#Eugene Watts

[vlruso]

BBC blocks ChatGPT bot explores Gen AI to create content

📢 Exciting news from the BBC! They have made the decision to block AI scraping bots, including OpenAI's ChatGPT and the Common Crawl bot, from accessing their news and media content. This move aligns with the growing trend of websites taking measures to prevent AI bots from using their data to train AI models. Read more about it here: [link](https://ift.tt/0u2cL6z) In addition, the BBC is gearing up to explore the use of Generative AI (Gen AI) in content creation and their operations. They plan to conduct trial projects to see how Gen AI can support or transform various aspects of their activities such as journalism research, content discovery, and personalized experiences. Find out more about the BBC's plans and their perspectives on AI technology here: [link](https://ift.tt/0u2cL6z) As the landscape of AI integration continues to evolve, there are practical solutions to help your company stay competitive. Consider identifying automation opportunities, defining KPIs, selecting the right AI solution, and implementing gradually. If you want advice and continuous insights into leveraging AI for your business, reach out to us at hello@itinai.com. Stay updated on AI news and trends through our Telegram channel [t.me/itinainews](t.me/itinainews) or follow us on Twitter [@itinaicom](https://twitter.com/itinaicom). And speaking of AI, don't miss our spotlight on the AI Sales Bot from [itinai.com/aisalesbot](itinai.com/aisalesbot). This solution is designed to automate customer engagement and manage interactions across all stages of the customer journey, 24/7. Discover how AI can redefine your sales processes and customer engagement by visiting our website. For more useful links and to connect with our AI Lab in Telegram for a free consultation, check out our update! #AI #BBC #GenAI List of Useful Links: AI Scrum Bot - ask about AI scrum and agile Our Telegram @itinai Twitter -  @itinaicom

[the-fiction-witch]

The Masterlist of Masterlists

House of the Dragon Characters :

Aegon Targaryen - LINK Areon Bracken - LINK Cregan Stark - LINK Davos Blackwood - LINK Daemon Targaryen - LINK Gwayne Hightower - LINK Jacaerys (Jace) Velaryon - LINK Lucerys (Luke) Velaryon - LINK Oscar Tully - LINK

Thomas Brodie Sangster Characters :

Adam Douglas (Lewis The Mind Has Mountains) - LINK Benny Watts (The Queens Gambit) - LINK No.1 & LINK No.2 Casey (Some Dogs Bite) - LINK Donald (Death Of A Superhero) - LINK Jack Dawkins (The Artful Dodger) - LINK No.1 & LINK No.2 & Mrs Dawkins Series Jake Murry (Accused) - LINK Lampwick (Pinnochio) - LINK Malcolm Mclaren (Pistol) - LINK Newt (The Maze Runner) - LINK Nigel (Orbit Ever After) - LINK Paul McCartney (Nowhere Boy) - LINK Rafe Sadler (Wolf Hall) - LINK Romulus Augustus (The Last Legion) - LINK Samuel Brawne (Bright Star) - LINK Samuel Emmerson (My Left Hand Man / Phantom Halo) - LINK Sam (Love Actually) - LINK Thannisson (Star Wars Force Awakens) - LINK Whitey Winn (Godless) - LINK No.1 & LINK No.2

Matt Smith Characters :

The 11th Doctor (Doctor Who) - LINK Daemon Targaryen (House Of The Dragon) - LINK Lucien / Milo Crown (Morbius)- LINK

Tom Holland Characters :

Gregory Cromwell (Wolf Hall) - LINK Nathan Drake (Uncharted) - LINK Peter Parker (MCU SpiderMan) - LINK

Eugene Simon Characters :

Jerome Clarke (House Of Anubis) - LINK Lancel Lannister (Game Of Thrones) - LINK

Isaac Hempstead Wright Characters :

Isaac Hempstead Wright - LINK Brandon Stark - LINK

Asa Butterfield Characters : Jacob Portman (MPHFPC) - LINK Willoughby Blake (Slaughter House Rulez) - LINK Otis Millburn (Sex Education) - LINK

Others :

Elrond (Rings of Power) - LINK

Viserys Targaryen (Game Of Thrones) - LINK

Anthony Lockwood (Lockwood & Co.) - LINK

Commission Page

[lonestarflight]

Cancelled Missions: Apollo AS-278

Planned launch: August 1967

Launch Vehicle: Saturn IB SA-207 and SA-208

Spacecraft: CSM-101 and LM-2

Prime crew:

-Commander: James Alton McDivitt

-Command Module Pilot: David Randolph Scott

-Lunar Module Pilot: Russell Louis "Rusty" Schweickart

Backup crew:

-Commander: Patten "Tom" Stafford CDR

-Command Module Pilot: John Watts Young

-Lunar Module Pilot: Eugene Andrew "Gene" Cernan

The mission number of AS-278, came from Saturn IB AS-207 and AS-208. It was also known as Apollo 3 and was planned as an D-type mission.

"It was planned that McDivitt's crew would conduct the Apollo D mission - a first manned test in earth orbit of the Lunar Module. Separate Saturn IB launches would put Apollo Block II CSM 101 / AS-207 and Lunar Module LM-2 / AS-208 into earth orbit a day later. The crew would then rendezvous and dock with the lunar module and put it through its paces.

When Schirra's Apollo 2 / AS-205 mission was cancelled in November 1966, the booster went to McDivitt's mission, and it was called AS-205/208, or AS-258."

-information from Astrnautix.com: link

Command Module 101 for Apollo-Saturn 205 mission on the workstand.

NASA ID: S68-42486

LM-2 under construction in Bethpage, Long Island, New York.

NASA ID: S68-36263

This flight was cancelled due of the Apollo 1 launch pad fire on January 27, 1967. After the fire, it was decided to launch the mission on a single Saturn V as Apollo 9. The prime crew remained the same for Apollo 9 but the backup crew flew as Apollo 10.

Information from spacefacts.de: link

Launch of AS-205 (CSM-101/SA-205) from LC-34 while AS-208 (LM-2/SA-208) waiting on LC-37B to launch the next day

Screenshot from orbit-forum.com: link

source, source, source

[dailyunsolvedmysteries]

The Secret Lobotomy of Rosemary Kennedy

On September 13, 1918, Rose Kennedy, wife of prominent businessman Joseph Kennedy Sr., went into labor with her third child. Rose's obstetrician was called to the Kennedys' home, but with a pneumonia epidemic raging through Boston, he failed to arrive before the baby entered the birth canal. A nurse, desperate to stop the delivery until the doctor arrived, held Rose's legs closed. When that failed, she reached into Rose's birth canal and held the baby's head in place for an unbelievable two hours.

In the quickly expanding household of boisterous, competitive Kennedys, Rosemary was often left behind. She was held back in school, until finally Rose hired private tutors for Rosemary and kept her at home. Watching her brothers and sisters go out without her left Rosemary angry and confused. She had "fits," which could have been seizures or episodes of mental illness. Afraid of Rosemary's vulnerability, Rose never let her leave the house alone. Rosemary also often ran away.

In the 1920s, the stigma associated with mental disability could ruin a family. Many Americans, including prominent members of society like Teddy Roosevelt, Andrew Carnegie, and John D. Rockefeller, believed in eugenics, a pseudoscience that advocated for forced sterilization of the "defective," a group that included the mental and physically disabled. And then, of course, the Kennedys were devout Catholics, whose church deemed disability the result of sin—a punishment from God.

Rosemary's disability was a challenge her mother couldn't face alone. At age 11, Rosemary was sent to boarding school. Over the next nine years, she attended five different schools. Her letters home show a young girl struggling to get it right. She wrote in a childish script that slants down dramatically off the page. She misspelled words and wrote incomplete sentences. Each letter is filled with a daughter's a desperate desire for approval and affection.

While in Britain, Rosemary found brief respite. She was enrolled in Belmont House, a boarding school run by Catholic nuns who embraced the Montessori Method of education, which focused on learning through practical skills and hands-on activities. Rosemary flourished under the guidance of the nuns, who trained her to be a teacher's aide. But after the Germans marched on Paris in the summer of 1940, her family brought her back to the States. Rosemary's reprieve was over.

Back at home, Rosemary watched her siblings begin their lives and careers, while she wasn't even allowed outside alone. Rose tried to find another school for her daughter, but few places were equipped to take a disabled adult in her 20s. Rosemary was eventually sent to a convent, where she began sneaking out at night and going to bars. 

Joe Sr. was busy plotting the political career of his two oldest sons. Wanting to avoid scandal and looking to find a cure for his daughter's erratic behavior, he began speaking to Dr. Walter Freeman and his associate Dr. James Watts, the leading practitioners of lobotomies in America. At the time, the procedure was heralded as a cure for the physically disabled and mentally ill..

Joe Sr. discussed the procedure with Rose, who asked their daughter Kathleen to look into it. Kathleen spoke with a reporter, John White, investigating mental illness and treatments. White told Kathleen that the effects of lobotomies were "no good." Clifford Larson writes that Kathleen immediately reported back to her mother: "Oh, Mother, no, it's nothing we want done for Rosie." But whether out of desperation or determination, Joe Sr. went ahead with the surgery.

At the age of 23, Rosemary was admitted to George Washington University Hospital, where she was strapped to a table and given an anaesthetic to numb the areas of her brain where Freeman and Watts would drill two small holes. They then inserted a small metal spatula and sliced the connections between her pre-frontal cortex and the rest of her brain. (Freeman often used ice picks for the procedure, hammering the pick in through the eye socket.) Rosemary was wide awake the whole time. The doctors had her recite poems as they cut—when she was silent, they knew the procedure was complete.

The hope was that the procedure would subdue Rosemary and end her rebellious jaunts about town. But the result was far more extreme: After the lobotomy, Rosemary was no longer able to walk or talk. It took months of therapy before she regained the ability to move on her own, recouping only the partial use of one arm. One of her legs was permanently turned inward. Months after the surgery, when she regained her ability to speak, it was a mix of garbled sounds and words. The result must have been shocking to Joe Sr., who had clung to the procedure as his last hope for Rosemary. But it couldn't have shocked Dr. Freeman, who had no surgical training and no proof of the astounding results he had claimed.

Immediately after the surgery, Joe Sr. moved Rosemary to Craig House, a psychiatric care facility where Zelda Fitzgerald once stayed. At the end of the 1940s, Joe Sr. had her moved to Saint Coletta's, a residential care facility in Jefferson, Wisconsin, where Rosemary lived until her death in 2005.

For 20 years, Rosemary was hidden from her family. 

In 1961, Joe Sr. suffered a stroke, and in early 1962, Rose finally saw her daughter again. Koehler-Pentacoff, whose aunt was one of Rosemary's primary caretakers at Saint Coletta's, recalls being told that during their first meeting, Rosemary attacked her mother. Angry, wounded, and abandoned, Rosemary was fighting for herself.

Twenty years after the barbaric procedure that derailed Rosemary's life, the Kennedys began to fight for her too. Rosemary's sister Eunice Kennedy Shriver founded the Special Olympics in 1968 and became a leading advocate for disability rights. Rosemary's nephew Anthony Shriver became an activist for people with developmental disabilities and founded the non-profit Best Buddies International. Rosemary's older brother John F. Kennedy, who became the 35th president of the United States, signed the Maternal and Child Health and Mental Retardation Planning Amendment to the Social Security Act, the first major legislation to combat mental illness and retardation, in 1963. It was a precusor to the American's with Disabilities Act, which Rosemary's little brother Ted—who served as a Democratic Senator for Massachusetts from 1962 until his death in 2009—championed. (It was eventually made law in 1990.) Ted Kennedy also sat on the board of the American Association of People with Disabilities.

[shaniacsboogara]

boog! boog! the people want to know! your predictions for the upcoming guests on puppet history!

If the people want my opinion, then I shall deliver!!! (I know some of these guests have been on other episodes already but I think it'd be cool to see them again)

(Predictions get progressively more delusional)

We're DEFINITELY going to see Kate on the show again (which I'm definitely excited for because she absolutely slays)

Sara is definitely also going to be a guest because we love her and it's great to watch her reactions to Shane's The Professor's silly little antics

Steven Lim. He's so funny. He's been on Puppet History before. GIVE HIM MORE CHANCES TO BE SILLY ON WATCHER.COM THE YOUTUBE CHANNEL. 👏👏👏

I definitely think they could have Garrett Watts on the show since they've had him on PH before (and also Ghost Files and Top 5 Beatdown) and we love him so idk I could see him possibly coming back

I would absolutely COMBUST if they got Joyce Louis-Jean on puppet history. WE SAW TOP 5 DISNEY DILFS. SHE'S HILARIOUS. WE LOVE HER.

People have been saying this forever, but it would be awesome if they completed their collection of the Try Guys by having Eugene Lee Yang on for an episode

I think it'd be silly for them to have Danny Gonzalez on the show and IT'S DELUSIONAL BUT HE INTERACTED WITH WATCHER ON TWITTER AFTER HIS STANLEY HOTEL VIDEO it'd just be silly 🙏

Estranged producer Shane Madej. THE CHAOS??? THE FANDOM BUZZ THAT EPISODE WOULD GENERATE???

Weird Al

I am done. Thank you.

[re-dracula]

July 20: The thought that has been buzzing about Seward's brain lately is complete.

This episode contains medical ableism, the use of narcotics in a medical context, and references to eugenics and animal cruelty. Transcript here.

This episode featured: Jonathan Sims as Jack Seward; and Nathan Blades as the Attendant. Dialogue editing by Stephen Indrisano. Sound design by Tal Minear. Produced by Ella Watts and Pacific S. Obadiah, with executive producers Stephen Indrisano, Tal Minear, and Hannah Wright. A Bloody FM Production.

[dailyunsolvedmysteries-movedd]

The Secret Lobotomy of Rosemary Kennedy

On September 13, 1918, Rose Kennedy, wife of prominent businessman Joseph Kennedy Sr., went into labor with her third child. Rose's obstetrician was called to the Kennedys' home, but with a pneumonia epidemic raging through Boston, he failed to arrive before the baby entered the birth canal. A nurse, desperate to stop the delivery until the doctor arrived, held Rose's legs closed. When that failed, she reached into Rose's birth canal and held the baby's head in place for an unbelievable two hours.

In the quickly expanding household of boisterous, competitive Kennedys, Rosemary was often left behind. She was held back in school, until finally Rose hired private tutors for Rosemary and kept her at home. Watching her brothers and sisters go out without her left Rosemary angry and confused. She had "fits," which could have been seizures or episodes of mental illness. Afraid of Rosemary's vulnerability, Rose never let her leave the house alone. Rosemary also often ran away.

In the 1920s, the stigma associated with mental disability could ruin a family. Many Americans, including prominent members of society like Teddy Roosevelt, Andrew Carnegie, and John D. Rockefeller, believed in eugenics, a pseudoscience that advocated for forced sterilization of the "defective," a group that included the mental and physically disabled. And then, of course, the Kennedys were devout Catholics, whose church deemed disability the result of sin—a punishment from God.

Rosemary's disability was a challenge her mother couldn't face alone. At age 11, Rosemary was sent to boarding school. Over the next nine years, she attended five different schools. Her letters home show a young girl struggling to get it right. She wrote in a childish script that slants down dramatically off the page. She misspelled words and wrote incomplete sentences. Each letter is filled with a daughter's a desperate desire for approval and affection.

While in Britain, Rosemary found brief respite. She was enrolled in Belmont House, a boarding school run by Catholic nuns who embraced the Montessori Method of education, which focused on learning through practical skills and hands-on activities. Rosemary flourished under the guidance of the nuns, who trained her to be a teacher's aide. But after the Germans marched on Paris in the summer of 1940, her family brought her back to the States. Rosemary's reprieve was over.

Back at home, Rosemary watched her siblings begin their lives and careers, while she wasn't even allowed outside alone. Rose tried to find another school for her daughter, but few places were equipped to take a disabled adult in her 20s. Rosemary was eventually sent to a convent, where she began sneaking out at night and going to bars. 

Joe Sr. was busy plotting the political career of his two oldest sons. Wanting to avoid scandal and looking to find a cure for his daughter's erratic behavior, he began speaking to Dr. Walter Freeman and his associate Dr. James Watts, the leading practitioners of lobotomies in America. At the time, the procedure was heralded as a cure for the physically disabled and mentally ill..

Joe Sr. discussed the procedure with Rose, who asked their daughter Kathleen to look into it. Kathleen spoke with a reporter, John White, investigating mental illness and treatments. White told Kathleen that the effects of lobotomies were "no good." Clifford Larson writes that Kathleen immediately reported back to her mother: "Oh, Mother, no, it's nothing we want done for Rosie." But whether out of desperation or determination, Joe Sr. went ahead with the surgery.

At the age of 23, Rosemary was admitted to George Washington University Hospital, where she was strapped to a table and given an anaesthetic to numb the areas of her brain where Freeman and Watts would drill two small holes. They then inserted a small metal spatula and sliced the connections between her pre-frontal cortex and the rest of her brain. (Freeman often used ice picks for the procedure, hammering the pick in through the eye socket.) Rosemary was wide awake the whole time. The doctors had her recite poems as they cut—when she was silent, they knew the procedure was complete.

The hope was that the procedure would subdue Rosemary and end her rebellious jaunts about town. But the result was far more extreme: After the lobotomy, Rosemary was no longer able to walk or talk. It took months of therapy before she regained the ability to move on her own, recouping only the partial use of one arm. One of her legs was permanently turned inward. Months after the surgery, when she regained her ability to speak, it was a mix of garbled sounds and words. The result must have been shocking to Joe Sr., who had clung to the procedure as his last hope for Rosemary. But it couldn't have shocked Dr. Freeman, who had no surgical training and no proof of the astounding results he had claimed.

Immediately after the surgery, Joe Sr. moved Rosemary to Craig House, a psychiatric care facility where Zelda Fitzgerald once stayed. At the end of the 1940s, Joe Sr. had her moved to Saint Coletta's, a residential care facility in Jefferson, Wisconsin, where Rosemary lived until her death in 2005.

For 20 years, Rosemary was hidden from her family. 

In 1961, Joe Sr. suffered a stroke, and in early 1962, Rose finally saw her daughter again. Koehler-Pentacoff, whose aunt was one of Rosemary's primary caretakers at Saint Coletta's, recalls being told that during their first meeting, Rosemary attacked her mother. Angry, wounded, and abandoned, Rosemary was fighting for herself.

Twenty years after the barbaric procedure that derailed Rosemary's life, the Kennedys began to fight for her too. Rosemary's sister Eunice Kennedy Shriver founded the Special Olympics in 1968 and became a leading advocate for disability rights. Rosemary's nephew Anthony Shriver became an activist for people with developmental disabilities and founded the non-profit Best Buddies International. Rosemary's older brother John F. Kennedy, who became the 35th president of the United States, signed the Maternal and Child Health and Mental Retardation Planning Amendment to the Social Security Act, the first major legislation to combat mental illness and retardation, in 1963. It was a precusor to the American's with Disabilities Act, which Rosemary's little brother Ted—who served as a Democratic Senator for Massachusetts from 1962 until his death in 2009—championed. (It was eventually made law in 1990.) Ted Kennedy also sat on the board of the American Association of People with Disabilities.

[a-god-in-ruins-rises]

this is the shit i'm talking about with regard to the "classics"

this dude seems to be under the impression that this meme is about physically strong men who can push plows harder. lmaoooo.

the "strong men" in this meme (and others like it) refers to excellent men of action and virtue and fortitude and capability. and "weak men" refers to mediocre men of decadence and degeneracy and incompetence and cowardice.

it wasn't "weird little nerds" who were inventing shit. they were aristocrats who probably placed a lot of value on athleticism and fitness since they were raised with an education that emphasized balance between mind and body. aristocrats who, by this guy's standards, would probably themselves be considered "fascists" anyway.

on one hand, these guys so badly want you to believe that it's actually people like them ("weird little nerds") who drive history forward and "actually the past was just like today!" so they can justify their own deficiencies.

on the other hand, when pressed, they'll admit they actually despise these men and consider these people and the times they lived in to be totally backward, racist, colonialist, barbaric, and so on.

at best it's a bunch of cognitive dissonance, at worst it's pure deception and manipulation.

and by the way, where it /was/ the case that it was "weird little nerds" inventing stuff (like since the industrial revolution) this didn't happen in a vacuum. stuff like that was and is only enabled by /strong men/ establishing and upholding a stable and prosperous society. and again, even then, many of these "weird little nerds" would probably have more in common with fascists ideologically than whatever it is this guy believes.

elsewhere he talks about how it's not "strong men" who create good times but "organization." i agree with him about organization tbh. but where does he think organization comes from? go look at the most prosperous nations throughout history and you'll find that the moments of their greatest prosperity is when they have a "strong man" as a leader who is able to swiftly and efficiently organize.

the founding fathers were strong men made during hard times. alexander hamilton was among the strongest. and he, along with the rest of the founding fathers, established a framework of government which enabled "weird little nerds" to create those "clever machines."

eli whitney was maybe one of the most important "weird little nerds" of the 19th century but he wasn't actually that weird. he was a perfectly sociable, well-respected man who was also well-connected and was pretty active in political life, famously advocating for adopting interchangeable parts as an industrial policy. he would probably be criticized as a racist, colonialist, capitalist pig by this "existential comics" guy if he was actually pressed.

or ford? also pretty important inventor of "clever machines." also quite explicitly a fascist. or at least a fascist sympathizer? alexander graham bell? connected to eugenics. james watt? another well-respected and well-connected public figure who was famous for his sociability. should i keep going? thomas edison? ben franklin? johannes gutenberg? the wright brothers?

idk man. i'm not seeing that many weird little nerds. just a lot of intelligent and well-regarded members of society. most of whom, again, would probably be considered fascists by this guy's standards anyway.

nowadays physical vigor and mental acuity are often divorced and even seen as antagonistic. but for most of (european) history these two were seen as complementary and emphasis was placed on both. this attempt to demonize the physical while championing "nerdiness" is a type of sickly slave morality.

and by the way, even the ancients believed in this meme. the ancients talked all the time about cyclical history and the way governments become corrupt and degenerate to anarchy and then a strong man takes over and establishes order and the cycle continues. i guess the ancients were fascist! (they would unironically believe this.)

anyway: read books and left weights. don't neglect either. being a "strong man" doesn't mean you can't be smart or invent things. quite the contrary.

[aquariumdrunkard]

The Aquarium Drunkard Show: SIRIUS/XMU (7pm PDT, Channel 35)

Funky crudités. Via satellite, transmitting from northeast Los Angeles — the Aquarium Drunkard Show on SIRIUS/XMU, channel 35. 7pm California time, Wednesdays.

Intro ++ Larry Ellis – Funky Thing, Pt. 1 ++ Jake Wade & The Soul Searchers – Searching For Soul, Pt. 1 ++ Little Beaver – Funkadelic Sound ++ Chicago Gangsters – Why Did You Do it? ++ Wayne Carter & Organ Twisters – Wahoo, Wahoo, Wahoo ++ Carleen & The Groovers – The Thing ++ J.D.S. – Funky Party Time ++ Elmer & Brenda Parker – Got To Get Back To Louisiana ++ Apple & The Three Oranges – Curse Upon The World ++ Shelley Fisher – I’ll Leave You Girl ++ Michael Liggins & The Super Souls – Loaded Back ++ Detroit Sex Machines – Rap It Together ++ Soap – I Just Want To Celebrate ++ Bad Medicine – Trespasser ++ Odetta – Hit Or Miss ++ The Soul Lifters – Hot, Funky And Sweaty ++ Eddie Bo & Inez Cheatham – Lover And A Friend ++ Essence – Fever (Instrumental) ++ Nina Simone – Funkier Than A Mosquito’s Tweeter ++ Eugene Blacknell – Gettin’ Down ++ The Mighty Imperials – Jody’s Walk ++ Mickey & The Soul Generation – Get Down Brother ++ Tony Owens – I Got Soul ++ Ike Turner & The Kings of Rhythm – Getting Nasty ++ Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band – Do Your Thing ++ The Monterreys – Get Down ++ Nina Simone – Be My Husband (Live, 1987) ++ Terry Callier – You Goin’ Miss Your Candyman ++ Whitefield Brothers – Rampage ++ Karl Hector & The Malcouns – Mystical Brotherhood++ Merle Saunders & Jerry Garcia – Keepers ++ Joel Vandroogenbroeck – Rocks ++ Howard Wales – Karnaval ++ Funkadelic – Biological Speculation | art formless forming

[augment-techs]

"5 times Person A wanted to tell Person B they love them + the 1 time they finally did" SkullBilly

Half version here, half on AO3...when it's fully done. Not so jumbled up here. ^^;

There was a sheet of ice over the whole back yard and it was the most beautiful thing the two nine year olds had ever seen.

So much so, that neither Billy or Eugene wanted to step onto the shining slick and ruin the moment. The Skullovitch property was a mess at the best of times and the beginning of newly blossomed green with the spring grass didn't ever make it look much better. But with a freak weather pattern the night before, it could almost be considered pretty now.

"I want to get a picture."

"Not of my back yard by itself. It's good for a lot of things, but not National Geographic stuff."

Billy huffed and finagled his crappy flip phone out of his back pocket, pressing it into Eugene's hand before taking a breath...

Very slowly, arms out on either side of him like he was going to perform on a balance beam, Billy stepped from one slowly melting patch of ice and clover to another, then another, until he was standing on the puddle that had accumulated in the night to look like a silver disc of mirror.

Since he dressed a little bit like a child from the Victorian era when it came to sleepwear, he was still wearing the long white cotton muslin oversized shirt that draped down almost to his knees like a smock. He was wearing bed shorts--just a spare set of swim trunks that he didn't want to throw away until he had to--but the shot didn't make that readily apparent as he carefully bent down and sat on his knees; raising both hands in the air to make peace signs.

No glasses, straw blond hair still messy from bouncing around in bed all night, looking more sure of himself than he often did...

Eugene almost said the words he thought about often in his head, sometimes wanted to say out loud, was terrified of his father and mother ever suspecting.

"Say 'Hoist the Sails' Bones!"

--

'Please don't leave.'

"So, you'll be gone for how long again?"

Billy sighed, his previous elation as he stowed away all the clothes he'd need for his trip to space camp dimmed as he adjusted his glasses and looked back over to where Eugene was kneading the makeshift homemade slime that looked like little more than unbaked dough. He didn't want to look Billy in the eye and burst into tears at his answer.

"Eight weeks--but they have phones! I won't be able to use mine because of the rules and regulations, but I'll still be able to call once a week."

'Eight weeks. Two months. Fifty-six days.'

Might as well have been two lifetimes to someone who was barely alive a decade.

But Eugene just covered up the urge to plead, 'I don't want you to go. I don't want to be alone. I love--' with his usual smile of bluster and sureness and slammed the stim aid into his other hand like a baseball.

"I guess that means you'll have to tell me everything you can about all the aliens they're hiding when you get back and aren't being recorded then!"

It had the desired effect of turning Billy's hesitant fidgeting into a hundred-watt smile that could have blinded an emotional cripple. They only had an hour left before he had to get in the car with his dad to drive him to the camp, and neither of them wanted to spoil it.

--

'I love you, I love you, I love you--how could you do this to me--I love you, I love you-- …How could you? How could you... How could you...'

The necessity to breathe was growing harder and harder as Eugene walked further away from the school, the parents and children milling around with the professionals that came to visit to introduce them to the concept of the future and priorities, and Eugene's brain repeating over and over the look on Billy's face...

The choice to run up to Eugene and ask him why he hadn't picked up the phone or where he'd been or why he looked like he hadn't slept since Billy had gone...

Or the choice to ignore him and go to where the Cranstons were waiting on the curb with a professional looking women wearing a suit that looked like it cost more than all the drugs Mr. Skullovitch had stolen from his bosses before he'd skipped town.

…Probably the worst part was the lack of surprise with Billy waving Eugene away, but what felt like a punch to the stomach when he looked back to the grownups to make sure it wasn't obvious.

He was vaguely aware that he was having a panic attack as he made his way across town, down along the train tracks, into the furthest reaches of the last parts of Angel Grove, into the woods and down the road to his house. Empty and silent as he took his shoes off, made his way into his bedroom, and slunk into the back of his closet.

His father might not have been around to beat the crap out of him for crying like a little sissy anymore, his brother might have been wandering around with his friends causing problems, and his mother might have been drowning in her own sorrows over becoming a divorcee at some bar where she could hustle at pool even while being half in the bag; but he still made himself as small and quiet as possible. Even if it hurt his back and legs and arms, the stitches still fresh and healing and so dark against his moon pale skin, he couldn't stop the trembling.

--

"...And why? Because I'm smarter than you?"

'You are so fucking stupid.'

The urge to give a deep, horribly depressed sigh at Billy's inability to see the writing on the wall as well as consider the phrase 'pulling your pigtails' was so terribly close to coming to the edge of reality that Skull would later--much later, probably in a matter of weeks--give himself a small pat on the back for suppressing it.

He still told him the truth, just slanted and upside-down because God Forbid Billy ask the wrong question and get an answer that doesn't piss him off.

--

"Billy's not here?"

The Dome had been up for two days and Skull could have slapped himself for not checking in on the Cranston residence sooner, but in all fairness he'd been a little out of it. First because he and Bulk still couldn't find Candice anywhere, and second...well it was just really hard to think when his face was in screaming pain from his being an idiot trying to take on a Putty with considerably obvious upgrades.

Which he probably should have considered when going to knock on the Cranston house door, because the phones weren't working so he had to go in person for a face-to-face.

His face still dark red and purple where he took the hit.

Very obviously not the best idea when Mr. Cranston opened the door and looked five seconds away from picking him up and driving him to the hospital after answering the door, eyes obviously hoping to find Billy, and shifting to that kind of intense parental horror that only actually good parents could show off, "Oh, Eugene..."

But there had been too many years, and Skull didn't like Mr. Cranston looking at him with any sort of kindness. Skull might have let up and pulled up on picking on Billy or humiliating him for over a year, but he also didn't feel much like taking back anything he and Bulk did to satisfy the broken parts of him screaming out the same thing over and over again that went unheard and unwanted.

He took a step back on the porch, away from Mr. Cranston's step forward and gave the same shrug he used to when he had bruises in other places from his old man, when one of the Cranston's asked if he wanted to tell them something, but he never did.

"I'll keep an eye out for him. I'm still looking around for my--… For a friend that I haven't seen since we all got cut off from civilization. Maybe he's just hiding out from the Putties still roaming around."

"I would very much appreciate that, Eugene. Thank you," the man breathed, not in relief, but in gratitude, opening the door a little wider, but without stepping forward, "But would you like to come inside and have some coffee before being off again? We have cake that my wife made that's about to go spare without Billy here with his bottomless pit of a stomach."

Skull let his head dip down, delicate neck slow with the movement, but very pointed in its way of emphasizing that the kindness was, as always, a refreshing treat, but not something Skull could bring himself to imbibe in.

"Thank you, Mr. Cranston, but...I really must be going."

[vlruso]

AI decodes speech from non-invasive brain recordings

Exciting news! Researchers at Meta AI have made significant progress in decoding speech from non-invasive brain recordings. By using magneto-encephalography (MEG) and electroencephalography (EEG), they were able to identify specific words associated with brain wave patterns. This breakthrough has promising implications for individuals with limited motor skills, such as ALS patients, who struggle to communicate effectively. Read more about this fascinating study here: [https://itinai.com/ai-decodes-speech-from-non-invasive-brain-recordings/](https://itinai.com/ai-decodes-speech-from-non-invasive-brain-recordings/) Also, don't miss out on practical applications of AI in business! Learn how to leverage AI to stay competitive and transform your company. Find out more here: [https://itinai.com/practical-applications-of-ai-in-business/](https://itinai.com/practical-applications-of-ai-in-business/) And if you're interested in an AI solution specifically for automating customer engagement and managing interactions across all stages of the customer journey, check out our AI Sales Bot at [https://itinai.com/aisalesbot](https://itinai.com/aisalesbot). Discover how AI can redefine your sales processes and customer engagement. Stay connected with us at hello@itinai.com or follow us on Telegram or Twitter for AI insights and advice on KPI management. Let's explore the possibilities together! List of Useful Links: AI Scrum Bot - ask about AI scrum and agile Our Telegram @itinai Twitter -  @itinaicom

[cruel-nature-records]

OUT NOW: Eugene Dubon 'Finish Line'

https://cruelnaturerecordings.bandcamp.com/album/finish-line

The debut EP from Seattle ex-pat, Eugene Dubon. 7 tracks of bass-heavy atmospheric post-punk fuzz

Tapes by the Audio Tape People

Design by James Watts

Art by Sam Kennedy

[singeratlarge]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Hank Ballard, Brand X’s 1977 LP LIVESTOCK, Jake Brockman (Echo & the Bunnymen), film composer Carter Burwell, Michael Carabello (Santana), trumpeter-bandleader Don Cherry, Imogene Coca, Linda Evans, Fabolous, composer-violist Lillian Fuchs, Kirk Hammett, Mexican Golden Age actor-singer Pedro Infante, Amanda Lear, Cherokee activist Wilma Mankiller, Paul McCartney’s 1985 single “Spies Like Us,” Metallica’s 1997 RELOAD album, Jeramy Mohler, Eugene Ormandy, Graham Parker, John Parr, Herman Rarebell (Scorpions), Cindy Blackman Santana, Rudy Sarzo, Compay Segundo, Duncan Sheik, astronaut Alan Sheperd, the 1930 Fred Astaire/Bob Hope musical SMILES, Howard Thurman, Shania Twain’s 2002 UP! album, Brenda Vaccaro, J.C. Watts, Kim Wilde, Owen Wilson, and the Great American singer-songwriter Johnny Mercer.

Among his many hit songs are now-standards such as ��Autumn Leaves” and “Moon River”—all told he wrote lyrics for 1500 published songs. Besides winning many awards, he co-founded Capitol Records, the first “indie label” of the 20th Century not dependent on the film industry or other corporate interests. Mercer was one of those fabled “napkin writers,” meaning he’d grab any scrap of paper handy, throw down lyrics, then have a demo ready within hours. “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive” was inspired by a sermon he heard on the radio. Normally he’d pitch the song to other singers but it was perfect for his voice. His recording was a Top 10 hit and has been used in several films. Here’s my take—I’ve grown fond of it and it’s a touchstone of my “assisted living home set.”

https://johnnyjblairsingeratlarge.bandcamp.com/track/ac-cent-tchu-ate-the-positive

#johnnymercer #positive #accentuate #singersongwriter #greatamericansongbook #napkin #film #soundtrack #assistedlivinghome #carehome #johnnyjblair #singeratlarge #birthday

[lboogie1906]

Barry Eugene Carter (September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003) known by his stage name Barry White, was a singer and songwriter. A two-time Grammy Award, his greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and with The Love Unlimited Orchestra, crafting many enduring souls, funk, and disco songs such as his two biggest hits: “Can’t Get Enough of Your Love, Babe” and “You’re the First, the Last, My Everything”.

He was born in Galveston. His father was Melvin A. White, and his mother was Sadie Marie Carter. He grew up in Watts. He was the older of two children. He grew up listening to his mother’s classical music collection and first took to the piano.

He recorded 20 studio albums during his career, but multiple versions and compilations were released worldwide that were certified gold, 41 of which attained platinum status. He had 20 gold and 10 platinum singles, with worldwide record sales of over 100 million records, and is one of the best-selling music artists of all time. Crafting many enduring souls, funk, and disco songs such as his two biggest hits: “You’re the First, the Last, My Everything” and “Can’t Get Enough of Your Love, Babe”.

He did voice-over work for television and movies. He voiced the character Brother Bear in Coonskin and played the character Sampson. He appeared as himself in two episodes of The Simpsons.

He played the role of a bus driver for a Prodigy commercial, and he portrayed the voice of a rabbit in a Good Seasons salad-dressing-mix commercial, singing a song called “You Can’t Bottle Love”. He did some work for car commercials, including for Oldsmobile and Jeep. He provided the voice-over for Arby’s Restaurant on television and radio. His voice can be heard in Apple’s first iBook commercial. He made three guest appearances on Ally McBeal, as his music was featured on the show.

He was first married to his childhood sweetheart, Mary. He married singer, Glodean James. The couple collaborated on the album Barry & Glodean. He had at least nine children. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[the-fiction-witch]

Hi who do you take requests for??

Hi!

The list is ever growing of course but currently,

House of the Dragon :

Aegon Targaryen Daemon Targaryen Jacaerys Verlayon

Thomas Brodie Sangster :

Jack Dawkins (The Artful Dodger) Benny Watts (The Queens Gambit) Newt (TMR) Whitey Winn (Godless) Jojen Reed (GOT) Simon Brown (Nanny Mcphee) Jake Murry (accused) Samuel Emerson (Phantom halo / My left Hand man / Sleep No more) Lampwick (Pinnochio) Paul McCartney (Nowhere Boy) Malcolm Mclaren (Pistol) Sam (Love Actually) Rafe Sadler (Wolf Hall) Romulus Augustus / Pendragon (The Last Legion) Nigel (Orbit Ever After) Timothy Latimer (Doctor Who) Officer Thanission (The Force Awakens) Adam Douglas (Lewis) Donald (Death of a Superhero) Samuel Brawne (Bright Star) Casey (Some Dogs Bite)

Asa Butterfield :

Otis Millburn (Sex Education) Willoughby Blake (Slaughter House Rulez) Jacob Portman (Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children)

Tom Holland :

Peter Parker (MCU) Nathan Drake (Uncharted) Gregory Cromwell (Wolf Hall)

Eugene Simon :

Lancel Lannister (GOT) Jerome Clarke (House of Anubis)

Other :

Eleventh Doctor Bran Stark (GOT)

Open to doing other characters if they are requested or commissioned,