pet cockroaches for Valentine's day] Are you crying because you're happy?

— Jeff Wysaski (@pleatedjeans) February 11, 2015

valentine's day was ruined ever since Liam M. spilled hawaiian punch all of my cards in 4th grade and didn't even bother to get paper towels! MEN!!

— Taylor Trudon (@taylortrudon) February 13, 2018

catch me on valentines day wearing a flowy top, crossfaded off allergy meds and a glass of wine, twirling to fleetwood mac in my bedroom mirror

— jaboukie (@jaboukie) January 25, 2018

Sending flowers to your significant other at work is a great way to tell all their coworkers that you used to have $60.

— ratthew (@sucittaM) February 14, 2012

WATCH: Comedian Steve Capps paints 'farting clouds' with Bob Ross — Bob Ross Challenge

[alwaysbhukaa]

This place is pure bliss for Vegetarians, serving authentic Burmese food. I was waiting for this place to get open in DLF Noida and yesterday visited this place with my friends who are a great lover of Burmese food. It was my first experience, so I thought of taking some experts with me to guide through the menu for the better choices of dishes.

Burma Burma is an ideal place of nourishment congruity that explores the very essence of Burmese food and ought to get considerably more acknowledgement than present perspectives. The eatery likewise gloats of being a particular Tea Menu from which you can eat up phenomenal chilly and also hot teas post lunch or in the prior night dinner times.

This Asian place containing just Veg delicacies however it would most likely to leave a special mark on you with its ethnic tastes of acrid, fiery and raw flavours that describe, the curries, noodle dishes, fricasseed snacks, servings of mixed greens are altogether incorporated in imaginative courses, every now and again with a hot, sharp, or sweet blend of flavours and herbs!!

Seabuckthorn Marry

Spiced Ginger

Drinks – Seabuckthorn Mary is a kind of fruit orange in colour with spices and kaffir lime.

I am not a salad person but after some persuasion, I agreed. The first thing that arrived was Salad Sampler – which consisted of 3 small version of salads – Tea leaf, sunflower leaves (which I loved the most as it has some peanuts in it) and Raw Mango. Overall the Sampler was great, A guy like me who don’t like salad finished my share in one go.

Ordered one Soup – Samosa Soup – the samosa was different filled with spring vegetables and spiced black chickpeas – samosa in Burmese style.

Starters – Burmese Falafel – In simple terms, it was delicious yellow lentils( Chana Dal) Tikki with spices different what you have regularly, onion and tossed in garlic sauce. The dish was just outstanding though it was a garlic sauce I didn’t have any feeling of it as it was so balanced and goes well with the dish.

Lotus Stem Crisp – The lotus stem was finely sliced and super crisped – they were like eating chips dusted with paprika and curry leaves.

Tohu Mash with Paratha – Tohu is a cousin of tofu (lol) – cooked with tomato, onion and spices, served with Malabari Paratha – they call it as Burmese style flaky paratha.

Then we ordered a Burmese burger which is actually a Brown onion and roasted chilly bun ( little more of spices)

Main course – We had Coconut rice with peanut chutney – The dish was more on the sweeter side. The rice was well prepared in coconut milk with resin in it. Was trying the combo for the first time and believe me it was great.

Now it was the time for dessert – Ordered Durian Ice cream – A famous Durian fruit which is churned of a kind handmade Icecream, exclusively available at this place only.

Affogato – chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream at the top, Madagascar chocolate soil and served with a shot of Espresso – A perfect dessert for the coffee and the chocolate lover.

Both the Desserts were just impeccable never had anything like this before. In the end, I had the Original Bubble tea – which was very different in taste simple mix of milk, black tea and tapioca pearls.

It was my first experience with the Burmese food and I would say it was amazing from the start till the end. The dishes I tried were very original as told by my expert friends who have good knowledge of Burmese food and in spite of being hardcore non-veg they were enjoying their meal like any other vegetarian. This was a very different and succulent experience. One must try the place I would say.

One thing which I enjoyed about this place is that over incite benefit with which everything was occurring. The administration was top class and dishes were following each other in the blink of an eye by any means! We would truly to thank the administration for such a subtle lunch in general!

A Burmese Affair This place is pure bliss for Vegetarians, serving authentic Burmese food. I was waiting for this place to get open in DLF Noida and yesterday visited this place with my friends who are a great lover of Burmese food.