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angievores · 2 years ago

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Pete does is ATTRACTED to Vegas and Vegas knows it. Physical reactions says a lot.

Let's talk about their 3 prominent interaction one by one. The hallway one, one in the car(most important)and the one in dining table. In all 3 settings pete is in "resting position "but got totally out of breath upon Vegas touch which he hides under "shallow breath laughs."

No he isn't scared of Vegas. In fact he is totally ok as long as Vegas doesn't touch him or surprise him. Look at his body language below. He orders big and even questions vegas, his indirect boss. He is very comfortable.

@cornyonmains post describe how after their hallway interaction Vegas become protective of him. That means something important happened there after. But what?Even boc tweeted next day and asked where do you think Vegas took pete.

I guess Vegas become aware of pete physical reactions to his touch. He already had an idea but I guess he became sure of s&m Or maybe not. Turn the volume up and listen to the scene.the moment Vegas touches pete he gives that shallow breath laugh(is there another particular word to describe it?)

he starts from pressing his shoulder to caress his back to the neck.

Vegas looks down. When they walk all the way to door pete is out of breath, his heart beat is faster which he hides under shallow breath laughs. Do you hear his" out of breath" sorry. Ok it was obvious Vegas was flirting and pete wanted to break off. In the trailer, the moment Vegas touches him, he became obsessed. It may be that moment.

2) pete was practically waiting for Vegas to come. Look at his head movement.when pol was tired of long day. But his brain totally stops working at the sight of him. Now if he was scared his first reaction should be to hide under the seat. But no, his "panicked reaction" describe what was on his mind at the sight of Vegas. . This was the biggest giveaway and proof. Reason for pol being here.

Vegas knows it that's why put condom in the bag and asks to share. And his smirk upon hearing the scream. If you look closely ,with those shallow breaths, Pete's chest is moving upside down upon vegas touch.

3) if you think above reactions are because he got caught.what about this one. The moment Vegas enters, pete stands up and again that laugh. You can hear it, camera doesn't focus on him.

Vegas doesn't like being challenged and this pete questions him a lot. One in ep 7,the other now. So he may have vegas attention from beginning and vegas knows how to handle him. Vegas wishes to sit with them but pete says kinn is in other room (get out of here). So vegas makes eye contact and touches him while asking for permission, putting pressure on him(But I m gonna sit here so move) .

Ep-2 vegas smirk was that of a predator seeing two of his preys standing together unaware. He Smirked at both of them, because both turned to him in sync.(this guy can be interested in both of them at this point as he doesn't see why not?)

Ep-5 we all talk about blurred pete here but look at vegas face. There are two people and he isn't definitely saying that to porshe. He is basically asking for pete's permission with that flirty expression because that little one interrupts him a lot. The dialogue before 'are you "all" leaving' with that face was also directed at "both".Pete was blurred because his main goal was porshe.

Ep -8 vegas doesn't appear in it. Reason, he still has to complete his last assignment of being second lead in first half. But sources claim pete was spying on vegas.

So he came back for a while,but still feel hot in a fully air conditioned house. As usual vegas must have touched him(or more) but I guess this shot clarify his physical reactions on being near to vegas. Another reason vegas wasn't shown, maybe because vegas made clear moves on him this time ( if hallway analysis is correct).

As I said before,they claimed everything is consensual between vegas pete,and for that to achieve at least pete should have attraction before getting captured . And for people to not doubt if he caught feelings in confinement. I guess this pete is already aware of vegas and his daddy issues.

Keep novel aside, I guess maybe we are not acknowledging what is in the front.

#kinnporsche #kinnporsche the series #vegaspete #kinnporsche meta #pete kinnporsche #vegas kinnporsche #vegas theerapanyakul

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aleniksimmer · 4 years ago

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Paranormal Stuff

As usual, at this point, some things I noticed in the new trailer.

Curtain, dreamcatcher and small old picture frame are nice, but I’, not convinced about the fireplace look, despite the side shelves. Also, I don’t think I’ve ever seen the moon so big??

I hope lights actually do this.

The doll is so cute. Also the cube boc and the written hand are nice.

Again, I hope candles actually turns black/blue. The bird thing is also nice, reminds me of Egypt.

I mean, it’s nice I guess, but I wasn’t expecting this “style” to go with this pack. Remove the ghosts and you’re actually going to have Movie stuff 2.0. I’m kinda tired of this “bohemian/country style and desaturated clothes” like Movie, Laundry, Strangerville, Batuu etc. I wish there had been a more “edgy” approach in terms of clothes/furnture like RoM and Vampires.

Initially I thought these were the captured ghosts, but apparently they are just decor?

The “2020 mood” ghosts. And a, what appears to be, african statuette? Also, another hanging plant finally.

OMG so fricking scaaaryyyyyyy *sarcasm* but at least the hands plant on the background is cute. More of that kind of stuff please.

The small cowplant is cute and the fact that they used Strangerville plant on the frames is nice too.

Johnny Depp, is that you? At this point couldn’t it have been Tim Burton’s aesthetic?

Uhm, nice I guess? But still the style doesn’t scream fortune teller nor creepy dark witch to me. The characters dressed like this seem out of place.

I hope you can actually see the face inside and that’s not just a video effect.

I’m not really sure if I like the animation overall, seems a little stiff and repetitive? Idk.

Bob is me right now. Not fazed at all.

Gnomes and bees 2.0.

Apparently the ghosts are going to mess the place and the the new career includes being a maid.

Don, don’t try to flirt with the new dead maid. The candy vases remind me of Coraline, the cups are nice but probably just decore, and I hope the cupcakes aren’t made with actual ghosts.

What a nice bonding activity to do with your kids! I mean, they can’t take care of plants but I’m sure trying to break the wall between the living world and the realm of the dead is way less dangerous!

In conclusion, my personal opinions are: I don’t like the style of the pack, nor I like the fact that the ghosts are more cute than anything (at this point it seems they aren’t even trying to appeal to the older players, but just to the very young ones). I really would have liked a more dark/creepy/edgy approach. The evoke/banish ghosts alone seems boring in term of visuals and I think making it a career is the only right thing to do to make this feature more useful. I speak as a player who loves supernatural and occults, but this pack doesn’t inspires me that much. I admit, before the Disney ad pack I really really loved TS4 and I couldn’t stand all the negativity surrounding it, but after that extremely urequired pack the game didn’t appeal me that much anymore. Each announcement after that, except for the skintones and sliders, never really made me excited for the game again, and I know at the moment TS4 isn’t really pleasing family nor occult players with the new releases. I, at least, will hardly call this supernatural/occult and I hope they are not going to hide behind this SP and say that they’ve fulfilled occult players wishes. I’m still hoping that this year we’re going to get another proper occult type (like fairies, werewolves, maybe helves, zombies etc) and the preview pics of the skintone update kinda hinted at that, I distinctly remember there were a pink and yellow swatch on the unnatural category, something we don’t have and can’t achieve with the sliders and existing skin colors. Maybe this is just a precursor of something bigger since the year just begun. In the end I’ll still buy it cause I like some things and I’m a collector (except for batuu) but I’ll wait for a 50% sale at least.

PS: I’m probably going to write a post about life and stuff in the next days. I needed some time off for myself and I’m sorry I left you like this.

#faq #the sims 4 paranormal stuff #sims 4 paranormal stuff #paranormal stuff #paranormal stuff pack #ts4 paranormal stuff #the sims 4 #sims 4 #ts4 #long post

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highandlowculture · 8 years ago

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A (Sort of) Reappraisal of Metallica’s Load & Re-Load

The much-maligned second disc of Metallica’s Hardwired... To Self-Destruct has grown on me.

A bit.

As such, I thought it only fair to give Load and Re-Load a reappraisal. After all, like many fans, I’ve criticized Hardwired’s second disc for being too sluggish, meatheaded and overall Load-ish (whereas the first disc is Grade A thrash and classic metal). My relationship with Load and Re-Load has been shaky at best. Sometimes I think they’re underrated, but oftentimes I think they’re bloated and drag. When Load was dropped in 1996 I was over Metallica and most mainstream rock music. MTV and the airwaves were glutted with corporate grunge and ska (all of which could be labeled “Alternative” by kids shopping at Hot Topic). It was a shit time for rock music. I had turned to hip-hop and old funk albums. Most of my beloved metal bands from my teen years had turned into trend-followers rather than trend-setters. And even if some of these albums I’ve grown to love in recent years, let’s face it: Megadeth, Testament and even Overkill slowed down their music. Thrash was dead. Metal, for the most part, was dead. Mötley Crüe and Anthrax not only drastically changed their sound, they made it a point to replace their lead vocalists with dudes who didn’t shout “1980s” so much. And, course, Metallica cut their hair and released Load: An album so slow and filled with wah-wah guitar solos, the band was quickly dubbed "Alternallica". Most people blame Nirvana and the Seattle grunge scene on metal’s identity crises in the mid 1990s, but it kind of started with, guess who?

Metallica.

Released months before Nirvana’s Nevermind and Soundgarden’s Bad Motorfinger, Metallica’s eponymous 1991 album (a.k.a. “The Black Album”) was ahead of the curve. The only breakthrough grunge album that predated The Black Album was Alice in Chains’ Facelift. There was a handful of bona fide grunge albums released by underground acts (Mudhoney, The Melvins and Sub-Pop era Nirvana), but the general public didn’t know they existed. To most people, it was Alice In Chains’ first big hit, “Man In The Box”, that lead to rumblings about the Seattle grunge scene (even though the song had more in common with Ozzy Osbourne than Buzz Osborne). Of course the first wave of grunge was initially considered an annex of metal; all of the Seattle bands’ videos had heavy rotation on Headbanger’s Ball right alongside thrash and hair metal bands. Thrash and grunge bands were more in alliance against the popular hair metal of the late 80s than they were against one another; both music scenes incorporated punk and classic metal elements; both were anti-image and strived for authenticity. But whereas grunge was simpler and ultimately more accessible, thrash was complex and sometimes progressive music.

Commercially, and perhaps creatively, Metallica took thrash to its utmost limits with 1989’s ...And Justice For All. Their subsequent decision to embrace slower tempos and more traditional song structures resulted in their biggest commercial success and a watershed moment in popular music. Not only was The Black Album chock-full of MTV hits, it introduced mainstream listeners to music far heavier than anything they had listened to before. The Black Album had set up Nevermind’s success, not the other way around. And you want to talk about grunge? “Sad But True” and “The God That Failed” are almost categorically grunge (the former essentially being a reworking of their 1988 song “Harvester of Sorrow”). So to suggest Metallica was jumping onto any kind of band wagon in 1996 is erroneous at best. They helped construct the wagon. I’d also argue that bands like Megadeth, Testament and Overkill were thinking “Black Album” with their subsequent, less thrashy albums moreso than Nevermind (Overkill’s I Hear Black being the strongest of these post Black Album releases IMO).

So The Black Album helped change popular music and possibly destroyed the burgeoning thrash movement.

Metallica weren’t following trends, they were setting them.

But does this make Load and Re-Load not suck?

At very least, you might think they suck for different reasons.

Keep in mind, by 1996 grunge had peaked. Kurt Cobain had been dead for a couple years. The first wave of Seattle bands were now being outsold by the likes of No Doubt and Alanis Morissette. If any of those flannel-wearing motherfuckers had a dream, it was over. This was the musical climate in which the Metallicats dropped their big Load on music listeners. It was an album recorded by rich men who had already made the myths (both creatively and commercially) and now could release any damn thing they pleased. Was anyone not going to buy Metallica’s long-awaited follow-up to The Black Album?

I didn’t at the time, but, y’know... most people did.

If Metallica was in any position, it was Guns N’ Roses’ position in 1991: When they released Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II.

And this is just one way Load and Re-Load are similar to the Use Your Illusion albums. I think the UYI albums are better than the Load albums. There are enough good songs on UYI I & II to justify two albums IMO. Load and Re-Load: Not so much. Still, there’s no denying the similarities: They’re both essentially a double album that was released in two parts (in Metallica’s case they simply waited a year to release the second part). The UYI and Load albums show both bands echoing 1970s classic rock (I’ll expand on this in a bit). UYI I and Load are both more accessible and hard-rock driven; UYI II and Re-Load are both darker and more experimental. Both set of albums divided fans upon release and they still do. The one area, however, where the UYI and Load eras differ is image. Whereas Guns N’ Roses essentially still looked like Guns N’ Roses, Metallica introduced an entirely new look with Load’s release. No doubt, this was one of the reasons hardcore fans felt betrayed in 1996. Metallica had short haircuts and dressed like the rich rock stars they now were! Obviously this had nothing to do with grunge; if anything it was more metal to dress flashy than it was to wear a flannel. No, the band didn’t look grungy.

They looked positively slick!

Yes, they were abandoning their anti-image ethos of the thrash era, but hadn’t that ethos already been co-opted by the grunge and subsequent “alternative rock” movement? By 1996, it was more rebellious to dress sharp and smoke cubans than it was to just wear jeans and a muscle shirt. That being said, Lars and Kirk’s decision to wear eyeliner was perhaps a bit much. At very least, it didn’t ring with sincerity, which I suspect is one of the main reasons it rubbed fans the wrong way. Maybe Lars thought it was cool to play Bowie and go theatrical, but James sure as hell didn’t like it (take note he didn’t put on the makeup at the time, only Lars and Kirk did). I’d argue that if the band had reintroduced themselves with “The Memory Remains” video rather than the “Until It Sleeps” video, they wouldn’t have polarized as many fans. Black dress shirts and sunglasses just say slick rocker dudes. They might be rich, but they still drink beer. Eyeliner and Hieronymus Bosch references say art snobs.

So their new image was half cool / half uncool.

And the music followed suit.

Out of the gate “Ain’t My Bitch” is a different Metallica, but rather than “Alternallica” I’d label them “Hard Rockallica”. This is just straight-up, down & dirty, rock ‘n’ roll. The type of music you can imagine playing in a biker bar. There’s a bluesy element, with even a slide guitar solo, that wasn’t present in their music before. It’s rootsy, but it’s not exactly their roots. James, like a lot of children of the 1970s, listened to Aerosmith, but by the time he was interacting with Lars in the early 80s it was all about the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal. Even Black Sabbath wasn’t a huge influence on Metallica in these early days; their influences were N.W.O.B.H.M. bands like Iron Maiden, Saxon, Venom and especially Diamond Head. That’s until Cliff Burton joined the group. I always find it funny when metalheads declare that Metallica wouldn’t have gone in the musical direction that they did in the 1990s if Cliff had lived. I guess they don’t know much about Cliff and his musical role in the band. In addition to being an innovative bassist who introduced the brash young band to classical music, Cliff also opened their minds to a lot of 1970s bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd and Blue Öyster Cult. Thus, I find it hard to imagine Cliff would take issue with the band diving deeper into southern rock and gonzo biker rock. Maybe the songs would’ve been stronger with him around, but the general direction wouldn’t have changed.

Anyway, “Aint‘ My Bitch” is a catchy enough rocker. Not the strongest track to ever open an album, that’s for sure! It sounds like a better Side Two or Side Three opener. “2 X 4” is my favorite song off Load. This is a song that could easily be mistaken for grunge because it’s slow and sludgy, but I’d argue it’s got too much of a bluesy swing to be grunge. It struts with attitude. Grunge seldom struts. Most of Load is simply 70s influenced hard rock; Metallica’s N.W.O.B.H.M. influences being traded-in completely for the type of music Cliff Burton loved: Skynyrd, Sabbath, Thin Lizzy, and especially Blue Öyster Cult (all of whom were covered on 1998’s Garage Inc.). While most people are familiar with “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper”, it’s the first three Blue Öyster Cult albums that Metallica draws the most from: 1972’s Blue Öyster Cult, 1973’s Tyranny & Mutation and 1974’s Secret Treaties. Bluesy in a strange, deconstructed manner; hard-rocking yet moody; experimental but still grounded enough for that biker bar; these early BOC albums laid much of the groundwork for Load and Re-Load. They’re also damn fine albums. You should go out and buy ‘em!

Back to Metallica…

“2 X 4” is the kind of menacing deep track that should be loved by both metal and hard rock fans. Between that tough-as-nails guitar riff and James shouting “I can’t hear ya, are ya talkin’ ta me!”, it’s a definite throw down song. But it’s also a lousy choice for a second track. Load doesn’t begin with a strong one-two punch like “Enter Sandman” and “Sad But True” on The Black Album. Load’s first two songs are almost, dare I say, subtle?

Well, as subtle as you can get with “Bitch” in the title.

“The House That Jack Built” is a solid Alice In Chains ripoff. Does this give credence to the whole Alternallica thing? Not if you don’t fall for marketing and know Alice In Chains was always a metal band. Regardless, there’s a bigger issue. The first three songs on Load are all accessible, but none of them scream “Hit Song” (and “The House That Jack Built” is way too long for a third track). What’s going on here? Doesn’t Metallica want to rule MTV anymore?

Then “Until It Sleeps” creeps in and it’s Hitsville, USA! A great, brooding, pop dirge (who’d ever believe there was such a thing). Similar to “The Unforgiven”, it manages to be really depressing yet catchy at the same time. In fact, I think it would’ve worked better as a second single (a’la “The Unforgiven”). It doesn’t announce ’96 Metallica the way, say, “Enter Sandman” announced them to the MTV crowd. It shouldn’t come to a surprise by now that I think Load and Re-Load should've been condensed to a single album or at least a tight double album. And like I wrote earlier, I think “The Memory Remains” would’ve been a stronger lead-off single. As a song it just makes much more of a statement. Between the creepy Marianne Faithful nursery-rhyme and its total embrace of classic rock groove, it definitely announces itself. And although Load is the more accessible of the two albums, Re-Load is the one that opens with a one-two punch: “Fuel” and “The Memory Remains”. There’s a reason why they’re the only two songs from this era the band still play in concert. They’re both catchy as hell. And “Fuel” kicks things off like a big, heavy metal party.

But back to Load…

“King Nothing” is decent-enough, but Metallica-By-Numbers (it’s the track that’s most reminiscent of The Black Album). “Hero of the Day” sounds designed for Modern Rock Radio and as such, it’s the song that most warrants the Alternallica stigma. It’s a well-written and catchy tune, even if it doesn’t do much for me personally. I think it would’ve worked better as a stand-alone single, released like a year or two after the album. Y’know, like on a soundtrack or charity album. “Bleeding Me” is a cool, art rock tune in the BOC vein. “Cure”, “Poor Twisted Me” and “Wasting My Hate” are all B-Side material. “Mama Said” is a pretty country song, but since this is a Metallica album, it might not be the best place for it. In my proposed alternate reality, James saves “Mama Said” for a country side project: Dead Bear In My Pickup Truck. I can never remember what “Thorn Within” sounds like, even while I’m listening to it, so it can’t be very good, right? I actually like “Ronnie”. The riff reminds me of AC/DC’s “Gone Shootin’”. A groovy, southern rocker that’s obviously filler, but good filler to these ears. With the album’s closer, “The Outlaw Torn”, they’re again on BOC mode: A gonzo biker rock epic! Apparently they kept jamming at the end, so the over nine minute album version is the short version!

Overall, I do think Re-Load is more metal than Load. It’s less bluesy and there’s also less wah-wah. Now I like myself a little wah-wah, but what Kirk did on Load could be considered wah-wah abuse. The man is lucky he didn’t get arrested. Right out of the gate with “Fuel”, Re-Load puts some of the metal back into Hard Rockallica. I guess a lot of metalheads take issue with the song because it’s fun. Like Motörhead and Judas Priest were always gloomy or something. Funny, because a lot of metalheads also love AC/DC and God knows they know how to party! Why can’t a band that was once lovingly nicknamed “Alcohollica” write a NASCAR friendly party song? Loosen up, people. I think “Fuel” makes for a better Motörhead tribute than Hardwired’s “Murder One”. Lemmy wrote a few dirges, but he was primarily about speed and “burning hard”. Re-Load’s second track, “The Memory Remains”, is my favorite track and it has to be one of the weirdest hit singles ever. It reminds me, conceptually at least, of BOC’s “Joan Crawford”. See what I did there? I brought it back to BOC. But let’s return to Re-Load and its third track: “Devil’s Dance”. Another great tune. Dark and sludgy metal with the word “Devil” in the title. So that’s three great songs in a row, does this album own Load or what!?

Hold it. I should’t whip out my dick yet.

There’s a drop-off.

And it starts with the fourth track, “The Unforgiven II”. A woefully unnecessary and inferior sequel. It’s essentially “The Unforgiven” in reverse: The heavy guitar verses become clean guitar verses, the clean guitar chorus becomes a heavy guitar chorus. So the most interesting thing about “The Unforgiven”, the way it subverted the clean verse to heavy chorus structure, is replaced with a more formulaic and traditional metal ballad structure. Whose idea was this? “Hey, guys!” Lars walks into the studio, after buying a Picasso, and addresses the band. “Why don’t we do “The Unforgiven” again, but this time around we make it more ordinary!” There’s some nice guitar work, but it’d be better served on a new Skynyrd-esque ballad than an uninspired “Unforgiven” sequel. And to think it was a single!?

“Better Than You” is another dud. A mundane track that makes way too much of a mundane lyric. “Slither” is a lesser “King Nothing”; maybe a good B-side. I can’t believe I like a Metallica song entitled “Carpe Diem Baby”, but I do. The song begins with a thick bluesy riff (they didn’t entirely jettison Load’s bluesyness), then slowly marches to a brilliant curveball of a chorus: It’s bittersweet yet infectious. The kind of tonal shift BOC often pulled-off on their earlier albums (even the song’s title is BOC-ish). I don’t hate “Bad Seed”, but if you’re referencing Sabbath’s mighty “Sweet Leaf” you damn well need a better song than this! “Where The Wild Things Are” is a creepy, experimental ditty. It’s weird enough to charm me, but it’s best tucked towards the end of an album. “Prince Charming” is stupid and wouldn’t even make a good B-side. I love “Low Man’s Lyric”. That’s right: I LOVE IT! A world-weary ballad that wouldn’t have sounded out-of-place on a Led Zeppelin or Thin Lizzy album. I don’t know why 70s hard rock and metal bands are allowed to have ballads, but Metallica are cocksuckers if they show their sensitive side.

“Attitude” might be a generic rocker, but it’s better than “Better Than You” and “Prince Charming”. At least it helps pick up the tempo. And like Load ended with “The Outlaw Torn”, Re-Load ends with a gonzo biker rock epic: “Fixxxer”. Again, like BOC, hard-rocking but vaguely psychedelic. Hippie music for people who don’t like hippies.

So the ratio of good songs versus subpar songs is roughly the same on Load and Re-Load.

It probably should’ve been a single disc, but in 1996 Metallica fans had been waiting five years for a new studio album! Therefore, in my alternate reality, I’ll be generous and make it a tight double album: Eight songs per disc. Overall, I think this version works better:

Disc One

1.) Fuel 2.) The Memory Remains 3.) Devil’s Dance 4.) Until It Sleeps 5.) King Nothing 6.) The House That Jack Built 7.) Bleeding Me 8.) Fixxxer

Disc Two

1.) Ain’t My Bitch 2.) 2 X 4 3.) Ronnie 4.) Low Man’s Lyric 5.) Carpe Diem Baby 6.) Attitude 7.) Where The Wild Things Are 8.) The Outlaw Torn

It’s still called Load, which is a good name for a double album, but the band retain their classic logo.

And this is the album cover…!!

#metallica #load #re-load #heavy metal #grunge #blue oyster cult

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sarcasticfuqboi · 7 years ago

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Those awkward endings to good dates...

Last night was a good one. It wasn't fall-in-love good, but it wasn't a bland, no-chemistry date. I think from now on I'm going to start using a point system. The higher the points, the better the date.

It started out with coffee at Starbucks. Typical, right?

Anyways... Her name was Katie, and once we got chatting, we found out we're both Whovians and geeks. Even more importantly; SHE'S A FELLOW #STARGATE GEEK!!! OMFG, I may finally have someone to cuddle and watch Stargate marathons with!! It was a great start to the evening. +5 for being a Gate Fan.

Then we went across the lot for dinner. Sadly, she ate before we met up, but opted to pick at some fries or dessert to make it less awkward. +1 for consideration regarding my social awkwardness. We ate, and chatted some more, and discovered we get along well enough. Eventually, she was eager to go. She claimed she was antsy because her Aunt was in town and staying with her at her mom's, and her puppers doesn't like Auntie... Is it the truth? Maybe. She already said she's honest; if she wanted to go for social reasons, she'd tell me. Cool. +2 for claim to honesty!

So we left, and instead of walking her to her car like I was anticipating, we found ourselves wandering back towards Target/Starbucks.

"Which car is yours?" I asked.

"Oh, I thought we were just wandering," Katie replied listlessly.

"Well, what do you want to do now?" I inquired. "I can walk you to your car, since I know you want to go home and check on doggo. Or, we can continue on our adventure. Which would you prefer?"

"We can keep wandering around," she opined, sounding as if she wasn't sure of what she wanted. "Let's go wander around Target a bit."

Lovely. A slightly classier version of what poor college/high school kids do on sleepless nights. I would have deducted a point here, but the potential for further romantic encounters negates the turnoff factor.

So, wander we did, and learned a little more about one another in the process. At the conclusion, we went to leave, and I felt self-conscious about leaving a store without buying anything. I confessed this, and immediately began to look at surroundings for something worth purchasing.

"Do you really need anything here? And do you really want to stand in those horrible lines for one item?!" Katie pointed to the two long lines of rabbid late Christmas shoppers, and I immediately reconsidered my existence within that store. +5 for logic, deduction, rationality, and paying attention to one's surroundings.

Cue walking to the car. As we did, we walked out behind a man with funny hair. It was either a terrible haircut, or he neglected to tame it before leaving the house. Either way, we both pointed and giggled, while agreeing in hushed voices that we're probably going to Hell. +2 for like-mindedness.

We get to the car, and we chat some more. Meanwhile, I'm figuring out how to close the 3ft gap between us so I can plant a goodnight kiss, and maybe place my hands on her curvaceous hips. Like any other bitch-ass, I failed to do so, resulting in longer minutes in the cold, conversing.

Eventually, we just awkwardly hug, and part ways, telling one another to text the other when they get home. +3 for being that kind of person.

Such concludes the date, and Katie received an overall score of 18. It wasn't a hormonally charged date where we couldn't keep our hands (and lips) off each other, but it wasn't bland and lame. It was a comfortable middle ground filled with good dialogues. I was pleased.

The fun didn't stop there.

I called for a Lyft using the Lyft app, and set a course for home. The closest driver was blocks away, so she got there quick enough. Brittney was the driver's name. She wasn't attractive, but I guess she was cute in her own way. A mediocre woman, really; especially in comparison to the date I just had. I approached the back seat to find a baby seat on the passenger side. Okay. She's a mom. That's quite respectable.

Went around to the other side, and upon opening the door, the driver Brittney says "You can come sit up front!"

Okay. I guess it makes it feel less like a cab ride, and more like a lift from a friend. I'm not going to argue.

So I get in, and she's listening to Alternative Heavy Metal. Cool. At this point, I'm expecting a good ride; good music, a nice driver, and if I'm lucky, I'll get to tell her about my date.

That.did.not.happen!

The entire time, she yammered away. Half of that time was spent trying to make eye contact with me, WHILE SHE'S DRIVING. Also, she was clearly slurring her speech. MY LYFT DRIVER WAS DRUNK DRIVING. This required me to keep a 360° eye on the road, since I couldn't trust this Brittney to do so, all the while entertaining her monologue, and praying to my Heathen Gods that I make it home in one piece!!

So, she's going on about her problems. Okay, I understand everyone needs to vent, but you're a Lyft driver. I'm your patron; not your therapist.

We finally get a block from home, and she asks what my favorite band is: Blüe Öyster Cult. While technically it's not a lie, BOC is one of my top 5 favorite bands, I'm glad I didn't say Linkin Park. She would have made it worse for me.

So as we're pulling up, she insist I wait a moment while she pulls up her favorite BOC song on YouTube, "Godzilla."

Okay. It's getting even more awkward now.

Halfway into the forest verse, she pulls up her all-time favorite music video, that has this ridiculously long plot about a Cuban homebody, who--according to her sister--needs to get some.

Right. No subcontext here.

So I politely sit through this grueling video to which I cannot relate.

Meanwhile, MY LYFT DRIVER IS MAKING KISSY EYES AT ME.

Fucking. Awkward.

Needless to say, once that video was over, I bolted.

I had posted about it on Facebook when I got in the door, and my friend Margery from Tennessee proposed that she might have been lonely and thought I was cute. So why not just say "Hey, you're kinda cute and seem like a nice guy. Want to hang out sometime?" It's not that fucking hard.

Take my advice; don't be a Brittney.

#first date #starbucks #coffee dates #goodvibes #awkward endings #lyft #lyftdriver #dating

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melindarowens · 7 years ago

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Craziness All Around Us! – Daily Pfennig

Chuck Butler’s: A Pfennig For Your Thoughts Craziness

* Another day of little movement…

* BOC and RBA to meet this week…

* Wait till you read about this new craziness!

December 5, 2017

Good Day… And a Tom Terrific Tuesday to you! I flipped a coin this morning after hooking myself up to my antibiotic… Heads, I go back to sleep, Tails I begin to write the Pfennig.. Well, I guess you’ve figured out that it came up Tails… I don’t mean to be so flippant about whether I write the letter or not, but I have an excuse… Doing these antibiotics through the PICC-line every 6 hours, is like having a baby in the house again, and I’m only getting about 4 hours of sleep at a time… UGH! But you didn’t click on this email to hear about my problems, so I’ll get to work! Derek and the Dominoes (Eric Clapton) greet me this morning with their classic rock song: Layla…

Well, another day, another day of no currency movements, or whatever there is, it’s small… For instance, the Dollar Index yesterday morning was 93.15, this morning it’s 93.11… Whoa better pull back on the reins, that’s to much movement! NOT! The important thing is that the dollar’s rally last week has fizzled out… I guess the PPT has better things to do these days… HA!

As I look at the landscape for the currencies, it appears to me that currency traders are waiting for “something big” to trade on.. The Aussie dollar (A$) and kiwi are the two best performers overnight, and their moves aren’t anything to get all lathered up about. But… they were positive, so they had that going for them!

I had to laugh this morning when I was going through the process of obtaining the currency prices… On the Bloomberg site, they had two headline stories highlighted back to back, belly to belly.. One said something about how the pound sterling was rallying on the BREXIT talks, and the other one, right below the first one said something about how the pound can’t rally right now because of the BREXIT talks… Hello? Is this the Editor’s desk? Good… I want to point out this point, counterpoint thing you’ve got going on this morning… It’s confusing to say the least! What? you don’t care? Ok, I’ll hang up now and go yell at the walls, thank you for taking my call!

Yesterday, I highlighted the craziness of the painting that garnered $127.5 Million… Well, this beats that craziness in the markets, check this out!

Did you hear the news (probably not) that a European corporation, Veolia has issued a 500 million 3-year EUR bond (maturity November 2020) with a negative yield of -0.026 %, which is a first for a BBB issuer, and if that’s not crazy enough for you, the bond was oversubscribed by 4:1! Are you kidding me? In Grant William’s Things That Make You Go Hmmm… he quoted the great analyst James Grant, who had this to say about this issue… “Said another way, three out of four investors who wished to lose money on a yield-to-maturity basis were left disappointed.” – James Grant

WOW! Investors lined up to take negative yields for 3 years in a bond… I told you yesterday about the painting lunacy, well this item and the fact that it was oversubscribe 4:1, is worse, if you ask me! Negative yield has become acceptable by investors… That’s just crazy! The Craziness is all around us folks… Stocks that won’t quit moving higher, Bitcoin at $10,000 no, wait is it $11,000 now? Bonds at negative yields, painting that go from $10,000 in 2005 to $127.5 Million now, and the list goes on.. I feel like George Costanza’s dad… Serenity NOW!

Another example of the craziness in the world today… A dear reader sent me a photo of a man in flood waters, and a CNN reporter asking him what he thought about Melania’s shoes… Of course that was photo-shopped but I wouldn’t doubt it happening, do you?

Well, the overseas news isn’t completely void of anything new… The Bank of Canada (BOC), and the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) are going to hold meeting this week… But that’s about all they are going to do, as I don’t expect any rate movements from of the two…

Gold still can’t find a bid anywhere, and wouldn’t you know it, yesterday I highlighted Palladium, and then the precious metal went about having the stuffing knocked out of it! Well, I think I mentioned this last week, but the news is gaining more traction this week, and I’m talking about the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, S. Africa) mulling over whether or not to go at a Gold Trading payment system…

Why wouldn’t they? They have to be getting tired of the West dominating the price of Gold with their paper trades… The Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) was created as a physical Gold trading system only, so they have a base trading mechanism in my view… I’m excited about this possibility, so I have to say that I hope that the BRICS do go about implementing a Gold payment system…

Oh! And did you see/ hear what the former Fed Chairman, Alan Greenspan said about deficits and Gold? Well, first I need to remind everyone that Big Al was a Gold Bug long before he was the Fed Chairman, schooled by Ayn Rand… But as Fed Chairman he forgot all about his lessons about Gold, and started this whole mess we’re in… Now skip ahead to now, and Big Al is back to being a Gold Bug, and was recently quoted as saying, ” Deficit spending is simply a scheme for the confiscation of wealth. Gold stands in the way of this insidious process.”

The U.S. Data Cupboard yesterday, had the Rocktober Factory Orders, which printed negative at -0.1%… I told you that it would probably be a weak report, and there you go! it was exactly that! Today’s Data Cupboard, has the Rocktober Trade Deficit… Well, in Rocktober, the dollar was fighting back and since it had gained ground, I’m going to say that the Trade Deficit will show it by widening in the month…

Look for the deficit to widen to over $47 Billion, up from the previous month’s (when the dollar was getting sold) $43.6 Billion…

To recap… Another day of no movements in the currencies… Well there were some movements but they were small and barely noticeable.. The BOC and RBA meet this week, and Chuck thinks that’s all they are going to do, with no rate movements expected. Chuck also points out some real craziness in the markets… And Gold still can’t find a bid…

For What It’s Worth… This article is from the Russian Times (RT) and I found it in Ed Steer’s email this morning. Ed has been having some website problems so I forgo the link to his site today. This article is about how Russia and China are moving toward the goal of removing the dollar from their trading… and it can be found here: https://www.rt.com/business/411877-russia-china-bonds-dollar/

Or, here’s your snippet: “The Moscow stock exchange will soon issue nearly $1 billion-worth of yuan-denominated bonds. It could become the start of a new financial system not based on the US dollar, analysts say.

Russia will issue the 6 billion yuan (about $900 million) bonds with a five-year maturity in December or January. The Central Bank says it is testing the water for future investments.”

Chuck again… Hey! we brought this on ourselves, with all the deficit spending through the years, bringing the value of the dollar lower, and giving holders of the dollar a reason to want to remove it from their reserves…

Currencies today 12/6/17… American Style: A$ .7645, kiwi .6898, C$ .7911, euro 1.1867, sterling 1.3417, Swiss $1.0159, … European Style: rand 13.4888, krone 8.2985, SEK 8.4091, forint 264.59, zloty 3.5424, koruna 21.6216, RUB 58.83, yen 112.50, sing 1.3459, HKD 7.8127, INR 64.40, China 6.6199, peso 18.61, BRL 3.2513, Dollar Index 93.11, Oil $57.17, 10-year 2.38%, Silver $16.32, Platinum $922.26, Palladium $996.36, and Gold… $1,278.40

That’s it for today… Last evening I had a visit from former neighbors and good friends, Rick and Laura, and then another neighbor left a plate of homemade donuts at the door for me, saying that she had heard I was having stomach problems again and thought the donuts might help! WOW! Thank you Lynn! What a sweetheart! I had a doctor appt. yesterday. This doc is always amazed that I keep a smile on my face through everything… I assured him that there were days when I didn’t smile… He calls me the Energizer Bunny, because I just keep going and going… And with that… The Michael Stanley band takes us to the finish line today with their song; Rosewood Bitters… I hope you have a Tom Terrific Tuesday, and be Good To Yourself!

Chuck

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source https://capitalisthq.com/craziness-all-around-us-daily-pfennig/ from CapitalistHQ http://capitalisthq.blogspot.com/2017/12/craziness-all-around-us-daily-pfennig.html

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everettwilkinson · 7 years ago

Text

Craziness All Around Us! – Daily Pfennig

Chuck Butler’s: A Pfennig For Your Thoughts Craziness

* Another day of little movement…

* BOC and RBA to meet this week…

* Wait till you read about this new craziness!

December 5, 2017

Yesterday, I highlighted the craziness of the painting that garnered $127.5 Million… Well, this beats that craziness in the markets, check this out!

Look for the deficit to widen to over $47 Billion, up from the previous month’s (when the dollar was getting sold) $43.6 Billion…

Russia will issue the 6 billion yuan (about $900 million) bonds with a five-year maturity in December or January. The Central Bank says it is testing the water for future investments.”

Chuck

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from CapitalistHQ.com https://capitalisthq.com/craziness-all-around-us-daily-pfennig/

#TrumpNews #CapitalistHQ.com

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melindarowens · 7 years ago

Text

Infusion Confusion Always Wins!

Good day… And a Happy Friday to one and all! I’ve got infusion confusion this morning, and can’t really focus, so this is going to be short-n-sweet today, I promise! I’ve had my CPAP machine for a month now, and while most mornings I wake up feeling refreshed and ready to go, that’s not happening this morning… So, infusions beat CPAP… Good to know! Don Henley greets me this morning with his song: End of The Innocence…

Well, to start the day, we don’t have any major news… No Central Bank meetings, no BIG announcement from China, no real economic data. I could discuss the new Health Bill, but why? It’s going nowhere folks… The dollar seems to be losing its grip again, as the currencies inch higher again this morning. The Big Dog euro seems to be stuck in the mud, as it attempted to get off the porch and run after the dollar, but the other little dog currencies have gotten off the porch, but seem to be sniffing around a bit before they take off after the dollar.

The New Zealand dollar / kiwi is the best performer overnight, and even that move isn’t anything to get real excited about! The price of Oil rebounded a bit, but not much, so there’s no reason to rush out and fill up the gas tank before it explodes higher! Not that I think it’s going to explode higher. The U.S. shale producers are really sticking it the OPEC countries.

The price of Oil has been a real problem for all the countries outside of the U.S. The problems are two-fold… One problem comes from countries that don’t produce Oil, and have to import it… As the price of Oil rises, their inflation forecasts grow, they hike rates, wring their hands with worry about inflation. As the price of Oil retreats, the country is left with no inflation worries and higher interest rates than needed, thus putting the brakes on their economy… (see India for a good example of this scenario!)

And for the countries that produce Oil, their problems are really illustrated right here in the U.S. Oil production goes down, the price of Oil rebounds, the Oil producers ramp up operations and begin to pump Oil by the truck loads, which leads to too much production, and supplies, and that causes the price of Oil to fall again, and now the producers have ramped up operations, taken on new debt for equipment, etc. And the Merry-Go-Round just keeps going around and around and around…

Oh, boy, I’m doing it again! Promising a short-n-sweet Pfennig and then I go off on some tangent that fires up the word count! UGH! Well, what else did you expect from me? My fat fingers get going on the keyboard, and the next thing I know I’m finished, and the Pfennig is as long as usual! UGH!

Gold saw another day of light from the tunnel yesterday, but once again before it could get its legs underneath it to run, the Gold short paper traders came forth and stabbed it with their steely knives, but they just can’t kill the beast! (Hotel California), and Gold gained $ 3.70 on the day…

The early morning trading has Gold up $ 8 today, but I just can’t get myself to get too excited about the early morning gains, for they come about before “da Boyz” (as Ed Steer calls them) arrive at their desks..

I’ve read a few reports this week from Gold analysts, Gold mining Co. Presidents, and so on, about how they feel that the manipulation of the Gold price is about to end… The reports don’t really ever get into why these people think that, but Hey! Who am I to question? This is where I would pull out an old-time phrase that’s not used much any longer, and that is… Should the manipulation stop.. “I won’t look a gift-horse in the mouth”… That is an old one, Chuck! Where did you pull that one from? Ahhh grasshoppers, I pulled that from the archives of my memory. I can hear my grandma saying that to me… And for those youngsters reading this letter the saying simply means, “when receiving a gift be grateful for what it is; don’t imply you wished for more by assessing its value.” You don’t really need to have horse! HA!

The Canadian dollar / loonie is challenging kiwi as the best overnight performer. Earlier this week, I told about how loonie traders were scratching their collective heads attempting to figure out how the loonie was pushing the currency appreciation envelope day after day, when the price of Oil was dropping, and the Bank of Canada (BOC) was sitting on their hands as the housing bubbles in Toronto and Vancouver continue to fill with air…

But then the loonie got caught up in all the Petrol Currency selling, as the price of Oil dropped into the $ 42 handle… Well, like I’ve told you dear reader for a very long time now, “Traders are Fickle”… And they’ve gone back to pushing the loonie higher… Hey! That’s alright by me! Don’t let me get in the way of pushing the loonie higher! I’m just attempting to explain its strength to readers!

I had mentioned earlier in the week that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) would print their last meeting’s minutes this week, and then completely forgot about them, until now! I guess I forgot about them because they didn’t contain any earth shattering comments, and they sure didn’t give the markets anything to trade from… Here’s a sample of what they were talking about…

“Members noted that the broad-based pick-up in the world economy was continuing. Labor markets had tightened further in many countries and this was expected to lead to a pick-up in wages and prices over time. Headline inflation rates in most countries had moved higher over the past year, partly reflecting higher commodity prices. Nonetheless, core inflation had remained low.” And as we all know, they left rates unchanged… And, that lack of optimism by the RBA hurt the Aussie dollar (A$ ) for a day but the A$ has recovered that lost ground, and now sets its sights on 76-cents!

The U.S. Data Cupboard today is till restocking, but will have New Home Sales, and the Markit print of PMI (manufacturing index), which I will remind you is NOT the national ISM manufacturing index. Existing Home Sales were better than expected when they printed earlier in the week, and so I expect New Home Sales to be better than expected too… The Fed hiked rates last week, but let me point out that our internal rate is still very low at 1.25%, and the all-important 10-year yield that is used to price mortgage rates is still below 2.20%!!!! So, why wouldn’t home sales be good?

To recap… It’s a infusion confusion Friday for Chuck, which is good because there was not a lot going on overnight and this morning in the currencies, metals, bonds, commodities, economies and dolts! I was watching the news last night, and couldn’t believe they had not one mention of China’s A shares being included in the MSCI that I talked about yesterday! UGH! Oh well, Gold was up another $ 3.70 and the price of Oil rose about 60-cents…

For What It’s Worth… It brings me great delight to be able to direct you to this website today, dear reader… I would like for you to read an article by my good friend, who is also known as the Retirementor, Dennis Miller… He sent me a note this week, when I went on and on about debt, and said, “wait till you see my letter this week, great minds must think alike”… So, anyway, it’s titled: Don’t Get Caught In The Debt Trap! and you can read it all here: http://milleronthemoney.com/dont-get-caught-debt-trap/

Or, here’s your snippet… “Hardly a day goes by without an article blaring about record levels of debt and warning of a collapse. Irresponsible borrowing can adversely affect everyone, including those who lived within their means.

Reuters reports, “Americans’ debt back at record high after nearly a decade: “Americans’ debt level reached a record high this year, surpassing the peak touched just as the worst of the recession was taking hold in 2008, …households …now lean …more on auto and student loans.”

Bloomberg weighs in on student loans, “Student debt in America has hit a new record”: “Total U.S. student debt hit a record $ 1.31 trillion last year, the 18th consecutive year Americans’ education debt rose, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.”

Chuck Again… Dennis does a great job of being fair and balanced on this, and I sent him a note saying that, his quote from Noah Smith, reminded me of my note about the Commodity Analyst yesterday… One day, they’ll rue the day they said those things..

Currencies today 6/23/17… American Style: A$ .7565, kiwi .7280, C$ .7560, euro 1.1168, sterling 1.2737, Swiss $ .9712, … European Style: rand 12.93, krone 8.4752, SEK 8.7560, HUF 276.61, zloty 3.7898, koruna 23.5227, RUB 59.97, yen 111.20, sing 1.3866, HKD 7.7993, INR 64.48, China 6.8321, peso 18.05, BRL 3.3340, Dollar Index 97.40, Oil $ 42.81, 10-year 2.16%, Silver $ 16.80, Platinum $ 931.73, Palladium $ 891.75, and Gold… $ 1,258.00

That’s it for today… no extra innings, no win for my beloved Cardinals yesterday… UGH! It’s feast or famine with this team, and that’s not the Cardinals I’m used to watching… Well, they took a new measurement of the tumor in my mouth yesterday, and compared it to the measurement taken right before I began my infusions again, and the tumor is shrinking again! That’s a good thing, even though I feel like death warmed over this morning! But that won’t last long, and I’ll be back to myself by noon! I’ll have to wait to do my crossword puzzles until then, because I couldn’t concentrate on them now even if I wanted to! John Mellencamp takes us to the finish line today with his song: The Authority Song… I fight authority and authority always wins… (story of my life!) And with that, it’s time to get off the bus this week, and send you to the corner of a Fantastico Friday and a Wonderful Weekend! And Please… Be Good To Yourself!

Chuck Butler

Daily Pfennig

source http://capitalisthq.com/infusion-confusion-always-wins/ from CapitalistHQ http://capitalisthq.blogspot.com/2017/06/infusion-confusion-always-wins.html

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everettwilkinson · 7 years ago

Text

Infusion Confusion Always Wins!

Chuck Butler

Daily Pfennig

from CapitalistHQ.com http://capitalisthq.com/infusion-confusion-always-wins/

#TrumpNews #CapitalistHQ.com

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