#Pusher 2012

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Rsync corrump linkdump

I'm coming to DEFCON! On Aug 9, I'm emceeing the EFF POKER TOURNAMENT (noon at the Horseshoe Poker Room), and appearing on the BRICKED AND ABANDONED panel (5PM, LVCC - L1 - HW1–11–01). On Aug 10, I'm giving a keynote called "DISENSHITTIFY OR DIE! How hackers can seize the means of computation and build a new, good internet that is hardened against our asshole bosses' insatiable horniness for enshittification" (noon, LVCC - L1 - HW1–11–01).

As per the uje, I've arrived upon a Saturday with a backlog of links that I have not managed to squeeze into the week's newsletters/blogs, so it's time for another linkdump, 22nd in an erratic series. Here's the previous 21:

https://pluralistic.net/tag/linkdump/

Let's start with some seasonal material, and by "seasonal," I of course mean Hallowe'en. Yes, August is the official start of Spooky Season, and yes, I am a monster for insisting on this, but being a monster is the point of Spooky Season (which is what differentiates Spooky Season pushers like me from the creeps who insist that you need to start prepping for Xmas in late September – they're monsters, too, but Yule Monsters are bad) (with the exception of Krampus).

I was a monster kid and now I'm a monster adult. It all started when I was bitten by a radioactive Haunted Mansion at the age of six:

https://memex.craphound.com/2012/10/22/how-a-haunted-mansion-addict-fell-in-love-with-the-greatest-ride-on-earth/

I am a sucker for all things monstrous, and so I was intrigued when I got a book of "creepy-cute" stickers in the mail from a publicist at Simon & Schuster:

https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Creepy-Cute-Sticker-Book/Gaynor-Carradice/Creepy-Cute-Gift-Series/9781507222515

"Creepy-Cute" turns out to be an official designation, embraced by the illustrator GaynorCarradice, who has created several books on these lines, featuring her chibi/monster crossover creations, which do exactly what it says on the tin, by which I mean, there's some genuinely creepy stuff in the mix, along with the cute.

It's when the cute pastels rub up against the gore, skulls, eyeballs and other visceral viscera that these illustrations really kick off some heat – I've rounded up a few of my favorites here:

https://craphound.com/images/creepycute.jpg

One of the surefire signs that Spooky Season is upon us is that the (sometimes NSFW) Tumblr account Halloweenlandmotherfucker emerges from dormancy with a stream of images of vintage Hallowe'en cards (these were a thing!), photos of people in costume and other delightful visual novelties:

https://www.tumblr.com/halloweenlandmotherfucker

Monster culture isn't just for Hallowe'en, of course. The ancient and noble tradition of compiling and publishing bestiaries is alive and well, thanks to RPGs. In the beginning, there was the D&D Boxed Set, with its Monsters and Treasure booklet:

https://www.americanroads.us/DandD/ODnD_Monsters_and_Treasure.pdf

Then came the Monster Manual, the first hardcover D&D book, succeeded by the Fiend Folio, which featured Charlie Stross creations like the githzerai and slaad, Indeed, there was a whole, iconic library of hardcovers that fit perfectly in an oversized backpack that I dragged everywhere so that I could obsessively read and re-read them.

Eventually, these gave way to new hardcovers with new rules as well as new corporate owners (Wizards of the Coast, then Hasbro), culminating in the release of the Open Gaming License, an "open content" license that was a) grossly defective; b) largely irrelevant; and c) hugely controversial in 2023, when Hasbro terminated it:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/12/beg-forgiveness-ask-permission/#whats-a-copyright-exception

The Open Gaming License purported to license out game elements that weren't copyrightable (rules, tables, etc), as well as material that you could likely use under copyright exceptions like fair use:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/01/beware-gifts-dragons-how-dds-open-gaming-license-may-have-become-trap-creators

And worst of all, it was revocable, so games publishers who tooled up to publish supplements and sourcebooks based on the OGL could have the rug yanked out from under them at any time (that time turned out to be early 2023).

Hasbro's OGL rug-pull had three salutary effects:

I. It gave gamers a crash-course in what was – and wasn't – copyrightable in an RPG design;

It encouraged game developers to look beyond D&D's OGL rules and into truly open (and often superior) alternatives; and

It inflicted so much reputational harm on Hasbro that, 20 months later, they announced that they would release a new set of D&D rules under the Creative Commons Attribution Only 4.0 license:

https://www.dicebreaker.com/games/dungeons-and-dragons-5e/news/dungeons-and-dragons-2024-srd-wont-be-another-ogl-fiasco

Now, CC BY 4.0 is a real-ass license. Notably, it corrects a defect in the earlier versions of the CC licenses that gave rise to a class of predatory copyleft trolls like the odious Pixsy:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/01/24/a-bug-in-early-creative-commons-licenses-has-enabled-a-new-breed-of-superpredator/

If Hasbro follows through on their promise, the new CC materials will kick off with the 2025 release of the next edition of the Monster Manual:

https://dungeonsanddragonsfan.com/new-2024-dnd-monster-manual/

It's wild to think that tabletop RPGs are now a cutting-edge way to learn about digital policy, but on the other hand, D&D arrived in my home around the same time as my Apple ][+, which was also around the time I first heard the name Ronald Reagan (rest in piss).

The legacies of the 80s – RPGs, digital technology and Reaganomics – cast a long shadow. Last month, many of us discovered the hard way that Reaganomics – specifically, the embrace of monopolies as "efficient" – has produced a world of unimaginable brittleness. Millions of people around the world found themselves cut off from ATM cash, flights, hospital care, and many other essentials thanks to the Crowdstrike Blue Screen of Death outage. While many of the explainers have focused on how Crowdstrike fatfingered a software update that crashed all those computers, there's been a lot less commentary about how it is that one company had it in its power to do so much harm.

Writing last week for EFF's Deeplinks blog, my colleague Rory Mir tackled that (far more important) issue:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/07/crowdstrike-antitrust-and-digital-monoculture

Market concentration – monopoly – is the common thread wound around so many of our daily horribles. Think of the tech billionaires who threw in their lot with Trump last month. How did they get to be billionaires? Monopoly power. Remember back in 2017, that notorious photo of the tech industry meeting at the top of Trump Tower, with Peter Thiel at Trump's left hand?

https://techcrunch.com/2016/12/14/donald-trump-meets-with-tech-leaders/

People were appalled that this group of corporate leaders, who between them controlled virtually all the technology in our lives, would debase themselves by paying fealty to this buffoonish would-be dictator.

But far more consequential was the fact that you could fit everyone who controlled all of our technology around a single table. Once everyone important to an industry can fit around a single table, it's only a matter of time until they find a table to sit around, and that's when it all starts to go wrong. As the Communist firebrand Adam Smith once wrote, "People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices."

Enshittification starts with market concentration. This is a subject I'm going to be going very deep on next Saturday, when I give my Defcon keynote, "Disenshittify or die! How hackers can seize the means of computation and build a new, good internet that is hardened against our asshole bosses' insatiable horniness for enshittification":

https://info.defcon.org/event/?id=54861

When I give that talk – and afterwards at my book signing – I will be wearing an N95 mask, just as I did last year. Why am I wearing a mask? Two reasons: first, Long Covid is a horror. One of the best writers I know – a living legend – recently told me that their book-writing days are likely done because of Long Covid brain fog.

A new Lancet article gets deep into the science of Long Covid:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S014067362401136X

The principle author of the Lancet article is Oxford health professor Trish Greenhalgh, who gave an excellent lay summary in her newsletter:

https://independentsage.substack.com/p/long-covid-a-dystopian-game-of-pinball

In particular, Greenhalgh describes why some people don't get Long Covid, and some people do – and, most important, explains why the fact that you didn't get Long Covid last time doesn't mean you won't get it next time:

https://independentsage.substack.com/p/long-covid-a-dystopian-game-of-pinball

So I don't want to get covid, and so I'm gonna wear a mask. Because masks fucking work. A new study reveals just how well they work:

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/ebiom/article/PIIS2352-3964(24)00192-0/fulltext

The study shows that wearing any mask, even without knowing how to fit it well, offers substantial protection against both contracting and transmitting covid. Even better: wearing an N95 (even without paying attention to correct fit) offers "near perfect" protection against covid:

https://today.umd.edu/n95-masks-nearly-perfect-at-blocking-covid-umd-study-shows

I didn't get covid at Defcon last year, and I didn't get it at HOPE, and I didn't get it on our family vacation in July – all events where friends got sick. The difference? I wore a mask. Which works.

OK, I need to go work on my Defcon speech some more, so I'm gonna sign off, but I will leave you with just one more link, the wonderful new public domain image search tool, Public Work, which crawls and indexes the Met, the NYPL, and other sources:

https://public.work/

I rely on public domain, CC and other freely usable clip art to make the collages that accompany this newsletter/blog's stories. While I have very little talent in the visual arts, I'm getting steadily better. I mean, look at this amazing image I womped up for last week's story on Bitcoin bros' election campaign finance fraud:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/doctorow/53893519593/in/album-72177720316719208

You can see a collection of my recent collages in my Flickr gallery for them:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/doctorow/albums/72177720316719208?sd

Support me this summer on the Clarion Write-A-Thon and help raise money for the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers' Workshop!

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/08/03/smorgasbord/#creepy-cute

Image: Anne Lindblom (cropped) https://www.flickr.com/photos/kajsawarg/3600415175

CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

[katarinamajerhold]

How does something unfold in the long run (longue durée) (speaking of 26 years)?

If you're young, capable, hard-working, productive and ambitious but you're not a pusher, don't belong to a certain group of people, you're not an activist and don't quarrel and destroy your opponents on your way to the position of the managing editor of the Leftist academic Journal you want?

With years passing by your opponents: 

a) get older and get better jobs with a better salary; 

b) grow tired of the position they wanted and acquired;

c) too little money to fight for therefore they go elsewhere;

d) In the end, there is no opposition but also almost no people to work with. That's how you get the position of managing editor. You work with two people and little money.

While I fought for this position in 2006 and in 2012 but got only it in 2023! I got the managing editor position in 2008 of the Andragogic Perspectives (https://journals.uni-lj.si/AndragoskaSpoznanja) and apokalipsa.si 2021 (apokalipsa.si).

It makes me sad that I became managing editor of the leftist academic and activist Journal (https://ckz.si/en/) only when almost no people wanted to work for the Journal.

That is the reality of this world regardless of the political orientation. 

The moral is: where is money, there is a crowd, quarrels, shaming, and fights!

And idealism is mostly for young people.

[bluespring864]

murray fan getting brave when goaterer pigeonised that pusher fraud at slams? insane. and rog didn’t call him a special man for his tennis that’s for sure. last thing i’ll say before blocking you but murray after AO 15 said novak’s antics threw him off so imagine what they would do to inexperienced players? it is 100% gamesmanship and it’s beyond pathetic.

Okay i thought about not posting this ridiculousness but it's very funny to me that you're still here. Andy has a good H2H against Roger (including a straight sets win at London 2012) and they have always gotten along well, but sure, stew in your hate <3 how pathetic though, to be a fan of one of the greatest players of all time and at the same time be so insecure that you have to belittle other player's achievements.

And yes I know Andy implied at AO15 that Novak's MTOs disrupted his rhythm but a) that doesn't mean those MTOs weren't real and b) now suddenly Andy is a great player to you whose opinion counts because it suits your argument? Aww.

Thank you dear anon for making me start my day with Roger and Andy at the Olympics <3

[represent-clothing-brand]

Represent The UK Clothing Brand Revolutionizing Streetwear

Represent, a UK-based clothing brand, has taken the fashion world by storm with its premium streetwear that fuses contemporary designs with high-quality craftsmanship. Founded by brothers George and Mike Heaton, the brand has grown from a passion project into a globally recognized name. This article delves into Represent journey, its unique design philosophy, and its impact on the fashion world.

The Origins of Represent

Represent was formed in 2012 by Heaton brothers from Manchester, England. Starting out as a very small, graphic T-shirt business, it gained momentum and has now developed into an all-inclusive fashion label. The inspiration to the brand derived from British culture, music, and streetwear trends, yet appealing to young people in their modern form.

Design Philosophy

Represent stands out because it combines streetwear aesthetic with luxury-quality materials. Represent collections often feature the following:

Minimalist Designs with an Edge: Represent is known for clean lines, neutral tones, and subtle detailing.

Premium Fabrics: Heavyweight cotton and strong denim are used for comfort and longevity.

Versatility: Represent designs are intended to be easily swapped from casual to elevated occasions.

Attention to Detail: From the intricate stitching to innovative washes on denim, every garment is a testament to meticulous craftsmanship.

Signature Collections

Represent's catalog is defined by standout collections that cater to various style preferences:

247 Collection: This line focuses on athleisure wear, blending functionality with fashion-forward designs. It's ideal for both workouts and casual outings.

Blank Collection: A range of minimalist staples, including T-shirts, hoodies, and sweatpants, perfect for layering or standalone wear.

Mainline Collection: Represent seasonal collections that have statement pieces that range from oversized outerwear to graphic-driven items that are truly creative boundary-pushers.

Denim Range: Known for innovative washes and fits, Represent denim pieces are always a fashion enthusiast's favorite.

Global Recognition

Represent Hoodie has been able to carve out a niche in the fashion world, which is very competitive. It has become a favorite among celebrities, influencers, and fashion lovers globally. The brand often collaborates with popular photographers and stylists to enhance its reputation as a trendsetter in streetwear.

Sustainability and Ethical Practices

In recent years, Represent has addressed environmental concerns by emphasizing sustainable practices. The brand emphasizes ethical sourcing of materials and reduces waste during production. These efforts are in line with the increasing demand for eco-friendly fashion from consumers.

Retail and Online Presence

The flagship store in Manchester by Represent combines experiential retail and the aesthetic of the brand. The company also has a strong e-commerce website, which makes the goods accessible to international customers. The brand regularly drops limited edition, creating excitement and exclusivity for the products.

The Future of Represent

Represent t shirt has been successful for ten years and shows no signs of slowing down. The Heaton brothers are constantly innovating and pushing new styles while expanding their global footprint. As the brand continues to evolve, so does its commitment to quality, style, and cultural relevance.

Conclusion

With a unique touch towards fashion, Represent has truly revamped the world of streetwear. Rooted in British heritage yet driven by modern sensibilities, the brand stands as an ambassador for individuals in search of high-quality stylish yet versatile clothing. A long-standing supporter or newly welcomed to the fold, what's being offered will make a long-lasting impression for the customer.

[liamhen5]

Sunita Williams: Leading the Way in Modern Space Exploration

Sunita Williams, an esteemed American astronaut and United States Navy officer, has carved a niche for herself in the annals of space exploration. Born on September 19, 1965, in Euclid, Ohio, Williams has achieved numerous milestones in her illustrious career, becoming one of the most accomplished astronauts of her generation. Her dedication to science, space exploration, and her role in inspiring future generations is truly remarkable.

Williams' journey to the stars began with her education at the United States Naval Academy, where she graduated in 1987 with a Bachelor of Science in Physical Science. She then embarked on a distinguished career in the Navy, becoming a test pilot and logging over 3,000 flight hours in more than 30 different aircraft. Her path to becoming an astronaut began in 1998 when she was selected by NASA for their astronaut program.

Her first spaceflight was aboard Space Shuttle Discovery on the STS-116 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) in December 2006. During this mission, she broke the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman, spending 195 days in space. She also performed four spacewalks, totaling over 29 hours. Her second spaceflight was in July 2012 aboard the Soyuz TMA-05M, where she spent another six months aboard the ISS, further adding to her cumulative spacewalk time.

First Crewed Mission on Boeing’s Starliner Capsule

Sunita Williams' involvement with Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner, a spacecraft developed under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, marks a significant chapter in her career. The Starliner is designed to carry up to seven astronauts or a combination of crew and cargo to the ISS and other low-Earth orbit destinations. This program aims to develop safe, reliable, and cost-effective human spaceflight capabilities, reducing reliance on Russian spacecraft for transporting astronauts to the ISS.

The Starliner represents a collaboration between NASA and Boeing, featuring advanced technology, enhanced safety features, and reusability for up to ten missions. Sunita Williams has played a crucial role in the Starliner program, being named as one of the astronauts for its first crewed mission. Her extensive experience and technical expertise have been instrumental in the development and rigorous testing of the spacecraft. The first crewed mission, known as the Boeing Crew Flight Test (CFT), is a critical step toward certifying the Starliner for regular crewed missions.

SpaceX’s Crew Dragon

While Boeing has been developing the Starliner, SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, has also been at the forefront of crewed spaceflight development under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. The Dragon 2, also known as Crew Dragon, is SpaceX’s spacecraft designed to transport astronauts to the ISS. It succeeds the uncrewed Dragon 1, primarily used for cargo missions.

Crew Dragon is a fully autonomous spacecraft capable of carrying up to seven astronauts. It is equipped with the latest technology, including touchscreen controls and the ability to dock autonomously with the ISS. Launched atop the Falcon 9 rocket, another SpaceX innovation known for its reusability, Crew Dragon has significantly impacted human spaceflight.

SpaceX’s Crew Dragon made history with its first crewed mission, Demo-2, in May 2020. This mission marked the return of crewed spaceflights from American soil since the end of the Space Shuttle program in 2011. The success of Demo-2 paved the way for subsequent missions, solidifying Crew Dragon as a reliable means of transporting astronauts to the ISS.

Boeing Starliner Mission

The Boeing Starliner mission is integral to NASA’s vision of maintaining a continuous human presence in space. The spacecraft is designed with a focus on safety, reliability, and operational efficiency. It features a unique pusher abort system that can propel the capsule away from the rocket in case of an emergency during launch.

The development journey of the Starliner has not been without challenges. The first uncrewed test flight, known as Orbital Flight Test (OFT), took place in December 2019. However, due to a software issue, the spacecraft was unable to reach the ISS as planned. Despite this setback, valuable data was gathered, leading to efforts to rectify the issues.

In August 2021, the second uncrewed test flight, OFT-2, was scheduled, but technical issues with the spacecraft’s propulsion system led to a postponement. These challenges highlight the complexities of developing a new spacecraft and the rigorous testing required to ensure astronaut safety.

The crewed flight of the Boeing Starliner, with Sunita Williams as one of the key astronauts, is highly anticipated. The successful completion of this mission will mark a significant milestone for Boeing and NASA, demonstrating the viability of Starliner for regular crewed missions to the ISS.

The Future of Space Exploration

The advancements made by both Boeing’s Starliner and SpaceX’s Crew Dragon signify a new era in space exploration. These developments not only enhance the capabilities of the United States in human spaceflight but also pave the way for future missions beyond low-Earth orbit, including potential missions to the Moon and Mars.

Sunita Williams’ involvement in these programs underscores the importance of experienced astronauts in advancing space technology. Her contributions have been invaluable in the testing and operational readiness of these spacecraft, ensuring they meet the high standards required for human spaceflight.

As space agencies and private companies continue to innovate, the collaboration between NASA, Boeing, and SpaceX exemplifies how public-private partnerships can drive significant advancements in space exploration. The successes of the Commercial Crew Program demonstrate the potential for future collaborative efforts in pushing the boundaries of human space exploration.

In conclusion, Sunita Williams’ remarkable career and her contributions to the first crewed mission on Boeing’s Starliner capsule highlight her role as a trailblazer in space. The advancements made by Boeing’s Starliner and SpaceX’s Crew Dragon under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program signify a new chapter in human spaceflight, with the potential to revolutionize our approach to exploring the final frontier. As we look to the future, the achievements of Williams and her colleagues serve as an inspiration for the next generation of explorers, scientists, and engineers who will continue to push the boundaries of what is possible in space.

[books-of-ochre]

"The Dark Tower series tells the story of Roland Deschain, Mid-World’s last gunslinger, who is traveling southeast across Mid-World’s post-apocalyptic landscape, searching for the powerful but elusive magical edifice known as The Dark Tower. Located in the fey region of End-World, amid a sea of singing red roses, the Dark Tower is the nexus point of the time-space continuum.  It is the heart of all worlds, but it is also under threat. Someone, or something, is using the evil technology of the Great Old Ones to destroy it." - Stephan King

The Little Sister of Eluria (1998)

Good Reads || My Rating: 3.5/5

The Gunslinger (1982) He is a haunting figure, a loner on a spellbinding journey into good and evil. In his desolate world, which frighteningly mirrors our own, Roland pursues The Man in Black, encounters an alluring woman named Alice, and begins a friendship with the Kid from Earth called Jake.

Good Reads || My Rating: 5/5

The Drawing of the Three (1987) While pursuing his quest for the Dark Tower through a world that is a nightmarishly distorted mirror image of our own, Roland, the last gunslinger, encounters three mysterious doorways on the beach. Each one enters into the life of a different person living in contemporary New York. Here he links forces with the defiant young Eddie Dean and the beautiful, brilliant, and brave Odetta Holmes, in a savage struggle against underworld evil and otherworldly enemies.

Good Reads || My Rating: 4.5/5

The Waste Lands (1991) Several months have passed, and Roland’s two new tet-mates have become proficient gunslingers. Eddie Dean has given up heroin, and Odetta’s two selves have joined, becoming the stronger and more balanced personality of Susannah Dean. But while battling The Pusher in 1977 New York, Roland altered ka by saving the life of Jake Chambers, a boy who—in Roland’s where and when—has already died. Now Roland and Jake exist in different worlds, but they are joined by the same madness: the paradox of double memories. Roland, Susannah, and Eddie must draw Jake into Mid-World then follow the Path of the Beam all the way to the Dark Tower. But nothing is easy in Mid-World. Along the way our tet stumbles into the ruined city of Lud, and are caught between the warring gangs of the Pubes and the Grays. The only way out of Lud is to wake Blaine the Mono, an insane train that has a passion for riddling, and for suicidal journeys.

Good Reads || My Rating: 3/5

Wizard and Glass (1997) Roland, Eddie, Susannah, Jake, and Jake’s pet bumbler survive Blaine the Mono’s final crash, only to find themselves stranded in an alternate version of Topeka, Kansas, one that has been ravaged by the superflu virus. While following the deserted I-70 toward a distant glass palace, they hear the atonal squalling of a thinny, a place where the fabric of existence has almost entirely worn away. While camping near the edge of the thinny, Roland tells his ka-tet a story about another thinny, one that he encountered when he was little more than a boy. Over the course of one long magical night, Roland transports us to the Mid-World of long-ago and a seaside town called Hambry, where Roland fell in love with a girl named Susan Delgado, and where he and his old tet-mates Alain and Cuthbert battled the forces of John Farson, the harrier who—with a little help from a seeing sphere called Maerlyn’s Grapefruit—ignited Mid-World’s final war.

Good Reads || My Rating: 3.5/5

Wind Through the Keyhole (2012) Roland Deschain and his ka-tet—Jake, Susannah, Eddie, and Oy, the billy-bumbler—encounter a ferocious storm just after crossing the River Whye on their way to the Outer Baronies. As they shelter from the howling gale, Roland tells his friends not just one strange story but two . . . and in so doing, casts new light on his own troubled past.

Good Reads || My Rating: 4/5

Wolves of the Calla (2003) Roland and his tet have just returned to the path of the Beam when they discover that they are being followed by a group of inexperienced trackers. The trackers are from the town of Calla Bryn Sturgis, and they desperately need the help of gunslingers. Once every generation, a band of masked riders known as the Wolves gallop out of the dark land of Thunderclap to steal one half of all the twins born in the Callas. When the children are returned, they are roont, or mentally and physically ruined. In less than a month, the Wolves will raid again. In exchange for Roland’s aid, Father Callahan—a priest originally from our world—offers to give Roland a powerful but evil seeing sphere, a sinister globe called Black Thirteen which he has hidden below the floorboards of his church. Not only must Roland and his tet discover a way to defeat the invincible Wolves, but they must also return to New York so that they can save our world’s incarnation of the Dark Tower from the machinations of the evil Sombra Corporation.

Good Reads || My Rating: 4/5

Song of Susannah (2004) The Wolves have been defeated, but our tet faces yet another catastrophe. Susannah Dean’s body has been usurped by a demon named Mia who wants to use Susannah’s mortal form to bear a demon child. Stealing Black Thirteen, Mia has traveled through the Unfound Door to 1999 New York where she plans to give birth to her chap, a child born of two mothers and two fathers who will grow up to be Roland’s nemesis. With the help of the time-traveling Manni, Roland and Eddie plan to follow Susannah while Father Callahan and Jake will find Calvin Tower, owner of the vacant lot where a magical rose grows: a rose that must be saved at all costs. But despite our ka-tet’s intentions, ka has its own plans. Jake, Callahan, and Jake’s bumbler companion are transported to New York to follow Susannah, while Eddie and Roland are tumbled into East Stoneham, Maine, where they are greeted by Eddie’s old enemy, the gangster Balazar. But it isn’t just bullets that Roland and Eddie must brave. Soon they will meet their maker, in the form of a young author named Stephen King.

Good Reads || My Rating: 3/5

The Dark Tower (2004) Roland Deschain and his ka-tet have journeyed together and apart, scattered far and wide across multilayered worlds of wheres and whens. The destinies of Roland, Susannah, Jake, Father Callahan, Oy, and Eddie are bound in the Dark Tower itself, which now pulls them ever closer to their own endings and beginnings...and into a maelstrom of emotion, violence, and discovery.

Good Reads || My Rating: 4.5/5

I was surprised that I enjoyed this series as much as I did. The characters are interesting, the plot is great, and the universe he built feels extremely believable. Of course, like any series that stretches out across 8 books (not including the prequel), there are times when it feels like things are lagging. However, the ending was well worth those moments, and I highly recommend to anyone who loves a good dark fantasy!

Series Rating: 4/5

[benefits1986]

Ora Et Labora Sunken Shit Hole Sanctuary

Hugs without hugging it out loud is this bitch's cup of matcha, always.

I vividly remember my trigger concerning space invasion. It happened during my birthday, and mother dragon's last day above the ground. It's too graphic for lunch break but I'm testing out how fast I can down a piece without drowning, this time around.

The hugs back then felt so real, in the same manner that I despise each of them. Each hug stabbed my insides because I've been CTRL + ALT + DEL mode on even when mom's vital signs are already on flight mode. The hugs felt intrusive, not calming. The kind words cut the wounds more deeply as I bleed profusely in silence. Truth be told, while I say that I'm always up for losing, winning keeps me up. Gaming numbers is my go-to. The lack of green numbers make me breathe shallower breaths. It even came to a point that I actually held my breath when I see red numbers on my mom's dashboards.

I've cheated mother dragon's death so many times and my batting average is 100%. So when she did so many alignments that took two years before the go live, I'm still trying my best to hang on to the green numbers. However, I can't cheat death; and while I know I ought to welcome it as a friend, mom and I's Invisibility Cloak is thrown out, forever.

The hugs given to me during my birthday morphed into well-guarded fortress which I strategically and tactically designed to keep out anyone who'd try to enter. Since 2012, I purposefully and passionately shut down all forms of emotional availability because I was done and over it and its the shit hole that came with it.

During the final speech I gave before mom's burial, I carefully curated my tears. I wanted to make sure that her last minutes on the earth's crust would be one that she deserved --on point, dalisay, quirky and cutting. It's probably the most excruciating public speaking engagement in my book. I barely shed a tear and up to this day, random people who were with us in those hours commend me with a job well done.

This is pretty much the sum up of my mom issues which I am facing after more than a decade this 2023, intentionally.

The hugs I'm getting are heaven sent after spending so much time in my sunken shit hole by choice, by will and by force. These hugs are not invading my territorial stance, which I find really curious. What's more interesting is that as I embrace Brene Brown's gospel, I am in a better place teeming with super slow and steady growth.

It's not easy to befriend the break as I'm a true blue pedal pusher on her wonky B. But, let this be a season where I choose my fight and get ready for my flight. These days, a "hug" well meant, is a sanctuary, a piece of heaven on this cruel and kind world.

I am an eternal WIP file girly in her ultra femme era with the goal to be a passenger princess. My edges are jagged, my flame is ember, however, these days, I'm really trying my best to "hug" the world back bit by bit. I guess, this is mother dragon's long overdue answered prayer that goes beyond this lifetime and the next for me.

May I consistently choose to show up for myself so I can give what I have with all that I am and all that I'm not. May I fine-tune my ways even more in the name of actually growing up and healing my inner children. May I continually learn the lessons of gentleness and vulnerability and the power and magic they hold. Though I'm super duper firm, may I keep slugging towards going beyond black and white, too. This is pretty much my prayer and my work. The roads are gradually converging ---Ora Et Labora meets Ikot, finally, unapologetically. It's never gonna 100% but I'm sure that I'm ready for a new chapter teeming with grace and grit. Akala mo naman my Philo paper ako kung makaarya ako dito noh? Hahahahaha. Tamad to cite because all I know is we all know nothing. CHOZ. But, when I drink, I know things in the same manner that I get unknown things, too. Okay. Hard stopping now because I want to see how much I've let my dark maroon heart bleed in blue. Also, sana ganito na ako mag-storytell sa work and sa life in 2024. Syempre, hindi ganito kahaba, noh. 'Yung saktong sapul lang with full intention. Abangan! Hirap mag-full contextual English. UGH.

[brookston]

Holidays 11.16

Holidays

Birth of the Blues Day

Clarinet Day

Charles Bonnet Syndrome Day

Dagur Islenskrar Tungu (Icelandic Language Day; Iceland)

Day of Declaration of Sovereignty (Estonia)

Esme’s Umbrella Day

Flag Day (Benin)

Guinness World Record Day

Have a Party with Your Bear Day

Icelandic Language Day

International Check Your Wipers Day

International Day For Tolerance (UN)

International Day of Flamenco

International Selfie Day

International UNESCO World Heritage Day

Mother’s Day (North Korea)

National Andy Day

National Black Marketeers Day

National Button Day

National Charles Day

National Check Your Wipers Day

National Doctors’ Day (South Africa)

National Indiana Day

National Information & Referral Day

National Moms and Dads Day

National Press Day (India)

National Sarah Day

National Slobber Appreciation Day

Pistachio Day (French Republic)

Rage Against the Machine Day

Red Cup Day

Remembrance of Things Past Day

Resident Aliens' Day

Revolution Day (Mexico)

Social Enterprise Day

Statia Day (Bonaire, St. Eustatius & Saba)

World Acupuncture Awareness Day

World Chocolate Day

World Clarinet Day

World Falconry Day

World Historical Motors Day

World Horse Appreciation Day

World Idea Day

World mRNA Day

World Sanfilippo Awareness Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Famous San Diego Chicken Day

Have a Party with Your Bear Day

National Fast Food Day

3rd Thursday in November

Beaujolais Nouveau Day [3rd Thursday]

Catholic School Appreciation Day [3rd Thursday]

Children’s Grief Awareness Day [3rd Thursday]

Educator For a Day [3rd Thursday]

Friendsgiving [3rd Thursday]

Give Miami Day (Florida) [3rd Thursday]

Great American Smokeout [3rd Thursday]

International Guinness Book of World Records Day [Thursday of 2nd Full Week]

International Guinness World Records Day [Thursday of 2nd Full Week]

Julia Child Day [3rd Thursday]

National Bundt Day (a.k.a. Bundt Pan Day) [3rd Thursday]

National Catholic School Principal’s Day [3rd Thursday]

National Parent Involvement Day [3rd Thursday]

National Rural Health Day [3rd Thursday]

National Thaw Day [3rd Thursday]

Social Enterprise Day [3rd Thursday]

Use Less Stuff Day [3rd Thursday]

World Pancreatic Cancer Day [3rd Thursday]

World Philosophy Day (UN) [3rd Thursday]

World's Biggest Liar Competition (UK; sponsored by Jennings Brewery) [3rd Thursday]

World Day for Clean Air [3rd Thursday]

World Wide Pressure Injury Prevention Day [3rd Thursday]

Independence Days

Adamburg (Declared; 2016) [unrecognized]

Oklahoma Statehood Day (#46; 1907)

Feast Days

Africus (Christian; Saint)

Agnes of Assisi (Christian; Saint)

Depoma Heklates (Night of the Crossroads; Pagan)

Dodo Grieving Day (Pastafarian)

Edmund of Abingdon (Christian; Saint)

Elfric of Abingdon (Christian; Saint)

Eucherius of Lyon (Christian; Saint)

Francis Danby (Artology)

Gertrude the Great (Roman Catholic Church)

Giuseppe Moscati (Christian; Saint)

Gobrain (Christian; Saint)

Hecate Night (Wicca)

Herschel Gordon Lewis Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Hugh of Lincoln (Roman Catholic Church)

Margaret of Scotland (Christian; Saint)

Matthew the Evangelist (Eastern Christianity)

Media Autumnus III (Pagan)

Mr. and Mrs. Slop (Muppetism)

Othmar (Christian; Saint)

Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn (Christian; Saint)

Roch Gonzalez, Juan de Castillo, and Alonso Rodriguez, SJ (Christian; Saint)

Ruyter (Positivist; Saint)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Perilous Day (13th Century England) [29 of 32]

Sensho (先勝 Japan) [Good luck in the morning, bad luck in the afternoon.]

Premieres

Amélie (Film; 2001)

Anna Karenina (Film; 2012)

Beaned by a Blossom or The Petal Pushers (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S6, Ep. 319; 1964)

Beowulf (Film; 2007)

Billboard Frolics (WB MM Cartoon; 1935)

A Clash of Kings, by George R.R. Martin (Novel; 1998) [A Song of Fire and Ice #1]

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Film; 1977)

Cyrano de Bergerac (Film; 1990)

Donny & Marie (TV Variety Series; 1975)

Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood, recorded by The Animals (Song; 1964)

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (Film; 2018)

The 400 Blows (Film; 1959)

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Film; 2001) [Harry Potter #1]

Heavenly Creatures (Film; 1994)

Home Alone (Film; 1990)

House M.D. (TV Series; 2004)

I Fall to Pieces, recorded by Patsy Cline (Song; 1960)

Jingle All the Way (Film; 1996)

Just the Way You Are (Film; 1984)

Kangaroo Jack: G’Day U.S.A.! (WB Animated Film; 2004)

Lincoln (Film; 2012)

Little Women (Film; 1933)

The Lost Weekend (Film; 1945)

Love the One You’re With, by Stephen Stills (Song; 1970)

The Menu (Film; 2022)

More Than Human, by Theodore Sturgeon (Novel; 1953)

Mouse-Taken Identity (WB MM Cartoon; 1957)

Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium (Film; 2007)

A Nightmare on Elm Street (Film; 1984)

Night of the Comet (Film; 1984)

The October Country, by Ray Bradbury (Short Stories; 1955)

Papillon, by Henri Charrière (Memoir; 1969)

The Prince and the Pauper (Disney Cartoon; 1990)

The Real Thing, by Tom Stoppard (Play; 1982)

The Rescuers Down Under (Disney Animated Film; 1990)

Rocky V (Film; 1990)

Silver Linings Playbook (Film; 2012)

The Sound of Music (Broadway Musical; 1959)

Stephen Stills, by Stephen Stills (Album; 1970)

Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe (Novel; 1958)

Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 (Film; 2012)

Vacation Daze or Visit to a Small Panic (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S6, Ep. 320; 1964)

Today’s Name Days

Margareta, Otmar (Austria)

Matei (Bulgaria)

Agneta, Gertruda, Margareta (Croatia)

Otmar (Czech Republic)

Othenius (Denmark)

Aarne, Arne, Arno, Arnold (Estonia)

Aarne, Aarni, Aarno (Finland)

Gertrude, Marguerite, Mégane (France)

Arthur, Margarita, Otmar (Germany)

Ifigenia, Mathaios, Matthaios (Greece)

Ödön (Hungary)

Margherita, Procolo (Italy)

Banga, Dzirkstīte, Glorija (Latvia)

Edmundas, Gerdvilė, Gertrūda, Vaišvydas (Lithuania)

Edgar, Edmund (Norway)

Aureliusz, Dionizy, Edmund, Gertruda, Leon, Marek, Maria, Niedamir, Otomar, Paweł, Piotr (Poland)

Matei (Romania)

Agnesa (Slovakia)

Edmundo, Gertrudis, Margarita (Spain)

Vibeke, Viveka (Sweden)

Matthew (Ukraine)

Gertrude, Iris, Chase, Chasen, Trudy (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 320 of 2024; 45 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 4 of week 46 of 2023

Celtic Tree Calendar: Ngetal (Reed) [Day 17 of 28]

Chinese: Month 10 (Gui-Hai), Day 4 (Wu-Yin)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 3 Kislev 5784

Islamic: 3 Jumada I 1445

J Cal: 20 Mir; Sixday [20 of 30]

Julian: 3 November 2023

Moon: 12%: Waxing Crescent

Positivist: 12 Frederic (12th Month) [Ruyter]

Runic Half Month: Nyd (Necessity) [Day 6 of 15]

Season: Autumn (Day 54 of 89)

Zodiac: Scorpio (Day 24 of 29)

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 11.16

Holidays

Birth of the Blues Day

Clarinet Day

Charles Bonnet Syndrome Day

Dagur Islenskrar Tungu (Icelandic Language Day; Iceland)

Day of Declaration of Sovereignty (Estonia)

Esme’s Umbrella Day

Flag Day (Benin)

Guinness World Record Day

Have a Party with Your Bear Day

Icelandic Language Day

International Check Your Wipers Day

International Day For Tolerance (UN)

International Day of Flamenco

International Selfie Day

International UNESCO World Heritage Day

Mother’s Day (North Korea)

National Andy Day

National Black Marketeers Day

National Button Day

National Charles Day

National Check Your Wipers Day

National Doctors’ Day (South Africa)

National Indiana Day

National Information & Referral Day

National Moms and Dads Day

National Press Day (India)

National Sarah Day

National Slobber Appreciation Day

Pistachio Day (French Republic)

Rage Against the Machine Day

Red Cup Day

Remembrance of Things Past Day

Resident Aliens' Day

Revolution Day (Mexico)

Social Enterprise Day

Statia Day (Bonaire, St. Eustatius & Saba)

World Acupuncture Awareness Day

World Chocolate Day

World Clarinet Day

World Falconry Day

World Historical Motors Day

World Horse Appreciation Day

World Idea Day

World mRNA Day

World Sanfilippo Awareness Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Famous San Diego Chicken Day

Have a Party with Your Bear Day

National Fast Food Day

3rd Thursday in November

Beaujolais Nouveau Day [3rd Thursday]

Catholic School Appreciation Day [3rd Thursday]

Children’s Grief Awareness Day [3rd Thursday]

Educator For a Day [3rd Thursday]

Friendsgiving [3rd Thursday]

Give Miami Day (Florida) [3rd Thursday]

Great American Smokeout [3rd Thursday]

International Guinness Book of World Records Day [Thursday of 2nd Full Week]

International Guinness World Records Day [Thursday of 2nd Full Week]

Julia Child Day [3rd Thursday]

National Bundt Day (a.k.a. Bundt Pan Day) [3rd Thursday]

National Catholic School Principal’s Day [3rd Thursday]

National Parent Involvement Day [3rd Thursday]

National Rural Health Day [3rd Thursday]

National Thaw Day [3rd Thursday]

Social Enterprise Day [3rd Thursday]

Use Less Stuff Day [3rd Thursday]

World Pancreatic Cancer Day [3rd Thursday]

World Philosophy Day (UN) [3rd Thursday]

World's Biggest Liar Competition (UK; sponsored by Jennings Brewery) [3rd Thursday]

World Day for Clean Air [3rd Thursday]

World Wide Pressure Injury Prevention Day [3rd Thursday]

Independence Days

Adamburg (Declared; 2016) [unrecognized]

Oklahoma Statehood Day (#46; 1907)

Feast Days

Africus (Christian; Saint)

Agnes of Assisi (Christian; Saint)

Depoma Heklates (Night of the Crossroads; Pagan)

Dodo Grieving Day (Pastafarian)

Edmund of Abingdon (Christian; Saint)

Elfric of Abingdon (Christian; Saint)

Eucherius of Lyon (Christian; Saint)

Francis Danby (Artology)

Gertrude the Great (Roman Catholic Church)

Giuseppe Moscati (Christian; Saint)

Gobrain (Christian; Saint)

Hecate Night (Wicca)

Herschel Gordon Lewis Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Hugh of Lincoln (Roman Catholic Church)

Margaret of Scotland (Christian; Saint)

Matthew the Evangelist (Eastern Christianity)

Media Autumnus III (Pagan)

Mr. and Mrs. Slop (Muppetism)

Othmar (Christian; Saint)

Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn (Christian; Saint)

Roch Gonzalez, Juan de Castillo, and Alonso Rodriguez, SJ (Christian; Saint)

Ruyter (Positivist; Saint)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Perilous Day (13th Century England) [29 of 32]

Sensho (先勝 Japan) [Good luck in the morning, bad luck in the afternoon.]

Premieres

Amélie (Film; 2001)

Anna Karenina (Film; 2012)

Beaned by a Blossom or The Petal Pushers (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S6, Ep. 319; 1964)

Beowulf (Film; 2007)

Billboard Frolics (WB MM Cartoon; 1935)

A Clash of Kings, by George R.R. Martin (Novel; 1998) [A Song of Fire and Ice #1]

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Film; 1977)

Cyrano de Bergerac (Film; 1990)

Donny & Marie (TV Variety Series; 1975)

Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood, recorded by The Animals (Song; 1964)

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (Film; 2018)

The 400 Blows (Film; 1959)

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Film; 2001) [Harry Potter #1]

Heavenly Creatures (Film; 1994)

Home Alone (Film; 1990)

House M.D. (TV Series; 2004)

I Fall to Pieces, recorded by Patsy Cline (Song; 1960)

Jingle All the Way (Film; 1996)

Just the Way You Are (Film; 1984)

Kangaroo Jack: G’Day U.S.A.! (WB Animated Film; 2004)

Lincoln (Film; 2012)

Little Women (Film; 1933)

The Lost Weekend (Film; 1945)

Love the One You’re With, by Stephen Stills (Song; 1970)

The Menu (Film; 2022)

More Than Human, by Theodore Sturgeon (Novel; 1953)

Mouse-Taken Identity (WB MM Cartoon; 1957)

Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium (Film; 2007)

A Nightmare on Elm Street (Film; 1984)

Night of the Comet (Film; 1984)

The October Country, by Ray Bradbury (Short Stories; 1955)

Papillon, by Henri Charrière (Memoir; 1969)

The Prince and the Pauper (Disney Cartoon; 1990)

The Real Thing, by Tom Stoppard (Play; 1982)

The Rescuers Down Under (Disney Animated Film; 1990)

Rocky V (Film; 1990)

Silver Linings Playbook (Film; 2012)

The Sound of Music (Broadway Musical; 1959)

Stephen Stills, by Stephen Stills (Album; 1970)

Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe (Novel; 1958)

Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 (Film; 2012)

Vacation Daze or Visit to a Small Panic (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S6, Ep. 320; 1964)

Today’s Name Days

Margareta, Otmar (Austria)

Matei (Bulgaria)

Agneta, Gertruda, Margareta (Croatia)

Otmar (Czech Republic)

Othenius (Denmark)

Aarne, Arne, Arno, Arnold (Estonia)

Aarne, Aarni, Aarno (Finland)

Gertrude, Marguerite, Mégane (France)

Arthur, Margarita, Otmar (Germany)

Ifigenia, Mathaios, Matthaios (Greece)

Ödön (Hungary)

Margherita, Procolo (Italy)

Banga, Dzirkstīte, Glorija (Latvia)

Edmundas, Gerdvilė, Gertrūda, Vaišvydas (Lithuania)

Edgar, Edmund (Norway)

Aureliusz, Dionizy, Edmund, Gertruda, Leon, Marek, Maria, Niedamir, Otomar, Paweł, Piotr (Poland)

Matei (Romania)

Agnesa (Slovakia)

Edmundo, Gertrudis, Margarita (Spain)

Vibeke, Viveka (Sweden)

Matthew (Ukraine)

Gertrude, Iris, Chase, Chasen, Trudy (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 320 of 2024; 45 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 4 of week 46 of 2023

Celtic Tree Calendar: Ngetal (Reed) [Day 17 of 28]

Chinese: Month 10 (Gui-Hai), Day 4 (Wu-Yin)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 3 Kislev 5784

Islamic: 3 Jumada I 1445

J Cal: 20 Mir; Sixday [20 of 30]

Julian: 3 November 2023

Moon: 12%: Waxing Crescent

Positivist: 12 Frederic (12th Month) [Ruyter]

Runic Half Month: Nyd (Necessity) [Day 6 of 15]

Season: Autumn (Day 54 of 89)

Zodiac: Scorpio (Day 24 of 29)

[sociologyonthemove]

A walk down the Cowbridge Road East by Linda Boyce

My sociological walk takes me through the district of Canton, down Cowbridge Road East. A down at heel high street (Puwar 2012)  in comparison to the bustling consumerism of the city centre of Cardiff less than two miles away.  An area I’ve frequented many times on trips to an orthodontist on the outskirts with my teenage daughter, but never venturing a step further. I’ve previously been intrigued by the culture and people observed in this community. The walk contrasts the disparities between green spaces and the din of the urban space. However, the main focus of my walk is on the multiculturalism of the community of Canton and how everyday multiculturism (Wise and Velayutham 2009) is played out in urban areas like shopping centres and high streets (Watson 2016).  I feel it is a place that stirs the ‘sociological imagination’ (Wright Mills 1959). A walk that allows me to get a feel for the textures and rhythm of social life in motion (Bates 2014), a place that is telling about society (Becker 2007).

I take the flaneur or rather the flaneuse approach to my sociological walk, as a straddling observer and participator, blending the reportage and poetique (Grantz 2005, p152). My true mission is to tap into urban energies, to stroll, to dawdle, a time of wasteful idling (Ferguson 1994). A floating existence in order to reveal modern urban cultures (Baudelaire 1965, pp 118-119). My walk, although a planned route, comprises of free play across the authoritarian city (Kramer and Short 2011), I find myself curious, and inquisitively heading down side streets to botanise the asphalt (Benjamin 1968) of this little place of Canton.

My walk commences around 11.05 on a Thursday in March at Cardiff University’s Glamorgan Building located near the Welsh Government building. I capture the unfolding portrait of Canton life using audio and video recording, along with taking photographs, to take the reader to where social action is going on (Back 2012). I also wrote scratch, field notes as I continued my ‘walkalong’ (Kusenbach 2003).

I head up King Edward VII Avenue and take a left turn, cutting through College Road to bring me to the crossing on North Road, directly opposite the Royal College of Music and Drama (RCMD) and its prestigious, contemporary building.  Here, as I wait at the crossing, I feel myself consciously engaging with my sensual imagination (Vanini et al 2013). The hiss of the hydraulics of passing buses, the screeching brakes, the squawking seagulls circling above, the smell of the exhaust fumes that catch me in the back of the throat and the distant sirens whirring in the distance. I am listening, sensing and feeling (Bates 2014) the multi-sensual world (Lorimer 2005, p83), trying to understand the social and how it is researchable (Lorimer 2005, p84).

I cross the road and wander through Bute Park, immediately feeling the restfulness of this green space. As I enter through the park gates, I meander the path through the park, and drift purposefully in the recommended mode (Sinclair 1997, p4).  I take some audio recordings in the park where nature is heard - away from the noisy hub of the city - and bird singing can be prominently heard over the background traffic noise. In contrast, the sound of a saxophonist playing jazz could be heard from the open windows of the RCMD behind me. My pace slows as I want to feel the textures and rhythm of social life in motion (Bates 2014). Cyclist’s dash past me, the sound of the revolving pedals, whirring of the bicycle chain and the rubber tyres on asphalt, is quite an appealing sound. This outdoor green space is a lived space with everyday life with rhythms and patterns (Lefbvre 1991).  I also notice the visibly embedded bike trails and walking routes of pedestrians in the path. I come to a little café set alongside the River Taff, a perfect pit stop for dog walkers, joggers and pram pushers. I head up over the suspension bridge that bounces with my every footstep.  I head out through a car park for the national express bus station, I can’t help but notice how even though this is in the confines of the park, a place of nature and trees, nature is being tamed, by way of an iron grating that encircles the tree in order to curtail the roots and stop them buckling paving slabs. 

As I exit the park which brings me onto the main road that leads to Canton, the place of my sociological enquiry (Beck et al 1994; Lash 1999). I am bombarded once again with exhaust fumes and the cluttering noise of traffic and come across vibrant matter (Bennett 2009) of particular grot spots of litter, (Puwar 2012) - the left-over objects of commercial consumption. I cross at the junction, and with a slight left, I head down to Cowbridge Road, East.  Passing the blue plaque outside of a Victorian townhouse signalling the birth place of Ivor Novello, a Welsh 1920s composer, better known these days for the eponymous music awards. Two older, gentlemen are strolling just in front of me as I catch with them as I pass them by. I overhear one gentleman asking the other, “I’m not too old, am I”?  Realising that I was passing just as this was being said, there was a distinct silence between the both of them. I turn to smile at the gent who must be at least 80 years of age, but very spritely. Reassuringly I say, “You’re never too old, you’re as young as you feel!” They both chuckle.  To the left are some disused offices and the St David’s Hospital.  It is at this point, where my sociological walk and the multiculturalism of Canton truly begins. 

I continue on my traverse, I pass a myriad of restaurants from global cultures such as Dubai Nights, Vivo Latino, Kimchi Korean and the famous Happy Gathering - a well-loved Cantonese restaurant. There is also cultural merging of cuisines for example with the Indo-Cymru restaurant - possibly in recognition of the proprietors’ cultural origins that they now have come to call Canton their home.  There is a fruit-and-veg van perched to the side of the row of restaurants where a queue is forming. The chatty proprietor makes friendly gestures and calls customers by their first names. Talking about a variety of things, from local misdemeanours, to the score of the last city game, “seriously though Giggs - managing Wales mun,” one guy retorted.   I motion further down the high street passing, a sex shop marketing their wares as ‘marital aids’.  Further along, are a number of hire purchase outlets, casinos and betting shops that give me a sense that this may be a deprived area. These descriptions are the urban banality (Kramer and Short 2011) of the high street but are relevant, as these local territories shape the social interactions (Kusenbach 2003) in this community. These high street outlets give vitality to the ongoing life (Back 2013) of this suburban space.  Where the actors engage with the places around them through the course of their everyday lives (Seamon 1979). As I stroll down the high street, I notice that Canton has a number of butchers, bakers and fruit-and-veg shops, along with cobblers and hardware shops that take over the space on the pavement to sell their wares. Reminiscent of the old ways of shopping, it is quite a ‘quaint’ high street with privately owned businesses and very few global retailers - an ‘everything on your doorstep’ type of high street.

I continue my journey down the road, past Shab’s, a Turkish barber’s, numerous tattoo studios and tanning outlets and multiple vaping shops, where the pungent smell of artificial  scents spill out into the street through the plumes of smoke. I also pass a number of places of worship, a Baptist church that runs toddler groups, community courses and after school clubs further down and a larger church called the Wesley, that has converted its foyer area into a café, as I pass I notice a number of older residents catching up and chatting over a cup of tea.

I eventually come to a cross roads which is at the centre of Canton. I decide to loiter around a bench that is set directly outside Tesco Express, and as I sit down, two ladies sit down next to me disgusted with the price that they have paid for their sandwiches and they both agree that they, “will never do that again”.  To the side of the bench there is a large tower, there as a sort of architecture of advertisement (Hessel 1968) that is pasted from top to bottom with a number of local events at the nearby cultural hub of Chapter and more risqué events such as the Lady Boys of Bangkok.  I feel that this is a convenient place to scribble some field notes as I observe the consumerist order (Bauman 1994, p153) of shoppers. People mingle, congregate and socialise around these pigeonpoop-covered benches. As I sit there, the bench users are joined, on the outskirts, by two mobility scooter users wishing to rest at this place to enjoy the pasty and sandwich that they have recently purchased.  I can’t help but notice that I am completely surrounded by cooing pigeons and I have to duck as they swoop over my head. I turn around to see an older lady feeding them, a complete frenzy of feathers and panicked pecking at the floor ensues. She notices me looking over and says, “Well I’m giving them their breakfast see, if I don’t do it, nobody will”. I smile back at her. “Bless her,” I think to myself. I pan around to people watch and notice the diverse social architecture (Kusenbach 2003) of the people on the high street.  Indian Ladies pass wearing brightly coloured Sarees and Muslim women in Burkas all indicate their cultural background. As they pass one another, there is a friendly recognition between them, a social bond that the people have as a result of sharing this local territory (Kusenbach 2003). Outside the Tesco Express, a young, homeless girl sits with a knitted blanket over her knees reading a book.  A number of people stop to give her money and a Muslim lady spends time chatting to her. They laugh together and they say their farewells.  Sitting adjacent to her is a Big Issue vendor, dressed in a black head covering, she also gets a warm reception from passers-by. One older lady calls across to her and asks how she is today? “I’ll be back now in a minute to buy one love, I just need to get some change,” and she heads into the shop. I veer left down a side street to stumble across a gym, called ‘Hiya’ fitness - ladies only. Next to it is a shop Munfrid Styles, selling Shalwar Kameez, a traditional Indian outfit, and Sarees. Outside I see a group of Muslim ladies ready to head inside to the gym, but as they do they stop to wait for a local lady and they all walk in together, chatting. I continue my walk further down the road just taking in more social interactions and catching the visible practices as they happen (Laurier 2014). A group of older ladies pass me with each with a front loading shopping trolley, there is a near miss with my feet as they pass but they are more intent on getting the attention of their friend further down the street. “Allo, allo, allo Gal,” as they catch up with her, “Oh, we haven’t seen you for ages, how’s your Gallstones now?” “Ah I had them blasted see” she replies. I continue my walk further and receive many smiles and hellos from all walks of life - me, a stranger, being treated as one of the locals (Kusenbach 2003). Across the road I notice another hair dressing salon/barbers and above the salon, in bold red writing, is ‘Stavros Constantinou, Welsh, British, European and the world hairdressing champion – for ladies and their gentlemen’. The place is heaving, with people in the hairdresser’s chairs and a good crowd waiting and flicking through magazines and swiping phones. It makes me wonder about the numerous narratives and gossip that they exchange whilst sitting in the chairs.  

In my reflexive turn (Emerson 2001), my initial impressions of Canton were that it was a socio-economically deprived area. However, the more familiar I became with the area, I found my attitude changed and I became quite fond of the area as I gained a feeling for its space and people (Bates 2014).  This area was a closely knitted, multi-cultural space. The butchers, barbers and fruit shops were the hub of the high street where lived experience of knowledge was exchanged, along with snippets of gossip. There were pockets of deprivation, but it was a far cry from the consumerism of the city centre. Nevertheless, there was authentic, real-lived Cowbridge Road East culture - the storytelling and the catching up in the street, over shop counters and outside betting shops whilst having a cigarette - being more than anything that could be projected in the gentrified area of Cardiff’s city centre.  The street felt alive and breathing with the same heartbeat and community spirit with feelings of friendly, neighbourly relations - unlike the multiculturalism in the realm of political discourse being portrayed as a divide in communities. This contrast may have been because a majority of the people were ‘in the same boat’, with similar circumstances and the lack of socio-economic status and materialism stunted the individualistic selfishness and greed of the city centre.  

References

Back, L., 2013. New Ethnicities and Urban Cult. Routledge. Bates, C. ed., 2014. Video methods: Social science research in motion. Routledge. BAUDELAIRE: ‘Le Peintre de la Vie moderne’, Critique d'Art, II, Paris [1965]. Bauman, Z., 1994. Alone again. Ethics after certainty. Beck, U., Giddens, A. and Lash, S., 1994. Reflexive modernization: Politics, tradition and aesthetics in the modern social order. Stanford University Press. Becker, H., 2007. Telling About Society Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Benjamin, W., 1968. Illuminations (Vol. 241, No. 2). Random House Digital, Inc.. Bennett, S., 2009. Londonland: an ethnography of labour in a world city. Libri Pub Limited. Certeau, M., 1984.  ‘Practices of Space’, in M. Blonsky (ed.) On Signs. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. Emerson, R.M., 2001. Contemporary Field Research: Perspectives and Formulations, 2nd edn. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press. Goffman, E., 1963. Behavior in Public Places: Notes on the Social Organization of Gatherings. New York: Free Press. Kramer, K. and Short, J.R., 2011. Flânerie and the globalizing city. City, 15(3-4), pp.322-342. Kusenbach, M., 2003. ‘Neighboring: An Ethnographic Study of Community in Urban Hollywood’, dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles. Kusenbach, M., 2003. Street phenomenology: The go-along as ethnographic research tool. Ethnography, 4(3), pp.455-485. Laurier, E., 2014. The graphic transcript: Poaching comic book grammar for inscribing the visual, spatial and temporal aspects of action. Geography Compass, 8(4), pp.235-248. Lash, S., 1999. Another modernity, a different rationality. Lefebvre, H., 1991. Critique of everyday life (Vol. 2). Verso. Lofland, L.H., 1998.  The Public Realm. New York: De Gruyter. Lorimer, H., 2005. Cultural geography: the busyness of beingmore-than-representational’. Progress in human geography, 29(1), pp.83-94. Milligan, M.J., 1998. ‘Interactional Past and Interactional Potential: The Social Construction of Place Attachment’, Symbolic Interaction 21: 1–33. Mills, C.W., 2000. The sociological imagination. Oxford University Press. Noble, G., Wise, A. and Velayutham, S., 2009. Everyday Multiculturalism Puwar, N.,  2012. Walking through the litter,  life writing projects,  Sussex University. Seamon, D., 1979. A Geography of the Lifeworld. New York: St Martin’s Press. Vannini, P., 2015. Non-representational ethnography: New ways of animating lifeworlds. cultural geographies, 22(2), pp.317-327. Watson, S., 2017. Making multiculturalism. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 40(15), pp.2635-2652.

[chiyohlecter]

imma go on a little andy murray tangent under the cut, cuz i just gotta let it out somewhere, but it will probably be long

been thinking about andy murray since his latest loss the de minaur, like so fascinating the psychology of a champion...

cuz we can see how fucking pissed he is after these losses and i know that it's kind of a miracle he can even play etc, but you have got to wonder what it is that keeps him going?

like there doesn't seem to be any improvement and you would think that after having been where he's been, multiple gs winner, world no.1, decent records against the greatest players who ever played the game etc it must be frustrating going out there and living with a 0-6 h2h against the de minaurs of the world

like don't get me wrong demon is a really decent player deservedly top 15 in the race - one of my little pushers, you know i love me some proper pushers, anyways -, but he is not the level of player that an andy murray would have lost to in say 2012 and of course the body's gonna decline as it has for everyone in his amazing generation, but then if i were andy murray and i saw what djokovic did to de minaur at the ao this year, like crushed him into smooth powder, literally looked like a club player, then i would say to myself i used to compete with this guy for grand slams and now i'm 0-6 against someone he crushed like a bug?

does he really have just such a strong belief that he will be consistently back to his top level? or does he just do it for the love of the game? - cuz if the second one he doesn't look it, but then again when he's not playing he's always tweeting about some tennis match, like he clearly enjoys at least watching - either way it's crazy to have such determination to keep going

cuz on the other hand he's clearly not doing it to make ends meet and he's got like 70 kids (or 4? either 4 or 70 idk), like it's not the most sound decision clearly, especially as i said he loves commenting on matches on twitter and i know if he were available 352654673 broadcasters would be clammoring after him to have him as commentator/pundit, i know if i were him i'd be commentating for the beeb at this point

because there also seems to be a refusal to change the way he plays, like he's doing the same thing he was doing in his prime, but with a body that's more worn, with reflexes that are declined, and it's a type of tennis that is not easy on the body, you'd think if you were already hurting there would be a willingness to change, but there doesn't seem to be, which just makes it seem even more like simple stubbornness and unwillingness to accept that he is not what he used to be

what i'm getting at is i am constantly stuck in a loop of "wow it's so impressive that he's fighting like this at all" and "is this really worth doing, putting mind and body through all that strain, when you have a family at home that you can feed regardless", like impressed and annoyed at the same time

in the end it's his life... it just did not seem right to me who grew up with the both of them being the best of the best that andy murray won a challenger on the same day that novak djokovic won a grand slam... clearly andy is the tennis champion out of the two of us for a reason, because if that were me that would have hurt my ego so much i'd have retired on the spot... so yeah i guess psychology of a champion/professional

[anosci]

(362-377 albums etc that I’ve listened to this year, copied from twitter) (now with art. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26])

names and thoughts below cut

362/ Patricia Taxxon - TECHDOG 3 (2023) jotting down thoughts as we go like t1 oh… lyrics. oh… beauty. t4 bringing hella beats t5!! glass! t6 groovin :') t7 oh cmon why are these so good t11 is an otherworldly finale. like god damn i love the grooves in here in particular!

----

363/ heRobust - Vertebreaker (2017) yeah its hard but im still not used to herobust doing wob? "Heavy Meddle" scratches that beat itch a bit tho, with that back forth beat "Status Busted" would be my fav song if not for the. yknow. yeah.

---

364/ Patricia Taxxon - TECHDOG 4 (2023) lush and melodic. drifts. feels freeing. t3 rough start but i think this would be astoundingly good zone out headphone music t4 headfog max. a fav. t6 boid :) another fav t8 bt-esque :O t10 is a MASSIVE ending holy sht

---

365/ Persian Empire - Kaya EP (2017) crispy beats. rotary organs. vibes :)

---

366/ Patricia Taxxon - TECHDOG 5 (2023) this one's the secret "scary times" release and its damn good at it. wall to wall dour. some specific thoughts: t2 sentinel :O t5 man. this is a weird and cool vibe (beat) t7 is a bad dream. intense. t9 a small light in the dark. standout.

---

367/ Patricia Taxxon - TECHDOG 6 (2023) i regret to announce my opinion that i think these tracks are too long. i love these soundscapes but not for 10 minutes a piece. that said, favs: t6, t8, t10. t11 astounding. cinematic even. this couldve been the end i think.

----

368/ Patricia Taxxon - TECHDOG 7 (2023) it's the "feel nothing" lp, but like. "depression state" nothing. it does a good job but i have mixed feelings about it. EXCEPT track 9 has such an insanely specific feel id describe as "child alone in a room and doesnt know why". respect.

---

369/ Lila Tirando a Violeta & Sin Maldita - Accela (2023) has an insano in the braino soundscape(o) "Talking Trees" wouldve rearranged my dna if i heard it in 2012.

---

370/ VA - WILDCHIP != WIN (2017) mix bag etc well…hm. wildchip doesnt really grab me as strongly i guess? idk. that said, "Throwback Days" holy shit that's smoov. love the way the FM wobs are incorporated here

---

371/ Space Dimension Controller - Na Púcaí (2023) chill timbre tech no(?) good nighttime music "Multiples Of None" in particular is sticking with me

---

372/ Lee Gamble - Models (2023) slowchill for chill day B) haunting more in timbre than tonality. sounds like ancient RNN generated vocals, some of this. cool effect "XIth c. Spray" prolly my fav here!

---

373/ VA - Nanosweep 32 (2023) a nice lil bout of dance floor nano sweeping. "Insufficient all" has an interesting flow. not chill but not intense? "vapor trail" amalgam vibe

---

374/ VA - Metal 5 (2017) eh. predisposition bias tho. enjoying the FM metal appearing in "Mechanical Wolf" "Running down the Hill" is my fav but absolutely not metal at all. "Hornet" is my fav that is also metal

---

375/ Alva Noto - HYbr:ID II (2023) understood as soundtracks to sodium lights. "Elastic 1" hit good w/ those chord stabs "Elastic 2" hits harder. some sort of bubbling intensity. "Field 1" low key banger with that beat

--- November ---

376/ VA - SPC Echoes 2 (2017) mix bag etc. much love for the rez in "dazzling!" "bed bed" is funny bc i'd consider it a morning sunshine title. ig thats still bed! "aurora surrealis" funnest snes-pusher. "Alternate Timeline" amazing soundscape! overall fav

---

next page

[llctheregistry]

2012 Kenworth W900 Heavy Haul Truck Deleted ISX15 Engine 550 HP VIN: 1XKWP4EX4CJ322355 Tri-Axle Full Double Frame Two-Line Wet Kit 18-Speed Transmission With Full Lockers 46,000lb Rears 20,000lb Fronts 20,000lb Pusher 373 Gears 281in Wheel Base Well...

[liamhen5]

Sunita Williams: Pioneering Space Exploration and the Future of Crewed Missions

Sunita Williams – A Trailblazer in Space

Sunita Williams is a renowned American astronaut and United States Navy officer. Born on September 19, 1965, in Euclid, Ohio, she has made significant contributions to space exploration, notably becoming one of the most accomplished astronauts of her time. Her illustrious career is marked by her exceptional achievements in the realms of science, space exploration, and inspiring future generations.

Williams graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1987 with a Bachelor of Science in Physical Science. She then embarked on a career in the Navy, becoming a test pilot and logging over 3,000 flight hours in more than 30 different aircraft. Her journey to becoming an astronaut began in 1998 when she was selected by NASA for their astronaut program.

Williams' first spaceflight was aboard Space Shuttle Discovery on the STS-116 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) in December 2006. During this mission, she broke the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman, spending 195 days in space. She also performed four spacewalks, totaling over 29 hours. Her second spaceflight was in July 2012 aboard the Soyuz TMA-05M, where she spent another six months aboard the ISS, adding to her cumulative spacewalk time.

First Crewed Mission on Boeing’s Starliner Capsule

One of the significant milestones in Sunita Williams' career is her involvement with Boeing's CST-100 Starliner, a spacecraft developed as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. This program aims to develop safe, reliable, and cost-effective human spaceflight capabilities to the ISS and low-Earth orbit.

The Starliner is designed to carry up to seven astronauts or a combination of crew and cargo. It represents a collaboration between NASA and Boeing to reduce dependency on Russian spacecraft for transporting astronauts to the ISS. The spacecraft boasts advanced technology, safety features, and is reusable for up to ten missions, making it a cornerstone of future American space exploration.

Williams has been a pivotal figure in the Starliner program, being named as one of the astronauts for its first crewed mission. Her extensive experience and technical expertise have been instrumental in the development and testing of the spacecraft. The first crewed mission, known as the Boeing Crew Flight Test (CFT), is a crucial step toward certifying the Starliner for regular crewed missions.

SpaceX’s Crew Dragon

Parallel to Boeing’s efforts, SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, has also been at the forefront of developing crewed spacecraft under NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The Dragon 2, also known as Crew Dragon, is SpaceX's spacecraft designed to transport astronauts to the ISS. It is a successor to the uncrewed Dragon 1, which was primarily used for cargo missions.

SpaceX’s Crew Dragon is a fully autonomous spacecraft capable of carrying up to seven astronauts. It is equipped with the latest technology, including touchscreen controls and the ability to dock autonomously with the ISS. The spacecraft is launched atop the Falcon 9 rocket, another SpaceX innovation known for its reusability.

SpaceX's Crew Dragon made history with its first crewed mission, Demo-2, in May 2020. This mission was significant as it marked the return of crewed spaceflights from American soil since the Space Shuttle program ended in 2011. The success of Demo-2 paved the way for subsequent missions, solidifying Crew Dragon as a reliable means of transporting astronauts to the ISS.

Boeing Starliner Mission

The Boeing Starliner mission, particularly its crewed missions, is integral to NASA's vision of maintaining a continuous human presence in space. The Starliner is designed with a focus on safety, reliability, and operational efficiency. It features a unique pusher abort system that can propel the capsule away from the rocket in case of an emergency during launch.

The spacecraft's development journey has not been without challenges. The first uncrewed test flight, known as Orbital Flight Test (OFT), took place in December 2019. However, due to a software issue, the spacecraft was unable to reach the ISS as planned. Despite this setback, valuable data was gathered, and subsequent efforts were made to rectify the issues.

In August 2021, the second uncrewed test flight, OFT-2, was scheduled, but technical issues with the spacecraft's propulsion system led to a postponement. These challenges highlight the complexities of developing a new spacecraft and the rigorous testing required to ensure astronaut safety.

The Boeing Starliner mission’s crewed flight, with Sunita Williams as one of the key astronauts, is highly anticipated. The successful completion of this mission will mark a significant milestone for Boeing and NASA, demonstrating the viability of Starliner for regular crewed missions to the ISS.

The Future of Space Exploration

The advancements made by both Boeing's Starliner and SpaceX's Crew Dragon represent a new era in space exploration. These developments not only enhance the capabilities of the United States in human spaceflight but also pave the way for future missions beyond low-Earth orbit, including potential missions to the Moon and Mars.

Sunita Williams' involvement in these programs underscores the importance of experienced astronauts in advancing space technology. Her contributions have been invaluable in the testing and operational readiness of these spacecraft, ensuring that they meet the high standards required for human spaceflight.

As space agencies and private companies continue to innovate, the collaboration between NASA, Boeing, and SpaceX exemplifies how public-private partnerships can drive significant advancements in space exploration. The successes of the Commercial Crew Program demonstrate the potential for future collaborative efforts in pushing the boundaries of human space exploration.

In conclusion, Sunita Williams' remarkable career and her contributions to the first crewed mission on Boeing’s Starliner capsule highlight her role as a trailblazer in space. The advancements made by Boeing's Starliner and SpaceX's Crew Dragon under NASA's Commercial Crew Program signify a new chapter in human spaceflight, with the potential to revolutionize our approach to exploring the final frontier. As we look to the future, the achievements of Williams and her colleagues serve as an inspiration for the next generation of explorers, scientists, and engineers who will continue to push the boundaries of what is possible in space.

[thecreaturecodex]

The Master of Revels

“Moonlight Satyr” © Matteo Parati, accessed at his ArtStation here

[Remember RPG Superstar? I did get into the Top Eight in 2012, but for several years before that entered an item annually, voted and debated on the Paizo forums, and even played along at home for challenges. That’s where this character comes from. My roommate, @canwefixitnoitsfucked​, placed a year (I want to say 2010?) where the challenge was to create a villain, first the concept and then the stat block. This was my “play-along-at-home” villain, who has been rewritten and revised, partially because I can’t find my original file for him. A word of caution: this may be one of the darkest Codex entries yet, with themes of torture and sex trafficking.

As a lighter aside, looking for art for this character was a pain. I learned that images of satyrs who were a) clothed, b) lean and c) male are rather slim pickings.]

Jepson Artemisia, Master of Revels CR 10 CE Fey This man has long horns, long ears and hooves for feet. He is dressed impeccably, and his eyes shine with malice.

Jepson Artemisia is a cleric of Calistria who has made a fortune on the backs of human misery. He is a drug dealer, pimp and slaver. Befitting his veneration of the goddess of revenge, he specializes in abducting and abusing people for hire. For an exorbitant fee, a cad can hire Artemisia to have one of his rivals abducted and have their mind and will broken, leaving them a perfect slave and trophy. Jepson accomplishes this psychological abuse through narcotics, mind-influencing magic, and old-fashioned torture. He especially relishes the servants of lawful gods as his victims, and every paladin who has renounced their oaths and lost their powers is a feather in his cap.

Artemisia spends most of the year traveling as he needs to for his cruel business, but does have a home base. Blackthorn Hall is his domain, a sprawling mansion overlooking an oak woodland. Here he hosts his annual Grand Revel, where his allies, business partners and sycophants engage in bacchanalian excess for an entire week. The Master of Revels employs many miscellaneous low-lives as his security, pushers, alchemists and jailers, but some of his allies are worth spotlighting. His majordomo is an ogre mage who accompanies him on his business trips. His housekeeper is a maenad who uses Blackthorn Hall for fatal feasts while her master is away. And Jepson maintains a stable of spider-eaters, which he uses as mounts, watchdogs and the perpetrators of one of his favorite tortures. Against especially willful victims, the Master of Revels has his spider-eaters sting them and lay eggs inside of them, paralyzing them. These victims he then poses as living statues, forcing them into humiliating postures while the eggs slowly incubate. Usually, victims of this torture are revived through magic and the spider-eaters do not come to term. Usually.

Jepson Artemisia              CR 10 XP 9,600 Satyr cleric of Calistria 9 CE Medium fey Init +5; Senses low-light vision, Perception +18 Defense AC 26, touch 18, flat-footed 20 (+5 Dex, +1 dodge, +5 natural, +3 armor, +2 deflection) hp 140 (8d6+9d8+68) Fort +12, Ref +13, Will +18 DR 5/cold iron Offense Speed 40 ft. Melee +1 deadly whip +16/+11 (1d3+2), gore +10 (1d6) Special Abilities anything to please, channel energy (5d6 negative, 10/day, Will DC 21 half), pipes Spell-like Abilities CL 8th, concentration +15 (+19 casting defensively) At will—charm person (DC 18), dancing lights, ghost sound (DC 17), sleep (DC 18), suggestion (DC 20) 9/day—copycat, dazing touch (9 HD) 1/day—fear (DC 21), summon nature’s ally III 9 rounds/day—master’s illusion (DC 23) Spells CL 9th, concentration +15 (+19 casting defensively) 5th—charm monster (DC 21) (D), greater command (DC 21), insect plague 4th—chaos hammer (DC 20), confusion (DC 20) (D), cure critical wounds (DC 20), freedom of movement 3rd—bestow curse (DC 19), dispel magic, nondetection (D), protection from energy, remove blindness/deafness 2nd—bear’s endurance, cure moderate wounds (DC 18, x2), hold person (DC 18), spiritual weapon, touch of idiocy (D), undetectable alignment 1st—bless, command (DC 17), comprehend languages, disguise self (DC 17) (D), divine favor, protection from law (DC 17), remove fear 0th—detect magic, mending, purify food and drink, stabilize (D)—domain spell (Charm [Lust subdomain], Trickery) Statistics Str 12, Dex 20, Con 18, Int 13, Wis 22, Cha 24 Base Atk +10; CMB +15 (+17 trip or disarm); CMD 27 (29 vs. disarm, trip) Feats Agile Manuevers, Combat Casting, Combat Expertise, Dodge, Improved Disarm, Improved Trip, Selective Channeling, Skill Focus (Bluff), Weapon Finesse Skills Bluff +18, Diplomacy +15, Disguise +15, Intimidate +12, Knowledge (arcana, local, nature, nobility, religion) +9, Linguistics +7, Perception +18, Perform (wind instruments) +19, Ride +10, Sense Motive +14, Spellcraft +9, Stealth +17. Survival +14; Racial Modifiers +4 Perception, +4 Perform, +4 Stealth Languages Abyssal, Common, Elven, Giant, Sylvan Gear +1 leather armor, +1 deadly whip, headband of mental prowess +2 (Wis, Cha), circlet of persuasion, cape of the mountebank, ring of protection +2, wand of remove paralysis (20 charges), wand of cure light wounds (50 charges), potion of invisibility, noble outfit, jewelry worth 100 gp, gold holy symbol of Calistria, masterwork panpipes, 10 pp, 4 gp SQ wealth and privilege Special Abilities Anything to Please (Su): Once per day, Jepson can compel a creature within 30 feet to attempt to please you as a standard action. The creature receives a DC 21 Will save to negate this affect. If the save fails, the creature attacks Jepson’s enemies for 1 round, gives him its most valuable item, or drops prone at his feet and grovels for 1d4 rounds (GM's choice). This is a mind-affecting effect and the save DC is Charisma based. Pipes (Su) Jepson can focus and empower his magic by playing haunting melodies on his panpipes. When he plays, all creatures within a 60-foot radius must make a DC 21 Will save or be affected by charm person, fear, sleep, or suggestion, depending on what tune he chooses. A creature that successfully saves against any of the pipes' effects cannot be affected by the same set of pipes for 24 hours, but can still be affected by Jepson’s other spell-like abilities as normal. Jepson’s use of his pipes does not count toward his uses per day of his spell-like abilities, and if separated from them he may continue to use his standard abilities. The pipes themselves are masterwork, and Jepson can craft a replacement with 1 week of labor. The save DC is Charisma-based. Wealth and Privilege (Ex) Jepson Artemesia’s statistics are built using 25 point buy, and he has gear equivalent to a 9th level PC. These advantages increase his CR by 1.

[ecrivainsolitaire]

Stop.

Listen for a second.

Let's say suddenly tomorrow we wake up and the AGPTP suddenly turns good and gifts all their money to the WGA/SAG-AFTRA unions. You won, voice actors have jobs again, everything works, whatever.

What happens to everyone else?

This is what I mean when I say you have to start thinking pragmatically. You're so focused on this moral argument that you're not actually stopping to think of the long term consequences of this new technology.

Imagine tomorrow a horse driver union rises up and tries to fight against the automobile industry, saying horses need jobs. Yeah, they might have a point. They may even win, and have their tidy neat union somewhere in NYC so now you can take the subway by horse.

Do you think that's going to impact the car companies?

Society moved past horses not because the workers didn't deserve the jobs or because evil capitalists kill them all. It did because cars are objectively a better urban transport than horse carriages. (Trains are even better but that's beside the point.) While the unions were fighting to keep their horse jobs, the industry found a way to work around them, and eventually horses became a rarity everywhere except for ranches. Technology moved on and now you can't book a horse carriage anywhere because no matter how good horses are, they're not financially or logistically efficient. You can't keep society going forever on inefficient technology when the alternative is right there and getting better by the minute. There is no way to sustain urban horse travel anymore.

This is the situation we're entering. And we're not the horse drivers. We're the horses. Every blue collar job is going to start to disappear regardless of the unions or the merit of workers, and we can't keep trying to sustain horse travel at the expense of improvement. That's Amish talk. We need to start planning for when being a code pusher or an accountant or a graphic designer is no longer a profitable job, because that moment is coming this decade at the latest. There's no turning back. We're being replaced, regardless of merit, and we can't have our arms crossed until it happens because then we'll go the way of the horses and the Amish. What we need is to devise a transitional economy where people can sustain themselves while one of the largest sources of employment is slowly phased away.

Stop virtue signalling about the strike. We know it's important, we know it's fair, virtually everyone who isn't a billionaire supports it. Let them fight their fight and focus on fighting ours.

I studied to be a translator. I started in 2012 and as my degree progressed I got to see my field slowly be eaten up by Google and machine learning. Nowadays there's no money in translating. I can still do a much better job than most machines, but that doesn't matter, because for 90% of all translation tasks "good enough" is enough. My field is gone, and the only reason I'm still able to sustain myself is because I spent the years to figure out a new way to make a living where my degree isn't the most important thing. Because my degree is financially worthless when you can paste an article into a chat bot and it'll give you the translation faster than I can start typing.

Everyone who works on a computer is facing the same future.

And the reason you don't know that is because you haven't bothered to learn what AI models are actually capable of and how fast they're evolving.

Stop worrying about Hollywood and start worrying about your next dinner.

We need to open more conversations about software, intellectual property and tech literacy because every time something new happens on the internet everyone enters into crisis mode without actually knowing what to do about it. A lot of the moral panic over AI is this: nitpicking about names and scaremongering about art theft without really understanding any of the technology or legal frameworks they're discussing. (This is not to say AI is without its criticisms but people have been dropping the ball on this because they're focused on the wrong part of the equation.) A lot of the talk about NFTs and Twitter has been the same: dunking on technological changes without really understanding the root of the problem, mostly for clout and virtue signalling. We need to bring back the discussions of the early internet: freedom of information, privacy rights, right to repair, open source and public domain sustainability. Tumblr is mostly worried about moral righteousness and support, and those are all good things, but in this cyberpunk dystopia it's more important than ever to have a handle on the way technology influences our lives and how we can control it. Freedom of information is mutual aid. Digital autonomy is fighting the tech monopolies. Data gathering is the first step of capitalist propaganda. We can only crush our oppressors if we learn how to stop depending on them.