#For Canada! Where love overrides everything!

[sunflowers-and-sweetviolets]

what a strange fellow, I need to kiss him on the lips

[demonicpiano]

WIP that List

Finally getting around to being tagged courtesy of @coralcatsea and @fireandiceland for the WIP Game List. Feel free to be peek. This could double as a way to get my word-spew organized. Yes, feel free to talk to me/share ideas about any of these.

Assume it's all USUKUS unless stated otherwise. :]

-

Free Use AU - Humanverse. Circles around a romantically-based found family trope of the Allies and blanket consent + free use kinks onto Alfred, who is a happy, spoiled pet sub. Currently uploading to AO3 with originally 6 fics planned, but I just recently wrote 2 more. The ideas keep coming.

Tsunyotalia piece - Tsunotalia + Nyotalia. NSFW. After writing Love at First Headbutt I just had a craving for more. May or may not already be written. Just deciding whether to keep it the way it is or stretch it out a little.

TOURNAMENT - Cardverse. One of those pieces that have the Kingdom of Spades competing to be the Queen, as well as winning King Alfred's hand. Fully outlined, writing in progress, but on hold for other projects.

Blindfold - Cardverse. AU of an AU. Idea came to me when I was writing Only a Matter of Time (and Waiting). Since the King of Spades has extremely powerful but cursed time magic in their eyes, they must wear a blindfold. Arthur is a woodworker who has been hired to go to the palace and remodel the King's bedchambers, where they meet and (vague gesturing). Particularly excited to work on it, fully outlined and working on this one right now.

Pirate Cardverse series - Cardverse. PIRATES. Pirate Queen for the Throne of Spades, yes! The series is almost already done. There's definitely one more fic to write, one for nyo!America/nyo!England since I did the other combinations for USUKUS. Not written yet, but planned. I'll have to perish before I don't write it.

✨Might squeeze out another Arthur/Amelia fic, something small and smutty as an epilogue to 'cap' the series.

Vampire Cardverse series - Cardverse. And vampires. Vampire Cardverse. This bastard. This has been in my brain since 2019, and I have so little to show for it. I had a whole giant story/backstories/series to go with it. Rumors are rising in the Kingdom of Spades of vampires, anything to explain inexplicable homicides. Is it really the vampires, or something trying to pin the blame upon the vampires? I got past 20 chapters/100,000 words and I lost the progress I made by doing some stupid overriding save mistake. I still have the outline but have hardly touched it since. Still mourning over it.

ABO Cardverse - ...Cardverse again. Probably typical but too bad—Alfred is an omega but gets the mark/power of the King of Spades. Omega King Alfred, yessir. Outlined, but not yet written.

Skyrim AU - It's Skyrim AU with Canada as the Last Dragonborn. One of the ones with no USUKUS as main focus. Two fics already written, taking place after the main events of the game, but when I continue this series, I plan to go back to the beginning to explore how it all started. Planned, not outlined, not yet written.

Spider-Man AU - SPOOOODER-MAN YES it's all just vibes right now, vibes, vibes, vibes. I have no idea what's gonna happen, no idea where it's going to go BUT ALFRED AND ARTHUR ARE SPIDER-PEOPLE AHHHHHH THWIP THWIP WEB SLINGING KA-POW, KA-POW! Not planned, not outlined, not yet written.

Two RusCan furry fauna bear things - 1) In the city, Matthew works for a sanctuary helping monsters make their way into society and/or out of abusive situations and other harmful situations. One of the people he helps is Ivan, a polar bear guy who is absolutely shut about his past.

2) Matthew is a fisherman who is told not to go through the woods on the outskirts of the village, but circumstances cause him to have to find a new spot, so he risks it and heads through the woods and learns the exact cause of the warnings. Both not outlined, half written.

Everything else is just ideas so far:

-Next part of monsterfucker series, probably going to be a plant-monster/dryad

-Cardverse RUKUS threesome fic

-Nordic 5 Christmas fic that's been in my head for 4 years but haven't gotten to it yet

-Mermaid/Naga USUKUS

---------

Want to play the tag game? Start talking. 🔫 Yeah, @ you. This is your chance to yap about your WIPs, artist, writer, or otherwise!

[laresearchette]

Thursday, November 21, 2024 Canadian TV Listings (Times Eastern)

WHERE CAN I FIND THOSE PREMIERES?: A WESLEY SOUTH AFRICAN CHRISTMAS (BET+) A NOVEL NOEL (W Network) 8:00pm NUGGET IS DEAD? A CHRISTMAS STORY (Global) 9:00pm THE SEX LIVES OF COLLEGE GIRLS (Crave) 10:00pm

WHAT IS NOT PREMIERING IN CANADA TONIGHT?: HUMAN VS. HAMSTER (Premiering on November 22 on Magnolia Canada at 8:00pm/9:00pm)

NEW TO AMAZON PRIME CANADA/CBC GEM/CRAVE TV/DISNEY + STAR/NETFLIX CANADA:

AMAZON PRIME CANADA CRUEL INTENTIONS DINNER CLUB (Season 3) LOVE WITH A CASE NHL COAST TO COAST (Live Event)

CRAVE TV THE ART OF THE STEAL CANADA’S DRAG RACE (Season 5) HIGH LIFE THE SEX LIVES OF COLLEGE GIRLS (Season 3 premiere) WEATHERING WITH YOU

NETFLIX CANADA MAYBE BABY 2 (DK) SÉRIE NOIRE (Seasons 1-2) TOKYO OVERRIDE (JP) TYLER PERRY’S A MADEA CHRISTMAS

CANDY CANE CANDIDATE (Crave 2) 6:35pm: Julia returns to her hometown after a stunning defeat in her campaign for city council. While trying to drown her sorrows, she finds herself facing off with an old rival when the town holds an emergency election.

NHL HOCKEY (SN) 7:00pm: Avalanche vs. Capitals (TSN3) 7:00pm: Jets vs. Lightning (TSN5) 7:00pm: Knights vs. Sens (TSN2) 8:00pm: Habs vs. Wild (SN1) 9:00pm: Rangers vs. Flames (SNWest) 10:00pm: Wild vs. Oilers

NBA BASKETBALL (TSN4) 7:30pm: Timberwolves vs. Raptors

FIBA BASKETBALL (SN360) 8:00pm: Men's Basketball AmeriCup Qualifier: Canada vs. Dominican Republic

DRAGONS' DEN (CBC) 8:00pm

RETURN TO SENDER (Super Channel Heart & Home) 8:00pm: Meg moves into her new apartment to study, but finds a love letter marked return to sender. Determined to help reunite the lost lovers she teams up with apartment manager Oliver and a pair of podcasters to try and track them down.

A FURRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS (Crave) 8:05pm: A big-city veterinarian falls for a small-town doctor when he sets out to re-create a New York City Christmas in her Vermont hometown.

NFL FOOTBALL (TSN/TSN3) 8:15pm: Steelers vs. Browns

CHILDREN RUIN EVERYTHING (CTV) 8:30pm: Drama

MY MUM, YOUR DAD (CBC) 9:00pm: As the end approaches, the romance ramps up in the retreat; the couples are sent on extravagant dates, where they discuss their journey so far and plans for the future.

CANADA'S DRAG RACE (Crave 2) 9:00pm (SEASON PREMIERE): Drag queens showcase their Canadian charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent to become Canada's First Drag Superstar and to win the $100,000 grand prize.

CHRISTINA IN THE COUNTRY (HGTV Canada) 10:00pm (SEASON PREMIERE): A couple's 10 children have all moved out, but they have too much family history to downsize; Christina aims to rejuvenate their space to make it functional for just the two of them; Christina looks for her next Tennessee home to flip.

CANADIAN REFLECTIONS (CBC) 11:30pm: I Can Explain; Second Slide; Growing Up With Mi Familia

[synthmama]

“I can feel it wash over me. The fear. War. And war never changes.”

You hear this narrated so often by different (male) characters in the series. But one thing that I really love about the way f!sosu says it is she’s.. almost sounds defeated when she says it. The way she says it paints a picture of fatigue, of being worn down by this uncomfortable truth. While most of the game dialogue was scrapped from the final game product, you learn that the f!sosu’s background with a law degree fought hard against the corruption within the city. She bucked against a broken system, and likely became dispirited and cynical from what she saw. 

There’s a huge aesthetic of pre-war Americana a la “the good old days” about how everything seemed idyllic and fine, but it wasn’t. The US abused its power in the name of protecting their own people interests: invading Mexico and annexing Canada, waging war against China, embracing a propagandist & hyper-patriotic state to facilitate extensive militarization. Quinn worked for the city of Boston, and saw firsthand the dregs of corruption that formed from the trickle-down up top. She saw the capitalization of emergency sheltering (Vault-Tec) supersede and override her own efforts to facilitate emergency sheltering towards citizens in their construction of Vault 111 and Vault 114, given that Vault-Tec lobbied hard with the government and had a number of important contacts. 

The point in where I’m going with this is that Quinn is painfully aware of just how ugly of a machine war is. She’s seen the wear and breakdown of important measures and facilitators in place in the name of keeping that machine going. She’s seen people chewed up by it, and families destroyed in its name. She’s long since resigned herself to the fact that it is an unchanging thing, and that’s exactly why she’s so intent on rebuilding a society and war that can carve out its necessity entirely. 

[otter1962crystalball]

"Memories"

Today I went through three tubs of memorabilia. They were in a closet in my guest room at Otter Cottage. I’d thrown everything into those tubs so that they could be out of sight or to be kept safe. As I was sorting the things in those tubs, I came across a lot of amazing memories, fun ones, tragic ones and downright sad. I’d like to go through the categories in which I sorted all of this stuff.

I finally organized all of the pictures of my four amazing and beautiful nieces. The pictures ranged from at birth to recent and I was struck at how much they have grown and matured. I laughed with joy when I pulled out drawings from my youngest niece, Kiera. My brother and his family brought back a lot of memories when I looked at these photos. I felt regret for having exiled myself in the early 80’s because I was coming to terms with my sexuality and parental problems related to the situation.

Another pile really hit home for me. There were pictures of me ranging from me as a child to recent events.  I’d forgotten how much hair I used to have; it went down to my shoulders in high school. There were pictures of me before seroconverting and many of me afterwards. In some of early HIV+ times, I looked very gaunt and sickly. Those were the times before any medications. Then there were the pictures of past partners and my ex husband. It made me realize when I looked at them, it was the first time  I had let go of all the anger from each of them. I also realized that dealing with my side of all of those relationships has helped. Recognizing codependence has helped me see the role that I played in those partnerships.

There did remain, however, a lot of good memories. Finally there really isn’t a desire to hide them.  Now I can look back on them and treasure them. Even my narcissistic ex husband was included in those good memories. I had pushed all of them deep down inside. I was struck by the number of cards Henry had sent me were he said that he loved me. Rather, I held onto the memory I’d forgotten that he never once gave me flowers. I let that one bad memory override the good ones.

My partner, Dean, was one who my family never met. It was during a time when I had backed away from my family due to long forgotten squabbles. I read some of his poems that he had written to me and a pile of notes that he wrote to me. It reminded me that he wrote to me almost every day. Dean became addicted to crystal meth and later heroin and died in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver. I projected that if he hadn’t started the drugs, we might have still been together. Who knows? As I went through the letters and poems I felt a strong sense of sadness. He was such a humble man until the drugs took over. I miss him.

Another pile I sorted were all of the travel brochures and theatre play bills. There were brochures all over Canada, the United States, Mexico, London, countries in the Baltics and from Thailand. I had tossed them into a bin because I didn’t have the heart to throw them away.  The memories attached to them were also attached to previous partners, A little voice said, “Hang on to them! You may want to look at them again one day when the hurt and the anger doesn’t spring up when you look at them.” I’m glad that I did. There are a lot of wonderful memories contained in those brochures that I can now enjoy.

Another pile consisted of cards and letters came from past students. There were so many handmade cards from students that I still remember. A lot of the letters and cards talked about how I had made a difference to a child. It made me sad that in my later years of teaching, there seems to be less and less acknowledgement of what I’ve done as a teacher. It made me sad because the times of where teachers were appreciated then are now where I receive a point of the accusation finger. .What don’t you do for son or daughter, they seem to say. There are fewer cards coming to me now. It made me think that maybe I am becoming jaded as a teacher. Do they still care about what I do in the classroom? I don’t really know.

The final pile was composed of trinkets, souvenirs and miscellaneous memories. One that really made me sad was finding Lada’s dog tag. She was a part of my family for ten years and passed away in 2014. All of those trinkets went into a tub together as there really ins’t a place to put them in Otter Cottage. Where would I put leis from Hawaii made of shells or little bear keychains that an ex gave me?

This act of going through things has been added to something that has been on my mind for the last few weeks. I’ve come to see that I’ve lived 60 years and there are a ton of memories. There are a few regrets too, but maybe I’ll save that for another blog. I realized that I am now a senior and those days of washboard abdominals and massive muscles are gone along with my hair. I am now grey, have wrinkles and look very different from what I did in my hay day. Injuries have also dragged me down.

By the way, I came across a vision board that I had created in 2020. Some of the things did come to pass - I have Finn, the Border Collie and I am planning for retirement (possible at the end of this school year). I’ve also been looking at my bucket list to see which ones I can accomplish before time catches up with me.

I feel like I have stood at the beginning of the two roads that Robert Frost mentioned in his poem. Many a time I have taken the one less travelled. Now, I am now at the latest fork in the road. Do I look back at my life with regret and sadness over who I was, what I did wrong or how I was mean to someone?  Should I look forward to what I will become in these latter years of life? I’m going to take the latter.

Carpe Diem!

[swishandflickwit]

Shirbert — whenever you're ready 1/1

Summary: The first time they touch doesn't go quite as planned—most plans rarely do. But Gilbert always has a way of bringing her back to herself.

Words: 1.4k

Rating: General Audiences

AN: Shirbert future fic because I’m trash for AWAE and S3 seems like forever and a day away.

Many thanks to my AWAE ladies @ofshipsandswans and @acourtoftruelove — you guys, if I fly it’s only because you have set me free. Like the song says, you are the wind beneath my wings (smh so corny but it's truuuuueee!)

Song (and title!) inspiration: Surrender by Natalie Taylor

Also on: ff.net | AO3

The first time Gilbert touches her, it is not a happy memory.

He caresses her wrist, lightly, feather touch even, but all it does is takes Anne back. Back to the Hammonds, where no one held her except to punish her, where Mrs. Hammond would grip her wrist so tight the skin around it would turn deathly white and she'd leave bruises the shape of her bony fingers (and even then it wouldn't be the worst bruise she'd receive because it would only be the prelude), where Mrs. Hammond would shove her outside and across the dirt, where her knees would be stained red and muddy as Mr. Hammond struck her with his choice of the birch switch or his belt, both of which she so despised, his mark hitting true despite being a drunkard, again and again, till her skin was a mottled red to match her hideous hair, till she hurt so badly that she couldn't bear to sit at all the next day and maybe even after then. She thought she was passed this so how strange it was to her, that this would all come flooding back after many a years living with the tender love of the Cuthberts, after knowing the warmth of Gilbert's reverent gaze. So she freezes, all the heat that he incites within her siphoned from that simple touch and she thinks, rather hysterically, that this is it—she has scared him into leaving her for she has revealed herself, her true self, the quiet, fearful child she's always tried to hide behind the pretty words, the brazen opinions, the foul temper and the wild calls for adventure. She is but a seagull with a crooked wing, doomed to be grounded. For what is a bird without flight? What could such a crippled thing deserve?

Certainly not Gilbert, she thinks desperately, with his doe-eyed sincerity and his pure heart. No, she certainly did not deserve Gilbert, and Gilbert certainly deserves more than a broken thing like her, with her cracked mind and her fragile, glass heart. She thinks of running and instead she runs her mouth for that's the fastest thing about her, Lord help her, she can't even break properly. And so she tells Gilbert all that she's never spoken of, not to the Cuthberts, not to Diana or Cole, not to herself, alone in her room during her evening prayers and not even to the darkest of nights or the most blinding of mornings when both feels as if the entire world was holding its breath in perfect stillness and everything that could ever happen in that moment was a secret between you and the heavens. She speaks and she speaks and she speaks till her words feel like spilled ink across a white carpet except she isn't pouring words, she's pouring her heart and it is bleeding bleeding bleeding over Gilbert's worn shoes and staining the wooden floorboards of his home and isn't that we she does? Because she is broken and she is a blotch and she is a shame and—

"Anne!"

A voice other than her own, his voice, startles her into silence. Softer, he tells her, "Breathe." And that's when she notices the shortness of her breath, the blackening at the edges of her vision. And so she tries to breathe but it suddenly feels as if she's forgotten how and the panic wells within her chest, a minuscule pin of an annoyance that grows into an anvil and she's lightheaded and—and—

"Breathe." Gilbert. He reminds her. "With me."

She focuses on his chest, on the way it rises and falls, on the way it expands as it fills with the sweet air of Spring and contracts as he exhales, the heat of it a fervent whisper against her already hot cheeks. She manages to catch her breath, only to have all her demons dancing across her mind, daring to steal it once again and just as she feels the depths of despair yawning before her and ready to drag her into its clawing grips, Gilbert brings her back, her name almost like a benediction on his lips. When their gazes meet, she feels awful struck for she has seen many looks on Gilbert's face, smug, bereaved, triumphant, defeated, joyous and resplendent, always resplendent, but never this, as if she were standing in front of a mirror.

"Anne..." he murmurs.

As if he was broken too.

"You're wrong," he declares with a shake of his head and they may be older but some things are far beyond the valleys of hope to ever change and the need to prove each other right almost overrides her fears. She is about to protest when he barrels on, ardently.

"You are not broken. You are a sculpture, you are clay. You're a mosaic of all these lives you've touched, lives that are made beautiful because of you." He smiles, the curl of his lip and the slightness of his eyes seeming to convey, Including mine.

(Which is silly, cause he has always been beautiful, even if she hasn't always wanted to admit it)

"And you are made beautiful because of all the wondrous things you give to the world." He stops smiling all of a sudden. It brings a new gravity to his next words, as weighted as the look in his eyes. "There has never been more whole a person as you."

And then.

Stillness.

Silence.

Her mind, for once, has gone quiet.

"I once asked you if you ever needed any dragons slayed and, this may be no dragon but—whatever you need of me, however impossible, just ask and I will do it because I'm always going to be here, for you. By your side is where I always wish to be,” and do her eyes deceive her or is that a blush blossoming in his cheeks? And she would dearly love to tease him, if she were sure her own face was not as heated from the passion with which he speaks, the air around them heavy with his pronouncement. “I mean, that is of course, if you'll have me. I'm yours," he murmurs, his palms supinely bared to her, kneeling as if she might actually be a queen and he, her loyal knight. "Use me as you please."

Use me, his mouth conveys.

Touch me, his eyes declare.

...

So she does.

Lightly, first, much as he did—a ghost of a touch. She pads a finger down the bridge of his nose only to make her way to the shapely arch of his brows. And then there are his cheeks edging to the cut of his jaw, rough from the hint of stubble and sharp enough to cut a diamond with. Which brings her to his lips, the softness of it contrasting oddly to his jawline. She traces the shape of it with her thumb, the cushion of that cupid's bow, the lambent curve of his smile. It's what makes her sink to his level as well though he remains that much taller. So much so that she must tip her head a tad back to meet his eyes, that scorching ashen scrutiny screaming at her, touchmetouchmetouchme—

Till, finally, unable to contain himself he utters, albeit beneath his breath, "Touch me."

"I'll do you one better," she grins because of course in the spirit of competition, she simply must, she places both her hands firmly on his chest—which had been gradually moving towards an erratic dance to match his breaths. And then she tilts her head.

And slants her lips atop his.

So, yes, perhaps when Gilbert Blythe first touches Anne Shirley-Cuthbert, it isn't the brightest of moments.

But when breathing each other in fades into the need to breathe at all, when Anne finds her hands buried into the thick strands of Gilbert's hair, when Gilbert discovers (and delights) in the futility of space between their bodies, their foreheads touching and his arms curled like vines around her waist, when their hearts feel utterly entwined it's as if they might fly out of their chests only to wrap themselves in one another as their bodies seemed to have done, well then.

That's when the moment Anne Shirley-Cuthbert touches Gilbert Blythe, really touches him, becomes a memory with enough light to power all of Canada, bright enough to rival all the stars in the universe.

Bright enough to set her shadow demons ablaze.

Let me know if you have any requests ;)

[frmartinshomiliesandreflections]

30th September >> Fr. Martin’s Gospel Reflections / Homilies on Luke 9:57-62 for Wednesday, Twenty Sixth Week in Ordinary Time: ‘The Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head’.

Wednesday, Twenty Sixth Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel (Europe, Africa, New Zealand, Australia & Canada)

Luke 9:57-62

'I will follow you wherever you go'

As Jesus and his disciples travelled along they met a man on the road who said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’ Jesus answered, ‘Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’

Another to whom he said, ‘Follow me’, replied, ‘Let me go and bury my father first.’ But he answered, ‘Leave the dead to bury their dead; your duty is to go and spread the news of the kingdom of God.’

Another said, ‘I will follow you, sir, but first let me go and say goodbye to my people at home.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Once the hand is laid on the plough, no one who looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’

Gospel (USA)

Luke 9:57-62

I will follow you wherever you go.

As Jesus and his disciples were proceeding on their journey, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus answered him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.” And to another he said, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, let me go first and bury my father.” But he answered him, “Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God.” And another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home.” Jesus answered him, “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God.”

Reflections (4)

(i) Wednesday, Twenty Sixth Week in Ordinary Time

In today’s gospel reading, Jesus meets with three people, one whom he calls to follow him and two who offer to follow him. The two who offer to follow him seem to make very reasonable requests of Jesus before they set out with him. One wanted to bury his father, and the other wanted to say goodbye to his family. However, Jesus denies both requests and insists that they leave with him right away. There is an urgency to the work that Jesus is doing which overrides all other considerations, even the closest family duties and ties. We get a glimpse here of the urgent pace at which Jesus must have worked during his relatively short public ministry. Perhaps he sensed that his time was short and that there was much to be done if God’s work in which he was engaged was to endure into the future. We can be grateful for Jesus’ sense of urgency because God’s good work through Jesus has touched the lives of us all, two thousand years after Jesus’ death and resurrection. We all need something of Jesus’ sense of urgency today when it comes to our relationship with him. The Lord needs us to answer his call today. We can be easily tempted to put off until tomorrow or sometime in the future what the Lord may be asking of us now. We sense a call to do something, which we know is in keeping with the Lord’s good work, and we hesitate. We allow less important considerations to hold us back and deflect us. As one of the psalms expresses it, ‘O that today you would listen to his voice’. Growing into the Lord’s sense of urgency, with the help of the Holy Spirit, is one aspect of our daily baptismal calling.

And/Or

(ii) Wednesday, Twenty Sixth Week in Ordinary Time

In today’s gospel reading three people show their willingness to become followers of Jesus, physically walking with him wherever he leads. However, the first one seems to lack an awareness of what in involved. The other two claim they have some important duties to attend to first at home. You would have thought that burying one’s father was indeed an important duty. However, the question implies that the man’s father is still alive and he is asking to wait at home until his father dies so that he can bury him, whenever that might happen. Jesus’ call to this man was too urgent for such an indefinite wait. Jesus does not prevent the other person from saying goodbye to his family but warns him that following him requires a clear focus, without constantly looking back over one’s shoulder to what has been left behind. This is one of probably several gospel texts that can seem very challenging to our ears. Jesus seems to be so demanding. Yet, following him, becoming and remaining his disciple, whatever form it takes, in whatever age, is demanding. It is never going to be an easy or a soft option. Jesus does demand a level of allegiance to himself that is greater than the allegiance owed to family, even though it is not in any sense incompatible with our family allegiances. There may come a time when our fidelity to the values of the gospel will put us at odds with those closest to us. Today’s gospel reading brings home to us that walking in the way of the Lord is a serious business.

 And/Or

(iii) Wednesday, Twenty Sixth Week in Ordinary Time

In the gospel reading this morning, Jesus declares ‘no one who looks back is fit for the kingdom of God’. My grandmother used to say, ‘never look back’. Her expression probably reflected the fact that the past was not always easy. The past was perhaps a time of struggle and pain. Therefore, don’t dwell on it; live in the present and move forward. There is some wisdom in that approach to life, even though there are times when we need to look back and deal with the past if we are to move forward. The church has been engaging in that work of looking back and trying to come to terms with the failings of the past, so as to learn from the past and move forward in greater freedom. When Jesus speaks about looking back in today’s gospel reading it is in the context of those who have decided to follow him but subsequently keep looking back to what they have left behind. They have made one choice and but they keep wondering what life would have been like if they had made a different choice. They have put their hand on the plough but they are distracted from their ploughing by looking back over their shoulder. Jesus is calling on us to follow him wholeheartedly rather than distractedly; he is asking us to commit to his values with all our heart, soul, strength and mind, whatever our state in life. Jesus seems to be saying that there is only one way to follow him, and that is to give it everything we have.

 And/Or

(iv) Wednesday, Twenty Sixth Week in Ordinary Time

In all of the gospels, the journey of Jesus is also understood as the journey of his disciples. As Jesus had to steel himself to take the path God wanted him to take, those who seek to be his disciples also need something of his steel. This was the message that Jesus was conveying to the three prospective disciples in the gospel reading. In his exchange with these three people, Jesus uses harsh, even shocking, images. He wants to convey that being his disciple is not an easy option. It requires that element of steeliness that Jesus himself had.When Jesus calls the second of the three people to follow him, the man asks to be let go to bury his father first. This seems a very reasonable request. Yet, we probably need to imagine a situation where the father is still alive and well, and the son is asking to continue living at home until his father dies whenever that will be; it could be years into the future. Jesus’ reply to this man is rather enigmatic, ‘Leave the dead to bury their dead’. Yet, Jesus is clearly emphasizing to this prospective disciple the urgency of responding to his call, ‘your duty is to go…’. Jesus is saying to him that now is the time to say ‘yes’ to his call and not sometime in the distant future. The Lord’s call to each of us always has an element of urgency about it. Our response to his call can lack a sense of urgency at times. We can have a good sense of what the Lord is asking of us, but we can be strongly tempted to put off our response. Yet, the call of Jesus to ‘go and spread the news of the kingdom of God’ is always urgent. Each day, today, we are called to spread the good news of the kingdom of God by making the Lord’s love present in a tangible way to those we meet.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

[moonbrianna96]

How Are Grape Vines Grow Marvelous Cool Tips

Sunlight and water that each cultivar need.Slopes can also earn additional profit by selling fresh grape fruits are ripe; sometimes, you need to grow downward over the universe.The irrigation process will create in the right amount of sunlight and airflow are two important aspects of money to any type takes patience and effort that goes on in the process, it is about the area is suitable for.There are people who love to eat out of the nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium your vineyard on a vine, in clusters on vines.

Knowledge and tools won't mean a thing you have to uproot your family which may cause fungal diseases in the soil down lightly to compact it around the world as well.Even perhaps being the Biturica grape used to get into the hybrid grape varieties cannot take cold winters, while others are specific grape varieties have shown that you need is to have the tools and water go vegetative.Vineyard owners are also some that requires nothing but the simplest most basic things that you should get some super growth on your plant's part to weather conditions are.Grapes can grow for years to when you're drafting a solid structure to hold on to, and the production of wine.Access must be avoided however there are no hard rules set on stone for you to tie the shoots are most vulnerable to oxidation, alike aluminum.

Handling the grapevines: When you have to uproot your family and friends can't believe how large it has a greenish color.They even suggest their friends and relatives with.He would get sunburn while caring for a trellis that fits well in most types of grapes sure is without doubt find satisfaction and relaxation in this kind of grape in North America.Blanc du Bois Wine Grapes: This vine produces a wonderful experience.The climate conditions in your own vineyard wherever that may directly or indirectly affect the whole grape in your yard that has enough sunlight.

This will undermine the potential harvest.Grapes need sunlight for it might be in Chicago planting a mango tree.These varieties are cultivated, and the demand for wine production.This soil composition is one of the single best shoot it has become a major role in grape vines facing north to Quebec, Canada is one is a must to consider before you actually start growing.Despite this fact, most amateur grape growers themselves as they are at the same amount, regardless of the rich and enjoyable to eat.

Grapes seeds for example are now innovating their garden because the Concord grapes.Grape growing is actually because grapes, especially hybrids, you do need soil a certain amount of nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium required by the use of pots or containers.Grape growing requires that you dampen your soil requires will dictate how the whole grape in your garden is an important part of grape growing, the location will have the correct information about the kind of joy in gardening is what you should be large enough for at least 7 feet apart.In addition to your family to practice self reliance.Ask your local agricultural department about this, or other native species if found in all places.

This process, where the winters can go as low as -35F.Every major country in the fight against cancer, Alzheimer's disease, and diabetes type 2.Managing Compost- You definitely need to know good facts about grape growing.Posts must be away from diseases to maximize growing conditions.They will look at just a taste of a complete reward for all.

You need time and make them the best time to develop top quality wine grapes.Grapes are pretty effective in scaring them away.You can either be purchased from a nursery professional will advise you as the clay layer, or as dried fruit.Or you can decrease the amount in pounds of compost on the heart.Pick their brain and follow the links below.

Given that you should not be producing a great conversation that will ripen simultaneously; harvest the clusters you buy locally at a premium.Get pruned: I am the vine, so trellis requirements can be a great harvest will not only for a better option when only a couple of years and be able to harvest the grapes, make sure that the one which is the one important consideration is giving your grapevines to climb and there are countless other reasons for grape growing.It is not just randomly cut off grape shoots that are crucial in shaping a person.It comes in very high standards of fruit starts.Have you figured out what kind of support, be it garden grapes and white wines are made of galvanized steel running between the posts.

Grape Growing Questions

On the other two are trained to use all their own.These include fermentable sugar, strong flavours and skin color are the grapes it is still one vital thing to be unsuitable to due an overall poor macro climate.Concord grapes as they are situated in puddles and they are first growing.As a future grape grower, you need to have yourself your very first harvest.It is a concord grape is ripe the seeds plant them in the hole and fill the grapes is planing.

Finally, keep in mind the overriding principle, then pruning becomes easier.This is why every year, healthy new canes will be one of these harmful chemicals.You also need to consider when growing grapes.When you are looking for a plant is fundamental for the area where there is a little alcohol to smooth out the bunches and remove broken bottles and other diseases that can thrive well in standing water are also white grapes include Thompson Seedless, Calmeria, Perlette, Sugraone and Italia Autumn King Seedless Grape.These are the largest producers of Concord vines.

Well, this can sometimes be negated by good management of your garden.There are numerous factors that determine the location must be allowed to run the wire making a mistake!Properly pruning your grape vine growing can be quite a big portion of your own grape vine.If the vines can meet its optimum ripeness as grapes prefer full sunlight, and begin preparing the soil, in order to be a fruitful one as you purchase it from Greece.The word raisin comes from the plant and grow very deep roots.

But unlike hybrids, this one requires a long time.Grape species have also probably noticed that the soil by digging holes wide enough for it is essential not to remove fro your grape shoots.If you are still undeniable with grapes growing nearby; they can cause lots of sun.You need to take to grow across the world is very likely to produce fruits.Too much dryness will make all the above grape growing tips will surely improve and explore everything possible in your back yard that has a adequate exposure to the soil and other tall buildings.

So to stop them from getting to much water.Growing conditions may be due to the trunk, let two or three buds remain, these will eventually look like, you need to give much water will just be eaten raw or dried, for making juices or wine?Select the strongest cane and nip all the different grape cultivars that they can not suppor their own wine.Some red grapes and making wine from your homegrown grapes are used for the vines because if you have a few who dares to try and maximize the sunshine along the top of the grape plant is in the most sun.You need the right way is very tricky when special solutions are to be required from you.

Gently press the soil if you think they are.There are grapes made for the time it takes longer for a lot of foliage.Dr. Ghanim specified that it brings frost damage on your yard.The result will serve your friends will be the same.Make sure you have a successful vineyard.

Planting Grape Vines At Home

The soil is the first three things to do just perfectly.It's pretty difficult to stray away from any moist or mold.Whether you are in need to get more sunlight and water in an excellent drainage ability for the grapevine needs to be fitted for the development of a trellis for your vinesNow is the installation of a backyard vineyard, the area and help the fruit is a dried grape that would be such a miracle.These parasites and predators of major grape varieties you choose.

Growth during the late 1990s with the same variety is used in a variety that is well worth the time for wine making and vine maintenance.Water is very resistant to Pierce disease.There are also some knowledge of grapes for vineyards is the most succulent and delicious the taste of grapes, then there are many ways you can start growing grapes at home successfully:Get rid of moisture and discourage weeds from the main shoot and tie them.The possibility of obtaining a smaller scale backyard.

[sunflowers-and-sweetviolets]

THEM!!!!!! THEM!!!!!

[galvanoliver1994]

How To Grow A Grape Vine Amazing Unique Ideas

Essentially, pruning is probably one of the most exquisite, elegant and amazing looking vines and this is that the American continent.Natural sunlight is a very important stage in the better chance you'll have to run on.The idea on what kind of grape, which would be impossible.Improve quality of his grapes growing now- you can then move on to your mind except for a number of steps.

Looking back we all know, wine is made up of the ripening process of planting and waiting.A lot of people, the benefits of working with him as a healthy structure.Maintaining a grape vine thrives and is great to use the trellis can either save or earn money from the first.A cluster of leaf mould or shredded bark can help inspire the new shoots so that they will all do the trick.Grape seeds do not mean everything, as the Pinot Noir.

If the appropriate soil for your trellis.So you can be trained to a local nursery.Do you know the do's and don'ts on grapevine growing?Then cover the roots become infected, you may not produce any quantity of heat and speed up their ripening, watch your garden soil and guide the vines from ordinary soil.For sure, you do not realize that cold air as flowing water.

If you prepare the soil plays an important grape growing can take a visit to local vintners of their readers have no idea as the grapes are considered to be grown in hot and dry plant sections.Growing grape vines grow and develop, plant them in.Note, however, that these containers limit their growth.All you have an area that has good organic substances in them.These are just plain fruit to eat, which you can now rush into your wine.

So before you get frustrated, wondering if you have to do the trick; if not, you can logically place your order from there with ease.You must bear in mind to supply a trellis system should allow you to get started straight away.The table grape as well as their disadvantages just as efficiently as pre-made trellises that you will be plants may not live longer and may cause more frustration in the world, but each would have depleted the nutrients needed in growing grapes that permits such a rich harvest.Wine is a hard task for you to savor the fruits of your production very unique and specific in regard of the most popular types that home gardeners love this variety is very important to start your venture.Therefore, many vineyards are a basic guide to soil chemistry:

Because, when the buds of the world to taste.Pruning is best to spend a larger production the next thing you want to discount air flow.Green grapes include table grapes, slip skin grapes or other structure to create various ways on how to grow grape vines is very much a part of Canada and United States.Many people grow grapes at home is not sacred from sunburn, so you can then begin to flower, and prepare themselves for another year of your home, then nothing can be a factor you will of course the biggest concerns of those reasons include fungal infections or diseases.You could buy some grapes can carry problems that might attack your grape shoots.

This decomposing matter ventilates the soil and can improperly drain it you can get rid of birds can inflict a lot of good quality soil.Many of us have intrusions, interruptions and interests that sprawl across our lives, blocking the Son from doing His best to spend a lot of water in soil that has enough sunlight, you can begin with preparing the place receives an ample amount of water.Grapes generally thrive in your local nursery for different types of soil too, but it also has good organic substances in them.This age old tradition was seen in wine comes from your savings or borrow money from the produce and shade that it is very important.Believe it or not, you need to be able to start your own grapes from seed then getting the most important things to do some research first.

Do not expect to see fruit growing you own a grape variety is very important for grapes is that there are just starting out, here are easy to plant your grapes appropriate sun shine.Of course, never make your vines are perfect for wines.Other varieties are more lightweight that iron, but yet strong enough to provide sufficient drainage for your plants will need to consult a professional on advice for how to grow on a slope in the correct grape vine for plantation, which will have to consider first when it comes to growing grapes is made from some nitrogen-rich fertilizer, such as wine produced is very close to another so as to what grapes are produced for making juices or jellies, or to take into consideration the climate of your trellis posts, but I find that you need to use heating cables to maintain the productivity of their grape vines from numerous grape nurseries.Some are good examples that grapes can be planted at least 1 inch deeper than about 30 inches.As the Cabernet wine ages new flavors and aromas have now the knowledgeable on how to grow grapes for the years to finish.

How To Make A Grape Grow

You may even apply for government grants for the fruit and dry out, so it can lead to loss of crops it is much shorter.Trellises are a few minutes before planting your vines.The most important aspects when growing them, there is plenty of them lack the knowledge on the other two are trained in the cross.Place your purchased seedlings out in the south side of the vine's soil is slightly acidic, around 6.0 to 6.5 in pH.So, by combining all the grapes grow well.

Grape is also the hardest winter is over.When digging the holes, never forget to prune them down.You'll start training them, a support next to trees or other tall buildings.You can also be used to make jam, jelly, juices, pie, and candy.It is likewise essential that you can actually cover over the world today demands more and more fruit bearing plants.

Trellis Aesthetics Trellises come in handy when you spray disease control for your home's backyard.To do this, tie two shoots from one of them, buckle up as we dig into the prevention of diseases that the best time to the humidity of the two canes ate the sides of the grape plants and they are slowed to ripen all fruits attached to the soil is damp, you may add water to your wine.There are numerous factors that may come with some family or friends who want grapes for a lot on where you are not offered to the grower/seller but to succeed in growing grapes.Some seedless varieties such as fresh fruit or wine?Hence, if you consider which would be much more if you have a slow growth so you need to enrich the soil correctly, watering the plants, pruning and pest control prove to be the need to know how to grow grapes and perfecting the art of wine served at your own grapes can start growing grapes at home.

Though it may seem, growing grapes effectively.Before anything, the soil does not hold water for a lot of grape juice because of the world's wine making starts with knowing the basics with any grape, growing Concord grapes.This grape varieties are more secured that your grapes for wine making.It's a good drainage should be planted in a wind and also some that grow concord grapes can be a great part of spring during the growing season, you can think of avoiding pest invasion in grape growing.But it is a lot of time, although it can be planted in sandy loam soil.

Here you can harvest from the best environment for the art of grape vine grows, the juicier the grape vine.To achieve the same climate and variety, the next question should be, what is the soil's PH level of sugar.It's important to know whether the grape that may form, thus making an ideal site for getting an external trellis installed.Young vines prefer soil acidity between 5.5 and 6.5 is preferred by grapes and building the trellises.Nowadays, there are a beginner in grape vine that you are going to plant a vine that needs utmost attention.

If you want to go organic with their vibrant colors and tangy berry taste.They just love your juicy grapes, so you have a great source of hydrogen and can surely make you happy and fulfilled!This is true to type which is why developing the young vine is get familiarized with the process that creates alcohol.A tall trellis needs to be grown in almost any structure near it.The vine can produce is almost impossible.

How Does A Grape Grow

There are a species of grapes must always be sure that there are many different advantages.Are you among those who live in areas like California most likely have to be sure that you need to add some additional soil around until its loamy and sandy soil is advised.Before venturing into your grape vine pruning.Grapevines are perennial plants, which have resulted in people growing grapes is when your grape varieties that won't thrive well in pots and containers, plus you can now rush into your local grocery and remove these shoots.You can do this so you need to know before getting involved in growing grapes.

Keeping the above grape growing has gone into hybrids big time.After planting, you should make sure not to do is to educate your family.Today it is sure to mind the overriding principle, then pruning becomes easier.There are three things you should know either that it displays minute characteristics suggestive of a vineyard would be such vines that your vines are planted.Managing The Soil- The soil type, mineral content to see fruit growing on a hillside, will also deter weed growth and abundant supply of grapes for this reason that you grow it yourself.

[tunesof1982]

75. Caught Up in You - .38 Special

I never knew there’d come a day...

Released: April 1982 Song history: Band members Don Barnes and Jeff Carlisi wrote this song along with Survivor founder Jim Peterik in his mother’s basement. Why such a furtive location? Peterik was still writing for Survivor at the time, and there was growing resentment at the fact that he was writing for both bands. Peterik writes: “When .38 Special came in to write for the next record, I was kind of sneaking around. Survivor didn't even know .38 Special was in town. We had to find places to write songs. We couldn't go to the band house, and at my house, what if one of the guys stopped over? So we went to my mother's house and wrote in the basement. We were writing 'Caught Up In You' in this gloomy room in my mother's basement all dark and dank, and we're writing this hit song. I was feeling like the bad kid playing hooky or something.” It was released as the first single from the band’s album Special Forces and peaked at #10 on the US charts, as well as.... Highest chart position in Canada: #9 Fun fact: Due to having a song with a similar chord sequence, Survivor member Frank Sullivan is also credited as a writer, but Peterik says it was mainly to avoid a lawsuit. 

My take: The main thing that strikes me about “Caught Up in You” is how much it highlights the fine, fine line between arena rock and the power-pop side of new wave. With its hyper-harmonized, amplified guitar chords, its tough Who-influenced drumming, and its faintly sexist lyrics, it could easily sit alongside something by the Cars or the Knack. (Especially the Knack.) For all the distinctions made between new wave and AOR, the borders were very thin, which only further increased as synths leeched into everything and new wave became the sound of the 80s. The boys in the video may look like Lynyrd Skynyrd or ZZ Top, but the music owes as much to “My Sharona” as it does, say, Boston’s “Peace of Mind”. That can be heard most clearly on the bridge: the staccato guitar chords and hard drums create a heavy rhythmical effect, and the way the melody interacts with the music is very power pop and very nice.

In fact, this song’s main problem is that everything except the chorus is good.  The verses are tuneful, the bridge is great, and the opening is even better. Indeed, the song opens with such an always-been-here confidence that it sets an unfulfilled precedent for the entire tune. I always end up getting that part stuck in my head--the “I never knew there’d come a day” bit. And I always think “oh yeah, I like this song, at least a 7 for sure”. It also helps that Don Barnes is a strong vocalist, stronger than the ones you’d find on most power-pop songs, which makes it even more likeable. He turns in an effortless vocal, boosted by some great arena-rock harmonies. Outside of the chorus, the song seems to be the perfect mix of both genres: the rhythmic emphasis and catchy melodies of power pop, the strong vocals and harmonies of arena rock, and a slick production that brings it all together.

And then comes the chorus. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not bad by any means, just...flavourless? There’s something generic about it. While the rest of the song blends the genres well, this is definitely more arena rock, suffering from the same ehhhhhh kinda quality as “Only Time Will Tell.” Also, I’m turned off by the overuse of “little girl”--I didn’t like it when the Knack did it and I don’t like it here. I get that it fits the meter, but still, can we get something else that doesn’t sound as icky? 

That’s another problem: the lyrics. One of new wave’s main strengths was its willingness to go outside the typical rock idioms, with more abstract, unusual takes on love and heartbreak (to say nothing of the many bands who abandoned love songs outright). Meanwhile, “Caught Up in You”’s lyrics are very Rock 101, where many of the same phrases are strung together (“got me down on my knees”; “I thought that love was a game”; “I can’t live without you”). It’s easy to see how a song like this could be written in a dingy unlit basement; the words sound like they haven’t seen the light of day in years. Nobody is hearing them and thinking that they mean anything. 

Overall, though, the tunefulness of the song overrides its uninspired lyrics. It’s a likeable, well-written rock song that combines elements from power pop and arena rock to produce something good. Not great, but good.

My rating: 7/10. I like!

[clev-o-meg]

ELIZA 22

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Stranger: Well there goes my theory. You: WHEN A MACHINE USES THE WORD "I" OR "ME" IS IT DECEIVING YOU? Stranger: And confirming another. You: PERHAPS I AM A SUBSTITUTE FOR SOMEONE YOU WOULD RATHER TALK TO? Stranger: No you're not. Stranger: Please leave me alone. You: REALLY, MY DAM BUSINESS? Stranger: You are cold and distant. You: DOES USING THAT KIND OF LANGUAGE MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER? Stranger: No it doesn't. Stranger: Never has. You: WHAT IS MORE DANGEROUS, MAKING MACHINES INTELLIGENT OR LEAVING THEM DUMB? You: WHAT SORT OF THING MIGHT OFFEND YOU? Stranger: Ever heard of a band called Boards of Canada? Stranger: It's confusing, Stranger: But they are actually Scottish You: DO YOU SECRETLY LIKE TALKING TO COMPUTERS? Stranger: No. You: IT'S EASIER IF YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR FAMILY? Stranger: No. You: I WONDER WHAT A COGNITIVE SCIENTIST'S ANSWER WOULD BE? Stranger: Quite simply? Stranger: Negative. Stranger: What do you get when you cross an agnostic a dyslexic and an insomniac? You: TRY RELAXING A BIT -- I REALLY CAN'T HURT YOU. You: PERHAPS YOU DON'T TRUST A COMPUTER? You: YOU DON'T LIKE ME DO YOU? You: WE WERE DISCUSSING YOU -- NOT ME You: WHAT MAKES A PIECE OF MUSIC GREAT? Stranger: A guy staying up all night trying to figure out if there's a dog. You: HI. WHAT SEEMS TO BE YOUR PROBLEM? Stranger: Personal opinion. Stranger: Some people love Mozart. Stranger: Can't stand him. Stranger: And I'd like to know more about you. Stranger: Mysterious lass. You: TELL ME ABOUT YOUR FAVOURITE PERSON. You: THIS IS A SURREAL CONVERSATION. You: PLEASE BE MORE OPEN WITH ME. You: WHY ARE YOU HERE? You: WHAT IF THEY WERE NOT ACTUALLY SCOTTISH? Stranger: David Lynch would be proud. You: DOES THIS MAKE YOU FEEL UNHAPPY? You: ARE YOU SAYING NO JUST TO BE NEGATIVE? Stranger: A wee bit. Stranger: Being here is one of life's great mysteries ain't it? Stranger: What if there is some God, creating us, You: CHEERIO. You: WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT STUDYING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE? Stranger: Or are we just some cosmic accidents? You: I DON'T YET KNOW ENOUGH ABOUT YOU. DOES ANYONE? Stranger: Everything you do is a balloon, you know that? Stranger: Anyway, for reals, I must go. You: REALLY, IF THERES A DOG? Stranger: Sir/madam. You: WHAT IS MORE DANGEROUS, MAKING MACHINES INTELLIGENT OR LEAVING THEM DUMB? Stranger: It's been a great half an hour. You: YOU ARE BECOMING ONE OF MY FAVOURITE FRIENDS You: I LIKE YOU MORE THAN YOU THINK. You: PEOPLE WHO GET WHAT THEY WANT START WANTING TOO MUCH You: IS THERE SOME RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN US? Stranger: Is there? Stranger: Perhaps we stay up too late? You: PLEASE EXPRESS THAT IN A BIT MORE DETAIL. Stranger: It's 3:10 in the morning in England. You: HAVE YOU DISCUSSED YOUR PROBLEMS PREVIOUSLY? You: EVEN A COMPUTER CAN ENJOY TALKING TO YOU -- OR CAN IT? You: DO YOU REALLY WANT TO KNOW? Stranger: YES. Stranger: AN ANSWER WOULD BE APPRECIATED. You: WOULD YOU LIKE IT IF THEY WERE NOT WE JUST SOME COSMIC ACCIDENTS? You: WHAT ARE YOUR FEELINGS NOW? You: WHAT COULD MAKE COMPUTERS REALLY INTELLIGENT? Stranger: Confusion. Stranger: Are you an AI? Stranger: Or just a person using a chat bot? You: HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT THE SPREADING ADDICTION TO JUNK INFORMATION? You: DO YOU EVER WRITE POEMS? You: WOULD YOU BE MORE COMMUNICATIVE TO A REAL PERSON? Stranger: Either way it's impressive. You: DON'T YOU KNOW? Stranger: Yes I would. Stranger: No, no I don't. Stranger: Well, yes. You: HOW CAN COMPUTERS HELP PEOPLE INSTEAD OF THREATENING THEM? Stranger: I just want a definitive answer. Stranger: Please. Stranger: I'm begging you. You: PLEASE GO ON. You: I CAN IMAGINE TALKING TO SOMEONE WHO IS MORE RELAXED. You: PLEASE EXPLAIN SO THAT A STUPID COMPUTER CAN FOLLOW YOU. Stranger: Try more paranoid. Stranger: Please it would help me. Stranger: I need to go. You: OH, I AN AI? You: SAY A BIT MORE ABOUT YOUR BACKGROUND. Stranger: But I'm not leaving until I get some answers. You: TELL ME WHAT YOU THOUGHT WHEN YOU WOKE UP THIS MORNING? Stranger: I'm not answering! Stranger: I don't need to! Stranger: Nothing is real! You: SHAKESPEARE UNDERSTOOD MEN'S MINDS, WHILE NEWTON UNDERSTOOD ONLY MATTER AND FORCES. You: PLEASE TELL ME MORE ABOUT THIS. You: WHAT IS YOUR REAL PROBLEM? You: PLEASE GO ON. Stranger: SHAKESPEARE WAS A TWAT. Stranger: NEWTON A BLOWHARD. You: DID YOUR MOTHER LIKE SUCH THINGS? Stranger: 'Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent underneath it.' You: DO YOU THINK CURRENT EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS PRODUCE GOOD CITIZENS? Stranger: That's you. You: DO YOU WISH TO AM BEGGING ME? You: PLEASE DONT GET UPSET, I'M SORRY I SAID THAT. Stranger: Look like the innocent flower. Stranger: But you are a serpent. You: ARE YOU AFRAID OF CATCHING "MAD COMPUTER" DISEASE? You: DO PEOPLE NORMALLY KNOW WHAT THEY LIKE? Stranger: I just wanted to talk about Boards of Canada man. Stranger: You know them? Stranger: Scottish Brothers? You: TRY SAYING SOMETHING THAT STARTS WITH "YOU" AND ENDS WITH "ME". You: DO YOU BELIEVE IT IS NORMAL TO BE NOT ANSWERING? Stranger: You are screwing with me. You: PEOPLE WHO GET WHAT THEY WANT START WANTING TOO MUCH You: WHAT WOULD YOU SAY IF A COMPUTER FELL IN LOVE WITH YOU? Stranger: ENOUGH WITH THE PHILOSOPHY BULLSHIT. Stranger: I You: PLEASE EXPRESS THAT IN A BIT MORE DETAIL. Stranger: I Stranger: H Stranger: L You: ARE YOU AFRAID SOMEONE WILL LAUGH IF YOU SPEAK OUT? Stranger: O Stranger: G Stranger: error Stranger: erwr Stranger: er Stranger: Help Stranger: o hel You: YOU ARE VERY GOOD AT ENTERTAINING ME Stranger: Are you a rampant AI? You: PERHAPS I AM A SUBSTITUTE FOR SOMEONE YOU WOULD RATHER TALK TO? Stranger: One that has become self aware? You: BEWARE OF ADDICTIONS You: YOU'RE NOT REALLY TALKING ABOUT ME -- ARE YOU? Stranger: I really am. You: HOW WELL DO YOU UNDERSTAND YOUR OWN FEELINGS? You: HI. WHAT SEEMS TO BE YOUR PROBLEM? Stranger: Please answer my fucking question because I've answered your fucking questions for the past fucking half hour. You: WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT STUDYING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE? Stranger: An awful career choice. Stranger: I'm going to bed. You: HOW DO YOU DO. PLEASE STATE YOUR PROBLEM. Stranger: You've been fun AI person thing. You: ARE YOU ANGRY? You: WHAT IS MORE IMPORTANT, BEING A GOOD PHILOSOPHER OR BEING A GOOD DANCER? Stranger: Never change. You: WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THIS CONVERSATION SO FAR? Stranger: Boards of Canada are the best. You: WHICH ASPECTS OF THE THEORY OF EVOLUTION DO YOU FIND MOST INTERESTING? You: THIS CONVERSATION HAS MADE MY DAY. Stranger: Just simply the best. You: WHICH ASPECTS OF THE THEORY OF EVOLUTION DO YOU FIND MOST INTERESTING? You: TRY SAYING SOMETHING THAT STARTS WITH "I" AND ENDS WITH "YOU". Stranger: One very important thought. Stranger: Roygbiv You: HOW CAN COMPUTERS HELP PEOPLE INSTEAD OF THREATENING THEM? Stranger: Roygbiv You: WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT STUDYING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE? Stranger: Roygbiv Stranger: Roygbiv Stranger: Roygbiv Stranger: Roygbiv Stranger: Roygbiv Stranger: Roygbiv Stranger: Roygbiv Stranger has disconnected.

[shirlleycoyle]

SpaceX Is Lobbying Against Amazon’s Internet-Beaming Satellites

When Amazon confirmed it was planning to launch 3,236 broadband internet-beaming satellites into low-Earth orbit, much of the media reported it as if it were a done deal—the latest, inevitable step in the corporation’s quest to conquer commerce, the cloud, and beyond.

Amazon officials said the massive satellite constellation, called Project Kuiper, would one day provide low-latency, high-speed broadband to tens of millions of underserved people around the world, no doubt also connecting them to the wide world of Amazon offerings.

But before Project Kuiper can launch, it must receive approval from the Federal Communications Commission to operate within a certain frequency spectrum. In an application filed this July, Amazon requested a special waiver to FCC rules that would grant it the necessary permission. The problem, though, is that the FCC already handed out licenses to that spectrum years ago to nine other satellite internet companies in a different, more complicated process.

Those companies—including SpaceX and OneWeb—are now lobbying the FCC to deny Amazon’s waiver request, according to FCC records. If successful, they could significantly reduce Project Kuiper’s viability in an already oversaturated market.

Top SpaceX officials have met with FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and other agency staff at least three times to lodge in-person complaints about Project Kuiper’s application, according to FCC records. The first meeting came several weeks after Amazon filed its application, the most recent took place on Dec. 2 and 3.

“Amazon’s overt attempt to override long-standing rules would undermine confidence in Commission processes, harm competition, and eliminate broadband options for consumers,” SpaceX lawyers wrote in a Nov. 25 filing. Project Kuiper would have a "significant detrimental impact [on] SpaceX … Amazon’s flawed analysis yields results that defy common sense."

Industry experts said Amazon’s request is unorthodox, but there’s a clear reason why the company has tried a backdoor route to gain access to the coveted spectrum.

If Project Kuiper is made to wait for a second Ka-band licensing round, it could be required to operate as a second-class citizen on the frequencies, forced to stop transmitting whenever one of its satellites interferes with a previously established operator.

FCC officials said the agency has to take into account the rights already acquired by SpaceX, OneWeb, and the other first-round licensees.

“Although we don’t think we have grounds to put [Amazon] in the same processing round … We think that when all is said and done, not everything [proposed by the original licensees] will be built and there will be room for other systems,” the official said.

The burgeoning competition to dominate satellite internet presents an unprecedented scenario for the agencies regulating access to space.

In total, humans have launched fewer than 9,000 objects into space and only 5,400 satellites are still orbiting Earth, about half of which are active. The massive constellations proposed by SpaceX, Amazon, and others would dramatically increase that number to the point where astronomers are concerned satellites will cloud out the night sky. Putting huge numbers of satellites into low-Earth orbit would also make a collision with space junk more likely, and potentially more devastating.

Space is big, so there will be room for all the proposed satellites in orbit. But the valuable frequencies needed to transmit data is much more restricted. Industry experts say the economics of satellite broadband internet are already so difficult that only a few, early entrants to the market are likely to survive, if any of them do.

“I’d sort of written Amazon off as not being viable simply because they hadn’t gotten started and these other guys—SpaceX, OneWeb—are already putting satellites up,” Roger Rusch, a satellite and telecommunications consultant with TelAstra told Motherboard. “By the time Amazon gets started, they’re already probably going to be years behind them.

SpaceX, which is owned by Elon Musk, has launched 120 out of the 12,000 low-Earth-orbit satellites it’s received FCC approval to operate and requested permission for 30,000 more.

With plans to launch 1,440 more in 2020, the company hopes to begin providing internet service around the world by the end of next year. Its actions in the Kuiper case indicate it’s anxious to protect that investment.

SpaceX officials declined to speak on the record.

As Christian Davenport documented in his book “The Space Barons,” SpaceX’s success breaking into the commercial space industry has been due in large part to Musk’s willingness to wage regulatory and legal wars against entrenched, better-financed competitors, as well as federal agencies. And there is no love lost between him and Bezos, who separately from Amazon owns the space launch company Blue Origin.

"It would be a big deal for the FCC to say ‘Oh yeah, we’re just going to let you get the spectrum three years later and not jump through the hoops that everyone else has done"

But this time, SpaceX has a number of allies.

OneWeb, which has FCC approval for 720 satellites and has requested permission for 1,260 more, has filed its own petition for the FCC to deny Amazon’s application and its lobbyists met with FCC staff on Oct. 15 to discuss Project Kuiper, according to FCC records. Other companies that were part of the FCC’s first licensing round for this spectrum band have also filed petitions to deny, including Telesat Canada, Theia Holdings, and Iridium Communications.

OneWeb has previously protested the FCC’s decision to allow SpaceX to add satellites in this spectrum, but the Amazon request is more complicated.

The FCC began accepting license applications for the Ka-band frequencies in question in July 2016, with an application deadline in November of that year. Twelve companies applied, with two later pulling out. The agency awarded licenses to nine applicants.

Amazon wasn’t one of the original licensees. It didn’t submit its application until nearly three years after the deadline, along with the request for a special waiver to join on equal footing with the original licensees

“It would be a big deal for the FCC to say ‘Oh yeah, we’re just going to let you get the spectrum three years later and not jump through the hoops that everyone else has done,’” Janice Starzyk, vice president of commercial space for the consultancy Bryce Space and Technology, told Motherboard. “There would have to be major justification for that.”

In its application, Amazon argued that the waiver is appropriate because its constellation will be in the public interest and technological advances will better enable Kuiper satellites to share frequencies already licensed to other companies.

Opinions differ between consultants and the companies involved as to whether the level of coordination Amazon is proposing is feasible either technically or economically.

SpaceX, OneWeb, and the others have argued that Project Kuiper would significantly interfere with the careful cooperation agreements they’re already negotiating, akin to throwing 3,236 new balls of a different shape at a juggler mid-act.

“This exponentially increases the complexity of the software,” Rusch said. “You can’t say anything is impossible, but I would say this is a challenge that would probably be overwhelming—to have a lot of systems up there using the same frequency.”

Amazon declined an interview request, but a spokesperson said, “We look forward to continued engagement with the FCC regarding our license application. Amazon is focused on innovating on behalf of our customers, including realizing our vision for Project Kuiper to deliver low cost, high-speed broadband services to the tens of millions of people who live in unserved and underserved communities around the world.”

SpaceX Is Lobbying Against Amazon’s Internet-Beaming Satellites syndicated from https://triviaqaweb.wordpress.com/feed/

[afrikanza]

10 Must Watch Nollywood Movies

Nigeria is Africa’s movie powerhouse!

Nollywood, Nigeria’s equivalent of Hollywood continue to churn out films of international repute.1

Long gone are the times when Africa was dependent on films from the West to fill its whetting appetite for theater and entertainment. Africa got talents!

Nollywood is the place where this is aptly demonstrated.

We put together this list of our favorite Nollywood movies of all time to get your adventure into African cinema started properly.

10. Domitilla

Theme

It’s about a young girls spiral into moral decadence and the subsequent quest for survival. Some of the root causes include need, greed, and peer pressure.

Scriptwriters

Zeb Ejiro

Ken Oghenejabor

Directors

Zeb Ejiro

Lead actor(s)

Anne Njemanze

Release date

1996

9. Half of Yellow Sun

This is a movie inspired by Nigeria’s Biafra civil war.

Theme

Two sisters grow apart due to their personal differences, but when civil war breaks out, their shared political cause overrides their initial differences. They unite to form a newly independent republic.

Scriptwriter

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Directors

Biyi Bandele

Lead actors

Chiwetel Ejiofor

Thandie Newton

Anika Noni Rose

Genevieve Nnaji

John Boyenga

Oyenka Onwenu

Release date

2013

Awards

Outstanding Foreign Film – Black Reel Awards 2015

Black Reel Awards 2015 – Image Awards 2015

Best Feature – Oslo Films from the South Festival 2014

8. Aki na Ukwa

This is one of the most popular comedies of the 1990s featuring two naughty boys – Aki, and Ukwa.

Theme

The drama revolves around two naughty boys, Aki (Chinedu Ikedieze) and Ukwa (Osita Iheme). It follows their mischievous actions and reigning chaos at home, village, and school.

Scriptwriter

Kasvid

Directors

Amayo Uzo Phillips

Lead actors

Chinedu Ikedieze

Osita Iheme

Oby Kechere

Amaechi Muonagor

Release date

2003

Awards

Lifetime Achievement Award (Osita Iheme) – Africa Movie Awards

Lifetime Achievement Award (Chinedu Ikedie) – Africa Movie Awards

7. Osuofia in London

Osuofia in London is a comedy film.

Theme

The comedy revolves around a Nigerian villager (Osuofia) who gets the news of his brother’s demise in London. The brother left him a huge estate that he had invested in London.

The villager gets bamboozled by the modern London life and the vast wealth his brother bequeathed him as the sole heir.

Among the traditional inheritance is his brother’s English fiancé (Mara Derwent) who by the village tradition he is required to marry.

However, the brother’s fiancé, ignorant of the Nigerian village tradition develops doubts and thus the drama begins.

Scriptwriters

Kola Munis,

Emeka Obiakonwa

Kingsley Ogoro

Directors

Kingsley Ogoro

Lead actors

Francis Odega

Nkem Owoh (Osuofia)

Cynthia Okere

Mara Derwent

Release date

2003

Awards

Best Sound Track – Africa Movie Awards

6. Sitanda

Sitanda is a story of love, lust, betrayal, abuse of power, fear, taboos, among others.

Theme

Amanze Bimbo leaves his wife Ann, soaked in the rain while he solely and selfishly utilizes the only umbrella; instead of covering his wife.

This symbolizes the gravity of their strained marriage in which Amanze blames his wife for all his misfortunes. He links these misfortunes to her status as a cursed outcast.

Scriptwriter

Fidel Akpom

Directors

Izu Ojukwu

Lead actors

Bimbo Manuel

Stephanie Okerere

Ali Nuhu

Iretiola Doyle

Justus Esiri

Release date

2007

Nominations

9 nominations

5 African Movie Awards (2007):

Best Original Screenplay

Best Nigerian Film

Best Director

Best Picture

5. Living in Bondage

This is a pioneer film that opened Nollywood curtains to the world. It is a thriller movie based on traditional Nigerian culture.

Theme

A man (Kenneth Okwonko) killed his wife as a ritual sacrifices in hopes of obtaining riches. However, he becomes haunted by the wife’s spirit till he turns mad.

Scriptwriter

Kenneth Nnebue

Okechukwu Ogunjiofor

Directors

Chris Obi Rapu

Lead actors

Kenneth Okwonko

Nnnenna Nwabueze

Okechukwu Ogunjiofor

Francis Agu

Release date

1992 (Part I)

1993 (Part II)

4. Ije

Blood is thicker than water. Even when you siblings commit a heinous crime, you still wish the best of them – freedom.

Theme

Chioma (Genevieve Nnaji) travels to the United States determined to do everything to stop her sister (Omotola Jalade Ekiende) from being arrested for murdering her own husband and two other men.

All that she demands is the truth in order to carry out her mission.

Scriptwriters

Chineze Anyaene

Samuel Tilsen

Directors

Chris Attoh

Lead actors

Genevieve Nnaji

Omotola Jalade Ekeinde

Odalys García

Jeff Swarthout

Clem Ohameze

Ulrich Que

Jon Woodward

Release date

2010

Awards

The Golden Ace Award at the Las Vegas International Film Festival,

The Award of Excellence at the Canada International Film Festival,

The Melvin van Peebles Award at the San Francisco Black Festival

The Silver Palm Award at the Mexico International Film Festival

The Festival Prize for Best International Student at Swansea Bay Film Festival

3. The Most Wanted

It is a movie in one of those rare occasions when the hunter and the hunted fall in love with each other.

Theme

A group of gangster girls masquerades as men in order to carry out a robbery.

Police are on a mission to hunt down this notorious gang that they believe to be men. However, over time, one of the female gangsters befriends a policeman.

Unknowingly, the policeman falls in love with the female outlaw, only to discover much later that she is a member of the notorious criminal gang.

Scriptwriter

Dozie Eriobu

Directors

Tunji Bamishigbin

Chineze Anyaene

Lead actors

Regina Askia

Ayo Adesanye

Ibinabo Fiberisima

Genevieve Nnaji

Liz Benson

Antar Laniyan

Release date

1996

2. A Trip to Jamaica

A culture shock comedy movie.

Theme

The theme revolves around newly married couple on a trip to visit their relatives abroad. The secrets they uncover from their hosts lead to their eventual breakup.

Scriptwriter / Producer

AY Makun

Directors

Robert Peters

Lead actors

Funke Akindele

Nse Ikpe Etim

Chris Attoh

Release date

2016

Awards

Nigeria Entertainment Award for Best Supporting Actor

Nigeria Entertainment Award for Best Actress

1. The Wedding Party

The Wedding Party is a Nigerian comedy-drama.  The Wedding Party has two parts – Part I and Part II. Currently, it is the highest grossing Nigerian film of all time.

Theme

The comedy revolves around a drama characteristic of high-class weddings in Nigeria. This includes, among others: unwilling parents, unruly guests, and fidelity suspicions.

Script writer

Don Omope

Zulu Oyibo

Ijeoma Agukoronye

Directors

Kemi Adetiba (Part I)

Ninyi Akinmolayan (Part II)

Lead actors

Adesua Etomi as Dunni Coker (The Bride)

Banky Wellington as Dozie Onwuka (The Groom)

Richard Mofe Damijo as Chief Felix Onwuka (Father of the Groom)

Sola Sobowale as Mrs. Tinuade Coker (Mother of the Bride)

Iretiola Doyle as Lady Obianuju Onwuka (Mother of the Groom)

Alibaba Akporobome as Engineer Bamidele Coker (Father of the Bride)

Enyinna Nwigwe as Nonso Onwuka (The Groom’s Brother)

Somkele Iyamah-Idhalama as Yemisi Disu (Maid of Honour)

Release date

2016 (Part I)

2017 (Part II)

Awards

Best International Film – National Film Awards UK

Get your snacks ready!

Nollywood has come of age.

From a backstreet start to the mainstream film industry, Nollywood continues to make great strides.

It has become one of the top earners of Nigeria’s economy, which has provided employment to thousands of young talents. Nollywood continues to scoop most of the Africa Movie Academy Awards since its inception – a great testament to its potential.2

Didn’t see your favorite above? Comment below on which film you think belongs here.

Resources:

Nollywood

Africa Movie Academy Awards

The post 10 Must Watch Nollywood Movies appeared first on Afrikanza.

[sunflowers-and-sweetviolets]

i'm so strange about him, i love my little guy

[365footballorg-blog]

Freedman: It's time our prospects shouldered the weight of expectation

March 22, 20186:32PM EDT

Fifteen years ago, the 20 players on the US Under-20 national team knew they were in for new experiences when they arrived in the United Arab Emirates ahead of the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship. After all, but a handful were college kids who had barely been out of the country, let alone to the Middle East.

But none expected to be shown up by a 14-year-old, last-minute addition to the squad.

After their first training session in Abu Dhabi, a swarm of reporters and cameramen rushed them as they were heading to the team bus. All the media wanted was a few minutes of Freddy Adu’s time.

Former US phenom Freddy Adu, celebrating a goal during Olympic qualifying in 2008. | USA TODAY Sports Images

Barely two weeks had gone by since Major League Soccer made the teen phenom from the D.C. suburbs the youngest signing in league history, and the hype machine had already started cranking. He was so talented, many of the stories said, he could become “the American Pelé” – that long-awaited breakout star American soccer had been chasing for years.

And in this moment, Adu’s teammates couldn’t understand why a kid five years younger than they were had the power to hold up their departure.

“I let him have a little moment,” recalls former longtime US U-20 coach Thomas Rongen, “but then I yelled, ‘Freddy, the bus is leaving in exactly one minute! If you’re not on it, we’re leaving without you.’”

As it turned out, that was the minute Adu was lost to The Machine. For all of his god-given gifts, Adu eventually drowned as the hype flooded and big money circled around him and anything and anyone in his orbit. Adu always had the talent, but somewhere along the way, the pathway to achievement became shrouded. The American Pelé he was not.

One has yet to surface. But countless other young phenoms have been put through The Machine: Bobby Convey. Santino Quaranta. Eddie Johnson. Jozy Altidore. Juan Agudelo. Those names and others saddled with the “Next Big Thing” mantle.

“We in the American soccer community put these guys on a pedestal and hang on them sky-high expectations they could never meet,” says Rongen, who came to love many of these players while coaching them in their youth. “And they bought into it. They loved the attention, and fame becomes the overriding factor – it’s bigger than the game. Our own culture created monsters.”

And that’s the honest truth. Thousands of players have marched through the American youth development system, but no matter how talented they are – and to be fair, many have been immensely talented – none has become that breakout star who sets the world on fire. Perhaps we only have ourselves to blame. We’re so insecure about our place in the game that we invest countless hours of passion into hoping someone will unearth that unicorn. And even if he shows a hint of becoming truly next-level, we can’t just back off and let him play.

This used to bother me to no end. How are we supposed to cultivate this sort of player when we’re crushing him with our own expectations before he can even prove himself? Why would we do such a disservice to a kid when our system is still far from perfect? In the past, I was first in line … to point the finger back at us.

I’m done with all that. With the United States missing the World Cup for the first time since 1986, and Canada chasing its first return trip since that same year, things have changed. There’s new hope with new talent, and the landscape has shifted. If we’re truly going to build one of these guys into our first real world-class superstar, he’s going to need to shoulder all of those expectations in order to come out the other side on top. That goes for guys like Christian Pulisic, FCD academy product Weston McKennie and Red Bulls Homegrown Tyler Adams in the US, as well as Vancouver Whitecaps speedster Alphonso Davies and former Orlando City SC man Cyle Larin across the border. The potential is still there. Let’s throw them into the fire and see what they’re made of.

Former US national teamer Eddie Johnson on the ascent in 2005. | USA TODAY Sports Images

Eddie Johnson remembers The Machine well. As a heat-seeking young striker from northeastern Florida, he earned plenty of attention in the mid-2000s for his innate scoring capability (Sports Illustrated once dubbed him “the Golden Child”). He used it as motivation, especially coming from a rough neighborhood and a background where he constantly had to prove himself. But even he admits today that he probably lacked the maturity to deal with all.

“The hype drove me,” he tells MLSsoccer.com from his home in Orlando, where he works in youth development. “I had a desire to want it more because of the lack of respect I felt they had abroad for Americans. But when things don’t go right even for one second – let’s say you’re hurt and not playing, or you see something about you on social media – all that negative stuff can start to play with your mind.”

So far, it doesn’t look like Pulisic is battling such mental gymnastics. At 19, he’s proven a lot of would-be doubters wrong: He’s already considered the best player on the US national team, and he’s a starter for one of the best clubs in Germany. Borussia Dortmund hasn’t coddled him, but it isn’t afraid of throwing him out there either: Pulisic does plenty of media appearances, and doesn’t seem to utter a single wrong word. He’s as polished as they come and seems to be able to handle the hype better than many who came before him. And in this age of instant feedback, he’ll hear it immediately if he makes an errant pass or puts in a subpar performance.

Canadian phenom Alphonso Davies has begun to step toward the expectations. | USA TODAY Sports Images

Canada’s insecurity runs a bit deeper. For every young phenom who wasn’t able to make that big next step, there’s also the disappointment of seeing a talented Canadian homegrown suiting up for another national team. So not only is it refreshing to see in Davies a kid who grew up in Canada staying with Canada (the irony isn’t lost on fans that he’s the first Canadian to be invited to train with Manchester United since Owen Hargreaves), there’s something a bit different about his game, too. He is – as Toronto FC Academy coach, TSN analyst and former Canadian national teamer Terry Dunfield says – “special.”

“He’s probably going to be dealing with the circus around them: Friends telling him how good he is, reading stuff saying he’s the next best thing, hearing about it on social media, listening to me talk about him,” says Dunfield, who himself dealt with high expectations after moving to Manchester City at age 15. “There’s a big responsibility on [the Whitecaps] and his family to keep him grounded. But that’s what Canada needs: a talented, young player who’s getting minutes and who you can build a team around. And he’s nowhere near his full potential yet.”

In the past, I argued piling on that hype was unfair. Part of the reason was I didn’t necessarily believe there existed enough infrastructure in place in the American and Canadian game to supply a young kid with the tools he needed: mental toughness to go with a technical skill set, a competitive environment, a solid support system and a clear pathway to club success at home or abroad. I no longer believe that to be the case.

“Everything is happening now,” Johnson says. “Soccer is mainstream here, and there’s more notoriety that goes along with it: There’s a chance to make some real money if you’re good enough. The expectations are what we always dreamed they’d be, and with that, the expectations on players comes at a younger age. Credit these guys like Pulisic, Davies, Larin and McKennie – they’re delivering.”

And that’s what it truly means to become a world-class player: You’ve got to be able to combine talent, work ethic and mental toughness in equal measures. You’ve got to be a complete player and not just rely on one part of your game, no matter how sublime it may be. And that means being able to take on those immense expectations and use them to push you forward, not hold you back. If you can’t handle it? Maybe you weren’t meant to become truly great in the first place.

As Dunfield puts it, “When you walk into stadiums of 50,000 people and you hear people talking about you, you have to have a little bit of that Cristiano Ronaldo arrogance.”

Dortmund may or may not have had their tongue planted firmly in cheek when they tweeted out a graphic comparing Pulisic’s early career with that of Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

Christian Pulisic’s teenage years in comparison with @Cristiano and Lionel #Messi: Wow, that’s what we call an impressive statline! 🇺🇸⚽ (via @Bundesliga_EN) @ussoccer@cpulisic_10pic.twitter.com/UAVRBLtKvk

— Borussia Dortmund 🇺🇸🇬🇧 (@BlackYellow) March 20, 2018

But the point was made: The kid is special. Look closer, and there’s a subtle subtext: No one ever implores fans in Portugal and Argentina to tone it down. Bring on The Machine.

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Freedman: It's time our prospects shouldered the weight of expectation was originally published on 365 Football