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docholligay · 6 years ago

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Aino’s 8: Chapter One--Spark Plug

This is for @yamadara87!! Happy birthday, and I hope you like it. Around 3500 words.

Minako Aino did not have to be a criminal. She had many gifts to leverage in her business life, a certain quality with people, a way of knowing exactly what people were going to say when, a gift for making connections and convincing people that what she said was true.

She put the confidence in confidence man.

However, Mina had observed that there were a great many things that people did for pleasure that they didn’t have to do: Running, golfing, sitting in front of a computer for hours, learning the words to speak about wines and their varied shades of flavor.

Her hobby was just slightly different.

Mina had a solid job, and Mina was well compensated and Mina was bored.

“You know,” she smiled at the man, overfilled with money and underfilled with any sort of charm, the woman on his arm as much an accessory as the Lamborghini he was about to buy, “some of our customers, who have a bit more distinction,” she smiled at him sweetly with a nod, “prefer to order the LP Spyder,” she shook her head and indicated to the Huracán in front of her, “but of course, this is a fine car, seen often around town, and--”

“No, no,” the man waved his hand and drew his arm around the young woman next to him, “we definitely want something a bit more, he smiled lasciviously at the woman, “charged.”

Bored.

It was so easy, talking men into this upgrade or the next, subtly chipping away at whatever sense of superiority they had until the only way to repair it was to add on another specialty package, purchase a custom upholstery, and of course always get a maintenance package with Mina’s preferred garage.

On this, Mina got the slight tingle of deception, at least. She should have been selling the plans through the dealership, but Haruka’s garage gave her a kickback, and she gave her old friend some extra business.

Haruka was a more talented mechanic than anyone at the dealership anyhow, and had been since they were kids, and so she told herself that this was very Robin Hood of her, despite everything else she did to her clients.

“Of course, you’ll want to add the lifting system and magento-rheologic suspension.” She said, as if it were not a question for a man of such discerning tastes.

“Oh, oh yes, how could I not?” he chuckled.

Bored.

But there was a bright spot on the horizon, highlighted in the newspaper Mina picked through as she sat in the uninspiring beige break room, eating her uninspiring cold pizza, tapping her uninspiring black pumps on the floor. She almost missed it, only half interested in the goings-on in the world even in the best of times, when something caught her eye.

A gala.

Normally such a thing would have escaped her notice completely, or rather, escaped her interest. But this gala was in an unexpected place: Las Vegas. She hardly thought that the fine people of this world would end up in a place so gauche, but as she read the article, it seemed, reading between the lines, that the Belmont Stakes had gotten a bit too egalitarian. The whole Triple Crown had, and they had made two separate stops for the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes, ending the whole thing in Las Vegas for the Belmont.

And there was a Triple Crown contender this year.

Mina’s mind whirred. People bet for different reasons. Because they believed themselves to be luckier than they were was a compelling one, because they felt the thrill once and couldn’t stop was another, and a lesser one was that they enjoyed it in a simple and safe manner.

But rich people bet to show others they could, more than anything, and of all the odds placed on the Belmont, she liked those the best.

There was a quirk of the Nevada state law, Mina had learned, that required a casino to keep on hand all the cash required to pay out the bets placed. Even discounting the gala being held with those society prigs, there would be a wealth of cash in the vaults. But with them, her eyes began to glitter with possibilities, and images of her lying on a beach, attractive beach waitstaff serving her day in and day out, totally ignoring that she would very likely begin to find that boring as well.

The rub of it all was, of course, that she couldn’t leave the state.

She was still on probation.

But that was no reason not to dream, she thought, looking at the picture of the glittering and beautiful people printed in black and white in front of her on the society pages.

It wouldn’t do any harm to find out who was going to be there, right?

She opened her phone, and called an old enemy.

___

Michiru Kaioh was also bored, as it turned out, but her wealth and privilege allowed her to be bored in the sort of way that only the very rich ever know, absentmindedly strolling through the fine fashion halls of Milan, touring the Champagne region, on safari in Africa. In each of this places she stared at the beauty and wonder in front of her as if she were watching a rerun of Big Brother, arms crossed, with only an occasional smile when a question was asked her directly.

This was to say nothing of the multitude of dates she had been on, fine girls from fine families trying to ply her with expensive wines or decadent chocolates, dinners at the most exclusive restaurants, and river cruises up the Danube. They were all fun enough, for something to while the hours away, but nothing of it ever captured or excited her, and none of them ever held her interest for longer than it took to mollify her parents’ anxiety that she would never settle down suitably.

And so, she had turned to crime at the age of 18.

It had started in small enough ways, passing off a sketch done by a fellow artist as a genuine Picasso, that had never seen the light of day, “because, you know, it came out of Germany under unfortunate circumstances which are surely neither the fault of it or ourselves,” and it had gone so smoothly, and yet made her heart race in a way she knew not of, that the addiction was instant.

She had honed her craft carefully, the swindle, the gift of ingratiation, of how to say no without ever making someone feel ill at ease, how to dodge a question so beautifully that it became a ballet, all the things her mother had taught her about being a proper woman in society now a Swiss Army knife of tools against her own class.

It was the only thing which gave her a genuine smile.

Michiru had never been caught, and she had no intention of ever being, and indeed, though a fair number of her co-conspirators had been jailed for her multitude of adventures, Michiru herself seemed quite untouchable. The years had passed well for her, ever bolder, ever grander, ever more beautiful even as she reached her late 30s, and still terribly, boldly unmarried.

It was this boldness that allowed her to answer the phone when it rang, when ‘Do not answer and allow her to be grateful you hadn’t had her killed’ came up on her caller ID.

“You have precisely 30 seconds to explain your call.” She said simply.

Many would have started at this cool reception, but Mina would have been more startled if it had not been, given their history.

“How do you feel about stealing from every society fuck you’ve ever met at once?”

Michiru paused. “Not...disinterested. Go on.”

Mina had many gifts that might have benefitted her in civilian life, if she had cared to have it.

Mina laid out her plan, a take so great that Michiru was mildly annoyed she had not thought of it herself. Whatever else you could say about Mina, and there were a great many things Michiru had, there was a certain rough quality of creativity in her that was difficult to argue. It was the reason she, too, had been untouched, until she had been so foolish as to allow her reach to exceed her grasp, and had attempted to buffalo Michiru Kaioh.

“We only have three weeks to gather this, you know,” Michiru considered, “and I do hope you have learned a valuable lesson from our last dalliance.”

“I learned I can make more money with you than against you, and that’s all I care about.” Mina said flatly, “and if anyone can get something like this together in three weeks, it’s us.”

Michiru turned over her former associates in her head. “I have an electronics expert, and a man, so to speak, on the inside at the Bellagio security.”

One of the benefits of Mina and Michiru’s partnerships was that they knew as little as possible about the other, and both were comfortable never asking too many questions. It was the most comfortable uneasy partnership ever conceived.

“And you know an explosives expert.”

Michiru gave a chuff of a laugh. “Rei? I daresay she is the only person on this earth who loathes you more than I do.”

“Oh take a number! Don’t flatter yourself, Kaioh.”

“My mistake. There must be a great many people who loathe you, and god only knows how many people you have chosen to seduce in the middle of work, however, I assure you that Rei Hino has a long memory for such things and is often disinclined toward forgiveness.” She took a sip of her rosewater as the mist of the sea wafted in from the coast of Morocco.

“Well,” Michiru could hear Mina’s smile through the phone, “lucky you’re so silvertounged. You talk to her, I’ll talk to my people--I can supply us an acrobat, a dealer, and a mechanic. Probably. She gets mad at me. Says I let her go to jail too much.”

“Hm,” Michiru flicked her eyebrow as if Mina could see her, and in the way Mina generally knew people, she very likely could in some manner, “I will meet you in Los Angeles next week. In the meantime, I will attempt to curry favor with the planning board--it should take little, one of them has been after me for weeks to accept a social invitation.”

“And I’ll talk to actual humans. See you then.”

Mina hung up with not so much as a goodbye, but neither did Michiru require it of her. Any polite social interaction they might have managed had been buried at Mina’s attempted con, and at the quick correction of her arrest and conviction. She knew the venom Michiru carried now, and Michiru enjoyed the caution.

The Belmont gala. She already had her gown, something that delicately dripped off her shoulder in bright crystalline drops that melted to a seafoam’s lace down the bodice and skirt, the tenderest blues and pinks like watercolor underneath. It was couture and it was beautiful and it had not given Michiru a single smile until this moment, imagining herself in the intricate and graceful frock, smiling and laughing politely and making conversation as the entire betting pool was stolen out from under them.

She took another sip of her rosewater and looked out at the sea, glittering and twinkling as the eyes of someone who knows a secret, and she smiled dangerously, baring all of her teeth.

____

Rei did not consider herself a criminal, in the strictest sense. Certainly the things she did were illegal, but the law and ethics had parted ways some time ago on this earth, and so she considered herself more of a warrior than anything.

She enjoyed a certain amount of asceticism, and one could assume that she was punishing herself for some imagined flaw, until one spoke to her, and found her quite assured of her own impeccable nature. No, the spareness of her living was simply a quirk of her own mind, something she had taken up regardless of the vast sums of money she had accumulated with her work.

That people paid her was nearly immaterial, used only to fund jobs she believed in on the most personal levels.. She liked the feeling of bringing down corruption, she liked the feel of the fire and the explosion, and most of all she liked the way her reputation proceeded her, how her name was whispered softly and reverently in the underbelly of the world.

Rei had worked with Michiru Kaioh a handful of times, and as much as she loathed the gilded bourgeois of her very existence, there was something intriguing about Michiru that Rei could not deny, and kept her wrangled in, a sort of aura that shone off of her in pearlescent light.

Besides, she was not averse to being a traitor to her own class, and there had to be some inherent value in that.

And so, it was with this attitude that she accepted Michiru’s invitation to lunch. It surprised her not at all that Michiru was near the tiny apartment she had taken up on a foreign shore, as Michiru seemed to be everywhere at once.

That was easy when your family had a fleet of private jets.

The lunch was on the private balcony of Michiru’s suite, and no longer occurred to Rei to find such things noteworthy or unusual, and she had never found them particularly dazzling--Rei’s father had been a man of important political significance, and such things only reminded her of the times in her childhood when she had been trotted out like a show pony--but the food was good, and it seemed as natural as an office might be for another person, and so Rei sat.

“I trust you have been keeping busy?” Michiru smiled her knowing smile.

Rei gave a smirk. There was little chance that Michiru was not already aware of Rei’s work, and was simply making clever conversation the way she always did. The Amazon headquarters. Nestle’s water plants. They all had the mark of Rei’s work, and Michiru was no great fool.

But she kicked back and took a long drink of the filtered water in front of her.

“Always.”

Michiru cut through to it quickly. “I don’t suppose you’re looking for work?”

Rei grumbled at her. “Not after what happened last time.”

“Oh, Rei, we got off without a scratch, then, didn’t we? Aside from all that, that was four years ago,” Michiru looked over to where the waiter and butler were beginning to bring in a tray, “Ah yes, how lovely. I do hope you’ll forgive me the rudeness of ordering for you, but I was a bit afraid you might be tempted to flee, and I believe I still have some appreciation of you palate.”

It was ramen, though more high-minded than anything Rei was accustomed to eating, and certainly not something that must have been a simple ask in this place. She hadn’t seen a ramen shop in months, and her mouth watered, even as her mind warned her that Michiru was not unlike a siren in her dealings.

The service left, as Michiru nodded to them gracefully, neatly beginning to tuck in to her ratatouille.

“What if I were to tell you the target would be the larger international society? CEOs, family money, ambassadors, and the like? And that we could take them all in one night?”

Rei looked at her across the table, wishing she could be as disinterested, wishing that Michiru was not calling her back to that table for anything other than a polite lunch.

And yet, to imagine all of those people, covered in clothing that could pay for a child’s yearly education, laughing and drinking champagne, as she stole right from underneath them...well, Rei’s sense of personal satisfaction was occasionally greater than her sense of self-preservation, and Michiru saw her eyebrow twitch with the struggle.

“Horse racing. The Belmont Stakes, which I know you abhor,” Michiru took a sip of some crisp, clear white wine, “ but there will be a grand party, and a great deal of wagers laid, and,” she paused for dramatic effect, ”I heard Senator Hino and his new bride might be in attendance.”

Rei had worked on many personal skills over the years, at one time being as likely to explode as anything she set with a fuse, and she had learned to have a steadier hand, over time. To control herself and will herself into waiting for the opportune moment.

Unless, of course, her father was involved.

“What?!” She hammered her hand down on the table, rattling the bone china and crystal.

“I’ve often been applauded for my elocution, you heard me perfectly well.”

Her father. She’d heard that woman he married was at least 20 years his junior, besides. The head of some loan company, offering her father ever more the social clout and immense wealth that he’d reached for all of his life.

She had been invited to the wedding. She had pretended the wedding invitation hadn’t come at all, slipping it into the garbage without opening it, so she did not even, not really, know this woman’s name.

“You said maybe he’d come?”

Michiru nabbed a napkin at the edges of her mouth, where a bit of balsamic had disrespectfully flickered. “If I let him know of my intentions, and make some overture that he should attend, I think we both know he shan’t miss it.”

It was true. Senator Hino had spend a great deal of time trying to be invited to the inner circle of the Kaiohs and their social level, the rich and well-bred among the rich and well-bred. It was something Rei never longed for and yet was utterly sure that she could attain, if she had.

If Michiru invited him, he would come.

Rei looked at warily, but with an undeniable sense of raw desire for the work.

“I’m in,” She leaned back on the chair, “are we just dividing it 50/50?”

Michiru folded her hands in her lap. ‘Well, this will be a rather large operation, getting past security, observing the casino itself, et cetera.”

Rei nodded her agreement. “But evenly?”

Michiru paused for a moment, and it occurred to Rei that she may not know. Michiru had entered into crime for her own reasons, and while Rei cared little for the money herself, she at least pretended to, but Michiru’s wealth had made it nearly irrelevant, what the individual take was on any given job.

“Yes, of course,” she said finally, as if Rei was all the sillier for asking, “However, there is something I feel pressed to mention, as golden an opportunity s this may be, there may be occasion for you to practice some restraint.”

She sipped her wine delicately, as if the next point was hardly worth mentioning.

“We will be working with Mina Aino, I am certain you rememb--”

“What?!” The surprise and rage of a few moments ago repeated itself in near-perfect copy.

“You can defraud your father, or you can avoid Mina, but I am afraid you cannot do both.” Michiru looked at her pointedly.

Rei sat for a moment, considering her options. The things Michiru was offering her were tempting, and though they sometimes saw each other socially, when Michiru breezed and and out of her life, it had been a long while since they had worked together on a job, and Michiru’s jobs always had an element of creativity and danger.

She flicked her eyes up at Michiru. “Mina.”

“Oh come now Rei,” She said as if gently chiding a child, “it isn’t as if you ended up in prison, you just had a bit of..” she gestured softly, “a disappointed love affair. Aside from all that, it the most technical sense, it is her job, though we are sharing management responsibilities. So if we wish to play ball, as they say, we must play with the team on the field.”

In a contest of who Rei hated more, there were few people that would best her father, and so she smiled at Michiru and extended her hand across the table.

“Promise me we’ll take them for everything.”

Michiru smiled in return. “I vow to do my all to encourage him to wager with the greatest irresponsibility.”

Rei took a drink of the win in front of her, finally assured of her position. “And promise me I won’t have to deal with Mina.”

“In as much as is possible, I will try to ensure you do not fall in love with Miss Aino.”

Rei growled. “I was never IN LOVE WITH HER, it was just that one night and--”

Michiru sighed, smiled, and took a drink of her wine.

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berber-way-morocco-tours · 3 years ago

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Mahkamat al-Pasha (Arabic: مَحْكَمَة الباشا‎ "the pasha's courthouse," French: Mahkama du Pacha) is an administrative building constructed 1941-1942 in the Hubous neighborhood of Casablanca, Morocco. The complex serves or has served as a courthouse, residence of the pasha (governor), parliamentary reception hall, and jail. [Wikipedia] I wish You Happiness wherever You Go 🤲 if You come from htags, explore. 👇 📸 By : @zackariaouad TAG friends who you are taking here 👇 Don't forget to follow us 📧 Book your moroccan tours here: 🚩 Or: [email protected] ☎️+212633987288 FOLLOWG👉 Me Use the tag and get featured! Tag us @morocco_group_tours and use #moroccogrouptours . . . #marrakech #مراكش #moroccovacations #moroccotrip #moroccotravel #travelling #travelmaroc #travelmorocco #simplymorocco #Marokko #igtravel #photography #travelphotography #vacation #vacations #lovemorocco #instatravel #visiting #visitmorocco #travelawesome #explore #tourist #tourism #travel #trip #saharadesert #beautifuldestinations #moroccotrip #marrocos (at Morocco, North Africa) https://www.instagram.com/p/CWBAaW7joSd/?utm_medium=tumblr

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queensandkingsofattolia · 7 years ago

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How about whichever four questions of your choice to answer for the asks?

Ooohh! Thank you, Anon! *goes to sift through questions*

EDIT: This was a lot of fun to do so thank you again, Nonnie!

12. What are your 5 favorite songs right now?

Beautiful That Way - Il Volo | I am back listening to these guys after while and this is such a quiet and sweet and pretty song. (I also managed to sneak it onto @ewokshootsfirst dinner playlist at her wedding reception!)

Only Angel - Harry Styles | I love his whole debut album but I was reminded of my love for this particular song the other day.

Cioa Adios - Anne-Marie | Stumbled on this song by accident and have been listening to it on repeat ever since. 2002 is also super catchy.

Eleven/Play - Todrick Hall | This video is just…so good, and I constantly find myself humming both songs. Painting In The Rain is also really good, but in the painful way.

Familiar - Liam Payne & J Balvin | I wasn’t going to include this one but in the name of being honest, I’ve been playing it nonstop since I discovered it 2 days ago.

22. Where would you like to travel? I would love to go back to New Zealand ASAP because it is the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen in my life. I created a bucket list just so I could put “Hike the Samaria Gorge” on it, and I’d like to travel through most of Greece and the Greek islands. Italy has always been on my list of dream places to travel. Confession though, a lot of my obsession with the Mediterranean has to do with the Queen’s Thief. Taking an anthropology class this past semester further cemented my fascination with Roman, Greek, and pre-Greek, e.g Minoan, civilizations though. I think Morocco would be a beautiful place to visit as well.

53. Favorite makeup brand? Fun fact, I am obsessed with makeup. I’m not very good at it, but I love it. You can use makeup to shapeshift however you want and I think that’s pretty darn cool. My favorite drugstore makeup brand is Wet’N’Wild because their MegaLiner Liquid Eyeliner and Photo Focus Eyeshadow Primer are essentials in my daily routine. For higher end makeup, I really like Tarte, especially the Tarteist PRO Amazonian Clay eyeshadow pallette.

145. Tea or Coffee? I will take any and every opportunity given to me to talk about my love for coffee! From espresso to the rest-o, I love it all! I’ve recently started trying to experiment with cold brewing coffee at home. If anyone has any tips/suggestions for making cold brew, I need some help!

Part of: Put A Number In My Ask

#queensandkingsofattolia #Ask queens #not quite queen's thief sorry

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celia-martinez-writes · 5 years ago

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Ep. 3 Zen Morning in Morocco

The sun was slowly letting me know it’s up already and so should I. Still curled up in his arms, I felt a warm kiss on my shoulder. Last night’s excitement still hadn’t faded. “Good morning, sunshine!” I loved how it sounded, but still didn’t feel like getting up. I didn’t want the dream to end. The dreaded sound of an incoming message ruined my plans. “That’s mine”, he murmured. “Honey, I need to take care of something during the morning, but then we’ll have the day to ourselves.” “Oh, well, I’m not picky, as long as we can do something fun later today.” “Deal! I’ll show around and take you the least beaten path. Most tourists miss those things.” After a light breakfast, I lingered in the lobby for a little while, enjoying an iced coffee. I noticed a picture on a bulletin board. It was a traditional hammam, apparently near to the hotel. Last time I went to a hammam, I enjoyed it greatly. It left me with slightly less skin, after a harsh scrub, but still it was a refreshing experience. So, yes, it seemed a perfect way to begin the day. Then I might do some treasure hunting in the medina. I took a walk to the bathhouse. At a first glance, it didn’t look fancy. I got lucky I saw the ladies entrance first. Otherwise, I would have missed it all together. But inside, a hidden treasure. Beyond the entrance, there was a charming, sunlit garden with a few boldly colored parrots. There were several ladies enjoying teas and gossip. Well, that’s what you do in such a place, right? A quick change in a more comfortable attire and I was off to a few rounds of steam, scrub and oils. I requested a gentler massage this time. I was relaxing in a massage room, when I heard a familiar voice arguing in Arabic and out of the blue, a faint gunshot sound. Guns, in here? What happened? My attendant and I slowly opened the door, but nobody was in sight and nothing seemed to disturb the tranquility of the adjacent bathing hall. As I was ready to leave, I enquired at the reception if everything was all right, but no one heard anything. Walking through the medina, I was trying to sort things out. Only I heard the shot? No, the attendant must have heard it as well. Although she soon disappeared after that. Maybe it wasn’t a gun being fired. But what it troubled me mostly, was that I thought I heard Dream Guy’s voice. I knew he spoke many languages, so why not Arabic, too. I never asked. Would I ask him later? What would I say? I’m not sure. He mentioned earlier that he had something to do, but he didn’t say someone to kill. Who would say that, anyway? This is not a mystery movie, but it surely is becoming one. After all that blabbering in my head, I found myself along an impressive alley, full with clothes shops. They were selling traditional clothing, and they hanged fabrics along the alley. It was like a colorful breeze, inviting you to try them on. I laid my eyes on a light blue dress, decorated with colorful threads and an intricate embroidery. It suited me and the shopkeeper thought I should adorn it with a shawl, it would also keep me shade in the already noon sun. The outfit was almost complete. I only needed some black eye powder, which I got in the store next door. Voila a Moroccan beauty!

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kazlifeadventures · 5 years ago

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Boston, you knocked my Sox off!

(See what I did there!)

Loooong travel day, 6.5hr bus trip back to DC, followed by a train to the airport. I had allowed a good 5 hrs from the bus arrival to the flight departure, so when the flight was delayed by another hour it turned out to be a very long day!! All part of travelling though, and I am still the worst sleeper ever, so that doesn’t help either! I booked a brand new hotel that is part of a chain I have stayed in before. Good choice Kaz, it seems familiarity is still something you crave even when you have been on the crazy odyssey I have been on! Not the most expensive, but not the cheapest either, although research showed me that Boston is not the cheapest place for accomodation! Good news is I again lucked out and have ended up in walking distance to all the stops on the freedom trail, as well as the Tea party ships in the harbour. Oh, I almost forgot, more importantly walking distance to little Italy... seriously , yum...

My first day here, was a colder, wet day, and after my late night and big sleep, I decided to explore my local area, and find a laundromat, get the boring but necessary part of travel out of the way. I ended up at a local coffee shop while I was waiting ( in the Italian quarter - I worked out later.... in my defence I was tired!!) Anyway I had some great chats with some locals at both the coffee shop and the laundromat. Yes, I still talk to strangers....

I will admit it, I am in love with Boston. This place seems to have just the right balance of everything. Public transport system is not the newest or cleanest (or cheapest..) BUT it still got me in all the feels. The history here is amazing. I thoroughly enjoyed walking the freedom trail. Cheapo that I am I didn’t want to buy the map or books, I found a free online interactive map, that told me the stories of the sites, and conveniently the sidewalks had a tiled red section indicating the trail (no arrows or numbers like the one in Hanover though). Apparently a journalist had suggested marking the path to the 16 landmark sites some time in the 1950’s - fabulous idea!!! The walk itself apparently takes about 2.5 hours (its about 4 miles) and covers the sites that are integral parts of the history of not just this city, but of the entire country. The freedom trail takes you on a journey of the major players who were a part of the Boston Tea Party, an uprising that set the country on a course that ultimately ended in a war with England, and the birth of a new nation. Charleston, the site of the Bunker hill monument ( the final stop of the trail), a giant 67m tall granite monument erected between 1825 and 1843 was one of the sites of the first major battles between the British and the Patriot forces in the American Revolutionary War.

Luckily one of the guys in reception had suggested a local Italian deli that make, the best, Italian sub I have ever put in my mouth. Seriously. Tastiest thing ever. the fact that they shave the meat to order as they make it, only adds to the appeal. I then located a shop that makes Italian pastries getting a couple of cannolis that I was destined to eat over the next couple days. (Sad to say they may have been nicer than the ones I had in Sicily recently —-eeek yep I said it!!!) There are no rules about following the freedom trail, so truth be told I kind of did some on one day, then wandered and decided to start from the beginning the second day I was here, starting in the famous Biston Common, taking in such beautiful buildings as the Massachusetts state house, kings chapel, the site of the Boston massacre, Feneuil hall, and some amazing cemeteries (Google the whole list if you're interested!) It was then time for a lunch stop, and where better than Boston's oldest restaurant, the Union Oyster. I had to have the clam chowder and a lobster roll! The building was amazing, the interior covered in historical pictorials. The food was good, probably not worth the price, (and the roll was not as nice as the one I'd had in NYC) but hey it's the ambience and the history you sign up for!

After lunch I stopped before heading to Bunker hill, Instead heading to the Tea party ships and museum (in the opposite direction). Thinking about it, its not much different to how I have done everything else on this crazy adventure. I kind of just wing it and seem to end up in the right place at the right time. When I arrived at the tea party museum, I was just in time for the start of the next tour. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, these things are awesome. They have actors who take on the role of historical figures and lead you through the events of the past. You are given a card with your own character on it and encouraged to join in (as if I need more encouragement...) My kind of leaning really!!! The mix of live interactive performance and the films they show you gave me an incredible insight and understanding of the events that have been dubbed as the ‘Boston tea party’. The Boston Tea Party was a political protest that took place on 16th December 1773 at Griffin’s Wharf. American colonists, frustrated and angry at Britain for imposing “taxation without representation.” They boarded the ships and smashed open and dumped about 350 or so lead lined chests of tea, imported by the British East India Company, into the harbour. This event was the first major act of defiance to British rule over the colonists.

My last full day I spent out in Salem. The story of the witch hysteria, and what occurred back in 1692 is unsettling in the least. Understandable in way, given the time period it occurred, (hey its easier to look at anything in hindsight and go - ‘hey why did that happen’). Anyway it was another rainy day, which added to the intrigue. The city itself plays on its witch history, something I’m not sure sits quite right with me, but I guess you either own it and make it work for you or end up with al the tourists anyway! The historical area of the town has some amazing buildings. The witch museum tour was another tour presented by actors and gave me more if an understanding of the events at that time. The memorial for the 19 people who died as a result of the trials was very well done. A simple space that details the date and manner of thier death, with their final statements carved into the stone entrances to the space. 18 of the accused were hung, with one man (whose wife had already been hung), crushed to death. The law at the time required a trial and a plea to be entered before any punishment was dealt out. Giles Corey refused to enter a plea, so the torture of the day was applied in order to get him to speak. He apparently lasted almost 3 days of having boulders placed upon him, his only words each time, "more weight", his final words apparently a curse upon the town and the office of Sheriff. There is alot more interesting history that revolves around the Salem witch trials. The fact that they recognised they had been wrong and made restitution to the families of those who had been killed was a big step. They still have only theories as to how and why it all began, but I guess an onus of proof instead of heresay is one big thing that came out of it!

I then headed back to Boston on the train, catching a local train to get me over to Bunker hill memorial (yeah- I didn't feel like walking a mile by then!). I didn't climb the memorial as it was too late for the last entry, but it's impressive and kind of humbling to stand at its base knowing what occurred here.

All too soon, my time here is over! 😪

I'm off to Chicago to see another friend from my Morocco tour - more Boston photos to come (as usual!!)

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muhlenbergcollege · 5 years ago

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Coming up this week at Muhlenberg... 🔬 Monday, September 16: The Career Center at Muhlenberg College Internship Showcase. Talk to peers about their summer research and internship experiences. 11 a.m. - 2 p.m., Seegers 113. 📓 Monday, September 16 at 5 p.m. & Tuesday, 9/17 at 6 p.m.: Seminars for Academic Success: Reading & Notetaking. Academic Resource Center Seminar Room, Seegers Union Lower Level ✈️ Tuesday, September 17 at 5 p.m. & Thursday, 9/19 at 6 p.m.: Muhlenberg Integrated Learning Abroad to Spain & Morocco Info Session. Sponsored by History and Religion Studies. Seegers 113. Contact: [email protected]. 👩🏽‍⚕️ Tuesday, September 17: Pre-Health at Muhlenberg Freshman Meeting for members of the Class of 2023 interested in a career as a health professional. 6 p.m., Trumbower 130. RSVP: [email protected] 🍽 Tuesday, September 17: Muhlenberg College Office of Community Engagement Lunch & Such: Co-constructing Possibility. “Partnership: What is it? How do we live it?” 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. Seegers 111. 🇪🇸 Wednesday, September 18: First Spanish Club meeting of the semester. 5 p.m., LC Commons (Ettinger 103). ⛰ Wednesday, September 18: Author, writer, & environmental advocate Ken Ilgunas presents "Trespassing Across America." 7:30 p.m., Event Space. 🍨 Wednesday, September 18: Muhlenberg Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program Open House & Ice Cream Social. 7 p.m., Hillside House. 🖼 Wednesday, September 18: Center for Ethics presents “Ronny Quevedo: Space of Play, Play of Space.” Opening Reception. 5:30 p.m., Martin Art Gallery. Contact: [email protected] 🎉 Thursday, September 19: Homecoming Pep Rally. Join Muhlenberg College Cheerleaders to kick off the Homecoming Festivities. 9 p.m., Memorial Hall. 🌎 Friday, September 20: Center for Ethics "Borders & Immigration: Current Challenges and Constitutional Concerns." 2 p.m., Moyer Hall, Miller Forum. Contact: [email protected] 💼 Friday, September 20: Driving Innovation into Thinking, Work and Future Businesses: A talk with Nadeem Hussain ‘79. 2 p.m., Career Lab. Contact: [email protected]. 🏈 September 20-22: Muhlenberg College Alumni Weekend 2019. Join us for Homecoming, participate in academic programming, reunite with classmates. Register online: https://ift.tt/2A02xTo https://ift.tt/2LY24X9

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bluemagic-girl · 5 years ago

Text

Five dead and 21 injured after ‘white male’ opens fire in Texas

Five people have been killed and another 21 injured in a mass shooting in west Texas, police have said.

Officers initially said that two shooters may have been at large. Later, they said those fears had proven unfounded, with the lone attacker having used two vehicles.

The shooter who opened fire in Midland and Odessa was a white male in his 30s, the Odessa Police Department said.

We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view.

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The incident began when a highway patrol officer stopped the driver and was shot, at about 3.17pm on Saturday. The shooter then drove into Odessa and onto the city’s 42nd Street, where many of his victims were shot. He then hijacked a postal van, causing more casualties, police said.

Midland police posted on Facebook that the gunman had eventually been shot and killed outside a Cinergy cinema.

leftCreated with Sketch. rightCreated with Sketch.

1/50 31 August 2019

A man sits in front of riot officers during the rally ‘Calling One Hundred Thousands Christians Praying for Hong Kong Sinners’ in Hong Kong, China

EPA

2/50 30 August 2019

A migrant forces his way into the Spanish territory of Ceuta. Over 150 migrants made their way into Ceuta after storming a barbed-wire border fence with Morocco

AFP/Getty

3/50

A beagle jumps through hoops during a show at the Pet Expo Championship 2019 in Bangkok, Thailand. Although the four-day expo is primarily dog oriented it features a wide array of stalls catering to pet owners’ needs as well as showcasing a variety of animals including reptiles, birds, ferrets, and rabbits.

EPA

4/50 28 August 2019

Baby elephants rub their trunks against a tree at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Elephant Orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya. Countries that are part of an international agreement on trade in endangered species agreed on Tuesday to limit the sale of wild elephants, delighting conservationists but dismaying some of the African countries involved.

5/50 27 August 2019

Burning rubbles in the market of Bouake, central Ivory Coast, after a fire broke overnight.

AFP/Getty

6/50 26 August 2019

French President Emmanuel Macron gestures as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, second from left, sits between British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, left, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel as they take part in a meeting at the G7 Summit in Biarritz, France.

The Canadian Press via AP

7/50 25 August 2019

A Brazillian Air Force jet drops water to fight a fire in the Amazon rainforest in the state of Rondonia, Brazil.

EPA

8/50 24 August 2019

A police officer prepares to strike a protester as clashes erupt during a pro-democracy march in Hong Kong’s Kowloon Bay.

AFP/Getty

9/50 23 August 2019

Oxfam activists in costumes depicting leaders of the G7 nations protest in Biarritz, France on the day before the summit is due to be held there.

AFP/Getty

10/50 22 August 2019

A vendor sits as she sells models of the Hindu deity Krishna on display at a roadside ahead of the ‘Janmashtami’ festival in Chennai.

11/50 21 August 2019

A girl reacts next to Pope Francis as he leads the weekly general audience in Paul VI Hall at the Vatican.

Reuters

12/50 20 August 2019

A masked dancer takes part in the Nil Barahi mask dance festival, an annual event during which dancers perform while posing as various deities that people worship to seek blessings, in Bode, Nepal.

Reuters

13/50 19 August 2019

Protesters take to the street to face off with Indonesian police in Manokwari, Papua. The riots broke out, with a local parliament building being torched, as thousands protested allegations that police tear-gassed and arrested students who supported the restive region’s independence.

AFP/Getty

14/50 18 August 2019

People survey the destruction after an overnight suicide bomb explosion that targeted a wedding reception in Kabul, Afghanistan. At least 63 people, mostly wedding guests from the Shi’ite Muslim community, were killed and more than 180 injured when a suicide bomber attacked a wedding hall.

EPA

15/50 17 August 2019

A man retrieves his prize after climbing up a greased pole during a competition held as part of Independence Day celebrations at Ancol Beach in Jakarta. Indonesia is celebrating its 74th anniversary of independence from the Dutch colonial rule.

16/50 16 August 2019

Swiss pianist and composer Alain Roche plays piano suspended in the air at dawn during the 20th “Jeux du Castrum”, a multidisciplinary festival in Switzerland.

AFP/Getty

17/50 15 August 2019

Japan’s Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako bow during a memorial service ceremony marking the 74th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War Two, in Tokyo, Japan.

Reuters

18/50 14 August 2019

A woman walks with a Kashmir’s flag to express solidarity with the people of Kashmir, during a ceremony to celebrate Pakistan’s 72nd Independence Day at the Mausoleum of Muhammad Ali Jinnah in Karachi, Pakistan.

Reuters

19/50 13 August 2019

The extraordinary moment a volcano erupted, shooting luminous hot lava from the surface, as a lightning bolt striked the centre of the mountain. Photographer Martin Reitze, 55, captured rare images of volcanic ash escaping from the Ebeko volcano in Russia whilst the lightning froze the ash cloud in time. Martin, from Munich, was standing around a kilometre away from the northern crater of the volcano when it erupted. The volcano expert said: “The strong lightning which shows in the image is a very rare exception, as it was much stronger than usual.”

Martin Reitze/SWNS

20/50 12 August 2019

People swim in a public bath pool in Zalakaros, Hungary. Some regions of the country have been issued the highest grade of warning by the National Meteorological Service as the temperatures may reach 33-38 centigrade.

EPA

21/50 11 August 2019

A pro-democracy protester is held by police outside Tsim Sha Tsui Police station during a demonstration against the controversial extradition bill in Hong Kong.

AFP/Getty

22/50 10 August 2019

Muslim pilgrims make their way down on a rocky hill known as Mountain of Mercy, on the Plain of Arafat, during the annual hajj pilgrimage, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

23/50 9 August 2019

Waves hit a sea wall in front of buildings in Taizhou, China’s eastern Zhejiang province. China issued a red alert for incoming Super Typhoon Lekima which is expected to batter eastern Zhejiang province early on August 10 with high winds and torrential rainfall.

AFP/Getty

24/50 8 August 2019

A herder struggles with his flock across a motorway at the city cattle market, ahead of the Eid al-Adha in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Eid al-Adha is the holiest of the two Muslims holidays celebrated each year, it marks the yearly Muslim pilgrimage (Hajj) to visit Mecca, the holiest place in Islam. Muslims slaughter a sacrificial animal and split the meat into three parts, one for the family, one for friends and relatives, and one for the poor and needy.

EPA

25/50 7 August 2019

Kazakh servicemen perform during a ceremony opening the International Army Games at the 40th military base Otar in Zhambyl Region, Kazakhstan.

Reuters

26/50 6 August 2019

Paleontologist Naturalis Anne Schulp takes part in the construction of the skeleton of the Tyrannosaurus Rex called Trix in Naturalis in Leiden, The Netherlands. After a month-long tour of Europe, Trix is home in time for the opening of the new museum.

AFP/Getty

27/50 5 August 2019

Flowers paying tribute to the eight-year-old boy who died after he was pushed under a train at Frankfurt am Main’s station. The horrific crime happened last week and has led politicians to call for heightened security.

AFP/Getty

28/50 4 August 2019

Mourners take part in a vigil near the border fence between Mexico and the US after a mass shooting at a Walmart store in El Paso killed 20 people. The suspected gunman behind shooting is believed to be a 21-year-old white man called Patrick Crusius.

Reuters

29/50 3 August 2019

Pramac Racing’s rider Jack Miller in action during a practice session at the Motorcycling Grand Prix of the Czech Republic. The race will take place on 4 August.

EPA

30/50 2 August 2019

An extremely rare Pink Meanie jellyfish on display at the Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town. The Pink Meanie was discovered during a nightlight jellyfish dive by the collections team in the waters around Robben Island and in Cape Town Harbour. Pink Meanies are jellyvorous, meaning they feed on other jelly species by reeling them in with their long tentacles. Discovering the Pink Meanie in its early ephyra stage meant the team could study its growth rate which turned out to be very quick as it grew to the metaephyra stage in about a week and a half. The Mexican pink meanie (Drymonema larsoni) was only discovered in the year 2000. A Mediterranean relative, known as the Big Pink Jellyfish (Drymonema dalmatinum) has been known to science since the 1800s but when spotted in 2014 it had been almost 70 years since the last sighting. These jellies are incredibly rare and this new South African species is no exception.

EPA

31/50 1 August 2019

Palestinian men breathe fire on the beach as entertainment for children during the summer vacation in Gaza City.

AFP/Getty

32/50 31 July 2019

A woman rows a boat through the lotus plants on the waters of Dal Lake in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir. The lake is a popular tourist destination because of its floating gardens and lotus flowers.

EPA

33/50 30 July 2019

An effigy of demon Ghantakarna is burnt to symbolize the destruction of evil and belief to drive evil spirits and ghost, during the Ghantakarna festival at the ancient city of Bhaktapur, Nepal.

Reuters

34/50 29 July 2019

Hundreds of hot air balloons take part in the Great Line at the Mondial Air Ballons festival, in an attempt to break the 2017 record of 456 balloons aligning in an hour during the biggest meeting in the world, in Chambley, France.

Reuters

35/50 28 July 2019

Anti-extradition bill protesters with umbrellas attend a rally against the police brutality in Hong Kong.

EPA

36/50 27 July 2019

A general view of stalls closed following yesterday’s volcanic eruption at the tourism area of Mount Tangkuban Parahu in the north of Bandung, West Java province, Indonesia.

Reuters

37/50 26 July 2019

Protesters rally against a controversial extradition bill in the arrivals hall at the international airport in Hong Kong.

AFP/Getty

38/50 25 July 2019

The pack rides in a valley during the eighteenth stage of the 106th edition of the Tour de France cycling race between Embrun and Valloire.

AFP/Getty

39/50 24 July 2019

Former special counsel Robert Mueller is sworn in to testify before a House Judiciary Committee hearing on the investigation into Russian Interference of the 2016 Presidential Election.

Reuters

40/50 23 July 2019

People cool down at the fountains of Trocadero during a heatwave in Paris.

EPA

41/50 22 July 2019

Activists burn an effigy of President Rodrigo Duterte, depicted as a sea monster, during a protest near congress. This is to coincide with his state of the nation address in Manila.

AFP/Getty

42/50 21 July 2019

Protesters run from tear gas, fired by police, after a march against a controversial extradition bill in Hong Kong. The masked protesters covered the walls of China’s office in Hong Kong with eggs and graffiti following another massive rally.

AFP/Getty

43/50 20 July 2019

Fans line the streets of Algiers to see the national Algerian football team take part in an open-top bus parade following their victory in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations. They were celebrating their second Cup of Nations win, 29 years after their first triumph in 1990.

AFP/Getty

44/50 19 July 2019

The 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission is celebrated in a 17-minute show, “Apollo 50: Go for the Moon” which combined full-motion projection-mapping artwork on the Washington Monument and archival footage to recreate the launch of Apollo 11.

Nasa/AP

45/50 18 July 2019

A pupil from Northlen Primary school sticks a poster of former president Nelson Mandela on a chalkboard, as they mark his birthday in Durban. July 18, marks 101 years since the birth of Mandela in 1918.

AFP/Getty

46/50 17 July 2019

Firefighters rush to the scene to put out a fire that spread to parked cars in Jerusalem, following an extreme heat wave.

AFP/Getty Images

47/50 16 July 2019

Rescuers work at the site of collapsed building in Dongri area of Mumbai, India.

EPA

48/50 15 July 2019

A motorist drives past a destroyed house after a large earthquake that hit Surigao City, in the southern island of Mindanao, Philippines.

AFP/Getty Images

49/50 14 July 2019

French Gendarmes remove fences next to a burning portable toilet during clashes with protesters on the Champs Elysees avenue after the traditional Bastille Day military parade in Paris, France.

Reuters

50/50 13 July 2019

A recortador jumps over a bull during a contest in a bullring at the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, Spain.

Reuters

1/50 31 August 2019

A man sits in front of riot officers during the rally ‘Calling One Hundred Thousands Christians Praying for Hong Kong Sinners’ in Hong Kong, China

EPA

2/50 30 August 2019

A migrant forces his way into the Spanish territory of Ceuta. Over 150 migrants made their way into Ceuta after storming a barbed-wire border fence with Morocco

AFP/Getty

3/50

EPA

4/50 28 August 2019

5/50 27 August 2019

Burning rubbles in the market of Bouake, central Ivory Coast, after a fire broke overnight.

AFP/Getty

6/50 26 August 2019

The Canadian Press via AP

7/50 25 August 2019

A Brazillian Air Force jet drops water to fight a fire in the Amazon rainforest in the state of Rondonia, Brazil.

EPA

8/50 24 August 2019

A police officer prepares to strike a protester as clashes erupt during a pro-democracy march in Hong Kong’s Kowloon Bay.

AFP/Getty

9/50 23 August 2019

Oxfam activists in costumes depicting leaders of the G7 nations protest in Biarritz, France on the day before the summit is due to be held there.

AFP/Getty

10/50 22 August 2019

A vendor sits as she sells models of the Hindu deity Krishna on display at a roadside ahead of the ‘Janmashtami’ festival in Chennai.

11/50 21 August 2019

A girl reacts next to Pope Francis as he leads the weekly general audience in Paul VI Hall at the Vatican.

Reuters

12/50 20 August 2019

A masked dancer takes part in the Nil Barahi mask dance festival, an annual event during which dancers perform while posing as various deities that people worship to seek blessings, in Bode, Nepal.

Reuters

13/50 19 August 2019

AFP/Getty

14/50 18 August 2019

EPA

15/50 17 August 2019

16/50 16 August 2019

Swiss pianist and composer Alain Roche plays piano suspended in the air at dawn during the 20th “Jeux du Castrum”, a multidisciplinary festival in Switzerland.

AFP/Getty

17/50 15 August 2019

Japan’s Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako bow during a memorial service ceremony marking the 74th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War Two, in Tokyo, Japan.

Reuters

18/50 14 August 2019

Reuters

19/50 13 August 2019

Martin Reitze/SWNS

20/50 12 August 2019

EPA

21/50 11 August 2019

A pro-democracy protester is held by police outside Tsim Sha Tsui Police station during a demonstration against the controversial extradition bill in Hong Kong.

AFP/Getty

22/50 10 August 2019

Muslim pilgrims make their way down on a rocky hill known as Mountain of Mercy, on the Plain of Arafat, during the annual hajj pilgrimage, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

23/50 9 August 2019

AFP/Getty

24/50 8 August 2019

EPA

25/50 7 August 2019

Kazakh servicemen perform during a ceremony opening the International Army Games at the 40th military base Otar in Zhambyl Region, Kazakhstan.

Reuters

26/50 6 August 2019

AFP/Getty

27/50 5 August 2019

AFP/Getty

28/50 4 August 2019

Reuters

29/50 3 August 2019

Pramac Racing’s rider Jack Miller in action during a practice session at the Motorcycling Grand Prix of the Czech Republic. The race will take place on 4 August.

EPA

30/50 2 August 2019

EPA

31/50 1 August 2019

Palestinian men breathe fire on the beach as entertainment for children during the summer vacation in Gaza City.

AFP/Getty

32/50 31 July 2019

EPA

33/50 30 July 2019

An effigy of demon Ghantakarna is burnt to symbolize the destruction of evil and belief to drive evil spirits and ghost, during the Ghantakarna festival at the ancient city of Bhaktapur, Nepal.

Reuters

34/50 29 July 2019

Reuters

35/50 28 July 2019

Anti-extradition bill protesters with umbrellas attend a rally against the police brutality in Hong Kong.

EPA

36/50 27 July 2019

A general view of stalls closed following yesterday’s volcanic eruption at the tourism area of Mount Tangkuban Parahu in the north of Bandung, West Java province, Indonesia.

Reuters

37/50 26 July 2019

Protesters rally against a controversial extradition bill in the arrivals hall at the international airport in Hong Kong.

AFP/Getty

38/50 25 July 2019

The pack rides in a valley during the eighteenth stage of the 106th edition of the Tour de France cycling race between Embrun and Valloire.

AFP/Getty

39/50 24 July 2019

Former special counsel Robert Mueller is sworn in to testify before a House Judiciary Committee hearing on the investigation into Russian Interference of the 2016 Presidential Election.

Reuters

40/50 23 July 2019

People cool down at the fountains of Trocadero during a heatwave in Paris.

EPA

41/50 22 July 2019

Activists burn an effigy of President Rodrigo Duterte, depicted as a sea monster, during a protest near congress. This is to coincide with his state of the nation address in Manila.

AFP/Getty

42/50 21 July 2019

AFP/Getty

43/50 20 July 2019

AFP/Getty

44/50 19 July 2019

Nasa/AP

45/50 18 July 2019

AFP/Getty

46/50 17 July 2019

Firefighters rush to the scene to put out a fire that spread to parked cars in Jerusalem, following an extreme heat wave.

AFP/Getty Images

47/50 16 July 2019

Rescuers work at the site of collapsed building in Dongri area of Mumbai, India.

EPA

48/50 15 July 2019

A motorist drives past a destroyed house after a large earthquake that hit Surigao City, in the southern island of Mindanao, Philippines.

AFP/Getty Images

49/50 14 July 2019

French Gendarmes remove fences next to a burning portable toilet during clashes with protesters on the Champs Elysees avenue after the traditional Bastille Day military parade in Paris, France.

Reuters

50/50 13 July 2019

A recortador jumps over a bull during a contest in a bullring at the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, Spain.

Reuters

Odessa police chief Michael Gerke said in a press conference: “As far as civilian casualties we have at least 21 shooting victims and at least five deceased. This was a joint effort by a multitude of departments to find this animal and bring him to justice”.

Asked if the suspect had been identified, Mr Gerke said: “He is a white male in his 30s. I don’t have a positive identification on him yet – I have an idea who he is but I won’t release that information until we’re absolutely positive.

Donald Trump confirmed he had been briefed on the incident by the US attorney general’s office, adding that the FBI and other law enforcement agencies were “fully engaged”.

The attack is the latest in a string of high profile instances of gun violence across the US in August, including mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, which led to a combined death toll of 31 people

Watch more

There have been more mass shootings across the US in 2019 then there have been days in the year so far – with at least 279 incidents taking place across 244 days, according to data compiled by non-profit group the Gun Violence Archive.

A statement from Texas governor Greg Abbot said: “The first lady and I are heartbroken over this senseless and cowardly attack, and we offer our unwavering support to the victims, their families and all the people of Midland and Odessa.

“I want to remind all Texans that we will not allow the Lone Star State to be overrun by hatred and violence. We will unite, as Texans always do, to respond to this tragedy.”

The state’s attorney general, Ken Paxton, said: “I am horrified to see such a senseless act terrorise the fine people of the Permian Basin. Thank you to the courageous local and state first responders who worked quickly today to stop this evil attack.”

from Moose Gazette https://ift.tt/2LocW0g via moosegazette.net

#Moose Gazette

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rocknifeshop · 6 years ago

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Head Chef @ Les Jardins de la Medina

We stayed at Jardins de la Médina for the second time, it is one of the best-placed boutique hotel in Marrakesh, it is comfortably set in a traditional and historic building in the Medina. It is full of charm and you feel like you’re also hidden away with so much green all around you.

The beautiful restaurant is in the former reception hall of the Ryad, under the high ceilings of carved cedar, it has an intimate little bar with all the charm of the past. Breakfast and meal times are also among the best times to enjoy the lush greenery of the garden and to stay cool in the soaring temperatures.

I was very fortunate to meet the head chef Sanaa Gamasse at Les Jardins de la Medina.

The food here is delicious and beautifully presented, and it is all overseen by Sanaa. The menu is particularly inventive, with cuisines from Morocco and worldwide, the menu is designed according to the season.

I presented a couple of Rocknives to Sanaa, visited their restaurant kitchen and it was an amazing and special experience to have our Rocknives being showcased in a busy working kitchen out in tropical Marrekesh.

Hopefully Rocknife will get more opportunities to be chopping, dicing and slicing in more exotic and awesome locations around the world. Watch this space!

0 notes

coffeebreakstatement · 7 years ago

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Poland Summer 2017 #3: Comfort Zones

There comes a point in your travels when you get comfortable enough with the city you’re in that you recognize the street names and the shops along the way. You start to fit together the pieces of the map in your head. Within a couple of days walking around, I find that I am able to navigate pretty well in a new place. I stayed in Katowice for just under two days. Just when I had started to figure things out, it was time for a change.

Today was a transition day. I went from the relative comfort of cozy Katowice where I had no obligations or plans, to summer school in Cieszyn. I took a bus there that was organized by the school. The lady on the bus gave all the directions in Polish and English, but she used simple enough Polish that I was able to understand even that. There were two girls behind me speaking French. I was actually very hopeful that there would be French-speaking people here because it would be another opportunity to practice a language or at least more people that I can understand.

I slept for most of the bus ride. By the time I woke up, I could see rolling hills and green everywhere. It reminded me a little bit of the foothills at home. A girl from my university came to this summer school last year and she had given me a very detailed description of absolutely everything she could remember. I had read it so many times that when we turned the corner to get to the school, I could recognize some things that she had mentioned. The grocery store at the bottom of the hill, the long incline up to the student dorms, the main hall.

The rooms are like any typical student dorms. Four people sharing a bathroom and kitchen with two people in each room. My roommates are from China, Morocco, and Belarus with Polish competency ranging from better than mine to nothing at all. In a way, it is comforting that I already know some Polish so I’m not thrown into this brand new, confusing world like many people here who don’t speak a word of Polish. I was the translator at the grocery store and I have been teaching the girl who sleeps in the same room as me how to say our room number in Polish – “dwieście dwadzieścia trzy” – so she can ask for the key at the reception.

It’s very interesting being with so many people from so many different backgrounds. We’ve been talking a lot about our differences and similarities. We learned how to say “good morning” in Chinese, Moroccan Arabic, and Russian so we can all greet each other in the morning. We’ve been talking exclusively in English because it is the only language that we are all fluent in. The Belarusian girl is taking English in university so she says that it’s helpful to have a Native speaker to speak with.

I think one thing I struggle with is that while we need to speak in English for us all to communicate, I’m not improving any language skills. It’s like speaking English as a native language is a privilege, in that I don’t have to struggle to communicate with a lot of people, and a curse, in that I speak the “universal” language so I need to speak it. I keep asking them all to teach me how to say some words in their languages so I can learn something from them too.

I found out today that I am the only Canadian here. I didn’t really have an expectation of whether there would be another one or not, but I think I was hoping for a small piece of home. We have to give presentations on our countries in the middle of August in the town centre. I’m more nervous for it now because I have to do it all myself and I’m still not totally sure what I can do or say to really show “Canadian culture”. There’s not really “Canadian culture” in the same way that the other countries here have unique things to show like dances or songs or language.

Polish proficiency tests are tomorrow. They impressed on us numerous times that we should not study or prepare for them at all. So I’m not (even if I’m fighting every bone in my body that wants to study). The slow crawl out of my comfort zone has definitely begun.

#b: travel #t: poland summer 2017

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caveartfair · 6 years ago

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Amid Controversy, the Whitney Biennial Plays It Safe

John Edmonds, The Villain, 2018. Courtesy of the artist; Company, New York; and the Whitney Biennial.

Lambrequin and Peplum, , 2017. Diane Simpson Whitney Museum of American Art

Maybe it’s not fair to expect an exhibition as popular and overly scrutinized as the Whitney Biennial to take huge risks—especially not after the last edition dissolved into a still-simmering debate over race and identity politics. And yet, there’s something undeniably flat about the 2019 show, co-curated by Jane Panetta and Rujeko Hockley and opening to the public on May 17th.

There isn’t much here to quicken the pulse, with even the politically inflected works coming across as too polite for our current moment. And if one possible function of the biennial is to act as a kind of cross-section of American artistic practice, this exhibition makes some puzzling choices. An alien visitor to the biennial would be forgiven for thinking that most current painting is of the mildly inept, figurative variety, and that found-object assemblage is the way most humans choose to creatively communicate with each other.

The General,, 2018. Nicole Eisenman Whitney Museum of American Art

But let’s start on a positive note: all the way up on the Whitney’s 6th-floor outdoor patio, lashed by wind and cold rain during Monday’s press preview. Here you’ll find one of the Whitney Biennial’s only true showstoppers, an epic sculpture by Nicole Eisenman called Procession (2019). A parade of migratory humanoids is caught mid-journey, possibly in the process of transporting a series of modernist-looking metal sculptures on plinths.

Every element of this sprawling piece is a delight, from the lovingly sculpted cartoonish genitals to the puffs of steam randomly emitted from unexpected orifices. Procession recalls a heroic journey from millennia past, but idiosyncratic Easter eggs abound: a Kryptonite bike lock here, a pair of New York Giants socks there. The funny, complicated sculpture is comfortable juggling sophomoric fart humor with reflections on power, bondage, servitude, and the pomposity of religion—and art, for that matter. A bumper sticker on the back of the cart reads “How’s My Sculpting? Call 1-800-EAT-SHIT.” Procession’s very placement is a stroke of genius: just outside of the museum proper, as if the procession wasn’t quite able to make it to the halls of culture.

Inside, it’s warmer and drier, but also a little predictable. The ghost of Robert Rauschenberg hangs heavy over work by Eric Mack, Troy Michie, and Tomashi Jackson: photo transfers, quilt-like collages of material, and evocative detritus (other artist’s press releases, political buttons, deconstructed bits of clothing).

Installation view of Nicole Eisenman, Procession, 2019.

Across the board, there’s too much found-object assemblage. Wangechi Mutu’s Poems by my great grandmother I (2017)—a construction of wood and cow horn and a dangling pencil that rotates, drawing a circle on its metal base—could be a small-scale homage to Bruce Nauman’s Carousel (Stainless steel version)(1988). Robert Bittenbender’s unwieldy wall sculptures, cages stuffed to bursting with metal cords and junk, seem like hyperbolic parodies of the magpie aesthetic. There are interesting things about some of these works—including large-scale sculptures by Joe Minter—but the sheer volume of them gives the impression that contemporary artists are basically collectors and curators of things they have bought or found.

One big exception here are inventive sculptures by Puerto Rican artist Daniel Lind-Ramos, who makes magic with palm tree trunks, beads, coconuts, soil, and other poetic objects. As with the best of Nari Ward, a sense of symmetry and gravity give these sculptures a sense of ritual importance, despite their secular materials.

Eric N. Mack, (Easter) The Spring / The Holy Ground, 2018. Courtesy of the artist; Morán Morán, Los Angeles; Simon Lee, London; and the Whitney Biennial.

Sentinel I, 2018. Wangechi Mutu Whitney Museum of American Art

Painting fares the worst of all in the Biennial, which seems to be asserting that the medium isn’t dead, just uninteresting. Kyle Thurman’s figurative depictions of men are a weak stab in the direction of Leon Golub; Eddie Arroyo’s paintings of shabby building facades in the Little Haiti neighborhood of Miami may be conceptually interesting, but they’re imminently forgettable as images. Calvin Marcus’s massive canvases are betting on the fact that size is what matters, even when the subject matter—an Ed Ruscha-esque view through a car windshield; a circle of donkeys; an upside down snowman—seems arbitrary at best.

There are a few bright spots to be found, including Janiva Ellis, a stand-out of the last New Museum Triennial. And Keegan Monaghan’s thickly painted renderings of boring things—a rotary telephone, a bit of wood fencing—have the funky, borderline kitschy feel of Red Grooms. Three works by Marlon Mullen are charming and unexpected—all based on the covers of popular trade magazines like Art in America, abstracted into color, pattern, and the text of marquee names, from Grant Wood to Elizabeth Murray.

5825 NE 2nd Ave., Miami, FL 33137, 2017. Eddie Arroyo Whitney Museum of American Art

An emphasis on photography at the Biennial enlivens things a bit, including a small room’s worth of work by Paul Mpagi Sepuya and his peers and collaborators—who are often credited with authoring certain images, eliciting a confusion that’s ultimately about how porous and fluid creative communities can be. The on-the-rise John Edmonds gets two side hallways for his sensual, elegant portraits of black men and women posing with African masks and sculptures. Curran Hatleberg, who has the third-floor gallery space essentially to himself, was a welcome discovery for this critic; his evocative, empathetic portraits and landscapes fall somewhere between Alec Soth and Gregory Crewdson.

Other highlights include Meriem Bennani’s series of videos, housed here in a series of offbeat pavilions outdoors on the fifth floor balcony. Like much of her work, the new installation begins with a documentary subject—Moroccan teenagers, caught laughing, hanging out, and complaining about how Instagram won’t verify their accounts—but also detours into comedic special-effects absurdity. We see local architecture in Morocco’s capital city swaying and crooning R&B lyrics like “I’m a sexy house in Rabat.”

In the ground floor lobby gallery, the always incredible Chicago-based artist Diane Simpson has a series of sculptures that could be storefront displays or altars. Their forms, made with painted fiberboard, lurk on the edge of familiarity—is that a coffee grinder, a length of armor, a trio of folding chairs?—but never fully resemble any one thing. Olga Balema’s sculptures, meanwhile, have a somewhat similar approach to DIY abstraction, albeit messier; who knew one could cover so much ground with little more than carved styrofoam and tape? And Brian Belott’s installation of freezer units holding ephemeral frozen sculptures show a similar knack for funky, handmade invention, even if not every visitor was impressed. “Marc Quinn,” a jaded woman next to me said, referring to the British artist famous for making a bust of his head with his own frozen blood. “That’s the problem with ice—it’s been done!”

Incoming, 2016-2017. Keegan Monaghan Whitney Museum of American Art

If there’s one area where the 2019 Whitney Biennial really stumbles, it’s with the outwardly political. Surely, part of the curatorial conversation must have involved the elephant in the room: Either engage with the oppressive shadow of Trumpism, or treat the show as a respite from the news cycle. This exhibition merely makes half-hearted gestures toward the topical. There’s a goofy series of wall-mounted photo sculptures by Josh Kline, which depict scenes, including the reception desk of Twitter, being slowly covered by rising water. Marcus Fischer presents a reel-to-reel machine playing the recorded thoughts of fellow artists prior to the 2017 inauguration, probing their “fears and reservations about the Trump presidency.” The results are a beat poem (“civil rights…discrimination…polar bears…fracking”) that’s only revelatory if you’ve been sleeping for the past few years.

Alexandra Bell’s biennial contribution is more substantive—annotated articles from the New York Daily News covering the overblown and racist rhetoric surrounding the wrongly accused “Central Park Five.” One piece includes a full-page newspaper ad, written and paid for by one Donald Trump, which calls for a return to the death penalty and no-holds-barred policing. Bell uses a yellow highlighter to isolate especially egregious language, and replaces all the photographs with black boxes. It’s an interesting exercise, but not as compelling as Bell’s better known series, which reworked pages of the New York Times to address racial bias surrounding the killing of Michael Brown. Meanwhile, Kota Ezawa’s film National Anthem (2018)—which animates the artist’s watercolors of NFL players taking a knee—is a political artwork that absolutely no one visiting the Whitney would be likely to be troubled by. It’s as well-meaning as it is toothless.

More successful are a set of drawings by Christine Sun Kim, which remind us that the personal is always political. The artist, who is deaf, weighs in on various sources of her “deaf rage,” experienced in various settings (“while traveling,” or “in the art world”). The quasi-scientific diagrams pinpoint all the many ways in which a differently abled artist can be pushed to the brink. Kim isolates two instances of what she categorizes as merely “cute rage”: “Being offered a wheelchair at the arrival gate…and the braille menu at restaurants.”

Christine Sun Kim, Degrees of My Deaf Rage in The Art World, 2018. Courtesy of the artist; White Space, Beijing; and the Whitney Biennial.

But there is a single instance of hypertopical critique that hits its target, and hard. The most thrilling and dangerous work in the otherwise tame Biennial comes courtesy of Forensic Architecture. The hard-to-define, multidisciplinary collective chose to call out Whitney board vice chairman and Safariland CEO Warren Kanders for the sources of his wealth—namely tear-gas canisters used against migrants at our southern border, and bullets fired by the Israeli military.

While it’s not mentioned directly in the video, Kanders’s presence on the board has caused a swell of protest in the lead-up to the Whitney Biennial, mainly spearheaded by the collective Decolonize This Place. Fellow biennial artist Michael Rakowitz actually pulled out of the show in solidarity with this movement, but Forensic Architecture has done something more effective: remain, and bite the tear gas-grenade-wielding hand that feeds them. Their film manages a nice balance between the didactic and the poppy, concisely explaining a broader initiative to use machine-learning and artificial intelligence to identify online images of a specific teargas product made by Kanders’s company.

“While my company and the museum have distinct missions,” Kanders was quoted saying in a letter to Whitney staffers, “both are important contributors to our society.” Watch a few minutes of Forensic Architecture’s effective, rapidfire footage and you’ll likely disagree. Kudos to the curators for putting the film, Triple Chaser (2019), in the center of the sixth floor galleries, rather than relegating it to a less prominent corner of the museum. But what does it say about this Whitney Biennial that its most relevant moment is one that seems to call the whole enterprise into question?

from Artsy News

#Artsy News

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toldnews-blog · 6 years ago

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New Post has been published on https://toldnews.com/technology/entertainment/couples-are-tying-the-knot-and-retying-it-and-tying-it-again/

Couples are Tying the Knot. And Retying It. And Tying It Again.

After two years and three wedding ceremonies, Benji Damron and Paris Yuan were left standing in blinding sunlight on a dusty road in Xinxiang, China, 400 miles south of Beijing. It was May 2017, and they had just completed the most elaborate stop in a whirlwind of celebration. But, here they were all sweaty as they waited with others for a cab. The humor of the situation was not lost on them.

“Despite it not being traditionally romantic, it’s still one of my fondest memories,” said Mr. Damron, a 43-year-old architect from London, Ind.

He and Ms. Yuan, 30, had gone through an abbreviated version of the traditional Chinese wedding ceremony. Ms. Yuan, who was raised in Beijing, did not recognize most of the 100 guests, but that was irrelevant. The event was an honorary gesture for her parents.

Besides, the couple had already gotten married their way — twice. Their legal ceremony was Sept. 10, 2015 at San Francisco City Hall, surrounded by close friends. They had a more formal ceremony that June with 50 guests in the tower of the de Young Museum, also in San Francisco.

Multiceremony wedding experiences are becoming more common among couples looking to accommodate different cultural and religious backgrounds, not to mention guests who may not be able to afford pricey destination weddings. (Jove Meyer, a wedding planner in New York, says that 15 percent of the couples he has worked with in the last year have had more than one ceremony.)

Nearly 60 percent of individuals these days are marrying someone with a different background, according to the WeddingWire, which tracks wedding trends and operates an online marketplace for the industry. “This means that it’s no longer considered over the top if a couple wants to host multiple celebrations,” said Jeffra Trumpower, the creative director of WeddingWire.

Many of these multiple celebrations do, in fact, qualify as over the top, with some costing well into six figures. The average cost was $50,000, according to the WeddingWire, a little more than the $38,700 national average for all weddings.

Cultural celebrations may be especially elaborate and include larger guest lists. For Mr. Damron and Ms. Yuan, it was the final Chinese ceremony that cost the most, at an estimated $55,000. (Ms. Yuan’s parents footed the bill.) That ceremony included a walk through an artificial fire meant to symbolize the couple’s ability to conquer life’s adversities, along with shots of Baijiu, a white grain alcohol native to China, that they drank as they greeted the guests.

When Binita Mehta-Parmar and Hemant Parmar, both 28, married in 2016 in England, they opted for both a Hindu and a traditional English ceremony a few days apart to honor their religious background and British culture. Each ceremony lasted about three hours and was followed by large receptions at the Grove Hotel in the suburb of Hertfordshire. The Hindu celebration, held before 40 guests, took place at the hotel and was followed by a 100-person dinner party. The “white wedding,” as Ms. Mehta-Parmar calls it, took place with 80 guests at her parents’ house nearby and was capped off with a 360-person reception at the Grove Hotel.

Each wedding ceremony came complete with string quartets, a harpist, masters of ceremony, an celebrant, a photographer and videographer, and flower arrangements. The second ceremony also had a horse and carriage. Ms. Mehta-Parmar acknowledged that each of the two events was very expensive, though she declined to provide any numbers.

Not all multiceremonies have to break the bank. “It truly depends on how couples prioritize spending based on their preferences, how many guests they invite and how they decide to personalize it,” Mrs. Trumpower said.

Some couples manage to keep their spending lower by taking a more casual, carefree approach.

Grace Sun, 46, and Miguel Blanco, 41, split their time between Ms. Sun’s home in New York and Mr. Blanco’s home in Hendaye, Spain. After getting engaged in Morocco in March 2018, the couple put together an unofficial wedding ceremony during a trip they had already planned in France that July. “We didn’t want to wait another year to get married and we just thought, ‘You know what, it doesn’t need to be traditional, it’s just a love celebration, and we can always have more than one,’” Ms. Sun said.

Their celebration included 26 people, mostly Mr. Blanco’s family and some friends, at the surfer haunt Le Restaurant C on the beach at Cenitz, a short drive from Hendaye. The biggest expense was Ms. Sun’s $1,895 Jonathan Simkhai dress, which she ordered online. Three months later, the couple celebrated again with 30 of Ms. Sun’s family members and close friends in her sister’s backyard and at a nearby beach in Marina del Rey, Calif. Expenses were limited to a food truck and bartender, as well as a Marchesa dress bought on sale by Ms. Sun. Mr. Blanco wore the same Zara suit to both events. Over all, they spent a total of $11,000.

“All of the pomp and circumstance, and stress, can make you lose sight of why you’re having a wedding in the first place, so I wanted this to be more relaxed and festive,” Ms. Sun said.

Of course, it’s not just couples who have to shore up their savings for weddings. The average American wedding guest spends $372 to $628, depending on how close they are to the couple and their direct involvement in the wedding, according to the financial services company Bankrate. Multiply these numbers by two or three events and it becomes awkward for couples to insist on attendance at each ceremony, so most try to avoid too much overlap in the guest list.

In 2017, Tim Harrison, 36, and Nick Harris, 39, held two wedding celebrations to accommodate friends and family — one was in Milwaukee and another in a suburb of Melbourne, Australia, their hometowns. Only 25 guests attended both, including Mr. Harrison’s parents and Australian family and friends, who seemed happy to continue the party.

Conz Preti, 35, and Zach Hefferen, 38, held three weddings throughout the course of 2016 and 2017. It was a plan that was initiated by their desire to have Mr. Hefferen’s mother, who was suffering from brain cancer, at their wedding. In November 2016, a month after getting engaged, they kicked things off with a city hall wedding in New York, surrounded by family and friends, followed by an after-party at the hipster watering hole Extra Fancy in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Along with the urgency of Mr. Hefferen’s mother’s health, the couple did not want a long engagement, according to Ms. Preti, a writer who was most recently the regional director at BuzzFeed. “We figured we would plan the big parties after the official marriage,” she said. “It really took the stress away from the other celebrations.”

The couple had two more ceremonies — one in Uruguay and one in Maine — in honor of Ms. Preti’s and Mr. Hefferen’s roots. Although there was some guest overlap, only one person, Mr. Hefferen’s best friend, Blake Whitman, managed to attend all three, calling it a “no brainer.”

“Not only do I love these people, but I had the opportunity to celebrate with their different families and friends in wonderfully different parts of the world, and that is not something I wanted to miss,” Mr. Whitman said.

For those ceremonies that do involve a lot of invite overlap, keeping each one fresh for both the couple and their guests is key, said Jung Lee, a founder of the event production company Fête NY. “Each one should feel like a totally different experience.”

But Mrs. Lee is hesitant to plan multiceremony events that extend past the one-year mark. “I think beyond that, you’ve lost momentum,” she said.

Ms. Yuan and Mr. Damron found that to be true. They contemplated hosting yet another ceremony in Indiana for his family after the Chinese wedding, but ultimately decided to shelve it. “Setting boundaries is important,” said Mr. Damron, adding that he would likely have a family dinner during their next trip instead.

#entertainment news cbs #entertainment news channels #entertainment news logo #entertainment news reporter la times #entertainment news story ideas #entertainment news yesterday

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