#Flatrock

[travelthisworld]

Flatrock, NL, Canada | Eric McLean

[dinosaurchurch]

First snow on Stiles Cove Path.

November 23rd 2023.

[newfoundlandland]

Flatrock Splash by Andrea Peddle

[whimsy--wanderlust]

Traeger Ultimate Smashed Burger Kit #sponsored If you bought the new Traeger Flatrock, you need to invest in this smash burger kit ASAP! Everything you need to make the best burgers on the block is included! What's inside the box: -1 Weighted grill press. -1 Grill spatula. -1 Steam dome. Each accessory is heavy duty, with solid construction, wood handles and a convenient loop for hanging. They thought of everything! The kit is selling out fast, so be sure to snag your kit today! #traeger #traegergrills #teamtraeger #traegeron #traegerflatrock #flatrock #smashburgers #griddle #griddlecooking https://www.instagram.com/p/Cpp7U_Yu9cT/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[bookjunkiez]

Flatrock Blitz

  Fantasy/Comedy Date Published: 01-13-2023   “Oops,” said God. These words were uttered just after the creation of the planet that would be called Flatrock, and from there, things only got worse.   All Milo wants is a life full to the brim with peace and quiet, though his new work associate, Heidi, is a little more adventurous, wishing to see everything the wide world has to offer. These…

[vandaliatraveler]

Walk with me: Autumn fire on the Allegheny Front. The heath's ablaze on the plains of Dolly Sods, signaling a change of season as Summer's greens burn away in Autumn's fire. Photos from the Allegheny Front at Flatrock Plains, Dolly Sods, and the Bear Rocks Preserve.

[humanoidhistory]

Air Force radar site at Flatrock Hill, Michigan, 1979.

[coimbrabertone]

Cautiously Optimistic - Liberty Media Buying MotoGP

So, Liberty Media, owners of Formula One, are officially trying to buy MotoGP. This has been rumored for the last few months, with Dorna Sports - the parent company of MotoGP and World Superbike - had spent the last few years making the kind of moves you'd make before a big sale. The launch of sprint races in MotoGP, appointing a new CCO in the form of Dan Rossomondo, and expanding the calendar with new races in new markets.

Nevertheless, there were always question marks over whether Liberty Media could own both MotoGP and Formula One, because precedent suggested they could not. As Simon Patterson reported for the Race, in 2006, CVC Capital Partners acquired Formula One and thus European regulators ordered them to sell off MotoGP. Thus, MotoGP was sold to another private equity firm, Bridgepoint. Bridgepoint would then acquire World Superbike in 2013, and evidently owning the two premier global motorcycle racing series didn't seem to bother any regulators at that point.

I can't help but combine that with a quote from Dan Rossomondo made at some point while being the Chief Commercial Officer of MotoGP. Rossomondo said, essentially, that MotoGP doesn't just compete with other racing series, it competes with going out for a walk, listening to music, and all the other things you could do on a Sunday instead of sitting down and watching a motorcycle race.

Was that more than just an innocuous quote? Maybe it's a hint of how Dorna and Liberty will make their case to various regulatory bodies to justify this merger.

Whether or not that's true, Liberty Media seems confident that they're going to pass regulatory approval. How exactly that'll happen remains to be seen - some have suggested that World Superbike will be sold off as a sort of sacrificial lamb to allow this to happen - but it now seems like MotoGP and F1 will very likely end up under the same ownership.

So...what does that mean for MotoGP?

Well, it means that the company that turned F1 into this trendy giant of a series is going to give some of that marketing love to MotoGP. That can only be a good thing - MotoGP is fantastic racing and it deserves more attention.

Will MotoGP see a move from historic venues to chase new markets? I would argue that it already has. Dorna has already been chasing emerging markets and a simple look at the calendar will show that - Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, India, etc, etc. Not only that, but that's arguably a necessary decision for MotoGP because, quite frankly, those are the countries that are buying motorcycles these days. 1000cc sport bikes? Not necessarily, but quite frankly, KTM doesn't even make a 1000cc sport bike, so MotoGP has become more of a showcase of the motorcycle industry rather than a marketing tool for a particular type of motorcycle.

Will this result in MotoGP chasing street circuits like F1 did? Well, Liberty Media has already said no, and as much as the word of giant corporations is worthless in 2024, simple safety concerns make it unfeasible. MotoGP needs a ton of space and big gravel traps to stop the bikes - and more importantly, the riders - in the kind of dramatic crashes that can happen in this sport.

What do I think will happen? Well, in the short term, not much, but come 2026, 2027 when circuit contracts start expiring, I suspect we'll lose a few existing venues - having four races in Spain presents an obvious opportunity for some trimming - and probably gain another race in the US (likely that Flatrock track in Tennessee) and if I had to guess, another one in East Asia, most likely China.

Maybe India will pave the way towards MotoGP reviving old, disused F1 tracks, and we could see the likes of South Korea and Istanbul Park added to the MotoGP calendar. If not MotoGP, then WSBK with a Turkish star in the form of Toprak Razgatlioglu really ought to consider it.

Anyway, the way I see it, the legitimate criticisms that F1 fans have with Liberty Media - being greedy, chasing new venues at the expense of historic ones, pushing the teams hard by constantly expanding the schedule - is all stuff that Dorna has already been doing. Even the complaints about the Drive to Survive drama, Dorna has tried two different DTS clones and neither one moved the needle. If you're going to be doing these things anyway, you might as well do them with the company that has at least been successful with it.

For now though, I have MotoGP coverage through Max and TruTV in the US, commercial free, and that's a dramatic improvement over how I had to watch the series last year. Dan Rossomondo's team has made MotoGP far more accessible and pleasant to watch already, and if that can continue under Liberty Media's ownership, then I hope this series that I've fallen in love with over the last year and a half can grow.

Thus, the overall verdict is...I'm cautiously optimistic.

[productofnfld]

Ghostly Fires in Flatrock

“If I were asked to name my choice of the most fascinating news story of the month,” wrote Western Star columnist Ed Finn, Jr, “I would unhesitatingly nominate the yarn emanating from St. John’s last week concerning the “ghostly fires” which have been plaguing a family in Flatrock.”

The story that piqued Finn’s interest appeared in The Evening Telegram on December 1st, 1954 and concerned the experiences of Mr. & Mrs Mike Parsons, and their 19-year-old daughter Josephine.

According to the Parsons’ reports, objects around the home began to spontaneously combust. In the preceding two weeks a dictionary, a doll, a sack of sugar, a box of books, and more burst into flames.

All of the fires were unexplained; there seemed to be no source of ignition. It got so bad the Parsons family were afraid to sleep at night, not knowing what blaze might confront them next.

The first item to burn was a dictionary. Mrs. Parsons smelled smoke and traced the source to the wood box where she found the burning book. “There were boughs there, too, and dry sticks,” she recalled, “but they weren’t burning. We were puzzled but let the thing go at that.”

‘Letting it go’ proved to be impossible — the fires kept ignighting.

Next to burn was a sack of sugar.

“Mom and I were in the kitchen and I was washing the floor,” recalled daughter Josephine. “Daddy was in the barn milking the cow. Mom and I smelled smoke…I called out to Daddy and Uncle Jim, and they came running running and searched the the house.”

In the corner of the front room they found it. “Our sack of sugar,” recalled Josephine, “Burning. Half-burned away. It smelled. And flames were already at the wall.”

Here, the story gets even stranger.

Vanishing Flames

“And here’s the mysterious thing about it,” Mike Parsons told The Telegram, “I touched the sugar sack. Just touched it with my hands, I tell you. And the fire went out.”

Next a box of religious books burst into flames, damaging the bureau it was resting on. Then a doll owned by the Parsons’ grand-daughter caught fire and scorched the bedroom floor.

The fire department and the RCMP paid a visit to the house.

“I know they have suspicious feelings,” confessed Mr. Parsons, “but they are all wrong.”

“Before you draw any conclusions,” he continued, “I want to tell you this: Nobody is trying to burn down the house. We have not a red cent of insurance for us to collect. Furthermore, I have a basement full of potatoes and turnip representing a hard summer’s work I wouldn’t want destroyed.”

A Poltergeist?

Seemingly convinced, The Telegram’s writers pulled the Encyclopedia Britannica off the shelf and asserted, “Poltergeists (a German term meaning “racketing spirits”) is the thing the Encyclopedia refers to which is the closest to the alleged mysterious breaking out of fires at the Parsons’ home.”

“It can almost invariably shown,” The Telegram quotes, “that there is some agent or person whose presence is essential for the production of the phenomenon.”

The RCMP Report

Ten days after The Telegram’s initial story, a brief follow-up appeared stating “RCMP have concluded investigating the ‘mystery house’ at Flatrock… RCMP’s Inspector Porter have told The Telegram his men have found no proof of the fires’ origin, though they have come to some conclusions.”

If those conclusions were ever reported in the media, I haven’t found them.

More ‘Poltergeists’ in the Press

Strange as it may seem, the ‘Flatrock Incident’ is not the only case of poltergeists appearing in the Newfoundland news.

In December 2013, CBC published a story, “Poltergeist behaviour haunts St. John’s family.” The story relates how a family moved into a 1970s-era home in the east end of St. John’s only to discover strange happenings in the residence. It started with a doll that moved around the house and graduated to jiggling door knobs and self-arranging furniture.

You can read the whole story at CBC.ca.

[banffcentrelibraryandarchives]

ARTISTS' BOOK DISPLAY, AUGUST 2023

A Travel Narrative. The Berkeley Horse #53. Christine Stewart. North Vancouver, BC: Mindware, David UU, 1994. 

The Bears Come to Tea. Tara Bryan, with illustrations by Duncan Major. [Place of publication not identified]: Walking Bird Press, 2017.

Czech Birds, Šileni Lovcí, Wild Hunters. Jo Cook, Wesley Mulvin, and Petra Poldlahová. Mayne Island, BC: Perro Verlag, 2006.

The Last Four Cows of North America. Jo Cook. Mayne Island, BC: Perro Verlag, 2008. 

Two metaphysical threes: earth::air::water::animal::vegetable::mineral. Tara Bryan, text by Thomas Traherne. Flatrock, NL, 1988.

[the-only-unicorn-cheese]

I Miss Him

this is a verrrry short scene i threw together in Notepad + MS Paint, only 375 words. i’ve decided to go a Direction™ with SunClan’s lore, so i may write more scenes like this one. i’ve come up with a lot of lore for these cats, & i hope you guys like them!

ficbit below the cut:

Whitetrail sat alone, watching the Flatrocks with a weariness in his eyes. It took him several moments to register the distant rustle of ferns as cat's steps were heard from behind. He did not turn to face her; the evening breeze carried Dawnstripe's scent to him easily. Wordlessly, she leapt up to the rock and sat beside him, tail curling over her paws neatly. For a while they sat in silence, listening to the shushing of the trees of late greenleaf.

"Greenleaf has been kind to us," she commented finally. "The Clan will be plenty ready, come leafbare."

"... Yes."

There's a pause, a long beat of quiet that weighed heavy in the air.

"I know you came out here to check on me..." Whitetrail mewed dryly.

The warrior shifted her paws slightly. "You've been working very hard since... the incident at the Twolegplace. Maybe a bit too hard." She turned to face him, her amber eyes warm in the dying sunlight.

The pale-grey tom grew rigid where he sat. He wasn't a kit; he didn't need her to dance around the topic like this. "Of course I've been working hard," he began to growl, "I'm Clan deputy; it's my job...!" But as he caught the look in her eyes, his anger softened, his tiredness returning to its perch on his shoulders.

Dawnstripe touched her tail to his shoulder. "I'm sure StarClan is watching over him, wherever he is," she whispered.

"But how will he ever find his way home? We barely made it out of there ourselves! He's all alone!" Aching sadness pulled at his meow, tearing down the walls he put up to shield his Clanmates from his sorrow, to show strength in such uncertainty. But now, in the presence of one of his senior warriors, he could stand to hold them no longer.

"But he is not alone," she mewed, and her voice was steady and kind — though he could smell her fear-scent. "StarClan is with him. StarClan will bring him home."

Longing like claws ripped through Whitetrail. I miss him, he thought, I miss him now. I miss my brother. And as he gazed up to the first stars of Silverpelt, he sent his heart to StarClan. Please... please bring Ghoststar home.

[escapetounknown]

Flatrock, NL, Canada  📍

• 📸 by -  introspectivedsgn 

• follow for daily travel inspiration ✨️

 

• visit my travel blog 🎒 - link in bio ☝️

[disentomb]

She propped her chin on her folded arms, leaning on the flat rock that jutted out of the water. The rest of her was beneath the river's surface, her sealskin wrapped around her. "It wouldn't?" she asked, a bit of a teasing tone to her voice. "I suppose that's a good thing. I wouldn't want to frighten you."

She shifted so she could get a better look at him. Niamh had never met a Zora of the river - her people lived closer to the Zora of the sea. She'd heard of them, though, from the older selkies.

"What's your name? My name is Niamh." She hefted herself out of the water to sit on the flat rock. Taking her long hair in her hands, she began to squeeze out the excess water.

from here @intothewildsea​

   It was late afternoon.  A pattern of sunlight,  splotching red,  came down through the trees,  shadows deepening in the prelude of sunset.  Everything was warm and fuzzy in this light.  As it catches his dusky scales,  the colors become wet and muted.  Black slit pupils contracting as thin as a papercut when he stepped out from the shadows and into the sun,  looking at her with as much due fascination as she did him.

   “Niamh.”

    He chewed the last part of that name,  forming the sound in too large a mouth,  over edged teeth.  “Niamh “  Trying it the second time,  it comes more naturally.  Confidently.

    The zora’s hand comes up and across himself,  making a peculiar motion of touching his knuckles softly,  tapping once,  to the opposite cheek.  “My name is Bakgola.”  As scout of a secretive society,  always having a sense of curiosity came natural.  It overrides the caution of his people,  compels him to her flatrock,  encircling it halfway at such a distance that could be easily pierced by the large trident whose spikes dappled silver over his shoulder.  

   “I would not want to frighten you either,”  believing that it needed to be said,  meaning this,  though there’s a flat,  neutral affect to the way that he says it.  “The name for your people has left my memory.  Are these waters controlled by you?”  

[noctiloucous]

think about carl sandburg’s home in flatrock, nc often

[whimsy--wanderlust]

One of the most brilliant features of the new Traeger Flatrock build is the heating elements themselves. These are called U-burners. These will DOUBLE the amount of direct heat on the cooktop for a more even cook. Traeger has eliminated hot and cold spots on the griddle's surface altogether. If you look closely, you can also see heat shields in between the cooking zones. These were put in place to prevent high heat from bleeding into the low heat zones. This makes for an even cook. If you are in the market for a griddle this year, do your research and if you have any specific questions, feel free to reach out. I can help! #sponsored #flatrock #traeger #traegergrills #teamtraeger #traegeron #griddlecooking #bbq #cedarwindsmokers (at Cedar Grove, Wisconsin) https://www.instagram.com/p/CpAQWzfOGg6/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=