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linkljdf · 2 years ago

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I was hoping Delores wouldn’t become a Team Alabama The Greatest Ever The Best College Football Programs Over 150 Years aggressive rooster, as my recently deceased “Lance” had been, before passing on to “rooster heaven” with the assistance of a local coyote. The rooster I currently had, Gordon, was a sweet boy and was very happy to have Lance gone. Lance had been a fierce rooster who attacked literally every moving thing but the hens and me (displaying extreme good taste and discretion) and I was not prepared to live through as second several years of yet another “attack rooster”. Neither were the neighbor dogs. Nor were the neighbors, for that matter. I really didn’t think this would be a problem, as Delores was such a sweet rooster – showing no violence or aggression at all, and just wanted to sit on my shoulder (rather like a parrot) and look around. He’d snuggle against anyone’s neck or in anyone’s lap who would hold him and he adored being petted. Delores ran around digging for bugs in the lawn – but was just as happy sitting by the kitchen sink watching me trim vegetables or whatever. He made (as all my chickens did) a truce with the cats and was friends with the goats, horses

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pkstudiosindia · 4 years ago

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Out of retirement: the care home seniors chasing global cycling glory – The Guardian

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Joy Small and Cathrine Myhr have by no means met, stay in care houses 1,000 miles aside – however are difficult one another in a gripping sporting stand-off.

“I’m going to win the medal for female world champion,” says Small, 92, from her care home in Newbury. “I’ve always been very competitive.” Myhr, 56, contesting the similar medal from a centre in Oslo for seniors and people with studying difficulties, will see about that. “I compete from 8am to 3.30pm every day,” she says. “I even eat my meals on the go.”

The two ladies are participating in a global, static cycling competitors that has impressed 1000’s of older folks to cycle the equal of lots of of 1000’s of kilometres with out leaving their care houses.

Joy Small, 92, taking up all-comers at the Gracewell care home in Newbury Photograph: Motitech

Gwyneth Nisbet for instance hasn’t been in a position to stroll since she got here out of hospital two years in the past and hasn’t left her care home since lockdown. But over the previous few months, the 81-year-outdated has cycled lots of of miles, revisiting the international locations she and her husband went to once they had been youthful.

“Lockdown is horrific but seeing these countries triggers all sorts of memories,” she says. “I have a little happy cry then I ring up my husband and we reminisce together.”

Bill Ireland OBE, was a fighter pilot in 1956. Now in a care home in Warwickshire, he’s seething as a result of as we communicate, he slips from quantity 7 in the competitors’s global rating to quantity eight.

“Some of the competitors cover so many miles that they must keep cycling in their sleep!” he says, exasperated. “But it motivates me. I do two hours before breakfast. I love the competitive nature of it. I also love the discipline. I’ve always lived by discipline.”

Bill Ireland, chasing a private greatest Photograph: Road Worlds for Seniors

The Road Worlds for Seniors competitors, now in its third yr, goals to cut back immobility of older folks in care home settings, particularly amongst these with dementia.

Immobility is a severe problem amongst care home residents. In only one week, motionless older folks can lose 10-12% of their muscle mass and cut back their circulatory quantity – which might trigger inner organs to cease working – by 25%.

Ever questioned why you are feeling so gloomy about the world – even at a time when humanity has by no means been this wholesome and affluent? Could or not it’s as a result of information is nearly all the time grim, specializing in confrontation, catastrophe, antagonism and blame?

This collection is an antidote, an try to point out that there’s loads of hope, as our journalists scour the planet searching for pioneers, trailblazers, greatest apply, unsung heroes, concepts that work, concepts that may and improvements whose time might need come.

Readers can suggest different tasks, folks and progress that we must always report on by contacting us at [email protected]

Reversing the injury isn’t easy: for each 10 days of mattress relaxation in hospital, the equal of 10 years of muscle ageing happens in folks over 80 years outdated. That muscle can solely be rebuilt at a fee of 6% per week. If older individuals are motionless for simply three to five weeks, they will lose the capability to face. The greatest method to sluggish the loss of muscle mass and performance is resistance coaching.

Which is the place Motitech, a Norwegian startup launched in 2013 is available in. Founded by Jon Ingar Kjenes, it has developed specifically-tailored train bikes that allow customers to revisit acquainted locations from their childhoods and different essential factors of their lives, by way of a video projection that may play over 2,000 movies from 400 international locations whereas they pedal.

Kjenes fortunately admits it’s a easy concept however houses report speedy and transformative advantages amongst residents: much less nervousness, frustration and confusion. Better sleeping and consuming patterns. Less want for painkillers and different medicines. And crucially, extra exercise.

Kjenes tells the story of an aged dementia sufferer with a double hip fracture. “When she came back from rehab, she was so aggressive and affected that doctors said she would never walk again,” he says. “But after 6 months of using these machines, she was able to walk unaided.”

That, he says, was the inspiration he wanted to ditch his day job as a business TV producer and attempt to get his bikes into care houses throughout the world.

Motitech is now firmly established throughout the Nordic international locations, Australia, Canada, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Europe and likewise in 24 houses throughout the UK.

He began the competitors in 2017. “We very often look at seniors as having long term care needs but people with disabilities have abilities too,” he says. “The Road Worlds competition was a big thing in Norway already. We started thinking it might be highly effective to think about Seniors as athletes and their staff as their team, who treats them like an athlete, with close attention to diet, discipline, team spirit, health and medication.”

The collaboration of seniors is, say the houses, outstanding: octogenarians cheer nonagenarians from throughout the different facet of the world. At the similar time, houses report a rise in workers morale and high quality of care.

“I love sitting with the residents when they’re on the bikes,” says Georgina Cliff, health teacher at the Belong care home in Newcastle. “Residents with dementia truly believe they’ve had an outing. It unlocks a little bit of their brain and the memories it triggers, help staff to get to know residents as interesting, individual people,” she provides. “That makes our job more personal and rewarding.”

In Västängsgården care home in Sweden, Ida Andersson, head of exercise, incorporates entire occasions into the journeys of resident Mai Grundel.

“Mai cycled through Norway last week, so to make it fun, we had Norwegian waffles and Norwegian cheese,” stated Andersson. “When she was in Italy, we had Italian coffee and biscotti.”

Static bikes in gyms can function comparable know-how. But that, stated David Cochrane, CEO of Harbison care home in Australia, is a moot level: these older folks come from a technology the place gyms didn’t function.

On the highway Photograph: Road Worlds for Seniors

“We’d been failing to get our residents to exercise in our gym for years,” he stated. “These bikes, in contrast, are busy all the time but there’s not a single resident who comes back to do it again because it’s exercise. They come because the screens take them away from their day-to-day setting. It make the experience social and it triggers memories.”

He tells the story of 84-year-outdated Doreen Taylor, a resident who can’t stroll in any respect. “She did 4.2km this morning from her chair in half an hour,” he stated. “The first shot she had on the screen was of her front door. You couldn’t get her off the machine after that. She was crying tears of joy.”

This article is an element of a collection on potential options to some of the world’s most cussed issues. What else ought to we cowl? Email us at [email protected]

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shwni-blog · 5 years ago

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Lionel Messi Signed Merchandise

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There's no better time than now than to buy some Lionel Messi Signed Memorabilia Let's face it... He's probably one of, if not, the best player that has ever graced the beautiful game we call football Or soccer, depending on where you are from in the world

THE MAN, THE MYTH, THE LEGEND!!!

A Child's Hero

You can walk past nearly every park with children playing football And 9 times out of 10 you will hear an argument about who was going to be Messi If they're anything like my children they are all bloody messy! Looking at the player Messi, and the person behind the player This man will be a Footballing Legend in my eyes for as long as I live Even though Cristiano Ronaldo and Andres Iniesta are 2 of my favourite soccer players at the moment But what do you all think of him? If you want a bit of an incentive to be able to be half as good a player as this man is It might be worth taking a look at this short video of Lionel Messi's signature skills which might rub off on the way you play the game So, We all know what he does, but do we really know who he is?

The Lionel Messi Story

Lionel Andrés Messi was born on the 24th of June 1987 in a place in central Argentina called Rosario Growing up in a football-mad house it was inevitable that he was destined for great things on the football pitch He has played football since the age of 4 for a local team where his father was his coach At the age of 6, he went on to play for his favourite local team "Newells old boys" where he stayed and played for them for 6 years

Just firing up that passion that he already had for the game he loved. At the age of 10, he was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency But the treatment was too expensive Unfortunately, his father's medical insurance only covered 2 years worth of treatment which was $1000 He then had to find another way to fund his treatment Newells did offer to pay for the treatment but later backed out of the agreement leaving Messi and his family stranded with medical bills He had family in Spain so they arranged for trials for Barcelona But as he was so young, the director's were reluctant to sign him At the time it was very rare that European clubs would sign foreign players at such a young age In 2001 he was finally signed to the club because the directors were given an ultimatum to sign him And with no contract papers anywhere nearby The contract was written out on a paper napkin as it was the only paper to hand He and his family then moved to Spain to a small apartment near Barcelona's ground Camp Nou Thankfully, Barcelona offered to pay for his medical bills.......and the rest is history!!!

Celebrating to The Skies

Although he is known as being one of the "greatest footballers of all time" Winning many MANY trophies, personally, for his club, and home country He was very accident prone early on in his career missing a lot of games Think of how many more goals he could have scored if he didn't miss so many games The scoring machine has a well-known celebration whenever he scores Looking up and pointing to the sky in memory of his much-loved grandmother Who used to attend every game and training session with him until she sadly passed away when he was 10

Lionel Messi Position And Team Stats

Position: Forward Number on Jersey: 10 Current Team : club/Barcelona international/Argentina Newells old boys from 1994-2000 Barcelona C from 2003-2004 Barcelona B from 2004-2005 Barcelona from 2005....... National team from 2004...

For more facts about the man himself you can take a look at this great site called whoscored.com Every young aspiring footballer wants to be him!!! Now if you can't be like him, you can definitely dress as he does on the field With many places online selling Lionel Messi merchandise So if you love Lionel Messi you can... GET HIS NEW ADDIDAS NEMEZIZ 18.1 FOOTBALL BOOTS HERE!!!

Or take a look at the 17+ 360 version here

The King of Playmaking!!!!!

You have to check out the amazing skills that he can perform in this short video!!! ⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇

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This man is a legend!!!

Classic Shirts

I have even found some classic vintage shirts that go back as far as 2005. There are some lovely looking shirts that Messi and other legends of the game used to wear back in the day. You will be surprised what you find so why don't you do a bit of browsing and reminiscing over the good old days when football kits weren't just about the advertising Want more? Now if you are not happy with just having things similar to Messi..... What about owning his actual signed items? In the list below are only a few items that are genuinely signed by the legend himself and all come with a certificate of authentication

Lionel Messi Signed Soccer Cards

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The Argentinean who currently plays number 10 for Barcelona is an icon of the footballing world for fans all across the globe who would love nothing more than to own something that has been signed by such a great player It's not just signed football memorabilia, it's also an investment for the future Let's say you have some spare cash just laying in the bank doing nothing building a tiny bit of interest for you If you bought one of the legends signed balls (take it easy ladies) further on in his career the price of it will surely only go up, wouldn't it? I have managed to find four authentic signed football's by the legend himself which all have an AUTHENTICITY GUARANTEE Lionel Messi Argentina Autographed World Cup Brazuca Soccer Ball - $656.99

from: SportsMemorabilia.com Lionel Messi Barcelona Autographed 2016-17 Champions League Soccer Ball - $674.99

from: SportsMemorabilia.com Lionel Messi Signed 2016-17 UEFA Champions League Final Football ICONS Messi COA - $870.99

from: SportsMemorabilia.com LIONEL LEO MESSI Autographed UEFA Champions League 2017 Soccer Ball ICONS - $1,065.99

from: SportsMemorabilia.com You read all about the RETURNS AND EXCHANGES HERE of SportsMemorabilia or the SHIPPING POLICY HERE All the signed footballs have been genuinely personally hand-signed by Lionel Messi and come with an individually numbered tamper evident hologram from Fanatics Authentic. The hologram can be reviewed online so you can ensure authenticity. Get $100 off when you spend $1000 click here This process helps to ensure that the football that you have purchased is authentic and removes any possibility of duplication or fraud They also come with a fully certified certificate of authentication backed by sportsmemorabilia.com Anything else you need? If there's anything else you would like finding to do with LIONEL MESSI if you just message me in the comment section and I will do my very best to help you. Or if there's anything you have to say about this post or want me to add to it I would love to hear from you

Make an investment in your future while owning a piece of football history Why not take a look at what other autographed items sportsmemoribilia has to offer here in this post Read the full article

#AutographOfLionelMessi #HowToGetLionelMessiAutograph #Lionelmessi #LionelMessiAuthenticAutograph #LionelMessiAutograph #LionelMessiAutographCard #LionelMessiAutographForSale #LionelMessiAutographedJersey #LionelMessiAutographedSoccerBall #LionelMessiOriginalSignature #LionelMessiRealSignature #LionelMessiSignature #LionelMessiSignatureCard #LionelMessiSignatureImage #LionelMessiSignatureShoes

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loudlytransparenttrash · 7 years ago

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Ello, friend! How're things? I kinda want your opinion on this, since you're my go-to political person. Where does the issue of single-parenthood rank on your list of current problems with the black community? And, how much (if at all) do you think the left's championing of things like social justice, and feminism, which basically seek to abolish the traditional family have contributed to the single parenthood issue? Thanks! Have a fantastical day, m8! Xoxo.

Hello! Thank you so much for the message! Things are quite well thank you :) It’s a huge problem. Broken families, the lack of black fathers and even black mothers is a disastrous epidemic and the attempts to legitimize it by the left and the demonization of the nuclear family and fathers coming from feminism is only worsening this sad reality.

The U.S. has 25.8 percent of children being raised by a single parent, compared with an average of 14.9 percent across the other countries. Now consider 72 percent of black children are raised in a single parent household and 37 percent of these families live below the poverty line as there’s only one source of income, no balance or share of work and zero stability. Compare this to just the 8 percent of married black families who live in poverty which proves it’s not racism, it’s personal choices. Also consider black women terminate 450 babies for every 1000 born compared to white women terminate 121 for every 1000. How can you ever expect children to know the meaning of family and reap its benefits when black parents continue to shatter it, setting low standards and expectations. It proves if they held themselves to higher standards and accountability when choosing partners and creating children, things would be a lot different.

One in every 10 black men in his thirties is in prison and black women are incarcerated at a rate four times higher, not because of racism but because they commit the large disproportionate amount of crime and murder which leads to kids growing up on the streets or searching for family structure within gangs. In 2012, white males were 38 percent of the population and committed 4,582 murders. That same year, black males were just 6.6 percent of the population but committed a staggering 5,531 murders. Every 6 months there are more blacks committing homicides than there were blacks lynched over the course of 80 years. The figures highlight a horrific truth that black racialists and white liberals routinely ignore: black Americans, young black males particularly, put themselves in close proximity to police officers by committing crime at rates sometimes five to 10 times higher than whites. This is a recipe for disaster. Black communities glorify and celebrate this thug and criminal culture so once again, if they held themselves to higher standards and accountability, things would be a lot different but no one wants to talk about this, it’s just easier to blame white people.

The current welfare system discourages single mothers from establishing a stable two-parent household despite a portion of welfare funds allocated to promote this kind of family structure. This is because women who marry or maintain a home with the biological father of their children can face the reduction or loss of their benefits. In turn, children who grow up on welfare are more likely to grow up and be on welfare themselves, continuing the cycle. Daughters of single mothers are more likely to engage in early sexual behavior and become teen moms, which, in turn, makes them more likely to rely on welfare and their children less likely to grow up with their fathers.

Blacks see the nuclear family as a “white thing” and a broken family as a “black thing” so they fight against the nuclear family while trying to legitmize the broken family and feminism and the liberal left toe the line like good little pets. Look at BLM, even on their website, one of their official stated goals reads, “We are committed to disrupting the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement.” BLM fight against nuclear families as they see it as an oppressive white structure and then we have feminists fighting against nuclear families as they just hate their fathers (as well as wanting to get a pat on the head from minorities.)

Feminists have sold us the idea that men are disposable and we’d be better off without them, women shouldn’t be enslaved to “the oppressive patriarchal norms of being mothers” when they could be having a lot more fun working 80 hours per week and going home to cats. They prevent father involvement and father rights because they can profit from it. There wouldn’t be the need of a vast network of charities, organizations, affirmative action and guaranteed paychecks if we were honest and stopped the ‘women have it worse off than men’ myth.

Feminism needs gendered issues for their survival. Feminism doesn’t want you to know that women are about as likely to abuse their partner as men or that boys suffer similar rates of sexual abuse as girls (1 in 6 boys to 1 in 4 girls) or that thousands of men are being raped or that men are the greatest victims of violent crime because it would impact their funding. In order to maintain a steady flow of cash, they now seek to preserve their own existence by perpetuating myths and inventing problems instead of trying to solve the problems already existing, such as all of the above. Just like BLM and single black mothers, they along with feminism gain huge amounts of money and handouts from their “oppressors” by playing the victim card.

Intact families, married mothers and especially stay-at-home-married-moms are feminism’s number one enemy. Feminism tells us that the differences between the sexes comes down to social conditioning but mother’s often laugh at this idea as they understand children better than bitter, childless, lonely morons. Psychologist Steven Pinker may have said it best: “It is said that there is a technical term for people who believe that little boys and little girls are born indistinguishable and are molded into their natures by parental socialization. The term is ‘childless.’” Married women also tend to vote conservative while unmarried women tend to vote liberal ( here and here). Liberal votes means more money for the feminist cause. And more feminism means more liberal votes. It’s not a coincidence that Obama created a White House Council on Women and Girls but refused to create a White House Council on Men and Boys. Also, married women are a lot happier. A recent survey revealed that unmarried and working mothers are less happy than married and non-working mothers and we all know feminism despises anything that makes us happy or anything that can be considered a “social norm.”

Over the past few decades, feminism told women, “you can have it all,” emphasizing equal rights while minimizing equal responsibilities. Of course, no one can have it all, but “trade offs” doesn’t sell as well. And women can’t hear what men don’t say; men didn’t tell women that work is often mind-numbing and unfulfilling and they regret not being around for their wife and children but this is exactly what feminism strives for women. In order to dislodge homemaker wives from their families, feminism devalued their role (i.e. telling married women they’re half a person and they’re pathetic). Thinking men got the better deal, many stay-at-home moms were resentful, and divorce rates accelerated. Today, it’s women who ask for 7 out of 10 divorces (see here and here.) These moms then send inconsistent messages to their children; on the one hand they say they wouldn’t trade their kids for anything, but on the other hand they send the message that a career is more sustainable than having a family. The problem with these messages given to young children is that they erode the underlying beliefs necessary for a trusting and caring relationship to be built around, and just like the broken family in black communities, the cycle repeats and it will continue to repeat itself until we start to be honest.

On the other side of this sad ledger are all the dads who have watched their marriages disintegrate into a series of alimony and child-support payments. In one long-term study, just 10 to 15 percent of men won in custody battles. The ones who win are usually the ones who can afford lawyers. Even then, many men end up feeling like they are spending their lives working for people who have turned against them and see him as nothing more than a cash machine. Some even go to prison for falling behind on child support payments . Feminists say to this, ‘Who cares? It’s men. Fuck them,’ all because they look at hot celeb moms being toted as “superwomen” who do it all and have it all so they try to be badass boss bitches, they sacrifice family for work because they are so desperate to be like men and it eventually leaves them feeling disappointed and depressed when they’re alone and tired and they realize they should have taken family more seriously. Feminism wants to be the new men of the world yet they don’t want any of the sacrifices, they don’t want to work hard or do the dirty and dangerous jobs and they don’t want to be challenged, they also don’t want to acknowledge the fact that being a man isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Thank god we have people who still value and appreciate the rewards of family, marriage, children and stability, as well as law, hard work and education. If feminism or the black community don’t want to take it seriously, we’ll continue to keep the world spinning for them while they continue to try to destroy it and hate us for it.

#myreplies #feminism1

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topbeautifulwomens · 6 years ago

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Belts include been in use all around the globe given that very historical instances. Documents and artifacts display them currently being utilised for male cgood dealhing since the Bronze Age (as early as 3600 BC). A belt was nearly positive to be only adaptable by means ofout much of historical past. Within the 1800s, nonetheless, belts commenced to be used for style way too as utilitarian causes. Armed forces gadgets throughout the world included them into their uniform legal guidelines, exactly where they’ve been usually mostly embellished. They’ve typically been far more common for men, although women have been identified to use them typically, and sure now possibly genders wear them at will.

The strap portion of a belt can be created of a lot of content supplies. Some illustrations incorporate cloth, woven fibers, and leather-based. Utilitarian belts in earlier hundreds of years were made of what ever material was obtainable. Modern belts, however, are made with high-top quality materials. Attractive belts for women may be made of imported silk or cotton. Law enforcement and army units have tool belts made from high-vitality materials produced for intensive scenarios. And, of course, there’s the conventional leather belt – a favored for men and women for centuries.

There are several techniques of fastening a belt, incorporating friction clasps and body buckles. The most ornate belts, however, usually attribute a plate buckle. In this taste, a large steel plate(usually hugely decorated) is hooked up to one end of the belt strap. The back of the plate has a minor protruding prong, which fastens the belt by heading through one of several small holes punched in the other end of the strap.

A single of the spots that belts were common was in the American West. Cowboys and farmers alike used them for comfort and ease although working, and from time to time for carrying tools as well. For cowboys and ranchers, leather (made from the pores and skin of a cow) was often commonly available. Leather-based is a robust material, generating it the greatest alternative for items that obtain a lot of wear and tear. It really is also a very lovely product, with distinctive colours and textures, and even a elementicular odor that men and women are acquainted with to this working day. Leather can also be imprinted with distinct designs, and even dyed.

Although eachone is familiar with the image of a gunslinger with 2 stuffed revolvers on his hips, guns weren’t the only thing putting from belts in the West. Cowboys and cattle wranglers made frequent use of them. A sturdy belt can be used to preserve chaps in place to defend the legs while using, and can also be used to sustain products, these kinds of as ropes, whips, or knives, shut at hand.

Belts are nonetheless an everyday fashion item for many people in the contemporary world. They’re an envisioned part of a man’s firm fit, and most men wear them everyday for convenience and comfort. Ladies may wear belts significantly less often than men, but theirs tend to be more ornamental and are often meant to be considered and admired.

One of the most distinctive designs of belt is the modern rodeo cowboy’s belt and buckle. At a rodeo, many of the jobs that a working cowboy does, which includes taming wild pets, taking pictures escaped animals, or riding a horse through complicated terrain, are became into aggressive sports activities. Roping and barrel racing are well-liked, but no occasion is as legendary as bull riding. This risky sport problems competition to journey a bull for as extended as achievable while the animal (often weighing well previously mentioned 1000 lbs) twists, leaps, kicks, and spins to try out to dismount the rider.

It has become customary for the champion of a rodeo event to obtain, not a blue ribbon, but a highly decorated plate-style belt buckle. This buckle is often very large, possibly engraved with points relating to the rodeo or the event they participated in. They frequently feature complicated designs and pictures, and can be studded with gems as well. The good stones are plated with beneficial metals such as silver and gold. Rodeo champions proudly show their trophies in display situations in their houses, but those awards are functional as well! In rodeo communities, it’s very common to see the competitors, both men and women, donning their winnings proudly.

The post The Rise of the Belt in Modern Western Culture appeared first on Beautiful Women.

source http://topbeautifulwomen.com/the-rise-of-the-belt-in-modern-western-culture/

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higuchimon · 7 years ago

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[fanfic] Birth Of A Knight: Chapter 2

When he opened his eyes again, instead of the familiar roof of his family’s cottage or even the starry heavens he’d seen on occasions when he was out with Peckmon, he saw a marble ceiling overhead. He turned his head from one side to the other, but what little he could see told him only the barest facts.

He was in a room of some size, with candles set in scones on the walls, candles that gave out more light than they should have. There were well-made tapestries on the walls as well, but of scenes he didn’t recognize. He lay in a warm, comfortable bed, far more so than any he’d ever encountered before.

Moment by moment, memories flickered back into his mind. It didn’t take long. There weren’t many of them. Waking in the ruins of the village. Seeing all the signs that some kind of an attack happened there, leaving boundless death and destruction in their wake.

Realizing that he was the only survivor. Not even Peckmon had made it through.

A fresh memory, wholly unconnected from anything else, flickered into place: Peckmon standing before a powerful reptile Digimon of some kind, one that moved almost as quickly as he had, blocking its way to the cottage, while he’d screamed, trying to get Peckmon to leave, they needed to get help, to get -

He didn’t remember more than that. A single blast of furious fire, Peckmon between him and the Digimon, and then everything faded into a nightmare of shadows and torment.

And when he’d awoken then, wounds he didn’t remember getting, and a struggle to fight and breathe.

Then the new Digimon came. He recalled their leader’s name: Barbamon. Barbamon-sama, he amended to himself. The Digimon had ordered his subordinates to heal him, a peasant boy on the verge of death.

We could be of use to each other.

He didn’t know what Barbamon-sama could want with him, but the thought of revenge hung sharp in his mind, edging his every memory. He would never be right again until he could gain that. He would never feel himself again until he knew that all the ones who’d taken everything from him could never do it again to another living soul.

Slowly he looked down and lifted the blanket over him, morbidly curious to see what the wounds were like. Sorcerimon had done some kind of magic, but he didn’t know if it just eased his pain or actually healed the injuries themselves.

What he saw surprised him: smooth flesh, without even a scar to mar him. He still didn’t feel strong enough to get up and do anything, but for all he could tell, the raid had been nothing more than an especially bad dream.

A door opened, quite close, and he looked up in time to see Sorcerimon approach him.

“Good evening, young human,” the healer mage greeted as he came close enough to be heard. “Do you feel well enough to give me your name?”

He opened his mouth, more than ready to ask questions and get answers, but nothing came out. He tried again. Nothing changed. Not even a single sound escaped. He stared at Sorcerimon with rising panic, spreading his hands in a desperate attempt to explain what he didn’t understand.

Sorcerimon tilted his head in thought, then brandished his staff, ice-blue runes appearing over the bed, circling around boy and Digimon alike. He said nothing else, but watched the runes as they crisscrossed, some changing to others, a handful of them switching colors, until he finally dismissed them altogether.

“I will have to report this to Barbamon-sama,” he said, words measured and considering. “What I can be certain of right now is that I have healed all of your wounds and injuries. It has been three weeks since we found you.”

His eyes widened; three weeks? Why did he then feel if he’d slept only one night?

Perhaps something of that reflected in his expression. At any rate, Sorcerimon’s next words explained, to some degree.

“I kept you asleep all this time. The energy to heal you came from you yourself, which meant the best way for you to recover was to sleep.”

Sorcerimon stepped closer. “You may still fall asleep at odd hours for some time, until your body has fully adjusted to no longer being on the brink of death. When you are ready, Barbamon-sama will speak to you. As you may remember, he feels you and he can be of assistance to one another. But that is something you will have to decide on your own.”

He moved back. “I will have food brought. You’ll need all that you can get to recover your strength fully.”

No sooner had he left than the boy found his eyes closing and sleep once again stealing over him. He didn’t stir again until something fragrant brushed against his nose and he opened his eyes to see what it was.

Food. Soup, carried in by a Floramon.

He’d known a Floramon who worked at the town tavern. Bright and happy and an excellent cook, she’d greeted him and Peckmon every day when they’d passed by. Now she was gone. She might reconfigure into an egg; most Digimon did that. But her data might not ever become the Floramon he’d known. Digimon didn’t always become the same Digimon if they were reborn.

For that matter, if Peckmon reconfigured, even if he found his partner again, he would probably not be Peckmon again. Even if he was, he wouldn’t be his Peckmon again. Not the one who he’d known for so many years.

All of that passed through his mind in the briefest of seconds, as Floramon brought the bowl of soup and a tall glass of ice water over to his bed. She smiled at him as she settled it on a bedside tray he hadn’t really noticed until now.

“Here you go!” She merrily chirped. “Do you need any help eating it?”

He didn’t know. He couldn’t seem to talk anymore; what else had changed? He shrugged and started to reach for the soup carefully. Until he knew, he would assume he could do something.

His hand shook, spilling a little of the soup, but he managed to get enough into his mouth to satisfy his hunger, and the water to slake his thirst. Floramon carried the dishes away, wishing him well, and he tried to rest again, hoping for more answers when he woke up.

Barbamon listened intently to Sorcerimon’s report of the boy’s condition. For the last three weeks he’d heard regular updates, but those little differed from one another as his new acquisition slept and healed. Now he’d awakened, but all wasn’t perfect.

“He’s physically as well as he can be. The lack of a voice can only relate to his emotional or mental states, or both.” Sorcerimon shook his head. “That isn’t something that I can heal, Barbamon-sama.”

Barbamon only smiled. “You need not worry about this. A warrior has no need of a voice to understand his orders or to carry them out, is this not true?”

Sorcerimon nodded without hesitation. Clearly if the boy wasn’t in peak condition, he’d feared what his liege lord would do to him.

As far as Barbamon knew or cared, this couldn’t have been better. While he’d had no hand in the massacre of the town, to find a single survivor so bent on revenge was a blessing he’d not looked for. Now that he had it, he wasn’t going to give it up for anything.

“Let me know when he’s healed and ready to...” Barbamon laughed as the thought occurred to him. “Though he can’t speak with me, can he?” How amusing. “When we can bargain, then let me know. And make certain that I have the finest of trainers ready to assist him in his recovery and afterward.”

He intended to make a warrior and champion out of his new acquisition, one fit to take on anyone in combat, even the most powerful of Digimon. His own greatest servants would take a hand in the boy’s training, whether they liked it or not.

He would set some of them to find those who had raided the town, however, and he would have to find a method of mutual communication. If he wished the boy’s trust and obedience, he would have to provide good faith on his side.

To Be Continued

Notes: I hurt those characters I like. Shou is no exception.

#fanfic #higuchimon writes #digimon next #kahara shou #barbamon #chapters: birth of a knight

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linkljdf · 2 years ago

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zillowcondo · 7 years ago

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The Overhead Compartment with Gary Player

Shining a spotlight on celebrities and athletes who love to travel. Created and developed by Stacy Steponate Greenberg.

There are many people in sports to whom the word “icon” has been attached, too many perhaps, as it diminishes the importance of the word for the cases where they truly apply. Such as in the case of Gary Player, an icon; one of the greatest players and international ambassadors the game of golf has ever known. Known around the globe as “The Black Knight,” the South African legend won nine Major Championships during his career, as well as nine more Majors on the Champions Tour. Player was only 29 years old when he won the 1965 US Open, making him the first, and still the only, international player to win all four Majors. In 1974, he was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame; it is very likely that no one in history has traveled more miles playing the game of golf than Gary Player. Throughout his career Player was also a fitness junkie, his nickname was Mr. Fitness, and recently in celebrating his 81st birthday, a worldwide campaign #81SitUps4Gary went viral and people around the world were trying to do 81 sit ups in honor of Player’s birthday. Of course, the reality is Player can not only do 81 sit ups at 81 years of age, but he does many, many more….every single day. The Overhead Compartment was lucky enough to walk a few holes with Gary Player and even took the #81SitUps4Gary challenge while interviewing one of the greatest ever to swing a club.

The Overhead Compartment with Gary Player begins now…

OC: You’ve traveled all over the world playing golf, what are your top three favorite golf courses?

GP: If I were to choose only one course to play again it would be the Old Course at St. Andrews because it is the home of golf. Cypress Point and The Links at Fancourt in South Africa also come to mind.

OC: Of all your championships, which one means the most to you?

GP: That’s tough to answer. It’s almost like asking me which of my six children or 22 grandchildren is my favorite. It’s really a toss-up between my first Major victory at the 1959 Open Championship when I was 23, my US Open victory in 1965 when I won the career Grand Slam, or my third Masters victory when I came back from seven shots behind the leader in the final round to win the tournament when I was 42 years old.

OC: What’s a typical day in the life of a professional golfer?

GP: It depends who you are asking as there are many different levels of professional golf. And it certainly has changed throughout time. Professional golf for me during the beginning of my career in the 1950s was far from glamourous. Over 40 hours of travel to get to tournaments in America. No private jets. I even slept on a beach the night before The Open in Scotland. Not typical of today’s professionals.

OC: Which country has the most passionate golf fans?

GP: The people of Scotland are more passionate about golf than any other I have witnessed. Arnold Palmer and I once went out late for a practice round at St. Andrews. Nobody was on the course. Well, word spread quickly, and after just a few holes there were thousands of people following and cheering us on as if it were a Sunday finish. Truly amazing to be a part of.

OC: How have you seen golf change from when you first began to play?

GP: Equipment, course condition and travel are completely different. The ball goes 50 yards farther. Greens and fairways are pristine. No spike marks on the greens. There are even machines to rake the bunkers. And as I said before, travel has become so much more efficient, making it much easier to play around the world.

OC: You’re known as Mr. Fitness, before it was fashionable to be in shape, what’s your secret to staying motivated?

GP: Rest is rust. If I stop moving, exercising and eating healthy, it is going to greatly affect my quality of life. If I keep motivated and don’t get some disease, there is no reason I won’t live to be 100.

OC: People around the world were taking part in the #81situps4Gary, wishing you birthday wishes with 81 sit ups. Do you actually do 81 or more sit ups a day?

GP: (Laughs) Only doing 81 sit-ups would be a very lack luster day. But 81 in a row is a nice challenge no matter who you are. It was a fantastic birthday present to see all the people around the world wish me a happy birthday by exercising. Did you complete your 81?

OC: What is your normal daily work out?

GP: My normal workout routine when I am not traveling consists of various types of leg, lower-back and neck stretching, sets of one-legged squats, 1000 mixed crunches (the last set done with extra weights), several core exercises, weighted wrist roles, leg press, various dumbbell exercises, and concludes with sprints on the treadmill. Yoga and meditation also is very important and I do both regularly.

OC: How often are you on an airplane?

GP: In 2016, I have logged nearly 400,000 miles of air travel so far. I travel about seven months out of the year, and the rest I try to spend on my farm or with my family.

OC: What is the secret to staying fit on the road?

GP: Having a plan, and sticking to it. You can’t say I might workout this day or go for a run that day. You need to have a strict workout schedule, as well as setting goals for yourself so you can work to achieve them.

OC: Do you follow a special diet?

GP: I have moved more towards a plant based diet with not too much meat. And when I do eat meat, it is organic. Fresh vegetables and fruit from my garden does the trick.

OC: How do you think golf can appeal to the younger generation and stay current?

GP: We need to speed up the pace of play and have more fun. Nobody wants to spend five or six hours playing one round of golf. This relates to courses becoming too long because they are forced to keep up with the advancement of equipment. Gary Player Design is combating this by building a Short Course, which is a 12-hole, family style course that can be played in two hours, barefoot with just a few clubs.

OC: You have a foundation called The Player Foundation whose “mission is to provide quality education for underprivileged children and strengthen impoverished communities”, which has raised more than $62 million dollars. Why is this your passion?

GP: Can you tell me who won the 100 meter dash at the 1960 Olympics? Me neither. Champions in sport are eventually forgotten. Records are made to be broken. I do not know when my golf career may be lost in in time, but if I can impact millions of people’s lives around the world, I will have done my part as a human being. I want to be remembered as someone who did everything in their power to help their fellow man, especially children.

OC: You’re from Johannesburg, South Africa…. What are three things no visitor should miss?

GP: It’s hard to choose just three but a few that come to mind are Gold Mine Tour at Gold Reef City, play Blair Atholl, dine at Casalinga, and visit the Cradle of Mankind and Apartheid Museum.

OC: How would you describe your relationship with Nelson Mandela?

GP: He was our Great Father of the Nation. South Africa’s leader of all people. I loved him and was privileged to spend time with him and witness the love and compassion he had for everyone. Truly a special man indeed.

OC: Complete the following sentence: I never leave home without:

GP: The most recent issue BloodHorse Magazine. Thoroughbred Racehorse breeding is my passion. I love to study to genealogy and bloodlines of these great athletes. There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of man. Of course, I also take my skipping or jump rope which you can use anywhere, anytime too.

Gary Player, please use care upon departure as items may have shifted in The Overhead Compartment during our journey. Thanks for choosing us for your travel tips! Have a wonderful day!

The post The Overhead Compartment with Gary Player appeared first on Pursuitist.

The Overhead Compartment with Gary Player published first on http://ift.tt/2pewpEF

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wionews · 7 years ago

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Eighth heaven: The king reclaims his kingdom

By Yash Jha

"I wasn't sure if I was going to ever be here in another finals after last year. I had some tough ones losing to Novak in 2014 and 2015. But I always believed that I can maybe come back and do it again, and if you believe you can go really, really far in your life, and I think I did that and I'm happy. I kept on believing and dreaming and here I am today, with the eighth. It's fantastic."

When Roger Federer first won a Wimbledon Men's Singles title, on July 6, 2003, George W Bush was President of the USA, Facebook was yet to launch, Wayne Rooney played for Everton, and Andre Agassi was ranked world number one.

Over 14 years from the day he became a Grand Slam champion - in a world where Donald Trump presides over the US, the world seemingly exists on social media, Rooney has returned to Everton after about a lifetime at Manchester United, and Agassi has been retired for over a decade - Federer became the most successful male player in the history of the oldest and most prestigious competition in tennis.

"It is very special. Wimbledon was always my favourite tournament, will always be my favourite tournament. My heroes walked the grounds here, the courts here, and because of them I think I became a better player too. So to mark history here at Wimbledon means a lot to me," he said at the post-match press conference following his capturing of a record-extending 19th Grand Slam title.

At 35 years and 342 days, he also became the oldest singles champion at Wimbledon, irrespective of gender, in the Open Era.

History would have always had room - one of its better suites, even - for Federer, regardless of what happened on Sunday. Regardless of what happened in 2017. Or the year before that.

In July 2009, with his securing of a sixth title at the All England Club after a four-hour, 77-game long marathon against Andy Roddick, Federer had become the most decorated player in men's tennis, surpassing Pete Sampras' haul of 14 titles.

A 16th Slam followed soon at the 2010 Australian Open, but then came 2011 - his first year without a Slam since his breakthrough win in 2003.

He continued the love affair with Wimbledon in 2012, but then came four-and-a-half years bereft of victory.

It wasn't so much the slide of the Swiss maestro that was discomforting - what goes up comes down, the best get bettered, it's all par for the course - as the manner. Federer was losing his mojo, his opponents were finding their feet, the aura of invincibility was gone.

Then, in 2016, came the 'clicking' of his knees while he ran a bath for his twin daughters at home. A torn cartilage would need a surgery; the return would read 18 matches, zero finals, zero wins against top-10 players.

And when it was known that Federer would miss the entire season post Wimbledon, including the US Open - only the second major he skipped in 17 years - the inevitable question of retirement that had been following him ever since he completed his career Grand Slam at Roland Garros in 2009 had resurfaced.

"I’ve heard retirement [talk]since 2009 when I won the French Open and people were like, well, what else are you playing for? I’m like, what’s wrong with you people? Don’t you understand that playing tennis is great fun? I don’t need to win three slams a year to be content. If the body doesn’t want to do it, if the mind doesn’t want to do it, if my wife doesn’t want me to do it, if my kids don’t like it, I’ll stop tomorrow. Zero problem. But I love tennis in such a big way that I don’t care if I don’t win so much any more. For me that is irrelevant," the then-17-time-major-winner said in an interview with The Guardian during his hiatus.

Away from the tour for six months, Federer returned at the Australian Open in January.

His record since: 31-2. At Grand Slams and Masters 1000 events: 25-0. Titles won: Australian Open, Indian Wells, Miami, Wimbledon.

The king of SW19 had waited five years to regain his kingdom. His Center Court audience had never had to endure as long between any two Federer titles.

But all that was now over; the man who turns 36 next month had made it 19 at SW19.

"It's a dream to play here really, and I hope this wasn't my last match, and I hope I can come back next year and try to defend the title," was his parting shot to the faithful.

In the time between Federer's first title and this, his latest, the landscape of the world has changed a fair bit. It isn't the greatest place to be around.

But till the time Roger Federer keeps winning Grand Slams, till he keeps turning up at Center Court at Wimbledon, till he keeps playing this sport - the world doesn't need any saving.

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usamotorscycle-blog · 7 years ago

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The American Iron Road Tour

There are a lot of reasons that we moto journos get into this gig. It goes without saying that we all share a passion for the sport of motorcycling, but it’s about more than just the opportunity to ride and test motorcycles and gear for a living, see things that we might not otherwise see, enjoy memorable experiences and then tell stories about them. It’s also about meeting great people from all walks of life who share our passion for this amazing sport. https://youtu.be/wZxVVM5qbp8 That’s probably the best way to describe our recent whirlwind Motorcycle.com American Iron Tour, where Motorcycle.com Group’s Editorial Director Sean Alexander, MO’s Senior Editor John Burns and I got to embark on an epic three-leg, 1000-mile trek through Middle America on three classic American cruisers. We enjoyed some great roads, sampled a variety of grub from Chicago-style Pizza to terrible BBQ, to German Hofbrau and Mickey Dee’s, and we met some really, really interesting people who share our passion for motorcycling.

Our 1000-mile journey got underway in earnest after we visited Victory/Indian dealer American Heritage Motorcycles and then Harley-Davidson of Chicago to collect our mounts for the trip. A big thanks goes to the crews at both dealerships for their assistance. The whole thing got started with a rather unusual invitation from some folks who are in quite a different industry than ours, firearms manufacturer Springfield Armory of Geneseo, Illinois. Apparently the guys at Springfield are big motorcycle fans, and they like what we do here at MO. One thing led to another, and we were soon on our way out to Geneseo to meet with them. We certainly appreciate Springfield’s attention, but at the same time we’re well aware that MO is first and foremost, a motorcycle website. Still, the lure of getting in some great riding in the Midwest proved to be too strong to resist, so we contacted the two leading American motorcycle manufacturers, Polaris and Harley-Davidson, who provided us with three prime examples of their classic American cruisers, the Victory Gunner, the Harley Road King and the Indian Springfield. Too efficient for our own good, we decided to make these steeds the subject of an upcoming three-bike comparison test while we were at it. Instant road trip, baby!

The fact that half the State of Illinois was undergoing road construction put us well behind schedule as we headed toward our first meeting with folks at Springfield Armory in Geneseo, Illinois, so we were more than happy to hop off the Interstate and cruise some good old American gravel back-country roads. On top of that, someone whipped out a map and realized how (semi) close both the Polaris/Victory/Indian and the Harley-Davidson engine assembly plants were, and if we were going to get a glimpse at Springfield Armory’s manufacturing operation, why not have a look at what goes into building the engines that power our trio of heavyweight haulers? Would they even have anything in common? They did have a lot in common, but exactly how they did wasn’t at all what we expected. So, after Burns, Alexander and I stepped off the plane in Chicago, collected our rides from the local Polaris dealer at American Heritage Motorcycles and from Chicago Harley-Davidson, we hit the road. It only made sense – both historically as well as geographically – that the first stop on our ride would be a couple hundred miles west at the Springfield Armory plant.

Let the meeting of cool people begin! One of our favorite stops came early in the tour when we met the folks at Springfield Armory to blast some cardboard and steel with the majority of Springfield’s current product line. Springfield Armory was the first of these three iconic American companies to exist, long before the internal-combustion engine. Commissioned in 1777 by none other than George Washington and located in the town of Springfield, Massachusetts, it quickly became the epicenter of firearms manufacturing in America and recognized as a world leader in the industry. After the U.S. government closed the original Springfield Armory down in 1968, the Springfield Armory name returned to prominence kind of by accident. In 1974, an Illinois-based military surplus dealer named Robert Reese and his son, Denny, drove to Texas to collect on a debt owed by a creditor who also happened to own the Springfield Armory name and its remaining parts and machinery. “I was 19 at the time,” Denny Reese said. “We went down to collect an unpaid bill and wound up coming back with two semi-truck loads of office equipment and machinery, and the Springfield Armory name. When we came across two shoeboxes full of inquiries about where to purchase the M1-A rifle, we said, ‘Wow, let’s give this a try.’ That’s how it started. We didn’t have any firearms production experience at that time, however that was all about to change.”

We appreciate CEOs who are willing to go out of their way to network with common folk. Motorcycle nut and Springfield Armory CEO, Denny Reese, an ISDT gold medalist, spent half a day at the range with us and the next one guiding us on a tour of the Springfield Armory facility. The new company, Springfield Armory, Inc., would begin operations in the tiny hamlet of Geneseo, Illinois, where it has been in continuous operation since 1974. “Geneseo is like Mayberry,” Denny Reese joked. “You wonder if you’re going to see Barney Fife walking around. We have the ice cream socials on Tuesday nights. Bands play. It’s beautiful stuff. It’s a great place to raise a family.” Robert Reese financed the Springfield Armory business in the hope that his sons, Denny and Tom, would take it over at some point, but first there was the matter of curing them of an addiction of theirs: motorcycles. Denny’s first real dirtbike was a 1967 Sachs 125, and Tom’s was a Hodaka Super Rat. The Reese boys fell in love with riding, and as their skills progressed they began competing in the American qualifier series for the International Six Days Trial, or ISDT, which is known as the ISDE today. In fact, Denny was good enough that he made the cut. A factory Penton man at the beginning of his competitive riding career, he later received factory support from Yamaha. He competed in three consecutive ISDTs from 1977-79, winning a gold medal in Värnamo, Sweden, in 1978, and earned a silver medal in Neunkirchen, West Germany, in 1979. All the while, the Reese boys were involved in running the family’s new venture. “It was an interesting time,” Reese, now 61, recalled. “I’ll never forget when Dad sat us down and told us, ‘You guys need to decide whether you are going to run a gun company or whether you are going to go pro.’ So we toned down the motorcycle thing a little bit, but our priority had two wheels back then.”

Team Springfield’s Rob Leatham is a multi-time national and world championship-winning shooter who also happens to be a former club- and professional-level road racer. The fun-loving Arizonan was serious as a heart attack when it came time to display his talent with a handgun. Later, when Springfield ventured into the business of supporting competitive shooters in the 1980s, it formed its Team Springfield support program in similar fashion to a motorcycle racing team. Wouldn’t you know it, the first guy they signed just happened to be a former club- and national-level road racer named Rob Leatham. Now 55, Leatham is a decorated professional shooter with more than 50 national and world championship shooting titles on his resume. But he’s also a hell of a jokester who is proud to spin tales about how his greatest roadracing memory was being knocked off the track by former AMA Superbike Champion Thomas Stevens at Willow Springs, and Leatham may also have the dubious distinction of being the only professional shooter ever to be stung on the head of his penis by a scorpion while competing at a shooting match – nobody, it seems, keeps accurate records. Leatham had us in stitches as he shared how he ran to one of the medics and told them what happened – and where it happened. “The guy just looked at me and said, ‘Well, I guess you’re going to die.’” (laughs) Leatham recalled that he didn’t even know he and the Reese family shared a love of motorcycles until he joined Springfield Armory’s shooting team.

Leatham watches as MO Editorial Director Sean Alexander draws a bead with one of Springfield’s SOCOM-16 CQB rifles. The two are kindred spirits, and though they had never met before this day, the rest of us began to wonder if they had been separated at birth – they’re both just that goofy. “It was like, ‘Oh, you’re into bikes? I’m into bikes,’ and we really hit it off,” he said. “I’ve been with them ever since, and they’re more like family to me. They’re like my brothers. I’ve probably put more laps around their family farm on a dirtbike than anyone not named Reese.” And that’s what our round table in the Springfield Armory boardroom felt like: a motorcycling family chat. The most boisterous moment in the conversation wasn’t about firearms or what models Springfield produces. It was whether Valentino Rossi should have been penalized after tangling with Marc Marquez at the 2015 Malaysian Grand Prix.

The author squeezes off a few rounds with his own Springfield FBI Custom model 1911. We thought it would be neat to bring the .45 back to its birthplace, but that was before we actually had to go through the hassle of properly checking it in at the airport! Perhaps Leatham summed up the common ground between the motorcycle and shooting disciplines best when he said, “It’s about freedom. You’re controlling a certain level of power that a lot of people don’t have the desire or the skill to . It takes the same hand-to-eye coordination and dexterity.” “And you have to have respect for both,” Reese added.

MO’s beloved savant, John Burns fondles one of Springfield’s walnut-stocked M1-A rifles, prior to drawing a bead on a 100-yard target. It was no problem for the eagle-eyed graybeard. When the Springfield Armory guys offered to take us to the local range to sample some of its products, of course we jumped at the chance. Alexander and I are avid shooters. Burns? Not so much, but even he appreciates the legend of the Springfield M1 Garand, a rifle once proclaimed by none other than General George S. Patton as “the greatest weapon ever made.” Pardon the pun, but we had an absolute blast hanging out with the Springfield crew, trying out everything from their various M1 rifle variants, to their extremely popular modern XD line of pistols and Springfield’s complete line of 1911-based pistols. Since it maintains such a high profile within its own industry, it’s surprising to learn that Springfield Armory accomplishes so much with just 260 employees working in its Geneseo facility. The company headquarters includes a 160,000 square-foot main plant with an additional 40,000 square feet off site, and another 10,000 square-foot building is currently in the works.

The factory tour portion of our week began at Springfield Armory in Geneseo, Illinois. The pistol parts shown here await meticulous hand-fit construction by the expert craftsmen in the Springfield Custom shop. To make a moto analogy, these are the true “works machines” of the company line. A firearms enthusiast himself, Ol’ George Washington would probably be proud to see the brand that he effectively started still doing well today, and we’re betting he would have really dug the motorcycle boom in America, which began not only in the very same town where the original Springfield Armory was located but literally just one mile away from it. That’s where the Indian Motocycle Company was officially born in January of 1901, two years before Harley-Davidson got its start. Of course, Indian’s history, including its demise in 1953, is well known, while Harley has rolled along without interruption for 113 years. It’s kind of funny that, with Polaris’ takeover of the Indian brand, Indian and Springfield Armory are once again in close proximity, and that’s where we headed next.

Many of Springfield Armory’s employees are avid motorcyclists, and Reese even allowed some of them to play hookie from work and accompany him as he escorted us for over an hour, before stopping and buying us all lunch on our ride away from Geneseo. Pointing our machines north along the Mississippi River route toward Osceola, Wisconsin, to tour the Polaris, Victory and Indian engine assembly plant, we enjoyed an epic ride through the lush green cornfields and timberlands that dot the river. The meandering two-lane roads make for perfect cruiser country, and there are a number of small towns that dot the route. Our plan was to make a quick stop in one of them, a place called Savanna, but things don’t always go to plan. So we were parked on Savanna’s bucolic main drag to gather a couple photos and some video footage when this pony-tailed graybeard walked up to us from out of nowhere and asked, “Hey, do you guys have a minute to take a look at something?” Since he didn’t do anything weird like unzip his pants, we figured it was probably okay to follow him, and we’re sure glad we did! He led us into his local drinking establishment, the Iron Horse Social Club wherein we feasted our eyes on an amazing collection of pre- and post-war motorcycles – must’ve been 40 of ’em. Ancient Indians, Harleys, Crockers, board-trackers, speedway bikes, hill-climbers.

One of the surprise highlights of the trip came when we visited the Iron Horse Social Club in Savanna, Illinois. In addition to being a local watering hole, the Main Street location boasts a treasure trove of antique motorcycles. This is just a small portion of the dozens of machines on display. It was truly a sight to behold, and the upstairs area was even more of a trip. It contains a complete chapel that is rented out for weddings and other events. And it’s the only chapel we’ve ever seen where the good Lord himself co-headlines with antique motorcycles. If you’re ever in Savanna, the Iron Horse Social Club is definitely worth a visit. A little farther up the road is the town of Galena, Illinois, where history buff Burns made sure to guide us past the home of Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th president of the United States. We would’ve loved to look around some more, but we had already fallen way behind schedule by then. We rode on past sunset and into the early morning hours, by the time we made it to our hotel in Osceola we were pretty well spent. It was worth the extra time in the saddle, because we awoke the next morning just a few minutes away from the Polaris engine assembly plant.

We also passed by a historic monument in Galena, Illinois. This flag-toting brick home is the crib of none other than Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th President of the United States. Polaris deserves a lot of credit for being the right company to rescue Indian, a brand which had been pretty well dragged through the mud during several failed revival attempts since the original Springfield-based Indian took a dirt nap almost six decades ago. In its most recent incarnation, under the control of British equity firm Stellican Limited, Indian was barely idling along when Polaris came calling. Polaris was already enjoying success with its Victory line of contemporary American cruisers, but it saw the potential in a real Indian revival, one that would respect the brand’s rich legacy while moving it into the 21st century via modernized engineering and manufacturing. Polaris kept the Indian name rolling at first by building the last of the Stellican-era Chiefs so as not to interrupt production again, but an all-new Chief, featuring the Polaris-designed Thunderstroke 111, debuted in 2014. It was followed by the sporty, liquid-cooled, DOHC Scout in 2015.

Polaris Industries’ Plant Manager Jesse Barthel (middle) took us on an extensive tour of Polaris’ Osceola Engine Assembly Plant, introducing us to a lot of neat folks inside the place, like Phil Wallander (plaid shirt), who built the very first Indian engine after Polaris bought the brand in 2009. Thus, like Springfield Armory, Indian is reborn, and has been experiencing sales growth ever since. With the splash that the new Indians have already made and Polaris’ clear commitment to keep developing the brand, it’s no stretch to imagine that Indian’s best days lie ahead. Set on 36 acres, Polaris’ Osceola facility is a lot larger than Springfield Armory’s, boasting two assembly plants that cover 327,000 square feet. The plants maintain five full-time assembly lines for snowmobile, ATV, UTV, and motorcycle engine production. Two of those lines are dedicated to Victory’s Freedom 106/6 and Indian’s Thunderstroke 111 V-Twin powertrains, according to Jesse Barthel, Polaris’ Plant Director at Osceola. Barthel, who served as our escort through the plant, estimates that those two lines deliver about 200 engines per day. “We do a little bit of everything here,” Barthel said. “We do ATV engines, snow engines and side by sides, as well as the engines for Victory and Indian. We can install a line in the plant pretty quickly. Most of the work comes in the design and planning phases. We recently brought a new line to life in here, from bare floor to the first engine coming down the line, in a week.”

Rosie the Riveter lives! And she has a robotic assistant, the yellow “Smart Cart” system that follows a track on the floor, delivering the engines to the stations along the assembly line. The Indian Thunderstroke 111 has the newest line in the facility. No longer assembled along a standard conveyor belt system, Indian engines are now assembled using an automated “Smart Cart” system that follows a track on the floor. All of each engine’s components are contained in a small trailer that rolls along behind the automated cart, leaving the floor clear of shelving, parts boxes and other debris. The system improves efficiency by eliminating the downtime that would normally be required to restock parts at the various stations on a more traditional assembly line. Besides showing us the assembly-line operations, Barthel was happy to introduce us to several really interesting Polaris employees. One of them was Phil Wallander, Polaris’ Advanced Manufacturing Engineer, who has been with the company for years and was among the very first Polaris employees to become involved with the Indian brand; Wallander even built the very first Indian engine under Polaris ownership. “The Indian takes a little longer to build because it has a little more stuff going into it,” Wallander said when asked to compare Polaris’ two big V-Twins. “I’m not sure what the exact labor standards are between the two, but part of that is because we have been building the Victory Freedom engine for years, and as a product matures, so does the supply base, it assembles with less issues. The Indian 111 is still pretty new to us yet.” Another was Steve Marty, who oversees both V-Twin assembly lines. Marty also served as a test rider for Victory during the early years of that project. “My job was to put on 500 miles a day in all sorts of weather,” Marty said. “Sometimes it would be so cold that I would have to stick my hands down in-between the V just to keep them warm. When we first began testing the Cross Roads, they didn’t have cruise control. We were somewhere in South Dakota, and we went to Menards so that we could buy zip-ties to hold the throttle because it was so cold, but when we got back into Wyoming and Minnesota, it was 96 degrees.” After spending an enjoyable day with the Polaris folks, we then headed southeast toward Milwaukee for our final stop, Harley-Davidson’s Menomonee Falls Powertrain Operations Center. Harley-Davidson has continued to define the American cruiser for 113 years. With its roots still firmly planted in Milwaukee, the company has remained true to its traditions, producing a comprehensive line of cruisers rooted in two basic models, the FL and the Sportster. The marriage of these two models in 1971 formed the Superglide, which then formed the FX family.

Due to ongoing renovations, we weren’t allowed to get inside Harley-Davidson’s Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, powertrain operations plant, but we did get to spend a short time chatting with the facility’s main man, Randy Christianson. A lifelong fan of the brand, Christianson says he bought his first Harley-Davidson when he was around 7 years old, and it is still in his motorcycle collection today. Today, Harley-Davidson continues to respect its century-long tradition through its FL, Sportster, Softail, and Dyna families while also moving in a more contemporary direction with its V-Rod and Street models. And with its recent announcement of plans to produce electric models such as its new LiveWire by 2021, the company is also turning an eye toward the future. Harley is still the big kid on the cruiser block. The sprawling Menomonee Falls plant boasts 912,000 square-feet, employs over 1000 people, and produces 264,000 engines per year, making up 90% of Harley’s total engine output. It’s also one of several Harley facilities located in Wisconsin and throughout the country. These include the company headquarters and Product Development Center in Milwaukee, the paint facility in Tomahawk, Wisconsin, and final assembly plants in York, Pennsylvania, and Kansas City.

After our brief visit at the Menomonee Falls engine plant, we had just enough time to ride into downtown Milwaukee to see the Harley-Davidson Museum, a must-visit site if you appreciate meticulously restored motorcycles and want a mega-dose of Harley history. Unfortunately, an actual plant tour was not possible at Menomonee Falls, as Harley was in the midst of renovating the facility, but we did get to speak with the site’s Manager of Powertrain Operations, Randy Christianson, who gave us the lowdown on Harley’s engine manufacturing. “This plant was built by Briggs & Stratton in 1979,” Christianson said. “Harley-Davidson purchased the plant in 1996, and by 2010 all of our powertrain manufacturing was consolidated under one roof. By 2012, we had doubled our production with even less staff than we had when we opened it.” Christianson doesn’t just work for Harley-Davidson, he’s also a diehard fan of the brand. His very first motorcycle, purchased when he was just 7 years old, was a Harley-Davidson 125. He counts the 1979 Low Rider in his current collection as one of his prized possessions. “For me, motorcycling is not just a sport, it’s part of primary transportation,” says Christianson. “We pick the kids up from soccer on a motorcycle. They ride on the front, or if they are old enough, they ride on the back. My father worked for Harley, and my brother works at the Tomahawk facility. This is part of what we do as Christiansons.”

Few eras in racing fascinate us more than the harrowing boardtrack era of the early 1900s. Think of it as the MotoGP of its time, only on high-banked wooden ovals instead of road courses. The competing factories pulled out all the stops in an effort to beat each other, and Harley’s 8-valve racers were created to dominate the scene. They did. The Harley-Davidson museum has several examples of the fast and spindly machines on display. After our brief visit at the Menomonee Falls facility, the last stop was at the Harley-Davidson Museum in downtown Milwaukee. Open 363 days a year, the beautiful building is a time capsule for the brand, housing Harley-Davidson’s archived history in the form of landmark models and memorabilia collected during its 113-year history. It’s all in there, from the earliest known Harley-Davidson still in existence, a 1905 Single, to the earliest V-Twins, Harley war models, racers, and street machines that celebrate every milestone Harley-Davidson has achieved along the way. It’s a true must-see for anyone interested in the brand.

Harley Davidson’s legendary WLA is the iconic mount ridden all over Europe by American G.I.s during WWII and in countless movies to follow. Funny, we can’t seem to find the Thompson submachine gun or its scabbard in any of today’s Harley-Davidson accessory catalogs. Our whirlwind American Iron Tour was a big hit in more ways than one. We got to meet new people who come from different backgrounds but who all share our passion for motorcycles. We saw that in some parts of the country American manufacturing is still alive and well. We also logged a lot of miles on some great bikes, and some of our crew got to see and experience things they had never seen before. It was a true bonding experience that was positive on all fronts. Hell, when a diehard racer like Alexander can grumble about the possibility of actually owning a cruiser, you know that something cool had to be happening! But then again, maybe that’s not too much of a surprise. Affording the opportunity to see new places in a different way and meet new people is one of the things that motorcycles do best.

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higuchimon · 7 years ago

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[fanfic] One‘s Proper Place: Chapter 22

Series Title: In Chains||Story Title: One's Proper Place Characters: Shou, Brron Chapters: 22-30||Words: 1,094||Total: 25,419 Genre: Drama, Angst||Rated: PG-13 Challenge: Diversity Writing, J14, multichap with chapters between 1000-2000 words Notes: This is an AU. More will be revealed in time. Summary: Shou's life has taken the worst turn he can imagine, with his home destroyed and himself being trained as a slave. With escape a faint hope and no one around who cares, what chance is there that anything will get better?

Every step Shou took towards Brron, he wanted to take back. But he kept going forward anyway. This was it. He was going to get rid of the monster that had tormented him for months and done who knew what to other people for years and then he could finally go see his brother, and anything else didn’t matter to Shou in the slightest.

He stood by the bed. Brron lay on his back, a blanket haphazardly wrapped around him. It wasn’t enough to stop the knife, if Shou brought it down hard enough.

He’d never taken fighting lessons, but he remembered watching when Ryou took his. He didn’t remember everything about them, but putting a knife into whatever Brron had that was a heart couldn’t be that difficult.

Physically, anyway. Mentally? Every other kind of way? Shou didn’t know. Didn’t want to know. He didn’t want to know anything that might pull him back.

He raised the knife as high as he could and shoved every other thought out of his mind as he brought it down, slamming right through the blanket and into Brron’s body.

Savage green eyes flew open and stared at him. Brron reached up and seized Shou by the throat, rising to his feet in the same motion. Shou struggled to get away, the bony fingers clenching harder around his neck, only able to make the smallest, weakest of squeaking noises.

“I wondered when you’d get up the nerve to try something,” Brron laughed, reaching into his chest to pull the knife out. He admired it for a few moments. “And you even used one of my own. I might have called you clever for it, if this worked at all.”

Shou’s feet beat a tattoo of pain in the air as Brron raised him even higher.

“I’ve seen how you look at Phoenix’s Champion. The two of you even look alike. You are connected and I want to know how.” Brron’s hideous lips twisted into something that never would be called a smile by anyone with any reasonable judgment. “You’ll tell me everything that I want to know before your execution.”

Shou kept trying to shake his head, but the more Brron’s grip tightened, the less strength he had to do anything. Brron either didn’t notice or didn’t care. If Shou had the strength to choose, he would’ve said that he didn’t care.

“But I don’t trust you not to try to keep secrets.”

Darkness gathered around the edges of Shou’s vision. His feet stopped moving and his hands no longer grasped at Brron’s wrists, dropping down by his sides. He could breathe, but only barely, just enough to keep himself alive.

He didn’t want to tell anything. But Brron’s twisted laugh followed him into unconsciousness as he slumped down, breath robbed from his throat, and strength fading past the point of return.

As soon as the slave passed out, Brron dropped him into a corner and conjured up manacles to keep him in place. The brat wouldn’t recover for hours under normal circumstances.

Brron wasn’t going to let normal circumstances apply here. Not when he had so much tempting fun right at his fingertips. Not only would Johan soon bring him the greatest of the kingdoms as a gift, but now he could enjoy himself tormenting this little idiot who thought he could kill his master.

The brat had been showing too many signs of submission anyway. He wasn’t nearly as much fun to play with anymore.

Brron sent a quick messenger for one of his more rarely used servants: a spellcaster whose abilities focused around dragging information out of the minds of others. It wasn’t an ability Brron found useful very often, since he insisted on being surrounded by those devoted to him, but it did come in handy now and then.

Such as now.

The similarities between his slave and Phoenix’s were what tugged at his mind, and the slight glances the two shot toward one another made it even more interesting. Never long enough for anyone else to notice, but Brron saw everything. If they hadn’t mildly resembled one another, he would’ve dismissed it as something harmless. Perhaps they’d known one another at the slave pens. That wasn’t such a surprise.

But this had to be something more. And Brron would find out what it was.

Brron wasn’t at breakfast. Neither was Shou. Of course, Rune wasn’t, but no one expected him.

Brron had been expected.

“Maybe he’s got a hangover?” Kenzan muttered. Edo chose not to shush him. As far as he knew, that was perfectly plausible, and one of the reasons he’d limited himself in his own drinking. They were going to settle matters today and he wanted a clear head no matter what.

He looked across the table and a bit farther down to where Champion Asuka dined. She looked back toward him, their eyes meeting. She said nothing, but bent her head in a polite gesture.

Rune mentioned the night before that they weren’t certain of why Asuka fought for Brron. He hadn’t even known she was there until the day before. Edo suspected blackmail or twisted magic of some kind, favoring blackmail if only because Saiou mentioned nothing at all about any enchantments around her.

He wanted to talk to her more. Any sort of ally they could find in this time would be useful.

Even without Brron there, the final confrontation would go on regardless. After breakfast, everyone gathered in the arena for the third and last time. Once again Asuka and Ryou stood face to face, but instead of edged weapons, they carried their duel disks.

Asuka began to draw her first hand of cards, when Brron’s voice crackled across the arena, and all eyes turned to where he stood.

“I declare this contest canceled, and declare myself the victor!”

He stood proud and tall, even in his ragged robe, staring down at Edo and his entourage with a smug smirk. “Edo Phoenix, you are removed from your position as a Great Lord and all that was yours now belongs to me, for now and forever: your lands, your people, and especially your Champion: Hell Kaiser Marufuji Ryou.”

Ryou’s full name hadn’t ever been spoken here. Brron stepped forward, laughing. “Brother to my former body slave, Marufuji Shou… who has been condemned to die for attempted murder of his master. And I decree that you, my new Champion,” here he pointed one bony finger toward Ryou, “will be the one to execute the sentence: and execute him.”

To Be Continued

Notes: Too bad, Shou. But Brron is very used to people trying to kill him. Also, you guys have no idea of how happy I was that you enjoyed Shou's attempt so much. I hope you like this final arc of the story just as much.

#fanfic #higuchimon writes #ygo gx #marufuji shou #Brron Mad King of Dark World #chapters: one's proper place #series: in chains

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