#Per Mertens

[blenselche]

i lied!!!! here's pt one of the next set

set before Gumbaldia

"No one can tell what goes on in between the person you were and the person you become. No one can chart that blue and lonely section of hell. There are no maps of the change. You just come out the other side.

Or you don't." - The Stand, Stephen King.

[r0semultiverse]

What changed Ice Prince Finn back to normal & where did he get a crown from?

Was Finn stealing a baby what ended up changing him as a person in the Farmworld universe? Similar to how Marceline kept Simon prime grounded & humane for a while.

Maybe Jay Mertens (I think that was his name, the eldest son) reminded him of his little brother too.

As for how the crown came back into the Farmworld reality, that would be because of whatever wacky effects are happening from Fionna & Cake going through the multiverse. Scarab was also messing with the multiversal TV's insides.

Going back to Farmworld Finn's little brother, maybe he was the one who broke the crown since I doubt a coward like the destiny gang leader would have been able to do it (or there's some sort of timeline loop going on with a bunch of the crowns that'll get shown later). This is assuming the little brother is alive, but we don't even know that for sure. There is just a lot we don't know.

edit: I see what y'all are saying about the old episode, seems like Prismo didn't wipe anyone's memories, he only made it so the crown would be destroyed. People still remember The Snow Man AKA Ice Prince Finn & what he did with all of that magical power. I also still think Jay Mertens could be the baby at the end of the flashback at the start of the episode.

[hjonko]

“The latest atmospheric readings are going bananas-“

“Something big is coming.”

“And it's gonna change ALL of this…”

[thefunniestguy]

was normal over @modernadventuretime 's AU , esp bonnie's design , so i had to draw her and the brothers (even tho i cannot draw braces to save my life so i . didn't give finn them , whoopsies) :]

[the-hottest-band-tournament]

Submissions for the hottest 80s male musicians

Go wild everyone! We have 256 slots to fill!

Submissions 181/256

List of submitted people

Phil Collins 

Michael Monroe

Duff McKagan

Vince Neil

Kee Marcello

Michael Sweet

Roger Taylor 

Joe Elliott

Sting

Michael Hutchence

Bono

Larry Mullen Jr.

Tom Petty

Axl Rose 

Razzle Dingley

Eddie Van Halen

Dave Mustaine

Nikki Sixx 

Morten Harket

Tommy Lee

John Deacon 

Zakk Wylde

Steven Adler

Slash 

Izzy Stradlin 

Jon Bon Jovi

Richie Sambora

Kelly Nickels

Bret Michaels

Warren Demartini

Sebastian Bach

Rachel Bolan

Jerry Harrison

Eric Brittingham

Steven Tyler

George Harrison

Brian May

Tom Keifer

Mick Mars

Paul Stanley

Joey Tempest

Jani Lane

Prince

David Bowie

Ozzy Osbourne

Sami Yaffa

Angus Young

Rikki Rockett

David Lee Roth

Bobby Dall

Robin Zander

Eric Bazilian

Jimmy Page

Kirk Hammett

James Hetfield

Jason Newsted

Morrissey

Nick Beggs

Steve Clark

Chris Lowe

Rick Savage

Robert Smith

Robbin Crosby

David Sylvian

Daryl Hall

John Oates

Rod Stewart

Billy Squier

Nasty Suicide

Geddy Lee

David Coverdale

George Lynch

Randy Rhoads

Alice Cooper

David Bryan

Steven Sweet

Freddie Mercury

Terry Hall

Stone Gossard

Nuno Bettencourt

Bruce Kulick

Leif Garett

Adam Yauch

Mike Tramp

Blixa Bargeld

Dave Vanian

Nick Cave

Gary Numan

C.C. DeVille

Bryan Adams

Eazy-E

Bob Dylan

Bernard Sumner

Kenny Loggins

Richard Marx

Lionel Richie

Patrick Swayze

Billy Ocean

Michael Stipe

Corey Hart

Murray Head

David Byrne

Warren Cuccurullo

Rob Zombie

Russell Mael

Mark Mothersbaugh

Martin L. Gore

Dave Gahan

Tracii Guns

Phil Lewis

John Cougar Mellencamp

Jon Farriss

Roland Orzabal

Yoshiki

Billy Joel

Weird Al Yankovic

Joe Strummer

Billy Idol

John Taylor

Michael McDonald

Klaus Nomi

Rob Halford

George Michael

Terence Trent D'Arby

Joe Perry

Paul Williams

Brad Whitford

Stephen Pearcy

Juan Croucier

Bobby Blotzer

MC Hammer

Rick James

Eddie Murphy

Mick Jagger

Don Johnson

James Lomenzo

Meat Loaf

Keith Richards

Ronnie Wood

Cliff Williams

Lars Ulrich

Cliff Burton

Steve Harris

Dave Murray

Adrian Smith

Bruce Dickinson

Marian Gold

Bernhard Lloyd

Frank Mertens

Per Gessle

Tim Farriss

Kirk Pengilly

Rockwell

Andy Scott

Brian Connolly

Peter Wolf

Bruce Springsteen

Jason Becker

Neil Tennant

John Norum

Alex Lifeson

Neil Peart

Paul Simon

Art Garfunkel

Nick Rhodes

Andy Fletcher

Alan Wilder

Robert Sweet

Oz Fox

Magne Furuholmen

Paul Waaktaar-Savoy

Dave Stewart

John Rees

Thomas Anders

Huey Lewis

Adam Ant

Falco

Rick Springfield

Martin Fry

Mark King

Jerry Dixon

@tournament-announcer

[hxney-lemcn]

Tension — Farmworld! Finn Mertens x gn! reader

summary: reader becomes more incorporated in the kids lives. they even try to give some fighting tips, only to end up sparring with Finn.

tw: sparring (?)

a/n: I'm...not too proud of this one, but I wouldn't say it's terrible. I just think I made it kinda run too long. Also...I'm bad at writing fighting scenes 😭

wc: 1.1k

Chapter Three

Master List | Chapter One

I looked down at Bonnie as she tugged on my arm, drawing my name out in a whine. “Can you tell me a bedtime story?”

I noticed how Bonnie seemed to cling to me the most, constantly wanting to hear more stories about my world. The others weren’t as pushy, probably used to their dad’s antics surrounding magic. Bonnie was the youngest though, so she probably had more leeway. 

“Only if your dad’s okay with it,” I replied, looking towards said man. 

“Fine,” He huffed.

“Yay!” Bonnie cheered, pulling me up to her room. This wasn’t my first time up here, as a part of my chore list would be to help the kids clean their rooms. The upstairs only held one hallway that led to only four rooms. It was two kids per room, then Finn in his own room. 

All the other kids had headed to bed, but tonight, Bonnie wanted me to tuck her in. She pulled me all the way into her room before bouncing on her bed, laying down and looking at me expectantly with a toothy grin. Stormo was already laying down, the soft light of the lamp illuminating the room in a warm orange tone. I walked over to Bonnie, taking her blanket and tucking her in gently. She wiggled excitedly, patting next to her for me to sit down. 

As I sat down, I tried to think of a story to tell. I felt even more put on the spot with Finn who stood in the doorway, watching over the scene with his arms crossed. 

“What kind of story do you wanna hear?” I asked, looking down at the blonde girl who wiggled her head onto my lap.

“How did you meet daddy in your world?” 

I smiled, “I actually helped save him and Jake. So I was flying back home when…”

I told her about how they were attacking a beast to obtain an ingredient for Princess Bubblegum, but odds didn’t seem to be in their favor. So I swooped down and distracted it, giving Finn clearance to knock the beast out. Him and Jake invited me to tag along and hang out sometime, and the rest is history. By the time I finished, Bonnie was passed out, sleeping soundly on my lap. 

Not seeing a way out without waking her up, I inched lower into the bed and under the blankets. Slowly moving her head to lay on my chest. Thankfully, my injured wing didn’t need to be bandaged anymore, and the scab was healing quickly. With one wing, I draped it over the two of us like a second blanket. I then realized that I wasn’t able to turn the lantern off. 

Finn thankfully, was there to save the day. He blew the lantern out, only to pat my head gently before exiting the room. I felt my cheeks flush, staring at the ceiling. As my eyes adjusted to the dark, my thoughts seemed to be rushing a mile a minute. Finn was closed off, a bit cold and standoffish. And he’s only been warming up to me. I’ve noticed how his stare directed towards me was no longer the harsh untrusting look, but a warmer, more accepting one. He started to talk to me more, taking in my input and sometimes even using my advice. Now, it seemed to even seep into a more physical form of caring. 

Letting out a quiet sigh, I closed my eyes, willing myself to sleep. 

…

The next day, as I was busy carrying a bale of hay into the barn, I caught sight of Finn teaching Stormo some self defense. I hurried with my task, setting the hay bale in Bartram’s stall. I gave the donkey a quick pat on the head before exiting back outside. 

I took a few minutes to catch my breath. Watching as the two Mertens sparred. I was slightly surprised that Finn was willing to teach them how to fight, but on the other hand, I understood why. With gangs who prey on the weak, to the mutant creatures I’ve heard about that prowl outside, they needed to know how to protect themselves, and each other. 

“You need to straighten your posture,” I spoke up, noticing how Stormo slightly hunched his shoulders in. “And widen your stance.” Walking over to the two, I fixed Stormos' posture and smiled in satisfaction as he seemed more confident. 

This time, he did better during their spar. Finn didn’t seem to put his all in it, but still managed to win. I sighed as Stormo seemed to keep letting his guard down, which let Finn get hits in. 

“That was a lot better,” I praised, clapping slightly. “But you gotta keep in mind your openings. With every attack, you gotta think about what you’re leaving vulnerable. Make sure you protect your head and torso.”

“Perhaps a demonstration could help,” Finn spoke up. 

A mischievous grin morphed onto my lips, “I don’t know…don’t want the kids thinking I’m stronger than their daddy.”

“Try me.”

Stormo handed me the stick and I got into a defensive position, waiting for Finn to make the first move. A fierce spar it was, as we both got hits on each other. Sweat ran down my forehead as I focused on disarming the blonde haired man. We watched each other intently, and I felt like I was in my element. The urge to flutter my wings and sore around was strong, as when I sparred with my world's Finn, anything was allowed. But I kept myself on the ground, knowing it would be an unfair advantage to use. 

Then suddenly, it all seemed to happen so quickly. My breath was knocked out of my lungs as Finn had managed to tackle me to the ground. Both our wooden stick swords fell…who knows where. The atmosphere grew tense as we both panted, sweat covering our bodies. Our gazes were interlocked, and I could feel his breath hit my face. 

A few seconds felt like hours before Finn lifted himself off of me. He offered me a hand and helped me stand back up as well.

“It seems like you still need some practice,” He stated. But even with him speaking with his usual monotone, his eyes expressed the tease to that sentence. His lips barely quirked up, before he went back to his stoic expression. 

My heart seemed to stutter, not able to make eye contact. A wave of embarrassment hit me even worse when I realized Stormo had just witnessed the entire encounter. 

“I went easy on you,” I grumbled, my pride winning me over. “If I were in a real fight I have the high ground.” I fluttered my wings slightly so he understood what I meant. 

“Then let’s try again,” He offered, picking up the swords and tossing me mine. “This time, don’t hold back.”

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[smokeybrandreviews]

Multiverse of Madness

I am an unapologetic Adventure Time apologist. i think it was one of the greatest shows ever created and deserves all the love it gets. AT saved Cartoon Network back in the day and spawned so many creators who would, in turn, leave their mark on the industry. Without AT, there is no Steven Universe or that other one with the fighting i guess? The influence of Adventure Time gave credence to the potential popularity of shows like nuShe-Ra and nuVoltron. Those characters are iconic and full of so much depth. Finn Mertens, Jake the Dog, Bonnibel Bubblegum; All of them have become stalwarts of cartoon history. Like, Marceline Abadeer is one of my all-time favorite characters in fiction. When Distant Lands aired, i was emotionally devastated. Obviously, Obsidian was mys sh*t but Together Again brought me to tears. That's how much this show meant to me, so when Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake was announced, i was all over it. I was mad curious how this would play out. Would it be just a romp through a gender-swapped Ooo? Would the target audience still be kids or would the show be a more mature take since the original kids were now wayward adults? So many questions. Well, Fionna and Cake is over and i have thoughts.

First thing first, This show is not about Fionna and Cake. It is on a superficial level but they're more a plot device who participates in the narrative. Fionna and Cake is about Simon Petrikov coming to terms with the loss of Betty Groff and how his relationship with her, was toxic as f*ck. Like, holy sh*t, was it bad! The co-dependency was insane! I mean, you got glimpses of that throughout Betty's arc in the original AT (Betty literally leaping through a Hambo powered time rift, her problematic Magic Woman phase, and the eventual wish that turned her into f*cking GolBetty, all for her "love" of Simon) but this chick was as obsessed with Simon as Simon was with her. When she transcended and become a deity of pure chaos, Simon was left in a depression spiral that, ultimately, shook the core of the goddamn multiverse. And i say that with no hyperbole. F*cking Ice King, put the entire multiverse of Adventure Time in jeopardy, because he missed his boo. What follows is, one of the most well thought out and executed romps through a multiverse narrative I've seen outside of f*cking comic books. I don't want to spoil anything but the first nine episodes of this show are brilliant, rivaling the very best Adventure Time has to offer. The tenth? Not so much.

Fionna and Cake definitely botches the landing, especially coming off such incredibly strong episodes as the three right before it. Again, no details, but, holy sh*t, were those three episodes great. Seriously, watch this show, it's f*cking fantastic. The Simon stuff is definitely the heart of this narrative but what about the show's namesake? The Fionna and Cake bits are good but i never really felt as invested in their story as i was in Simon's trials. It's not like their stuff was bad, per sey, it just didn't feel as... dire? I don't know, i felt more for the characters around them than i did the characters themselves? Don't misunderstand me, i enjoyed their arc. Fionna and Cake struggling with their own identities and coming to terms with who they are was cool and all but, ultimately, it felt more sub than main plot, which is weird because it's their show. Fionna and Cake are basically the inciting action which informs the entire plot but i never really feel like that's a thing. Plus, there is this very important aspect to their character which, kind of never really plays into the overarching conflict, with the exception of a particularly gruesome scene, and i feel like that was a missed opportunity. As an overall production and viewing experience, Fionna and Cake is f*cking exquisite.

The stuff i said about Fionna and Cake is true, to an extent. True for me, i guess. People may get more out of their arc than i did, which is fine, that's a point subjectivity. What isn't subjective is how well this show is produced. Seriously, the art style is familiar, yet, more detailed. The characters are well performed, each true to their own personality beats. But it was the worlds we visited that truly hammered home the butterfly effect, the effect Simon had, on all of those worlds. I loved every second of that experience and, while they didn't fully stick the landing, there were great aspects of that tenth episode. Fionna and Cake turned out to be ten episodes of solid, adult, Adventure Time narrative that felt organic. It didn't feel like a cashgrab or desperate attempt at Max to pull in viewers. It felt like, after the absolutely brilliant reception to Distant Lands, that HBO understood there was a market for a show like that and they just let the staff create. Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake isn't perfect, it's definitely got it's flaws, but of the content I've seen this year, it's easily some of the best. Whether you're a fan of the old world of Ooo, or just interested in what "adult" animation has to offer, this show is one of the best examples of the art form. It was a strong watch and i definitely recommend a viewing.

[smokeybrand]

Multiverse of Madness

I am an unapologetic Adventure Time apologist. i think it was one of the greatest shows ever created and deserves all the love it gets. AT saved Cartoon Network back in the day and spawned so many creators who would, in turn, leave their mark on the industry. Without AT, there is no Steven Universe or that other one with the fighting i guess? The influence of Adventure Time gave credence to the potential popularity of shows like nuShe-Ra and nuVoltron. Those characters are iconic and full of so much depth. Finn Mertens, Jake the Dog, Bonnibel Bubblegum; All of them have become stalwarts of cartoon history. Like, Marceline Abadeer is one of my all-time favorite characters in fiction. When Distant Lands aired, i was emotionally devastated. Obviously, Obsidian was mys sh*t but Together Again brought me to tears. That's how much this show meant to me, so when Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake was announced, i was all over it. I was mad curious how this would play out. Would it be just a romp through a gender-swapped Ooo? Would the target audience still be kids or would the show be a more mature take since the original kids were now wayward adults? So many questions. Well, Fionna and Cake is over and i have thoughts.

First thing first, This show is not about Fionna and Cake. It is on a superficial level but they're more a plot device who participates in the narrative. Fionna and Cake is about Simon Petrikov coming to terms with the loss of Betty Groff and how his relationship with her, was toxic as f*ck. Like, holy sh*t, was it bad! The co-dependency was insane! I mean, you got glimpses of that throughout Betty's arc in the original AT (Betty literally leaping through a Hambo powered time rift, her problematic Magic Woman phase, and the eventual wish that turned her into f*cking GolBetty, all for her "love" of Simon) but this chick was as obsessed with Simon as Simon was with her. When she transcended and become a deity of pure chaos, Simon was left in a depression spiral that, ultimately, shook the core of the goddamn multiverse. And i say that with no hyperbole. F*cking Ice King, put the entire multiverse of Adventure Time in jeopardy, because he missed his boo. What follows is, one of the most well thought out and executed romps through a multiverse narrative I've seen outside of f*cking comic books. I don't want to spoil anything but the first nine episodes of this show are brilliant, rivaling the very best Adventure Time has to offer. The tenth? Not so much.

Fionna and Cake definitely botches the landing, especially coming off such incredibly strong episodes as the three right before it. Again, no details, but, holy sh*t, were those three episodes great. Seriously, watch this show, it's f*cking fantastic. The Simon stuff is definitely the heart of this narrative but what about the show's namesake? The Fionna and Cake bits are good but i never really felt as invested in their story as i was in Simon's trials. It's not like their stuff was bad, per sey, it just didn't feel as... dire? I don't know, i felt more for the characters around them than i did the characters themselves? Don't misunderstand me, i enjoyed their arc. Fionna and Cake struggling with their own identities and coming to terms with who they are was cool and all but, ultimately, it felt more sub than main plot, which is weird because it's their show. Fionna and Cake are basically the inciting action which informs the entire plot but i never really feel like that's a thing. Plus, there is this very important aspect to their character which, kind of never really plays into the overarching conflict, with the exception of a particularly gruesome scene, and i feel like that was a missed opportunity. As an overall production and viewing experience, Fionna and Cake is f*cking exquisite.

The stuff i said about Fionna and Cake is true, to an extent. True for me, i guess. People may get more out of their arc than i did, which is fine, that's a point subjectivity. What isn't subjective is how well this show is produced. Seriously, the art style is familiar, yet, more detailed. The characters are well performed, each true to their own personality beats. But it was the worlds we visited that truly hammered home the butterfly effect, the effect Simon had, on all of those worlds. I loved every second of that experience and, while they didn't fully stick the landing, there were great aspects of that tenth episode. Fionna and Cake turned out to be ten episodes of solid, adult, Adventure Time narrative that felt organic. It didn't feel like a cashgrab or desperate attempt at Max to pull in viewers. It felt like, after the absolutely brilliant reception to Distant Lands, that HBO understood there was a market for a show like that and they just let the staff create. Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake isn't perfect, it's definitely got it's flaws, but of the content I've seen this year, it's easily some of the best. Whether you're a fan of the old world of Ooo, or just interested in what "adult" animation has to offer, this show is one of the best examples of the art form. It was a strong watch and i definitely recommend a viewing.

[somediyprojects]

Lady Mirabilia sketch photographed by Julie Mertens.

“I’ve been sitting on this picture for almost two years now and hope that Nora will not mind my sharing it now. Please note I don’t have the actual sketch, just this pic of it .) This is where Lady Mirabilia was born, on a piece of sketch paper, drawn out with pencil by a skilled artist’s hand. I was lucky enough to accompany a friend and visit Nora that day. She showed us this sketch, and explained it would be released to celebrate her upcoming 25th anniversary as Mirabilia. But what made it so much more special (because believe me, I was squealing on the inside at getting this glimpse) is that Nora asked ME what shades I’d used on a recent conversion of her Willow Queen that she had really liked. Nora doesn’t exist in a vacuum - she interacts with us, asks us for ideas, likes our WIP photos, and even gets inspired by us. Let’s all remember this. I know some people are questioning Wichelt’s 10 copies per store policy for the OOP patterns, but hey, this is probably just to make sure that everyone gets a chance to buy the patterns they want, not just the eBay resellers. Nora loves her fans and we adore her, so let’s celebrate this amazing achievement of hers and hope for another 25 years of designs!”

[notiziariofinanziario]

Strootman ha chiuso in pieno stile Strootman

Sono bastate poche parole a Kevin Strootman per chiudere con il calcio. Tutte in inglese. Più una, in italiano: "Grazie". È così che il campione olandese ha salutato: "La carriera finisce. Grazie calcio". A corredo una foto in bianco e nero: metà con il suo volto, metà con gli stemmi delle squadre per cui ha giocato. Ha compiuto 34 anni lo scorso febbraio, un giorno prima di San Valentino e forse è persino bello pensare che uno come lui sia nato intorno alla festa degli innamorati perché il signor Kevin Strootman del suo modo di giocare ha fatto innamorare davvero tanti. In Olanda, agli inizi della carriera, pensavano che potesse diventare il centrocampista del presente ma soprattutto del futuro. Un mancino da trequartista (tirava benissimo i rigori), un fisico e un carattere da mastino, un'intelligenza calcistica fuori dal comune, Strootman veniva considerato perfetto per la Premier League. Ma visto che oltre all'intelligenza calcistica il suo cervello viaggiava a velocità doppia anche fuori dal campo quando, a 23 anni, lo chiamò la Roma di Walter Sabatini per ricostruire un centrocampo devastato dalla stagione Zeman - Andreazzoli, Strootman si prese del tempo per decidere e poi disse di sì. "Perché - il suo pensiero - l'esperienza tattica della Serie A mi pu�� aiutare". Contava di fare qualche anno a Roma e poi, eventualmente, volare in Inghilterra, ma non aveva considerato due cose: che di Roma si sarebbe innamorato ("Non so se me ne andrò mai", confidava agli amici dopo poche settimane) e che la sua carriera avrebbe preso una piega diversa. Lui oggi dice di essere contento di ciò che ha fatto ma quella malinconia di fondo che ginocchia troppo fragili e operazioni continue gli hanno lasciato sono cicatrici più dell'anima che del corpo. Strootman chiude con 486 partite da professionista nei club (130 Roma, più una con la Primavera,, 88 Psv, 84 Sparta Rotterdam, 78 Marsiglia e Genoa, 16 Utrecht, 11 Cagliari) e 46 con l'Olanda, con tanti rimpianti per quello che sarebbe potuto essere e non è stato ma anche con la consapevolezza di non essersi arreso mai alla sfortuna. A cui ha pagato, davvero, un conto salatissimo. Strootman, da Dzeko a Mertens, quanti messaggi  Anche per questo, oltre che per la persona che è, il suo addio al calcio stamattina ha colpito tanti. Soprattutto chi ha avuto modo di conoscerlo o giocarci insieme. "No, Kevin", ha scritto Walter Sabatini, che lo portò in Italia per 16.5 milioni più eventuali 3.5 di bonus. La Roma gli diede, dopo 10 anni, la maglia numero 6, che era stata di Aldair, e Strootman dimostrò, fin dal primo istante, di meritarla. Il club giallorosso lo ha salutato con due cuori e un lupo, Dzeko gli ha scritto "Grazie di tutto, ti voglio bene", Borriello ha aggiunto: "Grazie" mentre Mertens, dopo un cuore, ha scritto in olandese: "Grazie a te". E poi, ancora: il cuore di Florenzi, il legend di Kluivert, le lacrime di Zappacosta e Sabelli e le parole di Perin: "Che carriera, che giocatore". "My top player", il pensiero di Pjanic mentre Dumfries gli ha scritto: "Esempio". Il tennista Cobolli,grande romanista, gli ha scritto: "Grazie lavatrice", ricordando il soprannome che gli diede Rudi Garcia visto come trasformava i palloni da sporchi a puliti. E poi ancoraEl Shaarawy, De Roo, Nainggolan ("É stato un piacere fratello mio condividere tante battaglie con te e con te le battaglie erano soprattutto vinte") e tanti altri, tutti concordi nel ricordare che oggi è comunque un giorno triste per il calcio. La nuova vita di Kevin Perché quando smettono i campioni assoluti, le leggende e quelli che hanno vinto trofei e scritto pagine di storia è scontato emozionarsi. Quasi doveroso. Ma quando lascia un giocatore che leggenda poteva diventarlo, ma non ce l'ha fatta, è più complicato. Se però quel giocatore era Kevin Strootman allora sì, ci si può anche emozionare. E sperare che la sua nuova vita lo renda felice: ha una compagna che è la stessa da sempre, due figlie, la perdita dei genitori a pochi mesi di distanza l'uno dall'altro lo ha devastato ma nel calcio, e nell'amore di chi gli è accanto, ha trovato la forza di andare avanti. Adesso inizia la sua nuova vita e chissà che da allenatore, se davvero vorrà farlo, non si prenda tutto quello che la sorte gli ha tolto in questi anni. Read the full article

[clubnapolipiedimontematese1926]

NAPOLI-PALERMO | STATISTICHE E CURIOSITÀ

“La Coppa Italia Frecciarossa ripropone il confronto tra due protagonite del calcio del sud: il Napoli affronterà il Palermo per la settantunesima volta nella sua storia. L’ultimo precedente risale al 29 gennaio 2017, quando i partenopei pareggiarono in casa 1-1, con la rete di Mertens dopo il vantaggio di Nestorovski. Gli azzurri sono imbattuti nelle ultime 4 gare con i rosanero in Serie A, ma i…

[myrquez]

belgio slovacchia per me significa mertens vs hamsik quindi mi metterò qui buona ad augurare cose belle per entrambi i hope both teams have fun

[cinquecolonnemagazine]

Tommaso Starace: tra Maradona e caffé

Il nuovo episodio della serie di video interviste che Betsson Sport ha dedicato ai protagonisti del SSC Napoli presenta una figura storica per gli azzurri: Tommaso Starace, capo magazziniere del Napoli e socio onorario del club.  Starace è un punto di riferimento per generazioni di calciatori che hanno indossato e indossano oggi la maglia azzurra, avendo iniziato a lavorare per la società nelle foresterie della sede di via Crispi e del centro Paradiso a Soccavo, per poi spostarsi presso il Konami Training Center di Castel Volturno.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENT42LiVFVU&feature=youtu.be Intervista a Tommaso Starace Ed è proprio qui che Betsson Sport ha avuto l'onore di intervistarlo, facendosi raccontare aneddoti e curiosità che Tommaso ha accumulato durante gli anni passati insieme alla squadra del cuore. Il capo magazziniere inizia rispondendo alle domande riguardo il suo inizio al Training Center e le sue mansioni giornaliere, per poi passare a illustrare uno dei punti salienti dell'intervista: il racconto del suo rapporto con Diego Armando Maradona. "Solo chi l’ha conosciuto può capire chi fosse davvero Maradona, una persona affabile e amabile," ha descritto Tommaso. "Per me, da napoletano e tifoso del Napoli, era una persona eccezionale." Riflettendo sullo scudetto vinto l'anno scorso, il capo magazziniere ha poi raccontato con emozione che per lui è stata "Un'annata stupenda e indimenticabile! Il Presidente ci ha fatto vivere un’annata storica." Famoso per i suoi caffè, Tommaso passa poi a descrivere una delle sue attività preferite: preparare e bere la calda bevanda in compagnia dei giocatori della squadra, tra i quali il capitano Di Lorenzo.  Tre aneddoti Oltre ai riferimenti ai coffee break, il socio onorario del Club ha condiviso con Betsson Sport tre aneddoti speciali che riguardano tre calciatori altrettanto speciali. Prima descrive il suo rapporto con Maradona, al quale portava la borsa dalla camera al bus, e la grande fiducia che si era instaurata tra i due. Poi, parlando di Giuseppe Taglialatela racconta: "Si faceva aggiustare la maglietta da me.” spiega con orgoglio. “E, se la squadra vinceva, non cambiava i guanti." dice mentre sorride, parlando del comportamento scaramantico del giocatore, che sostituiva i propri guanti solo a seguito di una sconfitta.  Il terzo aneddoto? Protagonista Dries Mertens, che una volta “Ci ha invitato a vedere la partita Belgio - Portogallo in Belgio; alla fine della partita e della serata insieme a lui, alla moglie e ad altri due calciatori del Belgio siamo rimasti a giocare a pallone” spiega Tommaso, “Amo i campioni, e lui è un campione di vita”. Read the full article

[rotterdamvanalles]

De fotograaf stond in 1953 of 1954 op het gebouw van de Rotterdamsche Bankvereeniging op de hoek van de Coolsingel en de Van Oldenbarneveltstraat.

Dit gebouw werd in 1940 behoorlijk beschadigd maar is na de oorlog wel opgelapt en pas afgebroken voor de bouw van de nieuwe Bijenkorf. De noodwinkels op de Coolsingel voor het nieuwe bankgebouw van de Rotterdamsche Bank staan er nog maar zullen in 1955 verdwijnen om plaats te maken voor permanente paviljoens,

De voormalige Rotterdamsche Bank aan de Coolsingel is een voormalig bankgebouw in Rotterdam dat gebouwd was voor de Rotterdamsche Bank. Sinds de verwoesting van het oude bankgebouw op de Boompjes bij het bombardement op 14 mei 1940 waren werkzaamheden begonnen om een geheel nieuw bankgebouw te creëren in het nieuwe hart van het heropbouwende Rotterdam: De Coolsingel. In 1941 werd begonnen met de bouw en, na enige vertraging, was het gebouw voltooid in 1949 – vier jaar na het einde van de Tweede Wereldoorlog. Het gebouw is sinds 19 februari 2010 een rijksmonument.

Voor de oorlog stond het hoofdkantoor van de Rotterdamsche Bank aan de Boompjes 77. Dit was een monumentale, achttiende-eeuwse patriciërswoning (een woonhuis voor zeer welvarende, niet adellijke personen of regenten) waar het interieur in Lodewijk XIV-stijl was vormgegeven. In de negentiende eeuw was deze stijl grotendeels verdwenen.

In 1912 kreeg Rotterdams architect Jacobus Pieter Stok de opdracht om het gebouw in overeenstemming te brengen met nieuwe gebruikseisen. Er werd afgesproken dat de huidige voorgevel bleef staan en zoveel mogelijk zou worden teruggebracht in haar originele staat. Hetzelfde zou gebeuren met de grote zaal en de directeurskamer. Stok zou dit project uitvoeren samen met een andere Nederlandse architect, Karel Sluijterman.

Tijdens de restauratie werden achter het behangpapier een aantal wandschilderingen van Mattheus Terwesten gevonden. Deze werden tevens gerestaureerd. Verder bouwde Stok op het diepe, rechthoekige perceel een nieuwe centrale hal met loketten en glazen daken, die in een eigentijdse weergave van de Lodewijk XIV-stijl werd opgetrokken. Ook de achtergevel aan de Scheepmakershaven was geheel nieuw. De restauratie en uitbreiding van het bankgebouw werd zeer geprezen in de pers destijds.

Op 14 mei 1940 werd het gebouw en de directe omgeving, 28 jaar na de restauratie en uitbreiding, volledig verwoest tijdens het bombardement op de stad. Enkel de onverwoestbare kluis die aanwezig was in de bank bleef gespaard.

Hoewel het hoofdgebouw destijds aan de Boompjes stond, was er ook een bijgebouw van de bank aan de vooroorlogse Coolsingel, ongeveer op de plek waar nu de hedendaagse Bijenkorf staat. De Rotterdamse vestiging van de Amsterdamsche Bank stond hier vlak naast.[3] In 1939 werd het bijkantoor van het Rotterdamse filiaal verbouwd en van een nieuwe gevel voorzien. Dit werd gedaan door Hermann Friedrich Mertens, de vaste architect van de bank. Tijdens het bombardement van de stad werd dit gebouw grotendeels gespaard en al snel werden de bovenverdiepingen in gebruik genomen door het ASRO. De bank zelf gebruikte slechts de begane grond als noodoplossing.

Er was in de navolgende maanden dringend behoefte aan een nieuw hoofdgebouw in Rotterdam. Nadat stadsbouwmeester Willem Gerrit Witteveen toestemming had gegeven, werd gekozen om een nieuw hoofdkantoor te bouwen op de toekomstige, prominente plaats van de stad: De Coolsingel – specifiek op de plaats waar eerst het grotendeels verwoeste Coolsingelziekenhuis zich bevond.

De fotograaf stond in 1953 of 1954 op het gebouw van de Rotterdamsche Bankvereeniging op de hoek van de Coolsingel en de Van Oldenbarneveltstraat.

Dit gebouw werd in 1940 behoorlijk beschadigd maar is na de oorlog wel opgelapt en pas afgebroken voor de bouw van de nieuwe Bijenkorf, De noodwinkels op de Coolsingel voor het nieuwe bankgebouw van de Rotterdamsche Bank staan er nog maar zullen in 1955 verdwijnen om plaats te maken voor permanente paviljoens,

Foto komt uit de collectie van @stadsarchief010 en de Informatie komt van wikipedia.

Van 2022

[reasoningdaily]

On January 12, 2010, the Caribbean nation of Haiti experienced a devastating earthquake, which took more than 100,000 lives and left 200,000+ injured and 900,000+ homeless — about 10 percent of the country’s population.

It was one of the Western hemisphere’s greatest natural disasters, and nations like the United States rushed to the aid of Haiti — one of the world’s poorest nations — to help the country’s citizens recover and rebuild.

The Obama administration, working via Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, appointed former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush coordinators of U.S. relief efforts. Bill Clinton specifically was put in charge of billions of dollars that flowed from the U.S. and other nations to Haiti.

To date, the U.S. alone has given over $3.1 billion via its United States Agency for International Development (USAID) organization — which works out to more than $300 for each Haitian citizen.

Who benefited from all this aid? Perhaps unsurprisingly, almost no Haitians.

More than six years after the disaster, much damage and ruin from the calamity are still in evidence. Many of those made homeless are still without permanent housing.

Almost none of the money given in aid ended up going to the people who need it the most — instead, it went to foreign governments, private companies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as the Red Cross.

The Red Cross alone took in as much as $486 million for relief efforts yet ended up building a mere six homes in its relief efforts, as a recent audit of that organization’s efforts discovered. (It should be noted that the CEO of the American Red Cross, Gail McGovern, receives a salary of more than $1,000,000 per year.)

One-third of each of the USAID dollars went to reimbursing the U.S. military for its intervention actions. More than $220 million went to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, about $150 million went to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and $350 million went straight back to USAID. By some estimates, only one cent of every dollar made it to the government of Haiti.

For other countries helping with relief efforts, the split was similar. After accounting for militaries, civilian entities, NGOs, private contractors and the Red Cross, as little as one percent of the money made it to the Haitian government.

In the wake of the disaster, the government of Haiti set up the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission (IHRC), co-chaired by Bill Clinton and former Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive. Nearly 1500 government contracts were awarded to companies providing relief aid.

The U.S. Ambassador to Haiti at the time, Kenneth Merten, sent a cable to Hillary Clinton’s State Department entitled, “The Gold Rush Is On.” Out of the nearly 1500 contracts, just 23 were awarded to Haitian companies — nearly 40 percent of the contracts were awarded to companies in the Washington, D.C. area.

A number of members of the IHRC later wrote a letter saying that it was Clinton and Bellerive who made many of the most important monetary decisions early in the recovery process, effectively shutting them out.

A number of Haitian groups even had trouble getting into the meetings where discussions about the aid were ongoing; most of the meetings were not held or translated into Creole, one of the two national languages of Haiti.

Many claimed that numerous decisions were not made in Haitians’ best interests. Many groups further claimed that the Clintons were closely connected to individuals who benefitted highly from government contracts following the earthquake.

One of those close connections was Irish billionaire Denis O’Brien, the founder of cellphone company Digicel, which set up an emergency method for Haitians to transfer money via their cellphones. Digicel received millions of dollars in money from USAID for this effort.

Clinton appointed O’Brien the chairman of the Haiti Action Network, an outreach program of the Clinton Foundation’s Clinton Global Initiative. In a cover story in Esquire magazine, Bill Clinton was quoted as saying, “Wouldn’t it be great if [Haiti] became the first [100%] wireless nation in the world? They could, I’m telling you; they really could.”

While the former president’s vision did not effectively come to pass, Digicel was able to earn a tidy $50 million from their disaster-recovery efforts in just six months. By 2012, the company had managed to take over 80 percent of the country’s cellphone market and made more money in Haiti than in any of the firm’s other global divisions.

In the meantime, Bill Clinton gave a $225,000 speech at an event Digicel sponsored in Jamaica while O’Brien made multimillion-dollar donations to the Bill and Hillary’s Clinton Foundation.

In an article on the earthquake by reporter Janet Reitman of Rolling Stone, it was reported that another contractor in Haiti was New York-based consulting firm Dalberg Global Development Advisors.

Reitman’s article found that Dalberg’s staff “had never lived overseas, didn’t have any disaster experience or background in urban planning… never carried out any program activities on the ground…” and only one of the team spoke French, the other official language of Haiti. USAID looked at their work and “it became clear that these people may not have even gotten out of their SUVs.”

In Peter Schweizer’s best-selling book-turned-film Clinton Cash, it was revealed that Hillary Clinton’s brother Tony Rodham received one of only two rare gold mining permits granted by the Haitian government in the last 50 years.

Rodham’s tiny company, VCS Mining (which at the time had scant mining experience), had a heavyweight board that included — surprise — Bill Clinton and the IHRC’s Jean-Max Bellerive. VCS received a sweetheart deal from the Haitian government, to whom it would only owe royalties of 2.5 percent, a rate that’s less than half of a standard contract, according to many in the mining industry.

Not only that, but VCS received the right to renew its contract for 25 years. In court testimony published by The New York Times, Rodham was quoted as saying, “I deal through the Clinton Foundation. That gets me in touch with Haitian officials. I hound my brother-in-law [Bill Clinton] because it’s his fund that we’re going to get our money from. And he can’t do it until the Haitian government does it.”

Yet another deal the Clintons made was for a Korean manufacturer named Sae-A to set up factories in a business zone called the Caracol Industrial Park. The opening of Caracol was a splashy event, with both of the Clintons in attendance along with fashion designer Donna Karan and celebrities Ben Stiller and Sean Penn.

As it turns out, Sae-A manufactures apparel for U.S. brands (such as Donna Karan’s) who happen to be big supporters of the Clintons. At the time, the State Department said that Caracol would provide 65,000 jobs to the Haitian community; to date, only 5,000 of those jobs have materialized.

As Schweizer points out, nearly all of the contracts that the Haitian government approved in the wake of the disaster touched the Clintons in some way; without a relationship with the couple, a company or organization was virtually guaranteed to be shut out of being able to provide goods or services.

The Clintons’ eponymous Foundation was one of the first organizations to commit to helping to rebuild in Haiti. However, much of their multimillion-dollar relief efforts amounted to little more than assisting with (and in some cases donating money directly to) the construction of luxury hotels in the country, including at least one Marriott franchise operation owned by the aforementioned owner of Digicel, Denis O’Brien.

Very recently, the former president of the Haitian Senate, Bernard Sansaricq, issued a statement blasting the Clintons and the Clinton Foundation. It reads:

Sadly, when an earthquake rocked the nation of Haiti in 2010, corruption moved in faster than the help so desperately needed. Today, the people of Haiti are still suffering despite the billions of dollars that have flowed into the Clinton Foundation.

The Clintons exploited this terrible disaster to steal billions of dollars from the sick and starving people of Haiti. The world trusted the Clintons to help the Haitian people during their most desperate time of need and they were deceived.

The Clintons and their friends are richer today while millions still live in tents. The world deserves to know where the money went and why help was never sent.

Sansaricq further went on to say that Bill Clinton had attempted to bribe him prior to the 1994 U.S. military invasion of Haiti. Sansaricq was strongly against the planned invasion, and then-President Clinton sent former Congressman Bill Richardson of New Mexico to talk to Sansaricq.

When Sansaricq refused to back down, the American Embassy in Haiti dispatched an anonymous messenger to Sansaricq with a message that if Sansaricq were to side with Bill Clinton, he would be made “the richest man in Haiti.” When Sansaricq refused the bribe, his U.S. visa was revoked.

Sansaricq has subsequently called for an audit of the Clinton Foundations’ efforts in Haiti.

In addition to these operations, the United Nations was also involved early on in the struggle to rebuild Haiti. While much of its work was helpful, the organization’s endeavors were blamed for an outbreak of cholera in October of 2010, nine months after the earthquake.

The cholera plague lasted for years amidst relief and vaccination efforts and ultimately was one of the most horrific outbreaks of the scourge in the last 40 years, infecting more than 780,000 Haitians. To date, nearly 10,000 Haitians are estimated to have died as a direct result of the epidemic.

Initially, the UN denied responsibility, but investigators from the Center for Disease Control (CDC), Doctors Without Borders and Harvard University all confirmed the septic waste of the UN mission as the original source of the disease; even Bill Clinton confirmed the UN link.

For its part, the UN tried to downplay the former president’s statements, saying, “In relation to former President Clinton’s reported remarks to the press this week in Haiti, we note that he emphasized the importance of focusing on improving Haiti’s sanitation system and the fact that the United Nations and others are working hard to do this.”

Cholera epidemics such as the one that has afflicted Haiti are often multi-year incidents that do not go away; they resurge and can kill dozens more people year after year without heavy-duty treatment and repairs to an area’s plumbing infrastructure.

It’s essential that this critical infrastructure be repaired or installed, but even prior to the earthquake, only one in five Haitians had access to a real toilet, and two in five did not have access to clean water. After Clinton connected the UN to the cholera outbreak, the Clinton Global Initiative committed to building a multi-billion dollar Permanent Diarrhea Training and Treatment Center for Haiti. As of February 2015, the Center remained unbuilt.

In 2016, a bipartisan committee in Congress led by Republican Representative Mia Love of Utah (who is herself of Haitian descent) wrote a letter to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry criticizing the slow U.S. response to the cholera outbreak. More than 150 members of Congress signed the letter.

In the meantime, the UN has stated it will not pay damages, accept lawsuits or trials for its actions due to the cholera epidemic in Haiti, claiming it is protected under a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) it signed with corrupt and brutal former Haitian leader Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

An examination of the Clinton Foundation’s website today shows no updates on Haiti since July 2015 and the total amount raised for Haiti as just $30 million. Perhaps the Clintons are too busy waiting for the world’s next disaster while Hillary Clinton courts more money for her campaign to be president.

[materiali-sonori]

Quinto dispaccio sonoro di Giampiero Bigazzi

su Diari Di Cineclub Radio: “musica che ha a che fare con me”.

“Wim Mertens e il requiem per ogni guerra”.