#and good publicity

[notafraidofredyellowandblue]

Article Rammstein giving visually impaired fans a special experience

Article from 3voor12vpro.nl Rammstein show in Nijmegen 2024-06-18/19

Googly translated

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Special tour by guitarist Paul Landers on the stage of the German metal band

june 24, 2024, text: robin hogenboom. photos: jens koch & lonneke prins.

When you think of Rammstein, you think of theatrical shows full of flames and fireworks. But what if you cannot enjoy it optimally due to a visual impairment? The German metal band organizes a guided stage tour for those people, where these fans can feel before the show what the rest of the audience will see later. 3voor12 Gelderland is lucky and can join the tour of June 18 in Nijmegen.

Of course, musically it's all rock solid. Yet the more than 100,000 music lovers who travel to Nijmegen on June 18 and 19 also expect a show that has been taken care of down to the last detail. Cooking pots, flamethrowers, rubber boats and a gigantic penis that squirts foam: it is part of Rammstein's standard repertoire. But what if you have a visual impairment? How do you make a show accessible to people who will experience little or nothing of all those theatrical excesses?

That thought also struck guitarist Paul Landers. “At one point I thought that blind fans couldn't see the stage and so maybe it would be good if they could feel the stage. That is how the first stage tours in 2022 came about.” Since then, fans have been able to register for the tours with a simple email – and a medical certificate. “On average, 4 to 6 people register for the tour, but due to increased safety measures, only 2 groups can participate at a time. Of course, every participant also has a supervisor.”

And safety, that is of course a thing. Paul: “The tour takes place once all preparations and rehearsals have been completed. That is why we take very small groups behind the scenes and extra security is present to guarantee the safety of the visitors.” And it comes as no surprise that parts of the stage also remain closed. Paul: “There are areas that are too unsafe for visitors, for example because pyrotechnics are ready there. These pieces are not part of the tour.”

The tour

When we report to the agreed location, we meet Twan Driessen (21) from Nijmegen, who will participate in the tour with his father as a guide. Although he will experience something that many Rammstein fans would sign up for, he only became a fan of the German band relatively recently. “I'm normally not a metal fan, but 'Deutschland' made me become a fan of Rammstein. That song really stuck.” The song also had an impact on his father: “he really ended up in the Rammstein corner!”

We walk past the dressing rooms and end up behind the characteristic stage. There we meet Paul Landers, who quickly takes Twan through some highlights. Paul places Twan's hands on a gigantic steel tube that holds the stage upright. The colossus, 60 meters wide and 35 meters high, weighs about 1,350 tons and is transported through Europe by 90 trucks, says Paul. “And we have two. The other is already in Dublin.”

Schedule

And then we enter the actual stage. Just below Christoph Schneider's drum kit, Twan is allowed to experience some attributes that are already ready for the show. For example, he receives an explanation about a flamethrower and the cooking pot from 'Mein Teil', but also the pram that will be rolled onto the stage for 'Puppe'. Although, roles? Paul: “The ceiling under the stage is very low, so the wheels don't fit under it yet. They are added at the last minute.”

The more you think about it, the more special it actually becomes. About an hour and a half before the start of the show, which is known for how tightly organized it is, Paul takes the time to explain everything about the show to Twan. And the pleasure with which he provides the tour is admirable. Only the supervision of a few crew members reveals that the organization is more involved than the guitarist lets us experience.

Paul dismisses the fact that it has an impact on his own planning: “it must be well timed between the arrival of the audience and the start of the show. I have to be there on time, but it's all worth it to me. I really enjoy doing the tours for the visually impaired.” What do you find most special about the tours? “Every tour is different. Sometimes people are moved to tears. People who have poor or no vision often have a sensitive and reserved character. I love it when I can make those people happy!”

The stage

Finally, the hydraulic lift that leads to the actual stage lowers. As the field slowly fills up, Twan gets the opportunity to feel the floor of the stage. And the type of flooring comes in very handy today. Paul: “This material is normally used on oil platforms, so that you do not slip when it is wet. It's sharp and hard, so you'll need thick shoes to stand on it for the entire show. And if you trip and fall on your knee, it will hurt you for a while!”

After a photo moment with Paul we are escorted back to the field. Twan: “When I was selected for that blind tour, I already had the feeling that something special could happen. And then the guitarist comes to do the tour! It's almost surreal that you can just chat with someone so big and famous. That someone from the band takes you along and takes the time for you. I think that is really special and exceeds my expectations!”

The show

Then of course it's time for the show. Although the weather is anything but good, the atmosphere is exceptionally good. Of course, the show is phenomenal again, just like two years ago . The differences with that show can be counted on one hand. 'Armee der Tristen', 'Zick Zack', 'Zeig Dich' and 'Heirate Mich' have made way for 'Ramm4', 'Keine Lust', 'Asche zu Asche' and 'Wiener Blut' respectively, with the latter in particular having a considerable intense addition to an already impressive show. The men play very tight and don't really loosen the reins anywhere. You would almost forget that the band is celebrating their thirtieth anniversary this year.

Twan: “I thought they played well live, full of energy. The singing was also good and it was really heavy at times. 'Puppe' and 'Adieu' at the end were impressive!” But: did the tour have any influence on Twan's concert experience? “I liked getting an insight into what that stage looks like, with the flamethrowers and the cooking pot. When you feel the stage and how big it all is, that is impressive and that also gives a better idea of ​​what you get on such an evening.”

The last word goes to Twan: “compliments to Paul Landers and the management of Rammstein. They did a really good job: the service, the reception, everything. Well organised!”

We would like to thank Greenhouse Talent, the management of Rammstein and in particular Paul Landers and Twan Driessen for their cooperation in this article!

[reasonsforhope]

"The first modern attempt at transferring a uterus from one human to another occurred at the turn of the millennium. But surgeons had to remove the organ, which had become necrotic, 99 days later. The first successful transplant was performed in 2011 — but even then, the recipient wasn’t immediately able to get pregnant and deliver a baby. It took three more years for the first person in the world with a transplanted uterus to give birth. 

More than 70 such babies have been born globally in the decade since. “It’s a complete new world,” said Giuliano Testa, chief of abdominal transplant at Baylor University Medical Center.

Almost a third of those babies — 22 and counting — have been born in Dallas at Baylor. On Thursday, Testa and his team published a major cohort study in JAMA analyzing the results from the program’s first 20 patients. All women were of reproductive age and had no uterus (most having been born without one), but had at least one functioning ovary. Most of the uteri came from living donors, but two came from deceased donors.

Fourteen women had successful transplants, all of whom were able to have at least one baby.  

“That success rate is extraordinary, and I want that to get out there,” said Liza Johannesson, the medical director of uterus transplants at Baylor, who works with Testa and co-authored the study. “We want this to be an option for all women out there that need it.”

Six patients had transplant failures, all within two weeks of the procedure. Part of the problem may have been a learning curve: The study initially included only 10 patients, and five of the six with failed transplants were in that first group. These were “technical” failures, Testa said, involving aspects of the surgery such as how surgeons connected the organ’s blood vessels, what material was used for sutures, and selecting a uterus that would work well in a transplant. 

The team saw only one transplant fail in the second group of 10 people, the researchers said. All 20 transplants took place between September 2016 and August 2019.

Only one other cohort study has previously been published on uterus transplants, in 2022. A Swedish team, which included Johannesson before she moved to Baylor, performed seven successful transplants out of nine attempts. Six women, including the first transplant recipient to ever deliver a baby back in 2014, gave birth.

“It’s hard to extract data from that, because they were the first ones that did it,” Johannesson said. “This is the first time we can actually see the safety and efficacy of this procedure properly.”

So far, the signs are good: High success rates for transplants and live births, safe and healthy children so far, and early signs that immunosuppressants — typically given to transplant recipients so their bodies don’t reject the new organ — may not cause long-term harm, the researchers said. (The uterine transplants are removed after recipients no longer need them to deliver children.) And the Baylor team has figured out how to identify the right uterus for transfer: It should be from a donor who has had a baby before, is premenopausal, and, of course, who matches the blood type of the recipient, Testa said...

“They’ve really embraced the idea of practicing improvement as you go along, to understand how to make this safer or more effective. And that’s reflected in the results,” said Jessica Walter, an assistant professor of reproductive endocrinology and infertility at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, who co-authored an editorial on the research in JAMA...

Walter was a skeptic herself when she first learned about uterine transplants. The procedure seemed invasive and complicated. But she did her fellowship training at Penn Medicine, home to one of just four programs in the U.S. doing uterine transplants. 

“The firsts — the first time the patient received a transplant, the first time she got her period after the transplant, the positive pregnancy test,” Walter said. “Immersing myself in the science, the patients, the practitioners, and researchers — it really changed my opinion that this is science, and this is an innovation like anything else.” ...

Many transgender women are hopeful that uterine transplants might someday be available for them, but it’s likely a far-off possibility. Scientists need to rewind and do animal studies on how a uterus might fare in a different “hormonal milieu” before doing any clinical trials of the procedure with trans people, Wagner said.

Among cisgender women, more long-term research is still needed on the donors, recipients, and the children they have, experts said.

“We want other centers to start up,” Johannesson said. “Our main goal is to publish all of our data, as much as we can.”"

-via Stat, August 16, 2024

[gastrophobia]

Friendly reminder!

[chaoticpuppie]

Dirty talking over text while I’m in a public setting, texting me just how you’d fuck me, how you’d bent me over or have me riding you. All while I’m sitting next to my friends, clenching my thighs together because I’m getting soaked >*<

[lesbxdyke]

I would like to again big up libraries as safe spaces for people of all types!

I had a psychotic episode in my local library while I was in there working and had convinced myself that I was in a bubble dimension and if I left the library I would die, and that being what had happened to the librarian because I hadn't seen them in an hour (it's a small, local library. You can see the librarians desk from where I sit to work)

Now obviously they weren't dead, they were just in the little office that I couldn't see into.

I'm also lucky enough to be a very self aware psychotic, so I reached out to my support network to make sure I got home safely. But none of them could actually get me OUT of the library and I was still absolutely certain that if I stepped off the carpet and onto the tile, I would die.

So I got up, I made my way to the desk, I found the librarian and I said "I need your help. I'm having a psychotic episode and this is what I currently believe. Could you please come out from behind your desk and stand on the tiles so I can see it won't kill me?"

And they did. They didn't shame me, or laugh, or tell me it wasn't real. They said "Yeah, that must be scary." And thanked me when I admitted I'd thought them dead and been really upset about that because I liked them.

And then stood there on the tile, while I stood on the carpet, for ten minutes while I chatted shit and tried to build up my courage to step on the tile, just in case. Including telling me that if this happened again and I needed to call someone, to disregard the usual 'don't call people in the library' rule and just do so after I promised I was going to be calling my husband the second I was on the tile so he could safely walk me home.

(& so no one worries: my husband got me home safe, and a friend came to check on me a little while later and brought me food and I'm fully Cognizant and out of it now)

I cannot imagine another place where I could approach someone and say that and not get the police or an ambulance called on me. Neither of which I needed or would have been helpful.

I cannot imagine another place where a member of staff would stand somewhere for ten minutes to make sure I felt safe enough leaving.

I cannot imagine another place where I would not only be explicitly welcomed back, but be told "If this happens again here, disregard our normal rules to take care of yourself."

I cannot imagine another place on this earth that I would feel safe enough returning to, 3 days later, after an episode like that.

Libraries are a fucking Godssend and should be protected at all costs!

[reimenaashelyee]

The Creator's Guide to Comics Devices is OPEN!!! comicsdevices.com

An online library of visual-narrative devices that are used in the medium of comics and other sequential art.

Happy Halloween! I'm really excited to be finally launching* what is maybe one of my most ambitious, largest work yet. This online library is the next phase of a research project that began in May 2020, when I first mused on how comics as a field doesn't have a resource that catalogues devices used in the medium. Like, theatre has devices, so does literature, and film! So why shouldn't comics? I always had an interest in comics studies and analysis. I love reading, making and thinking comics. However most of my knowledge was intuitive - I learned comics from osmosis and experience. This is true for many of my peers. Speaking about comics as a creator is hard, because we don't have a robust system of language. When we had to speak, many of us tend to reach for the language developed for film by film practitioners. If there is language specific to comics, it's either scattered in multiple blogs or hidden away in academic journals. The Comics Devices library is meant to aggregate everything and everybody into a single hub! After exploring some multiple resources, alongside some original, independent research, here is the first edition! * The Comics Devices project is still a work-in-progress! It's not final, nor will it ever be. This is why I am seeking contributors to help build this library. Translations, comics examples, etc. There is a lot of work to do! If you are interested, reply to this post or submit an expression of interest on this page.  Have fun everyone!! (Now time for me to melt x_x)

[beybuniki]

they should go on a fishing trip pt.1

[mwagneto]

sorry idk but the way the world is so fast and the people in it still want it to be faster is sooo annoying to me. people groaning while standing in line for 3 minutes people being mad the train ride is gonna take 2 hours people complaining that the bus is a few minutes late people being angry that construction work is taking months even though it used to take decades. don't you see the world is already so so so fast in every single aspect can't you understand that being mad will do nothing and just make your mood worse. enjoy the moments of stillness you're given. just stand in line and look at the people around you. sit on the train and watch the scenery. you'll get there.

[outsidewolves]

[stuckinapril]

friend wanted to see my tumblr, and when i told him i can’t show it to him bc it’s basically my personal diary he went “oh so I can’t see it but a bunch of strangers on tumblr can??” he literally does not get me. no one will get me like the people in my phone get me

[petricorah]

....right??? [id in alt]

[cozylittleartblog]

Columbo and the Knight (1984)

put me in the universe where Columbo ran through the 1980s and had a crossover episode with Knight Rider. I think they deserved it, and I am not just saying that because they're my two favorite Old Shows. @telebeast wrote a little fanfic blurb about it and I HAD to visualize it into a comic (which is also the longest comic I have finished thus far at five pages...), so writing credit goes to them.

Autism W!

[reasonsforhope]

Article | Paywall Free

"The Food and Drug Administration approved new mRNA coronavirus vaccines Thursday [August 22, 2024], clearing the way for shots manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna to start hitting pharmacy shelves and doctor’s offices within a week.

Health officials encourage annual vaccination against the coronavirus, similar to yearly flu shots. Everyone 6 months and older should receive a new vaccine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends.

The FDA has yet to approve an updated vaccine from Novavax, which uses a more conventional vaccine development method but has faced financial challenges.

Our scientific understanding of coronavirus vaccines has evolved since they debuted in late 2020. Here’s what to know about the new vaccines.

Why are there new vaccines?

The coronavirus keeps evolving to overcome our immune defenses, and the shield offered by vaccines weakens over time. That’s why federal health officials want people to get an annual updated coronavirus vaccine designed to target the latest variants. They approve them for release in late summer or early fall to coincide with flu shots that Americans are already used to getting.

The underlying vaccine technology and manufacturing process are the same, but components change to account for how the virus morphs. The new vaccines target the KP.2 variant because most recent covid cases are caused by that strain or closely related ones...

Do the vaccines prevent infection?

You probably know by now that vaccinated people can still get covid. But the shots do offer some protection against infection, just not the kind of protection you get from highly effective vaccines for other diseases such as measles.

The 2023-2024 vaccine provided 54 percent increased protection against symptomatic covid infections, according to a CDC study of people who tested for the coronavirus at pharmacies during the first four months after that year’s shot was released...

A nasal vaccine could be better at stopping infections outright by increasing immunity where they take hold, and one is being studied in a trial sponsored by the National Institutes of Health.

If you really want to dodge covid, don’t rely on the vaccine alone and take other precautions such as masking or avoiding crowds...

Do the vaccines help prevent transmission?

You may remember from early coverage of coronavirus vaccines that it was unclear whether shots would reduce transmission. Now, scientists say the answer is yes — even if you’re actively shedding virus.

That’s because the vaccine creates antibodies that reduce the amount of virus entering your cells, limiting how much the virus can replicate and make you even sicker. When vaccination prevents symptoms such as coughing and sneezing, people expel fewer respiratory droplets carrying the virus. When it reduces the viral load in an infected person, people become less contagious.

That’s why Peter Hotez, a physician and co-director of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, said he feels more comfortable in a crowded medical conference, where attendees are probably up to date on their vaccines, than in a crowded airport.

“By having so many vaccinated people, it’s decreasing the number of days you are shedding virus if you get a breakthrough infection, and it decreases the amount of virus you are shedding,” Hotez said.

Do vaccines prevent long covid?

While the threat of acute serious respiratory covid disease has faded, developing the lingering symptoms of “long covid” remains a concern for people who have had even mild cases. The CDC says vaccination is the “best available tool” to reduce the risk of long covid in children and adults. The exact mechanism is unclear, but experts theorize that vaccines help by reducing the severity of illness, which is a major risk factor for long covid.

When is the best time to get a new coronavirus vaccine?

It depends on your circumstances, including risk factors for severe disease, when you were last infected or vaccinated, and plans for the months ahead. It’s best to talk these issues through with a doctor.

If you are at high risk and have not recently been vaccinated or infected, you may want to get a shot as soon as possible while cases remain high. The summer wave has shown signs of peaking, but cases can still be elevated and take weeks to return to low levels. It’s hard to predict when a winter wave will begin....

Where do I find vaccines?

CVS said its expects to start administering them within days, and Walgreens said that it would start scheduling appointments to receive shots after Sept. 6 and that customers can walk in before then.

Availability at doctor’s offices might take longer. Finding shots for infants and toddlers could be more difficult because many pharmacies do not administer them and not every pediatrician’s office will stock them given low demand and limited storage space.

This year’s updated coronavirus vaccines are supposed to have a longer shelf life, which eases the financial pressures of stocking them.

The CDC plans to relaunch its vaccine locator when the new vaccines are widely available, and similar services are offered by Moderna and Pfizer."

-via The Washington Post, August 22, 2024

[botanyshitposts]

public libraries are so crazy man. like you’re telling me I can read this book for free

[pencilscratchins]

to everyone asking when i’m gonna post art again… hey guys i recently acquired six incredibly large clown paintings so i’m sort of booked at the moment

[littlepuppers]

I really wanna wake up to a doggy rutting into my backside while i sleep on my stomach. I start having the hottest wet dream of a muscular hot guy spreading my legs and starts fingering me. Meanwhile, in my sleep I subconsciously open my legs a little and the doggy dives right in and starts licking up my obvious wetness. Going in with his snout, licking deeper and harsher as his tongue goes in and out of me, I start whimpering. My dream gets more intense, the man grips my hips and starts putting his dick in me, stretching me out almost uncomfortably. Fuck this dream feels so real.

My knees go up a little so that my butts more in the air. The doggy positions himself and starts thrusting into me, way too fast. I stir awake while still moaning from the dream, only to keep moaning as i look around confused. I spot the dog and fuck he’s stuffed so deep inside me and hitting my g spots over and over again I can’t fucking move bc I feel like his doggy cock is gonna break me. so fucking big. Ifeel his sperm start to fill me and I freak out “no no no no please move” But his thrusts get harder and push my weak hips down into the mattress. I whine loudly as he forces his huge knot in me :(( fuck the pain is unbearable. On top of that I feel him shoot load after load of hot doggy cum inside of my womb. I feel like I’m overflowing. I feel it in my stomach building up, fuck, I cum all over his doggy cock and knot.

Ashamed, I start to cry into the pillow. My pussy tightens around him after I cum and he whines, trying to rut it deeper. “please don’t” and he harshly gets up with a POP, leaking cum all over my butt and thighs. So warm, it soaked through my sheets and I smell like doggy cum now. I whimper, standing up. As I get up I feel the large amount of cum spill out of me, down my thighs onto the floor. A gross mix of doggy cum and my own.

I need to close my door every night now :(