#although a march sunday on 10 am is not typically when the people are out

[esper-aroon]

i see pictures of big cities abroad sometimes and feel almost anxious seeing the streets packed full of people in every direction. i do not want to go there.

This may be an urban legend and I will preface this by saying that I don't even remember where I heard it, but going to bigger cities in Finland always reminds me of it nonetheless, so I'm telling you now.

There was a student group from either China or Korea - I can't recall which one, but Asian nonetheless - who were in student exchange to Finland, in Helsinki. The finnish hosts did their best to make them feel welcome, touring them around the city on the first day out and about, but they noticed the asian students seeming uneased by something. Not in a way of just being timid about being in a foreign country, but glancing at each other like something was off, and looking at each other with this air of "you're seeing it too, right?" but none of them wanted to be the first to bring it up to their finnish hosts. Both cultures are the high-context type, so they had clearly concluded that since the finns didn't point out the obvious unpromptedly, the subject might be too sensitive to talk about.

Eventually one of the exchange students decided to brave against this potential taboo, and delicately asked: "has something... Happened here?" And there was mutual surprise when the finns had no clue what they were talking about. This was pre-covid, nothing bad had happened there. And one of the exchange students - who still weren't sure whether they're breaching a taboo of something One Does Not Talk About - bravely elaborated. The streets are empty. It's eerie. They're in the central of the capital city and the streets are almost deserted. Has there been some calamity? A plague, an earthquake, have the people fled or been evacuated somewhere? Is it safe to even be here?

And they were just as baffled when the finnish hosts confirmed that no, this is a normal amount of people to see on the street on a normal day. Finland just looks like this. And for the sake of clarity, this is what Helsinki city centre looks like on a normal saturday morning at 10 am:

Both pictures taken by me, this morning.

[husheduphistory]

Ghost Blimp: The Mystery and Missing on the L-8

On Sunday, August 16th 1942 Richard L. Johnston was going about his business. He had just finished waxing his car in Dale City, California when he looked up and saw something huge creeping out of the sky and towards his house. Suddenly it hit a utility pole, electrical wires broke sending sparks cascading down to the street, and Johnson ran into the house to protect his mother. When he came back outside there was a large group of people in the street including Fire Deputy Marshal Sean Wood and Johnston’s next door neighbor, volunteer fireman William Morris. Johnston’s car was completely hidden under a massive fold of what looked like canvas. When Johnston woke up that morning he probably didn’t expect that a blimp would land on his car that day. And yet, moments later the scene became even more bizarre.

In August 1942 the United States Navy was on high alert. Within nine months after entering World War II Japanese submarines sunk at least six Allied ships off the American west coast and shelled one of California’s largest oil drilling facilities. The fear of another attack on American soil was high and in order to keep an eye on the sea along the west coast the Navy took to the air, deploying blimps to cruise over the ocean and watch for any suspicious activity.

World War II Navy blimp. Image via Wikimedia Commons.

The blimp that landed on Johnson’s car was the L-8 airship, acquired by the Navy from the Goodyear company and commissioned on March 5, 1942. It was an excellent machine, completing over 1,000 trips and never requiring any work beyond routine maintenance. The two-man crew tasked with piloting the airship had records as impeccable as the craft itself. Lieutenant Ernest Dewitt Cody was a 1938 graduate of Annapolis and although he was only twenty-seven years old he was highly regarded with his commanding officer describing him as “one of the most capable pilots and one of the most able officers” under his command. Cody was relatively new to flying LTA (lighter-than-air) airships, but in April 1942 he proved his ability when he flew the L-8 to deliver cargo to the USS Hornet before the ship departed for Doolittle’s Raid over Tokyo. It was that trip that earned him his promotion to Lieutenant in June 1942. Ensign Charles Ellis Adams was eleven years older than Cody and had twenty years of experience flying LTA airships, but only earned his commission the day before their flight together making his trip with Cody his first flight as an officer.

Lieutenant Ernest Dewitt Cody and  Ensign Charles Ellis Adams.

The L-8 delivering cargo to the USS Hornet. Image via National Archives.

Their task together was a routine anti-submarine mission, fly out from Treasure Island, patrol a fifty-mile radius of San Francisco, then head to the Farallon Islands before heading back to Treasure Island. When they left Treasure Island at 6:03am there was approximately five miles of visibility with the Golden Gate Bridge off in the distance. At 7:38am Cody radioed Moffett Field and reported their location as being four miles east of the Farallon Islands. Four minutes later Moffett Field received a second message from Cody, “Am investigating suspicious oil slick—stand by.” Since an oil slick could indicate an enemy submarine below the waves it was not unusual for the airship to investigate the scene. As the L-8 descended closer to the sea its movements were seen by a fishing boat, the Daisy Gray, and a Liberty cargo ship, Albert Gallatin. Apprehensive about seeing the Navy airship creep closer to the surface of the water and then set off two flares, the ship crews pulled in their nets, manned their guns, and nervously waited to see what happened next. But, as they watched the L-8 nothing out of the ordinary happened. The blimp circled for about an hour and crews from both ships could see two men in the gondola. At approximately 9am the blimp again rose into the air and restarted its route back toward San Francisco. Everything appeared normal to the ships and spectators below, but personnel at Moffett Field were getting nervous, they had not heard a word from the L-8 since 7:42am and were not able to reestablish any communication. Two Vought OS2U Kingfisher floatplanes were sent to look for the blimp and other aircraft were asked to keep their eyes open.

The intended flight path of the L-8 aircraft. Image via unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com.

At approximately 10:49am a series of blimp sightings began to roll in. A Pan American Clipper pilot reported seeing the blimp over the Golden Gate Bridge, then at 11am one of the Kingfishers spotted the L-8 three miles west of Salada Beach at approximately 2,000 feet. Although a height of 2,000 feet would typically be avoided by an airship for safety reasons, there was no indication of the ship being out of control or in danger and it began to descend. The next plane to spot the blimp, an Army P-38 pilot, also saw no indication that the airship or its crew was in any distress when it was seen near Mile Rock, seemingly on its way back to Treasure Island. Within minutes an off-duty seaman named Richard Quam saw the L-8 as he was driving along the highway between San Mateo and San Francisco and he decided to take a picture of the sight. He may have been the first person to capture that something was amiss, the blimp was now noticeably bending in the middle.

The L-8 airship visible sagging as it flew over Daly City. Image via National Archives.

Things began to happen quickly. At approximately 11:15am the L-8 was seen approaching the shore of Ocean Beach in San Francisco but its motors were now silent and there was noticeable sagging. It touched down on the beach for a moment but kept moving until it hit the side of a hill, knocking off one of its 325lb depth chargers. Now carrying 300lbs less, the airship again rose, clearing the hill, and moving further inland. Thousands of people now watched as the L-8 staggered overhead obviously in peril. But, according to witnesses, the ship was not unmanned, in a later interview seventeen-year-old C.E. Taylor told reporters that as the blimp descended he was watching the cabin through his binoculars and that two men were clearly visible inside the entire time.

Finally, at 11:30am the blimp came to a clumsy rest on top of Richard Johnston’s freshly waxed car. Sirens blared and firemen surrounded the blimp, slashing it open in an attempt to save Cody and Adams inside. But, when the rescuers got to the gondola they found a scene that made no sense. The door was open, the microphone for communication was hanging from the doorway, a hat was resting on the controls, the life raft and all parachutes were still in place, but Cody and Adams were nowhere to be found.

Once the initial shock of the crash wore off a feeling of worry began to quickly take over. The L-8 was traveling an extremely visible route and was tracked and seen by hundreds of people and ships, with many reporting the same as young C. E. Taylor, that the men were visible inside the cabin. The Navy immediately launched a search for Cody and Adams and the craft was inspected for any clues to solve the disappearance. The engines were in perfect running order, the ignition switches were on, and there was four hours of fuel left. The only thing that was unusual on board was that the blimp's batteries were drained and part of the fuel supply had been dumped out with no obvious explanation why.

The scene after the crash of the L-8. Image via National Archives.

For three days the shore where the blimp initially crashed and the Pacific coastline was heavily searched but there was no trace of the two missing men. A board of investigation was convened by Navy Commander Francis Connell and over the course of seven days thirty-five witnesses gave their testimony of watching the L-8 hover overhead with nothing seeming suspect. Multiple people both on land and at sea at the time reported seeing the men inside and there being no indication that they ever fell or jumped out of the gondola. In the end it was determined that "no fire, no submersion, no misconduct, and no missiles struck the L-8.” While that may have answered some questions the big one still remained, what happened on the L-8 between 7:42am and 11:15am that made two Navy officers stop communication and vanish before crashing their blimp in a residential neighborhood?

Unfortunately, there were many theories but no concrete answers to that question. Some believed it was a simple tragic accident, that a malfunction with the door led to one man falling out at a low altitude and the other following him out in an attempt to save him before they were both lost to the sea. Others proposed much more elaborate theories, that the men were secret spies, that they were lured close to the surface of the water and grabbed by enemy forces, and some even said that the men ended up killing each other by falling out of the blimp during an argument over a woman. Some guesses tried to remain optimistic, that the men fell out but they were able to swim to shore and would be found hiking back to civilization any day now. Maybe they were picked up by a passenger ship after falling from the aircraft, they just had to wait until they were returned home. But, time ticked forward and the men never reappeared. Shortly after the crash the wives of both men were told that their husbands were officially missing. It was becoming painfully obvious this was not going to change and one year after their disappearance the men were declared dead. The Navy officially classified the incident as “100% Unknown/ Undetermined.”

The L-8 was repaired and continued to be used as a training vessel until the end of World War II when it was returned to Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. It was refurbished, renamed America, and was used to broadcast sports events until it was finally retired in 1982.

Nearly eighty years after the disappearance of Lieutenant Ernest Dewitt Cody and Ensign Charles Ellis Adams there is still no official explanation as to what happened on that clear August morning over the Pacific coast

After its retirement the gondola of the L-8 was fully restored and is currently exhibited at the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, Florida.

The refurbished gondola of the L-8 on display at the  National Museum of Naval Aviation. Image via www.history.navy.mil. 

*************************************************

Sources:

Mystery of the Ghost Blimp by John J. Geoghegan https://www.historynet.com/mystery-of-the-ghost-blimp.htm.

The Crew of the L- 8, https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/The_Crew_of_the_L-8

The Bizarre Tale Of The World War II Ghost Blimp And Its Missing Crew by Gina Dimuro, https://allthatsinteresting.com/ghost-blimp  

In 1942, a war blimp fell out of the sky onto Daly City. Its crew was never found by Katie Dowd and Andrew Chamings, https://www.sfgate.com/sfhistory/article/SF-Ghost-blimp-Daly-City-15739903.php

Ghost Blimp Mystery of WW2 – Crashed in San Francisco & Crew Was Never Found by Ruslan Budnik, https://www.warhistoryonline.com/instant-articles/mystical-disappearance-pilots.html. 

[liunaticfringe]

(via Lucy Liu at the Napa Valley Museum: How did they get her? They asked. | Entertainment | napavalleyregister.com)

he team at the Napa Valley Museum Yountville gets asked one question more than any other these days:

“How did you ever get Lucy Liu to bring her first U.S. museum exhibition to you here in the Napa Valley?”

The answer, it turns out, is simple: “We asked.”

Museum executive director Laura Rafaty first approached Liu to be the keynote speaker at the Museum’s Feb. 25 “Phenomenal Women” fundraising luncheon.

“I began looking for someone who was an accomplished visual artist but who brought other aspects of life to her work, since I find that so many artists these days—and so many women—are involved in multiple creative endeavors. When I saw Lucy Liu’s art, as exhibited at the National Museum of Singapore, and considered it in the context of her accomplishments as an actor and director and work on behalf of children as an ambassador for UNICEF, I knew that I wanted our museum to present the first U.S. museum exhibition of her work.”

The result is: “Lucy Liu: One of these things is not like the others,” on exhibition at the Napa Valley Museum Yountville through April 26. It also brought Lucy Liu to Yountville last week, where she gave an inspiring keynote speech at the “Phenomenal Women” luncheon fundraiser, helping the museum raise more than $90,000 for the nonprofit. The Phenomenal Women event sold out quickly with a substantial waitlist of those wanting one of only 92 seats at tables tightly tucked inside the museum’s Main Gallery, surrounded by Liu’s artwork.

It helped that Liu, who has with millions of devoted social media followers (including a fan club of self-described “Liu-natics”), donated an original silkscreen valued at over $10,000 for auction at the luncheon, to benefit the Museum’s arts and education programs.

Speaking about her first U.S. museum exhibition, Liu said: “I’m so happy to collaborate with the Napa Valley Museum and to share my work with the community. Art has been an important part of my life and development since I was a child; it helps cultivate imagination and also fosters critical thinking skills. Supporting lifelong arts education is imperative and I am thrilled to be a part of this important endeavor.“

Liu’s visit to Yountville gave the museum team its first chance to meet Liu in person, and to discuss the inspiration behind her multi-faceted body of work. The exhibit was curated by Daniel Chen, director of Chambers Fine Art in New York, which represents Liu’s art, and who worked closely with Liu on the project.

Chen, an expert on modern Chinese art who helped curate Liu’s National Museum of Singapore exhibition, traveled from New York to Napa Valley to help the museum team with the installation and to attend the opening night on Feb. 1.

The exhibition is a survey of various aspects of Liu’s artwork. Included are Liu’s intricate wood sculptures, inspired by her travels, depicting individuals within a family. The most talked-about artworks are her oversized paintings inspired by Shunga, a form of erotic art based on the “ukiyo-e” or Japanese woodblock. These works are bold, provocative, and sexually explicit; a departure from the Museum’s typical exhibitions.

To put this work into larger context, the museum obtained an example of a traditional Japanese Shunga hand scroll from San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum, which it displays at the entrance to the Shunga section.

In her artist statement for the exhibition, Liu describes the genesis of the Shunga series: “My works tend to be intimate and personal; I often try to dissect things that were not explored when I was growing up. During my adolescence, I was constantly questioning things that were considered ‘taboo’ and was never satisfied with the answers I was given. Curiosity is key, and looking into the crevices of these questions and answers is something that I can express and explore through my art.”

There are examples of her silkscreens (including the auctioned work), plus pieces from Liu’s “Lost & Found” series, in which found objects are incorporated into handmade, hand-tooled books that are works of art in themselves.

“Another ongoing concern in my artwork has been the notion of security and salvation,” Lui said. “There are long-term effects that result from personal relationships, reflected in both our physical and emotional selves, and I have always used art to address these ‘effects’ and ideas. This theme is sometimes realized by the appropriation of discarded objects, which I place into handmade constructions, where the objects are protected and given a new significance.”

The exhibition also showcases Liu’s “Totem” series, in which intricate embroidered “spines” are paired with bold designs fashioned from fabric, paper and thread. The series includes “41”: individual small panels depicting each of the first 41 years of the artist’s life. Patterns and cutouts in the “Lost and Found” books are repeated in the “41” series on the wall behind them, while the spinal patterns of the Totem series adorn the spines of the “Lost and Found” books.

Large beige “Totem” works that seem flat from a distance reveal multi-dimensional and colorful connections upon closer inspection. The result is to be immersed in the world of an artist seeking intellectual order from emotional chaos.

“Although it’s only in retrospect that I discover the threads that tie my various bodies of work together, I find that no matter which medium I am working with, I often focus on the connections between people who pass through our lives,” Liu said. “Perhaps I am subconsciously seeking a closer examination of the meaning behind our personal relationships. Whether positive or negative, each interaction in our life leaves a mark on our psyche, and sometimes can manifest itself in a surprising, physical manner. These ‘marks’ manifest themselves in my work.”

In addition to the artwork, the museum offers video presentations illustrating Liu’s influences and creative processes, and a “living” title wall featuring audio and video of Liu in her studio. It shows Liu creating the giant painting: “Hunger,” which at nearly 12 feet tall takes up the entire back wall of the Main gallery.

The reaction to Liu’s work has been overwhelmingly positive, Rafaty said. “Visitors enjoy learning more about Lucy, who reveals so much about her interior life through her art. People seem to connect to the vulnerability on display, and to the work’s essential humanity.“

Due to the adult themes in the exhibition, the museum recommends that a parent accompany visitors younger than age 18. Other exhibitions currently on display include “The Yates Collection” of masterworks by Picasso, Pissarro, Chagall, Matisse and others, on long-term loan to the Museum from the Yates Foundation, and the museum’s permanent Napa Valley History Gallery, with a new Veterans Home history display.

The Napa Valley Museum Yountville is at 55 Presidents Circle in Yountville and is open Wednesdays through Sundays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Regular admission is $15; $10 seniors 65 and older, $5 Youth 6-17. Admission to the museum is free for Napa Valley Museum members, children 5 and under, residents of the Veterans Home in Yountville, and active duty military. Admission is free for Bank of America/Merrill Lynch cardholders during the weekend of March 8-9 through the Museum’s on Us program.

For more information about the exhibition, visit the museum’s website at napavalleymuseum.org.

[gentlethorns]

1-31

JKJFLKJGDKLS did you mean. 1 through 31?? like. all of them?? LMFAOOOOOO okay but i’m sticking them under a readmore bc that is gonna be SO long

1. what is a genre you love reading but will probably never write? mysteries/crime. i love the technique and expertise it takes to expertly lay out and set up a plot twist, but i don’t think i could ever do it aptly myself.

2. which writer has had the greatest stylistic influence on your writing? probably stephen king, if we’re talking fiction, but even then i don’t think he’s influenced me a ton - my writing voice is pretty distinctive (or so i’ve been told). as far as poetry, i think reading @candiedspit‘s work has really caused me to stretch my expectations of where words can go and what they can do.

3. has a specific song/lyric ever inspired a work of art for you? absolutely! i’m super inspired by music, bc music is really important to me as a means of emotional expression. back in sophomore year of high school i was working on a story where all the chapters were inspired by songs from folie a deux by fall out boy. it didn’t pan out and i never finished it, but i still think the concept was neat.

4. a writer whose personal lifestyle really speaks to you? lmfao not to talk about him again, but stephen king’s lifestyle really appeals to me. his writing is widely known and renowned, but he just chills at home and watches the red sox games and takes pictures of his corgi and keeps turning out stories. that literally sounds like paradise to me.

5. do you write both prose and poetry? which do you prefer? i do write both! and i can’t say i honestly prefer one over the other - my interest bounces between them and waxes and wanes, but i don’t consistently indulge one more than the other, i don’t think. last year i went through a huge fiction phase in october and cranked out eight or nine different short stories/flash pieces, and then in november/december i went through a poetry phase and wrote multiple poems a day for a long stretch of time. it just depends on my mood and my mindset and what i need from writing (a kind of escape vs. emotional expression/release).

6. do you read both prose and poetry? which do you prefer? i do read both, and again, i don’t think i have a preference. i definitely read fiction more, i think, but like writing, it kind of depends what i need at the time.

7. which language do you write in? which do you want to write in someday? i write in english, since it’s the only language i know. i’d like to learn spanish at some point, but i don’t know if i could ever write in spanish - i’m so firmly married to english grammar and structure that i don’t know if i could ever exercise the same control and mastery over spanish that i could english.

8. share a quote or verse that has been on your mind lately. “you said i killed you - haunt me, then!” from wuthering heights.

9. a writer/poet whose life you find interesting. *sigh*. stephen king. i’ve read his memoir/writing workshop book (”on writing”) and his success story always fascinates me. i just can’t imagine living in a shitty one-bedroom apartment with your wife and two kids and working days at an industrial laundromat and spending nights writing on a shitty wobbly desk in the laundry room, and you get your first manuscript accepted for publication, and eventually the paperback rights go up and you think you might get $60,000 if you’re really lucky, and then one day while your wife and kids are visiting the in-laws you get a call from your agent telling you that the paperback rights for your book sold for $400,000 and 200K of it is yours. that’s just literally. unfathomable to me lmfao.

10. what do you feel about the idea of someone unearthing your unseen or discarded drafts someday, long after your death? what about your personal journal? it’s really hard for me to imagine that happening, i think bc i tend to see myself as really like. insignificant or unimportant in the grand scheme of things, so i can’t imagine any part of me lasting beyond my life. also, it’s very hard for me to imagine someone i don’t know personally reading my work, probably because my work (especially a personal journal) is a window into me, and i have a hard time even letting people i trust see into that window sometimes, much less a stranger.

11. do you prefer to write in silence or listen to something? what do you listen to? i definitely prefer music in the background, although i can work in silence. i tend to gravitate to music that goes with the scene i’m writing, if i’m writing fiction (often i work music into my fiction, so if there’s a song playing in the scene, i’ll listen to that song), and if i’m writing poetry i tend to just listen to laid-back music (unless i’m writing from a place of grief or sadness, in which case i listen to sad music lmfao). i do also love writing when it’s storming outside and just listening to the rain and the thunder as i write.

12. has an image ever impacted your artistic lens/inspired your work? absolutely! less often than music, but visuals can inspire me on occasion. i once wrote a poem based on this image. i just couldn’t get it out of my head, so i decided to figure out what it was saying to me.

13. how would you describe the experience of writing itself? as in putting the words to paper, not planning or moodboards etc. do you agree with the common idea that the satisfaction lies in reading your work after you are done with it, rather than the process of writing itself? i think the process can be arduous sometimes, and other times it can be incredible. sometimes i write very slowly and haltingly, sometimes i write at a normal pace and it feels like the work it is (bc i am trying to write professionally), but sometimes the magic tap in the mind turns on and it starts flowing. that being said, i don’t necessarily agree that the satisfaction lies only in reading your work rather than also in the process. there’s a certain fulfillment in watching everything come together and knowing it’s going to be good.

14. how often do you write? it varies. i would like to write more often than i do, now that i have a full-time school schedule and work part time friday-sunday, but i think i still get a decent amount of writing done, when i can actually sit down and motivate myself to get the words out.

15. how disciplined are you about your writing? not very, in the creative sense - as discussed above, i don’t write as often as i should/would like to, and don’t hold myself to much of a schedule. however, as far as the business side of it (submitting to magazines/contests), i’m pretty disciplined, and i’m usually pretty good about keeping all my “good” pieces in circulation at a couple of places at a time.

16. what was your last long-lasting spurt of motivation? maybe last night? i worked on a couple of pieces and then submitted a few groups of poems to some magazines. i also did some decent work on thursday while i was in my campus starbucks waiting for my zoom class to start.

17. have you ever been professionally published? are you trying to be? i have been professionally published! i got my first acceptance back in 2018, and now i’ve had poetry published multiple times and fiction published twice. i’m still trying to publish more of my work, but i think i’ve had a decent start.

18. do you read literary magazines? not regularly, although i entered a fiction contest for into the void last year, and since it came with a year-long subscription, i’ve been browsing the fiction there periodically. into the void tends to publish good short/flash fiction, so anytime i feel like reading some new stories, i head there.

19. a lesser known writer you adore? idk if she’s necessarily “lesser-known,” but i loved ally carter’s gallagher girl series when i was younger. the first four books were immaculate (although i do remember that the last two books seemed almost unnecessary, and the ultimate end of the series was anticlimactic).

20. do you write short stories? do you read them? i write and read them! up until october of last year i could never figure out how to write a short story and effectively resolve a conflict in 5000 words or less, but then suddenly (like. literally overnight), a switch flipped in my head and i could do it. as far as reading them, i don’t read a ton anymore bc of my busy schedule ( :( ), so sometimes if i’m in the mood to read i’ll opt for a short story online or a book of short stories instead of a full-length novel.

21. do you prefer to involve yourself with literary history and movements or are you more focused on the writing itself? any favourite literary movements? i’m typically more focused on the writing itself, although i do love to learn about the horror boom from the 50s-80s (if that counts as a literary movement lmfao). i also do particularly love work from the era of deconstructionism, which i think took place in like. the 40s-60s, if i’m not mistaken. i enjoy that era bc of its symbolism and abstract nature - a lot of the work leaves the reader to draw their own conclusions.

22. are you working on anything right now? not particularly? i have a few works in progress that i tinker with now and then, but i’m not seriously working on anything in particular.

23. how did you get started with writing? i honestly don’t even remember. i remember the first time i realized that i really liked writing and had fun doing it (in fourth grade, for a school competition), but i know that even before then i was writing stories and poems.

24. do you have any “writer friends”? most of my mutuals are writer friends! but i don’t have any irl. i almost made one in my math class last semester, but we lost contact when our university shut down in march.

25. what is your earliest work you can remember? the earliest work i can remember is when i was really young (maybe like. five or six?). it was about our dog being pregnant (which she was at the time) and able to talk (which she was not).

26. have you found your writer’s voice yet? does your work have a distinct tone? absolutely. i’m very confident in my style and the distinctiveness of my voice - it’s been there pretty much since i first started writing. i’ve improved since then, honed my voice and made it more sophisticated and effective, but at the core, it’s still me, like it always has been.

27. do your works share themes/are commonly about certain topics? or are your subjects all over the place? in poetry, i think i tend to write about grief or loss of some sort or another often, bc it’s something i tend to feel often - either that or a false bravado (but ig that’s more of a tonal device). as far as fiction, i like to write about religion gone wrong (false religion, religion as a front for personal gain and corruption, religion gone too deep into obsession and mania, etc.), and i like smart underdog-type characters that fight and have a lot of grit to them.

28. what does writing mean to you? to me, writing is catharsis, a bloodletting. this particularly applies to poetry, but it also applies to fiction. poetry shows you the things you’re regurgitating up-front, but fiction does it slyly, in a mirror or through a distorting lens. regardless, both stand to offer release and healing.

29. in an alternate universe, imagine you had not found writing. what do you think would be your fixation otherwise? honestly, i’m not sure. probably acting or theater. something creative, for sure.

30. do you feel defined by your work? maybe a little, but not to a large or limiting extent. like, in a new class, my interesting fact about myself will probably always be “i’m a writer and i’ve been published a few times,” but i think that i’m a well-rounded person and that once people get to know me, my writing is just a part of me, not my whole identity.

31. have you ever written/considered writing under a pen name? if you would be okay saying, why? no, i don’t think i have. while a pen name can be a good tool, depending on your goals and what you’re writing, i have a Thing about getting credit where i’m due credit lmfao. i don’t think i’ll ever use a pen name bc if i know something i do is good, i want my name on it.

[lawrenceop]

Holy Land Retrospective - Day 1

A JOURNEY OF FAITH: INTRODUCTION

One year ago, on the feast of Divine Mercy, I made my way to Heathrow airport after Mass, for my first pilgrimage to the Holy Land. This journey, organised by 206 Tours, was an answer to my prayers. Until recently I did not feel ready nor worthy to walk in that place where “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn 1:14). But shortly after I returned from studies in Washington DC, I felt this yearning to see the Holy Land, and so I prayed for the opportunity to go, and I left it in God’s hands. Two weeks later, an email arrived inviting me to serve as one of a team of spiritual directors on a unique pilgrimage to the Holy Land in the company of Jim Caviezel, and led by the wonderful Fr Donald Calloway MIC. Truly, God is provident, and his generosity exceeds our asking! 

Divine Mercy Sunday 2020 was the 28th of April, and I flew out on a night flight after a rather gruelling round of questions at the airport. At one point, I did not think I would be allowed to board but I kept clutching my Rosary and saying prayers silently. I entrusted all to Jesus who, it seemed to me, had arranged this pilgrimage for me at this opportune time, just after the Easter Octave.

On this nine-day pilgrimage, I took 1453 photos on my phone, and I shared the best of these on Facebook as we went. I often find that this is the best way to share my experiences with my family and friends. I also had my DSLR camera with me, and I took 1416 photos with my camera. I have been sharing these photos on my Flickr page, posting on liturgically appropriate days. For example, on the feast of the Annunciation (25 March) I shared this photo of the site of Mary’s house in Nazareth where the Word became incarnate in Our Lady’s womb.

Now as the liturgical anniversary of this wonderful pilgrimage comes round, I wanted to relive those days; to give thanks to God and Our Lady for this trip; to remember the places we saw, and the people I met; and to reflect theologically and spiritually on this pilgrimage with the aide-memoire of the photos I took. It shall be a novena of sorts. 

For, in what follows, for the next nine days, I will post no more than nine photos a day (sometimes fewer), and I will choose photos taken on my camera only, and which I have not already uploaded to Flickr. Clicking on the link for each photo (links are all in red text) will take you to the Flickr page where you can see the photo in larger sizes. This exercise is meant to help challenge me to look at the entire photo collection again with fresh eyes. I hope it will help you, too, to see the places associated with Christ and the mysteries of our salvation. Thank you for joining me on this journey of faith.

ARRIVAL IN THE HOLY LAND

I arrived at daybreak in Israel, on the Monday of ‘Low Week’. The drive to Jerusalem took about an hour, and my eyes soaked in the landscape before me, the topography that Jesus had also looked upon; the dusky green foliage; a field heavy with wheat and ripe for the harvesting (cf Lk 10:2). And we went across hills and through rocky ravines, going from the seaside city of Tel Aviv to the ancient hill-top citadel of Jerusalem. As we approached the words of Psalm 48 resounded in my mind: “His holy mountain rises in beauty, the joy of all the earth.Mount Zion, true pole of the earth, the Great King’s city! God, in the midst of its citadels, has shown himself its stronghold.”

Green wooded hills gave way to white stone as various dwellings and buildings were perched on the hills, and soon, I saw banners with the lion of Judah on them: we had arrived in the Holy City of Jerusalem. But, above all, that first morning in the Holy Land, I noticed the light, as photographers are wont to do: as the sun rose, the skies turned pale blue, and the light grey clouds were tinged with gold and orange; it seemed to me a divine light, full of promise.

We didn’t have anything planned until the evening, so I had the whole day to explore. Tired from the flight, but too excited to sleep, I went and had breakfast in the hotel – the food, throughout this pilgrimage, was delicious and healthily Mediterranean, with many salads, fresh produce, and honey from the comb. And then, I went to explore this most ancient and unique of cities: Jerusalem, the abode of peace! My first stop was the Holy Sepulchre, and I went without any cameras. It’s important, where possible, to just be present in a place, to look and observe, and take in the experience through every sense. Only on subsequent visits would I use my camera to transmit what I had first contemplated. 

PHOTO 1: This was taken from the rooftop of the Christian Information Centre, just within the Jaffa Gate, which was about 10 minutes walk from our hotel. From here, one has a panoramic view from the edge of the Christian Quarter. We are looking at the complex that constitutes the church of the Holy Sepulchre, and beneath the large dome is the Aedicule, which is the structure that enclosed both the Empty Tomb of Christ as well as the spot where the angel had sat upon the stone which had been rolled away from the opening of the tomb. 

Now after the sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the sepulchre. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone, and sat upon it. (Mt 28:1-2)

Looking at the Holy Sepulchre from this angle, I notice that the church is flanked by two minarets, and to the right of this shot, the Temple Mount with the Dome of the Rock is prominently visible. As always, the three Faiths which regard Jerusalem to be a sacred site, are always present and very evident; the three photos I have chosen for this day demonstrate this. And yet, here, in this photo, beneath this dome that crowns the Holy Sepulchre, is the centre of the world. For here, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and universal Saviour, all creation was redeemed and is for ever transformed. 

He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the first-born from the dead, that in everything he might be pre-eminent. For in him all the fulness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. (Col 1:18-20).

PHOTO 2: I met some of my fellow pilgrims from this large group (we were about 240 in total!) in the Holy Sepulchre, and they wanted to visit the Western Wall next so I went with them. Here, the monumental stones impress upon us the grandeur and antiquity of Jerusalem. In fact, everywhere, we walked upon ancient slabs of stone, and I was always aware of the history of the city, and I wondered how many millions had walked those same paths as I was now on; who else had seen these buildings and pilgrimaged to these place? In places like Jerusalem it seems like all of humanity has passed through it, and I am humbled – aware of my paucity in the face of the enormous procession of people who have been here over the millennia. The stones of the Western Wall were already here when Jesus came to the Temple; when he came here as a boy and was found teaching in the Temple they were just a few decades old. Looking upon these walls, and indeed, upon the walls and gates of Jerusalem, such as the Jaffa Gate which I entered every day, I would think of these lines from Psalm 122: “I rejoiced when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD.” And now our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem... For the peace of Jerusalem pray, “May they prosper, those who love you.” May peace abide in your walls...”

PHOTO 3: The various ‘Quarters’ of Jerusalem run into each other, and although we approached the Western Wall through the Jewish Quarter, we returned to the Jaffa Gate through the Muslim Quarter and via the Holy Sepulchre at the heart of the Christian Quarter once more. Here is a typical street scene taken in the Muslim Quarter, although it was less crowded than usual. Shops line the street, with shopkeepers calling out like sirens to entice you in. But what caught my eye was the texture and size of the stones beneath our feet, and the way the bright sunlight was filtered through the awnings above, and the patterns of shade and dappled light on the ground. 

The Lord is your guard and your shade; at your right side he stands. By day the sun shall not smite you nor the moon in the night. (Ps 121:5-6)

"For love of my brethren and friends I say: "Peace upon you." For love of the house of the Lord I will ask for your good." Amen. (Psalm 122:8-9) Tomorrow: DAY 2 - Gethsemane and Ein Kerem.

[ericvick]

Entire re-opening, close to mask mandate moved up to May 29

In no way brain Aug. 1. The Saturday of Memorial Working day weekend — May 29 — is the new goal date for the finish of almost all remaining Covid-19 limits in Massachusetts.

By that date, which is far more than two months in advance of the timetable declared much less than 3 months ago, Massachusetts intends to lift its pandemic limitations, though masks will nevertheless be needed in specific configurations like transportation, in universities, and at overall health care amenities.

Moreover, the state of emergency that has been in location considering that March 10, 2020 will be lifted on June 15, Gov. Baker announced late Monday early morning. At a afterwards press meeting, Boston Mayor Kim Janey— mentioned that Boston would stick to fit and line up with the statewide timetable considering the fact that Boston’s COVID-19 traits “continue to shift in the correct way.”

“Because of this development, I am generating the determination to align with the commonwealth of Massachusetts and raise the COVID constraints on Could 29,” Janey said. “But permit me be very clear: our fight from COVID is not around. Reopening our town will only operate if we all proceed to do our portion to struggle the pandemic.”

At former junctures in the year-long gradual reopening procedure, Boston opted to move slower and hold constraints in spot for a longer time than the condition. Janey stated on April 27 that the state’s premier city would lag about 3 months at the rear of Gov. Charlie Baker’s reopening timetable, but she explained Monday that “we have extra than a thirty day period of data exhibiting that circumstances are very low and continue to be lower in excess of time.”

Boston Chief of Health and fitness and Human Solutions Marty Martinez claimed Boston recorded an average of 63 new scenarios for every day as of Could 11, whilst the city’s positivity rate dropped to 2.1 p.c and was no greater than 4.3 percent in any single neighborhood.

Previous 7 days, he stated, there ended up much less than 65 COVID-good sufferers in town hospitals. “We have not observed these reduced numbers in over a calendar year,” Martinez explained. “It is distinct that vaccines are doing the job to continue to keep individuals from developing serious cases of COVID and decreasing unfold of the virus.”

The announcements signify a sizeable milestone in the state’s fight from the coronavirus that has fueled a global pandemic and upended practically all areas of human lifetime since the begin of 2020. But the governor built apparent that the finish of govt-mandated limitations does not always indicate the conclusion of the general public health threat.

“Covid is a minimal bit like, you know, Michael Myers,” Baker claimed, referring to the horror movie franchise character with a knack for surviving to make it into but a different sequel. “We have created incredible development and which is why we are able to do what we’re accomplishing below and what we’re proposing below nowadays … the individuals of Massachusetts have established the commonwealth up to be effective likely ahead from right here, but certainly this is anything we’re all likely to have to continue on to pay back consideration to and we will.”

Speaking at the Point out House, Baker explained the new reopening timeline — May well 29 was at first likely to be the following, but not closing, step toward a extra entire reopening — has been produced doable by an hard work that has the condition in line to meet its goal of vaccinating 4.1 million citizens by the 1st week of June.

“Massachusetts is effectively battling back in its marketing campaign in opposition to the virus,” Baker stated. “Nearly each and every university student in the point out is back again in the classroom and we have reopened virtually each individual industry. We’re safer, smarter, and superior outfitted in this struggle than at any time considering the fact that it commenced.”

New conditions are down 89 p.c because Jan. 8 and hospitalizations are down 88 p.c considering that Jan. 1, Baker’s business mentioned. The state’s optimistic exam level has fallen from 8.7 % on Jan. 1 to an even 1 percent as of Sunday.

Given that Baker very last laid out a reopening timeline on April 27, the ordinary of daily new situations is down 65 per cent, the typical hospitalization stage has declined 39 percent, and the typical everyday selection of deaths has fallen by about 45 percent.

Principles started off to alter on Tuesday in the Bay Point out. Productive May 18, steerage for youth and novice sporting activities was up to date to allow young ones less than the age of 18 to enjoy outdoor sports without obtaining to wear a mask and to allow young ones at university or kid care to go mask-totally free when outdoor for things to do like recess. Schoolkids will also be authorized to share classroom merchandise once again.

On Could 29, all industries will be permitted to open up to 100 percent potential, accumulating limits will be rescinded and, with the exception of confront-covering prerequisites for certain configurations, all condition-mandated Covid-19 restrictions will be lifted. Non-vaccinated people today will be encouraged to continue on donning encounter masks and to keep on distancing in most settings, but a new advisory will recommend that vaccinated people no lengthier will need to put on a facial area masking or social length indoors or outdoor apart from for in specific circumstances.

“After far more than a year of constraints, protocols, and tips, a entire Massachusetts reopening is magnificent news for smaller firms,” Nationwide Federation of Independent Corporations Point out Director Christopher Carlozzi claimed just after Baker’s announcement. “Now the real get the job done starts to mend a battered smaller company economic system and convey residents of the commonwealth back again into the place of work.”

Merchants Affiliation of Massachusetts President Jon Hurst said Baker’s announcement “sends a crystal clear message about the significance of financial expenditure and restoration now that we have accomplished what we required to do to be secure. With our vaccinations, we are all now evidently safe and sound to store, dine, entertain, vacation, and return to operate.”

But he also asked that buyers, quite a few of whom are as eager to get back to their regular procuring and dining styles as the companies are to welcome them back, be “patient and considerate as federal government mandates turn into person possibilities.”

“In the times to arrive, companies will have selections to make on masks and occupancy concentrations, and as perfectly as enhanced staffing desires for their institutions,” he explained.

Alluding to the chance that some metropolitan areas and towns could not go alongside with Baker’s new timeline, Hurst additional, “We also strongly urge municipal officials to fully grasp the need for regularity in coverage and community messaging, and to steer clear of perplexing our shoppers and modest enterprises with conflicting local plan.”

As with each individual other move in the state’s reopening work, municipalities are free of charge to go slower than the point out. Boston and Somerville, in certain, have commonly adopted modified variations of the state’s reopening techniques and have been much more cautious in their have returns to usual.

Baker reiterated Monday that “communities that don’t want to go as aggressively or as considerably as we’re proposing to go” can make whatsoever choices they experience are proper “and we will assistance that.”

Economic Development Secretary Mike Kennealy, who led the administration’s economic reopening advisory group with Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, stated the 12 times until eventually May possibly 29 are intended to give organization owners and communities that are ready to reopen “time to approach for a return to regular, and to make changes to their actual physical spaces, and to modify their staffing ranges.”

“Kindness, knowing, and regard will go a extended way in these coming weeks,” Kennealy said.

Carlozzi, the point out director of NFIB, said corporations also face “major staffing challenges” as they put together for consumers to return in greater figures this summer season.

“A real indicator of a return to normalcy will be the many ‘help wanted’ signals currently being eradicated from storefront windows,” he stated.

Even though most Massachusetts people will likely circle May well 29 as the milestone date on their calendars, the June 15 expiration of Baker’s state of crisis declaration is just as major to those people who closely stick to point out federal government. Baker declared a point out of crisis on March 10, 2020 to offer with the coronavirus that was just beginning to surge across the planet and his administration’s restrictions, recommendations, and executive orders have shaded approximately all elements of daily life in the Bay Point out considering the fact that then.

“The lifting of the governor’s orders underneath the Chilly War period Civil Protection Act could not come a working day faster. For just about 421 times, plenty of corporations and people have experienced their rights and freedoms totally ignored,” Paul Craney, spokesperson for MassFiscal, reported, although Monday was the 434th day less than Baker’s condition of emergency.

MassFiscal has supported the New Civil Liberties Alliance as it pursued legal avenues to overturn many of Baker’s executive orders, arguing that the Republican governor overstepped his authority.

“A performing democracy are not able to survive below a temporary point out of emergency that is extended like we endured … Massachusetts really should never at any time go as a result of this again,” Craney explained.

For the duration of Monday’s push convention to announce the previous reopening phase, the lieutenant governor pointed out that it was literally a 12 months in the producing.

“May 18 of 2020 was the day that we arrived to this area and introduced the to start with stage of our reopening approach. And in this article we are, virtually to the day, a year later on with a full reopening,” Polito claimed Monday. “It would not have transpired with out all of you functioning so tough alongside this training course and alongside this journey.”

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[jeremystrele]

Suzanne Gorman on Modernising a Mid-Century Home

Suzanne Gorman on Modernising a Mid-Century Home

Design Eye

by Lucy Feagins, Editor

The sitting room in Studio Gorman’s ‘Quarterdeck House’, featuring the sleek Jules Sofa by Duvivier, from DOMO. (right). Styling – Claire Delmar, Photo – Prue Ruscoe.

Look across the dreamy living space to the treetops beyond. To right – the tan leather Jules Sofa by Duvivier, from DOMO. Styling – Claire Delmar, Photo – Prue Ruscoe.

Studio Gorman’s approached a ‘gently gently’ design approach when renovating this mid century home on Sydney’s North Shore. Styling – Claire Delmar, Photo – Prue Ruscoe.

The Quarterdeck House by Studio Gorman. Styling – Claire Delmar, Photo – Prue Ruscoe.

Left – Suzanne Gorman of Studio Gorman. Right – the sitting room in the Quarterdeck House, featuring the Jules Sofa by Duvivier, from DOMO.  Styling – Claire Delmar, Photo – Prue Ruscoe.

The Jules Sofa by Duvivier, from DOMO.

Left – Duvivier’s Josephine Armchair, with its looped leather and exposed stitching, and the Centquatre sofa, are both contemporary handcrafted furniture pieces, with all the hallmarks of classic mid century design. Available exclusively from DOMO. Photo – Martina Gemmola.

There’s nothing that sparks more passionate discussion on our social media feeds, than the subject of mid century architecture under threat of demolition.

But even if you love mid century design, and find yourself the lucky owner of a home of this era, there’s still the challenge of making these homes functional and comfortable for modern family life. For instance – where do you put a dishwasher in a 1950s kitchen? And – how do you furnish a family living room with walls of glass, lower ceilings and a significantly smaller footprint than most modern living spaces?

For interior designer Suzanne Gorman of Studio Gorman, it’s all about looking and listening closely to the existing site – and thinking very carefully about scale. Especially when it comes to selecting furniture!  ‘Scale of furniture is important to get right in the typically lower ceiling height and tighter spaces of mid-century architecture’ says Suzanne. Enter DOMO, whose wide range of contemporary designer furniture and lighting covers an incredible variety of classic and modern styles, for both indoor and outdoor spaces.

Studio Gorman’s Quarterdeck House project draws on the existing mid century character of the original home, incorporating whitewashed walls, oak joinery and a palette of rust, teal and ochre. These details form the perfect backdrop for a considered edit of furniture and lighting, selected in collaboration with stylist Claire Delmar – including the sleek leather Jules sofa by French furniture brand Duvivier, from DOMO.

‘These Duvivier pieces are light in visual feel, whilst the upholstery is warm and luxurious to relax in’ says Suzanne. ‘Their shapes are like minded to the building – calm and light structured.’

With a 180 year history, Duvivier draws on traditional French craftsmanship, having originally evolved from a heritage leather saddlery business! Carefully balancing classic silhouettes with contemporary style, these handcrafted furniture pieces are sleek yet robust – perfect in any space where you want comfort and longevity, without the chunk-factor! They’re available in traditional leather, or custom fabrics.

Hi Suzanne! Can you tell is a little about your background – how did you come into interior design, and how would you describe your design approach?

I came to design in my early 40s, after a fabulous decade as a Kindergarten teacher, followed by several fun and free years as a full-time mum to our three kids (now all young adults). I’ll be forever grateful to my sister who encouraged me to re-train in design, since I was always sketching and literally obsessed by everything design and architecture (still am). She showed some of my drawings to her friend Rachel Castle, who was a true support and inspiration in the early years of my new design career, finding me my first few clients. That was 12 years ago, and I haven’t looked back.

Studio Gorman specialises in creating beautiful homes where family memories are made and where childhood is nourished – we bring a deep understanding of the kind of spaces that families find comfort in, and can play out their lives.

We have a love of various aesthetics, but mostly based around a contemporary clean feel.  Our influences include art (an addiction!), fashion, architecture and travel – vicariously through print publications and blogs we devour! European and East Coast American styles inspire our work although Studio Gorman will always be essentially Australian in flavour.

Your recent work at the Quarterdeck House perfectly illustrates how to sensitively modernise a mid-century home. Tell us – how did you approach this project? What were your key goals and considerations for this home?

Looking, listening to site and to our wonderful clients brief. The serene location spoke volumes about the incredible lifestyle to be enhanced here, and the building spoke of the pure tenets of mid-century design philosophy.

The concept of form and function in mid-century architecture leads the way for a response to the interiors. Full height glass panels created a portal to the view, to the gentle beauty of the environment. Our job to was support that, in a response to our clients brief.

We were committed to keeping the original façade, preserving and respecting the streetscape where there are several other neighbouring mid-century homes. We were fortunate that the client was open to these considerations – we agreed to no broad sweeping demolition of the original features, and to taking a gently, gently approach. We carried this intention inside where we reworked the floorplan keeping original elements such as the painted brick walls, internal white-painted steel posts, and original doors and windows.

The bones of a mid-century home are important to hold onto – the architectural style will be diluted otherwise. On this basis, our design concepts and details were driven by materiality – sourcing materials and fixtures that aligned with the mid-century aesthetic was our mission! We whitewashed walls, reintroduced square format mosaic tiles, added simple white door hardware and fittings, washed oak joinery with its uniform grain sitting quietly in the form. Our use of colour took the distinctive mid-century punches of primary colour, and subtly reworked them as contemporary iterations of rust, teal and ochre.

In collaboration with stylist Claire Delmar, you selected key leather furniture pieces from Duvivier (exclusive to DOMO) to furnish Quarterdeck House – tell us why these pieces were selected / why do they work so well in this space?

Firstly, thanks for saying that! We think they work beautifully too, and love working with Claire any time we can. The living room has so much glass, it was important to bring in some comfort and softness. These Duvivier pieces are light in visual feel, whilst the upholstery is warm and luxurious to relax in. Their shapes are like minded to the building – calm and light structured, whilst providing comfort. And we love them!

What’s your advice for modernising a mid-century interior? What should homeowners consider before embarking on a renovation of a 1950s or 60’s home?

Being respectful to the philosophy of mid-century is integral – that’s got to be the starting point. It’s a great shame when people buy mid-century homes with no intention to love and nurture the unique architecture.

Our starting point would be to ask our homeowners to work out what they really love about their mid-century home, and what they might feel they are possibly missing out on with it, also. The small scale of mid-century homes can be challenging to contemporary living. Take time with the floor plan and be willing to tweak the layout to work around keeping original features. These original features convey the language of mid-century and once gone, the authentic feeling of the era and cannot be replicated.

And what about furniture selections for a mid-century home – where to start? Should mid-century homes always contain classic mid-century furniture and design? Or is there scope for combining modern pieces with classic design pieces, under one roof?

Scale of furniture is important to get right in the typically lower ceiling height and tighter spaces of mid-century architecture. Sensitivity to the internal spaces and finishes, whilst incorporating our client’s needs is where we are at.

Our approach would be to incorporate contemporary furniture to avoid a ‘museum’ feel, and to create a relaxed, luxurious and comfortable home. There is definitely scope to combine modern pieces with authentic mid-century… a lot of modern design has its roots in mid-century as a design base, so it certainly can work if curated with a light touch. Artworks and sculptures are a beautiful addition too, as it was and still is considered an important inclusion right alongside the architecture and furniture design.

What’s next for Studio Gorman?

Great question ….. we are working on a fantastic and diverse portfolio of projects this year, have enlarged our team and have moved offices to Paddington and its only March ! Small commercial projects have always been a dream and if the opportunity arose, we’d love to design boutiques or restaurants where we can showcase our love of materials, colour and art in our relaxed Australian luxe style.

For nearly 10 years, DOMO has remained Australia’s exclusive stockist of true heritage brand Duvivier. 

To celebrate Duvivier’s Timeless French style, DOMO is offering up to 40% off selected pieces during their ‘French Luxury’ Promotion, across all stores nationally between Monday 19th of April until Sunday 8th of May. (20% off full price stock, 15% off custom orders placed and up to 40% off end of line items)

DOMO‘s extensive collection of designer furniture includes key brands such as Duvivier, de Sede, Ligne Roset, Wittmann, HC28 and Sika Design to name a few. Their newest showroom is now open at 516 Church Street, Richmond!

[salmankhanholics]

★ Bollywood comedy set for Lantern Festival release in China !

Zhang Rui | February 28, 2018

Nearly three years after its original release in India, the critically acclaimed "Bajrangi Bhaijaan" will hit Chinese theaters on March 2.

Director Kabir Khan and the film's young star Harshaali Malhotra, both wearing traditional Chinese clothing, attended the Chinese premiere held in Beijing yesterday. Malhotra, now 9, smiled throughout the event but spoke very little, just like the character she played in the film.

"We auditioned maybe 2,000 girls, and finally chose Harshaali because she not only has a pretty face but also had enthusiasm to do the film," the director said at the premiere, "and she is totally a natural-born actress."

He also revealed that although co-star Salman Khan was known as the biggest action star in India, the director felt they should do something different after their collaboration on the spy thriller action film "Ek Tha Tiger" (2012). Salman Khan agreed and happily took part in the "Bajrangi Bhaijaan" project, a movie that is instead, according to its director, "about love."

The film tells the story of how Bajrangi (Salman Khan), an ardent devotee of Hindu deity Hanuman, embarks on taking a mute six-year-old Pakistani girl (Harshaali Malhotra), separated in India from her parents, back to her hometown in Pakistan.

The director Khan said that he made this film to talk about "love within people and the fact that borders cannot divide people."

"Bajrangi Bhaijaan," which means "Brother Bajrangi," will be released in China under the title "Little Lolita's Monkey God Uncle." "Monkey God Uncle" refers to the character Bajrangi, who is named after Bajrangbali (Hanuman), the Hindi God who provided the inspiration for the Monkey King character in the classic Chinese novel "Journey to the West." "Little Lolita" in Chinese slang often has no sexual connotations, instead only meaning "cute little girl," in reference to the young character played by Malhotra. The Chinese version will also be cut down in length from 159 minutes to 140 minutes.

The worldwide gross of "Bajrangi Bhaijaan" has already been 629 crore (US$98 million) as of 2016, making it the second-highest-grossing Indian film ever at the time, behind Rajkumar Hirani's satirical sci-fi comedy film "PK." Now with its upcoming release in China, it may earn a much higher box office haul.

The Chinese film market has provided an unmistakable boost to Indian films' earnings and chart positions. Last year, the booming market shot "Dangal" to the number one spot as the highest-grossing Indian film ever. "Dangal" grossed over US$330 million worldwide, including more than US$204 million in the Chinese market.

Another Indian film, "Secret Superstar," also made 746 million yuan (US$118.28 million) since its release in China earlier this year, which helped the film become the third-highest-grossing Indian film of all time. India's domestic income for "Secret Superstar" pales in comparing to what it has done in China - by the end of 2017, the film only grossed 89 crore (US$14 million) in India.

Director Kabir Khan is not too surprised by the phenomenon. "India and China have so much in common, " he said, "they are giant Oriental civilizations that has been living next to each other for thousands of years." He said he believes the peoples of the two countries have the same way of looking at emotions, family structures and relationships. "We could find more relevance in China than in other parts of the world, and I'm sure Chinese films will find relevance in India."

The director's next film will be the travel drama "Zookeeper," an Indo-Chinese film production slated for release later this year which will be shot in China's Chengdu city and the surrounding area.

Building on the success of "Dangal" and "Secret Superstar," as well as positive word-of-mouth since 2015, "Bajrangi Bhaijaan" will be getting a wide release in China on March 2. The date coincides with the Lantern Festival that ends China's traditional Spring Festival and Lunar New Year holidays, a time of year when people celebrate family reunions, mirroring the theme of the movie. The film had advance screenings in 29 Chinese cities on Feb. 6, receiving positive feedback from audiences.

China Org

-----

★ Can Indian comedy drama ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ recreate the success of ‘Secret Superstar’ in China? 

Huang Tingting | 2018/2/27 

After Aamir Khan's extremely successful films Dangal and Secret Superstar, China is set to embrace yet another hit Indian movie Bajrangi Bhaijaan. Starring Bollywood star Salman Khan and the then 7-year-old Harshaali Malhotra in the lead roles, the 2015 film follows Bajrangi (Khan), an ardent follower of the Hindu deity Hanuman, as he brings a mute Pakistani girl (Malhotra) back to her family. The film is set to hit Chinese mainland cinemas on Friday, the same day as the traditional Lantern Festival. The choice of release date seems well thought out as the Lantern Festival celebrates families coming together and the story fits perfectly with this festive atmosphere. The now 9-year-old actress Malhotra and the film's director Kabir Khan appeared at the film's Beijing premiere on Monday, dressed in traditional Chinese cheongsams. The two greeted fans by saying "Happy Lantern Festival" in awkward Chinese and posed for photos holding a giant Chinese festive decoration. High anticipation "I think India and China have so much in common. We have civilizations that have lasted for five to six thousand years and we have so much in common in the way we express our emotions, our family structures and relations," Kabir Khan said at a press conference at the Monday event when asked why he felt Indian films have been gaining ground in China in recent years. "We often find more resonance with people in China than those living in the other parts of the world," noted the Indian director. "I am sure Chinese films can also find resonance in India." While the recent success of Dangal and Secret Superstar in China might serve as one of the prime motivators for Chinese investors to put more stake into Indian films, the film's impressive performance in the Indian market and its relatively high rating of an 8.1/10 on IMDB and an 8.6/10 on Chinese review platform Douban have also caused movie lovers to pay more attention to Bollywood. The latest popular Indian film to come to the Chinese mainland, Bajrangi Bhaijaan is receiving quite a lot of attention from Chinese press and movie fans. On Douban, the film is now the third "most-want-to-see" film among the nine imported films that are hitting theaters in the mainland in March, following Golden Globe-winner Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, which is scheduled to debut on the same date and Shape of Water, a strong Oscar contender that is set to premiere on March 16. While admitting the parts of the film concerning religious beliefs and border disputes between India and Pakistan may be difficult to understand without certain background knowledge, reviews from Chinese moviegoers have been relatively positive so far. "Great film! Previously I thought I might fall asleep as 141 minutes is a bit too long for me, but I was moved to tears, especially by the end of the film," Xiao Lan, a moviegoer who attended Monday afternoon's VIP screening in Beijing, told the Global Times. "I think this film expresses the theme of religion better than [Indian film] P.K.," posted movie blogger Capital's Haha Brother on Sina Weibo on February 7, a day after a Beijing prescreening. "It uses specific scenes rather than the typical dance scenes to show the different religious beliefs that Indians and Pakistanis hold. And unlike the comical atmosphere in Aamir Khan's P.K., these scenes are usually very serious," he wrote. Growing a fandom The film's lead actor Salman Khan, one of Bollywood's most influential stars, was constantly introduced at Monday's premiere as one of "Bollywood's Three Big Khans" - the other two being Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan. Overseas media and netizens have already begun predicting whether Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Salman Khan's first film to show in Chinese mainland cinemas, will help the Bollywood star to become as popular as Aamir Khan has become. For many of Salman Khan's Chinese fans there is no need to compare the two. "Salman and Aamir are very good friends in real life and so are their Chinese fan clubs," Huo Huo, a manager for the Salman Khan China Fan Club, told the Global Times on Monday. Boasting some 30,000 followers on Sina Weibo and over 3,000 registered members on Baidu Tieba, China's equivalent to Reddit, the Salman Khan China Fan Club has taken on the mission of translating and updating the star's news on Chinese social media platforms. "We also make special videos every year for his birthday. Veteran fans often call him by his Chinese nickname Xiao Sa or simply Sa," said the 25-year-old fan club manager, who fell in love with the star in 2014 after watching his film Wanted. "He looks so hot in the film but it wasn't until a year later when I got to know more about him and his philanthropy that I officially became a hardcore fan," Huo explained. Though the Bollywood star's current Chinese fandom is not very large compared to other popular foreign stars, "the number is growing and we have had more new members join us over the past two years," Huo noted. The Chinese mainland release of Bajrangi Bhaijaan has excited Chinese fans such as Huo since previously they either had to make do with the Hindi-language versions of his films or wait desperately for Chinese subtitles. "The moment we saw Salman's face on the big screen for the first time at Sunday's prescreening, many of us including me couldn't help but burst into tears," Huo told the Global Times.

global times

[shellymetals-blog]

Nap-In with Barbara Bickle My personal reflection and perspective SIUC – March 8, 2017 Barbara Bickle is my professor this semester in an art history credit class called “Art as Social Practice: Applications and Theories”. The “Nap-In” is a project of hers and her colleagues and has be performed many times all around the world. My classmates and I were invited on March 8, 2017 to take part in this project held in the rotunda of SIUC’s library. We began by sewing and stitching little pillows that were stuffed with lavender and mug wort. Once the pillows were completed we all sat or laid around the central dream scroll at the center of a tape labyrinth and were encouraged to fall asleep with the thoughts of diversity in mind. We only had 20 minutes for this part so I unfortunately did not fall asleep. I think a few of my classmates did but for me that was an awkward spot with too many surrounding noises for me to fully relax into a dream state. Although I could not fall asleep I was thinking of someone that means a lot to me who shortly after the most recent presidential election tried to enter the USA. This friend typically would travel to and from the states through Florida but this time was going through US customs in Texas. He was detained for over 12 hours, thankfully not roughed up but interrogated by several immigration officers, made to wait with no food or water and then interrogated again and again. After the first hour of being hassled he was more than willing and offering to just go back to Columbia, South America but the racist Texas officers kept him in a holding room for far longer. After this extremely long waiting period they stamped his passport to make it illegal for him to enter the USA for the next 5 years! This friend yes, is a light skinned brown man who speaks English just not without his Columbian accent. He is a talented blacksmith that has shared his knowledge and techniques with many adults and children across the United States over the last several years. Blacksmithing communities have requested his presence and teachings at many conferences. He is compensated for his time with room and board and travel expenses. It makes very little sense that he was treated so poorly in Texas, beyond that the USA has now elected a racist head that wants to go to great lengths to keep out immigrants. This friend of mine has enriched and inspired the furthering of the blacksmithing arts and knowledge for so many and it is very disappointing to see what this country is headed towards on a whole. He was not in any way trying to move here or do anything illegal, he was just teaching and sharing, not even being paid. No longer is the USA a melting pot of culture and diversity, it’s an arrogant white supremacy totalitarian place of the top 1% ruling in a practically Hitler-like way. This country is reversing in its progressive ways and everything from human rights, female rights, environmental rights, animal rights are all on the chopping block. I am devistated by how this is the world I currently live in. To come back to the Nap-In, After our 20 min of dreaming/nap/thinking time was up we were asked to create something to add to the central scroll. I made a little heart like pillow that had several multi-colored knots/bows as a tail, like a kite or balloon might have. Asleep or awake I dream of a world that is more accepting, loving and community based. Around the time that the Nap-In occurred a FOX reporter was trolling student newspapers for stories they could slant upon. It’s outrageous that FOX can even still have the word “news” in their title since they are nothing more than a fabricated entertainment show rather than an actual news broadcast! On top of that Fox is primarily filled with arrogant, sexist, racist white men with perhaps one token man of color. Thankfully, there has recently been several white male FOX anchors that are beginning called out on several sexual assault charges. Beyond the males on FOX the women they have employed as news casters portray themselves as nothing more than unintelligent sexy dressed distractions that agree with the men on everything as if they have no brains of their own. This broadcast slant on the Nap-In was trying to say that parents are paying for their children to get a degree in sleeping! On top of that they had an interview with a mini-me FOX reporter/student from SIU that was not even in the slightest way aware of the purpose or intent of the Nap-In. However, she fit the stereotypical architype of female FOX prefers so of course she was the one to be the face of this internal interview not Barbara or any of the other facilitators of this project who could clearly explain the project. Interestingly enough, my class attended the Nap-In on International Women’s Day, March 8th. So, in conjunction of Trumps attack on women’s rights during this week this slant broadcast aired just a few days after. It was absolutely planned shenanigans and brain washing bull-shit. How are people buying into this crap? They must still have ratings that are keeping them on the air, but really? How can people keep listening to fake news and not question the spoonful’s of crap they are being fed? A short while after the slant broadcast was aired, Barbara held a panel session to discuss further the project and the benefits of taking resting moments. Most interestingly for me there was a Neuro-scientist on the panel that has proof through MRI brain scans that our brains are very active during a resting/dreaming state. Our brains function at 70% while resting and only 1-3% higher when we are fully awake and cognitive! Even if you aren’t in a dream state, just closing your eyes and relaxing for short periods of time can be extremely beneficial to re-focusing and being more productive. This world we live in is overly stimulating and distracting. There is always 101+ things to do all at the same time, especially as a student. With digital media bombarding us across our phones and computers we are saturated with distraction as the norm and focus can be a true challenge. In a somewhat related way, while I was working towards my undergraduate degree I took many classes in Asian art Studies and Histories. During one of these art history classes I did a project on Kum Nye. I attended regularly a 2 hour Sunday Kum Nye class held at the Nyingma Institute in Berkeley, California for that entire semester (and continued this practice long after). Kum Nye is an ancient Tibetan medical spiritual technique that refreshes and revitalizes both the body and mind and was developed and brought to the states by Tarthang Tulku. In the simplest and possibly mis-represented way for me to explain this, it’s essentially a type of slow movement and breathing yoga that helps to align and center the body and mind. To begin with I had no idea that I would connect with or get so much out of this extra class. In closing one’s eyes, paying attention to one’s breath going in and out of their body and slowly moving their appendages according to a particular exercise, this practice can open up tension and relieve stress and distraction. Many people taught this class but my favorite was Santiago. He and I spoke often after the classes. I felt like an obvious amateur in this practice but he assured me that just like physical creations the more practice given to Kum Nye the more accomplished and centered I would feel in some of the more difficult poses. He also said that of course it’s nice to have the Sunday 2 hours to practice but that even the 10-15 minutes I could give to this during the week would prove to be beneficial to my existence in this world. He could not have been any more right. I’ve taken many forms of yoga that help to keep me flexible however I have not had another class where my brain and body become flexible and open at the same time. I am so thankful to have had this experience and do continue to practice from memory and books I acquired while still living in California. I do see and feel a beneficial similarity with Kum Nye practice and Barbara Bickles Dreaming Diversity Nap-Ins.

[hollywoodx4]

Sticking With the Schuylers (18A)

Hello again! I had to split this into 2 parts because I couldn’t even handle how long it got, and I figured I’d leave the actual dramatics for “Part B”. I feel like it’s...it’s hard to describe my feelings about B, I’ll just say that.

Also thank you for putting up with my drawn-out chapters (I always feel like ‘the side of Ham that wrote the other 51′ when it takes me chapters and chapters to get from point A to point B. But I also love character studies and what makes people tick so that’s my lame reasoning behind it. Either way, I hope you enjoy!

In this part, the pre-brunch ritual is thrown off and it makes Angelica uneasy...

1  2  3  4   5   6   7   8   9   10   11   12   I   13  14   15   16   17

Loud disco music blares through the closed door. The third door from the staircase; twenty-six steps from the stairs, straight across the hall from the bathroom. It’s the second-largest bedroom in the Schuyler mansion only to their parents’ master bedroom, and lately it’s become more of a dressing room. Peggy is the beneficiary of it all, a senior in high school with her sister’s bedrooms empty while they’re away. She doesn’t use them, per say, but the youngest Schuyler liked to think she’d be crazy to deny herself the opportunity of two ‘walk-in closets.’

               And although she often claims Eliza’s style is too preppy, and Angelica’s too business, there’s often an Instagram photo or a moment on Skype that brings the two older sisters barreling to her door. Eliza will ask for her clothing back. Angelica will demand. But the best part of having her older sister’s bedrooms out of use for the better portion of the year is when they do come…Angelica’s room, because it is the largest, has been transformed more into a ‘ready room.’ It’s the latest addition to the ritual of Sunday brunch, the girls arriving at the first signs of morning with coffee and duffle bags stuffed full of supplies.

               First they’d sit around the breakfast nook, Laurie the chef having prepared an array of pastries the night before, knowing of the serious light which Sunday morning brunch was painted in this family. The girls would chat, catching up in a more filtered light. Laurie was a gossip; they’d discovered that truth when she’d told both Paul, the driver and Elena, the housekeeper, about Angelica’s first time. (Luckily the story hadn’t gotten back to their father, but oh boy did Angelica ream her out for that one).

Peggy also often used this ritual as a regular addition to her continually-updated Instagram story; clothing strewn over every surface, the three huddled close and leaning over Angelica’s vanity, the occasional 3-part harmony to a Beyoncé classic…it was a ritual that had become loved by America nearly as much as it was by the sisters.  

Today is no different. Peggy Schuyler rolls out of bed (7 am is unreasonably early for a Sunday, she always argued) to a barrage of social media notifications; people getting ready for the weekly update on the sisters they looked forward to with such anticipation. She runs a hand though her unruly, sleep-mussed hair and yawns, jumping in the shower. By the time she finally gets out she can already hear Angelica’s voice. The oldest Schuyler is the continually eager and early to Peggy’s regularly late, so when she barrels down the stairs in her usual leggings and large sweater combo Angelica rolls her eyes, teasing. The only difference to the day is that Eliza hasn’t arrived yet.

The oldest and youngest Schuylers set out their clothing for the day, draping dress choices over Angelica’s queen-sized bed and helping each other choose which might be the best look. Angelica’s gaze flips back to the clock. She watches as the time ticks away. It’s 8:30. Eliza still hasn’t arrived.

Peggy notices the change in the air of the room and turns from her place at Angelica’s closet. Her sister’s rapidly dialing numbers on her phone, pressing it to her ear as she paces around the room. One ring, two rings….Eliza finally picks up on the third ring, her voice soft and guarded. She immediately puts her on speaker phone, gesturing to the youngest Schuyler.

Betsey’s using her ‘phone voice.’

There’s something to be said about conversations had through the phone; for one, Angelica finds that it is almost easier to discern somebody’s honesty through the phone, if she knows them. When John uses his phone voice with her it’s lower, slower...calculating. Typically, it’s when he’s waiting to bring up a difficult conversation. Peggy’s loud, voice turning higher pitched and sweeter than her typical sarcastic tone. She uses her ‘phone voice’ to sweet talk her way into things, or to pretend she hasn’t done something they both know she has. But Eliza…

Eliza is honest; always honest. Angelica has heard her subdued, stoic timbre only twice in her entire life. Once, when she was eighteen and Eliza fourteen, she’d called her little sister in early September to catch up on their new lives apart. She’d just gone off to college, leaving Eliza fending for herself in her first year of high school. Of course, Angelica worried. And of course, her little sister didn’t want her to be worried. So when she called for their nightly chat that second week of school, she immediately noticed the change in her sister’s voice-which caused her to break down crying on the phone. Some kids she didn’t know had been teasing her about being adopted into wealth.

Angelica skipped her afternoon class the next day to dismiss her middle sister from school, linking arms with her and marching straight toward the gaggle of awkward, stone-faced freshman. All it took was one look from the oldest Schuyler to set Elizabeth’s year right. Nobody messed with a Schuyler sister without hearing it from her.

The second time…the second time is more difficult for Angelica to remember, only because she wishes it would be wiped from her memory. She’d called on a Thursday morning, when she was twenty-two and Eliza was eighteen, nearly nineteen. Her sister had just moved in with her boyfriend-much to Angelica’s dismay. She’d only given a slight nod of approval at the forward direction of the relationship, feeling a bit uneased about the man who was her age and not her dear Betsey’s. He was mature, sure, and yes that’s what Elizabeth needed. Angelica wasn’t sure that he was completely right for her. But this was her kind, sweet, trusting middle sister. She needed approval. She needed her older sister’s support.

When Eliza picked up the phone she practically whispered her greeting…her breathing was obvious and slightly ragged, as if she’d been crying. Angelica fed her small-talk questions to analyze her voice, wondering why she seemed so off. It wasn’t until she heard James on the other line that she’d began to put the pieces together. It wasn’t until Eliza rushed her off of the phone until it hit her.

Maybe, if she’d realized things sooner, Angelica could have done something more.

So now, on this Sunday morning where she’s twenty-four and Eliza’s twenty, her breath hitches in her throat when her middle sister’s greeting rings through the now silent ‘ready room’ of the Schuyler mansion.

Betsey’s using her ‘phone voice.’

And although Peggy doesn’t quite understand how Angelica can hear the slight differences of voice, they’re there. They’re there in the muted volume; in the slower method of speech. She can hear the rushing of cars in the background, competing with the volume of Eliza’s voice.

…

“Sorry I’m running late, it’s been a crazy morning.”  Eliza holds the phone close to her ear, burrowing her head further in her scarf as the November wind blows breezily around her. A shiver runs through her body. She frowns, unsure of whether it’s from the brisk weather or the half-a-lie that spills immediately from her lips.

By any other standard of the word it hasn’t been a crazy morning at all; she’d rolled out of bed only ten minutes before, running a comb through her hair before throwing on a pair of sweatpants and toting her bag to the place their driver was supposed to be picking her up. She’d already had to call him, apologetic for making him wait for so long. But it hadn’t been a crazy morning. Not by any other standard.

She would, however, admit that the night had been rough. She hadn’t slept again-had seen every hour on her clock. Elizabeth had tossed and turned, twisting in her blankets until she’d given up on sleeping in her bed completely. She’d tried the armchair, then the sofa in the living room…finally, she ended up on the carpet in the kitchen. No matter where she was, though, the nightmares followed her.

They would start differently; a random scenario her brain would suddenly recall, in vivid and horrifying detail. Sometimes, they were first person dreams. Others, it was like she was a bug on the ceiling, watching a horror movie tailor made to her own personal terrors. And everything felt so real, so shockingly real, that she’d wake up to run her hands up and down her arms, her legs, checking to see if any damage had really been done.

Stop crying. Don’t be so pathetic. You’re stronger than this.

But she wasn’t-she isn’t. Elizabeth Schuyler, waking up in a cold sweat and running a hand over the scar in the center of her chin. She hadn’t been strong then and certainly, she supposes as she attempts to shake the nightmares away once more, she’s still the same person she had been; Weak. Frail. Mentally and physically afflicted by the personal tornado that had been her relationship with James Reynolds.

And then, the kicker; in the early morning hours, when she’d finally felt like exhaustion would carry her into a dreamless sleep, her phone began to rang. 6:30 a.m-Alexander. She’s let it go to voicemail. He actually leaves her a voicemail. She rolls back over without listening to it.

6:45 a.m. Voicemail. 7:20 a.m. Voicemail. The call at 7:56 wakes her from a particularly bad nightmare, and she wipes beads of sweat from her face as she pushes her hair back, fighting to keep her eyes open and the lump in her throat at bay. This one, she considers answering. But then there are flashes-moments from her dreaming hours that come flying back through her conscious mind. She denies the call from even coming through.

Sorry, Alexander. Late for brunch-Calling back later. x.

It’s the best response her mind can formulate right now, through shaking hands and thumbs just barely grazing the keyboard on her phone. She feels awful.

She feels even worse when she finally gets to the Schuyler mansion, apologizing profusely to Paul for making him wait so long while she stumbles through the front door, kicking her shoes off before thundering up the stairs. It doesn’t take long for the raucous disco music to subside; actually, it’s stopped the second the walks through Angelica’s door. Her older sister sits on one of the bar stools in front of her vanity, legs and arms both crossed in a show of…Elizabeth can’t quite read the expression on Angelica’s face. It’s shifting, continually changing as she throws her own duffle bag of clothing and makeup near the bed and pulls her things out to get ready.

For once Angelica’s speechless-part of her isn’t sure there’s a conversation to be had within the slight change of voice she’d heard over the phone. But she also doesn’t want to take the risk of leaving her middle sister alone to her thoughts-she’d made that mistake before. Eliza was too concerned about everybody else to actually ask for help when she needed it. Angelica had made it her job a long time ago to do the talking-and the nurturing. It was her job to shelter the person who took care of everybody else. It was her job to speak up.

She lets the awkward silence hang in the air as Eliza pulls her makeup bag out, finding her seat next to Angelica at the vanity. Peggy turns the music back on, and they fall into a hesitant rendition of their usual routine. Peggy cracks a few jokes. The laughter is forced. The atmosphere is forced. Something feels different about the day, and it sets Angelica to the edge of her seat until finally, as they’re zipping up each other’s dresses, the oldest Schuyler cracks.

“Okay, talk. Tell me what’s wrong.”

“Nothing’s wrong.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it, Bets.” It’s Peggy who speaks up, throwing the curse word her way before throwing her hands onto her hips. “We know you’re still upset about the James thing,”

“And you have every right to be.”

“I’m tired, alright?” Eliza’s voice comes out somewhere between a shout and a low whisper, cracking on the last syllable as she plops back onto Angelica’s bed. Her dress a mess of aqua colored tight-fitting lace with a flare-out bottom that bunches underneath her laying form. “I’m tired of pretending that everything is alright when it’s not. Alex called me ten times this morning. And here I am ignoring his calls because I can’t bear to pick up the phone in between vivid, horrifying nightmares to hear him tell me how happy he is with me. Because eventually I’m going to tell him and it’s all going to end and then what?”

“And then none of that is going to happen.” Peggy’s quiet, placing an arm gently on her sister’s knee before she and Angelica flank her on either side. The sisters lay on their backs, heads touching as they grasp for each other’s hands. For a moment they let their middle sister just lay with them, basking in the familiarity and comfort of each other. And then,

“Girls, the car is waiting for us.” Phillip Schuyler yells up the stairs to his daughters. All three take in a collective sigh before rising from the bed. Angelica threads her arm through Eliza’s. Peggy does the same. They show up to brunch like this, managing a bright-eyed public profile as they’re escorted to the rooftop of the Waldorf Astoria. But then there’s a moment-a photographer Angelica recognizes. She gives Peggy a silent alert.

The published photo shows the Schuyler sisters, New York darlings, dressed up for their weekly brunch. Elizabeth Schuyler does not look at the camera but her sisters do-in fact, they look directly into it. And it’s a familiar, alarming look-Angelica’s eyes are narrowed and darkened. Peggy’s grip is tighter. It’s a solidarity, and they’re directing it right at someone they know will publish it.

And for once, Angelica can’t wait to see this one on the news stands-for him to see it.

[nicosroom]

Nico’s “52 list”

The aim of the 52 list are to set down a “to-do” list of sorts in order that 

I don’t get overwhelmed by everything I’ve ever wanted to do (and therefore never do anything); 

and to weed out things I don’t actually want to do with my life (as in, if I don’t do it at the end of 2017, I have to decide if I want to put it on next year’s list or just admit I’ll never do it). 

Here it goes--

1. Learn to poach eggs - perfecting them is an ongoing process, but I have the basic technique down; follow the saga on Twitter

2. No sugar in smoothies or oatmeal for two weeks - January 23-February 5. My plan is to maintain sugar free smoothies, but some oatmeal just needs sugar, okay?

3. Practice blow drying my own hair approximately once per week. Despite how little I do it, I really do enjoy wearing my hair straight once in a while. Typically, I have it dried straight at the salon after a haircut. I’m far too clumsy and impatient to do it myself. But, this year, I want to practice so that just maybe I can do more things with my hair than letting it air dry and throwing it up in a bun when I get tired of it falling in my face. 

4. Try Penzeys Spices.  It was everything. 

5. Day trip to Yellow Springs, OH.

6. Visit Old Schoolhouse Winery in Eaton, OH.

7. Visit Hanover Winery in Hamilton, OH. It may be the best kept secret in Butler County. 

8. Buy an immersion blender at the KitchenAid summer sale.  I bought an immersion blender and then some. 

9. Use sumac in a recipe. Almost two years ago, Catherine and I were cooking from Ottelenghi’s Jerusalem cookbook for my shoddily run cookbook club. It seemed like a ton of the recipes called for sumac. After a couple attempts, Catherine finally located it at the international market and she gave me ziploc snack-bag filled with sumac. Have I used sumac one single time since she gave this to me? No. This has to change in 2017.  It took a while, but I have now. 

10. Save $15 per week. Is it cheating if I automated this?

11. Buy a membership at the Cincinnati Art Museum. Student memberships are $30 per year. That’s like the smallest fraction of my discretionary spending budget that I could ever imagine. 

12. Make cannellini bean and lamb stew from Jerusalem. Check it out. I’ve been cooking out of this book Spring 2015 and it took me all this time to realize they sell lamb stew meat in very neat packages in the regular meat section at Kroger. This whole time, I keep looking for it at the international market, but they only have fancy lamb cuts that seem overwhelmingly expensive. 

13. Take more baths. I recently have been rereading The Bell Jar. Old Esther Greenwood may be kooky, but Plath sure made sure Esther knows a thing or two about taking baths.  **This is basically over. I probably took three baths in the month and a half after I made this list. Now, I’ve moved into an apartment that doesn’t even have a tub. Too bad! 

CANCELLED 14. Go speed dating.  Jen & I did a little research and we found that “Predating” seems to be the only speed dating service in the area. And they separate their groups into “25-35″ and “27-39,″ charge $39 to participate, and hold a session like once a month at a really inconvenient time, like 7 pm on a Tuesday. I’m highly dissuaded. Ladies should be able to speed date for free. The way I see it, reparations for sexism and patriarchy.

14. Make a leche flan from scratch. It’s my very favorite imperial dessert. I devour it at Filipino holiday parties and I always save room for it when I eat out at an American Mexican restaurant. But, I should try to make my own, at least once. 

15. Download and create a profile on a dating app.  Check out my assessments of Coffee Meets Bagel and Tinder.

16. Watch Blue Hawaii

17. Try some place new for brunch once a month. 

January: Sleepy Bee Cafe (Blue Ash (Cincy))

February: technically I failed. I only went out for brunch one time and it was at First Watch. But, at least, I tried a new location? The one in West Chester. 

March: Spice Kitchen (Cleveland)

April: Triple header - Holly’s Homemade Eats & Sweets (College Corner, Indiana); Bellevue Bistro (Bellevue, Kentucky); Hang Over Easy (Clifton (Cincy))

May: Sugarcreek Restaurant (Sheffield Village, Oh)

June: Rising Sun Cafe (Yellow Springs, Oh)

July: Treaty City Cafe (Greenville, Oh)

August: another new First Watch location (Secor Rd, Toledo)

September: another new First Watch location (Montgomery, AL)

October: Chik’n Mi (Louisville, KY); Keystone Bar & Grill (Covington, KY location)

November: Doodles (Lexington, KY)

December: Asiana Korean Restaurant (West Chester, OH). I guess this isn’t quite a brunch place, but I ate an delicious eggy beef stew, Yukaejang and we ate there at 11 am, brunch time.  

18. Visit downtown Waterville, OH. It’s a small town adjacent to the city of Toledo. I pass through it whenever I drive back and forth to the city from my mom’s new home on the farm. One of these days, maybe I’ll check out the local business scene, the metroparks, and the possibilities. 

19. Get a desk that I like and will use. Although people say I have a nice desk, I disagree. I found it near the dumpsters at the apartment complex next door. It does its job, but I don’t love it.

CANCELLED. 20. Complete a Whole 30 reset.  Though I remain curious, after much research, I decided that the reset is a terrible idea. 

20. Watch Up. 

21. Go to a live NFL game. Hopefully not the Bengals…unless they play a really interesting team…or, I can’t afford anything else. 

22. Learn hollandaise sauce. Look. 

23. Make an eggs benedict dish for breakfast -or lunch/dinner, I suppose. Perhaps a classic with English muffins, but maybe something like a salmon or fried green tomatoes benedict. 

24. Make my bed every day for two weeks. I’ve read that this is a habit of highly successful people. I think it would be really good for my “working from home” vs. napping problem. 

25. Make a TV-watching schedule. In college, I read some advice that you should schedule when you’ll watch TV and you should only watch TV then. I read that before the days of Netflix instant video. With Netflix, and especially after I moved into my own place, I formed a habit of “watching TV” as background noise while I do any number of things - wash the dishes, cook, fold the laundry, wash my face. As such, I get a lot of stuff done and also take in a lot of pop culture at the same time. But, I also see where this is an extremely counterproductive habit. Such as when I start a new 43 minute episode, but it only takes 20 minutes to wash dishes…and I watch the whole thing…Specifying the TV watching time gives you something to look forward to and provides some space to relax (unlike watching TV while simultaneously doing chores). The schedule should also put an end time on your TV watching. I’m gonna try for an hour Sunday-Thursday, likely between 8-9pm and make Friday and Saturdays open for watching a running list of movies I’ve intended to see. Check out my schedule and what I’m watching!

26. Make roasted pine nut hummus from scratch. Big brand pine nut hummus is so good. But after those hummus recalls by both Sabra and Trader Joe’s, we are in a trust no one situation. I shelled out $24 for a 3lb bag of pine nuts at Costco and I’ll be making my own hummus all year long. 

27. Do a cleansing face mask once a week for four weeks. 

28. Exfoliate lips once a week for four weeks. Will 27 & 28 stay weekly habits?? 

29. Color (in my adult coloring book) for 15 minutes before bed, Sunday through Thursday night for two weeks. I started 2017 hoping this could be a nightly habit. A late night here, a phone call with a friend there, a “oh, I forgot to make a lesson plan” on this hand, or a “just-too-tired today” on the other and suddenly I haven’t touched my $22 coloring book in more than two weeks. Alongside some of the above plans and habits on this list, maybe I can do this if I am a little more flexible and realistic. So I’ll shoot for work nights for two solid weeks and see if I can then turn it into a more definite routine. 

30. No tech after 10 pm, Sunday through Thursday for one week. 

31. Read Ta-Nehisi Coates, “The Case for Reparations” from The Atlantic. You’d think this is easy; it’s an article from The Atlantic, after all. But when I made a PDF of this thing it was 62 pages long. That feels like a short term commitment and I’ve got to put it on the calendar one of these days (after comps).

32. Cook a Julia Child recipe. I made her hollandaise. I like the way she makes one feel empowered to do it, like its the most natural thing in the world. Not like Masterchef, where you’re doomed to fail from the start. 

33. Go on a solo weekend trip. Details here.  

34. Go to one of those miles long/wide antique malls. I pass by them often on my highway drives around the state and I fantasize about completing my Corelle and Pyrex butterfly gold collections. Somehow the timing is never right - I’m in a hurry, or they’re not open, or whatever excuse I can think up. Some local possibilities: Ohio Valley Antique Mall (Cincinnati’s largest, apparently, in Fairfield), Riverside Antique Mall (over 100 dealers on the scenic Ohio River; Cincinnati), and Heart of Ohio Antiques (according to their website, America’s largest antique destination just an hour away from me in Springfield). 

35. Visit Grand Lake St. Mary’s/Celina, OH. I passed by this lake/state park last summer when I drove up US 127 until it connected with US 24. It’s a grueling drive compared with taking the fast-paced highway, but I saw so many tiny towns that might be interesting to visit. Grand Lake St. Mary’s looks like a nice beachy getaway. Though it probably gets busy and touristy in the summers, I bet the weekdays are quiet enough for me to enjoy a day or an overnight here. Perhaps this is a good candidate for that solo weekend trip I noted above. 

36. Make tom kha gai. Thai coconut soup with mushrooms (and maybe chicken). So good, so good. 

37. Go to IKEA. I was impressed. 

38. Go to another distillery on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. In 2012-13, I went to Four Roses, Wild Turkey, Woodford Reserve, and Maker’s Mark. In 2014, 2015, and 2016 I took trips South in which I drove right through all the places in Kentucky where I might stop off to finish the trail, but I did not stop once - not even for Jim Beam, which is right next to the highway! In 2017, I should go to one, at least. Will I finish the Bourbon Trail or my dissertation first? Stay tuned! 

39. Whole 30 Prep: Phase out yogurt for two weeks. I haven’t bought any yogurt since. The question remains, when will I tackle cheese?

40. No alcohol for two weeks. 

CANCELLED. 41. Whole 30 Prep: No grains for one week.  

41. Go see Fiona the hippo at the Cincinnati Zoo. 

CANCELLED  42.  No peanut butter, soy, and legumes for two weeks.

42. Go to Miami football and hockey games. I lived in Oxford for 5 years and did neither of these. My only incentive once I move to Cincinnati will be crossing it off this list. 

43. Make a meal with a spaghetti squash. I’ve eaten spaghetti squash of course, but I’ve never bothered to roast/dismantle/serve one on my own. This year, I’m finally making that Southwestern Stuffed Spaghetti Squash recipe I pinned about three years ago. 

44. Ride the carousel at the Banks in Cincinnati. I tried to do this a couple summers ago, but I showed up 30 minutes after closing time. Time to try again! And some of the carousel characters are pigs! 

45. Find red wines that I like. I’m a dry white wine drinker - which puts me in some difficult situations sometimes. Working wine tastings since 2013, I’ve learned some favorites - Raffy Grand Reserve Malbec, Haka Tempranillo, Brion Cabernet. That is, I’ve learned expensive taste. I haven’t stopped working on this, but here are few winners so far. 

46. Eat at J. Austin’s. It’s this restaurant I/we pass by every time we drive through Hamilton on the way to somewhere else. One of these days, J.Austin’s should be my/our destination, just to check it out. 

47. Get a couch. I’ve managed to live seemingly on my own for five years and never have bothered to get a couch. I was walking around the Salvation Army on April 7 and I impulsively bought a couch.  

48. Visit the American Sign Museum - I’ve made it to most of Cincinnati’s museums by now, but not this one. In 2017, it’s time. 

49. Visit two new U.S. states - I chatted with a guy in the dating app about his goal of visiting all 50 United States before he turns 50, prompting me to list the states I’ve been to and steal his idea entirely. After eliminating all the states I’ve driven through but had no meaningful interaction with (Mississippi, North Carolina, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maryland, Virginia) and the ones I don’t remember (like South Carolina, where we lived when I was an infant), I’ve got 21. I was in panic mode - how will I get to 29 states in the next 22.5 years? For the next five or ten years, I think I’ll try to hit at least two a year. In 2017, I have my sights set on Missouri and Arizona. Can anyone recommend some interesting border towns? 

Phoenix, AZ trip is booked! Oct. 25-31

50. Have four artist dates. An artist date is a solo date with an artist/artwork. You go by yourself and the point is to just spend time with the artwork without the pressures to talk to other people about it or work on/around their schedules. When you go it alone, the only schedule you have to worry about is yours. Now  that I think of it, I should have called “artist date” every time I made the mistake of dragging my ex-boyfriend to a military history museum and then feeling rushed because he didn’t want to read everything on every plaque like I did. This is precisely the problem artist dates solve. Dates can range from visiting exhibits and galleries, artist talks or performances, concerts or movies, spending the entire day reading a book, or listening to music in the peace of your own home without any other distractions. I heard about artist dates from Janice MacLeod (author of Paris Letters) and had planned to have one every month during 2015. Life got busy and all kinds of excuses not to have artist dates turned into no artist dates by the middle of the year. I set the bar lower this year, at four, hoping I can do this once a quarter. 

February 19, 2017 - George Takei’s Allegiance

May 13, 2017 - Citizen by Claudia Rankine

June 2, 2017 - Jordan Peele’s Get Out 

December 7, 2017 - Tom Hanks/Emma Watson/Dave Eggers, The Circle 

51. Learn to sew on a button. Whenever my buttons need help I take the clothes to my favorite seamstress and pay $4 for the repair and make who knows how many carbon emissions driving over to her place. 

52. Watch Star Wars. I’ve never seen it, so I have no idea about the allusions, the “Star Wars nights” at sporting events, or the Cold War metaphors about race, gender, and nation.  I wasn’t very impressed. 

[bigyack-com]

Married E.R. Workers Fear the Worst: What Would Happen to Their Son?

A few nights ago, after their 18-month-old son Nolan went to sleep, Adam Hill and Neena Budhraja sat down on the living room couch in their apartment in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Pen and paper in hand, they turned their attention to a pressing need: figuring out who would be Nolan’s legal guardian if the coronavirus swept them away.They aren’t just anxious parents. Adam, 37, is an emergency room doctor at Elmhurst Hospital Center in Queens. Neena, 39, is a physician assistant in the emergency room at Woodhull Medical and Mental Health Center in Brooklyn.Elmhurst and Woodhull are among the New York City public hospitals that have been most overwhelmed by the virus, and for the past month, the couple’s days and nights have been a blur of intubating terrified patients, navigating stretchers in crowded hallways and searching for clean equipment.The pandemic is putting unimagined strain on medical workers, exposing them to dangers and emotional stress unlike anything they have ever experienced. At least 100,000 people in the city, and probably many more, have been infected with the virus. More than 13,500 have died of the virus or are presumed to have, at least 26 of them public hospital employees.Adam reads a Facebook page for emergency health care workers and sees how everyone is struggling. One couple sent their children to live with relatives. Another doctor has decamped to his basement, where he Facetimes with his children upstairs. Yet another is living at an airport hotel.Adam and Neena don’t have those options. They take turns diving into harm’s way and then returning to each other and to Nolan. Neena has thought about quitting, and then lashed herself for doing so. “I would feel like I am abandoning everyone,” she said.She paused, and then added: “But it's not so simple.”One of Adam’s emergency room colleagues at Elmhurst died in the past week. Neena recently showed up for a Sunday shift to learn that a longtime colleague had died after battling the virus for two weeks.The woman left behind a daughter, a freshman in college. Before she learned she had been infected, Neena’s colleague told her that what worried her most was that she might bring the virus home and make her family sick.Neena had the same worry. They all do.“It’s all very emotional and it’s already such a stressful time to have that on top of everything else,” Neena said. Since the woman’s death, a second colleague and a retired one have died of the virus as well.

An Adrenaline-Fueled Life

The couple met while working in the emergency room at Woodhull, a hulking public hospital that towers over a set of elevated subway tracks at the intersection of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Bushwick and South Williamsburg.Adam is from a large family in Southern Illinois. His brother was a Marine in Iraq and served with the Navy in Afghanistan. Adam views himself as a similar kind of grunt, although one who heals sick patients.Neena, who grew up in Woodhaven, Queens, graduated from one of the city’s top public high schools, Brooklyn Technical High School, and then from the City College of New York. Her parents moved to New York from New Delhi in the 1970s just a few years before she was born.She and Adam were married in 2017, and they lived the kind of high-adrenaline life favored by so many who work in emergency rooms, where they have spent their entire careers. They trekked to Machu Picchu and then climbed Mount Kilimanjaro.They grew accustomed to what Neena called the “predictable unpredictability” of E.R. life. A drunk patient once landed a karate chop to Adam’s chest. An intubation tube sprayed bloody sputum into Neena’s eye. Because the patient it was attached to was H.I.V. positive, Neena took anti-H.I.V. medication for a month as a precaution.She was nearly four months pregnant at the time.Nolan was born three months premature with fragile lungs that put him at high risk of infection. He weighed just 1.5 pounds. Fearful for his health, Adam and Neena had only recently begun to take him to playgrounds. Then the virus hit, and the family hunkered down again.To Adam, it was clear by early March that something was wrong. Men in their 30s and 40s who were otherwise healthy were showing up at the E.R. with fevers or trouble breathing. They would deteriorate rapidly, gasping for air within a few hours.A few weeks ago, he said, he felt “overwhelmed but pretty optimistic, that we will get through this, and I still have that same optimism. But it is definitely becoming clouded by fatigue.”“Also, there’s a sort of looming shadow over … ” His voice trailed off as he began to choke up.The hospital recently installed huge fans in the emergency room to suck out dirty air and hopefully keep the virus from spreading. The fans are “so, so loud,” Adam said. Alarms go off constantly from equipment that is monitoring the breathing of patients on ventilators. Adam wears a respirator that a friend bought him at Sherwin Williams. He and his colleagues are losing their voices from yelling over the noise of the fans and the alarms and trying to be heard through the equipment covering their faces that muffles their voices.“It’s sadly comical,” he said.At Woodhull, Neena puts on her own armor. She covers her scrubs with a gown that hides her wrists. Her long black hair is tied in a bun. She wears an N95 mask, a face shield, a cap and gloves. She uses the same face mask for two straight shifts, instead of changing it between patients as standard protocol calls for.When her shift ends, she tapes her N95 mask to the inside of her locker, and wipes down her face shield and stethoscope with alcohol. She changes out of her scrubs in a bathroom, leaves her sneakers and takes a packed subway or bus home. The trains are uncomfortably crowded these days because of the drastic service cuts since the outbreak began.When she gets to the apartment, she runs away from Nolan, throws her airtight bag of dirty scrubs into the laundry room — where they will sit for at least 48 hours before she washes them — and takes a shower.Until early last month, which seems so long ago, the couple had the typical routine of exhausted young parents: juggling work schedules with child care, one covering the other’s day off. When they were home at the same time, they would put Nolan in his stroller and walk through nearby McCarren Park.Neena’s mother helped out sometimes, but that stopped because of the virus. So it is just the three of them now.Adam’s sleep is terrible. Sometimes, Neena moves to the couch in the middle of the night so that she doesn’t wake him.Late at night, he scrolls through a Facebook group of fellow emergency room doctors. One doctor wears gloves and a mask in his own home to protect his family.“I read these and it makes me second guess myself,” Adam said. “But only for a few seconds.”

Thoughts of Quitting

The day Neena learned of her emergency room colleague’s death was the worst so far. She called it a turning point for Woodhull: the overcrowded emergency room, the lack of isolation rooms, the hallways jammed with people on stretchers waiting days for a spot in intensive care to open up.“It just felt like a battlefield,” she recalled. “It felt like everybody was on vents and everyone was so sick and there was no room and wasn’t enough staff. It was very chaotic.”Emergency room staff members are used to seeing their interventions make a difference. Now, she said, “it feels like you are not making any progress.”When she came home that day, she told Adam that maybe she should quit.“But then what — Adam would live in a hotel and I wouldn’t see him for months?” she said. “He wouldn’t see his son for months? To take him away from him, when he comes home looking shellshocked after every shift, it doesn’t feel right. ”“There comes some guilt too,” she said, choking back tears. “This need to help all these people, but at same time what if doing so you are hurting your own family? It’s tough.”If anything were to happen to Nolan, Neena said, “it would be devastating.”So they all take their temperatures twice a day and hope for the best. On their days off together, they take Nolan to the park.The night they sat on the couch ironing out a will and deciding on a guardian for Nolan, they had to go three deep: Who would take care of Nolan if the appointed guardian died? Who would take care of him if the second relative also died?They wonder if Neena and Nolan were infected in mid-February, when they both had low fevers, body aches and dry coughs. Neena acknowledged that this could be “wishful thinking.”On Tuesday, the couple spoke via FaceTime to a lawyer who was taking the old bank statement they had scrawled the information for a will on and turning it into a proper legal document.They have always planned to practice emergency medicine their entire careers, possibly someplace smaller than New York. Dealing with the pandemic, they said, had only strengthened their commitment.Over the past 10 days, they have seen a steady decline in new virus patients at their hospitals. But the fear that they will get sick remains, particularly as colleagues test positive. And doctors at Elmhurst worry that if people stop social distancing too soon, a second wave of cases will inundate the hospital.A few days ago, after Neena left at 6:30 a.m. for her 12-hour shift, Adam got out of bed, gave Nolan his bottle and breakfast and let him run wild around the apartment.“It usually gives me enough time to make a coffee and sit down,” he said.But this time, he said, he found himself “crying uncontrollably, just finally letting out all the emotions from the past month.”“Right when I am crying he happens to crawl up on the couch and put himself in my lap and started talking nonsense,” he continued. “It just brought me back.”“If I didn’t have Nolan and Neena here to be with and sort of remember why we do all this to begin with, it would be much more difficult than it already is.” Read the full article

[kansascityhappenings]

Joe’s Weather World: Rain coming (slowly)…warmth leaving…and a hard freeze (THU-3/28)

Good morning…skies have turned cloudy as expected and temperatures will be warming up as the morning unfolds. Our low this morning was a balmy 54° and we should get at least a 10° warm-up, maybe more, as the morning turns to the afternoon. This issue isn’t really the temperatures (today)…but instead the rain/storm potential…and that is still there for the afternoon time period. Even as I start this blog there are questions in my mind about how widespread the rain will be this afternoon locally at least. Regardless…bring rain gear to the game/tailgating to be on the safe side.

If you are a gardener…remember a hard freeze is coming Sunday AM…and another freeze Monday AM.

Forecast:

Today: Cloudy skies with highs well into the 60s…although IF we start seeing some rain this afternoon the temperatures may trail off as the late afternoon moves along. My feeling is that they’re going to get this game in today and not risk tomorrow’s weather.

Tonight: Cloudy with off and on showers and lows closer to 50-55°

Tomorrow: A cold front works through and temperatures may actually fall off during the day.  Rain will be on the increase in coverage as well..overall a raw day likely at this point.

Saturday: Still some sort of rain/flake mix in the AM Saturday…the perhaps some PM clearing with highs 40-45° possible

Sunday: Hard AM freeze then sunshine with highs well into the 40s

Discussion:

So as we start this morning…things that I talked about last night are sort of coming to fruition. I still don’t have a ton of confidence about how widespread the rain will be during the game itself. We’re starting the day with new convection bubbling across KS…this is what I was expecting last night…and is a cause of concern.

Some of the storms before 9AM were capable of producing some hail too. There have been a few warnings mixed in. The cells are moving towards the ENE. Let’s switch back to KC radar.

These radars will auto update as the day moves along for you.

The issues are many…there is a disturbance coming through the Plains. This is what I talked about last night…and in all honesty it looks like the core of that disturbance will pass north of the Metro…hence the reason why we’re seeing the most coverage of the rain (this morning) across southern NE.

The issue is the trailing line going southwards. As that line comes eastbound how it holds together as it runs into a somewhat less favorable environment aloft will be a key to the rain for the tailgating and onwards time frame. IF it does hold together…then conceivably we get a pop of rain and then things settle down for a few hours…which actually could work out for the Royals.

Usually I’d show the HRRR and I will again this morning but as I type this up…the HRRR has very little sense of what’s going on with that area of storms through 9AM…in other words it’s not “resolving” this line well as the model runs start. Over the next two hours it should “see” this line better I think.

This model is run every hour for 18 hours (sometimes it goes out longer) and again you have to compare now to what the model “shows” for now to see how the model is resolving the atmosphere…especially the future radar products.

So this is what you do…compare the actual NWS radar views above to the forecast radar from the model…this will tell you if the model is “seeing” reality…believe it or not…sometimes it doesn’t.

This disturbance will pass north with another going south of KC as the day moves along. We’re really not getting into any decent lift until close to 3PM or so…so that’s why I’m not sure how well that convection to the west holds together as it comes eastbound.

It’s frustrating to you…and incredibly frustrating to me.

Then what comes through IF it comes through…will potentially then create sinking air behind it…perhaps helping to create some breaks in the rain…that’s why I think they’re going to fight through getting the game in today.

It’s just one of those days where you’re have to watch radar and plan accordingly.

The other issue for the day is IF we get unstable this afternoon and IF we get some convection…there could be some hail with whatever fails. The SPC has placed the region into a “marginal” risk category.

The threats are mostly 1″ and some potential wind…especially on the MO side of things. Iffy but worth watching.

There is a surface low developing across western KS this morning.

This surface low will be moving through KS tomorrow and then into MO later tomorrow…probably south of KC. This will result in a wind shift/cold front coming through the region at some point tonight…and that will be rain cooled air to the north flowing southwards overnight into Friday.

Assuming the front is south of KC tomorrow…we should be in the colder air and a NE/NNE wind regime. That is a tough nut for us to warm up…and it’s a rain set-up as well making any warm-up tougher to achieve. We may start the day close to 50…but I won’t be shocked IF we don’t fall back into the 40s. Typically only certain models handle these colder air scenarios better…

As this system passes south of KC…areas towards the SE of the Metro will see warmer weather, especially south of US 50 towards the Lakes region. There should be unstable air down there depending on how warm it gets (which if there are a ton of clouds may not be a lot) so storms may or may not fire down there too later tomorrow.

For us…again it’s a set-up for rain and assuming some sort of disturbance comes across KS at some point tomorrow there could be some heavy rains…perhaps not an all day rain…but enough that a plan B will be needed at times and the reason why I think they’re going to fight through today to get that game in.

On Saturday the snowflake risk is still there BUT I think at this point it’s just curiosity type stuff. I don’t think it’s sticking snow…and we may be above freezing when the snow happens…and some of the data this morning isn’t even that thrilling for that potential…but it will be colder.

At least we’ll have yesterday…the warmest day of the year so far…and the warmest since late October of 2018. That was a long time coming!

The forecast for KC tomorrow is 70 degrees. We haven't experienced 70 degrees in KC since we hit 72 on 10/19/18. If we hit it tomorrow that will tie the 8th longest stretch on record. On average KC experiences its first 70 degree day on March 4th. Ummm, we're a little late! pic.twitter.com/itaA8fWvfV

— NWS Kansas City (@NWSKansasCity) March 26, 2019

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The folks from People of Cowtown have the perfect shot for today. Go Royals!

Joe

from FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports https://fox4kc.com/2019/03/28/joes-weather-world-rain-coming-slowly-warmth-leaving-and-a-hard-freeze-thu-3-28/

from Kansas City Happenings https://kansascityhappenings.wordpress.com/2019/03/28/joes-weather-world-rain-coming-slowlywarmth-leavingand-a-hard-freeze-thu-3-28/

[chestnutpost]

What's next for the Kenya Ice Lions after viral fame?

7:30 AM ET

Emily KaplanESPN

In October, we were introduced to the Ice Lions, Kenya’s only ice hockey team. They play at what is believed to be the only ice rink in East Africa; the sheet at the Panari Hotel is typically used for recreational skating, a tad smaller than North American ice, and enclosed by square corners.

Due to numbers (and a lack of a goaltender), the Ice Lions had nobody to play but themselves. Over the summer, Tim Horton’s flew the Ice Lions to Canada, outfitted them in fresh gear, and organized a game with NHL superstars Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon. The produced video, “The Away Game,” quickly went viral. In late October, Tim Horton’s flew the Ice Lions’ captain, Ben Azegere, back to Toronto to watch his first NHL game and reunite with Crosby. When asked what it meant to him at the time, Azegere said, “Anything is possible. And every dream is valid.”

It was a heartwarming story underscoring the universal language of sport. It was also an acute reminder of hockey’s cost prohibitions and aspirations for inclusivity.

The Ice Lions returned to Kenya, their normal jobs, their normal routines, but not their normal practices. Tim Colby, a Canadian living in Nairobi who serves as the Ice Lions’ coach and adviser, noticed something different about the players after their North American exposure.

“The energy level they came back with — they were flying, throwing their bodies around like crazy,” Colby says. “I don’t wear equipment when I play, and now I’m telling myself, I might need to.”

The regular players — who were resourceful with limited gear, often taping pieces of couch cushions to themselves — now have donated full CCM sets, perhaps giving them more security. But they still lack what so many established teams take for granted.

There has been talk of a full face-mask rule being enacted, to help curb the number of injuries sustained as sticks and pucks come up high. Robert Opiyo/Kenya Ice Lions

When pucks and sticks inevitably get to the face? That’s a problem. A few weeks ago, a player sustained a cut; Colby was applying antibiotic cream when he realized, he didn’t have medical gloves to properly apply it. When you have players at varying levels, checking from behind is a concern. Colby might institute a full face-mask rule. He’s also working to send players to a Red Cross training course, or at least some online video training.

There’s no defibrillator at the rink, nor a trainer. The hotel has a doctor and nurse on call, but the team is still working out a protocol for how and when to call them. In Kenya, if you have a serious injury, you don’t necessarily wait for an ambulance. You get in the car and go yourself. Not everyone is covered by insurance. What hospital do you go to? Who has a credit card? Now Colby and the other team leaders are figuring out procedures. They might require players to have insurance if they get on the ice, and if they can’t afford it, they’ll work out how to subsidize it.

In 2016, Azegere approached Colby and asked if he would help them establish a program and get them to the next level.

“I was sitting on the bench thinking, ‘No F’ing way,'” Colby says. “I knew the amount of administration that it takes. It’s not just getting the guys ready on the ice. I tried explaining, every team has more off-ice people than on-ice people.”

But Colby, whose day job is with the United Nations Development Programme, couldn’t resist. He saw how much hockey meant to these players; many traveled hours just to get to the rink, or were spending their last dime to get there. So he said yes. He and a group of four or five meet after they play hockey and go over things. They’re getting started and, thanks to the publicity boost with the Tim Horton’s campaign, have a better foundation. But there’s still much work to be done.

The Ice Lions host two main shinny games a week, plus four different training sessions, partially broken up by age. There’s enough donated equipment now for the regular players, but not at the youth level yet. In all, there’s about 30 Kenyan regulars who come.

Tim Horton’s donated $30,000 in Canadian dollar to the Ice Lions, and Alibaba, a Chinese conglomerate, also donated $30,000 (USD). But the program hasn’t dipped into that money yet, partially because they can’t access it.

Catch more than 180 NHL games streaming live this season on ESPN+. Click here for the upcoming schedule and to learn how to subscribe.

Corporations can’t just give individuals money, and the Ice Lions are dealing with the bureaucracy of setting up a federation. They hope to reach affiliate status by the end of 2019 (or maybe sometime in 2020), but in the meantime, can’t set up a bank account.

After the Tim Horton’s campaign, there was a huge demand for jerseys. A man in Toronto volunteered to set up a web page, print them and ship them, all for free. They looked sharp: the same kelly green with red striped trimming that Crosby & Co. wore in the game, featuring a regal lion holding a hockey stick in the center. They weren’t cheap ($169 USD) but sold out immediately. So far, there have been about 300 sold, and the Ice Lions receive $100 for every sale.

That’s given them the largest chunk of accessible cash, plus the GoFundMe, which Colby describes as their “financial lifeline.” They’ve raised more than $7,000 on the page, although after an initial surge this fall, momentum has slowed.

Canadian Tim Colby is helping the Ice Lions with some of the administrative hurdles in setting up a federation, but knows that the team must develop its own coaching program organically. Robert Opiyo/Kenya Ice Lions

“We haven’t really spent any of our money yet,” Colby says. “And we’re about to have to.”

The Ice Lions have a wish list, and topping it is a new skate sharpening machine (their current one has long been on the fritz). But the first tangible goal is to send a handful of Ice Lions out to Canada for coaching clinics to earn certification. While there, the Kenyans would spend every evening at a youth hockey practice, then study during the day, and leave with a first level coaching certificate. Colby lined up some people who can host as billets, and they have enough money to give per diems.

The big cost is airfare. Because most of the players work and have families, they’re also trying to figure out their schedules before they can book. Ultimately, Colby wants to hand everything over to the Kenyans. As someone who specializes in intercultural relations, he understands that for long-term sustainability, the Kenyans “need to own” the coaching aspect.

“I understand that it will take a bit longer for them on the administrative and operational side, which I’m doing a lot of,” Colby says. “But I want them to own the coaching for many reasons. In my business, you learn that different cultures have different ways of doing things. It’s not like going from IBM to Ford and finding an organization of cultural differences compared to the West. It’s much better if they take on all of the coaching, and they take care of everything they can, down to the theories of how to run a practice better to make it more efficient, the progression of drills, how to manage, et cetera. If they own that, it will be much better for them, and much more sustainable.”

The buzz around the Ice Lions has been global. A Swiss photo journalist recently visited. A Finnish reporter swung by last week. A visiting tourist from somewhere in the midwestern United States brought three bags of equipment for the female players. A Mississauga (Canada) man who owns a trucking company offered warehouse space in Toronto in which the Ice Lions can store donated equipment before it is shipped over. In March, the Ice Lions will host Slava Fetisov and Mike Richter as part of their version of “The Last Game,” an initiative to raise awareness on climate change.

Rick Lipsey, a former Sports Illustrated writer, coaches his son’s 10-and-under squirt team in Manhattan. Looking to inspire his players, Lipsey arranged a Skype call between his players and the Ice Lions.

Postgame analysis and highlight show airing each night throughout the season from Barry Melrose and Linda Cohn. Watch on ESPN+

“They made it clear on the call how hard they work just to get to the rink, and they appreciate just the ability to play hockey,” Lipsey says. “I think that really struck some of our players.” So the North Park Hockey Squirt Green team wears Kenya Ice Lion stickers on their helmets and the boys participate in a program where they solicit donations and pledges for the Ice Lions: small things, like a dollar for a goal, or 50 cents for a win. Every dollar counts.

As for the Ice Lions themselves, Colby has seen continued interest. They’re seeing more regular practice attendance. After Azegere’s last trip to Canada, he brought back goalie equipment. Ice Lions player George Gachara happily volunteered to give it a go in net; after his first few sessions, it turns out, he was a natural. Gachara barely flinched.

George Gachara was a natural once he put on the goaltending equipment. Tim Colby

Colby usually skates with his family on Sundays at the rink from 11-12 a.m., and noticed that some Ice Lions players are getting there an hour and a half earlier than their scheduled practice time to set up drills. Colby recently had a breakfast meeting with the GM, and again, even in darkness, saw some players sneaking in ice time.

The hotel has been a great partner, offering more free ice time and space in a storage facility that can be turned into a locker room. But Colby knows they can’t abuse the relationship. The rink costs roughly $8,000 USD to operate per month. Some developers have expressed intrigue about building another rink in Nairobi — it probably would have to be a multipurpose facility — but as of now, there are no concrete plans.

By this time next year, Colby would like to have a youth team ready to go to a tournament either in the U.S. or Canada; they’ve eyed the Bell Capital Cup in Ottawa as a great fit. Colby is also reaching out to players from South Africa, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia to see if they could arrange an African Cup. As of now, it would have to be a 3-on-3 tournament because the ice is so small.

CCM just came through with another 30 full sets of equipment, and the Ice Lions decided it would all go to the youth.

“The older guys, like Ben and them, know this is all about the next generation,” Colby says. “Their time in the limelight was in Canada. We’ll have some 3-on-3 tournaments here and there, but the big stuff, the international stuff, will all be for the younger guys.”

This is just the start. The Ice Lions plan to be around for generations to come.

The post What's next for the Kenya Ice Lions after viral fame? appeared first on The Chestnut Post.

from The Chestnut Post https://www.thechestnutpost.com/news/what039s-next-for-the-kenya-ice-lions-after-viral-fame/

[zenovyap]

OK, that was a very corny opening for a trip report, but that was what I knew about Madrid before I set foot on its soil: old streets, old buildings and stuff.

I was quite right.

The moment I stepped foot onto the aerobridge, I felt like I was being transported back to the 1980s. Initially, I thought it was just the architecture of Madrid-Bajaras Airport. Interestingly, it extended way into the city. Yes, there were skyscrapers, and you can find most of them in their “central business district” around Plaza de Castilla. On the other hand, they retained the old world charm in the area around Plaza Mayor. Anywhere in between these 2 places seemed to have been developed in the 70s to 80s. Either way, I am not complaining, as I enjoyed walking around the stone-paved streets admiring the antique architecture!

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First, my trip to Madrid was for work, so I spent most of my preparation work on accommodation and work; I didn’t really expect myself to have time after working hours every day to do sightseeing. However, I landed in the afternoon of a Sunday. With the whole afternoon to myself, I did a quick research and planned an itinerary that allowed me to “sample” the best of Madrid in the short few hours.

My trip took place in early spring, so daylight was precious. My first order of the day was to visit Royal Palace of Madrid and Plaza Mayor, both of which would be good for some been-there-done-that daytime photo-taking.

Royal Palace of Madrid

The Royal Palace of Madrid and the surrounding ground was a massive architecture of concrete. The expanse of the plaza in front of the palace reminded me of Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Since the buildings in the city centre were all low-rise, the palace dominated the skyline of the neighbourhood, and it was plain joy taking pictures of the ornately sculpted roof against the sky with my all-weather Olympus TG870.

You can literally see 2 trains cross each other’s path here!

I’d recommend starting the “tour” from Príncipe Pío metro station (located along the blue and green lines), kicking off the walk with the sight of the triumphant arch at Puerta de San Vicente, before taking a stroll up Cuesta San Vicente and entering the gardens of the Palace through one of the entrances along the road.

The garden itself was intricately landscaped. And since it was elevated, it overlooked many parts of the surrounding town too. The exit of the garden off Calle de Bailén (the road in front of the Palace) was in itself an elevated terrace. Therefore, remember to turn around and take in a bird’s eye view of the gardens before stepping out of the garden!

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The plaza in front of the palace was of course filled with excited tourists. There were also street artists and peddlers who roamed the area to earn some money. Many people online advised against buying stuff for them, though it would not hurt to take a few pictures of the artists like I did!

  Awesome statues!

Catch the “invisible” artist!

XK was awed by the grandeur of the palace!

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After crossing the front courtyard of the Palace (or is it plaza?), you would reach the theatre area of the city, where metro station Opera was. Unless you have the time for a show or two, it was just a place to soak in the hustle and bustle within a historic background and catch a breather with a cup of coffee at one of the coffee shops.

Plaza Plaza

The next place to visit would be Plaza de la Villa (a 10-min stroll from the theatres). Being the old city centre during medieval times, the small plaza offered a 360 view of beautiful buildings from the bygone era!

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Plaza Mayor was just a few turns from Plaza de la Villa, and where one should spend a good amount of time there! It was an expansive plaza bounded by medieval buildings. Travel blogs recommended one to dine at one of the restaurants at the perimeter. I thought that I could people-watch while in the plaza, without going through the expense (literally) of dining at one of them pricey restaurants. Instead, my aim was actually to try out some other snacks I could find (after all, I only had a few hours around dinner time, so I must keep my stomach for more value-for-money food!).

Calamari, Butter Cake & Hot Chocolate

Situated along the streets that branched off from the plaza was Bar La Ideal, a small outfit serving calamari that many travel sites talked about. Despite being deep-fried, one could taste the freshness of the squid, which was wrapped in soft, crispy batter! The calamari, like all other Spanish food, bordered on being too salty. I am a lover of all food salty, and even then, I had to wash my palette with plain water after every meal! One thing I didn’t like about their calamari was that it was served with a very tough bun; I ended up cleaning off the calamari and leaving the bun alone XP

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Just around the corner from Bar La Ideal was the famous San Miguel Market (you could actually drop by enroute from Plaza de la Villa to Plaza Mayor). If you have the luxury of time, you could spend an entire afternoon browsing through the different food stores in the market; otherwise you can do a been-there-done-that selfie like me!

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A few blocks from Plaza Mayor, along Calle Mayor, was a famed dessert café called El Riojano. Even before entering the café, you would be greeted with walls of colourful cakes, which would be followed by more walls of enticing-looking cakes beckoning at you as you entered the shopfront. The whole café was split into 2 parts, with the front being the display for cakes and for people to buy takeaways, while the back housed the seated area of the café.

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The signature of this café (or rather, the reason why people visit the café) was its buttery cake that you dip into the accompanying cup of hot chocolate, before stuffing that awesome sinful goodness into your mouth. Need I say more? I particularly liked its retro décor and intimate seating. Everybody was engaged in excited conversation, adding to the warmth of the place, thus making El Riojano the perfect place to escape the scathing cold outside!

I had a hard time stopping XK from taking a hot chocolate sauna! 😛

  By now, the sun would have set, but that does not mean you can’t proceed down Calle Mayor towards Puerta del Sol. In fact, just the walk down the street would be sufficient for basking in the hustle and bustle of downtown Madrid! When at Puerta del Sol, remember to take a picture with the sculpture of the bear against a strawberry tree.

If you aren’t tired by the time you reached Puerta del Sol, you can cut across the buildings to Gran Via via Calle de la Montera. Gran Via is like the Champs Elysee of Madrid, and would be a great place to drop by if you need to buy something back for your folks back home. From there, you could walk down the historic road towards Banco de España, where you could take in the majestic view of Plaza de Cibeles, situated in the centre of the roundabout, to conclude your short tour of Madrid’s historic district.

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Other Trivia

My experience of Madrid was that it was a city stuck in the 1980s; the hotel rooms were big, but needed soundproofing. The roads were wide, but that made reaching places inconvenient. The pluses would have been great back in the 80s, but when viewed in current context, against the backdrop of modern metropolises like Shanghai, Madrid felt weary and in need of rejuvenation.

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Although Spain is one of the top tourist destinations in the world, Madrid is surprisingly low on service culture. Servers were not enthusiastic to take your orders and they definitely were not interested in earning money of English-speaking tourists. Therefore, one really needs to either be conversant in Spanish, or have plenty of courage to travel alone in Madrid!

Last but not least, I was very fortunate to have visited Madrid in March, which was also when the cherry blossoms, you know, blossomed. The cherry blossoms could be found lining the sides of Paseo de la Castellena, the streets branching off the boulevard, and in spots here and there. The wide boulevards dampened the visual intensity of the blossom (imagine seeing the blossoms lining the sides of a narrow path in Japan, and then widening the path to the width of a boulevard the scale of Madrid’s), but when viewed in solidarity, they were just as breath-taking as their Japanese counterparts.

And I was only describing what you see when you are going about your daily routine. The article linked here suggests several superb spots right in the heart of Madrid for viewing cherry blossom at its finest!

Read this article for more inspiration to your gastronomic discovery in Madrid: https://madridfoodtour.com/typical-foods-in-madrid/

Last, but not least, read my other articles that goes into more details of staying and eating in Madrid!

Boutique & Spacious: H10 Tribeca At Madrid [Review]

Goodbye Madrid!

Madrid 马德里不思议 OK, that was a very corny opening for a trip report, but that was what I knew about Madrid before I set foot on its soil: old streets, old buildings and stuff.